screamed and pulled back several more yards.
“Move!” Visyna shouted, forcing her fingers to weave what little threads she could manage.
They started forward. Inkermon prayed, Scolly and Zwitty made snowballs and passed them to Hrem who lit them with frost fire and threw them as quickly as he could. Visyna did her best to prop up Chayii while weaving as Jir circled the group, snarling here and there at any rakke that came too close.
“It’s working!” Hrem shouted, tossing a snowball and hitting a rakke directly in the chest. The creature screamed as black flames washed over it and it ran off into the night. “We’re going to make it.”
A rock sailed out of the dark striking Hrem a glancing blow on the side of the head. He didn’t fall, but bent over in pain clutching the wound. The rakkes lunged forward. Jir attacked, his claws sweeping in lightning fast arcs designed more to wound and frighten than to kill.
The charge faltered, but did not stop. There had to be fifty or more rakkes around them now, and even creatures as primal as these knew that with numbers like that they could overwhelm their prey.
“They’ve figured out how to get to us,” Zwitty said, not bothering to hide the rising fear in his voice.
“They’re predators,” Chayii said by way of an answer.
Scolly and Zwitty started throwing snowballs though neither one lit them on fire. Inkermon’s prayer grew louder, but if it was having an effect Visyna couldn’t see it. She only caught a few words, but noticed that the soldier was invoking a lot of salvation, righteous fury, and a quick death. She hoped that last part was directed at the rakkes and not them.
A growing roar filled the air from the direction of the fort. The rakkes turned to look even as they continued to charge.
The sound reached a crescendo and a dark form burst through the circle of rakkes, its body covered in bright green spots of fire.
The reaction of the rakkes was immediate and stunning. They yipped and gibbered with fear and ran, everything else forgotten. They flayed and scrambled over each other to get away from the figure now stumbling around in their midst. Green flame flickered all over the creature obscuring its true shape as it swung its arms as if trying to beat out the fire.
That’s when Visyna noticed it was also waving a saber and cursing a blue streak.
“Konowa!” Visyna shouted, running toward him. She pulled up several feet short from him. He was wearing the tattered and smoldering remains of a cloth robe which was smoking furiously as it burned up with hundreds of tiny green flames.
“Has a spell been cast on you?” she asked, surprised that she could sense no foreign magic at work.
“Ow, ow, bloody, ow!” Konowa shouted, ripping what was left of the robe off his shoulders and diving into the snow where he began to roll over and over. “A bunny nibbling my fingers my arse! Ow!” he shouted some more, some of the choicer words being lost as his face went beneath the snow.
He finally sat up, covered in snow, his saber still waving dangerously around him. “I am going to kick that dwarf right in the-Jir!” he managed to say before a blur raced past Visyna and thundered into Konowa, sending them both, elf and bengar, tumbling in a snowy heap.
Their reunion was short as Konowa staggered to his feet, an excited Jir threatening to bowl him over bounding all around him, the wound in his shoulder completely forgotten. Frost fire arced between them but Jir didn’t appear to notice.
“Major!” Hrem said, stepping forward and clamping a huge hand on Konowa’s shoulder. “It’s great to see you, sir. Where’s the rest of the regiment?”
Konowa was still brushing himself off and didn’t appear to hear the question.
“Are you all right, my son?” Chayii asked, holding out a hand toward him then reluctantly pulling it back as black frost sparkled on his uniform.
“Mother. Oh, just a little hot under the collar is all. . Look, no time to explain. We have to move, now.” He started to turn back toward the fort then stopped and looked at his mother again. “Father is back to his elf self, well, almost.”
This time Chayii did step forward and embrace her son. Frost fire glittered where her arms wrapped around him, but she held on.
“I missed you, too, but um, this isn’t really the best time,” Konowa said. His troops stood staring at him with open mouths.
Chayii let go and stepped back, but not before reaching up and brushing a strand of hair from his forehead. Visyna felt a pang of longing, wishing it was her in Chayii’s place right now.
Visyna began to lower her head and start walking. She so desperately wanted him to run to her and sweep her up in an embrace and to hell with the frost fire. The thought made her angry.
“You, Konowa Swift Dragon, are my elf.” After everything she’d been through, all the pain, all the fear, and all the uncertainty, she was certain about this. She’d found him. She reached up, put her hand around the back of his neck, and pulled him down toward her. Frost fire needled into her hands, but it could have been dragon teeth and she wouldn’t have let go. Their lips met. The kiss was unlike any she had ever experienced. It was cold cold lightning, sweet and clear like fresh spring water. His right arm curved around her waist pulling her in close. The frost fire sparked across her back, but she barely noticed. She was lost in a feeling so wondrous that pain would have to wait. She could have stayed there in his arms forever, but long before she was ready to let go, he pulled away. She could still taste him on her lips.
“Ummm, I fwink my wips are nuwmb,” he said, his cheeks flushing red.
“Mwine twwo,” she said, not caring one bit.
Whistles and approving clucks suggested the nearby Iron Elves approved.
“There’s still the matter of the rakkes,” Hrem said, dabbing at the side of his head where a thin trickle of blood was seeping from the wound. “How many soldiers are out here with you, Major?”
“Fwowwow me,” Konowa said, then stopped and rubbed the back of his hand against his lips before trying again. “Follow me, and I’ll show you.” This time Konowa did turn and began striding toward the fort. Jir bounded to his side and butted his head against his knee, almost knocking him over. Konowa reached down with his hand and scratched the bengar’s head leaving a patch of glittering frost on the animal’s fur.
Visyna smiled. She took hold of Chayii’s arm and they followed with the soldiers bringing up the rear. They were surrounded by ravenous monsters intent on their destruction, caught up in the complex web of a demented elf witch, and in the middle of a snow-covered desert, yet her overwhelming feeling was of absolute bliss. She had her elf, and he felt the same way about her as she did about him. Nothing in this world or any other could surpass how good that made her feel.
“I remember when Yimt first told me about you,” Chayii said as they walked along. “I must admit I did not approve.”
Visyna could only smile. Her cheeks actually hurt because she couldn’t stop grinning. “And now?” she asked, knowing the answer.
“And now I’m wondering when I will have grandchildren?”
Visyna’s grin vanished. “We, uh, we only just-”
Chayii squeezed her arm and smiled at her. “I tease,” she said, “for now.”
Visyna noticed that Konowa had slowed to try and overhear their conversation. She took the opportunity to change the subject.
“What was that green fire and why were the rakkes so frightened of it?” she asked.
Konowa slowed enough to walk beside her. “Copper dust and shavings. It burns green. Seems rakkes associate that with some kind of nasty bug that they instinctively fear. Wish I’d known this a few months ago.”
“Rakkes were extinct a few months ago,” Visyna said.
As if to put a point on her thought a rakke bellowed into the night. Several returned the cry. They were gathering for another attack.
“They’re stupid, but persistent,” Konowa said. “We need to move faster.”
Visyna reached out and touched his arm, knowing it would sting. “Everyone is tired and hurt. We’re lucky to be standing at all.”
Konowa slowed. He turned and looked at her. His face was drawn and he looked every bit as exhausted as
