Sath emerged from the house with their belongings but remained silent. He felt horrible for disrespecting the druids that had lived in that house, but he did not know the wood elf death rites. He just knew that if something had been done incorrectly when his sister died, either in the preparation of her body or carrying out a warrior’s funeral for her, he would have been just as upset as Gin was now. He started toward her, but she held up a hand behind her.
“Don’t move, Sath,” she whispered. “Someone is coming, to the east, coming fast along the trail.” Her tracking abilities always amazed Sath, and this time was no different. He turned slowly and looked in the direction that she had indicated, and sure enough, he could just make out a figure, mounted and moving very quickly in their direction. He heard Gin speaking some ancient elvish words that he recognized as an invisibility spell and then breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thanks for the ability to see invisible things, Gin,” he whispered. “I would have freaked out if I couldn’t see you…what?” She was staring at him in horror. “Is there something else coming?”
“I can still see you,” she hissed back. “My magic is not working. Sath! My magic is not working!” Her eyes were wide with shock.
“We need to get in the house though I bet whoever that is has already seen us,” Sath said. He motioned for her to run, and thankfully she was not frozen in place this time but ran toward him. They hurried inside the house, and Sath slammed the door behind him, lowering the heavy bolt on the inside and then moving a blood-stained chair up under the bolt to hold it fast. They moved into the bedchamber again and behind the upended bed, and Gin pulled bedclothes up and over them to hide them from sight.
“Now what?” Sath wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, but she pushed him back. She was unnerved, not afraid, and he wasn’t helping by treating her like a child. Gin patted his arm and then wound her tiny fingers into his fur: he couldn’t help smiling a bit. The hooves of a horse sounded closer and closer to the house and soon came to a stop. Gin and Sath held their breath. They could hear metallic boots make a clank as they came out of what could only be armored stirrups, and then hit the ground with a thud. Footsteps rang out as the unknown rider got closer to the cabin. The horse whinnied loudly, startling Gin and nearly causing her to cry out. She took a deep breath to calm herself.
“Thangur Daer!” a female voice called from outside the house. “Misdis Daer!” Sath looked at Gin, who was paying rapt attention. “Show yourselves! I am sent by the council in the Great Forest to find you!”
“SATH!” Gin hissed at him as quietly as she could. “That’s Elvish; ancient, but I understand it! We don’t need to worry!” She struggled to free herself from the blanket, but Sath held her fast.
“Gin, it might be someone that just speaks that language, like you speak mine. That could be an Ikedrian spy just waiting to…’
“Of course it isn’t,” she snapped at him, finally freeing herself and darting out from under the blankets. “You stay here, let me talk to her.” Before he could grab an arm or a leg, she had crossed the room and was running toward the front door. Sath cursed loudly but remained still, his keen Qatu hearing on high alert.
Gin took a deep breath and then opened the front door slowly, not sure what she would find on the other side. A young-looking wood elf female stood by a horse in chain mail that matched hers. She stroked his nose and whispered to him, then turned back to the cabin, annoyance etched into every inch of her face. She glared at Gin. “Who are you, and where are Thangur and Misdis?” she demanded. Gin put her hands up in front of her to show that she was unarmed.
“I do not know Thangur and Misdis,” Gin replied. “I am not sure you can be understanding me because I have not heard your dialect since I was a young girl. My name is Ginolwenye Clawsharp, of the Royal House of Qatu’anari, and I mean you not to harm.”
“You talk like a child. How did you come to be in Than and Mis’s house? I am Leithienil, a sentry of the champions of the Great Forest. How do I not know you, my sister? Have you come here on a hunt for the Mother Dragon?”
“Greetings and well met, Leithienil. I have come from far away, from Qatu’anari, that is how you do not know me.”
“Impossible. All of our kind is from the Great Forest. No one but the giant cats lives on that island. Where are Thangur and Misdis Dael?Why do you lie to me and not answer my questions?” She drew her sword from its scabbard and held it out toward Gin. “You will answer my questions now.” Gin took a step back toward the door.
“When we arrived last night, seeking shelter, we…found the house empty,” Gin said, the lie filling her mouth like sour milk. She hated lying, but she couldn’t let Leithienil find Sath hiding in the house. She feared that if Sath was correct about the time discrepancy, the wood elf would only remember him as the Bane of the Forest or worse.
“Ah. Perhaps they have gone on ahead back to the Great Forest, and I have missed them,” Leithienil said. She leaned toward Gin, raising one of her blonde eyebrows. “You won’t mind if I look around to make sure as you are on your way, will you?”
“Of course not,” Gin said, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird in a cage. “I need only to gather my belongings, and I
