Book 2

Chapter 8

Kate lifted him up over her shoulder in a fireman's carry. She would never have been able to accomplish it when she first arrived, but lacking the comforts of modern living and Romion's training had built muscle where she didn't even know that muscle went.  She peeked out into the hallway. She could hear footsteps coming from the front of the building, so she hurried towards the back.

The escape went faster than the search and they managed to avoid anyone else in the building.

She found the chair blocking the door as she left it and kicked it out of the way. Inside, Romion leaned over one of the elves. He saw her and stood up, backing away from the body.

"What were you doing?" Her eyes accused the older elf, as if he could actually see her.

"I--" His explanation was cut off by the sound of yells. "We need to get out of here. He climbed through the opening in the wall and Kate passed Kreelan's body to him. She went back for the chair and blocked the way from the inside.

Kreelan roused as Kate left the building. "You shouldn't have come back for me. You are putting yourself in danger."

"I've been in danger almost since I first stepped foot in Fawla. Why should now be any different." She smiled at him. Kate missed having Kreelan around as a friend. Before she'd arrived, she would have guessed that she would have been closer to the nerdy Regkor, but the hunter had turned out to be the one interested in having deep conversations about life. Why had she been angry at him?

He looked around. "Where is Gwelweil?" That's right. Now she remembered.

"We really don't have time for pleasantries," Romion interrupted. "Goblins aren't the brightest creatures, but they are plenty smart enough to realize that if he isn't inside the jail, then he must be outside it."

As if on cue, the rattle of armor and weapons announced the approaching invaders. "Can you fight?" Kate asked Kreelan.

He shook his head. "The goblins took my bow. I don't know what they did with it."

"I can make you a new bow." She formed an image in her mind of what she needed.

"We don't have time for that," Romion said with a groan. He looked pale.

Kate wanted to ask him if he could fight. But they had wasted their time escaping. They stood between the two buildings with goblins blocking the only exits.

The blind elf trembled slightly. She reached out to him and touched his hand. His color and posture improved as Kate's knees buckled. She dipped and regained her balance.

She leaned close to Kreelan and kissed him. He blinked and opened his mouth. She put a finger over it. "Hang on."

His eyes looked questioningly at her, and the great oak grabbed his tunic and pulled him into the air. His eyes went wide, and Kate had to suppress the urge to laugh.

"Okay, your turn," she said to Romion.

Another branch lowered. "Okay, but no kiss." He laughed. It was the first time she had seen him smile. If he tried, he could be handsome and charming instead of the crotchety hermit she had come to know.

He grabbed the outstretched branch and rose into the air. A foot off the ground, there was a whoosh and an ax sliced through the thin bough. Romion fell to the ground and rolled. In a single motion, he stood with his sword drawn.

Kate pulled her own sword and turned in the direction the ax had come from. The largest goblin Kate had ever seen pulled another ax from one of the hooks that covered his armor. He easily dwarfed the other goblins and stood over the elves as well.  While the others were knobby and sickly pale, this one seemed to have been carved from the gray rock of a mountain. Kate wasn't sure that she and Romion could defeat them even if there weren't more goblins to contend with.

Romion frowned. "Must be part orc, by the size of him. Watch out for those axes. They look Darvish made and can cut through just about anything."

She nodded. More closed in from the other direction. She faced them, putting her back to the elf. "Okay, so how do we get out of this one?"

"Time for your final lesson. In war, there is no such thing as a clean fight. Use whatever dirty tricks you can think of to even our odds."

She grunted in assent. She could think of a few things to try. But first she needed to get Kreelan out of there. If that goblin-orc thing could chop a branch with a flick of its wrist, he wouldn't be safe in the tree. She looked up to where he was watching in the tree. "This is going to hurt a little bit," she shouted.

She aimed for the elm near their hut and sent him flying. The goblins' heads all swiveled as they watched her friend fly across town. Her aim was off from the ground, but he caught onto the end of a branch as the tree stretched out to reach him. His hands clutched at the limb as his feet dangled a dozen feet off the ground. The elm shed its leaves on that side, and he fell into the pile.

From that distance, she couldn't tell if he was okay. She felt something. Well-being and reassurance washed over her. She looked from where Kreelan's body was hidden by the plant matter to the tree above him. But that wasn't the right direction. She turned her head towards the oak. The feeling got stronger. Was the tree trying to communicate with her?

With the question asked in her mind, she felt affirmation. Is Kreelan okay? The affirmation and reassurance grew stronger in her mind. She nodded to the tree. "Let's do this."