Read Online When Elves Die : Episode One by Richard Poche - Free Book Online

Ricmorn asked.
    “I saw only a glimpse of her. She came in after the
Killtooths. Her hair was a dark purple and she had the blackest
eyes. There was a tattoo on her back. A Raven. She was... The
devil.”
     
    Ricmorn led the guards through the castle. They
entered the pantry first. The chefs reported seeing the black
haired woman walk through the kitchen, muttering something under
her breath.
    They separated as they searched upstairs. Ricmorn
timidly poked his head into each room. He feared what the Dark
Queen could be capable of.
    “Ricmorn!” Orogeon called out.
    The cleric rushed toward the voice. He found the
guard standing outside Carella's bedroom with his ear on the door.
Gratil joined them.
    “The door is locked,” Orogeon said. “From the
inside. I heard someone moving around in there.”
    Ricmorn backed away from the door and stood behind
Gratil.
    Both guards drew their daggers.
    “We know you're in there,” Orogeon said. “There is
no escape. Open this door and surrender yourself.”
    Orogeon had his left hand on the doorknob and a
dagger held high with his right.
    They heard a rattling noise in the room.
    “On the count of three,” Orogeon said to Gratil. The
soldiers white-knuckled their daggers as Ricmorn took a couple of
steps further back.
    “One...two...three...”
    Orogeon slammed his shoulder into the door. The
sound of wood splintering could be heard but the entry remained
shut. He tried again and the door blew off its hinges, propelling
him to the floor.
    Gratil leapt over his comrade with his dagger in
hand.
    A raven hopped on Carella's bed and crowed angrily
at the elves.
    The bird flew directly at Ricmorn. He held up his
hands as the talons scraped his flesh.
    Watching as the raven flew out the window, all three
elves gagged at the smell of a large green dropping on the silk
sheets.
    Ricmorn ordered his men to have every home in the
village searched. He then changed his mind as soon as he gave the
command. The last thing Ricmorn wanted was for the elven folks to
go into panic mode. Instead, he ordered the guards to patrol the
immediate area outside the village for any sign of the Dark
Queen.
     
    Ravalynn raced ahead with Tholan through the valley
until finally taking refuge a few miles away. The Dark Queen
dismounted her horse and drank heavily from a flask of alcohol.
    “Stole it from their kitchen,” she said, offering
the drink to Tholan.
    The barbarian took a sip. “Not bad.”
    “I cast spells on their wine and food,” she said.
“It is only a matter of time.”
     

CHAPTER 11
     
    Carella awoke long before the roosters crowed. She
fingered through the pages of the book of Arcanscape until throwing
it on the ground in frustration.
    “Carella?” Zanfire called to her outside the
tent.
    “Come in.”
    “I was hoping you would be up early. Where is
Iangold?”
    “He went back to his home in Triloft,” Carella
shrugged her shoulders. “He wanted me back at the castle. To live a
life cloaked in an illusion of comfort with him. I cannot do
that.”
    “I see.”
    “But he may be right about what we're doing. Maybe
we are placing these elves in mortal danger by having them join us
at Graceonna.”
    “The Dark Queen will not give them mercy,” Zanfire
said. “They have no defense against her. We have castle walls to
protect the old and young. And soldiers that defend those
walls.”
    “So we know what is best for them?”
    “It’s best for all of us. And after yesterday, they
don't look like they need any further convincing. How you exorcised
the demon out of that man was nothing short of a miracle.”
    “I don't know how many miracles I have left,” she
said. “And I don't want to become like you.”
    Zanfire went quiet and looked
down, hurt. Spotting her Arcanscape on the
ground, he picked it up and began thumbing through it.
    “I didn't mean that the way it sounded,” she said.
“You do these things and it raises expectations and pressure and
the elves want more