Mark of Brikyif Saylon Acceptance (eBook)

Chapter 1 A New Companion

His secret is that he and Brikyif were in love.

Aurora’s own words were still swirling around in her mind. Her words had caused the others to go silent; even Farr wasn’t making a sound. Thuban, Wolvow and Dowren looked surprised by the news, but all three were watching Nova and Tershi, like Aurora was. Tershi’s expression was hard to read because she’d closed her eyes and bowed her head. Nova had a hand over her mouth as her apple green eyes looked down at the powder-blue leather and chainmail dress she wore. She closed her eyes as she lowered her hand and took a slow breath. “So, the rumors are true.” Nova opened her eyes. “Our hero and Azoner were close.”

“Nova, I’m sorry,” said Aurora. “I wish I didn’t have to be the one to tell you this.”

“It is not ru fault, Aurora,” said Tershi. “She and Azoner may have loved each other, but Brikyif was one of his strongest opponents. We cannot change the past, but we can use it as a weapon against Azoner if he fears it.”

Nova looked at Tershi. “Tha fitith yithpec wau soleev’ina gil grad, er ru fitith u aur. Ru kartome frulom ionvi lish hin rokrik, ki ril.” (I see nothing but sad’ness in this, and you see a gift. You have learned much on our journey, little sister.)

Tershi smiled at her sister. “The training ru gave tha helped a lot too.”

Nova nodded with a look of pride in her eyes. Aurora looked around at Thuban, Wolvow and Dowren. Thuban had a gash on his face, but it didn’t look bad. Wolvow didn’t appear to have a scratch on him, but his white hair was messed up. Dowren had a broken arm she was cradling. As Wolvow turned to help Dowren get her arm taken care of, he whistled something. Dowren waved her left hand in a dismissive way and whistled in reply. Wolvow shook his head as he finished immobilizing Dowren’s arm and whistled again. Dowren let out a laugh before she grabbed part of Wolvow’s hair and held it in front of his face. Wolvow rolled his eyes and pulled his hair out of Dowren’s hand. Aurora tuned her attention back to Thuban and Farr. “You okay?” she asked.

“I’m fine. This is just a scratch, but thanks,” Thuban replied. “You alright?”

Aurora nodded. She didn’t know how to tell anyone what else Malrocon had told her. She casually looked around at the group. Wolvow met her eyes. Aurora quickly looked away, and then wished she hadn’t. It had been a giveaway that she was hiding something. Wolvow came closer and knelt down by her. Even kneeling, Wolvow was tall. “There is something else Malrocon said to you. What was it?” Wolvow asked.

“There was another secret Azoner fears, but doesn’t know about.” Aurora still didn’t know what to think of Malrocon’s answer. “She said I could not know it now, but would when the time was right. She also told me to prepare for it, or the shock would be too much for me.”

Wolvow frowned as he thought about it. “And that would be one of the cryptic answers she was so well known for.”

“How would Azoner have known we would seek out Malrocon?” asked Thuban. “Yeah, she knows things, but how did he know we would seek her?”

Aurora had the answer. “Nydeth.” It had only just come to her, but she knew it was right. “She knew we would go looking for Malrocon, so she told Azoner. Once he found out, Azoner sent out his manticores here to kill her before she could tell us anything. It almost worked.”

“Nydeth?” asked Dowren. “Who’s that?”

“For now it shall suffice to say she was a traitor,” said Nova in a voice that clearly meant the subject was not to be discussed. “Now, we must take care of Malrocon’s body. Does anyone know anything about sphinx death rituals?”

“They usually jump over a cliff when their time is done, but Malrocon didn’t have that option. I guess we could bury her in her cave to try and imitate a rock fall, which is the closest we’ll get to a cliff,” said Thuban.

“But how would we cave it in?” asked Aurora.

“There is a lot of loose rock here. A high-pitched sound will cause it to fall in,” replied Dowren. “Once we are out of here, Wolvow and I can whistle high enough to cause a cave-in.”

Aurora nodded. The group walked out of the cave, and then Wolvow and Dowren turned back to it and whistled. Aurora covered her ears as the pitch rose. Even with her ears covered she could hear the rocks crashing to the ground. When Dowren and Wolvow turned away from the cave, Aurora took her hands away from her ears. Wolvow walked over to Aurora and put a hand on her right shoulder. Aurora gave a gasp and the Elf let go. “What is it?”

“I think the manticore hurt it when I was thrown,” said Aurora as she held her shoulder.

All through the battle she hadn’t felt the pain. Because she had been so close to dying, she’d only thought about how to survive, and then how to save Malrocon. Tershi came to look at Aurora’s shoulder. “Well, ru shall be happy to know it’s just bruised. Ru have had plenty of those on this trip.”

“What about Dowren’s arm?” asked Aurora.

“It’s already immobilized,” said Dowren. She turned to Wolvow. “I’ll be able to do more once I return to Labyrinth.”

Aurora looked at the two Elves. “Do you mean when the two of you return to Labyrinth?”

Dowren shook her head. “Only I will be returning to the city.”

“But Wolvow,” Aurora said trying to think of an argument to make the Elf stay in Labyrinth, “the Minotaurs are moving in on Labyrinth. Shouldn’t you stay with your people?”

Wolvow shook his head. “There are plenty of warriors to protect the city. I want to travel with you and make sure you defeat Azoner. If you don’t defeat him, then protecting Labyrinth will only delay the inevitable.” Wolvow knelt down to be closer to Aurora’s eye level, but he was still taller than she was. “You are the only one who can defeat Azoner, so I want to make sure you make it to him alive.”

He really wanted to follow her? Aurora nodded a little. She would not tell him no. “Okay. The choice is yours to make.”

Wolvow got to his feet and bowed to Aurora. “Then my choice is to travel, fight and, if necessary, die with you.”

Aurora smiled. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to skip death. I’d be happy to have you with us.”

Wolvow smiled before turning to Dowren. “Good luck with Conash.”

“Thanks. He’ll come to see you made the right choice in time.” Dowren’s smile looked a little sad as she spoke again. “Farewell, little brother.”

“Farewell, sister,” said Wolvow. “Please, be careful on your way back.”

Dowren gave Wolvow a one-armed hug. “I’ll be safe as soon as I’m in The Labyrinth. You’d better come back alive.”

“Don’t worry; I will.” Wolvow hugged Dowren before speaking again. “But only because I don’t want you to kill me a second time.”

Dowren laughed before turning to Aurora and the others. “Goodbye and good luck.”

After saying this, she turned and headed back for Labyrinth. Aurora waited for Dowren to move out of earshot before speaking. “The Chronicler doesn’t approve of you coming with us?”

Wolvow nodded. “Sadly, he does not. Chronicler Conash would have preferred you to take Nes’eve or Vay’ven.”

“So why did you join us?” asked Nova.

Wolvow looked back in the direction of Labyrinth. “Nes’eve would have been a great companion, but he has responsibilities he cannot ignore. And with the Minotaurs so close to the city, Timz’oz is not yet ready to take over as captain of the Shadow Guards full time.” He turned back to the group. “Vay’ven is skilled and will one day be an amazing Shadow Warrior. Conash’s choice to send him with you would have been a good one under different circumstances.”

“Why wouldn’t it be okay for him to follow me now?” Aurora asked.

“Because I need someone to take the responsibilities I had in Labyrinth. The only other one I could have asked was Kathreeow, but she was busy. Vay’ven deserves the chance to prove himself and Salvdow agrees,” Wolvow explained. “This is an opportunity very few Shadow Elves get. Vay’ven will excel.”

“But why would you choose to follow me when you know it is against the Chronicler’s wishes?” asked Aurora. “I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

Wolvow knelt down to be closer to her level. “I have to do what I feel is right. I did the same that first night you and the others came to Labyrinth because I had the same feeling. Conash will understand once he has time to think about it.” Wolvow smiled at her. “Thuban says you’re very charismatic, and he’s not wrong. I’ll follow you no matter what happens.”

Aurora nodded. She remembered what Nes’eve had told her about Wolvow’s loyalty. Somehow she’d managed to earn it and had gained a friend who would follow her no matter where she went, even into the jaws of death. She turned and led the way towards their final destination. They would not reach it for a while yet, but somehow she knew they would keep on going in this direction until they found Azoner’s castle.

Since they only had to pass through the far outskirts of the forest, the journey back through Shadow Elf territory only took a few days. Wolvow was able to show them the fastest...