“If you don’t keep your voice down we’re going to duct tape your mouth next,” Lisa told her with a smirk, not appearing to be bothered in the least by her daughter’s current situation.

“What about you, Oakley?” Elora asked her brother. “How can you just let these elf warriors tie me up?”

Oakley shook his head. “That question is just wrong on so many levels.”

Rin chuckled. “She definitely has a way with words.”

“Hey, Rinky-tinky-tavey, nobody asked you,” Elora snapped at him. Rin just chuckled.

“It’s Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, Sis.”

“Don’t care,” Elora huffed shortly.

“Relax, he will be back before you know it, Elora, and then we will untie you.” Rin spoke as if it were the most logical and normal thing in the world and Elora wanted to throttle him all the more for it.

“Oh, okay since you put it like that,” Elora nodded eagerly. “I’ll just sit here calmly tied to a damn chair while the other half of my soul runs head long into the hands of the dark elves! Geeze why didn’t I think of that? Relax, right.”

Cush could see the slow break of the morning sun as it began to crest the horizon. Bursts of orange and yellow gradually began to reach up like eager fingers to chase away the last remaining cover of night. He had always loved that about the human realm. They had sunsets and sunrises in their realm as well but there was something so refreshing and new about it in the human realm. Maybe it was because they were mortal and every day they were growing older, coming a little closer to their inevitable demise. Their lives were numbered from the moment of their conception and so each new sunrise was like a glorious triumph where a human could stare up at the lightening sky and say look, I’m still here, I made it another day! Each sunrise was a victory dance for those with life still running through them—not just humans—but animals and plants as well. Every living thing seemed to stop what they were doing and turn their countenance to the glorious light that rose to greet them and it never ceased to amaze and inspire him.

He continued to run, his face focused on the sky while his feet recalled the path they had taken when they had left the valley where the Rapture was being made. He was actually surprised the dark elves hadn’t found them hiding out in their motel room. Cush knew they could have if they had utilized their magic and he had fully expected an attack during the night, but it never came. With every step that brought him closer to the valley he hoped that the dark elves had left this realm. He wasn’t worried about himself; he knew what he was capable of and that his magic was strong. But he worried about his Chosen, always his worry was for her now.

His attention was drawn away from the beautiful sunrise when the smell of ash hit him. He looked straight ahead and saw the burnt fields, acre after acre. The fire he and Rin had started had done its job. They had fed the magic fire a sentient intent; it wasn’t just a mindless flame that had destroyed those crops of elfish plants. The fire had had a purpose, and it had done its job very well. Not a single leaf remained uncharred.

Cush began to veer right, running towards the road where they had parked the vehicle and to his surprise, it was still there. If the dark elves hadn’t come to clean up their mess, that could mean only one thing, they had deserted the place. He slowed as he approached the thoroughly burned SUV. He hoped that he was right, that the elf book had some sort of protection on it to keep it from being harmed. But it had been dark-elf magic that had destroyed the vehicle, so it might have been able to destroy the book as well.

He peered in the shattered window and tried the handle on the door. It opened and then fell off its hinges. He dropped the door to the ground and began his search. Lisa had said she’d put it under the second row seat. He stuck his hand under the seat, sifting through ash and debris. His hand had just landed on something that felt like a book when a voice behind him had him jerking his hand back and turning around so swiftly that ash scattered around him.

“Tell me, Warrior, why would you come back to the scene of your crime? Why would you return to the place your enemies are sure to be?” Tarron’s voice danced across all of Cush’s nerves in all the wrong ways. He wasn’t sure if he should just attack or if he should indulge the dark elf and engage him in a conversation. Tarron was the type of predator that liked to play with his food and Cush knew he could use that to his advantage to take the dark elf by surprise.

“A good soldier always makes sure the job has been done right,” Cush said coolly as he stood up from the crouch he had been in. He forced his body to relax in hopes of luring Tarron into a false sense of security. “I needed to make sure that your little production had been completely shut down.”

Tarron laughed. “Please tell me you aren’t so naïve as to think that this is the only place we had crops growing?”

Cush’s eyes narrowed as he tried to hear past the false bravado to the lie that he knew he was being fed.

“Do you really think Lorsan would limit himself that way?” Tarron asked.

Cush heard a rustling from behind him. He saw a shift of light to his left and saw the slight movement in Tarron’s eyes and knew that Tarron was not alone. He bit back the curse as he realized that Tarron hadn’t just been playing with him; he had been distracting him so that his own men could get in place. He didn’t know how many dark elves were around him because he didn’t want to take his eyes off of the one who really mattered.