Elentari was quiet as they walked, trying to figure out how to tell
Malachai that aside from her their whole family was dead. "Come on Zia you
promised you would tell me about my family." The childish eagerness in his
voice made Elentari want to laugh and cry at the same time. She dreaded to
shatter his innocence with the truth about their family.
"Ok what do you want to know?" Elentari decided it was easier and safer to
only answer the questions he asked, better to not overwhelm him.
"Where is my mother?" This was the one question she really hated to
answer, like the day that Malachai was taken the memory of her mother's
death still haunted her dreams.
"As you know your mother and sister took frequent trips to Riverwild, on
many of those trips I accompanied them. About 20 years ago we were
returning to Goldenlief after one of those trips. The trip had been
uneventful until we stopped to camp one night. As we rested by the fire
rustling could be heard in the trees above us but we didn't think much of
it knowing that canopy dragons frequented the area. We didn't know that a
small party of Dro had happened upon our camp. Before we knew what
happened the Dro attacked. The battle was very fast but left your mother
dead and your sister seriously wounded."
Malachai's face fell when he learned the fate of his mother. "So Tari is
still alive?"
"Yes, as far as I know. I haven't seen her since Goldenlief fell."
"And my father?"
"It truly pains me to tell you that he is also dead, but by far the most
recent. Your father fell in battle protecting his city."
"So my mother and father are dead and the only link I have to my family is
Elentari who may or may not have been killed in battle." Pain and anger
mixed in Malachai's voice and it cut straight to Elentari's heart. She had
to do something to ease his pain.
"Do not despair my prince, I'm sure your sister is alive. Her
determination and resourcefulness will protect her. If I know the princess
she's hiding out somewhere biding her time until she can take back her
thrown." This didn't seem to improve Malachai's mood.
"You have a lot of confidence in my sister. I hope it is justified."
"A little boy once held all the confidence in the world for his sister, in
his eyes she could do no wrong, or have you forgotten that Malachai?"
Elentari's words were tinged with anger at her brother's lack of confidence
not only in her but also in himself.
"That little boy was taken by the Dro." Malachai looked at Elentari as if
daring her to challenge his statement. Elentari's temper began grow even
more and she was tried of playing identity games with her little brother.
"I didn't need a reminder of Elentari's failure to save you. It has burned
in the minds of every High elf for the past 60 years, but you must forgive
her as we did. She was also only a child. That is enough talking for now;
we must listen for canopy dragons. I'm sure the recent Dro activity has
them stirred up and we are unarmed." Malachai didn't argue and seemed a
bit taken back by the anger in what he believed to be Zia's voice.
They continued for some time in silence until a faint rustling caught
Elentari's attention. "Malachai stop, there are canopy dragons above us
and they are more than aware of our presence here." Malachai did as he was
told and immediately froze where he stood. "When I give the signal I want
you to run as fast as you can towards the cliff, when you get there jump
into the river it's the only place these damned creatures won't follow you
and it leads straight to Riverwild."
"And what are you going to do?" Elentari looked at her little brother and
smiled.
"I'm going to distract them while you run. You have no weapons and won't
stand a chance against them."
"But what about you, you're also unarmed?"
"I have a few tricks up my sleeves now get ready. Once you start running
don't hesitate and don't look back. I'll be fine, the canopies really
picked the wrong person to mess with." Elentari listened for a few more
minutes trying to judge how many there were and what morph she would need.
She determined that there were only three of them, which was unusual for
canopy dragons, yet very lucky for Malachai and herself. Elentari decided
to use her wolf; it was small and lightening fast and would undoubtedly
make a difficult target for hungry canopies. Malachai intently watched her
waiting for his signal to run, when Elentari gave it he took off like a
shot and thankfully did as he was told and did not look back.
Elentari quickly shed the form of Zia and replaced it with her much
deadlier wolf just as the three dragons dropped from the trees. At first
sight the animals look fairly foolish, wingless they spend most of their
time in the trees, and rely on their pack hunting skills to catch prey.
The dragons immediately tried to circle Elentari but she was too fast for
them. She ran around them biting and clawing when she could, trying to get
a good shot at the dragons' soft underbelly. Finally, one made the mistake
of rearing up and gave Elentari the shot she had been waiting for; using
her claws she ripped open the canopy dragons stomach fatally wounding the
animal. It was the only incentive the other two needed to attack their
wounded comrade, and soon they had forgotten Elentari's presence. This
suited Elentari fine and she turned and ran into the forest towards the
cliff, not even bothering to demorph.
When she got to the edge, she quickly changed back into Zia; thankfully she
had long ago mastered changing from one morph to another without returning
to her true form. She scanned the river looking for her brother but didn't
see him, but then again the river's current was extremely fast. Elentari
prayed her little brother had made it safely as she herself jumped off the
50-foot cliff into the rushing water.
Thankfully, unlike most High elves Elentari could swim, having made the
jump into the river many times before, and soon she could see the bridge
that stretched over the river. With one last burst of energy she swam to
the bridge where two Wood elves deftly pulled her from the swift moving
water.
Elentari could see that Malachai was already on the bridge, drenched and
apparently furious. "Welcome to Riverwild," said the elf to her right.
Elentari turned to face him and immediately recognized him.
