Page 83 of Forged in Fading

A human man spat at Alvara’s feet and muttered something she didn’t understand a word of, but she had no doubt she could guess the meaning. The ferocity erupting from his outburst threatened to spark her powers. She wrestled every crumb of control away, shutting them behind the strongest mental binds she could muster.

They neared a cluster of three long wooden buildings with plain, sloping roofs, and the guard shoved Alvara through the open doorway of the smallest, where she sprawled onto the ground in an ungraceful heap.

A group of rough-looking human men, clad in fur-lined cloaks and equipped with shields and weapons, peered down at her and barked something wholly unintelligible. Their language was aggressive enough to make an elf’s ears bleed. She looked to the guard for a translation, who frowned before obliging.

“Why are you here? They have no interest in elves.”

Alvara made no move to stand and let the cold ground anchor her instead. “Tell them that I, along with my companions, are here to help. The king of Ela is planning an invasion into your lands. We have forces we can commit to help defend you.” She looked out the door toward the town, where screams continued to pierce the air. “And we can help with the demi-elves. We can train them to harness their magic so they’re no longer a danger to others. All we request is sanctuary for our people.”

The guard translated, and as he spoke, a pale man with long blond hair and a heavy, well-groomed beard stepped forward. He only uttered a few syllables, which was not entirely encouraging after Alvara’s long-winded explanation of their current situation.

“Chief Frigar say show him,” the guard said.

“Show him?”

He echoed the chief’s words in his broken Elvish. “Show him you help magic users get control. Prove this, and he give you chance. You must make blood oath before Kutamir to speak for elves.”

Alvara had dealt enough with blood in any form for a thousand lifetimes, but she had no other option than to agree. The humans parted, revealing an unconscious boy chained to the back of the hall, his face pallid and hair matted. His magic had probably burned through most of his life force already.

“Son of Chief Frigar,” the guard said as he pushed her forward.

She looked to the other men and pointed to their shields. It wasn’t much, but it would be better than facing wild magic with no form of protection other than her own powers. They all shook their heads, eyes wide. Chief Frigar watched her closely, his deep green gaze tracking each of her movements toward his son. He would no doubt slice her to pieces with his sword if she harmed the child in any way.

Alvara gulped and gently shook the boy’s shoulder to rouse him. With a quick magic shield, she crouched down just as fire struck the ice, melting it to nothing and spreading a wave of dangerous heat up her body.

Of course it had to be fire.

And gods knew if he had illusions too. The last thing she needed was the boy turning invisible.

Alvara threw up another shield that melted just as quickly as the first and yelled instructions to the guard over her shoulder. “Tell him he needs to gain control over his emotions. It’s what powers the magic.”

The guard relayed her words as flames continued to spread out from the trembling boy and crept up Alvara’s leg. She screeched, sheeting her skin in frost to quell the burns, but the blaze only intensified. Searing pain shot up her leg at the next wave of fire, and the foul odor of burnt flesh, her flesh, tainted the air.

“Tell him he’s safe and that no one will hurt him. He needs to breathe,” Alvara managed as she hid behind yet another shield. She took a dramatic inhale and gestured to the boy that he should do the same. If he didn’t stop soon, he would either fade or burn the building to ashes.

He looked at Alvara, and his copper eyes settled on her pointed ears. The inferno raged again, a red and orange vortex swirling around him. Alvara only allowed herself to use her magic to protect herself and soothe her burns despite her fear. She refused to attack a scared, helpless boy. The blistering heat began to diminish, and Alvara lifted her head above her still frozen shield.

The boy had closed his eyes, his heaving chest calming at the same time as his magic. The flames receded to a few sparks, and Alvara crawled toward him, whimpering through clenched teeth at every tug to the burnt skin of her leg. She reached out and touched his arm, and he flinched. His eyes snapped open, flames swallowing her magic once again, but the fear soon drained out of his face.

“It’s all right.” He wouldn’t understand her words, but hopefully her gentle tone would be enough. Tears gushed down the boy’s cheeks, sobs racking his body. Alvara sat with him and even ventured so far as to wrap her arm around his shoulder.

“He needs food to restore his energy,” she said to anyone who would listen. “They can burn themselves out on their magic. If you treat them with anger or fear, it will only make it worse. They need help. To know they’re safe and no one will hurt them because of what they are.”

A garbled conversation ensued until the guard finally spoke. “You may enter Gosibik and commit blood oath in temple of Kutamir. You help part-elves control magic, you stay.”

It was good, but it wasn’t enough. The white-hot pain radiating from her leg sawed at the rational side of her mind, so she spoke quickly. “We need shelter. Food. We will help as much as we can.”

The guard extended a hand and pulled her to her unsteady feet. “I am Sten. You stay in halls of Chief Frigar for now. We discuss permanent solutions later. Food is scarce this time of year, but we share what we have. Arrange more hunting and fishing parties.”

The skin on Alvara’s leg had blistered, red and angry where the magic had singed it. She forced herself to breathe through her nose to push down the nausea rising in her throat. “And healers?”

“We have no magic. But human healers do good work.”

She needed to sit down and tend to her burns, or she was going to collapse on top of the chief’s boots. “Bring me to Boden. Then we’ll do your blood oath and tell the others.”

Sten let her walk free of his grasp this time, though the extra support would have helped as she hobbled to keep the weight off her bad leg. Pure exhilaration bloomed in her gut, washing away the pain, at least momentarily, as they approached the gates.

Alvara had done it. It felt good—no, incredible, to know that she had convinced the humans to grant them a chance. She had all but forgotten about her injuries until she saw Boden, who was giving the humans around him a look of boredom that begged them to realize tying his hands behind his back accomplished little to someone who could wield magic and shift into a bear.