Love & War

Elliot

I can’t believe we are here again after so many years. How could these winged pieces of rubbish expect us not to notice them intruding on our land? Trying to lure us here under the guise of wanting a treaty. They’ve been slowly taking over elven land for years.

Gods, I itch to just end all of them and all of this. It’s tiring fending them off night after night. I run my finger down the blade of my axe as I sharpen it.

My blade itches for their blood too. I figure if I kill enough of them the curse has to lift eventually right? It’s all their fault this is going on anyway. All because the lousy fae king was jealous of his wife loving my father.

Granted it’s as much my father’s fault as it is his. If he would have left that Fae Queen alone this wouldn’t have happened. But no, he just had to show her kindness and fall for her. How in Theos’ name could you fall for a glitter shit? They are all trash in my eyes. All of them need to go.

“Ell, you okay? You’re a million miles away right now, ” Zander asks from across the small bonfire.

The flames lick up the bits of sap on the small branches it was stoked with. I blink and look up at him.

Did I zone out again? Ugh. I need to get my head out of the clouds.

“Yeah yeah, I’m okay. Just thinking about the raid tonight.”

I run my fingers through my hair. Zander cracks a smile and shakes his head.

“You’ve always been shit- er bad at lying Ell. I wonder where your head is half the time.”

Zander stands and dusts the dirt off of his leather pants. His blonde hair braided back into a low ponytail. Jess must’ve done that for him.

“Jessilyn do your hair again, Z?” I raise an eyebrow.

The other soldiers around us stop and look over. A few of them snicker.

“What’s wrong with my woman braiding my hair back? It looks better than what you flaming toadstools could muster up.”

“Nothing is wrong with the Princess braiding it for you, sir. It’s just the way his majesty asked is all,” the suck-up of the platoon steps up.

What was his name again? Lowe?

“You know what you sound like, Lowe? A Glitter Shit. You have wings tucked in that armor?”

I laugh, rising to my feet. I roll back my shoulders and turn to face him. Lowe drops to kneel before me, his eyes glued to the ground at my feet.

“No sir, I don’t have wings, I swear it!”

I swear I can see him shaking. I feel my lips twitch upwards.

“Get up, Lowe. I’m just fuckin’ with you,” I laugh. Zander pinches the bridge of his nose. “What?”

“Cursing is unbecoming of the great Elven Prince, Ell.”

I purse my lips.

“You’re around my sister entirely too much. You’re starting to sound like her now.”

Zander has the biggest grin on his face. A love-struck fool. That’s what that look means. I sigh and look around the makeshift campsite. The tall trees and cracked ground start to disappear as the sun begins to set. Then a screeching howl comes from just beyond my eyesight. The unmistakable gurgling howl of a creeper.

Those insufferable things killed one of my men just last week. Between the creepers and the Fairy Brigade, our numbers are dwindling. A twig snaps just a few yards away from camp catching my attention. My head immediately jerks towards the sound. The brier bushes begin to shift and their thick, thorny branches snap into an animalistic form.

Well, hell. We set up camp in a brier beast den. How the hell did we miss that? Note to self- demote Joben. Some scout he is.

“Brier beasts! Arm yourselves!” I scream as loudly as I can before unsheathing my sword.

The sound of vines snapping and reshaping themselves comes from every direction.

“We’re surrounded.”

Of course, we are. How is this even happening right now? Of all the rotten luck.

“At your command, Elliot,” Zander says standing beside me armed with a bow and arrows.

“Around me!” I yell.

My men form a circle, all facing the edges of the camp. The air calms and everything is silent except for the crackling of the dying fire. I steady my breath. I knew they were coming, it’s just a matter of when. The calm before the storm. Directly in front of me, I see a large brier beast slowly moving around us, sizing us up.

“Is that thing circling us?” Lowe asks in a whisper.

No shit. How do I always get stuck with the idiots?

As if to answer, the beast stops and faces us. I narrow my eyes, daring it to attack. The brier beast easily stands ten feet high and the thorns coming off of that beast are at least a foot long. And razor-sharp, of course, because the universe has some kind of twisted vendetta against us. I grip my sword and widen my stance.

Bring. It. On.

The brier beast charges the circle to my left. The ground gives way under its monstrous paws, leaving small craters in its wake. The beast runs full speed ahead.

I yell, “Archers to the ready!”

Come on. Into range. Just a little more. There we go.

“Fire!” I call out.

A shower of arrows rains down on the behemoth beast. They slow it, but it keeps charging trailing a line of thick violet blood behind it. I can feel the adrenaline pulsing through me. I hear my heart in my ears.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

“Again!” I shout as I point my sword to the beast.

Another hailstorm of arrows assaults the beast. It gives a shriek and a snarl, pausing for a moment. It sways before finally falling over.

Thank God.

“Hold the line! If it moves, Zander, fire again.”

“Yes, Sir!”

The air is still once again. I can see my breath in front of me.

Come on. I know you’re out there. Where are you?

The gurgling howls of the creepers get close. I can smell the rotting flesh of the decomposing primates. The scraping of their claws on the trees echoes all around us.

That beast was so loud it acted like a fucking beacon! Oh, hell.

“Ready yourselves! Creepers!” I square my shoulders.

The fire dies down to embers and the little light we have fades with it. No one dares break formation. I swallow down the urge to get the hell out. I know not all of us will make it if we attempt a retreat.

I’m not losing anyone else. Not again. Not like this.

The first creeper shows its skull-like face from around a laurel thicket. Its jagged teeth have a greenish slime dripping and stringing to the ground as it runs towards us. Its long black claws are fully extended. It throws its head back and opens its mouth, dislocating its jaw, and lets out a gurgling howl. The green drool sloshes to the ground as it snaps its head back towards us as if it is on a hinge.

“Why is it always creepers? Bloody hell.” Zander swears under his breath.

“Archers to the ready! Aim for the trees! Everyone else, prepare yourselves! Don’t let them scratch you!” I yell, narrowing my eyes. “Fire!”

Once again, arrows rain down. I can hear twigs snapping and bones breaking as the arrows hit their marks, but the fuckers keep coming. As soon as the first wave of creepers is in reach, we attack. They are easy enough to kill, but we are outnumbered five hundred to one. We are completely screwed if they break through the circle. With one swift swing of my sword, a creeper splits in half, its yellow blood spraying the front of my shirt.

Damn. I liked this shirt.

It feels like for every creeper I kill, three more pop up snarling in its place. Beside me, Zander decapitates the two in front of him as he unsheathes the sword on his hip. I can hear everyone’s quick breaths as they fight. And a woman’s giggle?

What the hell?

I shake it off refocusing on the creeper in front of me. Every muscle in my body aches. It feels like we have been fighting for hours when the sun begins to rise. The light snakes through the tall, barren trees. It’s almost to us. Creepers screech as the light touches them. The remnants of their rotting flesh sizzle and smoke.

Not much longer. Just hold on. I can do this. We can do this.

The creepers that are barreling towards us make a sharp left turn and run towards the receding shadows. I hold my stance until the last of those vile things is out of my sight.

“Joben. What good is having a scout if he’s as useless as a Rapska! We all could have died tonight!” I say between breaths.

Zander looks at me out of the corner of his eye. Joben doesn’t dare respond. Nothing he could say will make me any less pissed at him right now. The stench of charred creeper flesh is still thick in the air.

“What do you say we head back then, Ell? We could all use a little rest before another night of this,” Zander looks over to me.

My shoulders tense before I sigh and nod.

“Okay. Let’s go. If we leave now we should be able to make it before nightfall.”

I can still hear the staccato beat of my heart in my ears. I give my surroundings another once over just to be sure we are still in the clear before I turn to my men. I take one step forward and feel something graze my cheek. I look behind me and find a single dove grey arrow lodged in the ground where I had just been standing. The crystal shaft sparkles in the sunlight.

Fuck!

“We’re under attack! Rapska above!” I scream.

As if on cue, a shower of arrows showers down upon us. My muscles ache as I drop and roll to the nearest tree for cover. I leaned against my makeshift shield.

Okay, how many are there?

I peek around the tree once the arrows grant me a reprieve.

One. Two. Three...Seven. There are seven Rapskas above my men. Encircling them from the sky. I swear I’m going to rip their wings from their backs.

The one barking orders is on the outside of the other six. His uniform is a pale blue color whereas the others are in a canary yellow uniform. He has an emerald green sash. His long pale blonde hair is tied back with...

What is that? A ribbon? That has to be their leader. If I can take him out maybe it will give my men enough time to take down the rest. They’re right under a tall cedar tree. If I can climb unnoticed, I can take them by surprise. Here goes everything.

I silently scale the side of the tree I’m taking cover behind. The closer I get to them, the more of their filth I hear. The one in the blue throws his head back and laughs.

Almost there. Almost.

I position myself above him on the branch and look down at my men. Zander catches my eye. I put a finger to my lips and look back at the Rapska in blue.

This one is mine.

I unsheath my knives and ready myself on the branch. Ignoring the feeling in my stomach, I jump from the branch. My left foot makes contact with the Rapska’s spine. As we start spiraling towards the ground, I press my knives to the base of his wings. Everything goes numb. I see him screaming but I hear nothing. I feel nothing, just numbness. I saw through the base of his wings and jump off of his back just before he crashes into the dirt. I roll to the left before standing again. He doesn’t move and neither do his men. Blood squirts from the two gaping holes in his back. His light grey wings are still fluttering about on the ground, stirring up dust.

I look over to Zander and nod toward the weapons scattered on the ground not fifteen feet away. Zander nods and lunges towards the weapons. The Rapskas still in the air was frozen in place. My men mobilize heading for their weapons. I put my knee on the Rapska’s spine and wrap his hair around my hand. Everything around me fades from my focus. I yank his head up and press my blade to his throat. The Rapska yelps out and my lip twitch upwards. I feel a rush of adrenaline as I lower down to where I know he can hear me.

“All hail the King of the Elven lands. For I am his sword, and justice shall be served by my blade.”

I drag my blade across his throat, spraying the ground in front of us. A few droplets streak down my face. I drop the Rapska’s head onto the dirt and watch as blood pools around him.

Pathetic.

Looking up, I see my men have the others cornered. The Rapskas began to fly higher, just out of our reach.

Damn. Cowards - the lot of them. Retreating like that.

I glare after them as they retreat into the horizon.

“Elliot!” I hear Zander and snap back to reality. “I thought we were goners there. Thanks for having our backs there.”

He grins over at me and the rest of the men surround me, lifting me. Cheering, hooting, and laughing? No. That laugh belongs to a woman. I snap my head in the direction of the laugh. A barefoot woman in a jade gown is standing in between two giant trees. Her long blonde hair brushes her elbows in the breeze. She is smiling. She is gorgeous. She giggles again and disappears behind the tree to her right. That’s the same giggle as before.

“For he’s a jolly good fellow! For he’s a jolly good fellow! For he’s a jolly good fellow that nobody can deny!”

They all sing off-key around me. I shake my head and l look back to the tree one more time.

“Let’s get back, shall we? I don’t know about you toadstools, but I’m wiped. I would like to sleep on my own bed tonight,” I smile at everyone.

We walk for what seems to be an eternity before the tall wooden gates of the village are in sight. Thankfully, we don’t encounter any more attacks on the way.

“Do you hear that? It sounds like trumpets!” Lowe points to the gates.

“You forget you’re in the presence of his Royal Highness Crown Prince Elliot Cottonwood of the Elven people! Of course, there’s going to be a stupid amount of fanfare. Do you know how many eligible ladies are going to be lined up on the streets to get even a glimpse of him?” Zander says loudly enough for the world to hear.

I roll my eyes and glare at him. He’s biting his lip to hold back from laughing.

“Don’t encourage this foolishness,” I groan.

I hate the attention from those women who are looking for a leg-up in the social scene. That’s all I am to them. I may as well just be a cardboard cutout as long as I have the crown.

“Oh no, a bunch of beautiful women throwing themselves at you. I can’t imagine the horror,” Zander puts the back of his hand to his forehead while clutching his shirt with the other.

“Why do you insist on being a thorn in my side? Honestly. What the hell does Jess even see in you?”

“It keeps ya honest. And no one else here has the balls to do it,” Zander laughs.

I laugh and throw my arm around his neck. We walk through the gates of the village and, as expected, everyone is lining the streets. Men, women, children, and the elderly. Some of the more brazen women throw handkerchiefs at us for attention. I’m sure their names are embroidered on them somewhere. I walk over them and into the Twisted Arrow bar. The door is propped open with a copper wedge. I step inside and smile.

Finally. Something familiar. Something that doesn’t care who I am.

The mismatched chairs surround their respective tables and the worn barstools at the counter are empty.

My favorite spot.

I slouch onto a stool and lean on the counter. I should be thinking of raid strategies. Or even what I want to drink. Instead, I find myself thinking about that woman in the forest. What surprises me the most is I felt my heart leap in my chest.

Was it her laugh?

Thump.

Was it her brilliant smile?

Thump.

Oh. Oh no.

I groan and bury my face in my hands.

Am I a lovestruck fool now too? I’m going to be sick.