Page 99 of Forged in Fading

“I am telling you what I told the others to convince them to train, so your friend has no need to translate. I want you to know from my lips why they fight. I know the evil we face…” He raised his scarred eyebrows.

“Alvara.”

Something much too close to terror took hold of his gaze. “Alvara. Alvara Himren.”

“How did you…” She closed her eyes. “Noma.” What had she endured, what had Erun and the others endured because of Alvara’s escape?

“She was a good woman.” Erun turned back to the warriors, to the sparring that somehow seemed even more important now, and a heavy responsibility settled between Alvara’s shoulder blades.

“I’m sorry for the pain I caused all of you.” Her voice cracked, and Erun laid a hand on her shoulder.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Alvara. We all do what we must for those we love. The king would have found another reason to hurt us all the same.”

Tears welled in her eyes, but she wiped them away with her sleeve. “Thank you, Erun. I’m glad you made it out. Made it home.”

“I am too. And I will do what I can to persuade as many as possible to join. Nice meeting you, Alvara…” He took a small breath. “Himren.”

Erun joined the others, who lapsed into silence at his approach. They must have all known who he was and what he had suffered because of King Einar. Because of an elf.

Whose kind they were now forced to work with and live beside.

Alvara occupied her restless mind with cataloguing the unique combat tactics of the human warriors. There was no denying that they were skilled, leagues beyond the elves who had abandoned any form of combat after their youngling years.

But in a battle of steel against magic, one was more likely to win, at least on the surface. And their movements were slower and even clumsier than the elves’, something that became apparent in her regular dealings with humans. Even the humans’ horses lagged far behind their elven counterparts.

Most of all, they needed to train with the demi-elves and other wielders to understand how to grapple with elements they had likely only ever heard of in stories. If they could catch King Einar’s soldiers off guard, they might have an opportunity in sheer numbers to overpower them physically.

As the sparring finished and more humans begrudgingly joined the training, Alvara demonstrated the basic elven fighting forms, which focused more heavily on defense and countering. The humans observed her with skepticism, but with a combination of withering looks from Rav and Gerdavir, they followed along, even as their bodies struggled to keep up with Alvara’s lithe movements.

“Did Boden ever mention a human named Erun? One of King Einar’s servants?” Alvara asked as she and Rav watched the humans practice, her eyes drawn to Erun’s scrawny figure. He had probably starved for years in the palace, among other horrors.

“No,” Rav said. “Boden keeps most of it to himself. Don’t ask him, Alvara.”

“Why?” The trust that lay between her and Boden—it made her feel like she could ask him anything under the sun, and he would answer without guilt or hesitation.

“He’s out. Out of the palace. Don’t drag him back in. Please.”

Alvara chewed on his words. It was the only time she had ever heard Rav use the word please, and she knew that counted for something. “I won’t.” She pointed her spear in the direction of the warriors. “You think it will work?”

“It has to.” He crossed his arm over his body and scowled at the stump protruding from his shoulder. The sight pained Alvara, but she said nothing. “Thank you, by the way.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “This is the second time you’ve thanked me for something. Should I be concerned?”

“Very funny,” he said as he stretched his arm in circles. “Thank you for letting me help. If one more person tries to get me to rest or sit on my ass, I’ll choke them.”

“I don’t doubt it. But you’re more than your loss, Rav. I can see that clearly, and the ones who matter can too. Prove all the others wrong, or choke them, your choice. Not the most pleasant experience, I’ll give you that.”

He shrugged. “You did almost kill Kat.”

A fair point. “Why haven’t you two ever…?”

“My father. A plan for an arranged political match,” Rav said, before barking an order at one of the humans and running off without another word.

The day of the meeting with the other local chiefs, Alvara bounced on her toes at the edge of the shore—as if staring at the lapping waves would summon more than the three leaders who had shown up so far.

In the last week and a half, they had increased guard rotations and spent countless hours cleaning the town and preparing a feast for those that would attend. Though the lavish food seemed a bit excessive in the face of the elves and demi-elves who had been mostly subsisting on whatever they could hunt, fish, or borrow from the humans’ supplies.

“Standing there all day won’t make the time pass any faster,” Boden said as he stopped beside her.