Page 7 of Black Sea

Father put a hand on my shoulder with a compassionate look, lightly pressing one of the two gold studs that held up my dress against my collarbone. “Come, my daughter. Your mother is waiting for us.”

I nodded but didn’t follow him immediately. Instead, I kept my eyes on the temple gates, which closed on their own as the spell drew to an end.

A strange feeling prompted me to press one hand on my heart. The breeze caused the excess fabric hanging from the sides of my dress to flutter, along with the wavy locks of my hair that had been left free from the hairstyle.

Yes, Araton was right. Mornon was gone.

Yet, within me, I still heard his last, terrifying cry.

1

1000 years later

“I don’t like it, Sister.”

I stood beside Araton on the shore of Lake Caran. It sat on the central plateau of the Lands of the East and got its name from a special red plant that grew at its bottom, tinting the water a crimson hue, so that at times the lake looked like a blood lagoon.

“Nobody likes it, Brother,” I replied, peering sideways at his gray armor with copper decorations to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. “That’s why Father counts on us to resolve the situation.”

“It’s not that, Nauriel.” Araton’s eyes shifted to the stone dam controlling the river that rushed down into the valley. “I sense something. Like vibrations in the water.”

I placed one hand on his shoulder; his coppery cloak was soft under my palm. “It’s just the armies moving at once.”

He exhaled sharply through his nose, easing up a bit. “You’re right.” He removed my hand from his shoulder and held it briefly, looking at it as he brushed his thumb over the back of my fingers. In the past, he would have smiled at me before releasing my hand. “Come on. Our soldiers are waiting.”

I watched him walk toward our horses, grazing a bit farther away. Then I turned back to the lake and closed my eyes with a sad sigh.

Araton had almost overcome his grief; it was now obvious. He hadn’t been heard screaming or despairing for quite a while, and for several years, he had been strolling around the palace and engaging with other elves again.

Soon, we should say farewell to him.

And I wasn’t ready.

Ringil’s neigh snapped me back to reality, and the roar of the river spring on the nearest mountain seemed to explode into my ears. I frowned at the thin but impetuous waterfalls plunging into the scarlet water, then I turned around and mounted my mare.

We rode across the lush hills, leaving Aegel—the elven capital built within the evergreen coniferous and broadleaf forest covering the Aroron Mountains—behind us.

Heading south, the slopes gradually leveled out into plains scattered with large trees. We caught up with our army and moved toward the Glawar, the majestic, gleaming river that marked the border with the Kingdom of Men and cascaded from a towering cliff directly into the Thalion Sea.

And on the opposite bank, the current King’s legion was already lined up.

For centuries, a beautiful stone bridge had connected our regions. But a few years ago, when the human king had secretly met my father and threatened to invade our territory because he refused to grant him Calien’s power to save the men’s lands—affected by an unknown disease killing the crops and plantations—King Erech had ordered the bridge’s immediate destruction.

In doing so, he had marked the beginning of irreparable hostility between our peoples.

Araton and I spurred the horses toward the riverbank.

“Let the Lord of the Kingdom of Men step forward,” I said loudly in the common tongue, “and let us seek a solution together without unnecessary bloodshed.”

Seeing that my father wasn’t even at the rear of our army, the king didn’t stoop to coming and speaking to us. Instead, he sent his general—a stocky man riding a large horse capable of supporting his size.

He removed his helmet, tucked it under his arm, and looked at us with disgust. He moved his jaw—covered with a blonde beard that had a white spot on his chin—as if he were chewing tobacco.

“My lord has nothing more to say, Elf Prince,” he began in a rasping voice.

The fact that he addressed my brother instead of me, even though I was the one who had spoken, clearly showed how much his people despised the elves for allowing females to join the army. Women were forbidden to fight or work; they were to stay at home, care for children, cook, and clean.

And the fact that they tolerated such a life enraged me.