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Another arrow finds purchase in one of my tentacles, this one hitting it squarely and lodging firmly in the rubbery meat of my aquatic appendage. I ignore the stab of pain, focusing on the elves I pulled below the water.
One of them manages to unsheathe the sword at its waist, stabbing frantically toward my torso. With great effort, I manage to catch its arm with a tentacle, turning the blow toward the other elf. For a brief moment, the elf and I struggle for control of the weapon, but my strength proves greater. I push the sword into the throat of the second elf.
Then I wrap my remaining foe in the combined length of all my tentacles, crushing his body like an overripe melon.
I turn back toward the surface and see my plan has worked. Five elves now swim toward me with some sort of spell maintaining a bubble of air around their heads. “So that’s how they plan to fight. So be it. They’re in my realm now,” I remind myself.
The elves swim with surprising speed and agility, approaching me in a wedge formation. As one, the elves draw back their right hands and release a stream of magical attacks at me. I dive deep to avoid the attacks and come up from below them, but the elves follow me warily, maintaining a clear line of sight.
Behind them, the six remaining elves join, forming their own wedge and coming into position beside the first group.
The elves are fast, but not as fast as me. I drive my body forward, twisting and turning between their attacks. I do my best to put myself between them in the hope that a stray attack meant for me will take out one of the elves.
When I reach the smaller group, I stab a tentacle into the bubble of air one of the elves is using, causing him to choke on water and swim back toward the surface as his instinct for self-preservation overtakes him.
I grab another by the neck, twisting until it snaps.
Then pain, such as I’ve never felt before, erupts in my back. A bolt of energy has struck me square in the back, making my body shake as it burns my insides. A moment later, I feel a punch in my side and look down to see a knife protruding from my hip.
Panic wells up inside me. I feel paralyzed for a moment. I’m dying. I’m failing.No. No, Penny lives, so I must live, too.
With great effort, I manage to break off from the elves before they can strike me again, diving for the safety of the depths but leading them away from my cavern.
Much to my dismay, only one of the groups pursues me. Five of them break off, swimming straight for my home. For Penny. The other five come straight for me, arms cocked to cast their lethal attacks at me.
Blood pools around me as I watch the elves approach. Pain clouds my mind and weakens my body as I continue to lose blood, but determination still rings clear and true in my heart. Penny can take five of them. All I must do is kill these five, and Penny will live.
Holding onto that knowledge, I await their arrival.The blood of elves will turn the sea red before I let these men reach Penny.
“Come and meet your death, for I am ready to meet mine,” I taunt. And with that, the battle is joined once again in the formerly peaceful blue waters of Yaccarres.
26
PENNY
There are five of them I see who have managed to get through. They’re stepping out of the water onto the land, and they don’t see me here in the temple, peering out at them.
But they will come here. I know it. And I have to be ready for them.
It’s frightening to realize that there’s no one else to protect the temple. Laiken is outside fighting the main assault. He won’t be able to come rescue me like he has in the past. I’m going to have to do this myself. And that’s not easy.
I can sense that Laiken and this temple are deeply connected. I don’t know if damaging the temple would actually hurt Laiken. But I do know that by being here, these men are soiling something very precious to him.
And precious to me, too. I hadn’t realized just how precious it was. But it is, and I’m willing to fight for it.
There’s no sense fighting them in the open. I have to get them into the temple. I know the halls of this temple, and they don’t. That’s my advantage, and I have to use it.
“Come fight me if you’re going to fight me!” I call to them, standing in the door of the temple. “I’m waiting for you!”
“She’s in that building!” one of the elves cries, and immediately, all three of them are rushing towards me. I duck away into one of the side hallways.
Good,I think.As long as they’re after me, they won’t be attacking Laiken. At least I can do that much for him.
I finger the knife I have in my hand. It’s not much of a weapon, especially not against enemies with swords and bows, but I’ll make it work somehow.
The question is whether they’ll split up or stay together once they reach the many corridors of the temple. My guess is that they’ll split up. There doesn’t seem to be a commander among them. Still, I have to be ready for either.
I race for the first intersection I know they’re going to have to cross. This should be a good spot for an ambush.
