Chapter 315 (1/2)

Chapter 315

I followed several feet behind Tessia, keepingaround us wouldn’t see how nervous I wasMost of them were elves out of necessity; huy forest of Elshi+re, even with the elves there to guide us

Boo trailed along behindin and out of the trees as he sniffed around, stuffing his nose in the dirt to search for grubs or other small forest creatures to eatJust by the way ed, I could tell he was really at holad to be out of the caves

We’d only been in Elshi+re for an hour or two, but I felt like the fog had seeped intoit hard to thinkI tried to pay attention as Tessia gave orders but constantly founddreamily at some flower or tree or rock, only to snap back to the present when Tessia would ask, “Ellie, are you coress on a pit trap that was being dug in the h it seemed like little more than a deer trail to me, Tessia had said that such clear paths only existed near the interior of Elenoir, connecting so elves orking together to build the pit trapThe first, a fair-haired boy with handsoe hole in the path that was at least ten feet deep

The other tore their hoods up, though I could still make out their serious expressions underneath, and were coaxing roots up out of the botto spikes

All three turned to snap quick salutes to Tessia before returning to their work

“Make the pit just a bit wider, froranite—“to there,” she said, pointing at a space between the roots of a large, knobbly tree with patches offrom it like a hundred little beards

“That way, even a soldier walking on the edge of the path will fall in”

“Yes, Lady Tessia,” the green-eyed elf replied, i to widen the hole so that it encompassed the entire path

Tessia , silvery-gray hair bounce against her backShe had really taken to commandI knew she’d led soldiers before, and that she had been beaten badly by the Alacryans in Elenoir previously, but now she seeht with us all showed her respect

My ht of asking Tessia for advice on gaining control of my beast will, since I knew she relied heavily on hers in battleI had to remind myself that noasn’t exactly the best time for that

I’d had a short talk with Commander Virion after he’d heard more about what happened in the tunnels, and he’d made it obvious that the more powerful a mana beast was, the harder it was to unlock its beast will…and of course, Boo wasn’t just any ordinary mana beast

Then how the heck did Arthur unlock his beast will so fast?I shookain, I brought Commander Virion’s words to n entity deep inside yourexcept for Boo’s da h

Ahead of me, Tessia stopped and turned back with a raised brow“Ellie, are you coed to catch up

A short distance fro so the packed dirt to shake and softenI hadn’t h I’d heard of their arrival: the brothers Hornfels and Skarn Earthborn, cousins of Lance Mica

They stopped their casting and straightened as we approached, though they did not saluteThe dwarves were both short and broad, like most of their kinThey had identical features: broad noses, red cheeks, and wiry blonde beardsTheir expressions were so different, though, that it would have been easy toat Tessia as if she were his long lost best friend who had reappeared after having been lared at her as if she’d just said so very unkind about his ?” Tessia asked as she bent down and ran her hands over the tilled earth

“Well enough,” the scowling dwarf muttered“This is just the preparation, as you saidThe real spell’s cast when the carts arrive”

“Then, shoop,” the se tires sink in and stick fastIt’d take a dozen horses to pull ‘em out”

Tessia pressed her hand down into the soft soil“You ic in Elshi+re forest,” she said quietly before standing up straight“And it’s a privilege to be working alongside you”

The grinning dwarf grinned wider, the scowling dwarf scowled deeperTessia gave the into the forest

The dwarves’ eyes fell on ht it was really too bad that the dwarven king and queen had betrayed DicathenThey’d left their people in such a hard positionI thought it was very brave of these Earthborns to have sought us out, when one into full revolt in support of the invaders

“Can we, perhaps, help you with so me to jump and look around for Tessia

“Ellie, are you—”

“Co the dwarves an aave, I leapt over a knee-high boulder and jogged toward Tessia

She rested a hand on ht up“I have a few soldiers fortifying positions within the trees” Tessia pointed above us, where an elven archer was coaxing several tree branches into a sort of nestIt was a to the soldier’sto be here”

“Got it” I traced the line froht shot to the dwarves’ sinkhole

“These points—here, here, and there—foraze deadly serious“The es up there will be the most iht in the middle of itThis needs to be quick and quiet, othere risk losing the prisoners

“I know the ht now, but if you concentrateyour focus, it’ll help keep the effects of the fog at bayTheis that we keep the prisoners safe and stop any Alacryans fro in understandingI couldn’t disappoint her, I needed to prove myself here—not as Arthur Leywin’s sister, but as Eleanor Leywin

Tessia dipped her head down, gently caressing the back of my head as her forehead touched mine“I know you don’t want to be coddled, but…stay safe out there”

Taken aback, I pulled away fro with as much determination I could muster“Of course”

“Lady Tessia?”

Standing nearby, tall and straight backed and handsome, stood Curtis Glayder, a warm smile on his faceHis sister, Kathyln, stood behind him, half-invisible in a deep shadow

Boo perked up when he noticed Curtis’s bond, the world lion Grawder, and the two cautiously approached and began sniffing one another

Curtis ruffled his crimson hair as he approached Tessia“I’ to further discuss the ground tactics before the battle”

“I need to see that preparations on the eastern line are progressing as expected,” she stated before nodding her head in the direction she was heading“Walk witha well-practiced gesture with his hand

I watched with growing annoyance as the talked away, shoulder to shoulderI kneas nothing and that they had been friends since their days at Xyrus Acadeirlfriend!

But Arthur was gone, and the creepingto overwhelm me burst its daht, wiping a tear from my eye with the back of my hand

“It’s still difficult, isn’t it?” I jerked around, just then realizing that Kathyln alking next toon without them” Her skin was so white and her face so still that she could have been a porcelain doll, as cold and beautiful as an ice crystal

I had grown to really like Kathyln since she and Curtis were rescued and brought to the underground shelterShe always seemed ay past her years, and there was that weird, flowery, al

“Eleanor?”

Blinking, I realized I had been staring silently at Kathyln for way too long“Yeah, I guess…” I murmured

We crossed back over the path and followed Tessia and Curtis through the trees on the other sideThey were speaking, but I couldn’t hear exactly what they were sayingCurtis said so that made Tessia sht was an ads because this stupid fog, I thought, hoping it was true

“Are you scared?” I suddenly blurted,the contours of the tree roots and the sharp edges of the broad-leafed plants that blanketed the ground

“Only a fool isn’t scared before battle,” Kathyln answered“But these people need our help, so I’ll fight anyway”

Kathyln and I walked in silence after thatTessia verified that the snipers’ nests on that side of the road were ready, then spent several longthe fightFinally, she called the entire assault party together for one last pep talk