Page 97 of To Kill a King
Tsara came to a stop behind him. “What happened here?”
By Abaddon… More than twenty elves laid in the courtyard where they fell. Many in the middle of routine tasks like chopping wood or fletching arrows. There were no visible signs of a struggle, or pain in any of the victim’s expressions. No blood marred their clothing or splattered the walls or ground.
They hadn’t even had time to bar the gates.
Elessan nudged a prairie dog carcass with his foot. Rigor hadn’t set in yet. This was recent. He glanced at the buildings from the corner of his eyes. The culprits might still be nearby.
Tsara’s voice drifted from the stable. “The people, the horses, everything. Dead.” She paused. “Valek. There’s a group of humans here, too. Prisoners, it looks like.”
Something flashed in his peripheral vision from the edge of the barracks. Pulling out his sword, he strode to investigate.
“Is this some sort of disease?” Tsara stepped into the sunlight, one hand covering her mouth.
Elessan picked up the metallic object and held it up to her. “I don’t think so.”
The princess’ eyes grew round as she approached. “Another canister?”
He nodded. “I don’t think these are as harmless as we thought.” A quick twist, and the loose side of the tube clicked into place. “See? It’s identical to the other one, with the odd writing all over.”
Her voice turned breathy. “You think this is a human weapon? Could it kill everything in the area?”
He blinked. “I do…but how?” It explained all the dead animals they encountered in the forest. Lead pooled in his gut.
She held her hand out, and he handed it to her. “We must learn whatever we can about these, including how to stop them. Starting with its range.”
Elessan gazed over his shoulder. “You go that way, I go this way?”
The princess nodded. “Meet back here when you find something living.”
A half-hour later, they had their answer. The weapon ended all life within a half mile, down to the last insect. The sun had dropped two finger-widths lower in the sky by the time he returned to the outpost. His heart hung heavy and cold in his chest as Tsara rejoined him after several minutes. Her skin was abnormally pale, her eyes wide.
“This can’t go unchecked. We must end it, so they can’t kill anyone else.” She held up the canister. “I’ll take these to my father’s scientists and mages, then rally the army. We’ll meet you in Perdition Pass.”
“You spoke to the king?”
She nodded. “I scried with him and showed him what we found. He agrees we need to crush this before the humans unleash another. They’re called Whisperers, but we don’t know much more about them.” She paused. “The elves are going to battle. One last time.”
He reached into his pack and pulled out the other canister, putting it in her waiting palm. “Fly like the wind.”
“Find your girlfriend, get ready to finish this war. And Svialto.” She flicked her hair over her shoulder. “Be safe. They’ve already used two. Chances are, they have more.”
He waited until Tsara was long out of sight before heading in the opposite direction for Lion’s Grove.
Less than a half-mile later, a twig snapped behind him, accompanied by the sound of several footsteps.
“Hey! Elf!”
Elessan cursed his luck. The road was the faster route to catch Aliya, but this close to the dead at the fort and the border, he should have stuck to game trails. Or at least kept his hood up, regardless of this heat.
A blade slid from its sheath. “Halt!”
With a sigh, he turned to face the group of human soldiers, keeping his hands on his backpack straps, well away from his weapons. Six…seven…eight-to-one were not great odds.
“You have some explaining to do, elf. What happened to the humans at Stonefist Outpost?”
Elessan’s eyes flicked from the man’s face to the top of the hill behind them. The base was on the other side, out of view. If only he’d gotten a few more leagues between it and him before running into anyone.
He curled his upper lip. “I did nothing. You can thank your kind for that atrocity.” His fingers twitched, itching for his steel. He let the pack slip from his shoulders and fall to the ground.