Cara, Knarra, and Erinnia left the audience with the “queen.”
“She wasn’t very good at the ruse, was she?” Erinnia asked.
“No, my child, she was not. But she is very learned. She has powerful ESP. I’m sure she knows our essences. I felt the Magick. We must watch our friend ‘Elphis’; he is changed,” Knarra said.
“We were watched by a young female who tried to disguise herself in the great tree,” Erinnia said. “The tree rejected her. The Dark Elves are not kind to the forest. The Dark Elves are kind to nothing. They are devious.”
Cara said, “I know we did not see the Queen. Yet the individual we spoke with cast a regal aura. Should we return?”
Knarra answered, “No. Our task is defined. The Dark Elves feel we will fail. If we succeed against the wailing witch, we’ll have to consider dealing with them and their deception. Perhaps we will grant the old one’s request to meet Cyttia, the Amazon.”
The three managed a laugh as they exited the area.
“Elphis” met the three females. The four returned to the clearing where the others waited. Elphis went to his comrades and gave each of them a handful of Dakin. None questioned him.
They spent an uneasy night. Eyerthrein and Erinnia left the camp briefly. It was mid-summer’s eve. Erinnia scaled several large tress and harvested large quantities of mistletoe- mistletoe had greater power if harvested on midsummer’s eve. Erinnia rewarded Eyerthrein with a gentle kiss on his right cheek. Eyerthrein felt ten feet tall!
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