"Why is killing him necessary? If you're trying to save everyone, why not him too? Can't you just keep him locked up in one of these cells until the escape? Then he can get away with everyone else."
He has a point. They seem a bit ruthless for saviors. Of course, I've already seen that ruthlessness in action. I believe that the apprentice necromancer I killed really didn't know how bodies were acquired for the tunnel project. But I'd bet corpse-cold Raichon here knows exactly how they are acquired. And doesn't care. He certainly doesn't seem moved to any compassion toward me. Fact is, Rien and Lynae don't seem that interested in Enturi's point either.
Enturi notices as well.
"Besides," he says, "Arquë can help you."
Rien shakes his head. "I understand he's good. But we have enough muscle. My men are well trained and completely loyal. His skills might be helpful, but we don't need them or him. Unlike you, he brings nothing unique to the table."
"That's not true," Enturi replies. "He brings something to the table that no one else in Elftown has. Something that can make the evacuation smoother."
What is he up to? I appreciate him trying to save my skin. I'm not doing anything to help myself at the moment, other than hope when Lynae comes for me I can pull a shackle out of the wall and kill her with it. Slime, at this point I'd be happy if an egg stalker appeared and paralyzed us all. At least I'd see them dead as well.
Rien takes the bait. I'm not surprised. He seems the most pragmatic of the three.
"What does he bring?"
"You said the ward bosses are gathering the elves in their areas together the night of the escape, to tell them of the plan and give them directions. I can persuade the ward bosses to do that. But my ability to convince others is best directed at one person, though with effort I can extend the effect to a few people. There is no way I can persuade a huge group of elves. The authority of the bosses and their muscle may work. Or it may not. Fear may work. Or it may not. But Arq-"
He pauses to glance at me, as if to reassure himself of something. Then he nods.
"Arq can motivate them. He can make them want to leave. He can inspire them and give them courage. And if there's a long journey ahead, he can keep them hopeful and in good spirits."
Raichon looks skeptical. Lynae looks disdainful.
"I had no idea you were such a powerful speaker, Arq." The acid in her tone could corrode mithril. "The only things I've heard out of your mouth are grunts and threats."
"How would he do this?" Rien asks. Good question. Though I have an idea where Enturi is going with this.
Enturi looks at me again, eyes steady.
"Show them, Arq," he says. "Let them hear."
Yup. Pretty boy wants me to sing for my life. Well, I suppose it's worth a shot. Audience looks tough, though. I've never sung for anyone but Nana Romina.
"Fine," I snarl. I might need to work on my graciousness. Heh.
I search my memory for something that might fit the need. I pull myself inward, taking myself back through the years, until I am seated, wide-eyed, in front of a warm fire burning in the corner fireplace in Nana Romina's tiny room, while she sits on her bench bed and sings with an ethereal voice that sounds as though it comes from a sparkly, insubstantial dryad, not a wizened old elf-crone. My favorites were the battle songs. They brought me to my feet, fighting orcs and humans and monsters with an invisible bow shooting invisible arrows, an invisible blade slashing right, left, and forward. Yeah. That's the reaction I want.
I settle on The Defense of the Caronwood.
The three freedom fighters are staring at me expectantly. I take a deep breath and start to sing.
I start off a bit uneven, a bit uncertain. But after the first few lines the old song's cadence kicks in and my voice smooths out. I become a conduit for the song, as Nana used to say. The room fades as I concentrate on words and notes.
I sing to the frightened elves preparing to defend the Caronwood from the marauding army of migrating orc tribes. I sing of the beauty of the Caronwood and what will be lost if the defense is unsuccessful. I sing them to resolve and then to courage. I sing them the tactics of elven woodland defense. And then I sing the narrative of the defense of the forest, the overwhelming force of the enemy, the retreats and the slow picking at the inexorable and innumerable attackers, the desperate moments, the sacrifices and exhaustion and death and burning. And the triumph. The final climactic battle, the taking down of the last chieftain, the smashing and scattering of the remnants of the marauders.
I hold the last note for a long time and then cut it off abruptly, just as Nana taught. I am flushed and breathing heavily. The room comes into focus again.
The three elves in front of me are staring, eyes and mouths open. I steal a quick glance at Enturi. He is smiling. I may have actually pulled this off.
Raichon nods sharply, arms crossed.
"That will work," he says shortly, and then turns and leaves the cell.
Lynae is still staring.
"Who are you?" she whispers.
"So that's why the humans have forbidden song," Rien says, nodding. "All right, Arq. You just bought your life."
As an enforcer for Jet, a petty elven crime boss, Arq has it better than most in Elftown, the prisoner of war slum of a human city. It's violent work, but it provides him with a little more money than he needs to survive, a little status, and a little free time.
When a prostitute under Jet's protection is brutally murdered, Jet sends Arq and a team of enforcers - including his creepy, ambitious rival; Jet's dangerously alluring girlfriend; and a chatty dwarf-of-all-trades - to find the killer and make an example of him. But when they uncover the dark reason for the murder, the delicate balance of power in Elftown begins to crumble.
To avenge a friend's murder, Arq must contend with betrayal, warring crime bosses, deadly monsters, underworld plots, and forbidden magic that, if discovered by the humans, will send a red tide of death through Elftown. His greatest challenges, though, will be grappling with his own bitter, violent nature, and trying to figure out what it means to be an elf in a place where the humans have taken away everything that makes life worth living for elvenkind.
Author: A. Harris Lanning
Cover Art: Xavier Ward
(c)2016, 2023
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