On the Road Again
“My butt hurts,” Dani complained. I bit my tongue so I wouldn’t say what immediately jumped to mind. She heard my snickering anyway. “No seriously, this happens all the time when we ride too long or hard.”
Unable to bear it any longer I burst out into a fit of laughter. “Sounds like a personal problem to me.”
She rolled her eyes and huffed at me. “You know exactly what I mean. You have such a dirty mind.”
“Yes, yes I do. It’s part of why we are friends. Now, can you take a look at the directions we were given? There is a fork in the road ahead.” Flurry’s head peeked out of my saddle bag and I reached over to stroke the top of it.
“We want to head south at the next fork. It looks like we are going to have to go through some pretty thick forest though. Think you’re up to being our eyes?”she asked.
The deeper into the woods we traveled the darker it became. Soon we relied heavily on my Elven and Dragon senses to navigate the tough terrain. Unable to gauge the time of day, we continued to ride until we were too tired and sore to continue. When we finally found an alcove in the trees along a riverbank, we decided to make camp for the night.
While I gathered firewood Dani secured the horses and relieved them of their burdens. Soon we were seated around a warm campfire enjoying soup and other goodies from Aiden’s kitchen. I looked up from my bowl to see Dani pouring over a red book. Her hands quickly flipped through page after page while she sighed, huffed, and looked longingly at a tree as if threatening to beat her head against it. “What do you have there?” I finally asked.
“We received these books at the library and I can’t read them,” she said in frustration.
I snagged the book out of her hand I and skimmed the words within. “Tel dar mah laj ri telanora…” I read. Shrugging, I handed it back to her. “It looks like Dark Elf to me.”
Her eyes grew wide and she looked ready to hit me. “You can read it?”
“Of course, Alathea made me learn Ancient Elvish, Modern Elvish, Dark Elf, and the common language, remember? It was all part of her training to be a better Elf thing.” I smiled. There had been a time when I dreaded seeing Alathea. Now I still dreaded it, but for totally different reasons. Most of them had to do with her falling in line with my parents and complaining about me not completing the binding ceremony and ushering whelps they could spoil into the world.
“Yeah I remember, but I can’t do it,” she said, snapping the book closed and crossing her arms in a pout.
“You can read Dark Elf. I’ve seen you do it,” I said with confusion.
Shaking her head, “Yes, I am capable of reading it, but there is NOTHING on the pages of the book.”
Taking the book from her again I flipped through it. “What are you talking about? It’s all handwritten mumbo-jumbo. The pages are overflowing with words.”
“Then read it to me,” she pleaded.
I blinked a few times at her. “I’m exhausted. This can totally wait until we are back home or at least until after we find the missing herald.”
“You don’t understand,” she cried loudly, tears already staining her cheeks. “I’ve been trying for weeks to see the text and I just can’t. Why can you read them and I can’t? It’s like the cruelest prank of all time. I’ve been surrounded by people who can read books I can’t and then they refuse to help me.” The last of her words were muffled between her sobs.
“I really don’t think it is a cosmic prank being played specifically on you,” I told her, handing the book back.
“If you love me at all you will at least read me the first few pages so I can transcribe them,” she begged. I took one look at her watery eyes and quivering lip and caved. With a heavy sigh I opened the book again and began reading. I read the first ten or twenty pages before I looked up at her. “I’m sorry, I’m exhausted. I am going to sleep now.” She looked like she might object but thought better of it, choosing to nod and take the book back instead.
I curled up in my bedding and closed my eyes. I could hear her feverishly scratching at her pad with a pen trying to translate the words. “Go to sleep Dani. If you are tired tomorrow it will mean I have to worry about you falling off the horse, or worse, being injured if there we’re attacked.” I opened one eye to stare at her before holding out my had for the notebook. “Give it to me.”
“No, I’m an adult,” she yelped.
I held up my hand and a ball of fire appeared. “Give it to me or I torch the whole notebook.”
Her eyes flared with fear as she held it protectively. Finally she handed it over, mumbling to herself. “No-good stinking Dragon. She thinks just because she is a princess she is the boss of me….”
“You do remember I am half Elf? My hearing is outstanding,” I told her as she pulled out her hearing aids. She stuck her tongue out at me and faced her back towards the fire. Sighing, I tucked the notebook under my pillow and closed my eyes.
