Chapter 11 Chapter Ten Betrayal

The next morning, the entire camp of elves was in motion, and the revived elves were eager to kill the enemy.Cadderly, Danica, and Rufo did their best not to get in the way of their busy companions as they restocked the patrol with rope and arrows. "I'm going to search with Alberez," Danica insisted to her two friends. "Based on the training I have received, it is more than enough to deal with a magician." "You don't even know if Abereth is going or not," Cadderly retorted.Indeed, in the central cave before their eyes, the Elven Prince was arguing bitterly with his father.

"Abeles will search as he promised," Xuelin said, approaching the friends.She looks much better than she did before Dionysian Tiegfel. "It's like he bravely went to King Galandale today to explain the value of the ceremony itself that was performed last night. There are rumors that the king is not happy that Aberis is going to host Dionysus Tigfel." It seems to be highlighting The girl's arguments echoed in the cave several times. Xuelin shook her head and walked away.She won't be able to go out with the patrol today, but those who take care of her are sure that she will recover soon.

Cadderly considered the noise from the cavern in terms of Shailene's words.He knew Danica would not listen to him; the monk was as stubborn as he was. "If you're going, I'm going too," said the young scholar. Danica scowled. "You're not trained for covert operations," she said. "You could get in our way, or even put us in danger." "Priests have ways of countering the power of magicians," Zilkhan Rufo reminded her. Danica paused, "Are you going too?" "I'm not going," Rufo assured her, "I didn't come here to fight, and it would be better for the elves if I didn't!"

His confession didn't make Danica's scowl go away, it was clear she had always disliked the skinny man. "I'll do what I have to do," said Cadderly. "From what Headmaster Thobix said, I'm our leader. If you choose to go with Aberes, I won't stop you." you, but I must follow you." "I am not under your command," she reminded Cadderly, "nor your library." "Disobeying Headmaster Thobicus will keep you from ever going back there," Cadderly warned, "and it will keep you from continuing to study Pampa Dam." Danica's glare deepened, but she didn't retort.

At this moment Abereth came out of Galendelle's cave, his face flushed with anger.When he saw Danica and the others, his face softened, and he walked straight over to join them. "Your father isn't too happy with you," Danica commented. "He was never happy," Aberez said, forcing a small smile, "but we respected each other and never doubted our love for each other." Cadderly didn't doubt that, and it left him with a sense of lack, of emptiness.He would want to have a father, even if only to quarrel with him! "Are you going on patrol today?" Danica asked.

"I will scout alone," replied the elven prince, looking into the dark forest that stretched below them. "I must find and kill the magician before any more damage is done." "You're not going alone," Danica said.As soon as Abeles saw Danica's brown, almond-shaped eyes, she knew what she meant.He doesn't look happy. "Danica and I want to go with you," Cadderly explained.When Aberes considered this unexpected request, many expressions crossed his face. "I'm not going on horseback," he said slowly, "and I'm planning to get far behind the nearest goblin line."

"That's all the more reason to have company," Cadderly said. "Perhaps," the elf admitted, eyeing Danica more carefully.Aberes certainly wouldn't deny the young woman's importance in the battle, "and my people have missions," he said, "but I can't promise—" "We don't need any guarantees," Cadderly assured him. "We understand the danger." The young scholar gave Aberes a boyish smile, and then did the same to Danica. Do, "Take it as a reward for Dionysus Tiegfel." The idea struck Abeles, and he quickly agreed to let the two accompany him.He told them that an elf warrior was also going to the Moezhi Library, the messenger sent to ask for help, and that if they, or Rufo, chose to go back with the elf, that was fine.

"You already know our options," Danica insisted. "And I can't go," Zirkan Rufo stammered, recovering from his own name, "I mean, not going back to the library." Danica watched the thin man curiously, thinking it would be more Rufo-like to run away.Cadderly applauded his fellow priest for his brave decision to stay in Simista, but Danica was too skeptical to agree. In fact, Rufo wanted very much to go with the elf messenger, but he couldn't afford to miss a meeting he had arranged the night before. ※※※ "Smart decision," the imp said again from behind him, just after Rufo came down the hill, shortly after sunset.

Rufo turned to face it angrily. "You don't give me much choice!" he growled, so loud that Druzil looked around nervously. "Follow!" the imp ordered, as far as they could get from the enchanted hill, it decided.It led Rufo through the dark woods to the appointed place to meet Dorigen.Rufo was surprised to see a woman in front of him, a woman who was not unattractive, although she was a bit older for him and had a badly crooked nose. The magician and Rufo looked at each other for a long time, but neither of them spoke.In the end, Rufo couldn't hang there any longer.

"You called me," he protested. Dorigen stared at Rufo for a while longer on purpose, not explaining anything to him, making Rufo nervously changing positions, shifting weight from one foot to the other several times. "I need information," she finally replied. "You want me to betray my companions?" Rufo asked, trying to sound disbelieving, "Maybe I should go back—" "Don't look surprised," Dorigen snapped. "You knew the purpose of this meeting before you agreed to come here." "I only agreed because I had no choice," Rufo argued.

"You still have no choice this time," Dorigen said grimly. "Think of yourself as my prisoner, if that will ease your miserable conscience. I want information, Zirkan Rufo, you This guy who helped Barjin—" Rufo's eyes widened in disbelief. "Yes, I know who you are," Dorigen continued, feeling she had the upper hand. "You were Barjin's minion, so you will be mine too!" "No!" Rufo yelled, but when he turned to leave, he found himself facing Druzil's venomous tail.The momentum of the thin priest flew away in an instant. "Don't be offended, dear," said Dorigen contentedly, "I did you a favor, though you don't know it yet. The forest is doomed, and so are those who help the elves." "Then why do you need me?" Rufo asked. "That has nothing to do with this war," Dorigen replied.She paused, trying to figure out how she could explain it without revealing too much, "Think of it as a personal matter, between me and the people who accompanied you to Simista." "Elf prince?" Rufo asked. "Maybe." Dorigen replied slyly, thinking it was best to let Rufo guess.Not to lose her momentum, she pressed again, her amber eyes sparkling with growing pleasure, "That doesn't matter. I offer you a chance to live, Zirkan Rufo. When I conquer, your Life can be saved, and maybe even a job on my staff.” Rufo seemed interested, but wasn't persuaded. "If the elves accidentally escape, and your friends go with them," Dorigen added, "no one will know of your betrayal, and you may reappear before them unharmed." "What if I refuse?" "Do I have to go into those unpleasant details?" Dorigen replied, her voice so calm and even that it sent a shivers down Rufo's spine. "Oh, maybe I won't kill you right away," Dorigen continued, "No, I'll shame you for helping Bar Jin, and make public what you did in the basement of the library, then Wouldn't it be better?" Dorigen enjoyed Rufo's uncomfortably contorted look, and she nodded approvingly at Druzil for providing her with such valuable information. "How do you know this?" Rufo asked, as if he read her mind. "I have my sources," Dorigen said flatly. "Don't think your torment ends with public humiliation," she continued, her voice clearly sinister. Fades, I'll kill you - at the right moment. Think what life would be like if you failed me now, Zirkan Rufo. Think of years and years, those peeking Will there be an assassin's day in the future?" Rufo kept shifting weight from one foot to the other again. "And you know that your grave will not be under the sacred protection of the Moezhi Library, because the indiscretions you committed under Ba Jin will be fully exposed-I will take care that they are not easily forgotten-so that you even There is no honor after death." The threat weighed heavily on the lean man, not only because of the deadly imp a few feet behind him, but also because he really had no rebuttal to the sorcerer's accusations. "Let's not focus on the unpleasant stuff, though," Dorigen said. "I don't ask much of you, and you can move on with your life afterward. Regardless of the outcome of this war, you'll be safe." of." Rufo could hardly believe the words that came out of his mouth next, "What do you want to know?" ※※※ Cadderly felt utterly clumsy as he creaked through the bushes next to the stealthy Danica and Albereth.He didn't regret his decision to come with them though, and they only frowned a little when he made that loudest noise. They passed several camps of goblins and orcs, all of which were asleep during the day—save for a few sleepy-eyed, barely alert guards.The destination that Aberes expected to arrive at was the grove where the magician appeared, that is, the place where Ramalis was killed.The elven prince hoped he could find some footprints from there. He never expected to find Dorigen so easily. They believed they were making extraordinary progress, for they moved long after dusk and traveled without hindrance.As they rested, the surrounding forest became very quiet. It was so quiet. Abeles sat examining his sword. "I thought it was going to be stained with blood before then," he whispered to the others. "I didn't expect there to be so little resistance. Maybe the enemy isn't as good as we were." Guided to imagine so much." Cadderly had a sickening thought, "Or, maybe..." he began, but had no chance to finish, as Abereth sensed movement in the western bushes of their simple camp, and he immediately Silenced them, then crawled away. Danica was also alert, but she was crouching toward the east, where there was the sound of a branch snapping. "I have a very bad feeling," Cadderly said.He quickly loaded a round into the crossbow, and picked up his Frisbee in the other hand. "Orcs!" Abereth called.Cadderly turned to see the elf wrestling with two huge creatures.Danica disappeared into the bushes to the east, drawing Cadderly's attention. He turned again, just in time to see a Uruk approaching him, a net stretched from its long arms.Ten paces away from Cadderly, the monster staggered suddenly as Danica burst from the bushes and slammed her shoulder into the inside of its knee. Cadderly heard the loud crash of bones snapping, but the orc, dazed as he looked, remained standing—until Danica charged again, leaping high into the air and kicking at its chest. twice.It flew towards a field of thorny bushes. Danica didn't have time to tie it, because a group of orcs showed up, along with orcs.Danica lashed out, spinning and kicking as the monsters surged toward her. An orc approached Cadderly first, and the young scholar took aim at his crossbow, intending to blow it up, but then wisely decided to save the round for when he had to.Cadderly spun the frisbee as far as the rope could reach as the orc slowed to approach him, eyeing its foe. Cadderly spoke little Orcish, but he picked up some words from the books he read. "Look!" he said to the orc, trying to sound excited, and he spun the frisbee into a big, spinning circle. The orc did, and was almost mesmerized. Cadderly quickly retracted the Frisbee from his hand, and continued to circle with his arm, confusing the stupid monster, before throwing it forward violently. The orc's head jerked back, expecting the Frisbee to fly into the air. Cadderly hurled the disc straight forward, and they slammed under the orc's raised jaw, hitting its exposed throat.It fell backwards, clutching at its ruptured windpipe. Cadderly had just seen the orc fall when he heard commotion behind him.As soon as he turned, he fired his crossbow at a Uruk who was charging at him, trying to grab him.The point of the arrow hit and exploded, but the heavy creature collided with Cadderly, pinning him to the ground. Cadderly struggled and writhed for a while, before he realized that the orc had been blasted with a hole in his chest, dead. Abereth dodged for a while, staying out of the amazing arms of the giant orcs and out of the way of the vicious club swings.For some reason, the monsters seemed to be swinging with only half strength, as if they didn't want to crush the elf completely. Abeles didn't want to give them any chance of hitting him. An orc emerged from the bushes a few feet away from Abereth, ready to throw a net.But Aberes was faster, he slashed across the monster's face, drawing a deep gash, and made it roll away. The battle was raging behind the elf—he heard Cadderly fire an arrow—and he knew he had no time to procrastinate.He waited for the most opportune moment, then dashed between the two urcs, slashing and stabbing with his sword as he passed them. What did more damage to these monsters, however, was their own sticks.They turned and punched the elf, but couldn't keep up with the elf's speed and hit each other instead.One of the unlucky orcs was hit hard on the head by a companion's club as he bent over to catch the elf.It took two big circles before it fell. Aberes turned to fight back at another orc, who hadn't recovered from the stun from being hit by the wooden club and the shock of knocking down his companion.He jumped onto the monster's chest and thrust his sword hard into its neck.The enchanted sword buckled as it sank into the thick hide, but its iron body proved stronger than the flesh of an Uruk. The dying monster managed to knock Alberes away from his body before dying, sending Alberes flying into the undergrowth between two large elm trees.Abeles wasn't seriously hurt, but he knew he was in trouble.He looked up and saw that the trees were full of orcs waiting to attack.When the first monster jumped at him, he rolled away in despair. Danica faced the monster's onslaught head-on, though she feared getting too far away from Cadderly, who was still in the camp, and Abereth, far on the other side.She kicked one orc in the throat, then punched another three quick blows in the face to knock him down. There are just too many goals.Danica crossed her arms to block a club swung by an orc, then quickly swung her arms outward, ripping the weapon out of the monster's grasp.Her feet kicked straight up, hitting the Uruk just under the jaw, sending him falling backwards on his head.Another orc rushed by, and Danica turned wildly, kicking her legs out to meet it. A wooden club hit her in the back, knocking her out of breath.Danica held on, stubbornly turning to face the new orc's attack, but suddenly an ogre burst out from between the trees, locked her head in giant hands, and thrust her neck dangerously Side twist. Danica fought back, but the orc's club hit her again, and the orc grabbed her arms, pressing down on her. When the ogre clenched his hands and twisted harder, she thought her head was about to burst. Near the center of the camp, warm blood ran down Cadderly's face and neck.When he finally broke free from the dead Uruk holding him down, he was covered in something horrible.Fumbling to his feet, he loaded another arrow. A horde of orcs, orcs, and an ogre approached him from the east; a desperate Cadderly didn't know which to shoot first, and then he saw the ogre's prey: Danica.Her head was pinched tightly, and two orcs held her arms loosely.The ogre looked Cadderly over, then twisted his hand quickly, causing Danica's face to contort in pain. "Enough!" roared an orc from the back of the first row.The creature carefully walked around its fellow ogre, "surrender, or the ogre will wring the girl's neck." Cadderly wanted so badly to pick up his bow and kill the arrogant orc, but he couldn't ignore Danica's situation.He looked helplessly at his beloved.It occurred to him to have his own ring and the poisoned arrow point, but then dismissed those thoughts.He didn't even have a walking stick with him, and wondered if the dose from the little kitten's paw would have any effect on the giant half-ogre. Then another thought flashed through. Danica looked at him curiously, then gave him an approving smile, and Cadderly knew she understood. Cadderly lowered the crossbow very slowly to the ground, then swung it back suddenly and fired a round into the goblin's shoulder.The ogre barely flinched from the explosion, but Cadderly knew he had damaged it badly. Danica felt it too in the sudden release of its hands.She slipped from its grasp, and fell further, jerking her arms away from the Uruk that was holding her.Her crouching position allowed her to return to the ground smoothly, and she used the counterforce to jump up. The stunned orcs stared in amazement as the mighty monk leaped into the air and over their heads.Before they could react, Danica kicked sideways, hitting a Uruk in the face with each foot, sending them flying. Danica landed on the ground, turned sharply, and delivered a punch straight from shoulder height, right in the groin of the wounded ogre.With a roar, the monster stood up again, and the ferocious Danica struck it again. "Stop them!" screamed the orc next to her.Another explosion sounded, and then the monster fell silent—falling several feet away from where it was standing. Cadderly watched as Danica pounded the ogre's belly, wondering if their ploy had been worthwhile.Is death better than being caught by these filthy monsters? Uruks approached the young scholar slowly, fearful of his deadly crossbow.Cadderly knew he was doomed, though he didn't know that Abereth could no longer fight and that a pack of orcs was coming from behind. He felt a burst of heat when a wooden club hit the back of his neck.His last awareness was the taste of sand in his mouth.