Lauki's Arc

Chapter 3 of 18

The moon-horse ran through the dark, and the fortress fell behind them. Lauki gripped Torra's waist. The land turned wet under the horse's hooves. Reeds slapped his legs. Mist rose off black water. They had escaped the guards, but now there was nowhere to stop. Behind them lay her family's blades. Ahead lay only swamp. The horse's silver light dimmed, and its breath came ragged. It could not run forever. "It's tiring," Torra said. "We need cover. Somewhere they won't follow." Lauki saw a shape through the mist. A fortress rose from the water on stone legs. Green tiles curled up at the corners. Carved frog faces glared from its roofs, and pale green lanterns glowed at its steps. "There," he said. "They wouldn't chase us into that." Torra turned the horse toward it. Then the water moved. A huge shape burst up in front of them, taller than three men. Green skin dripped mud. Its throat swelled, and it let out a croak that shook the reeds. Grokmaw Swallower raised a bone cleaver. The horse reared. Lauki nearly fell. Smaller shapes rose from the banks. A frog warrior in a torn cowl stepped forward, a blade across his back. Krogg Marshblade studied them with yellow eyes and a small smile. "Two strays," he said. "Off your land, elf." Lauki felt his fire climb. He could burn a path through. But fire would light them up for every eye in the swamp. He held it down. "We only want to pass," he said. "No one passes free." Krogg tilted his head at Lauki's horns. "Demon. That buys you nothing here." A rider came out of the mist. She sat on a giant toad marked with blue runes. A red horn curved from her brow. She held a long glaive across her lap. Princess Takiyasha looked at Lauki's two eyes, then at Torra. "You carry it too," she said to Torra. "The blood. I smell it." Torra's hand tightened on the reins. Lauki felt her go still. The secret she guarded was plain to this stranger. "You're wrong," Torra said. Her voice shook. "I am not." Takiyasha raised one hand, and the frog warriors stepped back. "Your kind is hunted above. Down here we are not. You may shelter in the keep tonight. But you owe me a truth for it." She turned her toad toward the fortress. "Follow." Lauki had no choice. The horse could not run. The swamp folk ringed them. He nudged Torra, and she rode after the princess. The green lanterns drew closer. They had found a place to land at last. But they had traded the danger behind them for a debt to a stranger who already knew Torra's secret. Now that secret belonged to someone else.