Revenge Of The Elf (Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

and away. Jogged toward the side of the cabin and danced around each other, keeping her in view.
    The elf brought the shovel down hard. Dug another hole in the centre of the small pen. Ignored the smell of goat shit and piss as she kept digging.
    Deeper.
    Then the shovel hit something with a dull thunk.
    She scrubbed at the ground to reveal a small chest, which she heaved out of the rancid soil with a grunt. The lock on the side was heavy but broke free after a few good hits with the shovel.
    Inside, a small box lay half-wrapped in oilskin. Beside it, also in oilskin, a large sheathed knife.
    The knife she already knew intimately and felt no need to unwrap it. She tucked it into her belt. The box, she held in her hand.
    It fit snugly into her palm. Her fingers rubbed against the metal ribs and along the alien runes. Something about it had always given her the creeps so it wasn't hard to accept Talek's insistence it should remain hidden.
    He told her it was dangerous. Powerful.
    Told her his family had protected it for generations.
    And now he was dead, she was determined to keep it with her. Though she couldn't explain why, she knew it was the right thing to do.
    Shoving it into her jacket, she turned back to the skittish goats.
    “Go where you like. Stick around the house for a while until winter moves on. That's my advice. Take it or leave it,” she smiled a wry smile whose humour didn't touch her haunted eyes. “You ain't kids no more.”
    One of the shaggy goats gave a forlorn bleat, but she was beyond caring for their future. Until she gave an absent count.
    One was missing.
    Cocking her head, she noticed marks close by the small barn. Following the trail, she found blood and what was left of the goat. Figured Talek's murderers had dragged it into the barn to butcher it. They'd taken the easiest cuts and left the rest.
    She wondered if Talek had been killed over a goat. But if they were so desperate for food, why leave the others? It made no sense.
    Annoyed, the elf knelt beside the bootprints.
    There were at least four sets. One was big. He seemed to have done the deed, judging by where he'd been standing and the angles of blood sprayed over the walls and ground. The cuts in what was left of the carcass suggested an axe.
    Strange choice, she thought.
    Another pair of boots were about her size.
    The bootprints looked to be pretty much the same and she guessed they were part of a uniform. Something about them looked familiar, though she couldn't quite place it. New, too. Their prints were clear and well defined.
    Maybe soldiers of a new guild she hadn't encountered. Plenty of guilds cropping up these days as Lostlight's internal politics made and destroyed ties both old and new.
    Or mercenaries? Lost in the Deadlands?
    She grunted in annoyance. They could be anything. Could be Caspiellans for all she knew.
    Her eyes narrowed as she looked around for something else.
    Anything, really. Any hint. Something helpful.
    Found nothing.
    Why they'd come here if not for the goat was a mystery, and whether Talek's death was their goal or an effect, she couldn't tell. Did they get what they wanted? She couldn't be sure of that, either. But she would find out.
    One of them would talk.
    She had no doubt about that.
    The trail led southward, along the winding track leading out of the valley. Further into the Deadlands. Given the nature of the valley and the lack of decent tracks or towns for them to head for, their decision wasn't much of a surprise. They could only have gone north or south. They'd chosen south, and now so would she.
    And, out here, there was only one place they'd likely be heading toward. Grimwood Creek. A large town known for being a hive for mercenaries, smugglers and worse. And that was just the tavern.
    Before that, maybe two or three small trading towns depending which trail they took. Spikewrist would be the obvious choice. She would start there.
    Staring out through the falling snow, the elf spat from the