The Wizard and the Warlord (The Wardstone Trilogy Book Three) by M. R. Mathias Page A

determine his fate made her uneasy, but she didn’t let it stifle her resolve.
    The next morning they set out for the human city of O’Dakahn. The port there was the closest to Oktin, where the High King was supposedly having his new palace built. Princess Telgra, heiress to the ruling seat of the entire race of elves, had made up her mind.
    Late that afternoon, while they were skirting the marsh delta of the eastern branch of the Leif Greyn River, the sky began to darken. Within minutes the wind had gone from slightly breezy to a savage, blasting gust. The boat was forced away from the marshes and soon darkness overcame them. All sight of land was lost. Wild, jagged lightning bolts split the sky and thunder exploded as rain began to pour down. The waves grew from three- and four-foot rollers into huge, breaking beasts that threatened to crush the boat with every swell. The sky was so black that even the elves’ keen eyes couldn’t see more than a few feet ahead of them.
    “Hold on,” Corva yelled as a wave broke over them with terrible force. It felt like the boat was under a great waterfall for a moment, but then the sensation passed.
    “Princess Telgra, Dostin,” Corva yelled. “Bail out the water. Another wave is—” He bit back his words as lightning struck a few feet away. In its brilliant flash he saw that Dostin was no longer in the boat. Telgra saw too and immediately began scanning the water.
    “Broaaash!” the monk bellowed as he broke the surface and gasped for air. “Haaaaalp meee!”
    “Give me the end of that rope,” Telgra ordered.
    Corva froze. He wasn’t about to let his princess risk her life for a human monk. He would do it. He reached down to grab the line at his feet, but found it already uncoiling. He looked up just in time to see Telgra leaping over the side into the stormy sea. A few moments passed before another flash of lightning revealed her paddling deftly beside the flailing monk.
    She tied the rope around Dostin then waved back at the boat. “Pull!” she yelled. “Corva! Pull us in!”
    Another wave crashed over the craft. The rope slipped from Corva’s hands and he was forced to cling to the sides or be thrown overboard. When the boat smacked back down into the sea he was battered about the hull, but managed to grab the rope again. With all his might he hauled them in, heave after heave, until finally he saw Dostin’s terrified eyes through the darkness. It took all the strength Corva had left in him to drag the monk up into the boat. Though about to give out, he turned back to pull Telgra in, but was overcome with dread. She wasn’t there. A distant lightning flash confirmed it. Nowhere could she be seen.
    “Telgra!” he screamed at the top of his lungs. He turned to the other side of the boat and yelled again, “Princess Telgra!”
    When the next lightning struck he peered into the night as far as his keen vision could see. He cast a light spell but the storm suffocated its illumination like a shroud. For long hours, and to no avail, Corva fought the storm and called for his princess, while all around the boat the storm raged relentlessly.
    ***
    Phen felt like he was being rolled down a rocky hill inside a barrel keg. Luckily his hard skin kept the serpent’s teeth from piercing into him. Through his terror, he was worried that one of his legs might be broken off as they were hanging out of the creature’s maw. With all the determination he had, he used Oarly’s dagger to stab at the inside of the serpent’s mouth. Already he was coated in slimy blood. It was the awful fishy smell of the creature’s breath that threatened to render him helpless, though. He had to fight not to be consumed by a fit of gagging heaves, something he wasn’t sure his body could handle. He hoped Oarly would hurry and save him. The idea that the half-drunken dwarf couldn’t manage the task never even crossed his mind.
    ***
    Oarly’s battle cry echoed around the chamber as the serpent