SWNOVELS Chapter 3: Edelmer
Laeltilat slowly got up, peering at the unexpected strangers. In front of her stood a tall brunette she had never seen, the one she had been looking for here in the Belt of Twilight, her father, Edelmer Arnwaldskar. The other stranger, which stood beside him, was an arqilun elf.
“Daughter!” Edelmer shouted. He recognized her immediately. She looks like her mother, Lanialis, but in her blue eyes sparkled the strength of the north.
“Father...” Laylith said carefully. Arel had already got up at this time.
And Eder’s companion, Arinella, tried to disenchant the magical cage. Edelmer could not wait and did a foolish thing. He tried to open the bars of the cage with his bare hands, and only hurt himself. Finally, Arinella was able to break the protection bars, and a hole was formed, through which two hungry arqilunians escaped from the magical prison.
Edelmer immediately rushed to his daughter and hugged her, then slightly pushing her away from him, he took her face in his huge burned hands and whispered, “You look so much like your mother.”
“And a little bit like you,” Laylith said with a smile, trying to look into his tear-filled eyes, but her own tears were in the way.
“We have to get out of here,” Arel suddenly put in.
“Yes, and hurry up,” a confused Arinella said and cast a spell of water and scones.
Hunger reminded of itself, and Laylith hungrily gripped the scone with her teeth. Arel drank the water first, and then followed the example of his freed cellmate.
They were in the mountain range of the Belt of Twilight. The mountains rose, disappeared, and it was unclear where the mountain begins and where it ends. Moving along a wide intermountain gorge, where a giant mountain rose on one side and a smaller mountain with a cleft inside on the other, the four ermirians moved down the slope to go beyond the mountain ranges and finally to move along the desert plains of Kaushmanashtoon.
Eder wanted to take his daughter in his arms, but she would not allow it, and only leaned on his shoulder. Strength was gradually coming to her, but she was recovering more slowly than Arel. Two arqilunians walked ahead, and father and daughter slowly descended behind.
“Father, ” Laylith called to Eder and paused as the sound of the word was still unusual, “why can’t your friend summon an argiphone? I know that argiphones doesn’t fly to the Belt of Twilight, but this area is available to them, I flew on an argiphone and it landed quite close to the foot of the mountain.”
“Yes, I saw, Laylith, I saw your argiphone , though I did not see you, now I realized that it was you. But Arinella can’t...”
“Wait, what?! What did you say? Arinella? Her name is Arinella? This is the mother’s old rival!”
“Yes, daughter, but it’s not that simple. They have their own story, and it includes me. Although, of course, I was very indirectly involved in it. When Lanialis tried to explain to me exactly from what moment their confrontation began, I never got the point. After all, it may be that they are women and I am a man. I do not want to hide from you, daughter, but Arinella was the first arqilunian who kissed me and ... deceived me. Your mother tricked me too, but softer. To be honest, I love both of them in my own way.”
“What?! Dad, what are you saying ?! Did you betray my mom and lie down with her enemy?!”
“Lie down?! Never! “Edelmer’s eyes sparkled. “I would never cheat on your mother! I have honour, loyalty and love!”
Laeltilat pulled back and decided to walk alone.
“Then why are you talking about her like that?” Laylith asked.
“About whom?”
“About Arinella,” said Laylith.
“How do I speak?” Eder wondered.
“About love, about a kiss… as if my mom doesn’t matter!”
“Your mom always matters!”
“Then why did you leave her?!” Laylith’s tears welled up.
A sudden roar of kirthrolants stopped them, and they saw two large males. Kirthrolants are huge, ten feet high, fur-covered, white massive creatures with two giant thick legs and four upper limbs resembling arms. Their heads were like earthly bulls. Wise scientists thought that the kirthrolants were distant relatives of flying jartraxies due to the similarity of their heads, however, these hypothesis was not confirmed in the scientific circles of Ermir.
One male ran to Arel and Arinella, while the other ran to Eder and Laylith. Arinella reacted faster than the others, starting to cast a fireball spell, which takes slightly longer to cast than the three magical orbs spell.
“Kiyal Farus Fiyas Dracal,” - a huge fireball flew out of Arinella’s hands and headed straight for the kirthrolant, but he managed to bounce back, and the ball hit a stone rock, the snow nearby instantly melted and turned into wet steam.
Arel fired three magical orbs and also missed. At the same time, Eder ran to the male that was running towards them, but Laylith called out to him, “Help them, I’ll deal with this one!”
Eder decided not to argue with his daughter, although he was very worried. Gripping the hilt of the sword he moved towards the brisk giant kirthrolant, which was about to overtake Arel.
“Far Drog Vas Tran!” Laylith conjured, and right out of the snow various branches of trees crawled out and grabbed a kirthrolant by the legs, twisting it very tightly, braches crawled on a creature higher and higher, squeezing it, reaching and immobilizing its upper limbs.
Eder remembered this spell. The same spell had been used against Eder and Laylith’s mother by Lanialis’ first husband, Vartelar. Eder remembered that only the incredible power of his own body helped the northerner break the branches...
But there was no time to think. Lunge. And the kirthrolant, swinging his two left limbs, missed, Eder bent down, turned, drove the sword into the creature’s thigh. Kirthrolant screamed and fell, Eder managed to pull out his sword, and when the ten feet creature was already on the snow, splashing red blood all around, he plunged the sword straight into the male’s throat, and, quickly snatching it, ran to the second, who was almost freed itself.
“Rakhom Kus Kadukh!” Laylith said, and in her hands a fiery spear was formed, which she launched with incredible grace straight into the kirthrolant’s chest, piercing it. The male instantly stopped resisting the branches, which began to recede, and it fell dead so that snow began to swirl, somewhere even the sound of an avalanche was heard.
“We have to go,” Arinella said as she approached.
Laylith gave her an angry glance, then looked disdainfully at her father. Edelmer responded with a kind look, and, taking a rag, rubbed his sword with snow. Putting it away in its scabbard, he followed the others, smiling.