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“You could have given me a chance to take my new boots off.” Voron grumbled, staring at her breasts.
Hattenel chuckled. “Be glad your bacon didn’t get sizzled.”
“How do you know I’m not maimed under the leather?”
“Your breeches would be in as many pieces as your shirt.” Hattenel grinned. “Where’s the nearest bath? I’d like to be presentable when we learn “when” we are.”
“You’re certain we’re safe from the dog-heads?”
The thought of the creatures following them sent shudders through her as she stumbled to her feet, using his shoulder as leverage. “You're right. We need to close the cave entrance first.”
Gathering energy from the wind and waves, they built a ball of flashing, but contained, power. When Hattenel judged the ball as large as it could be and still roll through the cavern, she held up her hand. “Link to me. We’ll push the ball down the tunnel. Then, we’ll engorge and explode it.”
The minutes dragged as they guided the sparking sphere through the depths of the earth.
“We should have located the other entrances,” said Voron.
“I think we can destroy enough of the bluff for the whole system to collapse.”
“How can you be certain?’
“I assume it’s much the same as blowing up a sea wall.”
“I try to stay friends with the people I meet on my voyages.” Voron clasped her shoulder to allow his energy to transfer to her easier. “Make more money that way.”
“Don’t exhaust yourself, but give me all the power you can spare. Now!”
The explosion ripped the hill apart. Dirt and rocks flew into the air and rained down on them. Their ears buzzed when the hill imploded into a crater that consumed the bluff. The slanting rocks landed inland where they toppled to the ground, laying like coffins in the sandy soil. Voron sank to his knees. Hattenel leaned over, drawing in great gulps of air as she rested her hands on her knees for support.
When their breathing returned to normal, Voron searched the empty beach. “We can’t be too far away from when we were, can we?”
“Depends on how true the stories are.” Hattenel refrained from commenting that shifting planes was illegal, one of the few capital offenses among the Half-Elven for fear of angering the true elves who had sealed the Half-elven world from theirs.
In all her years of service, she had never broken a rule so flagrantly. “If we’re lucky, no one will ever guess where or when we’ve been.”
“What if a ship was close enough to see the explosion?”
“Hopefully, we’ll be gone before they can arrive.”
#
With a step forward, Voron picked her up and transferred to a cottage on the western shore of the Marches. Gulls wheeled in the green-tinged sky, and a curious seal poked its head out of the rolling waves. Across the bay, Hattenel saw thousands of birds dart back and forth along a sheer cliff face. When she took a deep breath, she knew Voron had spoke from experience about bird stink.
Instead of the warm bath she wished for, Hattenel got dumped in the stream behind the shack where a waterfall made a rocky pool before flowing down to the beach.
Hattenel cursed at the unexpected cold. “You didn’t give me time to take off my boots.”
“Tit for tat, woman.” Before she could snarl back, he transformed back into the doughy version of himself as pebbles came bouncing down the cliff. He shoved her towards the cottage. “Inside. Quick.”
Surprising herself, she obeyed.
A wizened sailor came sliding down the bluff in his haste. “Voron, where the blazes have you been? I’ve been here twice trying to warn you.”
“Why do I need a warning? We don’t sail for several days yet.”
“That Captain Hattenel, who went looking for you, disappeared. If she don’t return to duty tomorrow when her leave is over, the scouts are going to skin you alive. Her aide’s threatening to nail your privates on a pole in the middle of the ranger camp.”
As the sailor ranted about the dire fates waiting for Voron, Hattenel relaxed. They had only been gone three days, but Voron still needed her at his back. Quickly she stripped. Pulling on a man’s shirt she picked up from the floor, Hattenel made certain it was obvious she was naked underneath.
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