The Elf King by Sean McKenzie Read Free Book Online

enough to notice
that his pupils looked glazed. His pulse was thready, and beads of
sweat lined his forehead.
    “ Tane, what
happened?”
    Tane opened his eyes with
faint recognition. His lips parted as though he was going to speak,
but he got sick instead.
    Qenn sat his brother up in
the grass, crouching behind him. He noticed the small berries
squeezed in Tane’s hand. It had been the only thing he had eaten in
almost a day. Gently, he eased Tane down on his side into the
grass, reaching into the pouch at his belt. He produced a dark
yellow liquid and began to dip traces of it along Tane’s lips,
softly placing some on his tongue. Instantly Tane’s body began to
heave and convulse. Qenn struggled to keep him down, his own body
strength far lesser than his brother’s, but managed until Tane
relaxed. After a few moments, the color reappeared in his face and
hands, and his eyes opened.
    Qenn smiled. “Thanks for
not sharing.”
    Tane sat upright with a
deep frown. He quickly wiped his mouth and drank water to refresh
his taste buds, spitting in disgust. “What happened? I feel
awful.”
    “ I would say that your
harvesting skills are dwindling,” Qenn laughed. He showed a handful
of berries to Tane. “This was your choice of poison.”
    “ I guess my mind was
preoccupied.” Tane shook his head at his own actions. “I’ve been
doing a lot of thinking about what’s going to happen in the next
few days. To tell you the truth, I have no idea.”
    Qenn said nothing. He
didn’t want to put their whole situation on Tane’s shoulders, and
he knew that’s how his brother felt. He was always leading; being
the oldest, he probably saw it as his job. But Qenn didn’t need
someone to take care of him. Whatever they were going to do, they
would act together.
    “ We need to keep moving.”
Qenn wanted to show his brother that he too could take charge,
share the burden. He rose to his feet, helping Tane to do the same.
“We’ll walk the night and rest at day break. We’ll find some food
on the way.”
    Tane smiled. With a pat to
Qenn’s shoulder, he replied, “Sounds good. I’ll leave the foraging
to you though.”
    Midnight found Tane and
Qenn navigating by the star positions, stumbling over fallen logs
that were too dark or too small to see in the sparse light. They
came across a carriage trail, an old one, seldom used, covered in
grass with the wheel paths appearing to be bare, save for a few
animal tracks, and graciously began to follow. With a trail set
before them, they began to make ground quicker.
    It had been a few hours and
neither had said much. Their thoughts were drifting in and out of
Meadow and Skadar Port, of the life they had been used to, and the
one they were going to have now. Questions lingered without
conclusion, running their minds until they were simply too tired to
think any longer. Their bodies were beginning to sag, their steps
slower and shorter. Food was part of their problem, or the lack
thereof rather. Sleep was the other. It seemed to their bodies that
a fight was taking place to see which they could put off the
longest.
    Finally after several hours
of no food or rest, Qenn came to an abrupt halt, staring into the
woods off to his side. Tane stopped next to him, his right hand
coming to rest on the pommel of his sword, his eyes squinting in
the darkness for anything moving.
    Qenn smiled. “It’s okay.
I’ve found something.”
    Qenn moved off the trail
and into the woods. Tane heard a rustling of branches, then a
sharp snap .
Seconds later Qenn was returning to his side, holding a long, odd
looking leaf. He broke the stem in half and gave it to Tane, then
began to chew on his piece. Tane stared quizzically for a moment,
and then did the same.
    “ It’s a Lilk leaf.” Qenn
watched Tane smile. “It’ll give us energy.”
    Tane found the leaf to be
filling and refreshing. “How did you know of this?”
    Qenn finished his piece and
winked. “I’m an elf. We know things.”
    Tane