Chapter 14: Uldra

The ice and fire elementals opened the prison and threw two of larmarians into the surprised Uldra. The first she knew well, though she had rarely spoken to him lately, Detlef Gerenoist is Uldra’s longtime acquaintance, a handsome guy with curly black hair and a dark blond beard, and blue eyes. The second guy, Julianip Plemaschan, a snub-nosed, blond larmarian with straight hair, a clean-shaven face and slightly frightened dark blue eyes.

Uldra hugged Detlef.

“You’re alive!” she said.

She had known Detlef since childhood, but they did not have a very friendly or romantic relationship, but in childhood they often saw each other in the company of other children.

“Yes, I am alive, and barely even wounded,” Detlef smiled, and then pointed at the second youth larmarian, “you know Julianip?”

“Yes, of course, Detlef,” she said dejectedly, “it’s hard to find an unfamiliar stone or leaf on the Larmar Islands, I studied almost every stone ornament on the skulds, it is not surprising that people on the islands know each other and knows everything about them,” and she threw a hostile glance at Julianip.

“His guilt was not proven in court,” Detlef began to defend his friend.

“Girls always suffer from such public proceedings. Now we shall never know because Friedrichta is dead!”

“She jumped because of an unstable mind, rejected love and obsession!” flared up Julianip.

“Could it be because of the injustice that she killed herself?!” Uldra protested.

“Enough!” Detlef said loudly. “We have other things to discuss now, it’s better to leave arguments about Julianip ’s guilt or innocence for later! There are only three of us here, and we don’t know how many larmarians have died, and you have started some debates! Perhaps our people will soon be finished for good!”

Julianip and Uldra fell silent. Detlef stared at them for a while, and then examined the room in which they were, at the edge of the prison bars he found a place where a stone crumbled, and one of the bars began to dangle. Detlef began to rock it gradually. The screeching sound might have attracted attention, but no one was guarding the prison. There were few oldenmessers on the island, there were more dragons, but they didn’t care about any larmarians. Part of the prison was destroyed, as was half of the castle. Dragons are professional destroyers, and hardly anyone else could have ruined such a beauty, painted columns, impeccably level walls, ancient skulds tress with ancestral ornaments, all ruined either completely or partially.

Detlef was able to knock out part of the bars... A little more and the inmates will be able to break free. He alternately tried to break the bars with his hands, body, and feet. Finally, he broke a few more rods, and the larmarians were able to get free.

Companions carefully walked along the walls, making their way to the ruined part of the castle. It was evening, the main castle of the Tossed family was closing a Silenta, and a huge shadow was falling on the destroyed stone walls of other buildings.

“Let’s get into the throne room and try to know something, maybe we’ll overhear their plans,” Detlef said.

“Wouldn’t it be better to find a boat and sail away?” Julianip suggested.

“Dragons are patrolling the area,” Uldra interjected.

She followed the young larmarians neatly at their heels, often looking around.

They reached the main castle. Two elementals stood at the entrance, the same ones who had captured Detlef and Julianip. Hiding behind a pillar, the larmarians watched the elementals.

Soon Venolenuan came out.

“You,” the oldenmesser turned to the fire elemental, “go on patrol in the west, maybe you’ll find more islanders. And you,” the ancient elf turned to the ice elemental and handed him a giant tray, “feed the prisoners, and, please, don’t drop the food on your way.”

On the tray were fish and bread, and a jug of water. The clumsy ice elemental, although it seemed to be a serious creature, was hardly a capable waiter, however, the elemental was able to enlarge and expand his limbs, making them look like a vice, and clutched the tray, and freezing its part.

Venolenuan watched this with annoyance.

“Wait,” he called out to the fire elemental as he moved away, “go with him, or the fish will be disgusting after his freezing, it’s even disgusting when it’s hot, but anyway just warm up the fish.” Elemental decided to do it. “Not now, for Sirridwyn’s sake, make it near the prison!”

Uldra, watching what was happening, turned to Detlef. Detlef looked at her intently.

“When the elementals leave, we’ll quickly get inside, kill the old elf, hide his body, and go to the throne room,” Detlef suggested a plan.

“This oldenmesser was kind to me, you see, he even wants to feed us. I don’t want to kill him,” the girl said.

“Uldra, what other option do we have? To be burned in a boat? Or hide on an island, waiting for our deaths, become a hungry grigratta? I don’t want to die for nothing; I want to take at least some enemies with me!”

“You’re willing to sacrifice our lives too?” Uldra asked.

“If you and Julianip want to leave, hide, run away, sail away, then I’ll not stop you!”

“I am with you to the end!” a snub-nosed larmarian suddenly said, though he looked as if he were more afraid than the others.

“But maybe we’ll go there and kill someone else, but we’ll tie that old elf? Uldra asked.

“No, he is an oldenmesser, you never know what spells he knows, maybe he can enchant us without the help of hands, and we’ll obey his will?!” Detlef persisted.

“All right,” the larmarian young woman surrendered.

And they hurried inside since the elementals had already covered a quarter of the way to the prison during their disputes.

An axe and a shield were hanging on the wall of the castle, near the entrance. Detlef carefully took the axe, and the group moved up the stairs to the second floor. They saw Venolenuan looking at the graphic stone map on the wall. Detlef crept up quietly, and then swung the axe with all his might and plunged the weapon into the elf’s collarbone so that it sliced right through down to his chest. Larmarian pulled out the axe with force, blood spurted into Detlef’s face.

“Phh…rhh…hrr,” the ancient elf muttered incoherently and fell dead, his blood flowing from the wound, flooding the floor.

Detlef wiped his face with his shirt.

“I guess it’s pointless to hide his body,” Julianip said gloatingly.

The larmarians moved on, listening to every sound. Uldra was at the back of the group. She wondered if the old elf could be useful, if he didn’t want all the horror the dragons had brought. But she knew that if she was wrong, she would endanger others. Whether he was good or bad, it doesn’t matter now, for he was dead.

The age of Venolenuan was about two million years, and he was one of the most ancient elves in Ermir, and he ended his life in a foreign castle from the hand of a young larmarian, who was twenty-six years old.