I sat at Elindra's table, finishing the last of the herbal tea she'd brewed. The hour of rest had done me good. The throbbing in my side had dulled to a manageable ache, and the bleeding had stopped.

  Elindra emerged from the back room with a pack similar to mine, though smaller and adorned with embroidered leaves. She wore traveling clothes now—fitted leather pants that hung gracefully on her hips, a green tunic with the collar low to show off her busty figure, and tall boots that gave her legs and elegant shape. A short knife dangled, holstered at her belt.

  "You travel light," I said, doing all I could not to make a comment on her figure.

  "I take only what's needed." She slung the pack over her shoulder. "Herbs for healing, food for two days, water, and a change of clothes."

  I stood, testing my side with a careful stretch. The wound still stung but didn't reopen. "This could be a long journey. The elders gave me three possible locations, and they're spread out in different directions."

  "Elves have greater stamina than humans," Elindra said, a hint of pride in her voice. "I can travel for days with little rest."

  "How would you know about human stamina?" I asked.

  A smile played at the corners of her mouth. "Let's just say I've had... comparative experiences."

  I raised an eyebrow. "With humans? I thought I was the first one to crash-land here."

  “You think you’re the only human on this world because of your situation?,” she asked. “The others here are less refined than you. We typically shoo them from the kingdom, but one stayed in our realm for several years before finding his way home." Her eyes sparkled with mischief. “Perhaps he was overly excited to be close to me. It was… educational."

  "You shouldn't judge all humans based on one encounter," I said, unable to help but be playful with her. She brought it out of me. "We're a diverse species with varying capabilities."

  "Is that so?" Elindra's laugh was light and musical. "Perhaps I'll need to conduct further research."

  My face grew hot. It had been a while since I'd engaged in this kind of banter. Delilah and I had fizzled months ago, our relationship cooling into something more routine than romantic.

  "We should get moving," I said, adjusting my sword belt. "I'd like to check my ship before we head out. There might be supplies we can use."

  Elindra nodded. "The crash site is on our way if we're heading toward the Mountain Clan territory."

  "You know where Lyrielle went?" I asked.

  "Not yet," she said. "But I have ways of finding out."

  We left the cottage, Elindra pausing to lock the door with a small iron key. The day had warmed, sunlight filtering through the trees and casting dappled shadows on the path. We followed the river back the way I'd come, though Elindra led us on a smaller trail that branched away from where I'd fought Torven.

  "Will he be a problem?" I asked, gesturing in the direction of our prior battle.

  "Torven?" Elindra shook her head. “If you bested him as you said, he’ll tuck his tail and head back to the city.”

  “He takes the thought of Lyrielle a little too personally,” I added.

  Elindra glanced at me. "You noticed."

  "Hard to miss. The way he talked about her, it wasn't just about protecting a princess."

  "He's loved her since they were children," Elindra said. "But it's impossible. She's royalty, he's a soldier. And then there's the betrothal to Eodurn."

  "She doesn't seem thrilled about that arrangement," I said.

  "She isn't. Eodurn is..." Elindra paused, choosing her words. "He's handsome and powerful, but cold. He sees Lyrielle as a possession, not a partner."

  We walked in silence for a while, the only sounds of our footsteps crunching on the grass and the distant calls of birds. I found myself wondering about Lyrielle and her life here. Born into royalty, betrothed to someone she didn't love, bearing the responsibility of a magical Rune. It couldn't be easy.

  "What's she like?" I asked. "When she's not saving crashed astronauts or disappearing mysteriously."

  Elindra smiled. "Kind. Stubborn. Smarter than she lets most people know. She loves music and can play three instruments. She sneaks out of the castle to visit the common markets in disguise. And she has a weakness for sweet pastries."

  "Sounds like you know her well."

  "We grew up together. My mother was her nurse, so we were raised almost as sisters." Elindra's expression softened with the memory. "When my parents died in the Plague Years, Lyrielle convinced her father to make me her official handmaiden so I wouldn't be sent to the orphan houses."

  "She sounds like a good friend," I said.

  "The best," Elindra agreed. "Which is why we need to find her."

  The path widened as we emerged from the woods into the open field where my ship had crashed. The XR-7 sat at an angle, its nose buried in the dirt, the hull scorched and dented. It looked smaller than I remembered, more fragile.

  "That's your ship?" Elindra asked, eyeing it with curiosity.

  "What's left of it," I said, approaching the wreckage. "It's designed for space travel, not crash landings."

  "Space travel," she repeated, following me. "Like flying to the moons?"

  "That's the idea. However, this was just a test flight. Wasn't supposed to leave Earth's orbit." I climbed to the cockpit and made my way in through a cracked hole in the windshield. It must have been where Lyrielle had pulled me out. How had she mustered the strength to do it? It must have been part of her Rune magic. "Wait here. I'll grab what we can use."

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  The interior was a mess. Panels hung loose, wires dangled from the ceiling, and the smell of burnt electronics lingered. I rummaged through the emergency compartment, which had survived intact. Inside, I found what I was looking for—a flare gun with three cartridges, six M.R.E. packs, a Swiss Army knife, a pack of gum, and my service pistol with a single clip.

  I checked the pistol—a standard-issue Beretta M9 with fifteen rounds. Not much against magic and monsters, but better than nothing. I tucked it into my pack along with the other items and climbed back down to where Elindra waited.

  She had knelt in the grass a few yards from the ship, her eyes closed and her hands moving in slow, deliberate patterns. As I approached, I heard her chanting in the musical language of the elves. She sprinkled something from a small pouch onto the ground—a fine, glittering dust that seemed to hover in the air rather than settle.

  "What are you doing?" I asked.

  She held up a hand, signaling me to wait. The dust swelled, forming patterns that reminded me of star charts or constellations. Elindra's chanting grew more intense, her voice rising and falling in a rhythm that made the hair on my arms stand up.

  Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped. The dust settled to the ground, and Elindra opened her eyes.

  "She went west," she said, her voice slightly hoarse. "Toward the Mountain Clan territory like I’d thought.”

  "You saw her?" I asked.

  Elindra nodded, rising to her feet. "A vision. Brief, but clear. She was traveling with someone—a hooded figure I couldn't identify. They were following the Old Trade Road that leads to the mountain passes."

  "Was she going willingly?" I asked.

  “It’s hard to tell. What I see are faint impressions," Elindra said. "But she looked troubled."

  "Could it have been Eodurn?" I asked.

  "Possibly. The figure was tall enough." Elindra brushed the remaining dust from her hands. "The vision showed them two days ago, just after nightfall. If they maintained a steady pace, they'd be nearing the mountain foothills by now."

  I adjusted my pack, feeling the weight of the pistol and supplies. "Then that's where we're headed."

  We set off westward, following a different path than the one I'd taken from the city. According to Elindra, this route would intersect with the Old Trade Road by midday, allowing us to follow Lyrielle's trail.

  As we walked, I found myself curious about this world and the woman beside me. "So, tell me about this place. Nytherra, right? How big is it?"

  "Our kingdom spans from the Eastern Sea to the Crooked Teeth Mountains, where our Mountain Clan resides in the foothills,” Elindra said. "About a month's journey on foot from end to end."

  "And all of it is ruled by elves?"

  "Most of it. There are human settlements in the south, dwarf clans near where we’re traveling, and other races scattered throughout. But the seven elven clans have held power for millennia. Though we call ourselves a kingdom, each clan rules itself individually. They only come to the king when they wish to lawfully declare war or to settle a dispute.”

  "Seven clans, like the amount of chairs you had for elders,” I said, making the connection.

  Elindra nodded. “Many of the clans have their own Runes and Rune Bearer as well. Our clan is called The Lightcleave Clan.”

  “The Lightcleave Clan,” I repeated. "Sounds like something from a TV show."

  "TV show?" Elindra looked at me, confusion clear on her face.

  "Television," I said, then realized that meant nothing to her. "It's like a box with moving pictures that tell stories. We have them in most homes where I come from."

  "Moving pictures? Like a magic scrying pool?"

  I laughed. "No magic involved. Just technology. Electricity, cameras, signals transmitted through the air."

  "That sounds like magic to me," Elindra said.

  "Clarke's Third Law," I said. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

  "This Clarke must have been a wise man," Elindra said.

  "He was a writer of stories about the future, space travel, that sort of thing." I gestured back toward my ship.

  "And what would happen in one of these stories?" Elindra asked. "Would the man find his way home?"

  I thought about it. “Not in Clarke’s stories; those were mostly hard science fiction. I don’t know how to describe that to you, but it’s not worth your time. But, yes, in a lot of other stories, after having adventures, saving the day, maybe falling in love with a beautiful alien princess."

  Elindra smiled. "Is that what you're hoping for? To be the hero of your own science fiction story?"

  "I'd settle for finding Lyrielle and getting some straight answers about how I ended up here," I said. "The hero part seems like a lot of pressure."

  "Yet here you are, wounded from battle, on a quest to rescue a princess," Elindra said. "Sounds heroic to me."

  "I'm just trying to stay alive and find a way home," I said. "Any heroics are purely coincidental."

  We continued walking, the landscape gradually changing as we moved westward. The tall grasses gave way to dirt-covered hills with rock formations protruding out of them, with sparse vegetation. In the distance, I could see the hazy outlines of mountains.

  "What about you?" I asked after a while. "What's your story? Besides being a handmaiden with a taste for human men."

  Elindra laughed. "There's not much to tell. I've lived in Nytherra all my life, mostly in the capital city. The cottage you foudn me in was where my family raised me before my parents passed beyond the veil. My mother taught my minor divination.”

  "That dust thing was minor?"

  "Very. True seers can glimpse possible futures or communicate across vast distances. I can only see echoes of the recent past, and only in places where strong emotions were felt."

  "Still more than I can do,” I said.

  She spun to the side, her hair flowing in the scenery of the foothills, beautiful as the princess in her own way. With a grin, she said. “Maybe I can teach you a few things.”

  ###

  We reached the Old Trade Road around midday, as Elindra had predicted. It was wider than the paths we'd been following, paved with flat stones worn smooth by centuries of use. Here and there, the remnants of ancient mile markers stood, their inscriptions faded but still visible.

  "Can you read those?" I asked, pointing to one such marker.

  Elindra nodded. "It's Old Elvish. This one says, 'Twenty leagues to Silverhaven.’”

  “Silverhaven?”

  “Our city where we came from. You truly know nothing of our realm,” she said as if newly astonished.

  We continued along the road, our pace steady but not hurried. The wound in my side ached dully, but the moonflower paste had worked wonders. I found myself grateful for Elindra's company—not just for her healing skills and knowledge of the land, but for the conversation. It helped keep my mind off the strangeness of my situation.

  "So these Mountain Clan elves," I said as we crested a hill that gave us a better view of the distant peaks. "What are they like?"

  "Proud. Traditional. Much more connected with the land than my people, less civilized. Suspicious of outsiders," Elindra said. "Their Rune Bearer, Arielle, controls the Flame Rune. They're known for their metalwork and their warriors, though they fight in a much more brutish style than mythe Lightcleave Clan.”

  "Are they hostile to your clan?"

  "Not openly, but there's some tension. Their leader, Lord Kaelan, believes the Lightcleave have too much influence over the other clans, given our city hosts the capital and the elders. He's been pushing for a redistribution of territories for years."

  "Sounds like a motive for kidnapping," I said.

  Elindra nodded. "It's possible. With Lyrielle as a hostage, they could force concessions.”

  The sun had passed its zenith and was beginning its descent toward the western mountains. We'd been walking for hours, and while Elindra showed no signs of fatigue, my injured side was starting to protest the exertion.

  The pain flared and I stumbled, to find Elindra ducking under my arm to help support me. She pressed against me, and it seemed like the wound didn’t hurt any longer.

  "We should find a place to rest soon," Elindra said. "There's a waystation a few miles ahead where travelers can shelter. It’s some time before night, but I don’t believe you should travel much further.”

  "I can keep going," I said, though the idea of rest was appealing.

  "We'll need our strength before we get deep into the Mountain Clan’s territory. The area is much rougher than Silverhaven, and the wilds surrounding it can be hazardous,” she said. "And your wound needs checking."

  I nodded, conceding the point. "Lead the way."

  As we continued down the road, I found myself thinking about Lyrielle and her mysterious disappearance. Whatever the truth of what occurred, I was committed now. Not just because of the elders' threats or my promise to help to find a way home, but because I was genuinely curious.

  If I even wanted to go back. The thought surprised me. But as I glanced at Elindra walking beside me, still close next to me with my arm slung around her, I realized that for the first time since the crash, I wasn't in a hurry to leave.