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It made
more sense than the entire world was lost. She kept her mind from
focusing on details such as why anyone would steal her away. She
didn’t want to examine closely the logic of her decision. That path
held too many options she didn’t want to consider. Hers was a
better one. In hers, the world was still as it should be, and her
father was coming to rescue her. She steadied herself and began to
piece the story together in her mind. Her father had been a
soldier, and he had thwarted the plans of a Sorcerer. So for
revenge, the evil Sorcerer had stolen her away. As she pieced the
story together, she felt herself warming to the idea that her
father was the hero of this, and that heroes always won.

Chapter 2
Northern Merro
     
    She’d convinced herself completely by the
time she heard the voice. Her head came up quickly, and she scanned
the rain for the source of it. It was too distant to tell if it was
father or not, so she stayed silent. Mother had warned her about
strangers too, but she wasn’t really sure if that warning applied
right now. Anyone would be better than no one, unless of course it
was the evil Sorcerer, she reasoned.
    “There is nothing out here.” It was a man’s
voice, and not one she recognized. She could see two figures dimly
through the rain. One large and white, a huge horse, far bigger
than Buck even. The other was a smaller, darker beast. She could
barely make out the riders and other than they were both cloaked,
she couldn’t make out any details. The smaller horse could be Buck,
she supposed. He looked darker when his coat was wet. She stood
slowly, and some part of her mind noticed how numb she had become.
She shrugged the thought off as quickly as it had come, and moved
slowly toward the horses. In this weather, it wouldn’t be hard to
get close enough to them without them noticing her.
    “Just a bit farther, humor me.” A second
voice called back, thickly accented with a bit of a musical
quality.
    “A bit farther of cold rain and ash for
nothing,” the first speaker grumbled. She was close enough now to
tell he was the darker horse’s rider, and that was definitely not
Buck. The horse was black with no sign of white on him at all. And
by the set of his ears he was in a mood as dark as his coat. She
took care not to approach too closely, and turned her attention to
the large white one. He was bigger than even father’s plow horses.
He was coated with bright and shiny metal coverings from the nape
of his neck and shoulders to the chain mail across his back. She
had never seen a warhorse before. In the stories they were fierce.
This one didn’t look fierce, though, because his ears were forward
and his gait lively. She was still trying to decide if she should
call out or not when the white horse stopped and turned his head to
regard her. She stared back at him in shock. She hadn’t moved nor
made a sound since she had crept closer. He shouldn’t be able to
smell her through the rain. And yet there he was, staring at her
with ears pricked forward. He gave a soft nicker, and she heard his
rider chuckle.
    “And there we are. Avalanche has found
something.” He swung lightly down from his horse, and Jala noted
the metal that flashed beneath it. He wore armor, as well. He must
be a knight. Only knights had warhorses and armor. Maybe father had
sent him to find her.
    “What has he found, would be the question,”
the second rider growled back.
    “A child, and a lost one, so don’t be snide,
Havoc.” He knelt down a few feet from her as he spoke, and pulled
his cloak down despite the rain, so she could have a look at his
face. He gave her a moment before speaking and her eyes traveled
over his face. He was handsome with smooth features and large green
eyes the color of spring leaves. His hair was cut short in military
fashion, and his ears were slightly pointed.
    “You’re an elf!” she blurted before she could
stop herself. His companion gave a snort of amusement and smiled