Page 111 of Forged in Fading

Leaving Gosibik for a week or two, however long it took, sounded nice—a change of scenery with no bloodthirsty humans. Though she didn’t know who might join the crew.

“You’ll need someone who knows Dwarvish,” Rav said next to her, and she practically dove face-first onto the ground. That male possessed the stealth of a snow leopard, and apparently the intelligence of one. No one here knew Dwarvish. It was a mostly useless language, seeing as the dwarves were rarely known to forge weapons for anyone outside the gods who had created them for that very purpose.

Boden studied a small divot in the ground with surprising intensity.

“You speak Dwarvish?” Alvara squeaked, a sure sign she had moments before resorting to communicating with gestures. “Why in Dalviri’s name would you know Dwarvish?”

Boden frowned at Rav. “It’s possible I know a little. I’ve also seen maps in the Tasírath library of their capital, Óbrotstin. But I know you’re more than capable of going alone.”

Rav coughed. “You’ll also need someone to communicate with the crew.”

“Don’t you have places to be? Small younglings you can scare?” Boden said.

“Unfortunately, I’ve already met my quota for the day.”

“Rav’s right.” Alvara ignored the exaggerated look of shock plastered on Rav’s face. “Come with me.” Beyond the Dwarvish, whatever that story was, Boden steadied her and brought her peace. The journey would be that much less harrowing with him by her side.

“And you’re positive you want to spend a week trapped on a small ship with me?”

“Always,” Alvara said with the last dregs of her voice’s strength.

She had been a fool to push him away. So many others had uttered their last goodbye to their loved ones without even realizing, and Alvara had chosen—chosen to cut herself off from someone who made her better and brightened up her life.

They all mattered to her: Kat, Rav, Lilja, even Aurilena, whom she knew so little. Even that damn dog, and so many others. She didn’t want to lose a single one of them, no matter how much she tried to deny it. But in the depths of her splintered soul, Alvara knew losing Boden would break her in a way she might not come back from.

She swore on Lojarem’s sacred branches, she would never let that happen.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

The rocking and lurching of the ship quickly reminded Alvara that she had never been out on the ocean before. It didn’t take long before she hung over the railing, breathing the salty air through tight lips to slow the churning storm in her stomach. Shivers ran down her arms, and she pushed down the food threatening to make a quick exit.

“I would recommend finding a fixed point on the horizon.” Boden slipped a small, soft object into her hand. “And chewing on this. It used to help me.”

Alvara would shave her own head if it meant banishing the nausea, so she dumped whatever he had given her into her mouth and chewed. The spicy liquid that coated her tongue tasted of the biscuits her mother used to make around Jolval.

Wait. “You’ve sailed before?” Her own scratchy voice grated on her ears, like rubbing gravel in a wound.

“Only a few times here and there when we’ve needed to visit other human settlements.”

The bobbing of the ship caught Alvara’s eye, and her insides sloshed. Maybe talking would distract her. “Have you ever met your father’s family? Your human father.”

“No. My mother doesn’t speak much of him. I think it’s too painful for her.”

Alvara swallowed the last of the spiced root and chanced a look at Boden instead of the horizon. “Do you want to?”

He placed his forearms on the railing and relaxed his body as he gazed out onto the water. “I’m…not sure.”

A sleek, silver animal brushed the surface of the sea, and she bit back a gasp. If that was a selkie, this voyage might become much more complicated. In all the stories her father had told, one fact remained true: The ocean was their domain—Selahem, a realm of water and drowned corpses.

She shook her head to clear away the foreboding tales that rattled there. “I think you should consider it, if it’s important to you. They’re as much a part of you as your elven family.”

“They likely have no interest in meeting me. Many humans resent elves for refusing to intervene in the troubles they’ve endured in the past.” He pushed out a lengthy exhale. “I doubt they would feel any different about me.”

Absolute nonsense. Boden was incredibly different from the elves she had known throughout her young years and had already left an undeniable imprint on her soul. “If they have no interest in meeting you, then they’re idiots who don’t know what they’re missing.”

“That almost sounded like a compliment. Are you saying you would have missed me if I wasn’t here?”

“I need more of that root. Your words are making me nauseous.” Alvara held out her hand, and he dropped more into her palm with a chuckle.