Dark Horse: Chapter Four .:Keefe:.

Keefe surveyed the others in the room, taking note of possible strengths and weaknesses. There the Mortals, Sofie and Will. They were Mortals, but that didn’t mean anything. In Haggard if you wanted to survive as a Mortal you would to have fend for yourself from adults much stronger than you from an early age, and Keefe could relate to that. They looked like they could fight easily in pairs or solo, dressed in their furs, padded armor and with weapons strapped to their backs.

But of course he’d come into contact with Mortals before, and their flaw tended to be stubbornness and pride. Usually if they were tricked with magic they’d walk right into the trap. So thank makes up for the Mortals. Then there was Kelsey and her gross elven boyfriend Clide Illona.

Elves were simple to Keefe, even if they could see through Atlantean magic. They had their own more earthy, raw magic, but it was much weaker since Elven magic was connected to their emotions. And while some great Elven leaders had bested this, elves were very emotional. Especially if they were like Kelsey and Clide and in love or whatever.

Keefe knew that only left Ahri, the other Atlantean. She had wavy green hair with amber eyes. Delicate, but then again most people in Atlantis looked that way if they weren’t Connor Akali. She seemed jumpy and scared almost the entire time, and he’d never seen her around before, which was weird considering Atlanteans kept to Atlantis. She seemed safe enough, for now.

“So,” Keefe sat down on the floor, attempting to look friendly and harmless. “I’m Keefe; I guess you guys already know that… Um, Sofie, Will, Kelsey, Clide and Ahri right? So what do you think will happen? Do ya think Dark Horse is going to like, kill us all or something?”

Clide opened his mouth and said, “Lucas Pres-” Kelsey glanced at him with a weird look in her eye. “Is my middle name!” Clide shouted.

“Lucas Pres?” Keefe let an easy grin slip across his face. “Really. Weird. What kind of name is Pres?”

Clide searched for the right words. “Um… you see. My mother is from a small Elven minority… Called, er… uh…”

Keefe gave him a look that masked his true intentions but still made Clide uncomfortable. “Er… er what?”

“ERNESTINE!” Clide shouted. “Uh, yes! The Elven Ernestine!”

“Right.” Keefe offered and easy grin. “Ok, so that’s Clide.” He glanced around. “C’mon guys! Have a seat!” He patted the floor. “We’re all friends here aren’t we?”

They all looked uncomfortable, but Kelsey smoothed her blouse and took a seat on the ground, Ahri and Clide following her. Sofie started too, but Will narrowed his eyes at me and held her back. “We’ll stand.”

“Of course,” Keefe nodded. “Mortals tend to be a little too tense. I understand. Well, not really but-”

Will interrupted. “You’re talkative. I don’t like talkative people. Shut up.”

Keefe shrugged. “Ok, so the Mortals are sticks in the mud, and Clide here is not an elf but actually an Ernestine.”

“No, I’m an elf!” Clide argued. “From a small Elven minority called the Ernestines!”

Ahri giggled softly, and Keefe was relieved to know the attempted charm fest had worked on at least one of them. He wasn’t sure what Dark Horse was going to do or make them do, but most theories said it involved her murdering them and drinking their blood. Keefe didn’t believe that, Dark Horse would’ve needed more than six every four years to stay alive if she ate them. Nah, she probably made them all attack each other for sport. If so, he needed to be ready.

“Whatever,” Keefe shrugged. “So that leaves you.” He turned to Kelsey. “What do you do Mrs. Clide?”

Kelsey blushed, “No, no. It’s not like that.”

Clide looked confused. “Wait.. it’s not?”

Kelsey gave him a look kind of like, “SHUT UP! DO YOU WANT HIM TO FIND OUT ABOUT US?”

“You two are obviously into each other.” Keefe smirked. “Gross. Not like I’m judging you- oh wait, I did. See? Now the hard part is already over.”

Kelsey relaxed a bit. “Um… ok.”

“So what do you do Clide’s Fluffernutter?”

“Ok! The nicknames aren’t… that nice.” Kelsey protested, even though she was smiling. “I… I’m a wonky elf, actually.”

“Really?” Keefe leaned forward resting his chin on a fist pretending to be interested. “What dose that mean? Back home we don’t have any elves.”

Kelsey brushed back a lock of wavy hair. “Yeah. So Elves are supposed to be all natury, and I guess I am but-”

“So what makes you wonky?”

“I’m a fire elf.” Kelsey admitted. “Except every time I try to make it normal, it just dose this…” She raised her palm, letting out a jutting wall of fire. Blue fire.

Keefe squinted. “Hey, um Mrs. Clide. Yeah you. Can you maybe turn that down a notch? I can’t see!”

“Oh, sorry.” Kelsey nodded and stopped the stream of fire.

“So I guess that explains all the purple blue colors,” Keefe gestured to her hair.

Kelsey nodded.

“It looks great.” Keefe complimented, glancing Clide’s way to see if he’d pushed any buttons. Clide was looking between Kelsey and Keefe wondering weather Keefe was flirting or just making conversation and he looked like he was having serious trouble deciding. Kelsey seemed to get the message and she quieted down.

“So…” Keefe glanced around again. “What do you think DH is going to do?”

“D.H.?” Will scoffed.

Keefe shrugged. “Dark Horse, D.H., whatever you want to call her. I’ve heard she-”

“I’m going to eat you all.” A voice answered. “I’m going to kill you. I’m going to suck your blood.” The curtains that Keefe had assumed was for a window unraveled. A woman with stunning jewelry and a painfully beautiful yet cold face sat atop a golden throne, servants fanning out around her.

Ahri jumped, Kelsey squeezed Clide’s hand, Sofie’s eyes widened and she suddenly looked younger, while Will’s gaze hardened and he looked older. Keefe just stared. This was Dark Horse. She certainly lived up to the name. Stunning. Cold Blooded. Dangerous. Scary.

“It’s time for your first test.” Dark Horse rose from her seat and slowly came towards them down the platform. “Kelsey… Clide Illona…” She wrinkled her nose like she knew something we didn’t when she said Clide’s name. “Sofia Luna, William… Ahri…” She gave Ahri a suspicious look and Ahri shrank back. She stopped in front of him. “Keefe.” She ruffled his hair slowly, making him take an instinctive step back. “I’ve heard a lot about this one. You should be entertaining.”

She turned back towards the servants. “Have them bathed and dressed. Then lock them in their rooms. I don’t want to see them until tomorrow. Leave the Manuel with them, so they can begin the physical challenges at dawn.”

The servants nodded briskly, and swiftly came up behind them grabbing Keefe by his arms and pulling him down a corridor. He didn’t fight back, but Keefe wasn’t very fond of their preferred way of getting someone around either.