The noise-canceling headset dulled the thrum of the engine and the whop-whop-whop of the helicopter blades, but the familiar sounds stirred nostalgia in me. During my piloting days, I’d flown a similar craft. That had been my job, not shooting hostile ogres and orcs. Only a near-death experience had resulted in the army figuring out I had elven blood and pulling me aside to be trained as an assassin.
Today, if we found dark elves on Mount Rainier, I might get to put all that training to use again. For now, I was sitting in the back of the helicopter with Pariah, Corporal Clarke, and Sergeant Banderas, a shaven-headed Puerto Rican I’d seen around the office but hadn’t worked with before. The strong, silent type, he wore an Army Ranger patch on his uniform, and I trusted he had experience f
