|
Through a
sliver of moonlight, trying to still her gasping breaths, she sensed
the shadow’s movements on the wall beneath the sill of the shed.
The cool moistness from the moss beneath her tightly clenched fists
did nothing to calm the firestorm that raged throughout her body.
Straining her long delicate elfin ears for any trace of sound in the
overly quiet night, she watched with a deepening fear as the shadow
grew, slowly tracing a path towards the double wide door. Filled
with an all-consuming anger that battled with her rational mind, the
urge to fight won out. Silently she moved from her hiding place
beneath the bows of the large fern. Daggers drawn, she quickly
merged with the shadows and stealthy inched her way towards danger.
Approaching the doorway, she sensed rather than felt…
*
* *
A sudden pain
in her left hand, brought on by four sharp fingernails biting into
her soft palm, jerked the small girl back to reality. Shaking her
head and clearing her eyes, she felt the anger from her vision
dissolve into fear. Wiping the small rivulets of sweat that
streaked down her brow toward her cheeks, she realized Jainaar had
gone still. She followed his gaze to the slight shifting of leaves
located in the small copse of trees seventy yards ahead. Deep green
leaves rustling in the windless night was their only clue that they
were still being tracked. With her hand still firmly clasped in his
slightly larger one and keeping her gaze focused on the movement,
she asked in a breathy frightened whisper, “What do we do?”
Jainaar stole a
quick glance at his sister. Two years younger, she was already the
same height and stature as him; he was slightly worried that it
wouldn’t be long before she passed him by. With her long sapphire
blue hair streaked with silver and her brilliant amber eyes it was
plain to all she was destined for greatness. She resembled no one
in their family as both of his parents, himself included, possessed
the silver hair common to his people as well as the lustrous silver
eyes that seemed to glow in the dark. It was known since her birth
that she would grow to be something different.
His father,
once a warrior in the empire’s army, had married young after
receiving a debilitating wound, and set up shop as a blacksmith in
his home village of Jabrokai. The remote mountainous village,
located deep in the wilderness of Raanakrai, had been a peaceful
place to raise a family.
It had been his
duty since the day of his sister’s birth for him to protect her. He
could still hear his father’s deep voice as he laid the softly
bundled treasure into Jainaar’s outstretched hands. “You must always
protect your sister that is your greatest duty.” He wondered if his
father had somehow known what would happen.
With cold
detachment brought on by shock and fear, his thoughts jumped to his
mother and father, whom he know were likely dead; and the once
welcoming and peaceful woods with their purple and green foliage and
the softly shimmering rocks, now felt dark and unwelcoming. How was
he to protect her? He was eleven and possessed no weapon other than
the few beginners’ spells his mother had recently begun teaching
him. They could run, they were both fit and with their long legs
they could elude most any other species, but not when they were this
tired and hungry. They’d already been running since before dawn,
nearly a full day ago when their home was attacked.
His mother’s
screams of rage and fear had woken him from a deep sleep.
Remembering his father’s teachings, he’d grabbed clothes and shoes
from the shelf for his sister and himself, throwing them into his
rucksack. Still grasping the sack and forgetting that he wore only
his loincloth, he looked down in horror at the bloody mess that was
his father, a dagger protruding from his chest, and his mother
sparring with two armed bulky men. He had no idea where she had
gotten the blades from, but he could tell she couldn’t last much
longer. Though she was equal in height to the humans, she was no
match for both. Staring at them, entrapped by the beauty of his
fighting mother, he’d barely registered her screaming cry of “Run!”
With the spell broken, he’d grabbed his still sleeping sister,
pulling her sluggish form towards their bedroom window and out onto
the welcoming branches of the giant sycamore. Upon reaching the
ground, both began running.
Slowly his
restless mind reconnected with his body as the boy felt her hands
shaking his arm and heard her repeat her frantic whisper, “What do
we do?”
He whispered
back with a calmness that belied his terror, “We do as father said,
‘go for the water’, they can’t track us there.” He spoke with
confidence, certainty, but inside he was filled with doubt. He had
no idea if those men had hounds. He was sure they were humans, as
they just weren’t large enough to be trolls.
Motioning for
her to move out from their hiding place beneath the branches of an
aging elderberry bush, they quietly climbed over the fallen branches
of an old oak tree, trying their best not to scrape or damage the
moss beneath their knees.
“But what
are they?” she asked in a frightened and perplexed voice. Being
younger and slightly different, she’d been sheltered her whole
life. Taught to fight and survive nature’s trials, as all of her
race was, she never knew there could exist a race so cruel, so
vile… Completely confused, dashing between downed limbs and low
hung branches and trying to dodge holes, she couldn’t comprehend
exactly why they were running from these creatures.
Agitated by her
talking, though silently acknowledging that if anyone was near
enough to hear her soft whisper they could easily be spotted and it
wouldn’t have been her fault, he hissed, “Shush, no talking. We
head south.” He knew that if they could make it to the army
settlement seventy lengths south, then perhaps the warriors there
could protect his sister.
He just knew
that their pursuers were human; just as he knew they wanted his
sister. What they wanted with his sister, he wasn’t entirely sure.
Accidentally overhearing his parents three nights ago, he’d heard
them talking of men who’d heard of his sisters powers. He knew of
her powers and right now they didn’t seem so special. She sometimes
knew of events before they took place, but that knowledge was
sporadic and rarely involved anything of importance. He could tell
that his parents were worried and they spoke of the possibility of
leaving the village, their home, to evade the possibility of
danger. He’d given up listening when they began to speak of the
forthcoming harvest and when would be a good time to harvest the
potatoes. With a bitter thought, he wondered why she couldn’t have
seen their parent’s deaths. “Think of that later,” he told
himself.
Just shy of the
river, running full out, Jainaar tripped on a hidden root. Jerking
his smaller sister to the ground, she landed hard with a barely
contained cry of surprise as she felt the wind rush out of her
lungs, leaving her stunned. After taking a few moments to catch her
breath, she asked him if he was alright. “I’m fine, we must go,” he
said with a half-smile as he attempted to stand, promptly collapsing
onto the green and brown moss carpeted ground.
With a soft cry
of pain he moaned, “It’s my ankle, I can’t go but you need to
run!” Hushing her frantic whispers of denial, he continued, “Run to
the river and follow it south. If you run in the river they can’t
track you, but you must go! Follow the river to the end of
the mountains, there you should find an army settlement.” Lunging at
him, she wrapped her arms around him so tightly that her tears were
running down his neck. “They can protect you,” he cried, wrapping
her into a tight embrace. “I’m sorry Araselli, but I can’t run
anymore. I’ll try to distract them, slow them but you need to
run!” He continued on in a raspy voice full of misery, “I love you,
stay hidden, protect yourself, and run!”
A sudden snap
seventy-five paces to their left caused the small pair to jerk their
heads and focus in that direction. Jainaar shoved his sister with
all of his might towards the river, whispering the whole time, “I
love you, you must run!” She sprinted away as fast as
her young legs would carry her, running because her life depended on
it. She was in the water and barely around the bend, heading toward
the falls as the men leapt from the trees and headed straight for
her brother.
Turning on his
knees and facing the direction the sound came from, knowing the odds
were low that he’d ever see his sister again, he decided it was time
to make his stand. Thinking back to the short list of spells his
mother had taught him, he couldn’t think of any that would work.
Before this madness had started, it was intended that he would be
sent away to study the arcane arts, as his mother wished for him to
become a mage and follow in her footsteps. He would have left early
the following year and she had wanted him to be a bit ahead of his
fellow students, “It was all for nothing,” he thought with
immense sadness, “but perhaps I can still save my sister!”
Feeling the power build in his upper arms as it erupted from the
wellspring deep within his chest, Jainaar began to chant. It was an
elementary level spell, but elementary or not, it proved to be quite
effective as it not only knocked him unconscious but also the five
large men who were rushing him. Then the world went dark.
*
* *
Awaking,
Jainaar realized he had been out for a while. Blinking the sun out
of his eyes, his first thought was of his sister, wondering where
she was and if she was still alive. His second thought was of his
throbbing ankle and wrists. Tasting the foul cloth stuffed in his
mouth, making it a challenge to breathe, it dawned on him he’d been
bound and gagged. Lying on his side, all he could see was the tree
directly in front of him. The soft murmur of conversation behind
him helped him locate his captors.
Boots scraping
on rocks and dried moss alerted him to the presence of his assumed
captor, who continued in a fake falsetto voice, “Ah, our young guest
is awake. How nice!” he sneered as he pulled his head back just a
bit before letting loose a wad of spit that landed near the boys
head. “Where is the girl, elfling?” he asked in a deceitfully calm
voice while flipping the boy onto his back and yanking the cloth
from his mouth. “Come on boy, where did you send her? I know it was
you that released the magic. Where is she?”
Scraping his
feet against the moss in an attempt to move away from his vile
captor, Jainaar only succeeded in pushing himself further into the
bark of a large walnut tree, scratching his shoulders and arms.
Flinching as the man leaned towards him, he was finally able to
stutter out an answer. “I…I…d-don’t k-know where she is!” he
gasped. “I just said the words I was taught. No one ever told me
what would happen!”
Grasping the
boy by his waste length hair and shaking him, his captor said in a
slow deep menacing voice, “Don’t toy with me you maggot.” Spittle
flying into Jainaar’s face caused him to narrow his eyes and flinch
once more.
“Captain, sir!”
hollered a lanky, middle-aged man covered in sores with long greasy
hair as he ran towards them, stirring up dust and flinging bits of
rock at Jainaar as he skidded to a stop.
“Did you find
her!” the captain sneered, despising the middle-aged man for his
lack of hygiene and inability to command. The captain dropped the
young elf back to the ground to cower near the tree’s roots as he
turned and faced the squirrelly-looking man.
“No sir, but
we’ve been called out. We’re to report to Fort Shnell’ir by
tomorrow’s eve.”
“We can’t leave
without the girl! She’s the whole damn reason we’re in this mess!
She’s the valuable one you fool, not this worthless pile of goat
dung!” he said, aiming a kick at the quivering boy whose eyes were
wide open in fright. “Get out there and keep looking! She wouldn’t
have gone far without this one,” he said, eyeing the young elf with
a hard stare.
*
* *
Less than a
half a league away, a young girl was pulled out from a
winter-chilled river; it was assumed she came over the falls as she
was covered in scrapes and bruises. Two hunters carried her to the
bank as a mage was called to heal her.
“Melkin!” the
burly young dwarf shouted. “Melkin!”
Standing just
shy of four feet, the young dwarf, while shorter, was much broader
than gangly Melkin, considered rather tall amongst those of his
race. “Learn to respect your elders pup,” mumbled Melkin as he
scrapped his scrambled eggs and checked the tenderness of his
antelope steak, doing his best to ignore the younger dwarf.
“Listen up you
old scoundrel! Go find Telmin. Tell him Jorgen and I just fished a
funny looking elf out of the river. I don’t know if she’ll make it,
but she sure is unique.”
Glancing up,
the tall dwarf saw unruly Julk holding the figure of what looked to
be a young elf with Jorgen running towards the supply tent, looking
for what he assumed were blankets. Jumping up, completely
forgetting his eggs, he ran through the makeshift campsite towards
the mage’s tent.
Julk, still
holding the young elf, knelt down on the grass waiting for the
blankets and the mage. He knew his race was, in his opinion, overly
suspicious of the elves and usually not prone to help them if
circumstances could avoid it, but this girl, slightly taller than
him but weighing a good deal less, was unique not only in her
physical appearance, but also in the way he found her. He knew that
elves, typically, were overprotective of their young; and to find
one floating lifeless in a river was very odd. Something wasn’t
right, but he’d heard no reports of troubles in these mountains.
The burly dwarf
glanced up in time to see the mage, Melkin and Jorgen sprinting
towards him. “What is this malarkey about an elf?” the middle-aged
mage asked, walking up behind Julk. Gasping as he caught sight of
one bloody thin leg, the mage ran around and dropped to the ground
next to her.
Checking her
aura and gauging her age based on appearance, he guessed her to be
no more than eight or nine. “Obviously she’s suffering from several
lacerations, hypothermia and I’m guessing a severe concussion if her
pupils are any indication. Broken bones? Your guesses are as good
as mine,” he sighed, looking at the useless bed nurses surrounding
him and wishing he didn’t have to waste his magic on something time
could fix. Fully aware, that for an elf child to be injured and
alone, trouble was abroad and they would go looking for it.
“Well, as you
all are just staring at me, I suppose I’d better do something. Oh,
and Melkin, your eggs are a smidge over done,” he said with a smirk,
looking at the blackened pan, as the old dwarf took off stomping and
swearing. Standing up, he took a pace back from Araselli and began
an incantation. The young hunter and warrior watched in awe as
electric power the color of rubies radiated around Telmin.
Julk had heard
he would be traveling with a powerful mage, but he’d yet to witness
any such events. Even though he’d moved out of his parent’s home a
year ago and had been training all his life to become a warrior, he
felt strangely inept watching this dwarf work. One week ago he’d
been told that he, another warrior, a hunter and a mage would be
scouting ahead of the main army.
“So far all
has been quiet, as they had expected, I’m sure,”
he thought with only a slightly bitter smile. “Why else would
they send an inexperienced warrior and hunter with such a small
party?” He knew though, that this child changed everything.
“All right,
make a pallet for her near the cook fire. It should keep her warm
enough,” the mage said as he began walking away. “She’ll sleep
through ‘til nightfall and awake very hungry. Have some soup
ready.”
*
* *
Approaching
the doorway, she sensed rather than felt the shadow’s presence.
Sliding along the rough wood, praying the moon would stay hidden
behind its thin sheet of clouds, she knew she wouldn’t have to
battle him alone as there were five mages and nineteen warriors
lurking in the woods behind her. It was her sole job to scout about
the shed and report back. What troubled her, though, was what her
reaction would be to what lay within. The
young body, wracked with guilt and worry, tossed and turned in her
sleep, nearly removing the blankets tenderly tucked around her
shoulders.
*
* *
Pulling back
his leg and aiming at the most tender spot on one’s stomach, the
squirrelly looking, greasy haired soldier, Marks, sent a swift
‘wakeup call’ towards the young captive. “Wake the hell up elf,”
he said in a derogative tone with a nasty smile adorning his narrow
face, taking intense delight in watching the youngster flinch and
yelp.
Speaking for
the first time since his capture, “I need to urinate,” Jailaar
stated, in a flat, monotone voice, staring directly into the older
man’s eyes. He was incredibly stiff and sore, not only from the
occasional kicks, but also from the long run the day before.
Emotionally he was absent, still in shock from all that he’d seen
and been through. Although the swelling had gone down, the pain in
his ankle persisted. “It really doesn’t matter,” he thought.
“Next to the other bruises, I can barely
feel it.”
Feeling
threatened by this direct eye contact and running on lack of sleep
and overly stressed himself, the soldier backhanded the boy for
daring to look at him. He knew they were running behind schedule
and weren’t supposed to even be in this area. If his captain hadn’t
taken this side job, none of them would be in this much danger and
could be safely resting up at Fort Shnell’ir. Grinning to himself,
he thought of how the Fort brought up images of him and a busty
woman named Bertchuá. “I’m gonna have to go back there again,”
he thought, recalling the local brothel he’d visited a few months
before. “Wonder if she’s still there?”
“Get your lazy
ass up boy if you want to piss!” he snarled. Jainaar stood up
slowly, arms still bound behind his back and legs shackled
together. “Get over to them bushes,” the guard mumbled; thinking
back to Bertchuá and all the fun they’d have once he got there.
Slowly
shuffling towards the brush, the young elf’s mind raced with various
methods of escape. Turning them over one by one in his mind, he
discarded them just as quickly as they formed. There was no way he
could free his hands, and the metal bound to his ankles effectively
neutralized his magic. “I wonder where Araselli is”, he
thought to himself, fully appreciative of the simple fact that she
wasn’t with him.
He felt bad for
thinking it, but he knew she’d be better off dead than a captive to
this Captain. He’d overheard the men speaking during the night
about how their plans were going awry, how, without his sister, whom
they were planning on selling to a man who wanted his own private
oracle, they would all surely be killed. “Apparently this man is
somebody important,” he thought with a somewhat evil smirk on
his face, fully aware that he’d done everything within his power to
foil their plans for his sister.
Jainaar nearly
jumped out of his skin as the beefy Captain grabbed his shoulder and
said in a rough voice, “Get in the damned wagon, maggot. We’re
leaving and you’re coming with.”
Although he’d
wanted to kill the boy, as he had no use for an elf, a blood
relative of the supposed oracle would have to do. “Perhaps if
he’s tortured, she’d dream of it and attempt a rescue. We’ll be
waiting for you, you little monster,” he thought, a nasty little
smile forming in his eyes and spreading towards his lips.
After throwing
the boy into the supply wagon, crowded from all that they’d pillaged
from the local villages, the captain called for his mage. He’d need
to send a message; first to his master and another to his commander.
*
* *
Stretching in
contentment beneath her thick layer of blankets, Araselli dozed. In
her sleep dazed mind she was at home in the bedroom she shared with
her brother, waiting for her mother to come wake her up. Stretching
again as she caught an odd smell, then like a broken damn the
memories came flooding back. The risky and rushed climb from their
house, the chase through the forest, her brother risking his life
for hers, her jump over the falls; tears began welling under her
eyelids as a moan and sob pushed its way out of her tightly clenched
mouth. Sobbing uncontrollably, she didn’t feel the arms that lifted
her or the chest that she burrowed into. The pain was so intense
she could barely catch her breath.
*
* *
Julk had sat
patiently, slowly stirring a pot of beef and turnip stew, while
sitting on an overturned kettle and watching his young charge
sleep. It had been hours since they’d pulled her from the river and
although she’d gone through a period of rough dreams, she’d settled
down into a deep sleep, “about an hour ago”, he thought with
a sigh. Just settling towards dusk, the sun illuminated the
campsite, making it obvious to him that he was there alone. The
mage had gone off wandering, “doing whatever it is mages do”,
he thought with a chuckle. The other two had gone off hunting,
leaving him to “hold down the fort”.
Thinking back
to his earlier studies, he tried to remember what he’d been taught
of the other races of this world and their interactions with the
hill dwarfs. Of the all the species known to him, the humans,
dwarves, gnomes, trolls, and elves were the most populous. He knew
that the elves separated themselves into different factions,
depending upon appearance, location, and livelihood. The wood elves
that were supposedly in this area were typically tall, in the order
of five-and-a-half to six-and-a-half feet, with silver hair and eyes
that seemed to glow in the dark.
Hearing the
blankets shuffle again, he once more looked down at his young
charge. Earlier she kept moving about with a deep frown upon her
face and loosing her blankets. “Dreaming again,” he
supposed. Turning away, he continued to watch her out of the corner
of his eye while he focused on the bubbling stew. Hearing a sharp
gasp and a sob, he dropped the spoon into the soup cauldron and
jumped up, whirling around to face the startling noise. Seeing the
girl curled up in a fetal position, she appeared to be in so much
pain he could almost think it was physical if he hadn’t known that
Telmin had healed her. Doing what he would have done for any other
child and hoping it didn’t scare the bejeebers out of her, he slowly
picked her up, cradling her to his chest, and rocked.
*
* *
Crawling, her
head pounding and body aching, she stood up; only to fall to the
floor once more. Tears leaking from her eyes, Marnoa thought about
the last few days. They’d heard from a friend, Mawroc, that
strangers were asking around about an odd elf child who could see
through time and into the future. Bitterly, she swept away the
tears tracking their way down her chin.
“I should
have forced
the issue! We should have left that night. How did this all go so
wrong?”
Weeping and
holding her tender head in her hands, she curled up on the rug that
lay near the cold kitchen stove. She’d known she was saving her
last spell for a desperate moment, knowing it would take most of her
energy; but she hadn’t prepared herself for exactly how much it
would cost her. Through her sobs, she wasn’t able to hear the soft
footsteps as they stepped over the dead body of her husband.
*
* *
Glancing at the
dead male elf and the two dead humans, he caught site of the
individual making the sounds that had drawn him into the home.
Hesitating for just a moment, the dwarf examined the perimeter with
his magic once more, to ensure that he and the woman were the only
two creatures alive within the building. He didn’t want to take any
chances of a surprise encounter.
Clearing his
voice somewhat noisily, he felt immediate chagrin when she jumped
and sat up quickly, with an immediate look of pain flashing across
her face. “I am so sorry miss, I didn’t mean to startle you,” he
said in a low soothing voice. “I just happened by and saw that the
door was broken in. I just wanted to offer my help if any was
needed,” the dwarf finished with an earnest expression.
“I-I…um…I-my
head…” Wincing in pain, she shut her eyes tight, holding her hands
on either side of her pounding skull. Suddenly, feeling rejuvenated
and noticing the pain had diminished considerably, she looked up to
see a beautiful ruby-red aura surrounding the stout dwarf. She took
notice of her companion this time. Although he was much shorter
than her, nearly a foot, he surely outweighed her by at least 100
pounds. From the looks of it, it was all muscle. The beard could
fool most people, but she guessed him to be middle-aged.
“I thank you
for healing me, and your offer of aid.” Finishing the last portion
of her sentence in near whisper, he almost didn’t hear the next.
“We were attacked, early this morning…possibly yesterday morning. I
don’t know how long I’ve been unconscious.” Suddenly, like fire
being awoken, she fiercely spit out, “But I fear for my children!
They were after our daughter! Those creatures…” she continued,
contempt dripping from her voice, shooting a death glare at the two
corpses lying not far from her. “They wanted to kidnap her. They
were going to sell her to the highest bidder!”
“Miss,” the
dwarf attempted, still standing near her.
Speaking
without really seeing anyone, “They broke down the door like it was
a twig.”
“Miss, I…” he
tried again; he desperately wanted to tell her of the girl his men
had found.
“They got my
husband first,” she stated with a look of pain flashing through her
eyes. “He wasn’t expecting them to be throwing daggers. He thought
they’d fight like real men. Or at least with magic,” she added,
shaking her head in sadness.
“Miss!”
he cried with much distress, “Really, you must concentrate! I think
we’ve found your daughter…”
The woman
jumped to her feet and in one leap wrapped her arms around the
shorter man.
“…we found a
girl floating in the water this morning and have revived her. She’s
currently sleeping under guard in my camp.”
“Oh thank
you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she screamed with
joy, still hugging the dwarf mage Telmin. “Take me to her please!
I have got to know if she is my daughter, then I must see about my
son,” she said dancing in place with tears once again streaking down
her narrow face. “They ran together you see, I don’t know what’s
happened to them. Oh it must be her!”
*
* *
Bouncing
amongst other people’s now-lost possessions, Jainaar tried once more
to fathom how to get out of the trouble he was in. Shoved against a
large wooden trunk, each bounce seemed to either shove splinters
into his back, or rub it raw; he couldn’t decide. Bound and once
more gagged, there was little he could do but wait. He knew they
were taking him to the Fort Shnell’ir, but from there he was
uncertain. It had now been a full two-and-a-half days since the
attack on his parents’ home. He was certain that someone would have
noticed by now as the blacksmith was popular. With a few tears
tracking down his now dusty cheeks, he wondered whether or not
anyone would do anything about it. Shaking his head and wiping his
eyes with the back of his bound left hand, smearing the dust to mud,
he started to cry in earnest.
*
* *
“How far is
your camp? Let’s go now!” the anxious bouncing mother asked the
slightly bemused mage who was thinking of the bedraggled woman she’d
been just a few moments before. “We’ll need to travel by magic, I
can port us into camp,” he said, grasping gently her arm above the
wrist. All the while, mentally preparing himself for the spell.
She jerked her arm out of his grasp. “Magic! But magic is…”
she retorted with instant worry and fire in her eyes.
“Magic is the
only way we can get there safely,” Telmin stated with a stern look
which appeared odd on him as she towered over him. “My camp is
leagues away and we’d never reach it before nightfall, let alone
daybreak, on foot.”
“How did you
find me so quickly then?” she asked in a perplexed voice.
Chuckling under
his breath with little humor, he stated, “My dear lady, my army has
eyes everywhere. Where something odd occurs, such as my group
finding a lone elfling floating, we send out enquiries.” Adding
quietly and holding his arm out when he received no response, “If we
may?”
*
* *
Julk sat
staring at the fire, the stew long forgotten as his charge had taken
a few sips and just one bite before drifting off into what appeared
to be a peaceful slumber. Sighing greatly, with his large hands
holding his head up and braced against his knees, he wondered what
on earth was going on her mind. The girl hadn’t spoken a word, just
stared at him in fear and after much coaxing had finally taken the
cup of soup he’d left on the ground near her.
“Where are you, old farts?” he muttered aloud. “I have no idea what
to do with her.” He rightly assumed her fright had something to do
with her river adventure, but why was she so afraid of him?
After she’d
calmed down, he’d gently laid her back onto her makeshift bed and
then sat back on his heels. “It must have been at that moment
that she realized she didn’t know who the blazes he was,” he
thought bitterly, remembering how she’d shrunk back into the
blankets with terror in her eyes and how he’d reacted on instinct,
reaching for her and saying, “No, it’s safe; you’re safe!”
“Perhaps she
doesn’t speak common?”
he’d thought when she failed to respond to his words. While most
races spoke it, some still only knew their own, native language.
Thinking that
the sight of food would calm her, he’d rushed for a cup and poured
some hot soup into it. Walking forwards though, she’d once again
shrunk back from him. Deciding to leave the cup on the ground and
back up, she’d finally reached for it and taken a few sips.
Shaking his
head in frustration, the warrior, who wasn’t used to dealing with
children, wanted for nothing more than for the mage, or anybody for
that matter, to return.
*
* *
Carefully
leaning against the wooden door with one long, lean ear pressed up
close, she listened to the voices inside.
“What
is
this?” a low ominous voice inquired. “I told you to bring me the
seer, not this riffraff!” he bellowed.
“But we
tried, sir!” a different voice pleaded. “We tried, but the boy
magicked her off! There was nothing we could do.” He quickly
explained, continuing, “I thought we may be able to lure her here.
Perhaps if we torture the boy, she’ll see it, know it…however that
works and try to rescue him!” he added almost eagerly.
“Fools! One
little girl and you
lost her!”
“But…sir…we
have the boy. This is her brother, surely she’ll come for him!”
Anger like
she’d never felt before was coursing through her body. She was
supposed to return and report. She knew this, knew they’d…
*
* *
A loud
popping sound behind him caused Julk to jump and whirl around.
Tripping over the kettle he was sitting on, he fell flat on his
face. Looking up, he glowered at the mage. “Dammit Telmin!” he
said, spitting a dry leaf out of his mouth. “You promised you’d
stop using that popping spell!” Standing up and trying hard to look
the part of the strong warrior he continued muttering, “Old goat
knows the transportation spell doesn’t require the popping, yet the
buzzard has to do it…” A muffled chuckle followed by a deep voice
clearing his throat, “Ah-hem…”
Looking up,
Julk noticed for the first time someone behind the mage. A very
tall, beautiful someone to be exact. “Who’s she?” he asked,
instantly on edge, subconsciously stepping between the newcomer and
the sleeping girl. Glancing at the other dwarf, anticipating seeing
something in his eyes, he really hoped, for the girl’s sake, that
this woman was her mother. Seeing the look pass between the two
men, she shouldered the mage aside and demanded, “Where is my
daughter?” adding almost as an afterthought, “please.”
He stepped
aside so the woman could see the bundle of blanket behind him. “Oh!”
she cried. “Araselli! Thank the stars! The
heavens!” Weeping in happiness she dropped to her knees as a
feeling of instant relief came over her. Grasping the elfling up in
her arms, she couldn’t stop petting the dark blue hair and
whispering murmurs of “…you’re safe, you’re safe…” into the girl’s
ear.
Feeling her
mothers touch and instantly awake, Araselli was once more in tears.
“We’ve got to save him!” she sobbed, snot running down her upper
lip. “They’re going to hurt him Momma! They want me and they said
they’re going to hurt him!”
“Hush,
baby…shhh…calm down,” she soothed, brushing a strand of her girl’s
hair out of her eyes. Slightly confused as to what she was talking
about, a thought came to mind that she instantly wanted to reject.
“Please, please let me be wrong!” Continuing she
asked, “They have who?”
“Jainaar!” she
screamed. Deciding it was best to have the child sleep, the mage
whispered a few words and the girl instantly drifted off, as if
drugged.
Sighing in
relief, Julk looked at the mage and mouthed “Thank you!” as he
wasn’t sure how much more crying he could take. It never failed to
make him feel awkward.
*
* *
Sound asleep,
Jainaar was rudely jerked back to his current reality as he heard a
rough voice telling him to move, “Get out boy!”
Slowly trying
to sit up, his stiff body aching from the cramped quarters and all
the jostling, he watched in dazed wonder as the old hostler undid
his leg irons and replaced them with chain.
Glancing around
he noticed that his small party of captors had joined a much larger
group camped on the outskirts of a village. Looking around he
counted roughly one hundred individuals, many with swords or axes
hanging from their waist; nearly ten were in ropes or chains so he
assumed they were captives, much like himself. Spying several
campfires, he hoped he would be able to sit near one as the air
carried a strong bite.
“You’d best
hurry boy if you want any food, it’s going to go fast,” he said,
pointing towards a line of unkempt looking individuals, who appeared
to be waiting impatiently for a chance near the black cook pot in
the middle. Judging from physical appearance alone, Jainaar found
it easy to pick out the different races. He found three humans, an
elf, much darker in complexion than himself; he assumed from
descriptions his father made that the remaining five consisted of
two dwarfs and three gnomes. “Well, at least I’m not alone
anymore,” he thought to himself, making his way through the
dusty crowd of weary travelers to the large cooking pot.
Grabbing a wood
bowl from the stacks, he tried to scrape out what appeared to be
crusty porridge, out. “You’d best be leaving that,” cackled a
little old woman. Looking down at her he thought, “I bet she’s a
gnome!” as she was no more than two and half feet tall. In a
less stressful environment, Jainaar would have been thrilled to be
seeing so many different races all at once. At the moment though,
he was more concerned with his dirty bowl.
“Boy, there’s
not much worth eating in that pot. You’ll get more if you just
re-hydrate what’s in the bowl with whatever’s in the pot.” Staring
up at him with weak, watery gray eyes, she asked, “What are you
boy? I thought you were human, but you’re not…are you?” Still
staring but now with a sad, kind smile she added, “You’re like
T’snam over there, aren’t you…an elf?” Sighing, she shook her head
sadly and urged him to cut in front of her. “I’m sorry boy. Elves
don’t stick around here too long; you’d best eat as much as you
can.”
Turning around,
facing her once again, he asked, “What do you mean…they don’t last
long?”
Looking him in
the eye, she said one word. “Bait”, she sighed. “They use you as
bait.”
“What do you
mean?” he asked, confused.
“Well, elves
are hard to come by.” Grinning up at him she added, “Apparently you
folk are pretty feisty.”
Hesitating a
little and motioning with his eyes, “Ar-are all humans like them? I
thought, before they showed up, that everyone pretty much got
along, that we’re all on the same side?”
Shoving with
both hands, the little old gnome screeched at someone more than
twice her size who was trying to jump in front of her, “Back to the
line you blungernut! Who do you think you are?” Turning to
Jainaar, she stated with confidence and a somewhat cocky tilt to her
head, “Sometimes you just have to let them know whose boss, else
why’s they’d walk right on over you, without so much as an excuse
me. Grab the ladle, lad.”
Grasping the
heavy metal ladle, he poured the thin porridge into each of their
bowls before dropping it back into the pot with a splash. “As for
your question elfling, no. Not all humans are like this. Truth be
known, and as much as I hate to say it, most are all right. This
lot is what we call ‘mercenaries’.” Turning abruptly she looked
over her shoulder at him and primly ordered, “Follow me”.
*
* *
“Marnoa, more
soup?” Melkin asked in an almost compassionate voice.
Laughing to
himself, Julk thought “So odd, coming from him”. They were
sitting in an almost semi-circle, with the fire as the focal point.
Leaning against a tree, he studied his companions. He knew the old
dwarf, although he considered him to be an old goat, was still a
well-respected warrior. He hoped to learn a lot from Melkin on this
mission. As for the elf, Marnoa, they’d found out, she was a
mystery. Staring at her, she looked to be lost and weak, but he
knew she was capable of killing two fully armored men. The more he
thought about it, the more he realized he’d always been in awe of
the elves. They were so reclusive and mysterious. “Not to
mention ferocious fighters!” he thought, thinking once again of
Marnoa. “Amazing!”
“Hmmm…”
Turning, she looked at Melkin. “No, thank you. I’m full. You make
a great stew, though.”
“Oh, that is
all Julk’s doing. Jorgen,” he said, pointing towards the young
hunter who was at the moment trying to pick a piece of meat out of
his teeth, “over there and I do all the hunting, but it’s Julk that
actually does the cooking.”
“Was that
actually a compliment, Old Timer?” the young dwarf asked with a lazy
grin on his face.
“You hush up,
pup!” Glowering, Melkin kicked out at the younger dwarf,
intentionally missing.
Jorgen was busy
watching the tall elf as she stroked her sleeping daughter’s
forehead and cheeks. “How long will she sleep?” he asked to anyone
who would answer.
Glancing at
him, she answered, “Your mage, Telmin, said she’d probably sleep
through the rest of the night. I hope she does. She’s been through
so much. I’m just worried about her dreams.”
Looking up once
more, Marnoa caught sight of the mage walking towards their fire.
Smiling at her he announced, “So...I’ve contacted my counterparts in
Laint’ar,” and adding for her benefit, “a mining village nearby.
They’ve made note of a band of mercenaries passing through a few
hours ago.” With a deep sigh, he added, while looking at each
member of their small band, “They also made note that the
mercenaries looked to be carrying a small group of slaves. They
estimated the numbers to be around thirty to fifty individuals of
different races: gnomes, dwarves, humans, and…” he paused for a
moment, taking a deep breath before adding, “…even a few elves.”
“So what’s the
plan then?” Melkin queried. “Do we follow them? Surely we won’t
attack. You know as well as I do mercenaries are the dogs, they do
the masters bidding.” Shaking his head in disgust, he stretched his
massive arms and leaned his head against one thick palm. “Do we
know who they work for?”
“No, but we at
least have a direction. They’re heading west,” he said, leaning
over the pot of soup, dipping some into a cup. Sitting down with
his back to a log, he sighed after taking a bite of the stew,
relaxing a bit.
“Did you talk
to Menquil?” Looking at the elf, the old warrior added with a
smirk, “Menquil is the commander of the human armies. He’s another
of Telmin’s little birdies.”
Shooting a
dirty look in the direction of the old dwarf, Telmin spoke after
swallowing his last bit of stew. “You hush, your jaw flaps too
much. And yes, I did speak with him. He said they do have a group
out this way which is lead by nasty piece of work.” Shaking his
head he added, “Apparently, he’s currently on probation, my guess is
his slap on the wrist didn’t work.”
Jorgen, who’d
been silent for most of the night, asked, “Great, so now what? Do
we follow, go back? We can’t exactly leave things as they stand.”
“No, we were
simply a scouting mission,” the mage sighed, “but, I’ve contacted
Mantrav and we have permission to continue on. He’s arranged for us
to be meeting up with a group of Menquil’s men.” Looking at his
small party, with a smile he added “They’ll be led by Joul. You all
have met him before. From there we will track this group of
apparent mercenaries.”
“Oh, this is
good. Our first time out and we get to go hunting!” an excited
Julk, in a stage whisper, told Jorgen.
Shooting Julk a
dirty look he continued, “It seems as if we’ve stumbled onto
something bigger than we expected. Our problem is the girl.”
Looking at Marnoa, he said, “I’m assuming you don’t want people to
know of her. Is there a place you can go where you’ll be safe while
we look for your son?”
Properly
chastened, the younger warrior offered, “In our favor, they don’t
know that we have her.”
Interrupting
the younger dwarf, Marnoa, wrinkling her brow and settling her eyes
on the mage, said, “What do you mean we?” After a moments
pause she continued in a somewhat irked tone, “If you think I’m
going to just walk off and cower, let someone else fight my battles,
you can think again. I fully appreciate and acknowledge your help
and efforts, but he’s my son.”
Glancing at
Marnoa, Julk asked, “Did you happen to notice if they had a mage
with them?” Looking at his hands and trying to recall his knowledge
of how the human ranks worked, “To my knowledge, Joul’s group should
have at least a couple of mages with them. They rarely travel with
fewer than three. We should be able to keep both Marnoa and the
girl safe. Well, at least as safe as they would be anywhere else.
No one knows we have them.” Shrugging his massive shoulders, he
looked up for the first time in several moments. Looking at the
mage, he smirked. With a raised eyebrow he added, “And you thought
I didn’t pay attention.”
A quiet voiced
added, “There were no mages. At least I didn’t feel any.”
Staring at her flexed hands, she relaxed them, grabbing the bowl
near her. As long as her hands remained loose and relaxed, she was
relaxed. Looking up, she noticed the mage staring at her with a
questioning look in his wide spaced gray eyes.
“My apologies,
but I’m afraid I didn’t ask what it is you can do? You say you
didn’t feel any mages? Are you saying you're a mage?” Telmin
asked politely, but full of caution. Looking around the camp, the
elf noticed a sudden tension in the rest of the men.
Smiling and
with a soft laugh she explained, “No, I suppose had I been trained
properly perhaps I could have been. Growing up my family were
hunters, that’s what I was trained to be. I have the capabilities
but not the education. I’ve picked up a few spells here and there;
and I was even teaching them to my son, Jainaar.” Smiling she
added, “He was a quick learner. We were planning on sending him to
become educated in the ways of magic.” Wiping tears from her eyes
she added, “You’ve no need to fear me, my skills lie in weaponry and
stealth.” Suddenly excited, she looked up almost eagerly, “I have
one good spell. I can nearly disappear. In shadows you can’t see
me.”
He stared at
her with a surprised look on his face, “That’s a complex spell, and
you say you’ve had no training?”
Staring at him
straight on, refusing to be the first to blink, “None at all. Will
this help us get my son back?”
“I don’t know,”
he answered in a thoughtful tone.
*
* *
Sitting near
the fire, trying to ward off the chill, Jainaar struggled to wrap
his mind around what the gnome had told him. According to her, the
mercenaries had, near as he could tell, three employers: the army;
Brock, a rogue mage who had apparently paid dearly for his sister;
and then the group that wanted Brock. The old gnome, who washed the
laundry for the captors, apparently overheard many conversations and
knew much.
She’d heard
them speak of a girl who could see the future at will and how a dark
mage named Brock wanted her. Apparently though, Brock was a wanted
man. He had made a few enemies who would pay dearly for his head.
This was where Jainaar, the bait, would come in. Shaking his head,
with tears running down his dirty cheeks, all he could think was,
“I’m glad Selli’s not here.”
Looking at the
poor boy, the old gnome felt nothing but pity. She had no idea,
after hearing his tale, how this would turn out. “Boy, you can
sleep here tonight. You’ll be as safe here as anywhere else, I
suppose. We’ve got an extra blanket you can use, and the fire
should keep up for a bit longer.”
Grasping the
worn cloth she held out as the proposed blanket, he thanked her one
last time before huddling up as close as he dared to the warmth of
the fire. Shutting his eyes, he fell asleep with a slight smile on
his face.
*
* *
Early the
following morning, just before the sun peaked across the hilltops,
Julk woke up to find two large amber eyes staring straight into his
own brown eyes. She was sitting on her haunches, with her elbows on
her knees and her hands propping up her sleepy, but yet alert,
head. He decided it would be best to let her make the first move,
lest he startle her again. “I can’t handle hysterics this early
in the morning,” he thought to himself.
He didn’t have
long to wait before she asked, “You’re not like the men that chased
me and Jainaar are you…” cocking her head in an inquisitive manner
“…you look different. They were tall and mean.” Smiling shyly, she
added, “But I’m not scared of you anymore.” Reaching around
herself, she grabbed one of the blankets that had covered her the
night before, and wrapped it around her thin shoulders. Sitting
cross legged near the young warrior, she continued her whispered one
way conversation. “Did you know my mom came here?” With a large
smile on her face, she nearly bounced the words out of her mouth.
She added excitedly, and pointing towards a sleeping mound, “She’s
asleep right next to where I was sleeping!” After a slight pause,
with a somewhat concerned look, the young elf asked the now awake
dwarf, “Don’t you see her?”
Realizing it
was now time to speak, “Yeah, I see your mom. She’s a nice lady
isn’t she?” As reward he received an infectious smile.
“Yeah, she puts
lots of honey in my porridge. Otherwise it’s gross.” Sighing, she
suddenly looked around, “Are we going to go get Jainaar today?”
“Good grief,
where’s Telmin when you need him! Wake up Marnoa!”
He didn’t know how to respond. Did he push her or not?
“My name’s Julk
and I know your mom’s name is Marnoa, but I don’t know yours?” he
asked with a smile. Sitting up he stretched and wrapped one of his
blankets around his shoulders.
“My name is
Araselli, but you can call me Selli. That’s what my mom and dad and
Jainaar call me.”
“I see. Well,
I’ll call you Selli then. Araselli is a very pretty name though.”
Gracing him
with another large smile and a pert nod, she said, “Thank you!”
“Well Selli,
how about we get that cook fire roaring again and start some water
boiling. Do you think we should do that, so everyone can have some
coffee this morning?”
Reaching for
his large hand, she tugged, trying to pull him up. Smiling at her
antics, after stumbling up, he thanked her and asked, “Here’s the
boiling pot. Do you think you could go over to that stream and fill
it up?”
Grabbing the
pot and trotting off, she looked over her shoulder. “Yep!”
After they got
the coffee brewing and a breakfast of porridge started; with a smile
on his face, Julk tossed the frowning girl a bottle of honey.
“Honey!” she shrieked, waking up her mother, Jorgen, and a grumbling
Melkin, who sat up with a start.
“What in blue
blazes was that!” roared the grumpy dwarf. Looking a bit worried,
the young elf turned to Julk, who just winked at her. With a grin
full of mischief she whirled around, bouncing with joy she held the
bottle of honey over her head. “Honey! Honey! We have honey for
the porridge!” Spotting her mom, who was beginning to stand up,
still clasping her bottle of honey, she tackled the older elf.
“Mommy!” she shrieked once again. “I thought you were lost.
Jainaar said he didn’t know where you or daddy were. He told me to
run and I did. Now you’re here. When are we going to go get
Jainaar? He’s scared, but I think he knows we’re coming for him. I
told him not to worry.”
Grasping her
daughter’s shoulders and settling the girl on her lap, “Selli,
honey, I missed you so much!” Squeezing the girl against her, and
with a frown upon her face but a smile firm in her voice, she asked,
“You said you told Jainaar not to worry? When did you do this
honey? In a dream?”
“Yep, I kept
dreaming last night of him. Did you know I had a dream when I was
awake when me and Jainaar where running!” she asked with
excitement. “It was weird,” she stated, frowning slightly as she
remembered the vision.
“Did you now?
Well, that’s exciting,” her mother coaxed, tucking a strand of blue
hair behind the girls long ears. Hugging the girl again she asked,
“So what did you dream of last night? You saw Jainaar?”
Staring at Julk
and the rest of the bulky short men, who by this time were sipping
cups of coffee and greedily waiting for the pot of porridge to boil,
she said, “Yeah, he was in my dream. He was crying in it earlier,
but I saw him with this really, really short woman who gave him a
blanket. She was nice.” Smiling up at her mom she added, “And then
he was in a shed. You were outside…” pausing for a deep breath, she
pointed at the dwarves “…and so were they!” Grinning now, she poked
her mom with her index finger. “You went and found Jainaar…” turning
she smiled at the young warrior, “…and that’s how I knew Julk was
nice.”
Confused and
slightly worried, “She’s never had a real vision…well, one that
was important anyway. How do we know what to trust?” She stood
Selli up and reached out a hand. “Well, silly, help me up.”
Standing, the older elf took her daughter’s hand as they walked
towards the sitting men. “You’ve got honey! Oh my goodness you
must be special. I take it this means we’re having porridge for
breakfast.” Smiling, the girl held up her prize for viewing.
*
* *
Feeling a sharp
pain in his lower abdomen, Jainaar attempted to roll onto his side
but instead was jerked to his feet. “Get up, elf!” he heard
a voice sneer behind him. Turning his head, all he saw was a
hooded, dark cloaked figure standing behind his left shoulder,
shoving him. Clouting the young elf on the head, he said, “Don’t
look at me, keep your eyes forward boy.”
Pulling his
eyes back to the path in front of him, Jainaar’s gaze fell on the
little old gnome. She stared up at him from her sleeping blankets
with nothing but pity and sorrow on her face. She mouthed the
words, “Good luck”, but that’s all she dared.
“W-wh-where are
you taking me?,” he asked in a shaky voice, feet stumbling over dirt
clods in the dark.
“Don’t speak
again boy,” answered the rough voice.
“Ah! Our
special guest has arrived,” spoke a disembodied voice from somewhere
in front of him. “Tie him to the horse we don’t want our guest
slipping off and hurting himself, now do we?” Through the foggy
air, Jainaar could just make out the outline of a tall man, but from
the voice he could tell it was the same man who had chased him
through the woods.
Sounding much
calmer and braver than he felt, he asked, “Who are you and what do
you want with me?”
“Aww, isn’t
that sweet, boys. The young chick thinks he’s a rooster.” Hearing
the laughter clued Jainaar in that they weren’t alone. “Bind his
feet around the belly of the horse and his hands to the saddle
horn. He’s not to escape,” the man ordered, climbing onto his own
horse. After tying the boy to the horse, the man in the dark cloak
grabbed hold of the mare’s bridle and tied it to the back of his own
mount’s saddle. Stopping only for water, they rode throughout the
morning.
Having slept
for most of the morning, the rolling of the horse had rocked the boy
to sleep; Jainaar was rudely woken when a hand slapped him awake.
“I’ve untied you boy, get down.” Sliding down the horse’s side, the
young elf promptly fell to the ground. Legs tingling in pain,
Jainaar cried as his legs regained feeling. Grabbing the boy’s arm,
the man dragged him away from the tired horse and pulled him towards
an old shack. “I told you to get down, not fall down, you idiot,”
grumbled the man in the cloak as he walked off, leaving the boy
draped against the side of the shack.
Looking around
him, the young elf noticed that the fog had lifted, “Probably a
long time ago, as it’s nearly noon now,” he thought as
his stomach rumbled in protest from the lack of food. The shack
that he was leaning against stood in a small clearing surrounded by
massive evergreen trees. Near the shack stood a corral where a
small group of men were removing the tack from the over-worked
horses and brushing them dry. So intent in studying the working
men, he didn’t hear the scraping sound of footsteps until the
creature was almost upon him. It was the stench and not the
footsteps that gave the monster away. An odor similar to that of a
rotting animal made Jainaar wrinkle his nose in disgust.
“Well, you
aren’t the pup I wanted, but you’ll do.” There in front of the boy
stood a creature unlike any he’d ever seen. Standing well over
seven feet tall, the green ogre possessed a stench that could curdle
milk. Looking towards the boy’s captor, who was standing upwind, he
asked, “I don’t suppose you could put him in a dress or something
could you? You think Agrantra will notice he’s not the girl?”
“Meltronous,
he’s a demon. They have the attention span of a child. No, I don’t
think he’ll notice.” Pausing, he added, “At least he won’t notice
right away.” With that, the ogre’s gaze fell on the elfling.
Frozen in
terror and barely able to breath, Jainaar had no control of his
limbs and had no way to stop their trembling. Grasping the elf by
the rope that connected the boys two feet, the ogre dragged him into
the shack and dropped him in a corner. “Please leave the door
open!” Jainaar thought through his terror, as another wave of
stench from the monster nearly caused his stomach to heave. Propped
on his side, he had a clear view of the interior of the small shack
and he watched as the green beast stalked back out the door.
“I’m in so
much trouble right now,”
he thought, not for the first time that day. For some reason
though, he seemed to recall his sister telling him not to worry last
night. Shaking his head in doubt, he wondered if he was going
insane.
*
* *
Standing behind
the small dwarf battalion, Marnoa couldn’t help but smile when she
saw the short, stocky Telmin reach up and shake hands with the much
taller and leaner captain of the human troops. A mage himself, the
captain had brought with him sixteen soldiers and three additional
mages. More importantly, though, he’d also brought information.
Apparently, it was a demon that wanted her daughter. They had
identified a man still in their company who had been leaking
information to the traitor. After a small amount of persuasion, he
had decided it would be in his best interest to talk.
After
introducing the two groups, Joul made an announcement. “This
situation has become stickier. It appears the traitor is in the
middle of double-crossing a demon, Agrantra. From what I can tell,
this demon ticked off a group to the east named Meltronous. Now,
this group has offered a great deal of money to anyone who hands
over Agrantra. The problem is, Agrantra is unpredictable and
dangerous.” Looking at Marnoa, Joul added, “He wants your daughter
and will do anything to get his paws on her.” Propping himself
against his war horse’s shoulder, “We have three of the strongest
war mages on this continent…” Pointing to the dwarf mage and then a
younger man who looked barely old enough to shave and finally to
himself, he continued, “…in our possession; I agree with Telmin that
she’d be better off with us than without us.” Looking around the
group of gathered men and nodding towards Telmin, he said, “Saddle
up boys, we’ve a demon to catch,” as he swung into his own saddle
and trotted off.
Julk spat on
the ground and swept the turning dust kicked up from the horses off
his brown cheek. Looking up at the elf and her daughter he said,
“Well ladies, I suppose that’s our cue. Are you sure you’re alright
with the horses? I know they’re not what you’re used to.”
Giggling, Selli
looked down at him and replied, “Ladies? I’m not a lady, I’m a
girl! But my horse is nice.”
Smiling at her
daughter, Marnoa answered, “We’ll be fine, Julk. So we’re to follow
Joul then, right?”
“Yep,
apparently the man they caught said the shack where this was all to
unfold, isn’t far from here. We should be there by nightfall.
That’s when we’ll attack. By tomorrow morning, Lady, you should
have your son back.” He finished with a kind smile on his face as
he turned towards the horse that was to be his mount for the
remainder of the trip.
*
* *
Through a
sliver of moonlight, trying to still her gasping breaths, she sensed
the shadow’s movements on the wall beneath the sill of the shed.
The cool moistness from the moss beneath her tightly clenched fists
did nothing to calm the firestorm that raged throughout her body.
Straining her long delicate elfin ears for any trace of sound in the
overly quiet night, she watched with a deepening fear as the shadow
grew, slowly tracing a path towards the double wide door. Filled
with an all-consuming anger that battled with her rational mind, the
urge to fight won out. Silently she moved from her hiding place
beneath the bows of the large fern. Daggers drawn, she quickly
merged with the shadows and stealthy inched her way towards danger.
Approaching the
doorway, she sensed rather than felt the demon’s presence. Sliding
along the rough wood, praying the moon would stay hidden behind its
thin sheet of clouds just a while longer, she knew she wouldn’t have
to battle him alone as there were five mages and nineteen warriors
lurking in the woods behind her. It was her sole job to scout about
the shed and report back. What troubled her though, was what her
reaction would be to what lay within.
Carefully
leaning against the wooden door with one long, lean ear pressed up
close, she listened to the voices inside.
“What is this?”
a low ominous voice inquired. “I told you to bring me the seer, not
this riffraff!” he bellowed.
“But we tried,
sir!” a different voice pleaded. “We tried, but the boy magicked
her off! There was nothing we could do.” He quickly explained,
continuing, “I thought we may be able to lure her here. Perhaps if
we torture the boy, she’ll see it, know it…however that works and
try to rescue him!” he added almost eagerly.
“Fools! One
little girl and you lost her!”
“But…sir…we
have the boy. This is her brother; surely she’ll come for him!”
Anger like
she’d never felt before was coursing through her body. She was
supposed to return and report. She knew this, knew they’d be upset
with her, but dammit that was her son! Silently she screamed his
name, hoping he’d know she was there.
Feeling a
slight tap on her shoulder, she silently jumped. Looking over her
shoulder, Marnoa saw Julk as he slowly backed away, motioning for
her to follow. Giving the doorway one last longing glance, she did
as she was bid.
Quietly, they
made their way back to the grove that hid the two mages and several
of their men. Watching their approach, Telmin tapped Joul, who was
finishing a conversation with one of his corporals, on the shoulder.
“They come,” he whispered.
Turning around,
he nodded to the smaller mage and added, “They’re ready.”
As soon as she
was near enough for her whisper to be heard, the tall elf told all
of what she knew. “I watched as the demon approached and entered
the shack. Aside from the demon, there is the human traitor and
what appear to be three of his men, and my son.” Taking a deep, but
shaky breath, she continued, “My son’s in there. The demon knows
they’ve brought the wrong child and is angry. When we left…”
Interrupting
her, the tall captain whispered “From this distance I can’t detect
any other mages, other than the ones in our party. I can sense the
magic you possess and that of your son’s, as it feels similar to
yours. But I sense no others.” Glancing at Telmin he asked, “Do
you?” As the dwarf shook his head no, the human mage continued his
barrage of questions. “Did you sense or detect any form of magic
while you were there? Could you detect the demon, any sense of
magic?”
Shaking her
head, “No, no magic, but I was able to feel him. I can’t explain it
really.”
Jorgen stood up
and went to stand near Julk, who smiled and nodded at him. “Well
folks, I don’t know about you all, but Jorgen and I are ready for a
fight. What’s the plan?” Accepting the glare that was aimed at
him, he grinned in response at the dwarf mage and said “Well? Do we
wait longer or are we striking now?”
“If I didn’t
need you, I’d make you sit here and watch from the back you
insubordinate brat.”
Glancing at the
taller mage, Telmin noticed he was mind speaking to the third,
younger mage, who was positioned across the grove with the majority
of their men. In the seconds it took to finish that conversation,
the door to the shack flew open and out flew the human traitor,
sprinting directly towards the grove where the youngest mage stood
waiting.
In the original
plan, the youngest mage was to back up the two healers as they
mended the fallen and injured warriors during the fight. It was
intended that the two, more experienced mages would actually combat
the demon, whose powers were unknown. As it happened though, with
Jainaar’s captor fleeing towards the far end of the grove and the
demon languidly flowing behind him, time seemed to stop. The demon
croaked out a single word, in a language unknown to those of that
world. The dwarves and the lanky human Captain, watched in stunned
silence as the mercenary disintegrated before their eyes. He became
dust and his once large form seemed to hang in the still, breezeless
night.
With a sudden
loud crack, they were jerked back to reality as the demon’s
form seemed to shudder from the impact of a spell. Jaws dropped in
surprise, the two older mages watched in astonishment as the
youngest member of their elite league threw spell after spell at the
demon, dropping it to its knees. Crying out a string of commands,
so in tune were the words, they came out in almost in song.
Finishing the lyric, the green mage dropped to the ground in
exhaustion as the world became white and static filled the air.
Shaking her
head to clear her eyes, Marnoa couldn’t figure out the buzzing.
Frantically shuffling her hands along the ground, crawling on her
knees, the tall elf searched blindly for her daughter’s small hand.
Slowly, as her eyesight came back, the buzzing in her ears
diminished enough she could hear her daughter screaming.
“Jainaar!” the
girl shrieked in happiness, sprinting towards the shack as fast as
her small legs could carry her. “Jainaar, get out here!”
Still dazed,
Marnoa watched in fear. “Thank the stars!” she thought as
she watched Julk tackle her girl just short of the door, bellowing “Selli
no!”
Using a tree
for support, Marnoa slowly pulled herself upright, as she listened
to the young dwarf reprimand her daughter. “We don’t know if it’s
safe yet!” he stated as he carted the impatient girl back to the
safety of the trees.
“But he’s in
there! I know he is!” she fiercely insisted.
“I know he is,
but we have to wait for the mages to and other warriors to go
first. Then we can go see your brother. Alright? Now where’s your
mother?” he asked as he winked at Marnoa.
Standing up,
the tall elf nodded at the younger dwarf, accepting that he would
keep her daughter busy long enough for her to locate her son. With
determined strides and her daggers once more drawn, she approached
the small wooden shack. Standing just behind and off to the left of
the mages, she walked directly behind Jorgen and Melkin.
It was assumed
that with the banishment of the demon and the death of the mercenary
there were no immediate threats. They would still need to round up
the remaining mercenaries, but not at that moment.
With her heart
pounding, Marnoa rounded the corner, her gaze falling on a small
bundle bound with rope, propped against the wall.
Wide eyed,
Jainaar finally began to cry as his gaze fell on the figure of his
mom. “Momma?” he asked in fear, not able to reason it out as
he’d thought she was dead.
Running to his
side, taking note of the bruises and rope burns on his limbs, “Jainaar!”
she screamed. “Oh! My baby, what did they do to you?” Sobbing she
pulled him into her arms, wrapping him a tight embrace, she didn’t
even notice when Jorgen and Melkin began to untie the boys
restraints.
“Wow, Selli
was right, momma did come for me…I’m never telling her she was right
though…” were
the last thoughts to run through the young boy’s mind before passing
out from hunger and shock.
*
* *
A few short
months later…
“Momma!” a
happy young voice shrieked through the once peaceful forest. “I see
them! I see them!” Strong young legs pumping, a slender young girl
flung herself through the newly hung door and slid to a stop in
front of her work busy mother.
Smiling down at
the girl, she instructed “Go find your brother and tell him that
Julk’s nearly here then.”
Smiling, she
thought back over the last few months. Her son was beginning to
once more resemble the carefree youth he had been, and her resilient
daughter was still the loving child she’d always been. With a pain
filled heart, she was beginning to accept that her husband was
forever lost to her. Wiping away a single tear, “I still have my
children,” she instructed herself.
As she packed
the last of Selli’s small shirts into the satchel, she looked around
her home of the last ten years. Shaking her head, she knew she was
doing the right thing by moving to the larger city of the dwarves.
Thinking of the dwarves, “I’ve found some very good friends in
Telmin, Julk, and Jorgen,” chuckling to herself, she added
“and even grumpy, loveable Melkin.” No, she thought, this will
be good. “Selli will be safe and Jainaar
can learn his magic.”
Looking around one last time, she walked
outside to where she could hear her children laughing, and placed
the heavy satchel near their bedrolls as she shut the door.
You
Please tell me what you think of my work.
Click on the button above and leave me a
comment.
Back to My Story
Page
The Authors
Haunt Author Directory
The Authors
Haunt Library
The Authors Haunt Home
|
