Tales of Eldelórne Page 11

  Suddenly they were in a clearing inside a walled fortress. Commander Roevash released her before she could even yell at him in protest. When her feet touched the ground, she realized his full height. She felt tiny as she stood looking up in stunned amazement.

  How he was so small, hiding in the brush next to her, she would never know! She gasped at the sight of this dark giant of a man. He had thick braided hair that hung loosely on both sides of his face. He had a shadow of a beard that followed the line of his jaw. He was scowling as he spoke, and she could see the absolute respect the other men gave him. The air shook around her in the concussion of his loud commanding voice, and she couldn’t help but cringe.

  He yelled something about the test and released his line of men to their supper before turning back to her.

  “Follow me now... Milady,” his tone was forcefully polite.

  He slightly bowed… or more like hovered over her menacingly she thought. He kept his striking blue eyes riveted on her as he pointed his hand toward a nearby building. She thought better of being swept up again to be indignantly carried away, so she walked resolutely to the door across the yard in front of them.

  Fionna wasn’t afraid. Either by her being so strong-willed or maybe by a bit of naivety. Having lived a sheltered life near the capital city, she had no idea what to fear. Roevash watched her through speculative eyes as she sat down in one of two chairs in front of a large, heavy wooden table that was his desk.

  The commander’s mind seemed fixed on something he might say, but did not. Instead, he stalked back and forth behind the barrier between them. Fionna decided to trust, since he is the only one she’d met so far that even knew what an elf was.

  “I was born here six-hundred eight years ago... I mean in Vehlevar.” She felt strangely awkward.

  “The wizard fostered me in Drustnlach. That is the capital city as you must already know; leagues to the south and then west…” He just watched her thoughtfully, so she continued speaking.

  “Are there any others here? Edhellen I mean. I must know. I need to learn the fate of my clan.” She surveyed the massive stacks of papers in front of her, glad they were there between them.

  “No, Milady... as far as I know there are none from your clan. I am the only one here.”

  She looked up startled.

  “But you can not …” her voice cut short at seeing he had untied his hair and was pulling it back into a single ponytail, his ears now clearly visible.

  “You have hair on your face,” she said, looking puzzled.

  “I am half-human, Darjal’n to be exact.” He eyed her sharply as he sat down into the creaking chair that seemed to rock back dangerously under his weight. The eyebrow over his left eye was lifted at an angle higher than the other, in an expression of permanent scrutiny. Commander Roevash was nothing like she expected an elf to be, except for his ears.

  “Are there any elves left in the kingdom?” She looked at him thoughtfully.

  “I am sorry to say not many, Milady,” he answered politely.

  “I think the Autumwood forest, and possibly Ettenfahls may hold the last settlements of Edhellen, and they are well hidden from humans by magics.”

  “So elves do know magic,” Fionna asked but was not expecting an answer.

  “Yes, there is or at least always was magic in the kingdoms. You know naught about your own kind?” he asked, but it was a statement in his mind as he looked puzzled again at her.

  She didn’t answer.

  He rose up half out of his chair, leaning forward across the desk. He tried not to sound like he was giving her an order, but he had to press the point for her safety. Fionna seemed to him to be naturally obstinate to any suggestion, even if it was for her own good.

  “You will have to stay here until daylight,” he informed her flatly, “the forest is too dangerous in the dark.” He cocked his head, expectantly, “...Milady?”

  “Where is my bed then,” she belligerently asked, staring straight back into his eyes.

  Not acknowledging his menacing stance she half stood up herself, and almost forehead to forehead she added, “...and tomorrow you will help me retrieve my staff that was so carelessly left behind in the woods.”

  “Yesss...” he hissed slowly as his eyes narrowed at her.

  He wanted this to be the end of this discussion.

  She just stared back frowning.

  He was relieved that she was not going to fight him on this.

  “Ensign,” he yelled at the door, keeping one eye on his guest as they both plopped down in their chairs at the same time.

  She jumped as a young man came bursting through the door towards his commander and stomped to attention in front of him.

  “Show this young woman to some private quarters. She is our guest tonight. Also, show the lady where to get something to eat and a washroom. You know what to do, with all courtesy,” he ordered as he made a pointing motion with his hand signaling to his subordinate that, the Commander was done discussing anything further, and he wanted this female quickly out of his sight.

  “Yes, sir,” the soldier saluted, and with a big disarming smile ushered Fionna away to a separate building outside, where visiting dignitaries were usually quartered.

  Friends Like That

  Chapter Fifteen

  Fionna was fascinated by this military compound high on the cliffs. Despite their rough beginning, she found the commander to be most reasonable and asked to stay on, hoping to learn more from him about any elves left in the land.

  It took a while for Roevash to be comfortable with Fionna around, but he was delighted she decided to stay. He felt a kinship towards her, but he would never admit that. He missed his family even though they were but a distant memory now. Life had changed so much, and the mortal realm had become his home.

  Fionna made herself useful in the fort bandaging and healing minor cuts and bruises for the men. She used her staff to keep the torches burning in the night and even cooked great tasting food that was well appreciated. She was respectfully called “Lady Fionna” by all the young soldiers. As time passed, she had become a welcome addition.

  +++

  “I was told once, by my uncle the curse and blessings of long life, and he spoke truth. Long-life can be tedious indeed,” Roevash told Fionna reflectively during one of their many evening visits by the hearth. The commander was not one to decorate his quarters very much. The messy desk side of the room was always perpetually stacked with papers. The other side of the room was dominated by a stone hearth and cramped with oversized furniture to accommodate a large man. His bedroom and private washroom were beyond through closed doors.

  “It is difficult to be the only Edhellen left… It has been good to have met you, Fionna.” He stared at the fire, nursing a cold ale in his old beat-up tankard.

  She was happily sipping on her own mug of broth curled up in a soft chair that he had set by the hearth for her. She liked hearing his soothing low voice. She smiled at him and continued to drink and listen to his stories.

  Roe had many long memories to share about war and humans and elves he once knew. Strangely he never spoke of his family. She was thinking about writing a letter to Drustnlach. She missed her papa, and wondered if they were both alright.

  Roe broke into her thoughts by asking, “Can I do something for you that was a tradition among my kin?”

  “I do not know. What is it?” she asked, looking a bit flustered.

  “Nothing I am sure you could not handle.”

  He smiled at her knowing her formidable temper as he stood up and drew a comb out of the chest near the hearth.

  “You mean to comb my hair?” She set her empty mug down on the floor next to her chair, trying not to feel the awkwardness.

  “Yes,” his eyes were gentle as he spoke.

  “Unless I am too forward. Forgive me...” he hesitated.

  They indeed had become good friends since that first meeting so many months ago when they seemed so at odds wi
th each other.

  “It is just that you have such beautiful red hair as my mother did. I would show you how she wore it,” he was sincere in his gesture.

  “No, please ... it is okay,” she invited him to continue.

  “Funny, I never think of you as having a mother... sorry, I know everyone has one. It is just that you have never mentioned family before,” she said curiously.

  “There is naught to say after so much passage of time,” Roe said drifting off, as he concentrated on his task.

  Roe didn't always make his ears known to men. Only his nearest officers or humans he trusted knew of his Edhellen blood. He hid his ears inside braids and under a uniform hat when entertaining strangers at the training post. Roevash hadn’t handled any but his own basic side braids in hundreds of years.

  His fingers worked expertly plaiting the sides and creating the intricate weave that would tame her wild locks. It felt right to Roe as his hands fell into the rhythm of the braid. No one had touched her hair since those last days in Drustnlach, and memories of EJ flooded her mind, and she felt wistful.

  “Your ears will show to the men. Maybe this was not such a good idea...” he was asking with a sudden look of concern on his face.

  “I do not mind,” she said. “I am proud to be, ah... myself." Eijlam had said these exact words to her long ago.

  "And I have a hat," she snorted softly to herself, feeling sentimental.

  "There. It is done," Roe smiled triumphantly.

  Looking in the mirror at her beautifully braided hair, a stunned Fionna said her first words of Elvish since leaving home.

  “Istodh peded Edhellen?”

  “Yes, of course, I do speak this tongue… and how is it you know my clan's dialect?” Roe answered her with the language as she knew it from Eijlam.

  Ej had told her, each clan had its braiding tradition. Roe had just braided her hair in the exact same manner as Eijlam had, and the language was the same.

  “Are you from near Illianheni?” she asked him with a puzzled look on her face.

  “Yes, how is it you can guess this?” He frowned and looked confused at her.

  “Elvenkin all know how to braid each others hair when it is needed. You cannot move through the trees efficiently if your tresses keep getting caught in the branches,” she quoted the words as EJ had told them to her.

  “I cannot see how you could be from the same clan...” she said, thinking out loud to herself.

  “My mother used to say those very words to me…” A sudden realization struck Roevash like a thunderbolt. He fell to his knees as if she were Queen Galbraeth herself standing before him.

  “I am struck low, having lost all hope that my brother would ever be found.”

  She stood there, staring with her mouth open.

  “Please understand dearest Fionna. I am joyed to hope that my search through all of time will soon end and my faith in his survival has not been in vain.” He bowed his head then as if the executioner’s ax was going to douse his hopes with the true death. Fionna lifted his face and looked into his terrified eyes.

  They stared at each other for a moment, stunned.

  “Eijlam is your brother?" she quietly asked.

  Roe’s eyes grew even wider at the sound of his brother’s name.

  Taking that as confirmation, she said, "He is my friend."

  “Then he lives?”

  “Yes, he does," she said, releasing Roe's face.

  "He is fragile of mind and spirit because of his journey of four hundred seventy-some years in the realm of Ilmatar.”

  “Then it is true, what the Lady Galbraeth told me, he had disappeared from this realm?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you think he will see me,” Roe moaned. He looked like he was going to die if she said no.

  “EJ had a belief in his mind that your mother’s weakness was his fault ... It was not,” she said firmly, eyes flashing. She surprised herself at how protective she felt.

  “He was quite broken...” she trailed off remembering the horror of that memory.

  She looked back to Roe, who was on the verge of tears.

  “I am sure he would be joyed to see his own brother Roevash,” she said softly.

  Her hand stroked the side of his face and hair to console him.

  “There was ... a misunderstanding between us. I was too harsh.”

  Roe shook his head as if all hope was lost as he let out a deep breath, and slumped himself over into his chair. Fionna suddenly realized this man must be part of the reason Eijlam suffered through so much distress when he came into his awareness.

  “Tell me then ... the whole story,” she spoke with a tired voice already guessing in her mind what had happened. Fionna sat down in the chair across from him near the hearth. Roe told her every detail he remembered. She was mostly right in her assumptions as Roe’s memories spilled out, filling in the missing puzzle pieces.

  The tale was one of elfling half-brothers, and the persistent strife among their peers and the bias against their bloodline. Their mother faded, unnoticed by them both until they found themselves in shock, watching her being taken away.

  “I loved her... she was my mother! It was my failure as her eldest son. I let myself be so caught up in such petty, unimportant problems and did not pay attention, and then it was too late,” Roe cried out angrily with himself. “If that was not bad enough, I dishonored her last wishes and spoke the angry words that caused my brother’s disappearance. I should have loved him enough to comfort him, but instead I was... more than unkind,” his big voice broke off, and he was unable to speak any further as the pain crushed at his heart.

  Fionna felt such sadness for both of them caught up in so much misunderstanding. It was at the cost of hundreds of years of their lives together.

  “You were both elflings Roe...” she tried to comfort him.

  She stood up and went to where he was sitting in his chair. The giant commander of men broke down for his brother’s sorrow. He hugged the small elf girl before him, sobbing into her shoulder. Fionna didn’t realize until that moment how much Eijlam meant to her. She missed his smiling face and silly jokes. She found herself crying too. Time had escaped her, and it had been most of a year gone by since she left him so far away. The burning reasons for her need to leave eluded her now, and she shook her head sadly. Fionna yearned to see EJ and hear his voice again.

  “We will go see him together then... you and I. You will see... it will be all right," she assured her friend Roevash, trying to give him hope.

  +++

  After Fionna left him with the wizard, Eijlam went out into the city. He wanted to prove to himself that he was strong and worthy of this life. Living here was not easy because he was not up to speed, and the kingdom of men was a very different place.

  One thing that did remain the same was the ogres and other monsters that were bold after dark. He found himself joining the guard. They put him to work at the lower castle walls. He was part of the first line of defense. He could use a bow better than any human, and they trained him in the use of daggers and short swords. The lower brigade also patrolled the surrounding lands outside the city walls. Eijlam was relieved to be in woodlands again. It helped him feel less homesick.

  The men found EJ easy to get along with so they didn’t fault him for not being able to speak the common tongue very well. Their queen was a half-elven woman, so those who worked among the guard still knew elves were part of the realm. He had his ears covered with a helmet most times, so some humans he worked around in the city never realized he was elven. EJ never really laughed or smiled as he concentrated on the work and regaining back his health.

  +++

  After almost a year had passed, Eijlam could barely endure the desolation of being alone any longer. His life went on, but his heart felt like it was gone from him.

  “You need to find her,” the wizard Farghal said one evening.

  “It was her desire to leave us. I cannot break my oath.
I told her I would be here when she returns,” Eijlam stubbornly recited his memory as if that was the final word on the subject.

  Farghal could see he struggled with his promise.

  “I will not believe that she meant to be gone for so long. Something may have happened to her,” the wizard said, raising his brow. He looked sadly down at the table in front of him.

  With the wizard’s worry brought to his attention, EJ looked concerned as well.

  “So do you say I should go to Vehlevar then?”

  “Yes, I think so. I am too old to make the journey myself.” Farghal coughed a little, trying to make himself sound feeble as he watched Eijlam get up and pace around thinking about it.

  “Then I shall travel this road for you.”

  Ej was excited for a way to go to her and not break his oath.

  “I will send word when I discover the truth, be it good or bad.” His brow knit in a grim expression thinking about how bad it could be.

  “Here, take these, I have something for you,” the wizard said, as he got up and motioned for EJ to follow him across the room.

  Farghal walked over to his workplace and clanked several bottles out of the way as he found a dusty old wooden chest and blew the thick dirt off it into the room. Inside was a set of gold rings. Wizard runes were engraved along the inside curve.

  “Wear them. Give one to Fionna when you find her. They afford protection from flames and will aid your stamina, that is, if you should ever find yourself under attack my boy,” he smiled at Eijlam as he said it. “You know, monsters continue to be abundant in this land... especially after the sun goes down,” he added as an afterthought.

  “Thank you, Master,” Eijlam said as he slipped both rings onto his left thumb for safekeeping.

  “I am sincerely glad you brought me back, although at the time it did not seem as so,” Eijlam said.

  “I know boy. This is a second chance for you to fulfill your true destiny, so do not waste it,” Farghal said.

  Eijlam looked puzzled. “Destiny? What destiny wizard, tell me truth!”