Tales of Eldelórne Page 14

  Fionna felt desolate in their private room. “Ej is better at this kind of thing than me,” she tried convincing herself. The sadness of stark loneliness was slowly washing over her.

  Fionna lay down, but the bed felt hard. The bedclothes felt rough. The blankets were too heavy. She threw them aside as she rolled over again, trying to be comfortable. After staring for what seemed like hours at the flickering embers in the fireplace, she decided it wouldn’t hurt to check on the brothers in their continued hibernation.

  “How did I ever sleep alone before,” she grumbled to herself as she rolled to a sitting position on the side of her bed. She pulled on a cloak to make the walk back to Roe’s private quarters.

  The brothers were sleeping soundly. Roevash was well enough that he turned on his side and Eijlam cuddled up along his back. At first glance, they seem like complete opposites. EJ was so much smaller and more delicately built than the big man. Then a closer inspection, she saw the same curve to the lips and ears. Their foreheads were the same high noble shape and proportions, and they both had a strong curve to the jawline.

  She thought how Roe’s eyes were the same pale crystal blue as EJ’s blue eye even though he had the darker complexion and hair.

  “You are feeling alone,” EJ whispered sleepily from the bed, jolting her from her thoughts. “Come to me,” he urged.

  She hesitated, but his sleepy face was serious. Fionna was glad to see the guard had given up and moved out into other duties.

  “I do not want to hurt him,” she whispered as if she could.

  “You are a strange one,” he smiled as he put his hand out to receive her.

  They curled up together against Roe’s warm back. He was snoring quietly.

  “I cannot believe how much I miss you, EJ,” she was almost in tears.

  “The yearning to touch makes you elven. Do not fight it so.”

  His arm was so strong and comforting around her. She felt instantly safe and at peace pressed between the brother’s warm bodies.

  “EJ is right,” were her last thoughts as she fell soundly asleep.

  +++

  The sound of thousands of voices, and clashing of weapons, echoed across the fields where already another ten thousand lay dead or dying. Roevash tried to keep an eye on his uncle Calan but had lost him after many hours of battle. The stench of the hiisi made him want to gasp for breath, but he knew better than to open his mouth when there was so much filth in the air.

  He felt his muscles start to fatigue, so he fought his way to the side of the field to find some rest in the tree line when he heard a familiar voice. It was the young ranger Dakein who was his uncle’s squire. He was standing over someone who was wounded and on his knees. It was Roe’s uncle, trying in pain, not to fall to the ground.

  Roevash worked desperately through the clamor of fighting to get to them when a second monster rose up from behind the two. He watched in stunned horror as his uncle, impaled on its giant pike, was lifted off the ground into the air like a trophy to be won. Dakein, who had just fought off the smaller creature that wounded Calan, turned and beheaded the more massive fiend in one motion, but his action came too late. The whole scene collapsed to the ground as Dakein caught an enemy blade across the face and was thrown on his back into a pile of bloody corpses.

  A sudden pulsing silence fell over the battlefield as the shock of what he just witnessed broke Roe’s concentration. The pounding sound of his own heartbeat hissed loudly in his ears. His body went numb as his mouth shouted out something his mind did not understand.

  Sensing weakness, another one of the enormous monsters turned its eyes upon him. Roevash was about to engage in what would be the final struggle of his long miserable life. Bloodstained and wild-eyed, he lowered his sword and stood motionlessly, unable to defend himself.

  The bleating of a giant horn shook the ground as it sounded in thick waves through the smoke-filled air. Roevash looked up. The attention of the field suddenly riveted on the black fortress. The sorcerer's final tower succumbed to flames and burst from its sides like a gutted serpent as it fell. Stone and mortar sprayed out over the battlefield taking out the last victims of the hideous long war.

  The mutant armies, no longer influenced by the sorcerer's dark magics, dropped their weapons and ran from the field. A shout went up from the ranks of men who had just defeated their enemy. The triumphant noise drowned out the sounds of grief as Roevash held the body of his uncle clutched in his arms.

  Homeward Coming

  Chapter Nineteen

  “By the lords, my aching gut,” Roevash groaned as he rolled over suddenly awake. “I am going to die of this starvation!” It had been a whole week since the near-fatal mauling. The wounds and pain from the lion attack were thankfully gone. Now he had to contend with an empty gut growling so loud he felt nauseous. Roevash sat up, and found Eijlam and Fionna moving quickly across the floor with a huge tray of foods and tankards of water.

  “That was a bad one, very bad,” EJ said seriously. “You are strong stuff nîn hawn.”

  “I’ve had much practice,” Roe’s voice was rough from just waking. His eyes shifted between Eijlam and the tray as he ate what they had brought like a madman.

  “Slow down,” Fionna glared at him, then she added more softly with her hand on his arm, “you will hurt yourself.”

  Her command worked for some reason, and Roevash became slightly more civilized in his cramming of food and drink into his mouth.

  “I stupidly lost my right eye in one of my first battles,” Roe cheerfully said, telling them the story between swallows. “It was over three hundred years before I got it back.” He was energized and more relaxed and talkative than Fionna had ever seen him. This openly familiar side of Roe was so unexpected and opposed to his stuffy commander facade. Roe could be as goofy as his sibling. They truly were close despite what had happened to them in the past.

  “Oh?” Eijlam was shocked by what his brother said.

  Fionna liked the way EJ’s emotions were so clearly stated on his face. She thought it was endearing and she smiled to herself until Roevash started choking on food again. Then she put back her stern, “I told you so” face and glared at him as she patted his back.

  “Sorry, I will slow down,” Roe said, slightly cringing at her. He showed his teeth in what was meant to be a smile, but he looked ridiculous with a mouth full of food. Fionna just sighed and smiled demurely, nibbling on the edge of toasted bread, having at that moment lost her appetite.

  “How did you get your eye back?” Fionna finally asked, wanting to hear the rest of his story.

  “Lady Galbraeth healed me.”

  “Oh?” Fionna imagined another sleeping naked elf pile with Roe somewhere underneath.

  “No, not like that,” EJ injected into her mind.

  Roevash continued, “Galbraeth was the very beautiful and gracious sovereign of Caras Eldarhon. She was also called the Lady of the Light. She could grant healing through her voice and mind.” He kept talking, not noticing the exchange going on around him.

  “You are in my head!” Fionna looked sternly at EJ with wide, crazy eyes.

  “So, you are in my head as well.” He just smiled and tried to look his cutest as he shrugged and ate something green that was in his hand.

  “Ugh…EJ!” she accidentally complained out loud.

  “Your mind-speak has so improved,” he whispered innocently in her mind again, as he delicately searched the tray for something more to eat.

  Her eyes narrowed at him.

  “Am I missing something?” Roevash broke in, stuffing a strawberry into his mouth while looking at her, and then looking at him.

  “No, brother,” Eijlam said out loud, “I am pleased you were so made whole.” He tossed something edible up into the air and caught it in his mouth with a big toothy grin. Fi just gave him a mildly disgusted look as she ate a strawberry too.

  “What news is there of the Edhellen?” EJ asked changing the subject.


  “Most, or maybe even all, have gone from the land since the end of the third age,” Roe said sadly shaking his head as he looked for some more grapes on the tray. He had to settle for some half-boiled egg that he cracked open expertly in one hand and dumped into his face.

  “Can we travel to our mothers home?” EJ asked excitedly.

  “I do not know what would remain of it. It might be a bad idea to see the old place so poor, or even gone completely...”

  “With that known, we could go to honor our mother’s memory by the river,” Eijlam tried to sound optimistic.

  “Yes...” Roe stopped his chewing long enough to think about it. “You may have a good idea.”

  “Wait, all this time you refused to go anywhere when I was searching for my clan, to be exact, and now you are so easily convinced?” Fionna tried not to look angry at Roevash since he just came back from death’s door and all, but she must have looked like she wanted to hurt him.

  Roe hesitated, staring at her like a startled deer in the sights of a drawn bow, and then chose his next words more carefully.

  “We will ask... after your kin as well... on the way.” Roe tried to smile reassuringly, but it just never worked for him.

  “I know all the roads that run across this land. I have suffered them many times in this long life.” Roe was back to his usual frowning self as he kept one eye on Fionna for any sudden moves.

  “So in five-hundred years we will see what has changed,” EJ added gazing lovingly at his smoldering Fionna, as they cleaned up the last of the foods on the tray.

  +++

  The men of the guard compound cheered when their commander Roevash finally stepped out of his chamber into the courtyard. Another lion had been found and slain near the cliff edge while he and his kin were convalescing.

  “Something has upset the balance of the valley to the northwest, and the lions have strayed from where their tribes are most commonly found,” Roevash explained as he led EJ and Fionna up the stairs into the western watchtower.

  “This is a bad time to be leaving,” he mumbled, remembering the smell of hiisi and how the stench would drive animals out of their minds. “Maybe there is something else,” he said out loud as he looked out over the watchtower rampart toward the valley.

  It was a clear day, and the view went on for leagues. You could see a sliver of the ocean beyond on the horizon over the valley’s edge. Roe looked down at the the cliff where the lion attack had almost killed them all. He knew Fionna liked to sit out there among the flowering trees. It was usually a safe place even though it was outside the boundaries of the forts barricade. He thought he might have the men cutback and thin out the tree line to a safer distance so enemies could not get so close without them noticing again.

  Then he turned his mind to the closer task at hand.

  “Fionna would never survive ... and you might not either.”

  Roe watched his kin with the critical eye of the commander inspecting raw recruits.

  “She is fat,” he disapprovingly looked Fionna up and down with a stern expression that she had seen many times before, but his scrutiny had never been turned on her.

  “What!” Fionna glared with a red fury rising in her face.

  Ej whispered in her mind, “he means ... girl like.” EJ struggled with finding a word for feminine than he quickly settled for, “not trained in battle” before she escalated out of control.

  “Ohhhh...” Fi said with a long breath out as she stopped staring at Roe. She was starting to feel thankful for the intrusive mind-speak, as EJ saved her from misunderstanding a second time before she inflicted fresh wounds on his shiny new brother.

  “Then we shall train,” Eijlam volunteered cheerfully with a big disarming smile.

  “You know this will calm my heart,” Roevash said as he put his hand lightly on EJ’s shoulder.

  “I too have been made weak,” he added solemnly.

  +++

  Days were disciplined and long, starting at first light and ending just after dark. Fionna learned of bows and blades, proper stance and dodge. When and where to strike a critical blow on your enemy. She also practiced with her staff. Flames grew to fireballs, and ice or stone spiraled upward high enough to block, surround an enemy or create steps for the brothers. They could then launch themselves over, or on top of, their target.

  The three soon became a tightly choreographed team in battle practice. EJ and Roe fell into their youthful competitive ways and were always egging each other into faster, more grueling precision. It was a sight to see, the graceful and effortless form of Edhellen at their deadliest.

  “We will leave south on the weeks' end,” Roe said one day over dinner.

  “I think any foes unlucky enough to find us will be sorry,” he added with his usual scowling smile.

  “The guard will take care of itself for a while. I left orders. They will explain my disappearance as my duty in escorting my newlywed kin to their southern home. Especially after the lion attack. Humans view this as important. After all, my new sister is sooo fat and helpless.” He cocked his eyebrow and looked sideways at Fionna while taking a massive chunk out of a roast. They all smiled and laughed this time and ate well for tomorrow was going to be another long day.

  +++

  “I wish we had some weybread,” Eijlam said wistfully. “Mother made the best bread.”

  Roe looked at his little brother and said, “Maybe we will find a recipe book.”

  Ej couldn’t tell if Roevash was sarcastic with that last comment or not. His eyes narrowed at his brother as he completed tying up a bundle onto his shoulder pack for the trip.

  “What is weybread?” Fionna asked.

  “It is a magical elven bread, like a small round flatbread that would easily fit in a pouch. You would never have to starve as long as you had some in your pack.”

  “...and EJ is always hungry,” Roe added to his brother’s moaning.

  He gave EJ a knowing glance and smiled at him to let him know he was adding to the conversation and not trying to start an argument.

  Tensions were high as they set out to visit their old family home after so much time had passed. It was the, not knowing what to expect, that was the hardest part. The trail south was uneventful for the first few days. They didn’t run very much or feel hurried as they started the long trek along the river’s edge.

  “I remember running this in only two weeks,” Roevash reminisced, “Of course, I was much younger in those days.”

  Mostly what they saw along the way were signs of small game and wolves. The larger plains beasts ran in herds abundantly. The evil that was so prevalent in the third age seemed to have faded into fable as well.

  Camloo was the first actual village in their path. The party kept their hoods up over their ears so as not to anger or frighten people. Supplies were bought as well as a room for the night.

  “I will be happy not to be sleeping in a tree," Fionna said, reaching for EJ’s arm.

  They asked about Edhellen everywhere they went. Humans had become the dominant kind, and again, Fionna found their short lives have turned the memory of elves into myth. Many did not even know if they believed the stories were true.

  “I am not surprised,” EJ said to Fionna, who was looking increasingly disappointed with each inquiry.

  Trying to help her feel better, Roe suggested, “We travel south towards Renoble, but there is a hidden pass through the mountains west and north of here that leads to the elven city of Ettenfahls. We could go that way first and see for ourselves if they have gone.”

  They all decided they might spend the time and travel there on their way back from the south.

  “Maybe someone will still be around,” Fionna looked hopeful as they bedded down for the night in the tiny room of the inn.

  Shadow Man

  Chapter Twenty

  They had been traveling across the fields, and were well past Renoble when Roe put them all on alert.

  “Someone is following us,�
�� he quietly said as they continued their leisurely pace.

  As the day wore on and darkness began to close in, they started looking for a place to set up camp. Fionna found a building that was once an old farmhouse. It had walls open to the sky above. She started a fire in the broken down hearth.

  They had remained on alert because the shadow that persistently dogged them continued to move closer at a steady pace in the falling darkness. Roe and EJ had finally become agitated enough that they decided to circle back to catch this intruder while Fionna continued to set up their camp.

  “Hold!” Roe shouted as EJ pressed his short blade into the throat of the shadowy human. Roe recognized the ranger cloak pin. He reached forward and pulled it off to inspect it closer in his hand. Under his hood, the man was grizzled and old looking, but he had somehow managed to keep up with them.

  “Why do you not make yourself honorably known... and where did you get this rare emblem?” Roe demanded in a commanding voice.

  “Do you not know me, Master Roevash?” The man croaked, his eyes wide at the sight of EJ’s sharp dagger.

  Roevash looked closer at the man. “You are Dakein? Dakein Dacasyati. My uncle's young squire!”

  “Humph, not so young anymore,” Dakein grumbled as EJ carefully released him.

  Roe took him in a clasping embrace that was the custom of the old rangers, and returned his cloak pin.

  “Why are you out here?” Roevash wanted to know.

  “I saw you were leaving the village, and I sought to catch you but even elves moving at a leisurely pace is far too fast for a human. Good thing I am Darjal’n, or you would have been out of my tracking long ago,” Dakein smiled broadly as he rubbed his neck, glad to find it still in one piece. He smiled and nodded at EJ.

  You could see the quality of the man underneath his scruffy appearance. He had been young when Roe first knew him, but it looked like the years had not been kind. He had dark sand-colored hair hanging in a ponytail down his back. He bore a scar that sliced across his face. The old wound didn’t detract from his ruggedly handsome features and, like all who are born into the Darjal’n bloodline, his stature rivaled Roevash in height.