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Elironda
07-30-2017, 08:05 PM, (This post was last modified: 07-30-2017, 08:08 PM by Akirapryde.)
#1
Elironda
   


Elironda
Avariel Elf, (Artic Flyer)
Original Class Rogue (Assassin)
 
The rain washed down in the dead of the light, as the soldiers waited. In this large forest clearing, some thirty soldiers stood guard in a series of rings two men in the center. Judging by how the soldiers were all soaked, it was clear that they had been waiting here in the night for a while. Lightening flashed overhead as the thunder clapped. Most of the soldier were armed with Long Bows, while the others were armed with heavy crossbows. Beyond the clearing, ten cavalry men did their best to remain hidden.
 
A bolding man with a scar under his right eye stood ahead of the soldiers looking to the sky. While the storm raged overhead, it was nothing compared to the anger raging in his eyes. He wore a thick fur animal skin over his upper torso. Occasionally as the lighting flashed, his chainmail armor could be seen under the thick fur skin. On his back, he wore a great two handed sword with fine gems in the hilt. His bold beard was braided in to two braids. His eyes scanned the heavens as the rain washed down over him.
 
One of the soldiers walked up, “do you think she will show, My Lord?” His name was Cal Albertsen and brother to King Geirr Alberten. “Avariels have difficulty during the winter storms.” He armor was master crafted, and his sword blistered with magical energies.
 
“She’ll be here,” King Geirr Albertsen said coldly with a nod. For the past four years, King Geirr had been waging a war with his uncle for the throne of the northern Kingdom of Hordaland. The fate of this Kingdom rests in the one that holds Crown of Hordaland. An artifact that Geirr claimed that his uncle had stolen from the death bed of his father. “If she wants him back in one piece, she be here despite the storm.”
 
“My Lord” cried one of the soldiers as he pointed towards to the heavens. Through the clouds flashes of lighting, a winged form could barely be seen. The form was moving low compared to the clouds, and was clearly struggling against the raging winds.
 
King Geirr smiled as he turned to his Captain of the Guard, “See Cal, I told you. She would come.”
 
Cal nodded, “I will hold my breath until I see if she had completed her task, first.”
 
King Geirr rested his hand on Cal’s shoulder, “you should have more faith, brother.” He turned to his men, “be on your guard, this Flyer is peculiarly dangerous.” His smile turned serious, “even considering what she doesn’t know we have.” King Geirr moved to wait for the creature’s arrival.
 
The group waited for a moment as the winged form landed in the center. The soldiers each took up their aim at the creature with their bows and crossbows. Beyond them, the horsemen waited should their King give the order. King Geirr was known for many things. His love of non-human creatures was not one of them. He had lunched many campaigns to remove these lesser creatures from their ancestral lands. Every human in the clearing saw this winged creature as nothing more than just the means to an end.
 
The creature raised her hands in a non-threatening manner. Her chest rose and fell as she drew in deep breaths. Her wings soaked from the storm as her leather armor shimmered in the lighting flashes. She drew back her wings slowly as her long black feathers radiated from the wetness. She didn’t’ need to remove her hood or cowl for the soldiers to know who she was. She was one of the move renowned rogues in all the southern realms. An assassin who could demand three times her weight in gold from even the most powerful of employers.
 
Known as the Angel of Death, she had been the cause of many wars and conflicts across the realms. During her age, no one, not even within her own race knew who the Angle of Death really was. All that was known was that the Angle of Death was an Avian Elf of the darkest and most chaotic of natures. The truth was far from this. She was the second daughter of the Elven King, Eliron Glathita. While her actually identity remained a mystery beyond this fateful day, those with hordes of gold knew how to acquire her services.
 
She drew in a deep breath as she slowly attempted to regain control over her breathing. The storm was hellish to navigate. But the prize at the end of this road was worth it for her. She slowly moved her hands to her hood as the soldiers all grew tense at her actions. She smiled through her cowl as she knew that fear was a powerful weapon of any good assassin. Her eyes scanned her surroundings carefully. Her slowed actions was not meant to cause them ease, but to allow her time to take in the situation. She lifted her hood from her head and allowed her shoulder length black hair fall over the hood. They couldn’t see the twin poisoned darts that she had bound to the back of her neck by her green ribbon that was tied in to a bow under her chin.
 
“pl….please…” she said with labored breath as she tried to regain her strength from her flight through the storm. Her words, were meant to give the impression that she was weaker from her flight than she really was. “I have what you seek,” she added as she pulled a tightly wrapped item from a shoulder sack. The sack was tightly strapped over her shoulder and bound around her waist. While to the casual observer, the sack was just that. Anyone that could see under her large wings would see the sack as a cleverly disguised as sheaf for her specially crafted cutlass sword. “And my payment, My Lord?”
 
“Gentlemen, allow me to introduce the infamous Angel of Death. The only one in the realms that can bring Kings to their knees,” King Geirr said with a smile as waved off his man. There was a sense of mocker to his words that was not lost on her. On that note the soldiers lowered their weapons, though only a bit.
 
“Oi, I’m more than that. I’m the best thief in all of the realms,” she smiled as she boasted. Something about the situation caused her great concerns.
 
“Aye, that too, you are,” he said dismissively.
 
King Geirr’s position on non-humans was well known across the realms. The Elven and Dwarf Kingdoms have been warning of his raise to power for the past four years. She simply didn’t care. She had her own agenda and wasn’t concerned with the political waves that were building across the realms.
 
King Geirr smiled at her as he added, “wanted in more than a dozen kingdoms,” as he walked forward. “I am pleased to see you, my little winged thief. Let’s see if you completed your task, then we shall speak of payment.”
 
She slowly lifted the item in her hands to him for his inspection. Her attention never left those around her. She knew that like many of her employers, he wouldn’t think twice about betraying her. Though she was surprised that he was so emboldened to come so close to her. She knew King Geirr, as much as she knew all human. ‘Liars and betrayers, the lot of them,’ she thought coldly of the entire race. A slim smile grew across her lips as she thought that their gold and silver spends as nicely as Elven or Dwarf. “I have it, My Lord,” she said with great care to keep her feet light. She was like a great spring waiting to be unleashed. Woven within the thick fathers of her wing was a small dagger, just in case she needed it. She handed the small wrapped item to King Geirr.
 
“It’s much heavier than I thought it would be,” he said with delight in his voice. He took the cloth covered package and started to untie the string ties that held the wrapping around it. He smiled at the bloody cloth in the center. “I will give you this, you are very good at what you do,” he said exposing the tongue of the former owner of the item in his hand. He continued to unwarp the rest of the package and revealed the golden gem crusted crown. He turned to Cal, “Our birthright has been returned to us, Brother!”
 
He proudly walked away from the winged creature as he held up the crown with one hand and the bloody tongue for all his followers to see, “the USPER has been silenced by the Angel of Death and Hordaland, shall be ours!” The soldiers all cheered loudly and banged their weapons causing the entire clearing to become flooded with noise of cheers.
 
The winged elf smiled and patiently waited for the cheers to die down. On her face was a sense of detachment to the situation. As the cheers and noise started to die down, she stepped forward, “My Lord, I have given you, your Kingdom,” she said softly. While she moved forward she still held fast to her balance and kept her eyes on those around her. Woven within her wings were throwing knives ready to be flung. These weapons and her trusted bow over her back were all tools of her trade. “All that is left is what we agreed upon,” she said softly with her head slightly bowed. “My payment, My Lord.”
 
King Geirr smiled as he started to walk away, “aye, you have given me back my Kingdom, and I am truly grateful. Unfortunately, there shall be no payment for you, monster!” His voice was callus and without regret as he raised his hand to order her death.
 
She let go her pinned up energy in an explosive motion forward. As she moved forward her wings seemed to grab the air around her allowing her to glide only making her appear faster than she was moving. Her hand snapped dagger from its place in her wing and fall upon King Geirr like the specter of death. Her speed caught everyone by surprise as she fell upon King Geirr with precision. Her dagger found his throat and even dripped a bit of his blood so that he knew she was serious.
 
“We had a deal, My Lord. I want Svíagris,” she said speaking of Adils' legendary prized magical ring. Her eyes shifted to the soldiers as she moved around in a circle as to make herself a harder target.
 
Geirr spoke deeply, “stupid whore,” He didn’t seem phased by the dagger at his throat. “You have no idea what makes us different from each other.” He shifted but the dagger kept him at her mercy for the moment. “You are but a common monster, a menace to my people. And I have been chosen by the Gods to rule!”
 
It was her turn to laugh, “aye, a monster that got you, your Kingdom. My Lord, I can take all of it away with a slip of my blade,” she warned then added, “All I seek is what is mine by agreement. I have kept my word.”
 
“Aye, you can take my life monster,” Geirr said in a light voice that bothered her. “But with my command, I will take from you what you hold most dear.”
 
The statement caused her concern as she wasn’t aware of what he was talking about. With a nod of his head, Cal waved for three soldiers to advance. Two of them were carrying a large wooden crate that resembled a coffin. The dropped the crate on the ground as something within the crate made a thud sound. There was a look of confusion on her face and a smile on Geirr’s
 
“One doesn’t become King without ensuring that the scales in their favor,” Geirr said coldly as one of the soldiers opened the crate.
 
She watched with wonder and then with horror as they removed a young winged male. The male was bound tightly and gaged. His white wings and hair stood out against the night. His soft blue eyes fell upon the female and then in a moment a sense of recognition passed over his face. In that moment, anger flashed over the woman’s face as she knew right away who this child was. It was her own son!
 
She pulled King Geirr closer in horror and screamed out in anger, “I swear, I will kill your King if you don’t release him. NOW!”
 
King Geirr laughed, “you can kill me, but you will never reach your son before my men run on through.” The soldiers behind her started to close in. The trap has been sprung and now the clock started to tick away.
 
Her wing flinch as anger ran through her body. Her eyes narrowed on the human behind her son. She saw the sword in his hand, concealed by her son’s body. “Humans always tend to under estimate non-human,” she said as the soldiers around her started to move closer as their confidence slowly started to build. It was those directly behind her that posed the most risk right now. She added, “when will you ever learn.”
 
The lighting flashed as it caused their metal armor to glimmer for just a moment. It was all the distraction she needed. With a great force of strength, she used her mighty wings to flip herself and King Geirr over. The sudden and forceful movement of her wings sent pellets of water outward from her. The air under her exploded towards the ground as her powerful wings lifted both her and the heavy human in to the air.
 
Flipping and spinning she flung the King over her body with great force. With his momentum built up, she let the human king go sending in flying in to the soldiers behind her. Holding on to the momentum, she spun in mid-air allowing her wings to spread out capturing air under them. At the same time, she allowed the throwing knives to rip from her wings. Of the six, half hit and half missed. They were not meant to kill, but only to cause a bit of chaos around her. With her wings filling with air, she leaned back and flung her dagger forward with all her might.
 
Using the air within her wings, she reached forward with them and pulled the air around her. This gave her a powerful lung forward towards her son. As she flew towards the three soldiers and her son, she could see the hilt of her own dagger in mid-flight just ahead of her.
 
Just as the soldier was bringing the sword back, the dagger ripped in to his throat. The soldier let out a gurgling sound as the dagger plunged deep in to his throat, and out the backside. The two other soldiers around the child stepped forward and readied to attack the woman as she closed on them. The chaos of the opening moments was giving way to a disciplined combat scene. Cal let out a cry, “protect our king!” as he drew his great two-handed sword.
 
With seconds ticking away, nearby soldiers took aim and fired their ranged weapons. Within a breath’s time, projectiles were speeding towards her. Pulling her wings in tight she spun to the ground. Her spun made her harder to hit, it also set her on a collision course with the ground. Thanks to her defensive move, most of the incoming projectiles missed. Two, however found their mark. A heavy bolt ripped through her right wing and imbedded in to her right shoulder. An arrow sunk in to her left calf muscle. She let at a scream as she tucked and tumbled to avoid serious damage from the intentional crash landing. The last feet, she tumbled to the feet of the two soldiers between herself and her son.
 
She came up with a pair of powerful wing buffets at the two remaining soldiers who were near her child. The strong blow sent the two heavily armored soldiers back. It was now Cal’s turn to attack. His large sword started to glow as magical scrips glowed red. Despite her natural speed and everything she had done to make it harder to hit her, he slashed her right side with a deep gash. She let out a cry in pain as the blow caused her to stumble to the left. She reached to her neck with both hands and grabbed her darts. She allowed herself to spin clockwise with the force of Cal’s attack. As he brought his mighty sword around for another attack, she plunged both darts in to Cal’s chest. It was more than enough to kill the human before the sun rose.
 
As Cal was forced to retreat from her blow, she took her trusty short bow out. At the same time, she grabbed two arrows from her quiver and placed them on the belly of the bow. She drew back the arrows as she took aim at a pair of soldiers targeting her. Her sight and aim were true as she unleashed to two arrows at her targets. Both soldiers were hit and forced to seek cover. She wasn’t aiming to kill them, she was aiming for their hands and ensuring that they won’t be part of this battle later.
 
In the distance, King Geirr yelled out to the remaining of his soldiers. “The man’s weight in silver to the one that brings me her head!”
 
One of the soldiers that she had wing buffeted was getting up to his feet as Cal was also getting ready to return to the battle. The soldier leaped at her and sung his sword at her neck. She spun using the bow to parry his attack. The sword impacted the bow causing it to crack up the spine of the bow’s belly. The force of the impact caused her to stumble backwards. The soldier continued his advantage as he sung again at her. This time, she dodged his attack using her momentum to sidestep him. She coiled the string of her broken bow around his neck. Pulling the bow, she tightened the string around his neck.
 
Taking sight of the next threat to her, she pulled the bow and forced the soldier to stumble in the direction she moved him. She used him as a human shield as the next flight of projectiles rained down on them. The soldier let out a groan as multiple projectiles ripped in to his body. One bolt found its mark in her right wing. The injury was server, as it damaged vital flight muscles.
 
She saw Cal rushing her once more with his sword ready to crash down upon her. She turned and kicked the soldier’s body at Cal. She noted that this time, the sword didn’t glow as it cut deep in to the soldier’s body. The blow ended the soldier’s life and caused her to wonder if the large sword was an Elf Slayer. The body hit Cal causing him to fall back once more. This gave her room and time to plot her next action.
 
Noting the disadvantaged position, she grabbed the boy and reached for the sky with her wings. Despite the pain, she pulled the air with her wings as she fought for the safety of the heavens. She couldn’t have known that the humans had sown bars of lead in to his clothes. Instead of racing for safety, she fought hard just to keep aloft. Her wounded wing took another arrow and a bolt found her back. She let out a scream as they crashed down on to the ground. The pair slipped down a small riven, as they rolled out of control.
 
She let out a cry in pain as the sound of bone breaking could be heard. The two figures came to a muddy stop at the banks of a small stream. With her left wing broken and her right badly wounded, there was no running. She drew out her cutlass as she prepared for the death that she knew was coming down that embankment. With her free hand, she drew out a knife. She reached down and cut the boy’s bounds and handed him the knife. “Free yourself” she commanded as a pair of soldiers started to race down the embankment.
 
She advanced to greet them, “kamuflasje” she uttered. The ring on her left hand glowed. Her body shimmered dully as her body started to blind with her surroundings. The humans hardly noticed her as she moved in for the attack. They were caught by surprise as her cutlass found its mark on them. Using a spinning attack, she brought the cutlass across one soldiers gut letting his insides fall upon the ground. Just moments afterwards, she brought the cutlass across the other man’s throat. Both soldiers rolled down in to the stream.
 
She turned to the small boy who was almost free from his binds, “take to the skies and get far away from here” she commanded. He looked up to her and nodded. She didn’t have time to think before she noticed Cal and more soldiers coming down the embankment. She turned to face Cal and the other soldier.
 
She never saw the boy remove a ring from his hand. On that, he slowly transformed in to a human female. The female slowly rose to her feet and removed the weighted robe that she had worn. With a smile on her face, she took the very knife that the elf had given her and silently moved up behind the wounded elf. With her eyes set on the Elf, she moved as silently as a cat. She drove the knife in to the back of the elf with so much force that it knocked the elf to her knee. The knife still stuck in to the back of the elf, Elironda turned and looked up at her attacker.
 
The human female smiled, “filthy elf, did you think we were that stupid?”
 
“We have her, My Lord” Cal screamed as he continued down the embankment.
 
The elf struggled to her feet as she faced the new threat. She stumbled forward as the human female moved back smiling. The human female spread her arms wide almost daring an attack. Elironda reached back with her cutlass to attack the female, only to have it easily knocked away by Cal. His sword, once more glowing, slashed the back of Elironda’s legs. This caused Elironda to collapse to her knees screaming out in pain. His boot knocked the elf forward and over on to her hands and knees.
 
“Where’s my son,” she whimpered.
 
King Geirr was smiling as he walked to the top of the embankment. Next to him, a group of soldiers had her bound son under tight guard. “Don’t worry, I promise you that he will die right after you!”
 
Cal reached down and took the elf’s left hand. He twisted her arm causing her to let out a groan in pain. He pulled off her magical ring and her body returned to its natural shades and colors. Her skin was pale and her eyes were soft blue. Her hair matched her bright white wings. “Finally, in your natural appearance,” Cal said coldly as he pushed her down in to the mud. “Brother, you were right. She was an Artic Flyer!”
 
“No one cares, Cal,” the human female said as she reached down and grabbed Elironda by her white hair. “What has begun here on this night will be the end of her race,” The human female continued as she drugged Elironda across the mud to a nearby log. She tossed Elironda across the log and motioned for a soldier to hold here there. “My Lord, the kill belongs to me! It was my plan.”
 
“aye, your plan,” King Geirr said shaking his head. “But Cal made your plan possible. The kill is his.” He motioned for the child to be taken down the embankment. “You can kill her spawn.”
 
“His only a child!” Elironda protested as the soldiers forced the child down the embankment.
 
“A child of a monster is still just another monster to be slain,” King Geirr said.
 
The female leaned down towards Elironda, “so why should we wait!” On that, she walked over to a soldier and claimed a long sword from him. “The little monsters blood will on this night, My Lord.”
 
A soldier dropped a heavy boot on Elironda’s back as Cal walked up. His large sword started to glow once more. “With this blow, monster, it shall be the beginning of the end for your kind.”
 
Elironda tried to fight back, but there was nothing she could do. She could see her son’s eyes filled with tears as he was forced to watch his mother’s murder. She struggled again as she watched the sword swing from her sight and knew that in moments it would be over. “Please” she uttered to the Gods. “Please don’t let this be the end.” She heard the sword passing through the air and hoped with all her heart that something would change this fate. “Save us, and I swear I will serve you….anyone of you that can save us…….please…..”
 
“I have watched you for some time, Elironda,” a blacked haired human said not really looking at her. He was leaning up against a tree taking a bite out of a red fruit. He wore strange armor and held a staff in his free hand.
 
Elironda shifted her head under the heavy weight of the boot on her back. She could see the glowing sword only inches from her the back of her neck. She didn’t need further proof that her prayer had been answered. But she just didn’t know by who. “Who are you,” she asked unsure of the new situation.
 
“Does it really matter,” he asked with a smile. “What does matter is the choice you are about to make.” He turned his head towards her and great delight crossed his face, “ah, Drapsmann” he said as he walked over to the log. “The Elven Slayer. Not so lost to time as the others would think.” He glanced at a frozen Cal, “do you mind if I cut in.” He turned his attention to Elironda, “for so long I have watched you doing my bidding down here.”
 
“You have brought me so much delight. Oh, all that chaos that you have brought un to the realms.” He moved his hand through her white hair, “never once have you ever asked anything of me. How could I not respond to your prayers now.”
 
She glanced up at the glowing blade, then turned back to the strange human, “you can save us?”
 
He nodded, “aye, I can. But will you devote your very being to me. Serve me when I summon you to my service.”
 
Her faced turned back to the child only meters away. Through the lighting, she saw King Geirr up at the top of the embankment with a look of victory on his face. Anger filled her heart as she looked in to his eyes. She turned her eyes back towards the God that was offering her salvation, “Yes, you have my word, My Lord. Please save us.”
 
“You two will survive this night,” he said with a smile and added. “That is, if you don’t waste this second chance at life,” and with that he was gone. She felt the healing touch of a god. While far from completely healed, it was another for her to keep fighting for the life of her son.
 
Just as the blade was falling for her neck, the sound of an arrow ripping through the air sounded the alarm. The arrow slammed in to Cal’s neck with the force of a horse’s kick. This caused him to flip over the log and land of the ground choking through the blood. A soldier cried out, “Orcs!” It was Elironda’s moment that was given to her. She wouldn’t waste it.
 
Before the female could move, Elironda was in motion. She wing bashed the soldier trying to hold her down. Even as he was stumbling backwards, Elironda was in motion. She tucked her shoulder down and charged him. The impact slammed the soldier, back first, in to a tree. Despite the human female being silent, Elironda heard her approach behind her. She spun to the right as the female missed with her sword. Elironda dropped forward in to a tumble and came up with her own cutlass in hand. As the sounds of combat flooded the landscape, the bottom of the embankment was soon forgotten about.
 
Elironda leaped to the side and parried the female’s first attack. The two females exchanged a series of blows, only to have them parried or dodged. It was clear that they were evenly matched. But Elironda was more than just a fighter. She was a rogue as well. She fainted to the right and slipped to the left. She spread her wings out to add to the confusion. The female pressed her attack, but her blade pressed through the fleshy part of Elironda’s wing.
 
Elironda spun around and reversed the grip on her cutlass. She drove the blade in to the human female’s side. Elironda looked in to the woman’s eyes as life slipped from them. There were no words exchanged. Just a mutual hatred for each other. Elironda slowly withdrew the blade from the body and the human dropped to the ground. Elironda rushed over to Cal’s body. The arrow had broken his neck and she could hear him gurgling for breath. She searched his body and found her ring.
 
As she stood up the last soldier at the bottom of the embankment turned to her. He was getting back to his feet after being dazed from when Elironda slammed him in to a tree. She reached behind her back and pulled the knife from her back and dropped it in the mud. She tilted her head as if wondering rather he would run or fight. He decided to run and there wasn’t time to be wasted, so she let him flee.
 
She rushed over to her son and cut him loss with her cutlass. Her wounds caused her great pain, but she drove on. She took hold of the boy and rushed down stream. Once she could barely hear combat she found an overhand and pushed the boy in first. She reached out with her wings as she put the ring back one. She once more uttered “kamuflasje.” On that, her body and wings turned to the same colors around her. They were safe for the moment.
 
She didn’t know how long it had been, but she knew that she was losing a lot of blood. She held on to the world of the living for her son. She had to protect him. After a while, she heard footsteps closing on her position. She was in no position to fight as her grip tightened on the hilt of her cutlass.
 
“As promised,” the black-haired man said. “you two have been saved from your attackers.” There was a smile on his face, “such a surprise that a orc raiding party stumbled upon you and your human friends.”
 
Elironda moved from the over hand as she put her cutlass away. “Thank you, My Lord. By what name shall I call you?”
 
“Loki….” He said softly than added, “I prefer the name Loki today.”
 
“My Lord, Loki, thank you for what you have done for us today,” she said moving to her knee and bowing to him. “You have my word. I will serve you,” she said softly. Her wounds caused her great pain, but she wasn’t about to miss this chance to pay respect to the being that saved the life of her and her child. “What would you have me do,” she asked without looking up at him.
 
He smiled shaking his head, “I don’t know right now. When I am ready for you, I will call upon you.”
 
Elironda nodded, “yes, My Lord Loki.” She glanced at her broken wing and noted her wounds. “My Lord, can you heal my wings?”
 
The man shook his head once more, “you didn’t ask for that, so, no.” And on that note, he was gone.
 
King Geirr war against non-human communities would become legendary. It would become one of the greatest conflicts between Kingdoms to ever be recorded. For as far as the southern realms would reach, there was war. History would accredit the destruction of the infamous assassin and thief, Angel of Death, to King Geirr. It would also label him ‘The Destroyer’, due to the large number of non-human communities that his army slaughtered. Hit hardest were the Artic Flyers, Avariel Elves that live near the artic regions.
 
King Geirr would not end his search for the thief that could cause his claim to be seen on illegitimate. Throughout this great war, King Geirr forces were ordered that any Artic Flyer, be killed on sight. Despite that the assassin’s death was recorded, myths were born that the assassin had struck a deal with death its self. King Geirr’s paranoid actions fueled these rumors. During this age, the specter of the Angel of Death was so feared that bards wrote songs to it. One spoke of a warlord king who was so terrified that he slept with a hundred armed guards within his own bed chamber.
 
Elironda and her son would escape the land of humans only to find her homelands in flames. Unable to return to the southern realms, the pair pressed north. They would travel far north, to the lands of the frozen forests. To the lands where summer dare not touch. As the war raged in the south, Elironda and her son continued to travel north. They continued to travel north until, the war was only a distant tale.
 
While her wounds would heal, Elironda would not take to the skies again. Haunted by the war that she helped to create, Elironda found no comfort or peace. Unwilling to face the war and unwilling to ignore her part, she started to train elven assassins. When he became of age, her son, Eliron Glathita II would lead his assassin south. They would fight alongside the forces of light with courage and create a name for themselves. His poisoned blade would bring an end to the Warlord King, Geirr.
 
After the war, Eliron would play a key role in helping to create a lasting peace that the realms would enjoy. Like all things, the age of Eliron and his assassins would come to an end. As time passed, even names like Eliron, the Angel of Death and the Destroyer would become scattered to the winds of time. Even the northern Kingdom that Elironda called home would be reclaimed by the glaciers. As the years passed, all would be forgotten by history.
 
Many millennia had passed and a lone figure wandered an ice cave. It was a region of the realms that had long been forgotten. It was the beginning of a new chapter for the realms. The Gods have all taken on new names and given to new appearances. For Gods, the passage of time was but a blink of an eye. For the mortal world, the era of the Horn Blower was close at hand!
 
As the woman walked through the winding cave, the ice parted way for her. Soon she came to a stop in what appeared to be an ancient cemetery. Slowly, she moved her hand over the frozen ground and heat started to raise from it. As the heat continued to raise from it, the soil started to loosen up. Her eyes fell upon a simple headstone. In a language that had not been spoken in a very long time, the headstone read, ‘mother, teacher, friend….we forgive you’
 
“More like, forgotten, “the woman said with a hint of laughter. She tapped the stone, “I call upon you.” She smiled as a skeleton hand punched through the loosened soil. “It’s time for you to serve,” she said coldly.
 
A skeleton figure clawed its way from the grave. It skeleton wings stretched out as they became free from the ground. Its bones clacked and clicked as it moved. Long gone was the flesh and muscle of the body. All that remained were the white bones of a winged creature. “I….was…..” it said in a strange inhuman voice. “Happy…..” The creature continued to free its body from the earthen prison that once had held it.
 
She nodded, “and you will be again, if you do as you are told. If you do as you are told, you will be returned to Arvanaith. But first you will serve me, or you will never be returned.”
 
The creature looked at its boney hands and wings, “I’m so cold…..” it turned its skull towards the woman. Its empty eye sockets gazed upon the woman, “why….why take me from where I was, was happy….” There was almost a mournful sound to its voice. Its empty eye sockets seemed to gaze at her for mercy. “Why would you do such a thing….WHO AR E YOU!” There was a hissing anger in the creature’s voice as it rose to its feet. It readied its self for combat. To see vengeance on the foolish person that would wake her back to this…this mortal world.
 
She smiled and dismissed the anger of the creature as she walked over to a tombstone and leaned against it, “you gave your word to serve me.” She turned to face the creature, “have you forgotten your word, Elironda?”
 
The creature followed her with its empty eye sockets, “Loki?” Slowly the creature slipped to its knees. “I waited so long for you to call upon me. And that call never came.” Once more, it gazed down at its hands, “I was so old, I remember on my death bed thinking that I was free from our bond.”
 
Loki shook its head, “you gave an oath to me, and I shall call upon it in my own time.” She looked at the creature, “but this will not serve my purpose.” She waved her hand, and flesh started to regrow across Elironda’s body. The creature let out a cry in pain as it flopped to the ground. “I will give you a compass, and you will follow it,” Loki said as a bag appeared before Elironda.
 
Her body rolled around on the ground as muscle continued to grow over her body. It was painful, as the creature flipped over and twisted in agony. Her screams echoed across this long-forgotten land. Blood started to pump through her veins as her heart kicked started. Her eyes slowly started to regrow. Muscle, flesh and feathers started to grow across her wings. Her pale flesh grew over her regrown muscles. Within moments, she laid on the cold hard ground as bare as the day she was born. Her wings covered her for warmth.
 
Elironda looked at her hands then her wings. Her black wings and hair were plan for Elironda to see. She moved slowly and with great pain across the ground. She found a small half frozen puddle. “I am younger, than I was when I died.”
 
“I liked you much better like this. White really isn’t your color,” Loki laughed. “Anyway, I didn’t need an old woman for this mission.”
 
“I am so cold….” She said looking around. “Where am I?” She continued to scan the ice cave. Then it dawned on her, “I know this place. But it looks so different. This was a hill top. I remember there was a tree over there.” She said pointing to a place in the cave that was still covered with ice. “I met my husband there.” She crawled over to a broken tombstone and laid upon it. “He was a good man,” said softly with tears in her eyes.
 
“I know, I watched. He took you and your son in when you had nowhere else to go,” Loki said with a nod. “Though he was an elf.”
 
“Humans can’t be trusted,” she said coldly.
 
Loki stood up, “You will need more fitting clothes.” She waved her hand and clothes wove their way around her. “I believe you still remember how to use these,” Loki said and a cutlass and recurved short bow appeared at Elironda’s feet. “Eli, I will warn you. I have taken you from a time where even the Gods have forgotten. But make no mistake. They have not forgotten the war that you caused. Even the lightest of the gods would be angered should they find out who you are. I shall not rescue you. They will do horrible things to you, things that even death cannot allow you to escape from. You cannot ever speak of where you are from, or of your old life.”
 
Elironda looked back to the puddle, “and if I complete this task of yours. You will return me to Arvanaith?”
 
“You have my word,” said Loki. “But if you try to get smart on me and commit suicide, I assure you, you will not find Arvanaith. Stay alive and complete my task. It’s that simple.”
 
Elironda nodded as she stood up, “I understand. I will complete your task and then you will return me to my husband and son.”
 
Loki smiled and nodded, “oh one last thing.” Loki walked up to Elironda and moved her hand to Elironda’s forehead. “I don’t need a master assassin or thief on this mission.” A bright light grew from Elironda’s head, “you will not remember the past adventures you had. Your life, your adventures shall now, be anew…..” The lights all faded as darkness engulfed Elironda’s mind. Somewhere in the darkness she heard, “follow the compass. It will place you where you need to be, the rest shall be up to you to figure out. Don’t disappoint me!”
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07-30-2017, 08:07 PM,
#2
Elironda's Chronicles
Death is only a symptom

Elironda saw the mage casting on the wall of the Castle. She had half thought that she would have a chance to speak to someone before they fired. She was wrong!
 
She barely could see through her eyes that had been burnt by the mages of this realm. Anger filled her heart over these humans. But she knew that she had to help the party. She focused on that task, even if it would be her last.
 
Elironda's found her spirit floating in the in-betweens. She knew this place well, it was the after afterlife. Here souls were drawn to different nexuses. They form large streams of lights, each a soul, drawn to different lands fashioned by different entities. Here followers were rewarded or punished. She knew what awaited her, an eternity separated from her family, her loved ones.
 
Some of the most prominent lands here belong to the old gods. Then there were others, smaller islands in this great void of eternity. These were formed by creatures that have crafted their own planes of influence in the nether-world. These creatures were Demigods, ancient dragons or powerful heroes of old, had once been mortal. During their lives, they had acquired enough power to shape reality and create their own realms here in the afterlife.
 
The souls around her float towards these lands like leaves on a stream. There was a great pull as the stream directed the souls to their final eternal rest. Ahead of Elironda, she saw her fate awaiting her. She wanted more than anything to avoid that. She pulled and fought against the growing current. She didn’t know where this strength came from, maybe it was from Loki, or maybe she had enough faith to return to her family.
 
As she moved against the current that was bent on taking her to damnation, she started to notice a great nexus emerging. At first, she thought it was just another island. But soon she realized that this emerging power was much more than that. This being was a massively large snake. This monster of a snake was ebony in color. Its massive head could easily consume an entire mountain. She watched it open its massive mouth and draw in souls from various streams.
 
Those poor souls vanished within the beast’s throat. Deep within the mouth, she heard the screams of the damned. Powerless to escape their doom. Crying out for help, for salvation from their gods. Like those around her, she felt the draw on her own soul. It was finally then Elironda knew the stakes!
 
Despite her efforts, she knew that her fate was sealed. She then suddenly noticed a soul being pulled back from the afterlife by a silver strand. She swore that her fate wasn’t sealed on this day. She reached with all her might for the strand and grasp it.
 
Elironda’s eyes snapped opened as she let out a deep gasp. Her eyes drew in the sights around her as her body slowly came back to life. Her vision was blurred but she could make out shapes and lights. Once more she drew in air in to her lungs. She slowly rolled on to her side and saw only darkness around her. She slowly moved her leg from the table to get up. Slowly, she flipped her legs from the table.
 
As she placed her legs on the ground she suddenly found her legs unable to support her weight. She dropped down as she made a feeble attempt to catch herself. She laid on the ground for a moment as she tried to get her strength back. As she waited, her vision slowly returned to normal. She noticed a thick wooden door at the far end of the chamber.
 
The only light in the chamber came from the crack between the wooden door and its jam. On other tables, she saw other bodies in various states of preparations for eternal rest. Elironda slowly rose to her feet using much of her arm strength.
 
“What happened!?” a voice said.
 
Elironda turned and saw no one in the chamber. “Great, now I am hearing things…”
 
The voice spoke once more, “I am right here! What happened?”
 
Once more Elironda moved on shaky knees, using the table for support. She searched the chamber with her eyes and saw no one. She half stumbled over to a smaller table that held a water basin. Almost there, she stumbled and had to catch herself using the table. She leaned over the water basin and placed her face in the water.
 
She pulled her face from the water and through the waves in the basin she saw a male’s face looking back at her. It didn’t take her long to realize who was looking back at her. It was Captain Ahab! “Loki, your sense of humor never ceases to surprise me,” she said softly. Her left skeleton hand reached up to the side of her face and touched. In the water, she saw a man’s hand. A human’s hand touching the face looking back at her.
 
“What are you talking about? What happened? What was that monster?” Ahab said in confusion.
 
Elironda drew in a deep breath as she felt her strength returning, “You are dead, so was I.”
 
“You did this!?” Ahab said in shock, “This is your fault!”
 
Elironda shook her head while looking down in to the water, “Yes” she said truthfully. “I am responsible for this. As for that monster, that is what all of this is about.”
 
“I don’t understand, all of what, is about,” Ahab said in confusion.
 
“Uggh!” Elironda slapped the water, “THEM! Why do you think they were here to speak to your King!”
 
“I told them I would get them an introduction….” Ahab said. “But we have to speak to the King. We have to tell him about that monster!”
 
“Oh sure, let’s walk up and speak to the King,” she said almost laughing. “They will kill you on sight, just like they killed me. That is what humans do, they murder first then ask questions.”
 
“No, we can speak to the priests. They will help us. They will help me.” Ahab paused for a moment, then added, “They will send you back to the afterlife.”
 
“Ahab, don’t be a fool. You are in my body. You would face the same fate as I would. Instant electrical death!” Elironda said as she glared in to the water and in to the eyes of the man looking back at her. She fell silent for a moment as she thought.
 
In her mind, she knew her options were limited. She could lie to him, but that didn’t sit well with her. After all, she was the reason why he was here in the first place. She was the one that killed him. Second, she used his resurrection to return to the realm of the living. She shook her head and spoke from the heart. “I know you are a good soldier. You don’t know this, but I saw you many days ago. You were at sea, just after the battle that you had with your enemy. I watched how you cared for your men. I watched you.”
 
She closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh, “I know you are loyal to your King, and your Kingdom. You can fight me, and undermine me. But now you know what all of this is about. That monster will devour everything it gets its hands on. All life, in these realms are at stake. Not just your Kingdom. I am speaking to you from my heart, I know you can sense this. I ask you to serve a higher purpose, as I am. I ask you to serve this quest that will save all life within all of the realms.”
 
He looked down and thought for a moment, “You are asking me to turn my back on my King?”
 
She shook her head, “I cannot tell you what tomorrow brings. I do not know what your Kingdom will do to those I travel with. I am asking you serve a goal that will protect your King and your Kingdom.”
 
Ahab looked back up at her, “I will not betray my King?”
 
She shook her head, “I know,” she paused and walked over to the large table and found her items. “For some reason, the Gods have felt that our fates be interwoven.” She pulled out her compass and glanced at it with a smile on her.
 
“Why do you have a broken compass?”
 
“It’s my guide"
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07-30-2017, 11:07 PM, (This post was last modified: 07-31-2017, 06:59 PM by Akirapryde. Edit Reason: Revision and clarification )
#3
Elironda's Chronicles
The Face of Thy Enemy
 
Elironda slowly walked in to the basement as her black wings drifted behind her. There was anger across her face, “such an easy way out,” she said as she walked over to a table with tools on it. The table was lined with all kinds of tools. She carefully ran her over every item. A slight smile crossed her lips as the darkness in her eyes glimmered through.
 
She picked up a pair of pliers, “I promise, I will find out how you and your friends managed to escape me.” She turned her attention to the body lying on the make shift fire pit. The feet of the body were tied to a rope and ready to be raised upright. “Your friends will not escape me again,” she said walking towards the body. She slowly dropped down next to the head of the body. Carefully she moved the hair to the side as she tilted her head to the side. “You are beautiful……for a human…”
 
“I love your long brown hair,” Elironda said as she ran her hand through the body’s hair. “It’s just so soft…” Slowly she started to force the mouth open. “Even in death you resist me,” she said struggling till the jaw cracked and the mouth fall open. “There it is….” She said reaching in to the mouth with the pliers. “I knew a human woman as pretty as you are,” she said struggling till she could pull the poisoned tooth from the mouth. “She is long dead now. But when she was alive, she disguised herself as my son and drove a knife in to my back.” Elironda let a bit of a laughter out, “she long dead…..but your not….”
 
She slowly stood up and gazed at the tooth, “And for you…..My Lord,” she said speaking to Loki. “Did you get a good laugh at tonight’s debacle,” she asked as she walked over to the table. “I can’t imagine you failed to find their suffering hilarious.” She paused with what she was doing as she turned and leaned up against the table.
 
“I just don’t know how you managed to pull that off,” she said softly speaking to Ahab. She felt him wanting to be heard. There was a hint of a struggle on her face as she willed him in to silence. “You have caused enough problems for this day.”
 
She looked over at the body. Then she turned back to the table and placed the tooth in to a small glass tube. “Did your slave….your poppet, play her part well tonight,” Elironda asked of her deity. “If you were pleased, can you please grant this humble request.” She placed the tube in to her pocket. “I know that monster is out there, consuming souls.” She walked back to the body and leaned down next to it, “they need the answers that this woman has if they are going to have a fighting chance against it. I ask….I beg it of you. Bring this soul back and awaken this lifeless body so that she will answer their questions.”
 
Elironda looked to the side, “I know I hate her.” After a breath, she turned her gaze back to the lifeless body. “She is enjoying the afterlife. All that I should have. All that I have earned. But, I don’t have it.” She fell silent as she looked down at the lifeless body. Her eyes narrowed as she gazed down at the body, “but that will change soon….”
 
She reached over with her right hand and pulled the long leather glove off her left hand. Her skeleton hand moved as she held it up before her face. She could hear the bones rubbing against each other as she opened and closed her hand. Anger and hate started to give way to self-loathing as she continued to gaze at her hand. “All because you needed your puppet.” She closed her eyes as a tear slowly started to form at the ends of her eye lids, “and so I will be your puppet,” she said as she lowered her head.
 
She reached up with her right hand and whipped the tears away as she looked up to the ceiling of the basement. In that, anger overran all other emotions as she fought to control it. “I played my part. AND will continue to play my part. But they need to know what this woman knows. Please protect this woman’s soul and make sure it finds its way back to this body.”
 
Elironda heard footsteps and quickly made sure that her hand was concealed once more. She turned at the voice of Ahmed crying out, “what in the name of the Gods are you doing with that body!?”
 
Elironda glanced at the broken jaw of the body and brushed it off. “We need to bring this woman back to the realm of the living.”
 
The old priest gazed at her, “I know you….I saw your lifeless body…..you were dead….”
 
Elironda rose to her feet and walked over to the rope. “Yeah, you did. You spoke with me from the realm of the living.”
 
“How are you alive,” he asked.
 
Elironda started to pull the body up by its feet, “life is but a symptom of my condition. Death is the wrong cure for it.”
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08-13-2017, 08:41 AM,
#4
Elironda's Chronicles
Eclipse
 
It was a calm moonless night over the harbor. Along the docks, many fishing ships were moored. High above, the clouds of the coming storm cast their long reach over this great norther city of Casstleshade. Even before the full force of the showers had come, the first hint of rain had already started to fall. The early morning showers were common for this time of year, the rains were a welcomed sight to the fishermen who were just waking up. It meant that the Gods would grant them a plentiful catch today.
 
However, on a lone ship in the harbor, the rains and restricted visibility were far from welcomed. As the rain slowly started to pick up during the predawn hours, the grumblings of the two deck watches could be heard. “What do you think happened to Jezebel,” asked Goraidh as they walked from the stern of the vessel. The two watches were each armed with a long sword and a heavy crossbow. They each wore a chain shirt for armor.
 
The older watch, Joffrey, let out a sigh of disappointment as he glanced toward the shore. “If she is lucky, she gave up her life in the service of our Lord, Odjir.” He paused scanning the water between the vessel and the shore. “They should have sent us as well,” he said resting his crossbow on the railing.
 
“But, it’s Jezebel. You don’t think she’s….you know….” Goraidh asked as he walked up and leaned on the railing beside the over man. There was clear concern in his voice. As if his feelings were deeper than he wanted to reveal. “I am um….just worried. Do you think They’re coming back?”
 
“Nope,” he turned and glanced up in the riggings of the mast. “And I don’t care.”
 
Goraidh was disheartened by the statement from Joffrey. He looked up to what his partner was searching for. “What is it?”
 
“I thought I heard something.” Joffrey said getting his heavy crossbow ready. He moved it to a firing position as he slowly he scanned the riggings.
 
“You don't think They’re stupid enough to hit us out here, do you?” There was clearly fear in Goraidh’s voice.
 
“I don’t know,” his eyes narrowed as he aimed down the weapon and carefully searched for his target. “There,” he said with a half whisper. “On the upper yard!”
 
“The what? Where?” Goraidh said as he searched for the target as well. After a moment he laughed, “it’s just a stupid bird.” 
 
The all black bird was almost invisible against the night sky. It moved back and forth on the highest yard of the main mast crying and making noise. As it moved, it was if the bird was watching them, watching it. Once Joffrey took sight of the animal, it let out a cry and took flight in to the night sky.
 
“Bastard,” Joffrey mumbled as he aimed at the fast-moving bird. Then without warning, he fired. The animal cried out again, almost as if mocking the would be hunter. The sound of a thud against the main mast indicated the miss.
 
Goraidh laughed, “oi, ye Mighty Hunter!” He searched the sky for the animal with no avail. “Think those birds are called ravens. But they’re not common on these parts.” He scratched his head, “I wonder what he is doing here. Probably got lost or something.”
 
“I don't care, it won’t be back,” Joffrey said as he turned and rested his crossbow on the railing. “Go get the bolt,” he ordered as he pulled out the crank and started to set it up.
 
“Me,” cried Goraidh. He pointed up near the top of the mast, “I am not the one that missed!”
 
Joffrey half turned his head as he finally got the cranked in to position, “no, no you’re not.” He turned his attention back to the crossbow and started to crank the string back, “but if you don’t, you will be the one to slip and hit your head while going overboard.”
 
Goraidh half drew his crossbow before slinging it to his back. “You know if Jezebel were here, you wouldn’t be treating me like this.” There was anger and frustration mixed in with a bit of whining to his voice.
 
Joffrey sighed heavily as he manhandled the crank, “if Jezebel were here, I wouldn’t be on watch with a woman!”
 
As Goraidh started to climb as he braked back, “you’re a terrible father!”
 
Slowly the heavy string of the crossbow started to pull back. He sighed at the last statement from his son, “My Lord, Odjir, give me strength to make this weak boy, a man.”
 
A bit later, Goraidh returned holding a lone heavy bolt. Still grumbling regarding their earlier exchange, Goraidh made his displeasure clear. He waved his hand before his nose, “you smell like death. Have you been eating yams again?” He saw Joffrey bent over the side as if looking over board. 
 
“Don’t tell me, you lost your crossbow, again,” Goraidh said waking up behind his father. “Damnit dad.......” he started to say bit quickly cut himself off. “Dad,” he half whispered. Fear and desperation dripped from his voice. “Dad....” he said once more reaching out and touching Joffrey’s shoulder.
 
With a pull, Goraidh caused Joffrey to fell backwards towards the deck. A single narrow puncture showed the path of the blade which claimed the old man’s life. It ran up from his chin, through his mouth and in to his brain. Joffrey’s eyes were wide open as if looking at something. It was clear that he was dead before he even realized he had been attacked.
 
Goraidh stepped back with horror gripped to his face, his mouth opened to scream but fear held his voice. Then he heard it. A sound that few mortals have heard and lived to tell about. It sounded like teeth chattering, or maybe bones grinding. A primal fear told him it was far worse than that. He turned to see a half decomposed skeleton creature standing behind him. It's flesh dripping from its body. The stench of death invaded his nose sealing the vision in his mind. In its hand was his father’s heavy crossbow. Frozen by fear, Goraidh could only stare in to the empty eye sockets that at one point in this creature’s life had been eyes.
 
At that same moment, Elironda saw the young man her son had once been. She let go of the small bag attached to her belt that held the teeth from the cultists and bones from small animals. Lost in the moment, she heard his voice calling out to her from beyond the grave. Memories flooded back in to her mind. She recalled how her son wore that same look after her husband had been murdered by those human monsters. But she couldn’t hate this human. He was no different than her own son and now she was no different than those human monsters. She wanted so much to just walk away from this poor young man. To leave him to mourn the death of his father. But she knew she couldn't. He was no different than the rest of them. ‘They all are slavers and murders alike,’ she thought remembering what the cultist Jezebel had told the group. But then added to her thoughts, ‘maybe not….’
 
Goraidh clumsily reached for his sword. Still gripped by fear and outclassed by her natural speed, he had no hope of winning this contest of speed. She brought the heavy crossbow up with both hands and slammed it across his face. The awkwardness of the attack and the weight of the weapon caused her to lose her balance. Elironda stumbled sideways, slipping and fell to the deck.
 
The impact of the crossbow across Goraidh's face sent him spinning. Blood filled his mouth as he stumbled to the side. Lucky for him, the railing prevented him from falling to the deck. In one action, he turned and drew his sword. “Back to hell, demon!” He said as foam started to form in his mouth. Raising up his sword over his head, all he could think of was sending this demon back to whatever hell it crawled up from. 
 
His eyes fixed on the skeleton creature which lied on the deck before him. But there was no attack. Instead his sword slipped from his fingers. It fell blade first in to the water, making only a slight splash. Goraidh eyes grew wide as his body started to shake. More foam flowed from his mouth as his knees buckled under him. The skeleton creature slowly rose to her feet, as she watched the poison tooth take its toll on him. With calm silence, it reached out and caught him as gravity took hold. This prevented the body from following the sword overboard.
 
With great care, she lowered his body to the deck. Elironda felt for the young man. As his eyes started to glaze over she felt the poison rushing through his body and claiming what was left of his life. She calmly gazed in to the eyes of this man while his life slipped away. Once he was gone she lowered her head in silent mourning.
 
“It is a great sin, when a parent leads their child on to darkness,” she said closing his eyes for the last time. She lied to herself once more, stating that she felt nothing. She rose while picking up the two heavy crossbows. Her mind focused on her mission. Any sympathy was driven away by the thought that, ‘they’re all slavers and murders. Nothing more!’
 
From high above, she heard the soft cry of a raven. Elironda looked up at her familiar, Lenore, who was keeping watch of the deck. She knew what the warning meant and moved behind a stack of barrels. Carefully she set the two heavy weapons down as she silently moved to a better position. Her hand moved to the hilt of her dagger as she focused on the footsteps and the vision of what her familiar was sending her. She moved deeper in to the shadows and waited. She heard the woman calling out for one of the guards. She smiled as she heard his footsteps grow closer. Using the eyes of her familiar, she positioned herself perfectly for the surprise attack.
 
Slowly Elironda lowered herself as she plotted out her attack. As the woman walked passed her, complaining about the smell on deck, Elironda struck like a coiled snake. Her poisoned dagger sank deep in to the back of the woman’s right knee. The tip of the blade ruptured the front of the woman’s knee cap.
 
This caused the female cultist to stumble and drop to one knee. The woman let out a cry in pain from the sudden attack. The dagger ran so deep that it ensured the poison would reach the bloodstream fast. Instead of withdrawing the dagger, Elironda let it go as she drew her rapier instead.
 
Once more, the cultist was out classed by Elironda's speed. Looking down at the back of the woman’s neck, Elironda drove the full length of her rapier through her neck. Before her victim had realized it, it was over. The woman’s tongue was skewered by Elironda's blade. The cultist’s eyes shifted from side to side to figure out what just happened.
 
Within seconds the woman’s life faded. Unlike the young man, Elironda felt nothing for this human as she removed her blade. The body flopped to the deck and laid there in a pool of its own blood. Elironda stood there for a moment as she returned her rapier back in its sheath. Slowly she lowered herself and withdraw her dagger from the knee of the body.
 
Elironda stood up and carefully removed the dagger sheath. She checked the level of poison. Letting out a sigh she said, “only one more dose left.” She slid her dagger in to the sheath. It made a soft clicking sound insuring that the blade was locked in place. Some lard at the top of the sheath ensured that the poison wouldn’t drip out. Carefully, she hung the sheath on her belt. She moved over and picked up the two heavy crossbows once more. She slung one and carried the other one.
 
On that note, she moved stealthily towards the stairs at the back of the ship. The two heavy weapons slowed her down, but she didn’t want to move fast anyway. She looked up to Lenore, “if anyone else comes up on deck, let me know,” she commanded her raven. Once the raven replied with a cry, she slowly moved down the stairs and in to the lair of the monsters.
 
As she moved deeper in to the ship, she heard a man crying out in pain, “oh god, it burns! Fucking whore! Shit, Fuck……god damn, WHORE! Oh god, the burning!”
 
From deeper in the ship, Elironda heard another man call out, “Damnit, suffer in silence. It serves you right. Next time, listen to us when we tell you to leave the dirty ones alone.”
 
She heard a door slam as the first man continued to cry out in pain. She followed the voice of the man suffering. She finally reached a door near the very back of the ship. It was more curiosity that drove her now. She readied the heavy crossbow and flung open the door.
 
Before her, she saw a man sitting on a bench with his breeches down by his ankles. His shirt pulled up revealing his larger than normal belly. His face covered with sweat and twisted in pain. The man’s head snapped up to see a decomposing skeleton creature before him. The entire world faded away as his eyes locked on the image of this monster. The sound of defecation filled the space between them.
 
Time seemed to slow for both as each took in what they saw. The skeleton creature was holding a heavy crossbow aimed at his chest. There was only a short few feet between them. The odor of death seeped in to his nose. Something splashed in to the water under his seat as the crossbow let loss it’s bolt.
 
At point blank range, Elironda couldn’t help but hit. The bolt ripped in to the man’s chest and sunk deep. The sound of wood cracking as the tip of the bolt plunged in to the wall behind him. The man's face twisted even more as he cried out in pain. Elironda was quick to drop the crossbow and ready the second one. She pulled the trigger and once more a bolt ripped through his body pinning him to the wall.
 
There wasn’t time, as she knew the other man would be coming soon. She closed the door and hid in the shadows. Within seconds she heard the man screaming, “I swear, I am going to rip your thing off.”
 
She waited as she heard the footsteps drawing closer. Her fingers coiled around the hilt of the poisoned dagger. She patently waited for her prey as he complained about the scent of death aboard. Slowly the grumbling and footsteps grew closer.
 
As he entered her trap, her first surprise attack was with her dagger. She drove the dagger to its hilt in to the man's chest. But the man was faster than she suspected. He grabbed her by the arm and flung her across the large galley. Elironda vanished in to the darkness as she slid across a table. He let out a scream in pain as he stumbled back from the attack. He cried out, “we’ve been boarded!”
 
Using her acrobatics, she rolled from the table and on to her feet. She came up with her rapiers in her hand and ready for the attack. She thought that having the large table between them would help keep the man at range. She held her action as she plotted out her next action.
 
Once more he cried out as to alert the others as he wondered where the watch was. His mind couldn’t believe that the other four were already dead. So, he kept calling out for them. He reached up and ripped the dagger from his chest. He tossed the dagger to the ground and reached for his own sword. It was in that moment that he realized sword and armor were back at his hammock.
 
Unwilling to turn and run, he raised he moved forward and grabbed the heavy table. He tossed the table to the side with little effort. This left an opening for Elironda to attack. She moved in and attacked with her Rapier. The man moved and took the attack. To her surprise, he grabbed her weapon and yanked it from her grip. Disarmed, Elironda moved back and shifted to a much more defensive strategy.
 
His first blow missed, but the second one caught her in the chest. It was a powerful hit that caused the creature to get slammed up against a nearby wooden door. The force of the impact winded Eliroda.
 
It was then that Elironda realized that this one wasn’t a fresh recruit like the others. He would be harder to take down. She needed to buy time. She sidestepped trying to keep from being cornered, but the man grabbed her by the neck and tossed her like a rag doll. Once more she was flying across the rooom and crashed down on some boxes. The man laughed as he slowly advanced on her once more.
 
Elironda dodged his next two attacks and moved to keep distance on him. Elironda stumbled back giving up more ground as the man laughed, “I have fought your kind before demon,” he taunted. “You don’t scare me!” He managed to land a hit across her head. The hit snapped her head back and sent stars in to her vision. A second attack added planets to those stars. Elironda fought back the blackness at the edge of her vision as she was losing her footing.
 
Elironda got her footing and her vision cleared. ‘The man hits like a warhorse,’ she thought. She knew that there was no way she could take him in a fair fight. Her lips curled in to a smile as she saw his neck. Thick black lines ran up his neck like snakes working their way through his veins. She slowly rose to her feet using a barrel for support as she laughed at him.
 
The move confused the man as he didn't know how to take this sudden change in mannerism. “Fool,” she said in her disguised, hollow voice. “You’re already dead. Your soul just hasn’t realized it.”
 
The man took a step back and looked at his arms. Long black marks flowed through his veins. He turned his eyes to the demon that had poisoned him. His eyes spoke volumes as his mouth hung open. He dropped to his knees and then to the deck. His last moments were that of a fish gasping for breath as his heart and lungs slowly shut down.
 
Elironda moved to pick up her dagger once more. Watching the man on the deck, she walked over and picked up her rapier. A cut across the men's throat would ensure that he would not be getting back up. After searching both men, she found a set of keys on the larger man. She decided to hang on to them.
 
Her body screamed in pain from the beating she just took, but she knew she had a mission. She was confident that there was no one left, she started to search the ship silently. Unwanted items would be left in the hallway while things like coins and gems found their way in to her pocket. Carefully she searched for the stone and the paintings.
 
At the bow of the ship, she found a locked door. Using the keys that she found, she quietly unlocked it and slid in to the room. There she found what she had come for, the paintings. Lots of them. But she also noticed another cultist, sleeping on a small straw bed at the very front of the ship. Silently she drew her dagger and closed on the cultist. As her eyes focused on the sleeping figure, she finally realized it was just a boy. Ten, maybe eleven.
 
Hovering over him, she gazed down on the sleeping child. His tattoo stood out as plain as day. “Kill him….” She heard from the decomposing monster in the corner of the room. “Kill the monster while it sleeps.”
 
She didn’t have to look to know that the creature was there. It was always there, in her mind. She slowly lowered herself down to her knees and moved the blade up to the child’s neck. Carefully she pressed the tip up against the neck. “Yes…..kill him…..kill all of the monsters…..”
 
“It’s just a child…” she whispered softly pulling the blade back.
 
“A child of a monster will grow in to a monster,” the creature hissed at her. “KILL IT NOW!”
 
Startled by a sudden chill down her spine, she moved the blade back to the child’s neck. But she stopped once more. This time, she heard another voice. The voice of the Father… “Everyone deserves a chance at salvation…..everyone…”
 
“Damn priest….” She said without thinking. The boy’s eyes snapped opened in fear. Elironda was fast to cup his mouth and knock him out. She searched his mouth, “thank the Gods, no wooden tooth.” She flipped the boy over and tied him up. A gag would keep him silence.
 
She returned to searching the ship as a pair of unseen servants would load the painting and loot in to a long boat. Once she was sure she didn’t miss anything, she moved to deliver her message. She hung the five dead cultists from the mass by their feet. Naked as the day they were born. Throats cut and their tongues removed. Their eyes and jaws were also removed to further disfigure the bodies. Their mutilated bodies were plain to see once enough light and attention were created.
 
While it was a message to the rest of the cultists, it had a practical purpose. The disfigurement would ensure that the spell speak with dead would fail on these bodies. That the cultists would never know who carried out this attack, and more importantly, who had survived. Now an innocent life was at stake, and that ‘Damn priest,’ Elironda cursed the man who had tainted her heart.
 
She lowered the bound boy in to the long boat. She made once more pass through the boat before setting her firebombs. Using candles, thread and the bottles of Greek Fire she took, she made five firebombs. She wanted to give herself plenty of time to escape the boat and be well on shore before it erupts in a small fireball.
 
Still using her unseen servants, she paddled to the docks. Loaded within the boat was the paintings, what loot she gathered and more importantly, a young child. As she got further away from the ship, she changed her hex in to the peasant elf maiden. Her head hurt, her body hurt, and she was exhausted. As the dock came in to view, she saw Arwen on the docks.

Elironda smiled as the long boat came up to the dock. “Arwen? Always the good, second-rate thief. You showed up when all the real work was already done.”
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08-20-2017, 10:21 PM,
#5
Elironda's Chronicles
Flashes
 
Eli set there tending her to her bow as things started to settle down. She watched Gar move about the battlefield like a peacock showing off its colors. As Eli followed Gar with her eyes, she shook her head. Eli recalled Gar’s words as they amused her. “She speaks as if we are a band of brothers and sister, woven together by destiny,” Eli said softly in Celestial. It wasn’t that she was concerned about being overheard. She just didn’t care to have a heavy conversation with anyone at this moment. ‘Still,’ Eli thought then added, ‘Gar is a strange one. She throws her weight around like she is in charge, yet demands that the entire party pretends to have a voice.’
 
Eli concluded that the fact that they are even here, before this frozen temple, is only proof of that. Despite being sick for much of the time and not spending any time really taking in the human city, Gar wanted to leave and so the party decided to leave. Eli continued to watch Gar, half expecting the monstrous woman to chest bump a pillar or something. It wasn’t that Eli had any care about staying or leaving. Yet, to the rest of the party is was pretty much, unless you have a reason to stay, we are leaving. Eli thought of the signs that the Kingdom was in trouble and was in desperate need of help. Or the nice warm bed and protection of a powerful member of the city council.
 
Or it could have just been something as simple as watching Arwen improve on her thieving skills. A task that is badly need of improvement. Eli looked at her bow and continued to treat the string. She thought of the disappointment that some of party members must feel about being forced to depart the city. “No more warm, soft beds,” she said softly still speaking in Celestial.
 
Still, for all her arrogance and brash actions, and, well, stench, she was the best leader that Eli could select from this group. Gar would have Eli’s loyalty, even if Gar didn’t trust her. Loyalty appeared to be very important to Gar. Her loyalty to her friends was a welcomed trait that the rest of the group could easily depend on. Eli’s lips frowned as she added, “it would be her worst weakness,” she said speaking in a disheartened voice and of Gar’s loyalty.
 
Eli’s eyes moved over to the blue skinned woman, ‘what was her name again,’ she thought then nodded, ‘Farrali she thought with a bit of confusion and frustration. ‘I think,’ she finally conceded the mental contest. Of the entire group, Farrali was a very large mystery. A woman of strange actions, loyal to the core one day, and unexpectedly absent of mind the next. It was hard to get a reading off her. Like Gar, Eli would consider it foolish to discount Farrali’s loyalty to her friends. It wasn’t hard for Eli to realize that Farrali was a Fire Elementalist. Which bothered Eli very much.
 
Eli drew in her breath and felt greatly relieved that Farrali had not unleashed wide spread fire during this combat. A very uncomfortable shutter ran down her back as she thought of the last major combat they were all in together. It was back at the mage guild, and ‘these fools, let by Ms. Too Blue decided to set everything on fire,’ Eli thought as she continued to watch the scene around her.
 
“The entire building was on fire,” she said in Celestial with a low toned distress coating her voice. Eli continued to recall that nightmare of a battle. “Yet, these fools continued to fight.” She let out a slight laugh as the concept amused her. “Only a fool, fights in a burning house,” the Celestial words slipping off her tongue. “Yes, I am bound to fools.”
 
She watched Arwen scurry about the battlefield searching the dead like a half-starved Stoat. Translated, the word Stoat meant, naughty rodent in her native language. The unimpressive want-be thief reminded Eli of the small scavenging rodent. She leaned back holding her bow and watched Arwen continue to loot the bodies as Eli’s mind drifted back to childhood. She remembered watching the little white creates run across the ground under her window. True to their name, they would often get in to trouble as they scavenged for food.
 
Eli saw the coin purse hanging from the large monster next her. She had planned on keeping it for herself, however, her amusement got the better of her. She reached over and pulled the purse free from the body. Eli patiently waited till Arwen had moved to the next body to loot. Then, Eli tossed the purse at Arwen, but made sure it landed short. True to her rodent nature, the little Arwen moved cautiously toward the unsuspecting gift. Eli couldn’t contain the smile as after a short moment Arwen took the prize and moved back to her scavenging. “That’s my little Stoat,” Eli whispered in Celestial.
 
Her attention then fell on the Bard. ‘What was his name?’ she thought then added, ‘who cares….’ She has never ceased to be amazed by his cleverness. Since the day she met the man, she had been so impressed with that wondrous whip. There was something about him that always seemed to inspire the best in her. Or at least the lust in her. She smiled as she watched him coiling up his whip. He was always so very careful to make sure that it looked prefect in its place. Then again, everything on him always seemed to look perfect. She had to force herself not to fall in to those damn eyes again.
 
Those eyes, which were deep and true, seemed to call out to her every time she gazed his way. He was everything that she wasn’t, and in that she was envious. It was more than that. She was envious of the women that found their way in to his bed. Those ungrateful women that never truthy realized what a prize they had found.
 
“Maybe” she said softly in Celestial once more as if she was speaking to the Bard himself. “I should save this realm a lot of heart breaks and cut your eyes out.” There was no anger or intention in her voice. Merely a hint of amusement. Amusement in the vision of his eyes floating in a large bottle. Hers alone to gaze upon. As quickly as the thought entered her mind, it was gone, as she knew she could never bare those eyes to cry. It would break what was left of her own heart.
 
“Speaking of heartbreak” she whispered in Celestial and her eyes fell upon Dimple. She watched him tending to his mount. There was something about his recent behavior that really troubled her. He was the only one in the party that actually tried to befriend her. Now, something was going on with him and she wanted to know about it. “What has gripped your heart, my little friend,” Eli whispered. She wanted to reach out and touch him. To tell him that whatever it was, that she would help him face it. But the time simply didn’t feel right.
 
She recalled back at the city, near one of the towers. The rest of the party had gone inside, and yet she remained behind. She had made an effort to let him know that she was there, if he wanted to talk. Yet, he just seemed to be in own world. She let out a painful sigh. She wanted to help him, but simply didn’t know how. “Maybe later,” she added.
 
“Eli” a child’s voice called out from deeper within the large structure. Elironda turned her head as she heard the child calling out to her. She blinked as the vision slowly took hold of her attention.
 
“Come on, Eli” the young male Artic Flyer said as the two children half flew, half skipped down the cave.
 
“Terje,” a very young Elironda cried out, “slow down!” Her small wings tried to move faster to keep up with her older brother. But they were just too small, too weak. The two flew down the large cave, “We are not supposed to be here,” she said then asked, “Where are you taking me.”
 
Terje finally stopped a top of a large stone, “Eli, can you hear that?” The massive cave was made from frozen rock. Light from the midday sun shined through thick ice sheets above casting a spectacular wave of colors across the entire cave. Across the cave, where frozen mounds that reached up to the light. The ice mounds allowed the viewers to see the lifeless body that had been laid to eternal rest.
 
The younger flyer landed next to him, “hear what,” she said moving closer to him.
 
Terje moved a bit from her but then back to her as if to shield her from some unseen threat, “the Great Disappearing Monster….”
 
“Nat ah….” The young Eli said…. “You’re lying…. !”
 
Terji moved slowly around her looking to the shadows, “Eli, I am telling you the truth. That is why its forbidden for us to even be here.”
 
Eli glanced around, “no….it’s because this is a burial site.”
 
He turned to her with dread on his face, “Eli, do you see the graves?” Eli started to look around as panic crossed her face. “The Great Disappearing Monster sneaks up on its pray as they are honoring their loved ones.” He said in a cold deep voice. “The living don’t have a chance against him. They just disappear!” He moved his hand in such a way that it cast a shadow over her face. “He reaches out with its webbed hands and captures foolish flyers that dared to enter his lair. With its fifty-foot teeth, it grinds them up.” He turned to the terrified little flyer and leaned closer to her, “sometimes when they are small enough, it swallows them whole!”
 
“Te…..Terji,” she said softly taking hold of his wing, “I want to go home….let….lets…go home….”
 
He looked around, “don’t worry, Stig taught me how to detect it. We are safe” he said then turned to her, “for now.” Stig was their older brother. “Once we find him, we will go home.” He turned then turned back to her, “don’t worry. Nothing will happen to you. I am going to go look for Stig. Stay right here.”
 
Before she could stop him, he took flight and vanished in to the shadows. The wind blew her small wings as her older brother disappeared. She moved along the large rock trying not to attract any attention. She heard his wings cutting through the frozen air as she searched the darkness for him. “Terji” she said softly trying not to speak too loudly. It was only the wind that answered her back. She heard rocks moving in the distance. Somewhere within the shadows she heard wings cutting through the air. It was if something was moving in the shadows. This time, she got louder, “Terji!”
 
Still, there was no reply. Eli moved around the rock trying very hard not to attract any attention. It was in that moment that she saw a glimmer of light reflecting off something in the shadows. Drawn to it, like a moth to the flame, Eli cautiously moved towards the glimmering reflection. As she drew closer to the reflection, she saw something in the frozen ground. Eli knew that the metal thing was a helmet. But it was the skull under it that drew her curiosity. The strange creature looked like a fliyer but without wings. As she moved closer to get a better look of this strange creature, a shadow appeared overhead.
 
Before Eli realized it, a large webbed thing fell upon her. She let out a bloodcurdling as she flailed around in the netting. “Help me” she screamed as loud as she could, “PLEASE!” However, just under her terrifying screams, she heard laughter. It was from Terji and Stig. From above her, she saw her two brothers laughing their heads off. It was then that Eli realized that she was tangled in a large net. “You two are jerks!”
 
The two brothers were laughing so hard that they didn’t even realize that Eli and her net were starting to glow. Then without warning the Eli was lifted off the ground. “Please, stop this!”
 
Both Stig and Terji shook their heads as their laughter came to a stop, “that’s not us!” Within seconds the glowing netting vanished and Eli was carefully lowered to the ground.
 
Eli and the two brothers were consumed by wind as a large white flyer landed before them. She was radiant in appearance. True to the legend of Artic Flyers. Her white hair flowed just inches below her shoulders. Her large full wings matched the snow. She wore a two-piece outfit. Her upper torso and arms were covered by what would appear to be the upper part of an elegant golden/silver gown. Just over her hips, started the rest of her gown, as it flowed to her bare feet. The entire outfit left her mid-section bare, but for a crystal band that seemed to grow across her waist. In her hand, she carried a staff with what appeared to be made of a living crystal at the tip of it. She was Maja Glathita, Crown Princess of the Northern Highlands and chosen Protector of the Artic. She was also older Sister to Stig, Terji and Elironda.
 
“MAJA!” Eli said as she rushed over to her sister. “I was so scarred, then I saw it was just two jerks!”
 
Maja kneeled to make sure that her younger sister wasn’t hurt. “Don’t worry my little snowflake” Maja said softly. “You will never be alone. Even among the vast reaches of snow, I will always find you.” Maja slowly rose and glared at the two boys. “You could have broken her wings with your stupid stunt.”
 
Before anyone could say anything, Eli pulled at Maja’s sleeve. “Maja, what is that!”
 
Maja walked with her sister over to the strange skeleton. She moved the metal armor around with her staff to get a better look at it. The two boys move to get a look at the strange discovery. “That, my little snowflake is a human….” She said softly.
 
Stig, the older of the two brothers looked at Maja, “what’s a human?”
 
Maje sighed then lowered her head, “A long time ago, humans like this one invade our lands. They hunted our people and drove up further north to where the lights met the ice.” She turned to the skeleton of the human creature, “but they don’t like the cold. Most of them froze when the winters came. Those that didn’t freeze, fled back south.” She looked up to the boys, “This is the why we patrol the mountains and the great frozen sea. No humans will ever come this far north again, and threaten our homes.” She smiled, “or my little snowflake.”
 
Before she realized it, her vision had ended suddenly. Eli blinked a moment trying to get her bearings before moving. Her head was spinning, and it was in that moment that she realized that it was Arwen’s touch that had ended the vision. She turned to see her little Stoat looking a bit confused. “I am sorry,” Elironda said softly trying to recall if Arwen had actually said something or not.
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08-29-2017, 10:16 PM,
#6
Elironda's Chronicles
BEHOLD! The Cave of Fire
 
‘Holy Crap, they captured Mother…..BASTARDS!’ Elironda thought as she watched the unconscious Gar being lifted with a blade to her neck. Eli eyes narrowed as she glared across at the man holding a blade to Gar. She gritted her teeth as the grip on her bow became much tighter. Even her fear of the flames wasn’t enough to protect that Hobgoblin!
 
Angered, but not stupid, Eli shifted deeper in to the shadows to (Stealth Check: 18) as she watched the horror unfold. “Wonderful,” she whispered under her breath. “Now what,” she added. “I will tell you what!” she answered coldly in a whisper. “That bastard will die!” Her eyes moved across the battle field as she finally added, “I swear it!”
 
Sweet little Arwen, the Stoat, tried to be so brave in moving out on her own. Little did she realize she was heavy outclassed by the enemy. Eli had watched Arwen become petrified with terror when the enemy had called out her position and turned to face her. They unleashed a torrent of arrows at her and other members of the party. But that moment of fear gave way to survival as Arwen rushed for cover. It was that quick thinking that probably saved her life.
 
This was not the kind of place Eli wanted to do battle in. There were patches that one could wage war on, but between them was lava. For Eli, the heat was nearly unbearable but, she did her best to help with her bow. ‘What madman had created such a place,’ she questioned. The battlefield made her feel so useless. That was, until she nailed the Bugbear with a solid arrow to its neck.
 
The feeling of success had been short lived. Eli saw the leader of the hobgobins turn and cure most of the wound. Eli withdrew deeper in to the passageway after she fired her arrow. She had to get away from the heat, as she felt herself getting light headed. After she cooled off, she advanced once more to see that most of the party had moved closer to the enemy. That is, except for Mother Gar!
 
Eli didn’t realize how big bad and stinky ended up in the lava, but she did. Gar was struggling to get out by the time Eli returned to the battlefield. Instead of attacking, Eli moved forward and laid curing hands on Mother Gar. Not like that helped at all! The suicidal brute leaped right back in to the lava again! But if that wasn’t enough, once she had climbed out the hobgoblins pushed her back in.
 
‘What’s wrong with that woman,’ Eli thought as she watched Gar’s flesh slowly being cooked off her body. It was the first time Eli felt sorry for the arrogant woman. ‘Well, not really….’ Eli couldn’t help but find the whole mess self-deserving. Despite the calamity that was Mother-Gar, the party made short work of the Bugbear and the rest of the Hobgoblins. Until finally they were only two. The leader, and one of his lackeys. It was then that the bastard pulled a knife and threatened to take Gar’s life.
 
‘Oh no he didn’t!’ Eli heard herself say.
 
‘Gar was stinky, thick and opinionated,’ Eli thought.
 
Gar was many things, but all that mattered to Eli in this moment was Gar was…Mother Gar and that bastard had just put a knife to her throat. She glanced over to the first hostage and in as deep and serious voice as possible, “That woman risked her life so you can live. Shut your mouth and do nothing to risk her life. Or else I will defy mother and kill you, myself!”
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09-03-2017, 08:43 PM,
#7
Elironda's Chronicles
The Long Open Road
 
Eli sat up in a tree watching the road for possible threats. She pulled her wings in to ensure that her pale flesh wouldn’t betray her position. Her wide, almond-shaped eyes, gazed through the night. Her large vibrantly colored pupils soaked in even the slightest of light. Her ears moved slightly to ensure that no sound missed her attention. The cold wind cut through the tress making a rustling sound.
 
She reached in to her pocket as the thought of leaving this band of idiots behind ran through her mind. Eli pulled her compass out. She saw that the needle spun in circles telling her that this was where she was meant to be. She thrust the compass in to her pocket with anger. She brought her left hand before her face. She knew the cost of disobeying Loki, “Getting your thrills Loki,” she said in Auran with disdain in her voice. “These fools couldn’t possibly complete this quest,” she angrily said then added, “They were defeated by simple lava!”
 
Eli’s full attention wasn’t focused on the road. She was also paying close attention to the party as they cleared the road and prepared to get underway. “We shouldn’t be doing this,” she said watching them getting the wagon ready. “We should be avoiding the King and his minions at all costs. It won’t matter that we completed that weak excuse for a challenge when the truth gets out that we murdered their guards and interfered with another group.”
 
She glanced to the side, “And you shut up! I will get you out of my head as soon as I can.” She paused as if someone was speaking to her. “As if I really wanted you in my head,” she smiled as she added, “At least you can’t take control of my body anymore. There will be no more betraying the party.” Her smile grew larger, “at least not without my consent, first.”
 
She lifted a chunk of black ore. It was the strangest thing she had seen so far. She had watched Kaleb reach for one and recoiled in pain, yet, she wasn’t hurt by holding it. It got her mind thinking, ‘Maybe it is a weapon against those who hold the light within them,’ she thought as she continued to keep a look out. “I have heard the soldiers speaking of this ore. Easy to mine, easy to forge and as strong as steel,” she whispered to herself in Auran.
 
Her attention shifted to Gar and Dimple. Her heart genuinely felt for Dimple. The soft-hearted dimwit had proven himself in battle multiple times yet sadly had the social skills of a rock. Gar was almost the same measure. She knew somewhere in that large husk of a being there was a soft, kind heart. “And” she whispered, “the complete lack of any measure of social skills.” The past few days were completely confusing to Eli. It seemed that something happened to Gar. She appeared overly aggressive.
 
“Is all started with Kaleb,” Eli continued to whisper to herself. “Sweet Kaleb,” then her lips curled in to a smile. She wasn’t paying attention before, but she thought she heard Kaleb suggesting that there was more than enough of him to go around. She cupped her hand over her mouth to conceal her laughter. After a moment of laughing she finally got herself under control. “She is in love with Kaleb!”
 
“How could she possibly hope to win his heart” she whispered. She then added, “Poor brute, she couldn’t possibly know she doesn’t stand a chance.”
 
She shifted her eyes back up and down the road before refocusing them on Gar. “It explains why she forgot about Dimble’s hatred of slavers,” she shook her head feeling pity for the large woman. “How could she have forgotten that Arwen’s family are currently slaves,” Eli added.
 
“This is a fool’s mission, it has no hope of working. Hobgobins cannot be trusted. Elves are their hated enemy and Gar thinks that they will let us walk out of there,” Eli explained as she worked through the details of Gar’s plan. “What could they possible have that we can’t discover by being sneaky.”
 
She thought for a moment then realized that the answer was right in front of her the whole time. “Gar is trying to showboat for Kaleb,” Eli finally concluded. It was the only thing that made sense to Eli. Well, it also could be completely wrong.
 
She glanced at her rock, “But first, I want to get a dagger made.” She moved the rock around wondering what made it so special. “Why do you only hurt them,” she asked looking down at the party. She then realized it was time for some research. She spread her wings and glided down to where the party was. Her eyes fixed on Arwen, “And a bit of payback for the little stoat,” she added in Auran as her feet touched the ground.
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09-13-2017, 06:58 PM,
#8
Elironda's Chronicles
Steps…..
 
The raid on the Foundry was a resounding success. But it almost wasn’t. Despite the plan being rather simple and sound, there were issues before they even started. Gar was adamantly opposed to liberating the slaves let alone Arwen’s mother. In fact, it didn’t go unnoticed by Eli that Gar, a person that Arwen considered as close as a sister, failed to even tell Arwen about the possibility that her mother was enslaved at the Foundry. An omission that deeply bothered the winged elf, and cast doubt on Gar’s loyalties.
 
Gar was deadest in her desire to go and see the King. Gar was excited that she could claim that she completed those stupid Hobgoblin trials. Eli found the assertion laughable. Gar hadn’t really completed anything regarding the trials. It was Kaleb who had figured out the first trial. It was Farrali who had successfully saved Gar and her Hobgoblin ward from a trap that Gar had stumbled in to. Then came the battle with the other Hobgoblin. It was Arwen, Kaleb and Farrali who deserve the clear majority of the credit that victory. One fact that bothered Eli was that Gar was more of a hindrance to the party than an asset.
 
At the end of the battle, the Hobgoblin’s took her hostage and nearly forced the party to surrender. If not for the timely arrival of Dimple, Gar might have been killed or the party would have been captured. It was after that battle that Gar took on her second ward. Then came the final challenge, a large chamber with a low ceiling. Once more it was Farrali who discovered the key to this challenge. It was only during opening challenge that Gar was even remotely helpfully, but she shared that with Dimple and the rest of the party.
 
While Eli find this whole challenge business silly, it was beneficial to the party as a whole. Eli had hoped that those lessons would have been picked up on by the unofficial leader of the party. Sadly, the Foundry proved that hope to be in vain. Gar not only missed an opportunity to do something for Arwen, she missed an opportunity to lead the party. It was a valuable weakness that the Cave of Fire had exposed. The Foundry was meant to be something that could unify the party on a common goal.
 
Gar refused to join the raid, even when Kaleb had. But the real disappointment came when they returned from the raid. Eli made no effort to hide the fact that her intention was to free all the slaves. The fact that Arwen’s mother was there made that effort much more reachable. Yet Gar was steadfast opposed to it. Something that Eli couldn’t understand. It was Arwen’s mother and yet Gar simply turned her back on it. Eli had thought, hoped that once they were successful that Gar would see the potential.
 
Farrali Kaleb and Arwen led eighty slaves, five wagons and twelve horses back to the party campsite. There was a great sense of pride within the party. It was well earned pride for taking on a much stronger opponent and besting them. As the party walked up to Gar, any hope that this would be a happy reunion was dashed. Gar was angered over the arrival of the freed slaves. Eli expected the hothead to be anger at her, but Gar’s reaction to Arwen left Eli near speechless. Watching Gar leave the party with her two Hobgoblins appeared to be a painful blow to Arwen and Kaleb.
 
All of this left one question, where to go from here….
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