Journey of the blade Part. 1

I had my daggers in my hands ready for a fight, most of the elves that surrounded us seemed to be more of a fighting type, they didn't have any arrows on them but I didn't want to take any chances. One of them had two elegantly made elven swords in his hands, he said something I didn't understand in elvish, Kara looked over at me and said, "He said that we're the first to ever get this far and that they'll make sure we're the last." As fast as the wind itself the elf who spoke came barreling towards us as he waved his swords in a fluid motion, slicing the air as he came closer and closer, I managed to block two of his blows as we stood and struggled for superiority to strike again, I watched as two arrows enter his neck. "You're welcome." Said Kara continuing to fire arrows at the others, "I mean I had him but, nevermind." I ran up behind one of the elves that weren't paying attention, I managed to dig my dagger deep in his back, Oloric took the opportunity to drive his sword through his skull. For a moment, with the combined effort of melee and magic, it seemed we had them on the ropes, I then felt a sharp, stinging pain in my thigh, "Son of a...Kara!" "That wasn't me!" I ripped out the arrow and looked into the trees, another arrow whizzed through the air and managed to catch itself into my shoulder.

Someone was in the trees firing these arrows, "Behind the cart GO!" I shouted another two arrows imbedded themselves in my back, though still in pain, I ran behind the cart with the others, Oloric was having the time of his life fighting multiple enemies, I watched him cut off one of their legs and drive his sword into their chest as they laid there writing in pain. "Come on you knife-eared pricks! Give me a challenge!" He yelled as I was getting the arrows that buried themselves into my body taken out, then from a thick area of the forest came an elf that stood six to eight feet tall, the muscles on his body were the size of mountains, in each hand, he held two large elegantly made great axes, with one powerful swing a man could be cleaved in half in an instant. Oloric fought off all the other elves as Kara kept firing arrows, Willow conjured a ball of fire in her hand then she closed it into a fist, and from that same hand three bolts of fire shot into the larger one, they managed to stagger him and even cause him to stumble backward, however, just taking the damage he turned in our direction and came charging t us like an angry bull, Kara fired arrows as fast as she possibly could, he just took them all as if they were a common beesting. Atlan moved in front of us and fired another eldritch blast, knocking him back a few short feet, as he got back up we noticed there were a few areas in his armor that were broken up and open. Oloric must have noticed this since this elf was charging at us again he buried his sword deep in his side where a large opening in the armor was. Though with difficulty Oloric began to climb this gargantuan elf, and when he reached the top Oloric took out his axe and started to chop at this elf's neck like a tree trunk." The gruesome scene ended as he held the head of his fallen foe for all to see, "we ever work together again, remind me to never piss off Oloric."

There weren't many left and Kara handed me one of the last healing potions we had, however, that wasn't the last of our problems. When we finished off the other elves that came to attack us the arrows from earlier had seemed to stop, the rest of us figured it was over and we could move on both quickly and quietly out of the forest. Yet, Silaqui and Kara still had their weapons ready to go in case something happened. As the others got into the cart and prepared to get going, a rustle came from the tops of the most nearby trees, the others figured it was birds, yet I could almost see something moving, it was way too fast to be sure but I could tell there was something that wasn't birds in those trees. I got off my horse and stood with Kara and Silaqui, "What do you think it is?" I asked, "Don't know, I can barely see it." Within the branches of the trees, something was moving. It wasn't birds.

Out of nowhere, a female elf leaped out of her hiding spot, two arrows nocked in her bow. As she let them loose they buried themselves in Silaqui's shoulder and Kara's collarbone, the elf woman landed and threw away her bow in favor of two elegant and beautifully made swords, they looked as beautiful as well as deadly, which would eventually be proven as fast as a strike of lightning she was already striking distance and I didn't even see her move. The next thing I knew, one arm, sword in hand, sliced the air and a great stinging pain went across my face, I barely had any time to react as a similar pain ran across my left eye.

I let out a scream, the pain stung and hurt with such intensity. I fell to the floor covering my face, the blood obscured my vision and I couldn't think of anything else other than the pain. The elf woman stood over me nonchalantly, she sheathed one of her swords and held the other with both hands ready to strike the final blow without me even knowing, I was saved at tithe last moment however by Silaqui. She tackled the elf woman to the ground and laned a few good blows as she lied on the ground. She picked me up and threw me into the back of the cart with the others and we rode off.

We spent a few good hours running and trying to find a decent place to rest if only for a short while, perhaps an hour or so. During that time, Willow cast a cure wounds spell on the area where the elf woman had struck with her swords. "How bad is it?" I asked after she had finished her spell, "Well, they make for some pretty impressive scars, and she didn't get too deep otherwise you'd need an eyepatch, other than that you'll be fine." Kara, having finished a healing potion handed me a small mirror, the aforementioned scars didn't look too bad, and if anything made me look a little more, for lack of a better term, experienced, both were straight lines that made a small cross on my left cheek. One went horizontally left cheek to right cheek and across my nose, the other one was vertical and went from the top of my eyebrow and down meeting the first part of the scar and ending making a very small cross. It still stung a bit when I touched it, so I left it alone and waited, dagger in hand if any more red elves came back.

We stopped at what seemed o be the edge of the forest, we could see Poppytown village just a little ways away. The problem was that there was a fallen tree in our way, it wasn't massive in size, it seemed like a simple ash tree that might have fallen more than a few years ago, it would take the combined effort of all the tall folk to get the cart over the tree, the others had to keep an eye out whilst we did it. It took about half an hour but we managed to get the cart over, and there hadn't been any sightings of the red elves. We all tied the horses back onto the cart when Silaqui came up to me, "Listen Crowfeather, when this is all over, well I just wanted to tell you, thank you." "Why thank me? I haven't done much, we've only known each other for what? Two? Three days max? Maybe more?" She simply smiled, "I wanted to thank you for your advice. I'm planning to visit my brother in Greyfort once this is all over. Give him these old letters I didn't send him. Finally, get a chance to have a conversation with him." I smiled, "Let's get to Poppytown first." "Yeah, let's get you all ho-" She couldn't finish her sentence as an arrow penetrated the back of her neck and came back out the other side t an angle, "Silaqui!!" I shouted. Oloric shielded us as more arrows were being shot at us. "Stay with me! Don't you die on me!" I tried to take out the arrow, but panic and fear came over my body, I had just made friends with this person and now they might die in my arms.

I began to breathe heavily racking my brain for a solution, then I heard a voice, silent and somehow forced, say my name. I look down and I see Silaqui trying her hardest to speak. She handed me a small pile of letters, "No. No, I can't take these, Silaqui you have to be the one to take them." I could see tears streaming down her eyes, yet I could also see the determination and bravery she had behind them, she knew she didn't have much time, and even trying to save her would cause the deaths of the others. She took her sword and handed it over to me. I could make out the word "go" escaping her lips, "Lad! We need to leave! Now!" I ran back to the cart with Oloric and we rode off, I looked back, it was the last I'd ever see of Silaqui. She deserved a better death.

We could see Poppytown edging closer and closer, we could escape this nightmare, "We're almost there!" Shouted Atlan, "Yeah! We're almost- Shane look out!" Willow shouted, I turned to see what might have been the same elf woman from earlier pounce out of the woods and tackled me to the ground. It was a decent wrestling match for sure, but it didn't last long as we began to roll downhill, fast. We hit rocks, large bumps on the hill, and various other things on the way down yet neither one of us let go. She managed to get on top of me once we hit solid ground again, she put a hand on my chest to keep me down and pulled out a dagger, She said something in elvish I didn't understand at the time, thinking this was the end I prepared to enter the platinum gates once again, however, nothing happened. I looked up as the elf woman wasn't even looking at me anymore. I arched my head upwards to at least catch a glimpse at who or what she was seeing. As it turned out, not only did the others manage to get out, our tumble got both me and this elf woman out of the forest as well.

She quickly got off of me and ran to the woods where many of her allies were, an arrow was fired at her feet keeping her away, a torch was lit providing some light. I saw a familiar face among the other elves. It was the elder elf who warned me not to return all those days ago, Kara ran over to pick me up and drag me back to my horse but I stopped her. "Wait," I said. The elder had a sad look on his face, "You can translate right?" I asked Kara, "I can, it's still elvish, just a different dialect." I watched as the elder sadly and shakily told the elven woman something, "He says, forgive me daughter, but I do not have the strength to grant you this death." Kara said, the elven woman removed her mask, and I finally got a better look at her, she was...gorgeous. I had never really seen an elven woman so beautiful, her hazel blue eyes were incredibly mesmerizing, yet familiar. I couldn't let her beauty distract me at the moment, however.

This elven woman, on the verge of tears, responded to her father, Kara translated, "She says, this is our way father, I have made a mistake and must pay the price, I have failed to kill the trespassers and have gone outside the border. You must grant me my death. I have dishonored you." The elder shook his head, "he says, though this is our way, I can not bear to have my youngest daughter killed. Go. Leave and never return. It is the most I can do." The daughter dropped to her knees and sobbed loudly, we decided it better to leave.

When we finally reached Poppytown the others and I resupplied, however, I wasn't resupplying to go home, I was resupplying to go to Greyfort. "But Why Greyfort," Willow asked, "Don't you want to go back home?" "I do. I want to go back home with everything I have and sleep until I'm old and grey, but I have a job to do." The others looked at one another, "Well laddie, we wish you the best of luck." "Thank you. May the Allfathers guide you home safely." with that I rode off towards Greyfort. Who knows When I'd see them again.