OOC: First off, thank you to everyone who was able to attend this event! I was so happy to get to know so many new people today, and I hope we get to know each other more! Here are a few screens of how the event went (I forgot to take Screen shots part way through so I’m missing a good portion of the event and some people who were there (sorry!) ).

Semi-IC:
I arrived several minutes early in order to prepare for the coming festivities. First off was a little bit of swimming to calm the nerves.

After that I anxiously awaited the first arrival and the coming of the sunrise.

His name was Hrasvelg, a rambunctious dwarf with a lot of energy, and a fine drinker as well! (( An excellent role-player as well I might add. ))

The party went marvelously. Hrasvelg brought us some tunes on his bagpipes, Mymir played some excellent tunes on his lute, as did Sarathena! It was an excellent party and toasts and well-wishes of good health were presented many times! Many of my own Kinship, Amarthel, were present for the festivities!

Hrasvelg even brought us a poem from his ancestors, while Sarathena played an ancient tune on her lute.

After most of the guests had left, my friend Keldaras and I talked about love, and females. (( Let’s just say some very interesting and unexpected things happened during the party for Lelth’s character. ))

Wouldn’t you know it, just when I thought the party was dead and done, more people showed up! Khimli a dwarven Kinsman of Hrasvelg, and three members of the Kinship Gweth Valacirca: Jikan, Bharathir, and Fionnuala. They were marvelous musicians, and Khimli drank more than anyone, perhaps even me, from the time the party started until it’s end!

The sunrise had hit and the air was becoming crisp with morning. I had been drinking and making merriment all day and all night.

Khimli had said his good-byes, and the musicians from Gweth Valacirca played me a final parting tune to ready my eyes for sleep. I must say, they truly are fantastic musicians! I hope to hear one of their famed concerts soon!

Their tune worked well I suppose, because I didn’t even make it to bed before I fell fast asleep.

OOC: Beer and Ale Connoisseurs RP event. Please come in character only and feel free to bring your own favorite brew! Saturday, July 18, 4pm EST. Landroval Server, Falathlorn Homesteads, neighborhood Ael-E-Gilith, number 4 Waterbank Road.

EDIT:   Anyone who would like to come but find that the event starts too early, I’m not sure how long it will last so if you want to shoot me a tell at any time, I plan on being there at least for a couple of hours.

Consider it a come-and-go event, like an open-house if you will.

IC:
Lelthiolin trudged along up to the nearby cooking oven in Michel Delving. He had spent most of the day out in the fields, and dried dirt was caked between his fingernails. Lelthiolin found that he was quite fond of plants, tending to their every need, providing water and nutrition, he felt in many ways that he was quite akin to the plants that he took care of so tenderly. When his ‘friends,’ as he sometimes whispered to himself, yielded their crop he was almost disheartened to take it as if it were his to take from the plants. But he knew that it was truly their way of thanking him for providing them such good care.

When Lelthiolin neared the oven, he dropped his satchel to the ground and rummaged through it. After a few frustrated moments of rummaging through the over-filled satchel Lelthiolin pulled his hand out and held, up in the air, a piece of paper as though he had just defeated a nemesis. Lelthiolin studied the recipe carefully, it had been given to him by a dwarf by the name of Durmli, and although the dwarf hadn’t fully explained what the recipe would create, he had chuckled mightily at Lelthiolin’s uneasy look at cooking something without knowing the effect of the meal.

It was clear, after a few moments study, that this was not a meal and in fact, it was a drink, perhaps. Something seemed a little peculiar to Lelthiolin about this recipe, and being at the young age of 21, he wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. But, his adventurous side won out, and he set to work. First, he prepared the spring barley mixing it with water until it appeared to be a mash of some sort. Setting that bowl to the side, he pulled some hops out of his satchel and began to chop it and soak it water. Carefully, he poured both mixtures into a large container, and mixed them together. Finally, he added the last ingredient, and what seemed to him to be the most curious of all, the yeast.

When all was mixed properly, he cooked the container over the stove for several minutes, when it began to steam and boil, he pulled it off the heat, clamped a lid on it, and set it to the side. Lelthiolin looked out to the sky as the sun was setting and figured he had better get to an inn and find a nice bed to sleep in tonight. His body, especially his arms and back, would need to recover from the day spent in the fields.

* * * * *

It had been any easy night to sleep for Lelthiolin, when he had climbed into the bed at the inn he fell asleep instantly. Morning seemed to come early, as the innkeeper knocked on Lelthiolin’s door as he had requested. But, Lelthiolin was eager to see what had become of his concoction last night.

After dressing and packing all of his belongings for the day’s journey, Lelthiolin walked back out into the main room at the inn. Taking a seat at one of the tables, Lelthiolin pulled out the drink that he had made the night before. Carefully, he removed the lid, and took a whiff of the fragrance coming out of the container. It wasn’t like anything that he had created before, and the smell of it almost knocked him over. Not allowing himself to be bested by his own creation, however, he lifted the canister to his lips and took a sip. The sensation was startling and at first he wanted to gag, but as the liquid sat on his tongue, he found that he was quickly growing accustomed to it.

Lelthiolin allowed himself to swallow and this time, it was not a sip that he took, but a full-fledged swig. His held it in his mouth for a moment, enjoying the aromas emanating through his nostrils and filling his taste-buds. He tried to dissect the flavors, the yeast, the hops, and the barley. Lelthiolin found himself quite pleased with himself, and after about twenty minutes of continual tasting, he found his head began to swirl.

Lelthiolin’s eyes blinked, though sometimes he felt as though they closed for eternity, and his head continued to spin, and yet, somehow, he didn’t care.

‘What a marvelous creation,’ Lelthiolin thought to himself as he sat there and continued to sip, swig, and slosh the mixture into his mouth, again and again, until the container was nearly empty. The innkeeper took note of Lelthiolin’s swooning and when, at last, Lelthiolin nearly fell out of his chair, the innkeeper came over to Lelthiolin to brace him and help him back to the room he had occupied earlier.

“Never tasted a fresh brew have you kid?!” the innkeeper laughed heartily at Lelthiolin’s expense, not that Lelthiolin was truly aware enough to know the difference. “Come on lad, let’s get you into bed, this one’s on me.” Shaking his head as he looked back at the swooning elf, the innkeeper closed the door and promised to himself to keep a close eye on the young elf.

* * * * *

The next day came with a resounding pound in his head, and despite the obvious connection between the drink and the headache, Lelthiolin couldn’t rid himself of the love of the flavors that he had swirled across his pallet again and again. But, since the container was now empty, Lelthiolin decided he had better not waste two days in a row in indulgence.

Lelthiolin pulled himself from the bed and made his way to the main room at the inn. The innkeeper saw him immediately and could tell that the young elf was still feeling the effects of yesterday’s event.

“Here, come, come,” the innkeeper beckoned to Lelthiolin, “come sit down on this stool and drink some water my lad.”

Lelthiolin wasn’t sure how he felt about being patronized this way, but he appreciated the innkeeper’s help and wasn’t about to shrug him off now. Lelthoilin sat down at the bar and took a large gulp of water. Immediately, the water refreshed him greatly, though the headache remained in the form of a continuous dull thud.

“You’ve never had beer before have you?” the innkeeper questioned.

Lelthiolin’s eyes widened immediately in recognition, of course it was beer! And no, Lelthiolin hadn’t had beer before, when he was growing up, Adridar (Lelthiolin’s father) had continually reminded Lelthiolin of the ill effects of alcohol and the way it rendered one unable to defend him or herself. But Lelthiolin ignored those warnings as he heard them again in his mind’s ear. The flavors and aroma’s he had experienced were too delicious to push aside now.

“No I haven’t,” Lelthiolin began, answering the innkeeper’s question, “though, I must say, it was quite a marvelous experience.”

At this the innkeeper laughed loudly, “Marvelous indeed!” he huffed. “I think you should take it easy with it next time, you can get the same effect with much less!”

Lelthiolin appeared not to understand at first, but then recognized what the innkeeper was referring to. “Oh! You mean the head spinning? Well, I didn’t much care for that, I don’t think, it was the aroma’s and the flavors that kept me going at it! They were so intoxicating, if you’ll pardon the pun, I enjoyed dissecting each flavor of the concoction, it was invigorating!”

“Ahh, I see, I misjudged you lad, I’m sorry.” the innkeeper offered apologetically. “You’re one of those, what do they call them, Connoisseurs, I think.”

‘Connoisseur’ Lelthiolin rolled the word around in his mind, he liked the sound of it. After a few moments, the innkeeper was taken away to tend to some new guests who were ordering food and asking about lodging. Lelthiolin decided it was time to excuse himself, giving a thankful wave to the innkeeper as he left.

‘Connoisseur’ Lelthiolin thought to himself as he worked his way down the street. Then, suddenly an idea came to him, and without a taking a moment longer to think about it he rushed off to the Town Crier.

* * * * *

Lelthiolin had gone to the criers of Michel Delving, Bree, and Thorin’s Hall, leaving this message.

“Beer and Ale Connoisseurs! Lelthiolin Anen of Lindon, and of the Kinship Amarthel, invites you to his home at Falathlorn Homesteads, neighborhood Ael-E-Gilith, number 4 Waterbank Road, for festivities involving the tasting and enjoying of beer and ale.

Come to enjoy the company, conversation, and plenty of beer and ale! Bring your favorite brew to share with others, and come with your taste buds ready to taste the favored drinks of all who attend! If you plan to stay late, please bring your pipes and pipe-weed for some evening relaxation.”

I would like to give special thanks to Sairalis for co-writing this with me.  For those of you who enjoy her character, and writing additions, you can look forward to at least one more chapter with her!

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An elf maiden, of porcelain flesh and darkly tinted grey hair tied back into braids, stood resting by the horse stables just across the way from the Inn after a lengthy travel from the town of Bree. Dressed in her usual battle armour of dark grey and burgundy, a bow slung over her shoulder and two extremely sharp axes hanging from her sides; she has her bow-arm at the ready in this Orc and Goblin forsaken lone-land.

Just west of the stables, she took note of a cloud of dried dirt, swirling behind the heels of a group heading into Minas Eriol. She wrinkled her nose and squinted her eyes, knowing she already has a deep dislike for the area, but was intrigued by what could be causing such a large dust cloud. Focusing her huntress skills, she leered toward the area, sensing that something was not quite as it should be. Goblins. A pack of them. Normally, goblins were generally harmless as long as they were going and not coming, but this group appeared too organized for her liking. Two things in particular caught her attention; first, goblins often do not come down from the mountain except to raid human caravans, or act as scouts. This group was clearly not a scouting venture, so she assumed the former to be true, and deciphered that this group was clearly up to no good. The second thing she noted about this band of goblins was something that even many elves would have been hard-pressed to note. Being a trained hunter and her profession, along with her racial enhancement allowed her to see a single figure that didn’t fit the rest of the group.

‘Elven or mortal’, she suspected to herself as her brow furrowed, as her gaze narrowed dangerously.

She resolved herself to find out the nature of the arrangement between the taller figure and the goblins and with great speed, but enough cunning not to be noticed, she rounded her way towards the suspicious group. Making a wide cut out in front of the slow-moving pack, she found a large bush to conceal her position as she waited for the goblins to pass by. From her vantage point she could easily see the young elven form trudging along. His eyes were closed and hands were tied behind his back. Frowning to herself silently as to not offer the goblins yet another captive, she sat still, angered by the taking of what appeared to be an unarmed elf. Simmering in her personal hatred for the goblins, she watched helplessly as the elf struggled to maintain his footing as they continued up the paths of the mountain side. However, and not to any great surprise, it wasn’t long before the elf collapsed, likely to exhaustion and dehydration.

* * * * *

Lelthiolin blinked his eyes open, before he had lost consciousness earlier, he assumed that his death was imminent, but the pain that remained in his entire body told him that he had certainly not entered into an afterlife. It took all of his energy to lift his head and look around; he had to gain some semblance of his surroundings if he hoped to survive this encounter. Lelthiolin saw a campfire with two goblins seated around it, gnawing on something, though he couldn’t quite tell what it was. His gaze drifted upward and he noted that he was still in a canyon, and although daylight still shown in the sky, the sun had long-since dropped behind the canyon walls. Lelthiolin desired greatly to brush his dirty hair out of his face, but as he made a move to do so, he found his hands still bonded behind his back, and to his great disappointment, he felt his feet chained together and to something he couldn’t lift his head to view.

Lelthiolin’s movements didn’t go unnoticed for long, and when one of the goblins rose from the campfire to walk into a nearby cave Lelthiolin began to try to mentally prepare himself for whatever might come back out.

* * * * *

The elf maiden had followed the goblins since late afternoon until early evening, since the untimely fainting of the captive elf she had been forced to stall her rescue attempt. She now waited behind a low outcropping of a boulder that stood as the nearest ‘safe’ hideout to the goblin campsite. Annoyed with herself for being too curious, yet anxious to not let the goblins have their way with the poor elf; she sat in the darkness of the late dusky sky quietly thanking her tailor for the re-colouring of her armour. Eyeing the direction in which the small band was heading, she made notes to herself as to what checkpoints she might be able to hit to remain hidden from the wandering eyes of the goblins above.

Upon their arrival to the campsite, the goblins had chained the captive elf to a sturdy cage. ‘This must be a frequent stop for the goblins’ the elf maiden grimaced to herself; in the cage to which the captive elf was chained lay a decayed corpse.

She noted that the elf was clearly dehydrated and would need fluids before she could even hope for him to rise with her to escape. Thankfully she had a flask of water strung to the bottom of her quiver, in case of unforeseen circumstances much like this one. She then waited patiently, a trait for which hunters are best known, for the crowd of goblins to disperse before attempting any form of aid, goblins were known to have a very short attention span, thus waiting them out should be an easy task, she reasoned to herself.

Most of the goblin troupe made their way into a nearby cave from the goblin camp, leaving only two goblins left sitting around the campfire. It wasn’t long after, when the elf maiden noted the movement of the elven form lying on the ground, and when one of the goblins got up and headed towards the cave, she knew that her opportunity was at hand. As she made her way to the elf still chained to the cage, she noted with great satisfaction, that the other goblin was standing at attention, facing the cave; his back to her. With even more confidence, she made her way to the prisoner and unhooked a soft leather flask from her quiver.

Speaking in Sindarin, she lifted the bottle to the man’s lips and whispered to him in her usual soft, nurturing and flowing voice, “I am Sairalis of Amarthel, please sip this water; you’ll need your strength back if we’re to get out of here unscathed.”

* * * * *

Lelthiolin was startled to say the least, but he accepted the water greedily drinking in gulps until it was dry. A moment later the elven woman was gone, and leading the way from the cave came the familiar gawky-looking goblin.

“Ah! Yooz awakez!” the goblin’s dialect was painful for Lelthiolin to listen to, but part of him was pleased to know that he might gain some information about the goblin’s intentions.

The water had helped Lelthiolin tremendously, and he found himself able to swing his body, though somewhat clumsily, into a sitting position. Lelthiolin glared furiously at his goblin captors, but this only lead the gawky-leader to erupt into laughter.

“Yooz strong for elfz, mez think yooz be making good slave to zee masterz. Yooz like?”

Lelthiolin wasn’t sure exactly what the goblin was talking about, but he was sure he didn’t ‘like’, deciding on a more tactical course, however, Lelthiolin responded, “Who is your master?”

For some reason the goblin laughed as though this was the funniest question he had ever heard, “Yooz don’t know?” again the goblin laughed furiously. “Yooz be finding out, yooz like him, hez like yooz.”

It was clear that the goblin’s command of the common tongue left something to be desired, and Lelthiolin couldn’t truly decipher the goblin’s cryptic message. Lelthiolin sat quietly for a moment, contemplating his situation, it was night-time and the goblins had clearly chosen this spot to rest through the night; Lelthiolin also had reason to believe that he had an ally somewhere nearby, and knew that the more time she had to plan her rescue the better…

“Yooz best not be thinkin’ tooz hard,” the goblin interrupted Lelthiolin’s thoughts with a scornful glare.

“Sleep,” Lelthiolin replied quickly, attempting to mask his thoughts as fatigue. This seemed to appease the gawky goblin, and with a few barking orders in goblinoid the campsite scene returned as it was, with two goblins sitting at the campfire, and the rest back inside the cave.

Lelthiolin lay still with his eye closed, though his ears were very much awake, listening for the sound of his hidden ally.

* * * * *

Sairalis, sat quietly, considering the different, more aggressive and swift rescue options. Really, there was only one. Kill the guards and snag the elf. They were easy marks and if pierced fatally, the kill would be silent and swift. Sairalis nodded to herself in self confirmation and reassurance to her plan. Rising from the dampness of the ground, Sairalis made her way to the brink of the rise on the hill and dropped down into a steadied crouch. Focusing herself, she strung back a barbed arrow, and then released it, hoping that the elf would take the quiet invasion as an attempt to rescue him and be at the ready. It struck the first goblin with force right in his temple, dropping him quietly to the ground. To Sairalis’ surprise, the other goblin either didn’t notice his fallen companion or simply assumed he had fallen asleep. Not risking her good fortune, she took advantage of goblin stupidity and quickly strung back her next barbed arrow to meet the other guard straight through his neck, blood coating a patch of dirt nearby.

* * * * *

Lelthiolin’s eyes widened when he saw the first arrow fell one of the goblins sitting at the campfire, and to his surprise the other goblin didn’t even seem to notice. Another arrow quickly solved any problem of suspicious action as the other goblin was dispatched by its deadly shot. Lelthiolin remembered his saviors name and whispered it to himself with admiration in his eyes, ‘Sairalis.’

It wasn’t long until Lelthiolin felt his hands break from the bonds that had tied them behind his back. As he glanced up at Sairalis, now working on the shackles that bound his feet to the cage, he couldn’t help but smile an unspoken thank you. He certainly wasn’t sure of her intentions or why she had found herself so compelled to come to his rescue, but Lelthiolin was indebtedly grateful.

Sairalis had briefly looked up to meet his face, a smile brimming amongst the pain he’d felt by the closures. She offered a low bow of her head in acknowledgement, yet still maintained a stern image of grace. Within a few moments Sairalis had managed to release the clumsy shackles grip on Lelthiolin’s ankles and he stood up, stretching as he went. Lelthiolin’s eyes darted around searching for his weapons that had been taken from him.

Sairalis sensed his efforts and quickly unhinged her two axes, offering them both to him.

“Take these, and and follow me, I’ll need you to keep anything that comes our way occupied, while I use my bow.” She explained in Sindarin. With that, she tapped his arm and signaled to head south from their position with a slight nod of her head.

Lelthiolin was still reluctant to leave without his trusted blades but Sairalis had begun to move down the lip of the hill.

“Come on then!” Sairalis expressed in a sharp whisper in her native tongue.

The call pulled Lelthiolin down the hillside; still feeling exposed without his own weapons, though the two axes helped, he understood the urgency that was required to make a clean escape out of the wretched place.

* * * * *

Sairalis and Lelthiolin didn’t share words as they made their way down through the mountains, but Lelthiolin found that he liked his new-found ally. The way she moved down through the canyon, effortlessly and more silently than Lelthiolin could ever dream of being left him calm, though perhaps a bit awestruck. Lelthiolin had never cared much for traveling with, or fighting with others, typically preferring to be alone and left to his own tactics of survival, but he found himself trusting Sairalis, her every move reassuring him that he was safe and secure with her.

Sairalis lead them down through dangerous shortcuts with short drops off ledges and leaps across boulders that were several feet apart. Lelthiolin couldn’t help but feel, at times, as though he were being tested. She would occasionally look back at him, appearing to study his movements as he attempted to replicate the maneuvers she had just performed. Lelthiolin certainly had much to think about in the coming days.

With the added shortcuts, and swiftness of their pace, the trek down from the mountains took considerably less time than the trek up the mountain. Nevertheless, Lelthiolin could see the sun begin to peak on the horizon when they finally emerged from the canyon. Breathing heavily, Lelthiolin found himself slowing to a leisurely walk as he saw a small building up ahead.

“We will make a stop at the Forsaken Inn so that you can recover from your injuries and get some rest,” Sairalis announced, giving him a brief look, appearing to Lelthiolin to have read his thoughts.

As they neared the Inn, Lelthiolin decided that the Inn got its name from its location and not from those who ran or offered patronage to it. Several humans seemed to know Sairalis as they called her by name and waved in greeting to her, and again Lelthiolin felt a sense of calm and trust near this mysterious elven woman.

Sairalis walked over to the keep of the Inn, and spoke in Common for the first time since being in the other elf’s company. She’d inquired of a private room where she could see to Lelthiolins’ wounds and guard the room herself while he rested.

* * * * *

Sairalis had promised to talk with Lelthiolin later, but he had so many questions as he lay down on the bed in the room at the Inn. He truly was exhausted from the previous day’s events, and it wasn’t long before he drifted off into sleep.

‘Two more down, two more to go,’ Lelthiolin thought to himself as he dispatched the goblins in front of him. His lack of regard for his own personal safety had often gotten him battered and bruised and left him with many scars on his forearms and chest, but that same lack of regard also brought down his foes with a few deadly swipes from his blades.

It was a familiar scene, if anyone were watching; Lelthiolin had stealthily made his way towards a goblin campsite and before the goblins had an inkling of what was happening they had all be knocked to the ground by a wide swipe of Lelthiolin’s sword, only to recover into the jab of a dagger. It was quite a feat, but goblins were easily startled and also easy targets for such tactics and so it was not quite as spectacular as it appeared.

Fully enraged now, Lelthiolin’s eyes gleamed with laughter, there were few things he enjoyed more than slaughtering goblins, and since his arrival in Ered Luin he had found that there were plenty of goblins ready to receive such a fate. Both goblins that faced him now, glanced at each other quickly and with one desperate charge launched themselves at Lelthiolin. Sidestepping them without any difficulty Lelthiolin began to laugh almost to hard for his own good, but as the goblins turned around to face their fanatical opponent, they were met in the face a whirlwind of an attack slicing them both, leaving unrecoverable mortal wounds across their face.

Lelthiolin breathed hard, though he enjoyed these ‘games’ with the goblins of Ered Luin, he always left each battle a twinge of weariness that sought to undermine his determined efforts. The toned muscles of the elf from Falathlorn flexed hard as Lelthiolin stretched his arms high into the air holding both weapons firmly, before sheathing them at his side.

The sun had already begun to make its way down towards the horizon, and darkness gave extra strength to the evil hearts of goblins, and while Lelthiolin loved to gaze into the night sky, he found that fighting into the darkness of night brought added weariness to his usual prowess. Lelthiolin glanced down at the goblin corpses, and finding the site of them repulsive, he declined to search their remains for loose coin and instead, opted to search the tents of the campsite instead. Crawling on all fours to fit inside the small goblin tents, Lelthiolin found a couple of ragged cloaks and a rusty weapon or two. Figuring he could sell them in Duillond, he stashed them in one of his packs.

Lelthiolin heard voices, he couldn’t understand the words, though, since they were spoken in a language he did not know, but he could clearly tell that the dialect was goblinoid. Lelthiolin moved further into the cramped tent and attempted to turn around to peer out the entry.

Lelthiolin wasn’t afraid of goblins, but he preferred to engage them when he knew what he was facing. There were four goblins in view, and one, dressed in a rather gawky fashion, was doing most of the speaking. Two goblins stood beside the one who Lelthiolin had surmised to be their leader, the one dressed in such a ridiculous fashion, and a third goblin searched the goblins that had been recently felled.

Lelthiolin wasn’t quite sure what to do, he felt confident that he could take these four by surprise and probably kill the one searching the corpses with a few deft strikes from his sword. But there was something eerie about the scene before him. He recognized tribal markings of the goblin searching the corpses, but the other three had markings quite different, on the face of the leader was a white hand, and on the shields of the two guards were similar white hands. Lelthiolin had not seen such markings in Ered Luin, and he wondered where these goblins had come from. Feeling confident in his ability to remain victorious if a battle were to become inevitable, Lelthiolin resolved himself to find out what these white hand goblins were about.

The gawky-dressed goblin barked a few more order, this time not in the direction of the goblin that had searched the corpses. For the first time, since his adventures as a trained champion, Lelthiolin felt fear. He realized that he had misjudged the goblins in front of him, and when three more goblins appeared before their leader, Lelthiolin realized that his odds were not quite so great. However, having no other course, Lelthiolin remained quietly hidden.

The goblin leader continued to bark orders and when the three goblins who had only moments before been out of sight, moved out of sight again, Lelthiolin breathed a sigh of relief. This encounter had come to its end, Lelthiolin decided quickly, and as he moved to cut the back side of the tent open with his dagger, he heard many more goblin voices coming up to the campsite.

The campsite was on a hill, and behind the tents, one of which Lelthiolin still remained in, his only escape route was cut off by the drop of a deadly cliff. While the open side of the hill led sloping downward to the vale below, this was where the incoming goblins found their stay. The sun had now dropped completely behind the horizon and aside from a few torches carried by the incoming goblins, the site was darkened. This didn’t last long however, and when there appeared to be no more room on the hilltop for more goblins, the troupe did find its end and the crowded hillside was noisy with goblin laughter and mock moves to challenge one another in duels.

Several goblins had taken up the job of loading the wood that had been carried with them onto a central location and when they lit it with their torches, the fire roared high with the ample amount of wood placed on the fire-site. Lelthiolin heard some rustling to his left and a few moments later the sight of the other tent being waded up and thrown onto the fire made Lelthiolin’s stomach drop.

His fears became reality when a few moments later, he watched as goblin boots approached his hiding place. Lelthiolin drew both blades, determined to take as many goblins as he could before they took him down, and with a great lunge, he ran the approaching goblins through the bellies. The look of shock and horror on their face gave Lelthiolin great delight, and for a moment, his situation didn’t seem so bleak.

The roar of laughter turned quickly into a roar of anger as the entire goblin camp erupted into a chaotic scramble to unsheathe their weapons and for some, to find their weapons. Lelthiolin didn’t wait for the goblins to ready themselves for his deadly blades, and he was already on several who were bending over to find their weapons. Lelthiolin sliced each of them along their throat aiming only to cut off their oxygen and allowing them to die a slow suffocating death; this move left them unable to find their weapons and to lash out with any last bit of air they might have. But fortune was not with Lelthiolin in finding any other goblins in such a predicament, and when he looked back up he saw at least twelve angry goblins glaring him down, their mouths foaming with battle-lust.

Lelthiolin was surprised at their patience, and the group appeared to be sizing him up as they moved to close a tight semicircle around him. The cliff to his back kept Lelthiolin from making a run for it, but he had to make the first move or the goblins would simply push him off the edge. On his left side there was a small gap in the goblin semi-circle and Lelthiolin thought he could make his way through. With a quick dash towards the hole, Lelthiolin deflected two strikes from the goblins in his way. Kicking one off the side of the cliff and slicing the other across the face, widened the gap and Lelthiolin made it behind the group. Calling on every muscle in his body, Lelthiolin bolted around the backside of his attackers. Using his dagger as a missile, he launched it at the roaring fire knocking over the large pieces of wood causing them to topple over and roll out catching the ground and a few goblins on fire.

Lelthiolin’s eyes gleamed at his cunning and, though he dared not look back, he could sense that his ploy had worked. But then, suddenly, Lelthiolin felt something snap around his ankles, and to his great surprise, he was lifted from his feet as he came crashing down on his face. Blackness covered his consciousness as he faded in and out. Each time he felt himself coming back, his ankles burned with the feeling of leather wrapped tightly around them. His head swooned when a goblin face appeared in front of his barking out something in goblinoid that he couldn’t understand. And then, blackness completely consumed him.

* * * * *

Lelthiolin blinked as the sunlight pierced his eyes. The sun was unusually hot, and he could feel it burning the grime on his face into his skin. It didn’t take long for Lelthiolin to realize that he was being carried, his hands and feet were tied together both wrapped on a long pole, his body dangling towards the ground, almost touching it. The rubbing of his skin on the pole left his hands cut and splintered, Lelthiolin wanted to scream, but when he opened his mouth all he found was a dry gasp for air. The goblins carrying him took notice of the movement, and shouted something in their goblinoid tongue.

The goblin leader, from the camp on the night he had clearly, been captured, came into his line of sight. The goblin glared, and smiled mischievously. “Can yooz wok?” Lelthiolin heard the words, but was a bit surprised to hear them, however meager, in the elven tongue.

Lelthiolin tried to respond, but found no voice on his parched lips, and so instead resigned himself to nod.

The two goblins that had been carrying Lelthiolin dropped him to the ground and fetched spears from two of their goblin band. The gawky goblin leader took a small blade from its sheath at his side, and cut both bonds holding Lelthiolin to the pole.

Lelthiolin wasn’t quite sure if he was being released, executed, or simply made to carry his own weight, but his answer quickly came when his bonds were re-tied behind his back. Lelthiolin remained laying on the ground his head still reeling from the lack of water and the hot sun that bore down onto him. But a few quick jabs, almost enough to be painful, from the goblin guards, told him his brief rest had ended.

Finding his footing, Lelthiolin stood up and began to march behind the goblin leader. Spears constantly poking his backside, kept his weary feet moving.

* * * * *

Lelthiolin wasn’t sure how long they had been marching. He also wasn’t sure how long he had remained unconscious, but he was sure that he had no idea where he was. The sun began to diminish as he and his captors made their way through a canyon and into a more mountainous region. Lelthiolin still had not gotten any water since before he had been captured, and when he fell, he fell again into the blackness of unconsciousness.

The night sky seemed to be brighter than it had been in past month, and certainly, few could deny that the stars were especially bright. From his campsite, the one that Lelthiolin had made home for the past year, the moon also shone in full brightness, illuminating the snow-covered ground as if it were a cloudy day. Lelthiolin had put out his campfire no more than twenty minutes ago, and yet, that only seemed to make the rest of the world brighter.

Lelthiolin knew that he was truly just using the brightness as an excuse, as he tossed and turned, his thoughts going to the days events. For the most part it was rather non-eventful, at least when compared to every other day for the past year. Fighting goblins was commonplace to the elf, and Lelthiolin had even wondered about the mating habits of goblins since they never did seem to dissipate in their numbers, at least not in the long term. But again, Lelthiolin’s thoughts were not truly on goblins, though he further tried to deceive himself.

Every time he closed his eyes the image of a beautiful female elven form came into his mind, and the name, ‘Melariel,’ was spoken each time from her soft lips. Truly, Lelthiolin desired greatly to keep his eyes closed, to let his dreams bring the two of them together again, but each time he tried, it was as if the brightness of the night pierced his eyelids and enveloped his vision and dreams in a glowing light until he opened his eyes.

Cursing himself for the fourth time since he had laid down, Lelthiolin sat up, rubbing his eyes as he went. He was exhausted, and though his body ached, his thoughts continued to race. Reaching for his belt, upon which his blades were sheathed, Lelthiolin stood up and began to buckle the belt around his waist.

Suddenly there was a snap in a slightly wooded area just to the east of him. Lelthiolin wasn’t certain that it wasn’t simply an animal, but his instincts, those trusted instincts that his father had made him promise to never relinquish, told him that it was not the sound of any animal. Lelthiolin slowly unsheathed his sword, careful to avoid making a sound. Another sound came again, this time a bit more forcefully with several fallen twigs breaking beneath the feet of what was now, quite obviously, booted feet. Lelthiolin stared intently toward the sound, and thought he could see a pair of eyes, and what appeared to be a long beard. With a final crash through the last of the trees, and with a clumsy and heavy halt, a red-bearded dwarf stood before Lelthiolin!

“Well!” declared the dwarf, with a huff as he planted his hands firmly on his hips. “They tol’ me I would be findin’ ye here!”

The flippant way in which the dwarf made these pronouncements set Lelthiolin a bit on edge, not to mention the volume with which the dwarf proceeded did not seem to fit with the quiet of night. Lelthiolin kept his sword drawn, though pointed it towards the ground, not truly fearing that this dwarf was any threat. In turn the dwarf, too, eyed Lelthiolin curiously. After a uncomfortably long pause, for Lelthiolin, the dwarf seemed to find nothing of incredible interest about his appearance and continued.

“I came here ta’ relieve ye o’ yer post elf.”

The frankness of the statement took Lelthiolin quite off guard and his eyebrows arched questioningly. But the unknown dwarf didn’t flinch, didn’t even move an inch, so Lelthiolin figured it was his turn to say something.

“You…” he began, uncertain of what exactly to say, and after another pause to which a sly smirk came over the dwarfs face, Lelthiolin decided that he need more information, “Who are you dwarf?”

“Aha! So ye haven’ heard o’ me! Well o’ course not, I ten’ ta’ stay as fer away from ye’ elves as I can, usually. Me name is Durmli, though tha’ name canna’ mean much ta’ ye, but it is me name jus’ tha’ same,” and with a quick, yet overindulgent bow, it was clear that Durmli was finished with his introduction.

“You say that you’re here to relieve me of my post? What exactly do you mean by that?”

“Hmm, I thought tha’ message plain enough fer ye elf, what don’ ye understand abou’ it?”

It was actually a fair question, and Lelthiolin blushed inwardly at the obviousness of it. But there was still the matter of authority, who was this dwarf to come and dismiss Lelthiolin as if his departure would be inconsequential. However, Durmli seemed to see the question in Lelthiolin’s face and proceeded to fill in the holes.

“Alrigh’ elf, I can see tha’ ye ‘ave a bit o’ confusion on ye face. So le’ me explain it to ye. The leaders o’ the pass ‘ave decided tha’ it be time fer ye ta’ leave an’ go on to another place. Since ye ‘ave been here fer over a year an’ all. O’ course they donna jus’ go an’ send ye on without anyone ta’ take yer place, so they fetch fer me to take up ye post once ye move on yer way.” Lelthiolin was clearly a bit taken back by the news and dwarf sensed it. Laughing heartily, Durmli continued, “O come now! Ye dinna think ye were tha’ first ta’ defend this little pass here did ye?”

“Well, I supposed I never really considered it,” Lelthiolin responded flatly. He truly hadn’t considered any future beyond defending the pass. It was his duty as champion trainee to defend those who could not defend themselves, and he had to this point, considered it an honor to defend the pass.

“Ah! Well dunna ye worry elf, ye will find plenny o’ adventure out beyond this little pass here!”

It was several hours later, when the dwarf finally made his way back away from Lelthiolin’s campsite. Durmli had shared some stories he had heard from travelers who had come from other parts of the world, tales of dragons, orcs, goblins, and many other far stranger things that Lelthiolin was sure the dwarf was simply making up as he went along. But for once, Lelthiolin had enjoyed the company, though he spent most of his part listening, adding little the conversation.

Now, painfully exhausted, Lelthiolin tried to swim through his mixed emotions and thoughts. Where would he go once he left the small pass? What was beyond the pass? He had seen some of what was out there whenever he stood on top of one of the hilltops. He would look out over some of the valleys; with his keen sharp elven eyes he even saw trees and rivers, occasionally giving rise to something within him. The thought of exploring through wooded pathways, did provide him with a measure of excitement, and after spending a year, here, in the mountains, where snow seemed to never melt, Lelthiolin longed to see the grass again. The memory of fresh plant-life wafted into Lelthiolin’s nostrils and lured him into his long awaited sleep.

As, he closed his eyes and laid his head down, the image of Melairiel returned to him again, only this time she followed him into his dreams.

“Come along Melairiel, there’s no goblins here.”

“Wait Mandoan, I’ll just be a minute,” the slender elven woman replied. Slowly, she began to creep up along the side of the path that lead up the hillside. Melairiel’s eyes burned with curiosity. Mandoan, hadn’t seen the goblin a few yards ahead, cut down with razor-edged cuts finer than any Melariel had ever seen.

‘What is with that girl,’ Mandoan thought to himself. Mandoan took the time to remove his helmet, brushing his hand through his short light brown hair. The rune-keeper could use this short break, he and Melairiel had come to find goblins and although he enjoyed watching the little whelps screaming under the power of his spells, he did not like their smell.

* * * * *

Lelthiolin executed flawless slashes across the face of his current goblin opponent, both cracking its skull and leaving a gushing wound. Lelthiolin knew that the goblin would not recover from the attack and moved to a defensive position as three more goblins took the place of their fallen companion; though none of them seemed anxious to be the first to attack.

The goblin on the right took the first jab with a spear only to have it harmlessly knocked to the side by Lelthiolin’s sword; at this, the other two thought they had found their advantage and came with a rush towards him. Inwardly, Lelthiolin’s eyes gleamed at their mistake, with a side-step and a push he launched the first goblin into the other rushing two as they bored their companion through the gut with their spears. Their startled pause was all Lelthiolin needed as he proceeded to slice one across the throat with his dagger, and drove his sword in the other goblin’s back, straight to the heart.

This time, no more goblins came into position to attack, and he could hear up ahead, the sound of goblin voices as they spoke of battle plans to defend their pitiful hillside against the cunning elf.

Lelthiolin had been here at the footsteps of Thorin’s Gate for almost a year, defending the people of the small pass from impending goblin attacks. This was the third time this year that Lelthiolin had come to the goblin domain on the hillside, and no doubt the goblins knew that he would not simply leave. The goblins were now all together at the top of the hillside in their huts.

* * * * *

Melairiel had seen the entire fight and stood awestruck at the intensity with which this elf fought, and cunning both of his blades and his maneuvers. Melairiel had only been training as a Ranger for a short time, and so had only seen, for the most part, her fellow rangers in action. She had a few tricks of her own when it came to melee combat, but she knew right away that she could only hope to move with the elegance and grace that this elf she spied on possessed.

Melairiel heard the sound of goblins up above her head to the top of the hillside, but when she glanced up she could not see anything. Directing her gaze back to where the unknown elf stood, she saw nothing but goblin corpses, her heart began to race as her eyes darted about looking for him, ‘Surely he wont continue on now that the goblins have assembled into a defensive position,’ she questioned to herself. But it was made clear, with a glance towards the path that lead down the hillside that the unknown elf had not gone back. Slowly, Melairiel crept along the side of the cliff, to her right, up towards the sounds of goblin cries.

* * * * *

‘Oh bother,’ Mandoan thought to himself. He hoped that Melairiel hadn’t gotten herself into trouble. He truly did care for the beautiful elf he had been betrothed to by his, and her, parents; even though she did have a twinge of what he felt was nothing more then eccentricity. But she had surely gotten herself into trouble this time, and he heard the shouts of many goblins from high on the hillside above. Gathering up his helmet, he made his way up the path leading to the sounds above.

* * * * *

Lelthiolin stood surrounded by four goblins, two with spears and two with swords and shield. He knew, though he hadn’t been able to look for them, that there were a couple of spear throwers somewhere to his right and left as he had had to dodge and deflect a couple of them in the moments leading up to his current predicament. The first two guards had gone down easily enough, though perhaps that was part of their plan to put the two most stupid goblins (if it were possible to be anything but stupid and also be a goblin) on guard duty so that the more adept fighters would hear their screams and know to stand ready.

The two goblins with the spears made quick short jabs at Lelthiolin, though they did not commit to any overt attack. But, they were moving, slowly, backwards, and Lelthiolin thought that if he moved just under the ridge and out of site of the spear throwers he could make his attack. Curiously, the two goblins with the spears seemed to smirk (if such a thing is possible for a goblin) as they continued to move backwards, but Lelthiolin just marked it up to goblin stupidity. Until, something tightened around his ankle, and a moment later, Lelthiolin felt his body flip over itself as he took to the air.

ZING! Lelthiolin heard, what sounded like an arrow, and then, guts, splattering from below his now suspended position. It was a good trap, as far as goblins are concerned, but Lelthiolin had no trouble using his abdomen to pull himself up high enough to cut the rope that held his ankle and drop to the ground feet first. Upon landing, Lelthiolin immediately saw a goblin lying on the ground, who had been the unfortunate beneficiary of the brain skewed arrow. The goblins, which had just moments before appeared so confident, now began to scatter in fear and confusion. Full of confidence and a twinge of anger at having been caught in the stupid goblin trap, Lelthiolin moved swiftly against the nearest goblin wielding a sword and shield. With three strikes, one knocking the shield aside, the second knocking the sword from its hand, and a third driving straight through the goblin’s throat, Lelthiolin disposed of his first prey.

The other goblins now took flight up the hillside, and he thought he could see them running around a corner up ahead. But the elf was quicker, and as one valiant goblin (can goblin’s be valiant?) launched a spear at him, Lelthiolin deftly knocked it aside and came with a rush at the goblin driving his sword through his opponents gut as a look of sheer horror came over the goblin’s face. Using his foot to push the corpse from his blade, Lelthiolin looked around in dismay to see that there were no more goblins to be found.

Still breathing heavily, Lelthiolin approached the site where he saw goblins running, wiping his blades off on a nearby snow-covered tree as he went. As he approached the site, he saw that a stone had been moved to cover the hole in the mountainside. Frowning to himself, Lelthiolin sheathed his blades and turned to go back down the hillside.

“Hello,” came a gentle voice from just up ahead.

Without thinking, Lelthiolin drew his blades from their sheathes. The slender female who had approached jumped back slightly, startled by the response from the elf she had just moments before stood admiring. Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to make her presence known, she thought, though surely he had heard the bow shot to his defense.

As quickly as Lelthiolin had drawn his blades, he tipped them to the ground noting his unconscious defensiveness and blushing slightly in embarrassment. “So, you’re the archer?” Lelthiolin said as inconsequentially as possible. He watched as the female removed her helmet and smiled at him. She was certainly beautiful, her face was slender and her soft green eyes emanated from between the short brown hair that framed her face.

“That’s me,” Melairiel replied with laughter in her voice. After a short pause, she took two cautious steps towards Lelthiolin and offered, “You’re welcome?”

Lelthiolin wasn’t one for accepting help, though he also wasn’t the type to be rude, so instead of acknowledging the comment he simply offered, “Lelthiolin is my name.” Lelthiolin considered his next words carefully, her beauty was slightly intimidating and so he shoved chivalry aside and attempted to remain sober in his words. “I believe the goblins have gone into hiding for now.” Lelthiolin motioned towards the crevice in the side of the mountain, now covered with a large boulder.

Melairiel moved up closer to Lelthiolin, sensing her acceptance, and glanced towards the place where he had motioned. “So it seems,” she replied with a giggle. “Easily startled creatures aren’t they?”

It was Lelthiolin’s turn to smile, he was certain that the goblins had thought they had bested him this time, and the appearance of this female had aided him in keeping his commanding superiority over the goblins and the fear they would feel at the mere sight of him. But the smile faded, as he looked out to the horizon and saw the sun slipping behind the highest ridge.

“I will be going now,” Lelthiolin declared abruptly, and with a short bow to the female he turned to go.

“Melairiel,” Lelthiolin turned to look at her, “that is my name,” she finished with a smile and glow in her soft eyes.

Lelthiolin again smiled and with a gleam in his blue eyes he bowed again, a bit more fully this time, and replied, “It has been my pleasure, Melairiel.” And with that Lelthiolin descended the hillside pathway.

* * * * *

For some reason Mandoan had hid behind a nearby tree. He wasn’t sure why, he had no overt reason for hiding, perhaps the unknown elf scared him he thought? No, that couldn’t be it of course. Mandoan had been late in his arrival up the mountainside, at first only sauntering upwards, until he heard the sounds of weapons and feared that Melairiel had been in trouble. But she had not been in trouble; in fact, she didn’t appear to have been apart of the ensuing battle at all. By the time Mandoan reached the bottom of the ledge near the top of the hillside, Melairiel and the unknown elf were already standing together near the ledge on the far side.

Mandoan stood behind a tree and watched their interaction, he felt a twinge of jealousy as he watched his betrothed’s eyes gleam at the unknown elf. But he didn’t dare to move, and he could tell that the elf was making his way to head back down the mountain side, and once Lelthiolin had moved past him, Mandoan stepped out of his hiding place.

* * * * *

Melairiel felt giddy inside, although she wasn’t quite sure why. Lelthiolin hadn’t shown any overt interest in her, not even after she had reminded him of the single goblin she had killed. But right before he left, he had shot her a look with those bright blue gleaming eyes that she wasn’t sure she could ever forget. Shaking her head to clear it, Melairiel reminded herself that she was already betrothed, and Mandoan was a fine elf, from a good family, and well skilled in the arts of magic.

“Melairiel! Are you alright?” Mandoan feigned concern, though he knew she was just fine. Melairiel smiled kindly to Mandoan, and Mandoan frowned inwardly as he noted the difference between that smile and the one she had given the strange elf.

“Yes Mandoan, I’m fine. I was never in any danger, Lelthiolin, another elf, was just here and he was the one who did most of the fighting.”

“Oh, so that’s who that was who just headed down the hillside? I would have thought that anyone who could slay so many goblins wouldn’t simply leave another alone up here by themselves,” Mandoan thought himself clever for that last comment, attempting to put a bad light on the elf who Melairiel had so obviously found intriguing.

“Yes, perhaps,” was all that Melairiel gave him. She knew that she was fine up here, Lelthiolin had shown her the place where the goblins had retreated, and she too was certain that it would be at least a day before those goblins dared to venture out of their hiding place again.

“Come Melairiel,” Mandoan offered as gently as he could muster, “it’s getting dark, and we should head back to camp.”

Without another word, the two of them headed back down the hillside together.

“Yes sir! Right away!”

Lelthiolin, a young elven champion, sped off at full speed after receiving yet another task from one of the local townsmen. It seemed that these people of the town never ran out of problems or tasks waiting to be completed, though, they did reward him well for his efforts.

As Lelthiolin ran towards a nearby cave he quickly recounted all that he had done today, he had retrieved several dwarven pick-axes from some thieving miscreants. He hacked down some insects that were becoming a bit too overwhelming in the region, and he had collected some glowing seeds for a lady in the town, whose name he could hardly remember. Names never did come easy to Lelthiolin. SNAP!

The sound of wood breaking mixed with the sensation of flying through the air told Lelthiolin all he needed to know, his daydreaming had landed him into some kind of mess again! Lelthiolin wiped off his now snow covered face and rubbed the aching foot that had gotten caught under a root. If he hadn’t been running at full speed (his usual pace) he might not have broken the root and may have simply wrenched his ankle causing more serious injury. Laughter came to the elf and his bright blue eyes beamed as he thought about his good fortune.

Dark black hair splayed out on the ground as Lelthiolin lay down in the snow. It was the first time today he had taken any sort of a break from running errands for the townspeople, and after his tumble he just didn’t feel like getting up right now. It didn’t take long, however, for Lelthiolin to realize why he didn’t often take such breaks as this; that ever creeping feeling and weight began to find its way on his heart again.

Solace used to be all that was found to the young elf when he spent times alone. Before he began training as a champion, Lelthiolin never felt alone, though he rarely made friends and those he did he kept at a distance. But he had never felt much need for friends; he would spend hours in the woods, examining all manner of plants and animals. Sometimes he felt as if the plants were speaking to him, telling him about themselves: what they needed, what they liked, what they disliked. He had once told his father, Adridar, about this, but only once, for when the great champion heard Lelthiolin speak about such things, he only eyed him cautiously and with judgment. So, Lelthiolin only spoke of his interest once, and vowed to keep it to himself from then on.

But now, despite any inward feelings otherwise, Lelthiolin was dutifully following in Adridar’s footsteps as a champion. There had never been any questioning about the path that Lelthiolin would take, and when the time came, Lelthiolin was already skilled at fighting with any type of weapon, especially when wielding two blades.

It had been an evening ritual from the time that Lelthiolin was ten years of age. After the evening meal, he and Adridar would spend the rest of the evening training outside, near their home in the woodlands. Lelthiolin was most adept with the sword and dagger combination, though Adridar made sure to train him in the use of all weapons. His father would also wield various kinds of weapons to train Lelthiolin in learning the advantages and weakness of each weapon type and how to exploit those weaknesses while dodging, parrying, or blocking each attack type.

One day, during their training sessions, when Lelthiolin was about seventeen years of age, Adridar reminded him that years of training were still ahead of him, despite his growing skill. Lelthiolin had become cocky in the last week and even once asked Adridar if they could skip a session of training. Laughter and laziness began to creep into Lelthiolin’s fighting style and Adridar sensed it. Lelthiolin and his father barely spoke to one another, in many ways Lelthiolin felt that they spoke more in their training sessions in how they dueled each other than they ever did with words. This occasion was not one such instance.

Without a word of warning, while Lelthiolin’s sword and dagger were not yet un-sheathed, Adridar came at him with a rush, barreling his foot right into Lelthiolin’s chest knocking the wind completely from him. With a deft swipe from his currently chosen weapon, a simple staff, Lelthiolin was lifted from his feet, only to land on his backside with a resounding thud. This wasn’t the first time his father had done something like this, and in his earlier years he had often been dispatched with a few simple maneuvers by Adridar, but something about this time was different. Lelthiolin hadn’t been so quickly overwhelmed in almost two years and as he regained his breath and a semblance of his surroundings he felt his face turn red with embarrassment.

“Well?” Adridar asked with judgment in his eyes.

Lelthiolin certainly wasn’t sure what to say, in many respects he still feared his father, though he knew that he cared for him. Adridar was somewhat large by elven standards, with a gruff personality almost more akin to dwarves than of the elven race. But, he was a devoted champion, and father. And the only times he would miss these training sessions was when he was called to go out with a hunting party to fight a menacing orc or goblin band that had ventured too far into elven territory.

“I… guess I wasn’t ready…” Lelthiolin tried to explain. But Adridar waved him off.
“You’ve become cocky, and lazy Lelthiolin,” he began quickly, “Are our training sessions that cumbersome for you that you cannot even stand ready?”

“I just…”

Adridar didn’t give him the chance to answer his rhetorical question, “Son, you have one more year until you will being training as a champion, no longer in these parlays with me, but against real enemies and foes who would seek to do you real harm.”

Lelthiolin heard the whole statement and it embedded into his heart, but at the moment he was focused on a single word, ‘son’. Adridar rarely called him that, perhaps it was too sentimental a word for the strong champion, but the heartfelt way in which the word was used, now, created a single fond memory in Lelthiolin’s mind that he desired never to forget.

Adridar’s deep dark eyes focused intently on Lelthiolin’s starkly different bright blue eyes as he continued, “I need you to remember something all of your days out in the wilds. Your blades are your protection, your guide. Trust the instincts of your hands when they are gripping your weapons, they will tell you how to dispatch your enemies and who is against you when you are uncertain. Your instincts will tell you when to kill and how to do it.”

The words rocked Lelthiolin, in all his training sessions with Adridar, there had been blood, nicks (and sometimes gashes) of weapon blades, as well as kicks and elbows to the face yielding a bloody nose. There had also been many more bruises of blunted weapons on all parts of his body, but it was almost as if it hadn’t occurred to Lelthiolin that such attacks were intended to follow through with full force and to the completion of leaving mortal wounds or a killing blow.

Adridar could tell that Lelthiolin was troubled, “Son.”

Lelthiolin looked up, his trance broken by his father’s voice.

“You must promise me that you heed what I have said to you this evening.”

Lelthiolin nodded slowly, his eyes somewhat hazed and the crease on his forehead and slump in his shoulders told Adridar that tonight’s training session was at an end.

“Get some sleep,” Adridar declared flatly as he walked back towards the house.
Lelthiolin could remember that particular training session better than any other session during the entire eight years under his father’s tutelage. It was still as clear in his mind as the day it happened, and now, he was living the words of his father.

Lelthiolin shook his head, sending snow flying from his long black hair in all directions. ‘What brought that memory on?’ he thought to himself as he rose to his feet brushing the remaining snow from his clothes. Purposefully choosing to submerge any further thoughts about his purpose, other than to go kill… ‘What was it I was supposed to kill again?’