Elf World Shadows Rising Read online

  He unlocked his front door, and walked into his parlor. It was decorated in the rich earth tones that Gnomes prefer. A fire had been laid in his fireplace, and was crackling and popping, filling the room with warmth and chasing away the evening chill. A magical lantern sat on a table next to his favorite leather chair. Someone had turned it to its highest setting, and soft bright light filled the room. Thomas walked over to it; reached up under the frosted glass dome to turn down the intensity to a more pleasing level.

  Taking off his coat and tossing it onto the couch, he gratefully sank into his chair. “Oh, the pleasure of soft leather on a tired bum,” he thought to himself. Out loud he complained, “I am getting too old for running around the mountains at night.” Not that he was. Thomas was not even seventy years of age yet. Gnomes were not even considered middle aged until seventy five, but they do love to act the role of eccentric codgers if given the half the chance.

  “You are not old Uncle, not at all, but you are a silly goose,” piped the cheerful voice of his young niece, Willow. Into the room she carried a tray with his evening snack. Hot mushroom caps, some filled with corn bread stuffing, others filled with cooked snails, and still others stuffed with a turkey pate. A large glass of port was also on the tray, as was his evening paper.

  “Bless you Willow. Just what I need to hit the spot.”

  “I spoil you too much Uncle. If I keep this up, you are going to get fat.”

  “Oh child, you are a joy. These years with you have been a treasure.”

  “Child, I am not,” she laughed. “I’ll be twenty next year after all. You’re not the only one getting older, you know.”

  Thomas looked at the young Gnome lass; he had taken care of her for these last eleven years. It was after her parents had been killed by a Troll attack, that she came to live with him. “She was indeed a child no longer,” he thought ruefully. “Willow is as tall and thin just as her namesake. Nearly four feet tall with dark hair and gray eyes, but now no longer with the look of the child I had taken in years ago.”

  “You get your height from my side of the family lass, that’s for sure. My brother, your father was even taller than I am. He was a giant of a Gnome, well over four feet. By the Creator I miss him, he was always the prankster of the family, made me laugh all the time. But you get everything else from your mother, thank the Consort for that. We Farthing’s are not the most attractive bunch.”

  “I don’t know about that Uncle, just the messiest that’s all,” She called back at him from the closet where she was hanging up his coat.

  “I hear that the owner’s son is in residence. What’s he like?” She sat down on the couch, kicked off her soft low leather boots, and curled her legs up under herself.

  “You will never believe how grand he is, our young Elf Lord, like a prince, all self assured and confident. With white gold hair and dark sapphire eyes, a most magnificent looking Elf. But he also seems to be both intelligent and kind. He’s brought a Nymph home to her family, that’s why he’s here. Bought her from slavery, and then just freed her on the spot. Hard to believe he would do something like that without getting something back in return.”

  “From a Nymph, I am sure he’s getting something!”

  “Willow!”

  “Oh come now Uncle, we live with both Elves and Nymphs here. They are not shy about such things. Not at all. In fact you stumble over them daily.”

  “Young lady, be that as it may, it still is not the proper subject for mixed company. Especially not if you ever want to find a respectable husband some day. I should really think about sending you home to our own people, before you start acting like some,... Nymph!”

  Willow rolled on the couch laughing; he was so funny sometimes. He laughed back at her and continued to pop snacks into his mouth. He would miss her, but it was getting time to send her home to school so she could learn to be a gnome. But she was such a joy, he hated the thought of her leaving. She already was trained as a manager and as a book keeper; he had seen to that much. But a formal education was still important to develop into a mature Gnome. Besides college was fun, and the chance to meet and be around her own people would do her more good than living here.

  “Well, I'm off to bed Uncle. You have me working the front desk at sunrise. I’m bushed. I must be getting too old for such early mornings…”

  “Off with you, you ungrateful child you.”

  “Good night,” Willow told him, as she leaned over to kiss the top of his head.

  Willow picked up her boots, wandered down the hall to her room at the end of the narrow corridor. She made no sound on the dark wood floors, her stocking feet gliding her to her room. The roof dropped down from the seven feet that gnomes have in their parlors, to accommodate the bigger visitors who might visit, to just over four feet. That was to discourage the bigger uninvited visitors who might drop by. The lower ceiling made her uncomfortable just a couple inches above her head. She was unusually tall, as was all of the Farthing family. Gnomes tended not to get much over three and a half feet as a rule, but all of her family seemed not to have observed that rule. Uncle Thomas was right at four feet and her father and grandfather had been three inches taller than even him.

  Willow went into her room, walking over to the nightstand to turn on the lamp. It was small and cozy as Gnomes prefer, her soft feather bed taking up most of the room. She opened the wardrobe in the far corner and quickly peeled off her silk blouse, hanging it up on a hanger. Her slim fingers unlaced the ties to her leather pants. Grabbing her pants, she worked them down over her hips to the floor. Stepping out of them, she hung them up.

  She went to the other side of her bed, to the small dressing table and stool. She sat down and started to brush out her long curly dark hair. She looked critically at herself in the mirror. It was hard for her to judge whether or not she was pretty, having not been around other Gnome girls since she had come to live with her uncle. She thought, “I look like a teenage Nymph, only without the pointed ears and the almond shaped eyes. But is that what Gnomes think of as pretty?” She was not sure at all, but she liked the way she looked, and that was what was most important she figured.

  Willow finished up with her hair, putting down the brush and sighed. Lifting up her left leg, she carefully rolled down her silk stocking. Working it down her leg and over her knee, then down to her tiny ankle and foot. “Mustn’t ruin another pair of these. Uncle just doesn’t understand how much more pleasant silk is than wool. Bugger the cost, it’s worth it.” She repeated the process with her other leg, taking the stockings and carefully putting them away.

  Finally completely naked, she slipped between the sheets of her bed. Willow knew that her uncle didn’t approve of her night dress, or more accurately the lack thereof, but she had been raised around Elves, not Gnomes. She could not figure out why Gnomes got dressed to sleep. “We’re even stiffer than the Dwarves are, and we sure are al ong way from the free spirited Elves,” she thought. “Maybe it comes from living high up in the alpine forest of the Fatherland.” It was one of the few places short of the arctic, that got significant snowfall each year. And Gnomes’ ability with Fire Magic did not keep them warm, not like what Earth Magic does for Elves and Nymphs. “Funny you would think something called Fire Magic would keep you warm…” Snuggling down deeper into her bed, she was soon fast asleep.

  ~

  Thomas, had quickly finished his snack. He was sitting in his chair looking over his maps of the area. He had told Myst that Lord Pedar had quietly informed him of Myst's real occupation, and that he was to help if ever Myst came to him. Myst had then confided to him, why he was really up here in the mountains. To find a missing ambassador was just the puzzle that a Gnome could not resist. Happily he poured through his maps looking for a likely route that the ambassador would have taken away from the ambush site. “She most likely will follow the river up,” he thought. “The best place to find her will be at Sunset Bridge; the hills narrow there, and would force anyone, trying to get
to Tazco, onto the bridge. She would most likely be able to reach that spot by early morning, so we had best get going at dawn.”

  Thomas got up from his chair and went to the mantle over the fire place. From there he took down his favorite weapon, indeed the weapon that the Gnomes had invented centuries ago to change warfare throughout the world. The small Compound Crossbow felt strange in his hands. It had been years since he had used it against another person.

  The smooth wood and light metal felt different somehow, when you plan to use it to kill someone. He worked the firing mechanism, checking to see if everything was still working right. “Like a Gnome watch, no one makes them better.” He could get off six bolts a minute, aimed, not just fired recklessly, and hit anything within sixty yards, every time. Gnomes have the best eye hand coordination of any of the peoples, and Thomas had a high level of coordination, even for a Gnome.

  All Gnome males served in the 'Home Guard', a part time militia that patrolled their mountain homeland, keeping it safe from Trolls, Ogres, Orcs, and Goblins. He had served for years, and during that time he was forced to use his crossbow many, many times. Sharing a common border with the Orcs kept them busy, as did the incessant banditry of the Goblins. Those thieves were even more of a problem than the Orcs were to the Gnomes. Where could a six foot tall Orc or seven foot Ogre hide, even in the mountains? But the Goblins were just inches taller than the Gnomes themselves, and just as accomplished at stealth and concealment. But the Trolls were Thomas preferred enemy, the personal loss if his brother and his wife, and many of his friends made them a special target for his bolts.

  “Ah, but Ogres are as good of a target as any, and being so big they have a hard time with small folk like us Gnomes. Makes them have to bend over to hit us, and their bellies get in the way.” Thomas laughed at the thought of the bumbling fat ogres. “Ah, but just let them catch you Thomas my lad, a swift end for sure if they do, well after they pull your arms off…” He took the crossbow back to his room, making sure his clothes were ready for the morning. He climbed into bed and snuggled down under the covers. But sleep was not an easy target for him this night. The thought of the adventure waiting in the morning, for the first time in many years, had his heart pounding with pure anticipation.

  CHAPTER 9

  The morning sun warmed the ground quickly, as Kayla and Zarra walked along the river. Dew still glistened on the flowers, vibrant ferns and understory plants along their trail. The river was happily gurgling and tumbling. Light sparkled down through the trees, and danced across the cool mountain water.

  They had been walking for the last couple of hours. Kayla was tired and wanted to rest, but Zarra had told her that there were Ogres a short ways behind them. The thought of being captured filled her with dread; she hurried on as fast as she could over the rough ground.

  Suddenly there was a call behind her, a loud snorting sound. Kayla looked over her shoulder and saw Ogres running after them. There were four that she could see.

  “Run!” shouted Zarra.

  The two Elf lasses ran through the woods as fast as they could go. The pain of their bare feet on the hard ground forgotten in their fright. Zarra tripped and fell hard to the ground. Kayla fell over her, and in a tumble of arms and legs, they collapsed. Quickly, they were up again and running, but their lead had suddenly shrunk to mere dozen yards.

  Kayla was in front this time. She dared not look behind; she could hear Zarra on her tail. And it seemed that she could feel the Ogre’s hot breath right on her neck.

  She broke into a clearing on the path they had run headlong down. Kayla’s hope soared as she saw a Sun Elf and a Gnome, standing next to a bridge.

  “Help, Ogres,” Kayla screamed!

  The handsome Sun Elf had drawn his bastard sword and charged toward her. His white gold hair and blue eyes seemed to Kayla to be a miracle. How did he come to be in this place, just in time?

  Exhausted, Kayla collapsed to the ground seconds after the male Sun Elf had run past her. Zarra fell with her, both girls gasping for air. There was the sound of a crossbow firing; they looked up. The Gnome was busy reloading for another shot. Behind them one of the Ogres collapsed with a crossbow bolt lodged in it’s right eye, piercing it’s brain.

  The Sun Elf was somehow engaging the other three Ogres at the same time, and holding them off. More than that, he was inflicting wound after wound to the Ogres, who seemed unable to hit him back. The dance of Death continued; the Ogres still unable to kill the Elf, but the Elf was not able to concentrate on any one Ogre, and thus not able to deliver a killing thrust in the flurry of slashed and stabs inflicted on the massive Ogres.

  The male Gnome had reloaded his weapon, and was trying to line up a shot on the Ogres, without hitting his partner. Kayla saw behind the Gnome, three more Ogres run at them from across the bridge. In their hands were large cudgels, the weapons that Ogres prefer to use to smash their victims. They had been waiting to ambush the girls, farther up the road.

  “Look out,” Kayla called to the Gnome, “More Ogres behind you on the bridge.”

  Thomas spun around. Fear coursed through his heart, but the surprising strength that was found within these small people surged through. He raised his crossbow; he knew he would get only one shot off in time. The head of the lead Ogre appeared in the sights of the crossbow; gently Thomas pulled the trigger.

  The bolt shot through the air, taking the Ogre in the hollow of the throat, it’s head snapped back with the impact. The Ogre fell to the ground dying as it’s windpipe filled, drowning in its own blood.

  “Give me your knife,” Zarra demanded.

  Thomas drew his short sword, it’s eighteen inch blade only a long poniard in the hands of the Star Elf girl. She sprang at the two charging Ogres, the blade in her hand, ready to drink the Ogres’ blood.

  Zarra, naked and only armed with a long knife, threw herself at one of the Ogres. It reached for her, but as she leaped up into the air for the Ogre’s throat, she pushed behind her with the Air Magic. Zarra rocketed up past the surprised Ogre’s grasp, thrusting her blade deep into the neck of the monster as she tried to flip over its head.

  The Ogre howled in rage and pain. Its arms finally, too late for him, closed around Zarra, crushing her to it’s massive chest. The Ogre stumbled as the life blood gushed from it’s severed artery. It staggered and fell forward, the four hundred and fifty pounds of it’s body crushing Zarra to the earth.

  Somehow, Thomas had reloaded the crossbow before the third Ogre could reach him. He looked up. The sky was filled with the massive eight foot tall beast. Thomas fell backwards, hoping to get a shot at the Ogre’s eyes or neck, as it bent over to grab him. Thomas knew that they were just about the only places you could shoot an Ogre, and have it be quickly fatal.

  Unfortunately, the Ogre must have known that as well, for it did not try to grab him, but instead lifted his giant foot to smash Thomas into the dirt. Thomas knew that he was dead; he aimed at the Ogre’s groin, and fired.

  “I’m dun for, but maybe this will knock the Ogre out of action and Myst won’t have it on him, before he kills the others,” thought Thomas.

  The Ogre screamed as the bolt plunged into it’s groin. It hesitated before smashing the little pest at it’s feet. He would cripple the dam Gnome, then roast him alive on a fire for his dinner. He smashed his foot down at Thomas.

  “Thuuud.”

  Thomas waited for the impact of the Ogre’s foot, but nothing happened. The Ogre swayed back then toppled forward. Thomas rolled out of the way as the beast fell to the earth. Thomas hopped to his feet, not believing that he was still alive. The Ogre had a crossbow bolt sticking out of the back of it’s neck. The spine, severed by the steel tipped bolt; it was dead long before it finally hit the ground.

  Wondrously, Thomas looked in the direction the bolt had come from. There on the bridge, kneeling in the dust with a crossbow, was Willow. Against his orders, she had followed them here. “Thank the Creator for that. The child didn’t liste
n to him, but then when did she?”

  Willow came running up, reloading her crossbow as she ran. “Myst,” he thought. Thomas spun around looking for his weapon, but to his dismay, it was somewhere under the dead Ogre.

  Finally, Myst had an opening. Ducking under the swinging grasp of a giant eight foot tall Ogre, he darted low and lunged up with his blade. It took the Ogre in the throat; twisting the blade quickly, he pulled the six inches of steel free of the wound. Myst dropped to the ground and rolled. He rolled behind the dying Ogre, who had not yet fallen over. It’s small brain just now understanding that it would soon be no more.

  Myst finished his roll and came up to his feet, sword at guard. The last two Ogres were still trying to get past their dying companion, who was now on it’s knees flailing widely. Thankfully, it hindered the other two long enough for Myst to catch his breath.

  The largest Ogre, who must have been well over eight feet tall, and had a strange reddish color to what is normally a pale colored hide, spoke to his companion, “You take him, keep him busy while I do the job. We must kill the Sun Elf bitch.”

  “Kill da bitch, Krug, me gotta dis one. Tat dam Shadow Elf Navdis will keel us bad, if we no get her.”

  Myst saw that Ambassador Kayla Morningstar, was not running to safety as he had hoped that she would. No that would have been too easy, she was trying to pull someone out from under one of the dead Ogres.

  “Run, Ambassador, get away from here. Thomas get her out of here NOW!”

  Myst thought, “The stupid girl was ignoring him. Did she want to die?”

  Still, she was trying to turn over the massive Ogre. She was also ignoring Thomas, who was trying to get her to listen to reason as well. The big red Ogre called Krug, smiled at Myst, and slowly disengaged from the fight, letting the other Ogre square off directly with Myst.