Author Topic: A Year among Sithicans  (Read 448 times)

pretty

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A Year among Sithicans
« on: December 24, 2021, 02:09:42 AM »










Small star elf stepped forward. "I have a gift for you, lordson," she announced. The sithican noble motioned her closer, and Locarary walked midway towards him. Then she stopped, and half turnt back to look at her protege. She chose this not only for Nehorai, but also for the girl she accompanies.

So often she complained, the noble does not care for his poeple, that he shows no care, emotions. But her guardian knew better. And the following song, was thus to highlight the things, her protege overlooked, and never thought of.

"You always stand alone,
Let no one near
To see the fear
Behind the mask, you've grown
This is the price of commanding,"


The elf took breath in, noticing the frown on face of sithican man. She supressed smirk, and pressed more.

"That you watch your dearest die,
Sending women and men
To fight again,
And never tell them why
This is the price of commanding,



Mistakes are signed in red–-
And you won’t pay
But others may,
And your best may wind up dead
This is the price of commanding," 


She noticed by now, settling thoughtful looks on faces of his warriors. But she was far from over...



In the past year ....


*****************


Star elf walked inside the groove. Massive shield strapped over back, spear over the shoulder. She did her thing, checking the trader. And it proved hard, to not think of the strange elf she walked side by side on route here. Wordless, ignoring half of her questions. Just hummed here and there. Good riddance.
 The young female left the groove and spotted the man in the darkness stadning nearby bridge.
"Finally," he announced, in creepy manner. She froze and tilted head. Before could ask anything, the man beckoned her. "Come,"

 Time and again, star elf warrior tried to strike the elf. The man parried every single swing. "That's enough," suddenly claimed, and female backed off. Holding spear in one hand, she eyed the man, with a feeling of utterly failing in some kind of test. The man just handed over some bag. By the weight and ringing, a lot of coins inside. "From now on, you follow her around and protect her," told her. The realization hit onto woman. She raised bag up to offer it back, telling him, she does it for free, because it is friend. But man outright ignored her, and began to walk off on her.
"How shall i call you, at least?!"
He paused, to reply. "Lordson is enough."


**********


The sithican youngling toyed with the cloths. Locarary, her loyal shadow, stood nearby, watching, fending off requests to get dressed in dresses patiently. Nevertheless, the girl promised to put warrioress into proper dress one day.

"Do not think you will leave me behind," said star elf. "I am about to follow you when you all decide to pack up and return home."
 That declaration left shock, surprise on face of wizard. But her guardian went on. "You will need me there, to tie bed sheets and make a rope from them, to let you climb down from your tower. When you chase princes around. And then again need me to take the blame head on for it," but by now, the elf was already laughning. The sithican youngling joined in with laughter.
"I like that idea. Hmm will need many things to work on...a lot of them...to get approval."


**********

"You! I just wanted to get home! And you sent me here ALONE!" the outburst of anger from young female carried over and over. Her bodyguard twitched, eyes flicked over to Nehorai. She stood there, in plain humilation. She lost sight of her friend, and allowed that were crocodile to snap her off. Still a bit from shock, of carrying partly eaten friend to priest. Now exposed to the man whom she respected, in utter failure of her only task.
  But not just that. While mostly immune to the tantrums of the younger friend, the words hurt her. They cleaved heavy wound into pride of star elf.
 "Alone?" she breathed out heavily, and her friend tried to make it less ugly by telling how great warrioress her guardian is but....cannot match the horrors.
 If the sithican youngling just knew the wisdom of Loca's father. "Anything said followed by but, is irrelevant."
 

But unlike her Har-Thelen friend, Locarary could spot detail. Stillness of noble was mere facade. The issue, over and over, remained same. The youngling could not see beyond the obvious. The silence of man just kept fuelling anger. The man offered the youngling flower representing his sadness, but she brushed it off, letting it drop to the ground. The man just walked off, wordless. Adding to her frenziness. With bitter feelings herself, bodyguard leant down and collected the flower. "Do not touch it! That's all he could do!"  Locarary del Sylrore ignored the ranting, wrapping the flower into cloth and securing it in bag. She would hand it over, when wizardess cools down.




**********


The wagon creaked every moment.
"Is it the silk clothing enough as my apology gift?"
"You made it yourself, that's what should count as most," replied guardian. They were on a classic route of theirs. To settle a conflict. Over the months, Locarary got forced to provide her insight. On many, many things. Her parents would consider her barely mature in that age of century and a bit, but if they had to deal with her sithican protege, the mage from Har-Thelen, the belt would never stop smacking. That idea amused Locarary deeply, but she supressed the sudden urge to laugh. Her merely fifty years old companion, while spoiled child, became a close friend. She felt that weird bond to her, and last weeks she did nothing else than dancing on the edges of the knifes. To protect her protege from all and her own including.

 Not long ago warrior could feel herself childish too, but the events both went trough and issues she had to undertake and go trough, felt like taking the childhood forever from the grasp of Locarary.
"How do we do that?" asked the sithican girl.
"I will hand him the box on your signal, and i can whisper the apology to him. To spare your pride," the star elf knew too well how the girl struggles talking to the noble. She kept accusing him of everything, everything he was not, attributing to him behave she had been doing herself.
"Oh, that would work," sithican smiled, "tell me what you will tell to him, we need to work on it and practise it, so you do not put me in bad light."
 Her bodyguard looked at the mage, and fought hard to not fall in wild outburst of laughter. "I will tell him..." finally began to describe.


**********

Both moved across nightly forest, and Locarary began to curse herself for not fetching warmer cloak. She cannot fall ill. But the forstbites were highly unpleasant and dangerous.
    It took a bit of wandering, for both to spot their prey. Lonely elf readied his blade leant onto the tree.
 After their greetings, he replied, his face still as marble. But he called Locarary as Protector. Naming her by a title of one of castes put her off in awknard manner for a while. Then words of protege about gift woke her up. She walked to him, handing him the box, and passing the apology in lower voice.
 By that time, she already peeked inside the box, and to own surprise noticed that flower...


**********

She followed ranger into the room. Both set up plates with food on stool for the noble and her own protege. They were ordered to buy food for themselves too, but ranger fully neglected it. And it immedietly bit him.
"Thank you, did you buy for yourself too?" asked the Har-Thelen noble.
"I am not hungry, but thank you," replied ranger. Then, glanced to Locarary. "I forgot to ask Locarary," he admitted in hesitation.
"I ate, i am fine," she smiled and both returned to their post by the doors. She was hungry as a wolf. But she did not lie, she ate. In the morning. She wished not for ranger to be in bad spotlight.
   While mystic and noble talked, the two talked too. In hushed voices, about the lands of Spectres. It was that time, when the faerunian made her promise. To stand side by side with the ranger, defending his home town.

**********

What was supposed to be a dinner turnt into disaster.
"He now thinks i tried to pry on him when being drunk!"
"He does not! He is just a simple man doing his duty and clumsy with words. And not caring for this meddling!" replied Locarary calmly as ever, but her frown clearly showing  thoughts. They both argue forth and back, and then, something totally unexpected happened.
"GET OUT! I want to be alone!" shouted her friend. "Fine! but you won't drink this wine least!" Now, star elf struggling to control her own emotions, grabbed the bottle of wine of Leithe, and shut the doors behind herself.

Standing outside, in the hallway, she threw the bottle against the wall. It shattered, wine soaking into plaster walls. It was easy to blame the wine, but to star elf, it seemed to have awful influence on sithicans.
 The moment the remants of bottle hit the ground, the female already was calm. Weaving a way to make her friend change her mind about ranger. A sigh escaped her, it will be painful and lenghty endevour.

**********

A corner of eye noticed the bear form of druid collapse under strikes. There was no way to help him in any way. Lithe and fragile elf faced off her own fifteen invidian enemies. Blades were bouncing off armour, shield, or outright missing her trough the divine will of Hlaal. She held her position. No option beside to win and live, or fail and die, and have others die too. Spear stabbed one, then another, then hit a guy into helmet from a side. Calmly, with patience, worked her way trough the crowd. They still managed to hurt her, elf felt her blood and life seeping off as the tiring of muscles echoed trough body. She felt no fear. No time for it, mind and hands too busy with surviving...and killing.  When last man fell, she strode over to destroy the handful of undead nearby. Then simple tripped and fell across ground, panting out heavily.

"Awsome! You are my hero!" chanted sithican wizard. Inevitably, burning these words into mind of young woman. And every single time she would face humilation, defeat or failure, surfacing like burnt with hot iron into mind.

**********


Man blocked the road with own body, trying for some kind of irony or joke. He failed. "If, least, he would have some decency, manners or level," thought Locarary about the vampires who just caught up on her on the road. She could fight one, but not two. Yes, she noticed the other guy behind her. She decided to play for time a bit, before giving it a run. If. If only the two women from temple were not just passing trough.

 One of them walked forward shouting to not be afraid. For a moment, Locarary belived in competence of self confident woman. So remained still and idle, observing. Until the point, where the woman began to drop around garlic. And sprinkle water onto the man. But before she  could react, the man hissed and knocked the woman off, it went so fast, Locarary failed to see how did he do that. Hoping, the other person would try least to run, she charged. Engulfed in divine wrath, she took some decent wounds on the vampire. Then he simple vanished. She made a circle or two, expecting unavoideble backstab now and any moment. But nothing came. Headed over to the wounded woman, and healed her. "Run", then turned just in time to spot the man again. Tentacles spurted from the ground and wrapped elf up, freezing her. A mage. A goddamned mage.

 And no, of course the other one just stood there, watching. And now two heavily wounded ones were used as bargain against her. The arrogant vampire did not even bother to restrain the defeated. But there was very little to do. No healing, own magic gone....and the wounded woman began to attack the man with bare fists.
 The elf did the single reasonable thing she could choose to do. Turned and run. Never before fell her self confidence so low, not because of being beaten, but for choosing to flee. But dead Locarary cannot protect that silly girl.

**********


The winter is coming. Star elf pulled her thin cloak closer. Some things never change. Grim and sad frown on sharply cut comely face. It takes a long time for herself to learn and adjust. Yes, get the warmer cloak. She could tell these words to herself every single winter.
  Suddenly ranger dissembarked from the wagon in front of her. "The sun rises," ambushed him. "The sun rises, Locarary," replied and nodded. "Come," told him, not bothering to explain, and paid wagon for Sithicus.
"I got a message she waits for us in some barrows," explained woman. It seemed like ranger's body cannot decide to go pale or red in anger. "Why?"
 But she knew not the answer. Hand rested on axe, she carried now. Loca knew not, beside it is urgent.

As they walked together, across the creepy land, she reflected on the past events. Her friend acted weirdly mature last weeks. And Locarary finally suceed to show her who friends are, and have her stop fighting own people who were helping. Despite all failures, both were progressing greatly.


« Last Edit: December 24, 2021, 02:12:25 AM by pretty »