I lived the life of a privileged Elf and from birth had been given everything that I ever needed or wanted. I had all the finest silks to wear and routinely ate with the royal court. I had the opportunity to study the arcane arts but would inevitably end up daydreamed of far off places and adventure during studies. I next was asked to learn to wield weapons like my brothers before me. I was not as strong as my brothers and these honorable traits were never ingrained in me and all the work on the practice field bored me. What I lacked in strength to wield the long sword properly, I was more then compensated for with my dexterity and agility. This allowed me to do things that my brothers never could.
I spent a majority of my early childhood exploring the surrounding countryside and climbing trees. I especially enjoyed climbing the old trees as they seemed to reach to the heavens. I would climb to the top of the trees and look down upon the lands. There I would daydream of being noble paladin rescuing a princess and slaying the dragons. I would be gone for hours in my make believe world, and when I would get back to Mistwood, it seemed that no one ever took notice that I had even left. My siblings would be completing their chores or practicing their crafts and my parents would be no where to be found. The only one that would ever ask where I had been would be my maternal Grandfather, Allain Eveningfall. He took interest in what I did and spent many an evening recounting his ambassadorial travels to far off nations. I would be mesmerized as he would retell his adventures as a young elf and the people and places that he encountered. I would soak in all that he would say and this fed my ever increase fantasies.
Even at an early age, my father Llombaerth Gildenguard was not in our families lives as he was out suppressing the ever increasing on slot from the Goblin Kingdoms. Things only got worse as I approached my adolescence. My beloved grandfather was assassinated while on a diplomatic mission to the Under Dark land. My only true father figure had passed away and my mood and disposition soured.
My mother, Allannia, was asked by the Chief Herald to replace her father and become the ambassador of Mistwood. She was honored to be the first female ambassador and took great pride in her work. She knew of all the great houses within the Elven Kingdoms as she had traveled to them with her father when she was young. This just added to my opportunity for mischief as she was often away from The Wood as she was re-establishing diplomatic links with elves from the four corners of Erenth.
Oh sure, I could have followed my brothers into battle with my father, but I was the youngest and therefore, my father tried to protect me by never asking me to join him and my brothers in quelling the goblins. I could have gone with my mother on her diplomatic missions but she seemed preoccupied with details of her missions to ever ask me if I wanted to join her in her travels. What I wanted the most was to leave Mistwood, but she never gave me the opportunity.
Given these constrains, I stayed behind in the safekeeping of my grandmother. She was a very wise and intelligent woman, but rarely left her home, which gave me plenty of time to roam The Wood. I ultimately ended up with a new family. Sure, these brothers and sisters did not share the same mother or father, but they had the same general upbringing. We each took a blood oath during the summer solstice and as such, we were tied by blood. The Circle (as we called ourselves) was just a handful of young Elves that caused mischief and lived carefree. We didn’t cause any real harm, but we were gaining notoriety with the Cup Bearer and the Watch as we were in places that we should not have been or doing things we should not have done.
My fate changed when The Circle, on a routine exploration of Mistwood, ran across a small hunting party of Goblins. There were four of us in The Circle on that day. Lólindir Telperin was about my age and was adept at using the bow. His younger sister Gilraen was the youngest of the group and was skilled in the use of the old arts. We were going to head back to tell The Watch, but our eldest Llander Morninglight impressed on us that we should rid the wood of this evil ourselves. He further stated that by the time the watch came back, that these Goblins would surely be gone. Besides we saw that there were only five of the Goblins and one seemed frail. Llander went on to say that when we defeated the Goblin we could bring back the bodies to town and we would become heroes within the wood. We sat in a circle as Llander came up with what seemed like a good plan. We would wait till sunfall and attack the Goblins then.
As nightfall approached, we made our way towards the camp. It seemed odd to me that there were no guards stationed but Llander said to stop worrying and to pull out my knife. I did what Llander ordered as he was the eldest and wielded a long sword just as well as my brothers did.
A horn sounded in front of us and Gilraen shrieked behind us. Two Goblins were trying to subdue her. Gilraen pulled out her knife and in the tussle must have stabbed one of the Goblins. The Goblin shrieked and there was blood pouring from his leg. I was still trying to fend off my Goblin and while I was stepping back must have tripped over a rock and fell. The Goblin was about to finish me but Lólindir coming behind my opponent stabbed fiercely at my assailant. He stuck him dead on and dropped the Goblin in his tracks.
Llander yelled to us that there was several more coming from multiple directions. Lólindir grabbed my arm and pulled me up. We looked at Gilraen but she lay dead on the ground and the two Goblins were regaining their wits. From the left of us there were sounds of many Goblins approaching. We would soon be heavily outnumbered. Lólindir told me to flee and I followed him into the deep wood. We passed near where Llander swung. He shouted to us to save him but that would have been suicide for the rest of us. I threw him my knife as best as I could, and kept running into the wood right behind Lólindir.
When we were tired we stopped and waited to see if anyone followed. My heart was pounding in my chest and thought that if the Goblins were near they would surely hear my heart beating. Lólindir spoke to me and said that we would wait and go back before dawn to see if we can rescue our friends. We waited for what seemed like hours and I must have dozed off because when Lólindir shook me I got up and my head was pounding. I must have struck my head on the ground when I fell as there was some blood oozing from the back of it.
We headed back to where the Goblin party had encamped the night before. There was a foul air of death about the area. There was no sign of the Goblins or Gilraen, but Llander was easily found. He was still hanging from the tree full of Goblin arrows that were now dripping with Elven blood. I looked around in the area and found my knife buried to the hilt into the ground.
Lólindir looked at the ground and noted that his sister must still be alive. He found her footsteps heading West with a large Goblin war party. He said that the trail was easily visible and that he could follow it. He asked me what we should do. I was going to tell him that we should go back and get help, but I was sure that if Gilraen was truly still alive she would never survive the journey to the Goblin lands.
We cut Llander down and quickly buried him. I took his long sword and Elven cloak and boots and his wine skin and supplies and we headed out after Gilraen and the Goblins. The trail was easy to follow as at least two of the Goblins were bleeding and there were what seemed like thirty sets of footprints to follow through the forest.
Traveling light we caught up to them by midday . The Goblin party was moving at a reduced speed. Gilraen was indeed still alive but seemed hurt. Her eyes were covered with what appeared like blood soaked bandages. She stumbled often and was constantly being pulled up from the ground and cursed at by one of the Goblins.
It took all that I had to keep Lólindir from going into a rage and attacking them. This would not serve any purpose as we were overwhelmingly outnumbered, and attacking them would surely be suicide. I suggested that we take our time and follow them and try to sneak into their camp at night and try to free Gilraen. Lólindir agreed and we continued to follow them at a distance.
Luck was with us on that day at what seemed like a full moon soon turned into a cloud covered night. These clouds were black and low. It wouldn’t be long until the sky would open up and rain on Erenth. I told Lólindir to climb a tree so that he could provide cover as I sneaked into camp to free Gilraen. I donned the boots and cloak and crawled into the Goblin camp. The camp was quiet as I made my way through the sleeping Goblins. The rain made it easier to sneak past the perimeter guards as the sounds from my movement were muffled from the rain. The Goblins were also not moving as they were trying to shelter themselves from the pouring rain. I got into the camp undetected and reached Gilraen. I woke her and asked her not to move as I undid her bonds. I took out my knife and cut Gilraen’s bonds from her. She thanked me and said that the Goblins had hurt her and that she could not see. I told her that as long as she listened to me and did everything like I told her, she would be safe.
I covered her with the cloak and we headed out of the Goblin camp. We crawled out of the camp and headed towards Lólindir. After getting out of the camp I stood up and grabbed Gilran’s hand and led her away from danger. Our escape was slow as it was difficult leading a blind person through the deep undergrowth while trying not to make a sound.
Lólindir saw us and climbed down from the tree. He came to us thanked me as he hugged Gilraen.
The return journey to Mistwood was soured by the rain and the fact that we had lost our friend. Gilraen told us that the Goblins were not a hunting party at all, but they were guarding someone of importance as they traveled to the Goblin Kingdom. They had tortured her the night before trying to find out who we were and what we were doing. They also wanted to know how many of us there were and if there was going to be an Elven army following them. They would have killed her, but Gilraen did not say anything of note to them so they were forced to take her with them as a hostage or until she would talk. They had cut her eyes in hopes that she would not see where they were going to take her.
When we returned to town, the guards sounded the alarm when they saw that Gilraen was hurt. Elves came running to us to help us and see what all the ruckus was. Even the Rane was there. We told the assembled of what we saw and did. The Rane quickly dispatched a hunting party to find the Goblin trail and eradicate them if they found them. Lólindir asked to join the party as he knew where they were last seen and he had score to settle with them for what they had done. The party left and Gilraen was taken to the healers as she was weak from the loss of blood. I was the only one left and it seemed that all of Mistwood’s eyes were on me judging what I had done. I looked back at the crowd looking for a familiar face of my father or mother, but they were not there and the assembled were whispering between each other and judging for themselves what I had done. I turned and fled from the city never to come back.
The only thing I had was what was on my back. After a half of day of walking, I ran into a stream. I was tired and alone. I took a drink from the stream and filled my two wineskins full of water. I took a bite from the leaven bread and continued to walk. A few hours later there was a berry patch that I stopped at and gathered as many berries as I could carry. For the rest of the day I followed the rivers edge. That night I found a clearing and made camp. I made a fire and ate a few berries. I needed something more substantial and remembered that I had a fishhook in the bill of my cap. I took a length of Elven rope and used a few strands to make a makeshift fishing pole. I found a piece of rooted fish upstream and used that as bait. A few hours later I had caught my first fish. I cleaned it and cooked it over the open fire. I ate as much as I could and left the rest on a large rock near the fire. Just as I was about to fall asleep, a large peregrine falcon swooped down and landed on the rock. He looked at me and I didn’t move. He looked down at the trout that was at his claws and looked back up at me. I still didn’t move and he reached down and tore a huge chunk of the fish with his beak and claws. I watched him while he ate and eventually fell asleep while he continued to eat. I slept soundly and dreamed of far off places and things that I would see and do.
In the morning the falcon was gone and I was still alone and didn’t know where I was going. I ate some more berries and had a drink from the wineskin and continued downriver. That night, I fished again a caught another fish. I ate and fate would have it the same falcon landed near me and looked at me as I ate some of the fish. I threw him some of the fish and he ate it. I spoke to him but he did not answer. That was acceptable as I was sure I would not like what he had to say. He flew up near a tree next to me and stood there looking at me or maybe looking over me. No matter, he didn’t give the impression that he was going to attack me and I wasn’t about to scare him off.
The next morning, I again ate some berries and headed down river. I did manage to see a few dear as they drank from the river. I then contemplated that I needed to make a bow if I ever wanted to think of eating anything but fish for dinner. The rest of the day I looked at the tree branches on the trees that I passed to see if any of them would make a good bow. I finally found one in the afternoon and cut it down. It would make a strong bow when I was finished with it. That night I made camp and fished again. I just wasn’t able to catch a thing and ate a few berries for dinner. The falcon showed up again and looked at me. I threw him a few berries that he looked at. He didn’t seem to like them and flew off. Great, the only thing that I knew just left me also. I was alone again and my dreams were disturbing that night. I dreamt of the events at the Goblin camp and would sometimes see elves looking at me and whisperings.
I woke up early in the morning and was sore from the ground. I ate the last of my berries and headed off. During the day I used some more strands from the elven rope to make a bow string. I made a few make shift arrows but when I shot the bow, it seemed as if I had shot the bow blindfolded. I continued down river and spent the rest off day practicing shooting the bow with little improvement. In the late afternoon, I came upon a young doe standing in the river drinking water. I strung my bow and aimed real careful. I looked down the arrow at the doe and behind it on a tree branch was the falcon from the last few nights. I held my breath and let loose the arrow. The bow made a twang sound as the arrow released from the bow. I took a breath again and followed the arrow to its target. The doe looked up as the arrow went sailing over her head. The arrow struck a nearby tree and both the deer and the falcon took flight. I cursed at my luck and at the fact that I should have taken my arms practice much more seriously.
I figured that this was as good a time as any to camp. I made a fire again and warmed the chill from my body. I took out my fishing pole and tried to fish with no avail. I scavenged for some food but found none. I lay down near the fire and tried to sleep. That night I kept hearing strange noises coming from the woods and I huddled closer to the fire and took out my sword and bow. I eventually fell asleep.
I woke abruptly as heard a loud shriek come from the wood. I pulled out my sword and as I looked about a rabbit landed near me dead. I just heard the sounds of flapping wings overhead. I looked up but couldn’t make out what generated the noise. No matter, I looked at the rabbit and thanked my luck as I pulled out my knife from its sheath. I cleaned the rabbit and roasted it over the open flame of my fire. I took the rabbit off of the fire and was about to cut a leg off when to my left a huge bird landed. It was the falcon again and I smiled at him. It must have been him that caught the rabbit and dropped it near me. He hopped over to me and took a chunk out of the rabbit as I held it. I thanked him as he looked up at me. For the rest of the night I spoke to him and recounted the events with the Goblins. He kept looking at me and sometimes he would turn his head one way or another to see if there was anything there.
The next morning I awoke to the screeching sounds of the falcon. It seemed that he stayed with me that night and was trying to get me moving early this morning. I gathered my belongings and headed downstream again. This time the falcon flew over my head making huge circles overhead as I waked. I kept walking downriver but eventually noticed that the falcon was not overhead but was east of me circling in the sky. I had nothing better to do so I headed for that direction. I came to something that resemble a huge trail and walked in towards the falcon on the trail. Eventually, heading for me on the trail was what seemed like large group on horseback.
I got off the trail and climbed a tree while waiting for the group to pass. Near me the falcon landed and looked down at the group as well. The group were not Goblins or Elves but much bigger. I had learned about them in my studies and was glad that I remembered a little about them. They were called humans. I had never seen a human before, but they didn’t seem to be as savage and evil as they were written about.
After the group passed, I climbed even higher in the tree to very top. I looked down at the lands and far off to the east was a sprawling encampment. This was the first time I saw what I learned later was the city of Bolden
I raised my cloak over my head and walked into the city. I walked down several streets looking for something to eat. I eventually headed into what seemed like a place where several humans were eating and the smell of food was in the air. I sat down at a table and watched my surroundings. Eventually, a woman walked up to me and asked what I would like. I told her that I would like a trout fish and some water. She looked at me strange but said… “ok sweetie,” and walked away.
I looked around me and didn’t see a familiar face, but then again, I didn’t really expect to.
