unwanted elves 20 cliffie bonus

 

Unwanted Elves

Chapter 20

 

“I’d pay money to see that.” I muttered

“It’s not that difficult,” said Chessina, “but you do need a very flexible hook. Shutting up now.” She concluded as Silavara gave Chessina a jaundiced look.

“We have much to discuss so may we go in to do so?” Chessina asked. “The king will cause no trouble for the moment, so nasal evisceration need not be performed immediately.”

“It is our custom to discuss matters openly within the community.” Said Evashawn coldly.

“Much of what we must discuss is very disturbing,” I commented, “and you must decide how best to inform your people.”

Evashawn gestured to us to enter and we did so, the princess and her husband following us and the centaurs bringing up the rear.

I had no idea what the dwelling of centaurs would be like, I suppose I expected something exotic and different from anything I had seen before. It was actually remarkably similar to a woodsman’s hut, only much larger. The interlocking logs that made up the walls were sealed with mud inside as well as outside. The large doorway through which we had come was cut out of the logs, and framed with cut planks, the doors themselves also made of planks. Unlike most woodsmen’s cottages the planks had been carefully smoothed and carved with flowers and leaves. The floor was earthen and there were horn windows with shutters in the walls. I thought the planks and the huge beams and trusses that supported the ceiling were adzed not sawn. The brick chimney was wide and massive and I was surprised to see not cooking implements.

 

Swiftly Chessina outlined what we knew and what we suspected about Prydythaur’s plans. As we spoke the adult centaurs became more angry, Evashawn coldly angry and Serban fierily so, while the elves and Serashawn were horrified. Chessina looked at Evashawn and then flicked her gaze at Serashawn questioningly.

“It’s better that she know.” Said Evashawn.

“I... I... how could my father make such terrible threats to Serashawn, she’s so sweet?” Ariannaith asked us, bewildered.

“He has been ensorcelled by Prydythaur,” Chessina reminded her.

“Princess,” I said, “please cast your mind back to the time before Prydythaur arrived. What was your father’s attitude to centaurs and humans then?”

Ariannaith considered for a moment and then replied,

“He didn’t like centaurs, he considered them uncouth,” she said, glancing apologetically towards the centaurs, “but was afraid of antagonising them, due to their strength and skill at arms.” She paused again. “Humans he positively despised.”

“I fear then,” I said, “that Prydythaur’s spell removed the inhibitions that practicality forced on your father so that he spoke his true feelings.”

Ariannaith looked stunned by this thought and Cyfaill put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

 

This information confirmed to me that the elven king would have to go and I felt a distinct chill as I realised I was going to kill someone in cold blood. Did that make me as bad as Prydythaur/Sekemhef, who killed without compunction to further his schemes. I thought back to something Harmon had said, and I could almost hear him say, “What you do is important, but why you do it is even more so.”  The elven king was a terrible danger to humans, dwarves and centaurs. Indeed he was a danger to his own people as he would thrust them into a war which might end in their extermination. I hoped there might be a way to deal with him without killing him, but if there wasn’t, I hardened my heart to a horrible necessity.

 

A thought struck me as I contemplated my course of action. I thought of the voices I had heard in the blue-white radiance when I got so angry at the king in the throne room. I could almost swear that I heard Harmon’s voice. What if I actually did? I knew that Harmon’s soul was with Arcana as I had talked to him using contact the dead. I really knew very little about the scope of the Tower’s capabilities, and the staff was an extension of the tower. Out of the corner of my eye for an instant I thought I glimpsed, or did I actually do so, Harmon wearing the smile that I missed so much. My resolve firmed; I would do what was needed to protect others, whatever misgivings I might have.

 

“What’s going on Castamir?” Chessina whispered at me. “You are wearing your, ‘I’m going to do something that I hate but is necessary’ expression.”

“I’m going to have to kill the king as it’s doubtful that he can be persuaded not to start a war, and I’m not really enamoured of the idea.” I replied.

“We’ll see what the queen has to say.” Chessina said. “She might have an idea.”

“You’re going to calmly discuss killing her husband with the queen?” I expostulated.

“Well, she doesn’t like him much.” Chessina stated.

“How do you know that?”

“Partly her demeanour towards him, and partly what I saw in her mind as Prydythaur’s charm dissolved.” Chessina explained.

 

“I’m not quite sure what to next,” I admitted in a whisper. “Part of me wants to hare off and deal with Prydythaur right now, and part wonders if that’s the right thing to do.”

“Let’s take this logically,” Chessina whispered back. “Fishface would be distinctly unimpressed, if Sekemhef/Prydythaur failed in his mission. Your habit of understatement must be rubbing off on me, Fishface would have Sekemhef/Prydythaur tortured to the point of death for failing him. Prydythaur knows this and won’t leave the vicinity. His only hope involves getting to the king to start the war and getting the black fire opal magic weapons to arm the demon army.”

“We need to get back to deal with the king, and find the weapons.” I continued whispering.

“Tancyfrwys should know,” Chessina continued whispering. “We need to get back and ask her.”

“And look at whatever magic, Prydythaur has got stashed away.” I whispered.

 

“I think it would be a bad idea to try to counter Prydythaur directly for the present.” I said to the assembled group. “On the other hand, I don’t want him to be able to wander around without us knowing. Evashawn, Serban would some of your people be willing to act as scouts to keep watch on anyone leaving the Enclave?”

“I’m sure our people could do that.” Evashawn replied while Serban nodded agreement.

“The only difficulty would be letting others know that someone had been seen if scouts were spread around the perimeter of the Enclave.”  I said having just realised the drawback.

“Leave that to me.” Silavara said with her customary serenity. “My goddess will let me communicate via the ‘whispering leaves’ spell with the watchers, and with you and Chessina with the ‘voices on the wind’ spell. In each case, only those I touch will be able to understand. Any others will only hear the rustling of the leaves or the soughing of the wind.”

“Thank Silvana for us, Silavara.” Chessina said, hugging the priestess.

“I will, Chessina,” Silavara replied, “We must all work together during this crisis.”

“And afterwards to, I hope.” I added.

I was rewarded with one of Silavara’s rare smiles.

 

Evashawn and Serban led us all, including Ariannaith and Cyfaill to a very large building made in the same style as the other dwellings in the village, although it had multiple chimneys along each side as well as one at the far end from the entrance. I gasped involuntarily when I entered at the size of the roof beams and the pillars holding up the roof. I wondered how they were raised and could only conclude that magic was involved somehow. I noticed that each fireplace had chains, hooks and other cooking appurtenances and there were collapsed trestle tables against the walls. Presumably this was a communal cooking and eating place. I wondered if this was because although omnivores, centaurs were more comfortable in herds.

Evashawn called for attention, and without any seeming effort her voice reached every part of the hall, I suppose you would call it. I love magic.

“Gentles all, the forest is facing a grave threat which needs our help to deal with.” She said. There wasn’t the muttering I might have expected from humans or elves. Apparently centaurs, like dwarves let people get on with saying what was important, and only then talking about it. Evashawn continued,

“Towermaster Castamir, will explain.”

That was my cue.

“The elven court has been infiltrated by a half-demon, bent on fomenting war.” I began.  “We also believe that this same demon is responsible for the beasts that have changed to become monsters. Some of you may know of him. This half demon is the Royal Bard Prydythaur.”

At this the centaurs gave what I can only describe as a low pitched growl. They obviously were not fond of him.

“Unfortunately he can change his appearance by some form of magic, so we do not know what he looks like, but we do have various means to seek him out.” It was important, I thought to give them some form of encouragement. “Silavara, Priestess of Silvana has determined that Prydythaur is within the Trade Enclave, and this is where you can help us.” I had their rapt attention now.

“We would like volunteers to ring the Enclave with scouts who can see if anyone leaves the Enclave and follow them discretely. Priestess Silavara will arrange a magical means of communication while you are in the forest, and a different means to talk to us while we are in the city. Prydythaur has left magic behind him and we are going to examine it to see if any of this will aid us in defeating him. I warn you now to observe and report ONLY, do not try to approach or attack him. We have faced demons before, you have not. Unless you know precisely what you are doing and have the right magic, to attack a demon is to die.

“Knowing all this, will any volunteer to aid us?”

As I finished my speech practically the entire male population of the village strode forward, together with a number of the females. I also noticed a number of foals moving forward, Serashawn among them, and being dragged back by the tail by older female centaurs, presumably relatives of some sort. The female dragging Serashawn back with one hand, was dragging another foal with the second.

“I am deeply grateful to all of you.”  I said, being deeply moved. “Evashawn, Serban and Silavara will explain what you need to do in detail. Chessina and I must go now. Remember, observe and report ONLY, and may the Gods bless us all.”

  

oOo

 

After Silavara had touched us while she cast voices on the wind, and tested that it worked, priestesses being as cautious as wizards, we were escorted back to the city by a female centaur who looked middle aged, in human terms. She proved as taciturn as Serashawn was loquacious, saying nothing but,

“My name is Kerend. I am to escort you back to the city.” Even Chessina’s best attempts elicited nothing but non-committal grunts.

 

oOo

 

When we got back to the city, we made a beeline for the Queen’s chambers. The guards knew better than to try to stop us now. Indeed one of them said,

“The Queen is expecting you Towermaster, please come this way.”

He didn’t mention Chessina, but at least he did say ‘please’. Oh well, Adalsburg wasn’t built in a day.

When shown into the Queen’s chambers an odd tableau confronted us. The queen, Blaithamlwg and  Tancyfrwys were seated around a low table with refreshments on it. Seated between Blaithamlwg and  Tancyfrwys was a half –elf I didn’t know. I could tell he was half-elven by his light brown hair.

“Castamir, Chessina, this is Iespr, a great friend of Prydythaur.”  Said Blaithamlwg.

“Hello, nice to meet you.” Said Iespr, “Everyone’s been very kind to me, which I didn’t expect.”

He gazed on us both with guileless eyes and a rather vague expression. I looked at Chessina and she gave an infinitesimal nod. He was charmed as I suspected, and I thought done in rather a slapdash way. Iespr had just been made incredibly suggestible, rather than focussed on pleasing the spell caster Prydythaur. I wondered if he had been more rattled by being discovered than I had thought.

“I’ve been trying to get into Prydythaur’s rooms to get something for him,” Iespr continued, “But I can’t seem to get the door open, even though I have the keys.”

Prydythaur’s keys, that should make getting into the cabinet much easier. I mused for a moment on the irony, that the ‘civilised’ elves required locks, while the ‘barbaric’ centaurs didn’t.

“Iespr is there a special word or phrase to use when unlocking the cabinet?”  Chessina asked.

“Oh yes,” Iespr replied, then his face clouded a little, “But I’m not supposed to tell anyone.”

“Don’t worry, Iespr,” Chessina said, soothingly, “We’ll help you to get in the door, and then you can use the word to open the cabinet and you won’t have to tell anyone.” He brightened at this as Chessina continued, “Where are you to take Prydythaur’s things to, Iespr?”

“He has a room in the largest inn in the Enclave, The Wild Hart.”  Iespr replied.

“Why don’t we go now and get this sorted out.”  Chessina suggested.

We all trooped to Prydythaur’s rooms, and on arrival Iespr said, rather plaintively,

“I kept trying, but I couldn’t open the door.”

“Let me help you, friend Iespr.” I said, going to the door and telling it to open. I went through, Iespr hot on my heels. Obviously following instructions from Prydythaur, he went straight to the bedside cabinet and spoke a word,

“Drakhan.”

That’s the Abyssal word for ‘open’. A good choice for a password, if nobody knew you were part demon.

Inside the cabinet on the top shelf, were over a dozen small bottles and phials, while the bottom contained six scroll cases.

“Thank you so much for your help,” Said Iespr, “But I really need to take these things to Prydythaur, he’ll be getting impatient.”

“There’s no need to trouble yourself, Iespr,” Chessina continued in that soothing tone, with a little bit of voice magic too. “We’ll deal with all the things; as you have worked so hard you must be tired, why don’t you go and lie down on the sofa and take a nap. Don’t worry, we know Prydythaur quite well.”

“Now you mention it, I do feel rather sleepy.”  Iespr said, yawning. He tottered into the parlour, lay down on the sofa and promptly went to sleep.

“Blaithamlwg, you need to have him moved somewhere and kept safe until this is all over.” Chessina stated, “And if you can, find someone who doesn’t hate half-elves too obviously.”

Blaithamlwg had the grace to look shamefaced, and replied,

“Yes I will.”

Tancyfrwys was almost vibrating with impatience to examine the contents of the cabinet, and I wasn’t far behind. Chessina turned, and said, very calmly,

“Well, shall we investigate?” She seemed totally self-controlled about the matter, except to me, who knew her so well, and was certain she was as interested as we were.

“Tancyfrwys, will you do the honours?” I asked, “As Prydythaur has caused a great deal of potential trouble here, I think you should investigate.”

I wasn’t being completely altruistic here, as I suspected Tancyfrwys’ skills with the analytica branch of magic exceeded mine. I wasn’t about to admit that however, even though I was starting to trust her.

Tancyfrwys muttered her spells over the various bottles and phials, at length declaring,

“Five of the containers hold poisons of various kinds, two of which I believe are specific to elves, two are universal antidotes, and I’m not quite sure about the precise nature of the last six, all I know is that they will reduce or weaken some aspect of the mind.”

“Perhaps Chessina and I might see what we can find out.”  I suggested.

“Please do.”  Tancyfrwys replied. What a change had come over her in such a short while. She was becoming worryingly likeable.

Chessina and I both cast our spells, and almost immediately nodded in satisfaction.

“They are will weakening potions, Tancyfrwys,” Chessina said, “Castamir and I have come across such things before.”

Indeed, they were the stock in trade of the late, and very unlamented wizard Agravar.

“Thank you, I hadn’t come across such things before. I can now see why we succumbed so readily to Prydythaur’s spell, if we had been dosed with such things.” Tancyfrwys commented, with more than a hint of bitterness in her voice. Blaithamlwg laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Now let us see what the scrolls are.” Tancyfrwys continued. “I’d better see if they are trapped.”

I knew they weren’t, I’d already checked; wizards are cautious.

Tancyfrwys cautiously opened one scroll case after checking there were no unpleasant surprises, and took out its contents. She stared in surprise at the parchment covered in symbols. “I have no idea what this means.”

“May I see,” Said Chessina, who had been looking over Tancyfrwys’ shoulder. “It’s written in Agerakian, ancient Agerakian. Master!” Chessina squealed in excitement, “I think it’s the Lost Book of Djehuti!”