Quietly

The forest was eerily still. No birdcalls greeted the dawn. No animals scurried through the thick branches overhead.

Elbereth glanced back to the others every few steps, a look of dread clear on his face.

"At least there are no battles in the area," Danica offered, her voice a whisper, but still seeming loud in the quiet wood.

Elbereth moved back to join them. "The paths are clear, but I fear to ride," he said softly. "Even leading the horses at so slow a pace, their hoofbeats can be heard many yards away."

Cadderly snapped his fingers, then cringed at the sharp sound. Ignoring the surprised looks, and a scowl from Elbereth, the young scholar pulled his pack from Temmerisa, the horse he had been leading. The bells had been removed and muffled with clothing, then packed away in saddlebags.

"Wrap them," Cadderly said, producing a thick woolen blanket. The others didn't seem to understand.

"The hooves," Cadderly explained. "Rip the blanket into strips . . ." His voice trailed off as he locked gazes with the stern elf. Elbereth eyed him curiously Cadderly thought he noted a flash of admiration in Elbereth's silver eyes.

Without another word, Elbereth pulled out his knife and took the blanket from Cadderly. In a few minutes, they were moving again, the hoofbeats still audible but somewhat muffled. When Elbereth looked back again and nodded his approval, Danica nudged Cadderly and smiled.

They stopped for a short rest late that morning, far from the wood's eastern edge. Still the forest was quiet; they had found no sign of anyone, friend or foe.

"My people will fight in quick skirmishes," Elbereth explained. "They are not numerous enough to afford the losses of any large battles. They will move swiftly and silently, striking at the enemy from afar and being gone when he moves against them."

"Then our chances of finding them are not promising," said Danica. "More likely, they will find us."

"Not so," the elf explained. "They have horses to tend, and undoubtedly" he next words came hard to him - wounded who will need to rest in a secure place. Shilmista was not caught without plans for defense, no matter how sudden the attack was. We are not many, and not allied with any great powers. We of Shilmista have rehearsed our home's defense since the first elf walked into this wood many centuries ago."

"Predetermined camps," Cadderly reasoned.

Elbereth nodded. He picked up a twig and drew a rough map of the forest on the ground. "By the location of the rising smoke, the fight is up here," he said, pointing to the northern section.

"Then we need not muffle the horses," Rufo put in, "and we might ride instead of walk." The angular man's suggestion met with only tentative acceptance.

"We are near the center of the wood," Elbereth went on, leaving Rufo's thoughts hanging unanswered for the moment. "The first camp would have been here, just south of a defensible region known as the Dells." Again the elf seemed to fight past a lump in his throat. "I would presume that camp has been deserted by now."

"And the next?" Cadderly asked, simply because he thought Elbereth needed a moment to recover.

"Here," the elf said, indicating an area not too far from their present position. He looked up to find a break in the trees, then pointed out a fair sized hill, poking out of the green canopy several miles to the north.

"Daoine Dun, Hill of the Stars," the elf prince explained. "Its sides are thick with pine and blocked by tangled birch to the north and west. There are many caves, easily concealed, and some large enough to house the horses."

"How long to get there?" Danica asked.

"Faster if we ride," said Rufo.

"Before we decide to ride," Cadderly cut in, drawing Elbereth's attention before the elf had time to answer the angular man, "explain to me why the wood is so quiet?"

"It hangs thick with dread," Danica agreed.

Elbereth nodded. "I think it better that we walk. Even so, we can make Daoine Dun soon after sunset. I will go first, far in front."

"And I will go to the side of the trail," offered Danica, "concealed in the brush." She looked to Cadderly. "You can lead two mounts."

Cadderly's nod set them off again, plodding slowly and as quietly as possible through the forest. Rufo, pausing to rub his feet every so often, was not happy to be walking again, but he didn't complain with anything more than occasional sour looks toward Cadderly.

Three hours later, with the sun beginning its western descent in earnest, Danica whispered for Cadderly and Rufo to hold the horses still. Both were amazed at how close the woman actually was to them, for though the brush beside the path was thick and tangled, they had not heard a sound of her passing.

Elbereth came rushing back then, motioning for the two men to lead the horses from the open path.

"Goblins," the elf explained when they were all under the thick cover. "Many goblins, spread out east and west. Their eyes are on Daoine Dun, but they have guards, archers, posted along the way."

"Can we go around them?" Cadderly asked.

"I do not know," the elf answered honestly. "Their line is long, I believe, and to pass beyond them we will have to go far from the road, among tangles that our mounts may not be able to cross."

Danica was shaking her head. "If their line is long," she reasoned, "then likely it is not deep. We could charge right through them."

"And the archers?" Rufo reminded her.

"How many are along the road?" Danica asked Elbereth.

"I saw two," the elf replied, "but I believe there were others, at least a few, hidden in the brush."

"I can get them," the woman promised.

Elbereth started to protest, but Cadderly grabbed his elbow. The young scholar's nod took the bite from the elf's argument.

Danica drew a rough sketch of the road in the dirt. "You take a position here," she explained. She gave Elbereth a wink. "Be ready with your bow!" she offered, pointedly including the elf in her plans.

She remained cryptic, though, completing the plans by merely stating, "When you hear the jay, charge on." With no reply forthcoming, and not wanting to waste a moment, Danica started quietly off along the bushes.

"I will catch you as I pass," Cadderly promised at her back. Danica didn't doubt that for a minute.

Elbereth and Cadderly took up positions near a bend in the road that allowed them to watch the distant goblins, while Rufo stayed back with the three horses, ready to spring ahead at the elf's call. Elbereth, keen-eyed and attuned to the forest, pointed out Danica's progress as the young woman made her silent way through the bushes on the right side of the road. Barely visible even though she had just set out, Danica soon disappeared altogether, not a shaking twig to mark her movement.

There came a sudden rustle beside the goblins. Elbereth leveled his bow, but Cadderly put a hand on the elf's arm, reminding him to keep patient. Apparently the movement had been more obvious to Cadderly and Elbereth than to the two goblin sentries on the road, for the monsters did not even turn toward it.

All was quiet again for seconds that seemed like hours to the nervous companions.

"Where are you?" Cadderly whispered to the empty path ahead, trusting in Danica's skills but fearful nonetheless. He held his small crossbow, cranked and ready, and had to remind himself several times, as he had reminded Elbereth, to have patience and trust in Danica. "Where are you?"

As if in reply, Danica shot up suddenly behind one of the goblin guards. Her arm flicked, then she reached around the goblin's head, put her hand over its mouth, and pulled it down into the bushes.

The other guard slumped to its knees, clutching at the dagger embedded deeply into its chest.

The cry of a jay sounded almost immediately, and Elbereth echoed it back to Rufo. In seconds, they were up and riding, with powerful Temmerisa easily outpacing the lesser mounts.

To the left of the road, an archer popped up, but Elbereth was quicker on the draw and the goblin went down in a heap.

Two other archers appeared from the brush farther down the road. Danica noticed them and rushed ahead. She spun to the side, dodging one arrow, and stopped her spin perfectly to continue her charge, then dove flat to her belly to avoid another arrow. She never slowed through the evasive movements, and the goblins never had the time to ready their bows again before Danica leaped at them, turning flat out and horizontal in midair to knock both of them to the ground.

His blue silk cape flying behind him, Cadderly put his head down, held on to his wide-brimmed hat, and spurred his horse on, desperate to get beside Danica. He could see the bushes shaking with the struggle. A goblin arm shot up, holding a sword, then chopped down wickedly.

"No!" Cadderly cried. Then the same sword reappeared above the brush, this time in Danica's hand. When it descended, a goblin squealed in agony.

Elbereth's mount reared as it passed the wounded guard on the road. The elf finished the monster off with his sword, then bent low in his saddle to retrieve Danica's valuable dagger. A goblin rushed out from the brush on the other side, intent on the elf.

Using his now favorite tactic, Kierkan Rufo or, more accurately, Kierkan Rufo's horse promptly ran the creature down.

Danica was back to the edge of the road, crouching low and waiting for Cadderly to get to her. Another goblin appeared, rushing toward her with sword drawn.

Cadderly's wide-brimmed hat flew off, bouncing behind his neck at the end of its tie and flying with his silken cape. He drew his loaded crossbow and tried to get a shot at the creature. Frustrated by the bounce of the horse's gallop, he spurred his mount on, thundering right up behind the goblin. The goblin turned, growled, and waved its sword about.

It never got the chance to use it. Just a couple of feet away, Cadderly let the dart fly. Another long horse stride took him right by the goblin, within the creature's sword reach, but the goblin was in the air, flying away into the brush, already dead.

Cadderly hadn't escaped unscathed, though. So close to his target, the flash of the exploding dart burned and blinded him, and he nearly lost his seat. Then Danica was up behind him, guiding the horse back to the center of the path and holding Cadderly steady.

Elbereth and Rufo were right behind; hoots and calls went up all about them.

"Ride on!" the elf prince cried, rearing and spinning Temmerisa about. His great bow twanged again, then again, each shot sending another enemy to the grave.

Rufo's horse, with just one rider, got a few paces ahead of Cadderly's, making Cadderly and Danica the prime targets for those goblins springing from the brush along the road. A few clumsily thrown spears bounced harmlessly short, one arrow whistled by, and another came in, straight for Cadderly's back.

Danica noticed it at the last instant and threw her arm up to block.

"What?" came Cadderly's alarmed cry.

"It is nothing!" Danica replied. "Ride on!" She figured that now was not the time to show Cadderly the arrow sticking right through her forearm.

A few more strides, and they were running free. Then came Temmerisa, as fast as an arrow. In mere seconds, Elbereth was beside them again, grim-faced but unhurt.

When they had put half a mile behind them, they slowed their pace and dismounted. It was then that they noticed Danica's wound.

Cadderly nearly fell over, seeing the bloody arrow shaft protruding from both sides of Danica's delicate arm. Elbereth rushed over to her, spurring the young scholar to do the same.

"It is not serious," Danica said to calm them.

"How can you say that?" came Cadderly's retort. He went back to the horse to retrieve his pack and returned bearing bandages and a jar of salve. By the time he was back beside her, Danica had pulled the arrow all the way through and was deep in concentration, using her meditative powers to gather the strength she would need to battle the pain.

Cadderly tried not to disturb her concentration as he gently wrapped the wound. Danica's mental powers were truly amazing; Cadderly had once seen her force a two-inch sliver from her leg without even touching it with her hands, using nothing but sheer concentration and muscle control. He did the best he could in wrapping the arm, then hesitated, a trapped expression clouding his face.

"What is it?" Elbereth demanded.

Cadderly ignored him and summoned the courage to call upon Deneir. He muttered the chants of minor healing spells, one after another (though he wasn't well-versed in the art and didn't know how much good he was doing).

Reluctantly, for he had hoped to save his curative spells for himself, Kierkan Rufo came over to join him.

Before Rufo could begin to work on the arm, though, Danica opened her eyes. "That will not be necessary," she said calmly to the sharp-featured priest, her eyes glazed and a look of sincere contentment on her smooth face. Elbereth and Cadderly both started to protest, but then Cadderly looked more closely at the wrapping and realized that the wound had already stopped bleeding. He couldn't be sure if his spells or Danica's own concentration had stemmed the flow, and he honestly didn't care either way.

"We must continue," Danica said, her voice almost sleepy, "as before, with Elbereth in front and me to the side."

Elbereth protested. "I will take the lead," he agreed, "but you will stay with the others and the horses. We are not so far from Daoine Dun. If that is my people's camp, I do not believe we will encounter any more enemies between here and there."

Cadderly was surprised when Danica did not argue. He knew then that her wound was much more serious and painful than she had let on.

They walked on into the twilight, when all the wood, shrouded in deepening gloom, took on an even more ominous appearance to Cadderly. He grew alarmed as Elbereth disappeared from sight, slipping suddenly into the trees. Soon, though, the elf was back on the path and approaching, two other tall and grim-faced elves beside him. He introduced them as his cousins and was glad to report that his people had indeed set camp on the Hill of the Stars, just a mile north.

One of the elves accompanied them the rest of the way; the other went back to his watch.

Their escort told Elbereth of the battles; Cadderly saw the elf prince grimace as the other elf described the last skirmish, wherein a wizard had appeared and turned a tree to flames.

"Ralmarith is dead," the elf said grimly, "and Shayleigh . . ."

Elbereth spun on him and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"She lives," the elf said immediately, "though she is sorely wounded, and sorely wounded, too, is her heart. She was the last to leave Ralmarith and had to be pulled away."

Elbereth was not surprised. "She is a loyal friend," he agreed solemnly.

Elbereth went first to find Shayleigh when they reached Daoine Dun, though word was quickly (and often) passed to him that his father, the king, wished to speak with him.

Cadderly was amazed at how easily the elf prince seemed to ignore that request and follow his own agenda. It reminded the young scholar somewhat of himself on one of the many occasions he had avoided a summons from Headmaster Avery. Cadderly dismissed the thought quickly, not yet comfortable with any comparisons between himself and the arrogant, unmerciful Elbereth.

They found the wounded maiden on a cot in a small cave that had been set up to care for the injured. She was heavily bandaged in several places but did not seem so bad to Cadderly until he looked into her eyes. There loomed a sadness the young scholar thought would never diminish.

"We left Ralmarith," the maiden whispered, her voice choked, as soon as Elbereth moved beside her. "They killed him, hacked his body . . ."

"Shhhh." Elbereth tried to calm her. "Ralmarith lies with the gods now. Do not fear for him."

Shayleigh nodded but had to look away.

They sat in silence for many minutes. Another elf entered and immediately moved to tend Danica's injured arm. The stubborn monk politely refused, but Cadderly nudged her hard and reminded her that the dressing had to be changed. With a defeated sigh, Danica moved off with the elf.

"When will you be back in the fighting?" Elbereth asked Shayleigh at length. Both looked the attendant's way.

"Tomorrow!" the maiden said firmly. The attendant just shrugged and nodded helplessly.

"That is good," said Elbereth. "Rest well this night. Tomorrow we shall fight together, and together avenge Ralmarith!" He took a step toward the entrance.

"You are leaving?" Shayleigh asked, alarmed.

"There are goblins to the south," Elbereth explained. "They intend to surround the hill, I would guess. We cannot allow that." He looked over to Danica. "She will remain beside you," he said to Shayleigh. "A fine warrior and ally for our struggle."

"Are you going after the goblins tonight?" Cadderly asked, behind Elbereth. "The day would seem more favorable," he explained when Elbereth turned to him. "Goblins do not fight well in sunlight."

"This is Shilmista," Elbereth reminded him, as though that fact alone explained everything. The elf prince stood tall and straight, his jaw firm, his silver eyes narrowed and stern. "The goblins shall die, day or night."

"I will go with you," Cadderly offered.

"I will not have you," Elbereth replied, turning back to Shayleigh. "You are not elven and will not see through the darkness." To the maiden he asked, "Where is Tintagel?"

"With your father," Shayleigh replied. "We have called for Daoine Teague Feer, but Galladel has refused thus far."

Elbereth considered that news for a few moments but had no time to worry about it. He swept out of the tent, telling Cadderly and Rufo to rest easily and find a fine meal.

Ten minutes later, fifty elves set out on the goblin hunt, Elbereth leading upon Temmerisa, and the wizard Tintagel at his side. They returned at midnight, reporting a hundred goblins slain and scores more sent running. Not a single elf had been wounded.

*****

Cadderly was too excited to sleep, weary though he was. He had read much about elves over the years, but had met only a few and those only at the library. Something about being in Shilmista, on a hill under the stars, surrounded by elves, transcended the experience of reading about the people. There was a flavor here, an eldritch aura, that mere words, however well constructed, could not hope to capture.

He wandered about the camp, greeted by smiles on otherwise grim faces at every turn, noting the rich colors, even in the quiet darkness, of elven hair and eyes. All those stirring in the camp were too busy to be disturbed, he figured, so he didn't bother to introduce himself, just tipped his wide-brimmed hat and wandered past.

He had known from the moment he had left the Edificant Library that this journey would change his life, and he had feared that. He feared it still, for already the world seemed a wider place more dangerous and more wonderful all at once.

What of Elbereth? Cadderly didn't like the elf or the way the elf treated him, but instincts told him differently, told him of the elf's honor and loyalty.

When his thoughts inevitably turned to Danica, he found a rocky seat on the north side of the hill and dropped his chin into his hands. Danica, it seemed, held no reservations concerning Elbereth; she had accepted the elf fully, as friend and companion. That fact bothered Cadderly more than he cared to admit.

Cadderly sat for a long while, long after the elven war party had returned. In the end, he resolved nothing.
    
 

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