Legends of Belariath
Ehlanna
A Tale of Ehlanna
It was one of those gentle autumn nights, the landscape bathed in the reflected glow of a gibbous moon and the soft twinkling of starlight. As the night cooled under the cloudless sky owls spread their wings and silently swooped as they hunted for prey in the fields around the Lonely Inn. Indistinct forms wheeling through the light cast through the mullioned windows of the Inn, soft feathers catching the light briefly, amber eyes casting a lambent glow back as snowy heads turned to seek out the pale brown backs of scuttling mice.
Further from the Inn other hunters were also in search of prey. Not winged, but cloaked. Not taloned, but armed with glistening blades held close to body. Not feathered, but clad in scale mail and leathers. Moonlight made dappled patches on the forest floor, bringing glimpses of pale reds and browns of fallen leaves, as it peeked through the sparse canopy of denuded branches of the oaks and elms. Through this sylvan scene the hunters prowled, booted feet moving silently over the leaf strewn ground.
At the forests edge a figure crouched in the undergrowth, shrouded in shadow, silently watching the still streets around the Inn. An arm slowly raised to the horizontal was the only sign that the figure even acknowledged the presence of the hunters. Taking their cue from the watcher they slowed their cautious approach even more, covering the final few yards to the line of bushes that marked the forests edge in a slow crouch.
“There are at least two … maybe more”, the watcher hissed quietly, not bothering to turn away from his vigil.
“Protected?” This from the leader of the group.
A silent nod in response, “yes, if you can call it that … one of them is a newly wed, her husband would fight or follow.”
“Who are …” the leaders voice fell silent as a rectangular beam of light shone from an opened doorway.
The group watched in silence as a blue furred cat boy closed the door after him and padded on nervous feet away from a town house. Heads turned slowly to track the figure as it quickly made its way to the Inn, looking away to shield their eyes from the bright bloom of light as he entered the Inn.
“That’s the husband, Tsuneko … works at that place he just left, along with his wife Kitty.” The watcher gave the leader a quick glance, “She’s one, the other is a friend of hers, Sarai.” With a soft chuckle the watcher continued, “quite a contrast between them, Kitty is a few inches over 4 and half feet tall and grey furred with pink hair, Sarai some 6 or so inches taller, bright red hair, and much …” with a sly grin the watcher lifted his hands, palms uppermost to his chest and mimicked cupping breasts “… bigger elsewhere. That must be her human blood.”
With an exasperated sigh the leader shook his head. “What you think is irrelevant Ka-Tak. Now, where may they be found?”
Black tail swishing in abashment the watcher pointed off to the northeast. “Kitty lives in a cottage few miles yonder.” The tremor in his voice slowly stilled as he begin reciting his findings. There is a track … about half way there that has a spinney just off to one side. That’d be an ideal ambush site for her. Sarai lives within the Inn itself, along with her bitch of a mistress, some drow called Cleothina.” He shook his head rapidly as he saw the leader open his mouth to make an objection. “She is no problem, the bitch drow lets her run free, even lets her have a weapon.” He grinned at the look of wrath on his leaders face, “but she can’t use it … it’s naught more than a pretty toy. Some sylvan bitch is trying to teach her.”
The leader snorted in amusement. “Since when does a dark elf let a slave bear weapons, let alone allow a sylvan train them? So, where is the best place to take this Sarai then?”
“Same place, she often visits the other one, to look at her kits.”
The leader of the group of black cats nodded slowly. “I see, and ambushing the pair of them in the same place at different times … does that strike you as a good idea Ka-Tak?”
Ka-Tak shivered under the stern gaze of his leader. “N-no Kel-Na, I I was just saying I I thought that …”
Kel-Na, the leader, cut him off with a low growl and a clawed hand clapped across his mouth. “Leave the thinking to those who are best equipped.”
Ears drooping, Ka-Tak nodded.
“Get yourself back to the rendezvous point Ka-Tak, and make sure the area is secure. We may be a few days so be prepared. If we are going to be any longer I will send some one back to inform you. If you see no one for three days we have failed and you must return to report that.”
Ka-Tak kept nodding as he listened, then slipped quietly back into the forest, feeling the scornful eyes of hi companions follow him. Muttering to himself he made slow and careful progress through the shadowed forest until, some 1,000 yards or so away he reached the small glade previously selected. He circled the outer edge of the glade, ensuring that no one was there, or had been there in the past day or so. Satisfied the area was not under observation he sat against an overhanging oak and pulled some bushes around himself.
Back outside the Inn the group of five cats crept back from the tree line and made a make shift camp just within the forest. Moving silently and communicating the essentials with small gestures watches were set and a late meal eaten.
When the eastern sky was tinged with the soft pink of the false dawn all the cats were once more at the forests edge. Five sets of green eyes consumed the scene, calculating lines of approach and pointing out possible cover to each other. As the sun rose to cast a dull orange tinge across the land the town slowly stirred into life.
Emotionless eyes followed the activity of the towns folk as they went about their business; starting up forges and ovens, heading out to the fields to tend flocks. With still just a few people out and about it was easy to spot the blue and grey cat people heading into town. They walked hand in hand, talking quietly to themselves. The black cats watched as they unlocked a town house with wide front windows and wandered inside.
“That’s one, dare we hope the other will make an appearance?”
Kel-Na’s question hung in the air as with a soft hiss of in-taken breath one of the cats gripped his upper arm. “There … look, at the Inn door, is that …?”
The heads of all five cats locked onto the door of the Inn, where a voluptuous female stood. Bare breasted, showing her considerable charms. Locking her hands together she stretched her arms out in front of her and then swung them above her head as she arched her back.
“Gods above, Ka-Tak was right.” An awed cat stared at Sarai as her breasts wobbled enticingly. Even from this distance it was evident that her figure was rather on the full side.
Kel-Na hissed quietly, “be quiet fool. Let’s just hope … yes, look she has her sword with her, maybe she is going to have an early practice with the other one.” Surrounded by a slightly more subdued group he watched as Sarai made her way to the same door that Tsuneko and Kitty had gone through.
Using the shadows cast by the still low sun the five cats made their stealthy way across the mainly open ground. Leap-frogging from cover to cover they made their way to crouch behind a water trough. Breathing slowly they took turns to peer around or over the trough.
Soft whispers informed of what was happening: “all quiet”, “nothing happening”, “movement at the window”, “no sign”, until finally a hissed “door opening … wait, wait ... movement … coming out.”
The four cats not looking held their breath and fought the temptation to look for themselves. “Walking down path … gods, no … coming towards … no, stopping.” The cats tensed as the whispers reached them, then visibly relaxed. “Squaring off … drawing weapons.”
All the cats could hear the two girls as they talked. “Miss Ehlanna said we had to practice parrying, will you attack me first Kitty, or do you want to defend first?” “I’ve only got my daggers, and she said I should be careful, so I’d better attack you.” “Alright Kitty, come at me then.”
Kel-Na looked at his group of black cats and nodded, “now …”
Silently springing to their feet the cats surged over and round the water trough, faltering in mid-stride as they finally saw the two girls in close-up. No more than twenty feet away a pink haired, grey furred cat girl crouched, one dagger extended and being moved from side to side, another held closer in to her body. A taller flame haired girl faced her long sword held ready, tip shadowing Kitty’s forward-most dagger. However, the black cats eyes did not take these sights in initially. What they saw were a trim bottom encased in tight red satin shorts, wiggling provocatively as Kitty looked for an opening and pert breasts covered by a skimpy grey halter, large breasts swaying as Sarai moved to counter Kitty’s moves, her hips and legs shrouded by silky ballooning harem pants and a gaping hole at the crotch.
Kitty whirled as she saw Sarai’s eyes widen in shock and screamed, “NEKOOOO!” even as she slid sideways to stand by Sarai. Their initial shock over, the five black cats recovered from their falter and spread out to flank the two girls. Sarai and Kitty exchanged concerned glances, but had to concentrate on the cats charging at them.
In the back room of the Naked Bird clothes shop Tsuneko’s ears pricked up and his head swivelled as he looked towards the front of the shop. A small brown mouse had it’s life of ease extended as his hand twitched, and it scurried on, never knowing how close it had come to being caught. He shook his head and smiled, assuming he was imagining things. Then the clashing ring of steel on steel rang out.
Sarai and Kitty moved back to back, Kitty’s daggers whirling in desperate parries, eyes flickering around trying to see all the weapons that came at her. Sarai swung her long sword in small frantic arcs, slamming it into blade after blade that cut at her, high and low. The initial onslaught having failed to overwhelm the panicked girls, the five black cats set about methodically trying to break through their desperate defence. Hampered by the need to take them alive, the black cats were having to pull blows and relied upon quickly exhausting the girls, or getting a stunning head blow in with the flat of a blade.
Suddenly, one of Kitty’s attackers was tossed aside by a shrieking gale of frigid air, collapsing to the ground, twitching and writhing in silent agony as his frozen lungs refused to work. Kitty sobbed in relief, surely this was down to her beloved husband Tsuneko.
Kel-Na suppressed a howl of outrage as his companion was taken out. Cursing the useless scout he sprang towards the blue furred cat boy as his three remaining cats redoubled their efforts to overcome Sarai and Kitty.
Tsuneko took a deep breath and stood his ground, hands raised in incantation, eyes glinting in fierceness, lips stumbling over the syllables of another Arctic Blast spell as the leader of the black cats bore down on him, long sword aimed at Tsuneko’s heart.
Kitty and Sarai were fairing badly. Kitty, more practiced with weapons, but bearing just daggers was having a hard time to keep the short sword and dagger of her opponent at bay. Sarai, unversed in combat was the worse off of the pair. Facing two opponents at once she was rapidly approaching the point of abject panic. Her long sword swept out in wider and wider parries as the short swords of the black cats attacking her swept in, thrusting at thigh and breast.
Time and again a blade would almost kiss the tender skin of Kitty and Sarai as a last minute parry just managed to fend off the assault. Their breaths came in sobbing racks and sweat trickled down their faces. The only sounds were the scrape of metal over metal, and the brazen clang of clashing steel. And, only heard by Tsuneko the soft thrum of a loosed bow-string. His spell casting just complete he was able to spare a glance behind him as Kel-Na’s charge was brought up short by a howling storm of ice crystals swirling and jerking in a self-contained hurricane of magically-wrought winds. Behind him and off to one side stood his employer, the sylvan elf Ehlanna. She bore her bow, ‘The Ballad of Oak and Willow’, a shaft just having been loosed to send one of Sarai’s attackers spinning away with a cloth yard arrow imbedded in his right eye. Her green skirt swirled up in the vortex of winds that pummeled and froze Kel-Na in his tracks, her emerald eyes flashing with outrage.
Relieved of the dual assault as one of the black cats screamed briefly before dropping to the ground, Sarai began to think that she might live to see the day out. Suddenly out-numbered the two remaining black cats disengaged and started running in sheer panic. Kitty threw one dagger after the other, her target stumbling and sprawling as they thunked deep into his back.
Heart racing, the sole remaining black cat sprinted for the forest, panic making him run in a straight line. A fatal error on his behalf as an ashen arrow between his shoulder blades forced him to sprawl face first, still yards from safety.
Ehlanna lowered her bow, the strips of her skirt beginning to settle, and looked over at Sarai and Kitty, “not bad little ones, but more practice needed.”