Legends of Belariath

Mozenwrathe

From The Branches - As A Man In Training

*The sylvan elf Ehlanna over the past few months has been inundated with these scrolls from her past. Each of these scrolls has been connected to the strange human Prydain whom she has heard a few tales about. More and more, the scrolls have been left in the aftermath of the dark-skinned sociopath. And socipath he must be, with a death toll rivaling that of a small town's actual beginnings with the past four months. Over two hundred lives lost because of him. The only redeeming factor was that every last one of those slain was trying to kill him. From bounty hunters to professional assassins to even plaguebeasts which though rare still lurk in the woods waiting for victims, Prydain killed them all.

There was more to the story about Prydain than Ehlanna knew, but she was intent to change that. If for no other good reasons, the man had just about terrorized one of her treasured slaves, icu_ayeo, when he encountered her in the forest. Another strange thing was that within the first month of his presence in the town close to The Lonely Inn, he managed to acquire the job of head librarian at the new Guild of Signet and Song... through the elf Becky. Now, Becky was known to enjoy sensuality and passion as much as Ehlanna herself, so how would a subject for anger management get such a coveted position from her? That would be another mystery he would have to answer for. And given his penchant for destruction (as it was suspected he was responsible for the door of the Naked Bird being ruined not to long ago), she might have to take a big stick to him... or at least a spell that would do the same thing.

This night did she find a few scrolls bound together with the tanned hide of a giant gila monster. She knew it was from such a beast... as some of the teeth from the great beast were pinning the scrolls together. Judging from the size of the teeth, it had been a full grown adult. And given the rare burn marks on the tanned skin, Prydain would have had to have killed it by going up to it close and using a fire spell right against its earslots. A dangerous procedure even for the best sorcerers, almost suicide for someone not close to Ehlanna's own power. Then again, it seemed to be in the same line as the rest of the fights he had faced since his appearance in the town. Two on one, four on one, even a ten on one duel to the death... It was rather strange he rarely suppered more than a few deep cuts on his limbs and never did a poisoned dagger find its way between his ribs. Especially with all those assassins...

No matter that. She had these scrolls before her now, and that was her main priority. Each of the scrolls was sealed with the wax best known to be made in the village two days travel from her own. Tolwyn said always that it was worth the trip for he "loved the scent of jasper and sulpur mixed in with the hornet's nest wax." Every time she remembers how he would say that so wistfully, she got all misty eyed and chuckled. Oddly enough, it would happen most often when Sha-Ka` was busy doing the paperwork for the store. No wonder she would find herself thinking about Tolwyn one moment, then finding her erstwhile business partner - a member of the race that slew Tolwyn no less - staring at her curiously, like she had lost her mind. In some ways when she thought of Tolwyn, she would.

Over the following hours would Ehlanna pore over the texts on the scrolls and parchment. each of the scrolls had something on it that was important to her - words from her lost lover. If ever she in her youth thought she would be so sentimental over a mere scroll, she could not remember such a time now. Before could her youthful arrogance even get the best of her, but has she mellowed out enough to know that she is not as powerful as she could be and never to underestimate those around her. After her experience with watching the "human who walked like a Dark Elf" rise and disappear, would she never be caught that offguard again. Yet now was not the time to think about the past when it came to humans, but when it came to elves - her own past to be accurate.*

*****

This is the day I do it. This day begins like no other day, but it shall end very different. Today is the day I become a proper adult in the eyes of my mother, my village... and Ehlanna. I am so many years her junior that I will never truly catch up to her unless I do something absolutely radical. And as she does so enjoy watching over me like a mother hen does her chicks, I will have to evade her sight before I even try anything to even the playing field we both stand on. I do not recall exactly the number of years that stand between herself and I, but it has been enough over the years for her to lord over me.

I have already made arrangements with some of the other lads of the village to create a diversion for me to escape her sight. From there, it is only a matter of making it to the testing grounds the village four days from here possesses. I dare not try to use any of my fledgling sorceries, as it would be far too easy for one of the elders to find me by the usage of spells. No, I must make it there on foot alone, for I have no horse to ride - especially as one would make an easy trail for Ehlanna to find me by as well. That village will allow anyone with the coin and the right look to undergo the testing. It is unfair that I purchase my testing, but I cannot wait another twenty years to take the testing at the "appropriate age." All the elders have said I am too young and weak, but they know not how I have trained and pored by all into molding myself into a better ranger. This will show them. This will prove it to them without any doubt in their minds.

I have no idea why it is so important that I prove myself to Ehlanna, but it is. Even if she hates me for the rest of my life for taking the test years ahead of her schedule for me, I will still do it. Maybe it is an issue of pride with me, for I know how many in the village look upon me with sidelong glances of pity as my father perished because of his magic. Or it could I just hate being lorded over by someone I am now clearly taller than whom is not my mother. Perchance I was just born rebellious, and this is the latest outburst in a long series of gestures. Whatever it might be, it clearly has overriden my logic and my fear of being caught and punished. Normally would I be reconsidering my actions as I write this, but every line I script upon this private parchment brings me closer to my deed itself.

Shall I know in time whether or not this was a truly wise idea to partake. For now, I must base everything on my instincts, for a ranger must always hone their instincts to become finer than the average city dweller. Without those instincts and the ability to place faith in them shall I have wasted years of training to become something I can never be. My body is mature enough, and I am confident that my mind has applied enough of my lessons over time in private and public instruction and practice that my basic knowledge is well on its way to becoming wisdom. Still, the heart - MY heart - is what worries me. What if the testers find me not worthy for some reason I cannot foresee? What will come of me then? Of my great plan to first become a ranger, and then a better sorcerer than anyone in my family line ever has? Will I have to scrap it and turn to a life of drudgery? Shall I be forced forever to help Dracsid in his forge until the end of his days... and those of his four children? I could not bear such a fate.

My properties are stashed by the large sycamore tree close to the far west corner of the village itself, marked with special inks. Nothing unusual about them, unless you have the right spell activated. Then they glow softly to the eyes of one using the spell. I have no idea why that is, and neither does anyone else in my village as of yet, but I believe it has something to do with the insects which are crushed in order to make part of the inks components. I cannot be sure until I do a few more test runs with the spell and a few other incantations, but I will have my answer. The bow is there by the tree, as well as my carved arrows and my favourite short sword. The bow I will use during the test as well as the sword were both my father's before him. He never truly used them as magic was always his forté, so my mother gave them to me when he passed to the ether from the real. I have never used them against living beings, only for practice. It keeps them pure and unsullied until the day I am worthy to stalk the enemies of my village and my people. Then shall they taste blood. Then will they know the screams of the goblins that like to harass my mother in the woods.

*****

*The parchement ends on that note. Oddly enough, this one has a streak or two running through it. When she looks closer, Ehlanna can tell it was tears - the tears of a boy so angry that he was not allowed to "become a man" officially that he stole away to do it on his own. What should have only been a week or two in total absence turned into a two month disappearance. This was not the first time that Tolwyn had vanished on her, nor had it turned out to be the last. However, many in the village when Tolwyn finally did return noted how Ehlanna would not even speak his name for the first week, and barely looked him in the eyes for many a day after that. The sheer thought of losing Tolwyn forever had shaken her to the core for a full month, and she had seen the Tolwyn that had returned as a ghost... until a very fateful night on a full moon.

That, of course, is another tale. And if nothing else, one that Ehlanna still has a good laugh about - until she remembers the fact that she fell asleep first and not he. One thing that could always be said about Tolwyn - he had a good heart, but he had much better... lungs.*

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