Legends of Belariath

Valardghast

Curiosity

Valardghast war journal: Curiosity

This is it, I think. The scouts our troops cut down were battle ready. We have come down from the watchtowers now to scout for any more troops in the forest. “Could this night get any worse?” I thought to myself..I had no idea what I would be in for. Our captain at the time explained to us the life or death situation...and formed the group, myself..3 elite warriors, and Sha'dhul our chief scout. After the briefing we headed out to the thicket pathways, taking the cover of the trees. Sha'dhul carefully scanned the moonlit trees before the rest of the group, the crosshair of her heavy crossbow following the movement of her eyes. Her every sense was attuned for the rhythm of the forest, alert for something out of place, something..strange. Nothing disturbed the quiet save the ordinary sounds of animal life she had come to expect. Had any of their enemies been nearby, the native creatures would have fled, or given some other warning of their presence.

Satisfied, she lowered her heavy crossbow and nudged a finger, clearing the area for us. Sha'dhul returned the crossbow to her shoulder, rising without a sound from the crouch and crept forwards, her feet trained to not make the slightest sound. Like ghosts we traveled, carefully...without the slightest noise. We look around, darkness filling the skies, the night we dread has come to pass, all of us even behind masks want this to be over with, hating having to fight, but we don’t show it. Sha'dhul moves right, stalking towards a wide-trunked oak tree. That’s when all hell officially broke loose...

Sha' spins in total surprise as a dark elf warrior dropped from the trees behind her. The rather large elf brandishing two wicked long swords, hissing a challenge. She twisted, bringing her heavy crossbow to bear, but the elf swung the blade upwards, hacking the front of the heavy crossbow clean off as she pulls the trigger, causing the enchanted arrow in the chamber to explode in a searing white fireball. I saw Sha' fall, burnt, mask hanging by its top strap, she feels around. I figure she was blinded, we all were for a moment or so. After the lights cleared I look left, most of the dark elf's head blown clean off and it toppled forward, pinning Sha' against the tree. She growls, the way her body moves shows signs of potential blindness, she blinks furiously, simultaneously trying to clear her vision...and push the dark elf off of her. The night echoed with screams as more of them burst out of hiding, from the treetops, the bushed, everywhere it seemed. The warriors beside me frantically take defensive postures, I too draw my weapons, as this is NOT in our favor.

I turn to defend against one blade, I hear the scream of one of my own. I turn to see the first warrior get blindsided by two wicked longspears driven into his neck and leg, a third driven straight into his back, the tip bursting from his chest in a spray of blood. The other two warriors start to make plans for retreat, screaming in our language to fall back. I agree, this is not our day to die...not like this..I fall back, heading to Sha'. I manage to get to her and take her arm to lead her out, the warrior next to me was not so lucky. He too tried to aid her, only to get two arrows and a couple stunbolts...there was no saving him, with that the lone warrior and myself begin the retreat back to our territory. I don’t know how many where behind me, I could only hear the dark elf battle cries combined with the whistle of arrows on us. Sha' looks to her side, the world around her one big jumbled mess of colors, she says in our language she is blind...she cannot see, but she hears something coming up on our flank. I try not to look, I just want out of here, but curiosity took over, I look.

I see the warrior, a female dark elf, chasing the lone warrior, on his sides two more males...chasing him like a pack of frenzied wild dogs. So absorbed in that scene I never even notice the tree I ran into..the shock then pain shoots into my head and we both fall over, but the scream of the man made me look once more from the newfound cover of the bushes. They surround him...the dark elf female seemingly the leader of this warband. She wears our mask though...so strange, but its covered in dried blood, more masks decorate her arms, tied together like an armor, she wears two strapped to her knees as well, some very old from the patterns and materials. Her only weapons, a pair of purple gauntlets, shaped like a demon's hand...sharp, spikes, claws indeed. She has the warrior in her grasp, the clawed hand tight around his neck. He gurgles on his own blood, she doesn’t even take notice as she slams the other clawed gauntlet into his stomach, they talk some and she starts slowly tearing it upwards. I will never forget that gurgled scream as she tore his insides out, but he was seemingly still alive...blood just spewing from his body. She drops him to suffer, the bloody claw snatching the mask off, she holds it up in a sadistic victory pose.

That was when I passed out. I know not where I am now, but Sha' is with me...she is blind, the barbarian healers say they cannot do a thing for it. Our location has to be far from our home, but we have nowhere else to go but forward, I am sure they think us dead or worse...only choice we have now is to go forward...to safer lands.

-Edaul Valardghast

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