Tia was born 15 years ago in a world known only as Redlene into the Elven community. Her mother tried to bring her up to value the traditional female roles, but Tia didn't want to be considered little more than a baby factory. So on the day after her fifteenth birthday,she decided to leave the Elven Hamlet where she had been raised and follow her dreams of adventure and derring-do. She just wasn't ready to settle down with a nice Elven man and raise children. She wanted to see the world first!
Tia pondered the journey ahead as she walked the well-worn path from the village. Though she was currently unprepared for the later dangers she might face in her journey, she felt that she would be relatively safe from harm during the first leg of the journey. She would better equip herself in the human village of Therlax. She felt the comforting weight of her Elven long bow, a parting gift from her tearful father, and its quiver of arrows anchored at her hip. They were perfectly suited to the hunt and would excel even better in combat. The hunting knife that she wore in the sheath strapped to her ankle-high boots on the other hand was ill-suited to combat, but it would do nicely in a pinch.
The sound of a snapping twig alerted her sharp Elven ears and snapped her out of her walking trance. Tia dove for the cover of the forest shrubbery along the side of the road. Her forest green jumpsuit blended with the leaves of the shrubs and made her practically invisible. She waited patiently for the clumsy pursuer to come around the bend and into view with her hunting knife held tightly in her hand. The intruder came into view shortly after scanning the ground in front of him, presumably for her footprints. Tia was quite surprised to find the tracker to be her scholarly friend, Elsian.
Tia ground her teeth in anger that her parents didn’t think her mature enough to watch over herself, she who was far more mature than all other Elves her age in the village. Well, she’d show them how mature she was and how able, she'd take care of that arrogant fop that thought he could track her!
Tia leaped from her concealment and pinned Elsian against a large Oak on the other side of the road with her right hand on his neck and her left holding her knife to his throat.
"Tia!"Elsian cried, seeing the rage in her eyes. "Please stop!It is I, Elsian!"
"I know who you are, fop!" she muttered through clenched jaws."Why are you following me, Elsian!"
"I wanted to talk you into staying at the village, Tia. To be my wife."
"Not a chance!" Tia muttered angrily, releasing Elsian but nicking his chin with the point of her knife first.
"Ow!" Elsian exclaimed, his hands going to his wound in surprise. "What did you do that for?"
"A deterrent to keep you form following me," Tia said nonchalantly, turning her back to him.
"Why are you going, Tia?" Elsian asked. "Out there is the land of the flat-eared humans. You know what they'll do to you, what they do to all our women that they catch!"
"Because they're there, Elsian," Tia answered. "And they attack us because they don't know about us. They fear what they don't know, you taught me that."
"But what if they do try to,"Elsian stammered.
"Rape me?" Tia finished. “Elsian, you know that I would never let that happen."
"But I would never know." Elsian stammered again.
"Listen, Elsian," Tia said with a note of finality that spoke volumes. "I will return every five years or so if I am able. You'll know."
Elsian bowed his head in defeat and sighed.
Tia went over and hugged her friend, who was bigger that her, and then said, "Go home, Elsian, this is no place for you. You are too single-minded and cannot watch for more than one danger at atime. You need no more danger in your life than a paper cut."
With that last jibe, Tia turned and hurried away before the sadness came and Elsian saw that she was indeed tempted by his offer of marriage.
Tia stayed for the night in the entrance to a cavern complex known for its former and long dead inhabitants, the Goblins. She began rummaging through her hidden quiver pockets for some twine to set as a trap to snare a rabbit or something for breakfast when she heard a gruff voice muttering in the darkness from deeper in the complex. She sprang to her feet with catlike reflexes as she realized that the voice was coming nearer and grabbed her bow and an arrow. Tia knelt on one knee facing the passageway and notched an arrow to the bow, taking careful aim down the passageway.Tia waited until she could make out the heat signatures that identify a living target with her sharp Elven eyes (of course infravision helps), and let her arrow fly. The arrow flew straight and quickly towards the creature and sank with a quiet ‘thunk’ into the creature's left shoulder. It then let out a loud yelp of pain and a sharp curse in what sounded to her ears like the Goblin tongue. The creature drew a short sword with its uninjured arm and began to charge up the passageway towards Tia, shouting a famous Goblin battle-cry, "Oruk Brie!"
Tia fired another arrow but it missed the mark, since the creature's insane charge carried it too quickly towards her. Tia dropped her bow and drew her knife in one quick movement then she sidestepped the Goblin and slashed at the creatures flank. The creature whirled, snarling, and the Elf and Goblin faced off. Tia had the advantage of quick reflexes, but the Goblin had the advantage of a longer weapon. Tia danced deftly away from the Goblin's enraged attacks while her sharp, Elven eyes scanned for an opening. The Goblin pressed his advantage against Tia and she was forced back step by grudging step towards the passageway, then disaster struck. Tia stepped on the arrow that had missed the Goblin and tumbled onto her back. While Tia was prone, the Goblin crowed its excitement and swung its sword down on Tia's neck. Tia raised her knife to parry with the reflexes of a cornered cat and, as the blades locked together barely inches from her throat, she lashed out with her free arm and grabbed the Goblin's ankle. Tia then pulled the foot toward her and sent the Goblin tumbling to the ground beside her. Tia and the Goblin rolled away from each other and sprang to their feet, once more on even footing.
Goblin and Elf were circling each other once again and scanning for some sign that the other tired. Both gave an occasional feint to draw their opponent out of position, but they had come to understand each other too well and neither fell for the tricks of the other. This stalemate continued for several minutes when fear unexpectedly entered the Goblin's eyes, his face drained of color, and he rushed Tia with incredible speed. A flash of fire burned past Tia and collided with her opponent, engulfing it in flames. As the Goblin burned, his sword floated past Tia as though it were light enough to be carried on a breeze. In fact, there was a slight breeze. As it floated the sword gradually lost the rust that it seemed to have accumulated and its blue steel shined as though it was new."Filthy Goblins!" A gruff voice complained from the passageway. "Always coming here and disturbing my quiet and for what? So that they can steal my treasures! Harumph!"
The fire that had engulfed the Goblin began to assume the shape of a dog and walked past Tia toward the passageway, wagging its tail. Tia turned slowly, her eyes following the Fire-Dog until it sat on its haunches besides a Gnome. The Gnome was taking the sword from the air as if being presented a gift. Besides the Fire-Dog, the Gnome had a giant stone man as his protector, as well as an amorphous blob of water.
"Well, Elfling," the Gnome harumphed, 'looks like I have you to thank for delaying that Goblin thief for me.'
Tia stared at the Gnome in surprise.
"Don't just stand there, stupid!" the Gnome harumphed again, "Gather your belongings and follow me. The least I can do is feed you."
Tia sheathed her knife and grabbed her bow and quiver from the ground, then she ran after the departing Gnome.
"Why have you come here, Elf?" the Gnome grunted as he took a seat.
"I seek a grand adventure in the lands outside my village," Tia answered. "I merely sought that cave as a place to rest before I continued my journey."
"Adventure, I see," the Gnome smiled and the pots and pans of the creature's kitchen began to float as though something invisible was moving them.
Tia watched the odd movement in the kitchen with amazement and made as if to mention this to the Gnome.
"Oh, so you see Arielle, eh?" the Gnome laughed. "The greatest culinary artist in the whole of the elemental planes. She'll make you a feast that you won't soon forget, no matter how far you travel."
Tia looked at the Gnome. What did he mean "see Arielle"? She didn't see anything but flying crockery.
"Let me explain, innocent girl," the Gnome said catching her confusion. "I am an elementalist, the only Gnome holding that title. No other Gnomes think that elementalism is a worthy pursuit for Gnomekind so I live here with my four companions, but the Goblins that your people evicted so long ago keep pestering me."
"Why?" Tia asked.
"Because they want their old lair back," the Gnome growled irritably. "You kicked them out of the perfect raiding grounds. From here they could raid both human and Elf with little effort. If I could find someone brave enough to do the job I would reward them greatly."
"I'll do it!" Tia volunteered.
"You?" the Gnome guffawed. "Are you joking? You are but a lone Elf against an entire lair of Goblins and with only a knife to boot! What do you intend to do, spread butter on them?"
"Don't laugh!" Tia protested. "I can do it! My people would be in danger if you were evicted too! Besides, I DO have a bow!"
"You Elves and your bows!" the Gnome laughed. "What happens when they close into melee, Elfling?"
"Then I have my knife or I could disarm one and use its weapon!"
"HA! You've got high hopes, but I like your courage and dedication. I'll accept your offer, but I would feel slightly guilty if I sent you out unprepared, so I'll give you some weapons or something."
"I don't need any handouts!" Tia protested, her stubborn independence manifesting again.
"Then don't consider them handouts, girl," the Gnome grunted. "Consider them your reward for success."
"But I haven't succeeded, yet!"
"Do you have any doubt that you will?"
"No, but how will you get them back if I don't?"
"That won't concern you, because if you don't you'll be dead."
"Fine, I see your point"
The invisible elemental spirit served them supper and afterwards the Gnome took her to a large chamber with piles upon piles of treasure, both magical and mundane.
"A dragon lived here prior to my residence," he explained. "When I took over the place, I inherited his treasure as well. I have spent the better part of the last six years cataloging the various magic items and coinage that he had collected and I still am far from done."
Tia stared in awe as the Gnome led her to the back of the room.
"Choose any sword from that stack and it is yours, but be warned there are a few cursed ones and even the ones that appear safe may have minor curses as well."
Tia perused the different swords, there were bastard swords, long swords, short swords, swords to be used two-handed, and even some strange swords from the distant lands of the Far East. Some of the swords were labeled in the odd foreign tongue of the Gnomes, others were blank. Tia smiled and thought of the awesome task that the Gnome had ahead of him. He was probably hoping that she would take one of the blank swords so that it would alleviate his task a little. Well, she would do him that favor and choose a blank sword, but which one should she choose? She looked through until her eye spotted one that seemed perfect: A weapon of the Far East, called a Katana, with a blade as gold as the setting sun and an ornately carved hilt. Tia walked over to the sword and drew it from the pile, admiring the way that the torchlight hit its blade.
"I choose this one," Tia said showing the blade to the Gnome.
"Excellent choice," the Gnome nodded. "And it will alleviate much work from me for I have tried to identify that sword many times but to no avail. Some powerful enchantment on it must conceal its power from my spells. I should warn you though, that should it possess some curse none can remove the curse, for to do so would destroy any other enchantment that it might have."
"I understand."
The Gnome quietly led Tia to another part of the chamber. This corner contained many piles of armor of many different cultures. The Gnome picked up a vest of chain mail and proffered it to Tia, "This should suit you well. It once belonged to an Elven companion of mine who died while we fought this dragon side-by-side. I am sure he would like for you to have it."
"Thank you," Tia bowed, accepting the armor. "I will wear it with honor."
As the Gnome led her from the treasure chamber, the air spirit came up to her with a scabbard for her sword and Tia accepted it with a smile (she was getting used to elementals). The Gnome led her to another room and told her to sleep because she would have a long day tomorrow, and as soon as her head hit the pillow she was asleep.
When Tia awoke the following morning, she was led by the stone man to the Gnome dining chamber where breakfast was already set on the table. The Gnome was conspicuously absent. Tia ate her breakfast in silence and when she was finished she sensed a presence behind her. Tia turned around to find three of the elementals staring solemnly at her and Arielle was probably there, too.
"Yes," Tia replied and then sensing that something was wrong. "What's wrong?"
"Our master," a disembodied voice whispered like the wind. "He is missing_"
"He is not in his bed," the water elemental sloshed.
"He is not in his room," the earth elemental boomed.
The fire-dog, as fire is wont to do, merely roared.
"I don't know where he is," Tia began.
"The Goblins must have him," Arielle whispered. "Will you rescue him, please?"
"I will!" Tia swore. "You have my oath that I will find him and make the Goblins pay for this crime!"
"Thank you," the four elementals blew, sloshed, rumbled, and roared.
Tia rose from her seat and gathered her belongings, then followed the earth elemental from the cavern and bade him farewell.
Tia was once more on her own and traveling the path to Therlax, though for a different reason than to purchase supplies. Her purpose behind this trip was to reach Neo-Goblin Ridge which was somewhere southwest of Goblin cave and south of Therlax. She briefly contemplated heading directly towards the ridge, except that there was no path from here and she was afraid she might get lost on this most important of missions. She desperately needed a guide. Once more her thoughts wandered to her future, which once more seemed hopeful. She thought of Therlax and how she would be the first Elf to enter a human city and return alive. She wondered what the humans were like now: Were they savage or civilized, did they love nature as the Elves did or did they destroy it as the evil orogs did? She wondered all of this and pictured many different scenarios while she walked and wished she knew the exact details of the power locked in her new golden blade.
After three hours of walking, her thoughts were once more interrupted by the snap of a twig and she again dove into the brush along the side of the road, pulling her sword from its scabbard and waiting silently for the intruder to come from around the corner. Her patience was quickly rewarded, for within a few moments a tall, scholarly figure came around the bend. It was Elsian. Tia muttered a curse under her breath about the stubbornness of men and waited for him to get closer. Tia smiled when she noticed the bandage on his chin. She leaped from her concealment towards Elsian, but her smile turned to chagrin as she passed right through him.
"What the frak!?" Tia exclaimed in a very unladylike tone.
"An illusion, my dear," Elsian-illusion replied. "You didn't think I was stupid enough to repeat the same mistake twice, especially since you are better armed.""ELSIAN!" Tia screamed. "You coward, get out here!"
"Coward?" Elsian laughed as he walked around the bend. "I only sought to prove to you that I wasn't all that single-minded."
Tia stared in amazement.
"Your parents are worried about you," Elsian replied. "I promised them that I would follow you and aid you with my modest magical ability."
"I don't need your magic!" Tia yelled, gesturing vehemently with her sword.
"Whether you need it or not, you'll get it if only to alleviate your parents' worry."
"They don't need to worry or send you after me!" Tia screamed. "If I need help, I'll hire humans to do the job!"
"Do you have money, human money that is?"
"Huh?"
"Humans are notorious for their greedy nature. They don't cooperate the way we Elves do. They use coins minted from gold, silver, and other alloys."
"Then I'll get some!"
"How? Will you steal it? How would your parents' feel about that?"
"Of course not!" Tia shouted. "Maybe I'll promise them a share of the treasure that I find in my travels."
"And what if you find no treasure?"
"Don't what if me, Elsian!" Tia snarled and turned back in the direction of Therlax.
"Ah! But 'what ifs' are the heart of the scholarly world. Without 'what ifs' we would never have a future."
"Shut up!" Tia muttered as she walked down the trail.
Elsian smiled, knowing that he had won this argument even if Tia would never admit it. He would let her twist the facts around in her head so that she believed that it was her decision to let him join her, it was the end not the means that counted. He ran to catch up to Tia and they walked side-by-side towards the unknown.
A few hours past noon, Tia and Elsian arrived on the plains of Thearl and looked across at the treeless landscape. They wondered why humans felt the need to cut down trees. Tia sighed and continued walking as Elsian took one last look back at the only home he had ever known. Were they doing the right thing?
It was fast approaching nightfall when they arrived at the outskirts of Therlax. They received many odd looks from peasants working in the field as they passed, but they were not phased by this, as it was expected. However, when they arrived at the east gate to the city proper, the gate-guards forced them to a halt.
"We don't let your kind through here!" One of the guards snarled holding his pike to Elsian's chest.
"You restrain him, Mike," the other guard grinned. "Me an' the pretty'll go in the back room fer a bit, then you kin have wet decks."
"Don't touch her!" Elsian protested.
"Whoa, Elf!" Mike said, pushing Elsian back with his pike. "I wouldn't protest too much if I was ye, ya might not like the consequences."
"Just thought I should warn you," Elsian smiled. "Just remember that I did warn you."
Tia bowed her head demurely and waited for the second guard to come close and when he did, she whipped her sword out in the blink of an eye and pinned the guard against the wall with her blade at his neck. "Don't move, human!"
The first guard stared in amazement at the sheer speed of Tia's reaction. He hardly noticed when he began levitating rapidly into the air, at least not until he reached ten feet. Tia rapped the second guard upside the head and then she and Elsian walked through the gate, leaving one guard unconscious and another hovering in the air as well as several amazed peasants.
"Do you have any food, milady?" the woman pleaded.
"No," Tia murmured quietly. "I'm sorry, my companion and I hunt only what we need."
The woman sniffed and looked closely at Tia, squinting, "Are you an Elf?"
"Yes," Tia replied. "We are visitors to your town."
"They won't let you have a room," the woman said. "They murder your kind here, if I were you I'd flee while you can."
"But we are only passing through on our way to the Neo-Goblin Ridge," Tia replied.
"Oh no!" the woman wailed. "Don't say that, they'll think that you're going to aid them and lead the hordes of Goblins upon us!"
"Nonsense! My people drove them out in the first place!"
"I know, but you must flee and tell no one of your destination!"
As the woman finished her statement, a contingent of ten city guardsmen entered the marketplace.
"There's the Elves!" the commander shouted. "They're conspiring with that beggar woman! I knew they were here to cause an uprising!"
Tia stood up and looked across to the commander, her hand resting upon the hilt of her sword.
"Men! Arrest all three of them!"
Tia drew her sword and stood firmly in front of the beggar-woman, while Elsian began to prepare a spell as the guards advanced. The woman rose to her feet and smiled, then throwing off her ragged clothing she revealed the sleek form of an Elf and she drew a knife from her own belt.
The guards were taken back momentarily by this revelation, seeing not one now, but two beautiful women was almost too much to bear. They quickly came to their senses and continued their menacing advance, dispatching any civilians that got in their way.
Elsian cast his spell almost as the first guard reached Tia and the whole area was blanketed in darkness, no problem for the Elves but a disaster to the guards. Tia parried a clumsy stroke by one of the blinded guards and kicked the guard in the stomach, then rapped him on the back of the neck, sending him sprawling on the ground. The "beggar-woman" lashed out with her knife, ducking beneath the swing of another guard, and gutted him, spilling his entrails on the ground, causing him to fall to his knees to try to stuff them back in.
More guards rushed into the plaza, responding to the shouts of their comrades and of the civilians. Tia and Elsian rendered two more unconscious with sword, staff, and hand, while the stranger gutted another with her knife before they were overwhelmed and disarmed by the guardsmen. The guards then marched them brutally to the dungeons, parading them through crowds of leering and spitting peasants chanting, "KILL! KILL!"
The guards got the three Elves to the dungeons despite the howling of the peasants. They were determined to do this in a "civilized" manner so that the Therlaxians would not be deemed "savage" by their neighbors. The three rested in their communal cell, their possessions gone with the exception of the clothes on their back and the underlying mood was worry. They all knew that whatever happened next it was sure to lead to the end of their lives, an ending that Tia was NOT willing to except. Tia did not leave her village and her parents just to die an un-heroic death in a human prison. She had to escape!
"Well," Elsian muttered. "I hate to say 'I told you so,' but I-"
"Shut up, Elsian!" Tia snapped, then whispered conspiratorially. "We ain't through yet, we will escape to fulfill my mission and promise to the Gnome and his elementals."
"Gnome?" the other woman asked. "Elementals? You know, Uncle Bar?"
"The Gnome elementalist?" Tia asked, turning to the stranger. "He said he knew an Elf, but he said that he died while fighting the dragon."
"That was my daddy," the woman sighed. "He left me with my mom 15 years ago when he left with the Gnome to stop the dragon from plaguing this area of the world."
"Your dad?"
"When he passed through here, the town was less xenophobic and accepted him. Then when my mother fell in love and they produced me, the town drove him out and accused him of raping her. My mother was condemned to live in poverty and died when I was eight. I've been on my own since then."
"A half-breed?" Elsian muttered in awe. "So it is true, our races are compatible."
"Yes, a half-breed. Will you condemn me, too?"
"No!" Tia cried. "Of course not! You helped us back there, you are worthy of the title, Elf."
"Thank you. How's my Uncle?"
"He was kidnapped by Goblins. I'm going to rescue him and drive them from the ridge."
"Uncle Bar? I have to help him!"
"It's too dangerous, you might never come back!"
"I know what danger is and I can take care of myself, besides it's no more dangerous than staying here now."
"Fine, but first we need to get out of here and recover our equipment."
"Agreed."
Elsian shushed the two women, "Someone's coming."
The three listened intently until they could make out the harsh voices of a couple guardsmen with their sharp Elven ears.
"The pretty one oughta be able to tell us somethin' about that sword," one guard whispered to someone. "Then we kin git a fair price from Keldor."
"Yup," another guard laughed. "An' p'haps she'll give us a bit more than information, eh chummer?"
"Don't know," the first man said. "You's 'eard what they's done to Mike an' Earl, right?"
"They's was armed then. We's kin take on a couple measly unarmed prisoners."
"I don't know, maybe, but let's see to the sword first."
"Of course."
Tia and her companions listened quietly while they came up with a plan, Tia and Ela, the half-Elf, would hide to the sides of the door. While Elsian stood in front the door and cast one of the spells that remained in his daily repertoire, an illusion of Tia and Ela sleeping by the far wall. They initiated their plan as the guardsmen approached the door.
Tia and Ela held their breath as they waited for the guards to open the door and enter. Elsian's illusion women snored quietly in the back corners. One guard unlocked the door with a titter of expectation and when they walked through the door, Tia and Ela pounced.
Tia grabbed the first guard, punched him in the nose, and threw him to the ground near the illusion-Tia. Ela knelt on her knees as though to plea for mercy, but delivered a mean left jab at the second's family jewels and then, as he clutched his sore appendage, she delivered an uppercut to the face knocking him clean out cold. Tia relieved the jailers of their keys and the Elves locked them in the cell.
"Well," Elsian smiled. "It worked. What now?"
"Of course it worked! Did you have any doubts?" Tia exclaimed, annoyed that he didn't have faith in her ideas. "Now, we find out what they did with our equipment."
Elsian remained silent, but turned to Ela who seemed reluctant to interrupt.
"Yes, Ela?" Tia asked. "Do you know anything?"
"Well," Ela murmured demurely. "Before my mother fell from favor with the Therlaxian rulers, she was a high-ranking courtier. To put it shortly, she had access to almost anyplace in the city and just before she died, she drew me detailed maps of the city's important buildings and labeled the rooms.""Ela," Elsian laughed. "If your mother were here, I could kiss her! Did your mother happen to label the armory or perhaps a confiscation storage."
"What do you think I brought it up for silly!"
"Stupid question."
"Lead on, Ela," Tia replied, motioning Ela ahead.
"Nice work, Ela," Tia complimented.
"It was nothing," Ela smiled nonchalantly. "I just did what was necessary. That's one of the first things my mom taught me."
Tia laughed to herself and began rummaging around for her equipment, as did Elsian and Ela. When they found it, they also uncovered a grate that Ela informed them led into the city catacombs and eventually out of Therlax. They opened the grate carefully and entered the catacombs, there, Tia took over the lead with her superior direction sense. She was once more imbued with confidence and the reassurance of her weapons and armor.
The trio emerged in a copse of fir trees about a mile south of Therlax and let out one collective sigh of relief. Elsian collapsed onto the ground and began chanting the words to a spell over and over again as her read them from his notebook-sized book, committing them to memory. Ela moved to the edge of trees and kept a silent watch for any troop movements from the city. And Tia drew her sword and inspected it for nicks and any other damage caused during the harrowing encounter in the city.
When they had all completed their tasks, they set out once more and while not precisely running, they all wanted to reach the dubious safety of the Ridge Woods. Tia led the small company with Elsian at her side and Ela following a little behind, hiding their tracks and watching for pursuit.
As had become her custom while walking, Tia thoughts wandered on other things, only instead of the future, she thought of the past for the first time since she began her journey. She remembered how her father had lovingly cradled her in her arms whenever she fell from the branches of their tree while playing Elves and Humans with her little brother. She thought of her mothers disapproving looks when she got back up and, with the stubborn determination of many little girls, climbed back up the tree to play with her brother. She remembered her mother trying to get her to socialize with other little girls and frowning when she pulled on their pig-tails like the little boys all did. She remembered being an outcast among her own gender, teased for being so boyish. It was not all fond memories, but she loved her own parents very much. She just didn't want to be trapped in the roles that her culture set for females. Tia was first and foremost a fighter, and no matter what she may turn out as later in life, she would always be a fighter.
They reached the edge of the Ridge Woods just as dusk approached and the golden sun set beyond the River Thearl. They had completed a leg of their journey and were now about a day and a half from the Goblin's stomping ground. They split the night into three watches and while elves don't precisely need to sleep, they could all devote their senses to other tasks while the one on watch kept a look out. Tia closed her eyes and set her back against a tree and thought some more about the infiltration of the Neo-Goblin Ridge. Elsian studied his spells and Ela took first watch.
The next morning, the Elves broke camp and began their day and a half journey towards the Ridge. They had already agreed that they would continue walking through the night and try to sneak up on the main cavern while most of the tribes were out in the woods hunting and raiding. If they could do this, they would have a greater chance of rescuing Uncle Bar before they drove the Goblins from their home. If they timed it right, the Goblin's would be returning just as they were ready to do the driving.
And their plan seemed to be working perfectly since they saw Goblins leaving the Ridge for the woods and they managed to avoid all the sizable patrols. The patrols that they couldn't avoid were small enough to deal with, all it took was a small amount of communication to coordinate their actions and they insured that the Goblins in the patrol would never return to report.
Tia led her group up the narrow path to the Goblin caves. Their encounters with Goblins while traversing this path, surprisingly, were nil and they reached they cave entrance in short order. The Elves entered the dark interior and let their eyes adjust to the infrared wavelength so that they could see where they were going and spot any Goblin that tried to sneak up in the dark.
The three traveled for about five minutes when they emerged from the corridor and into a huge chamber filled almost to overflowing, leaving only a tight semicircle by the corridor. A large goblin floated above the crowds and called down to the Elves.
"So the Gnome has sent you to destroy us!" he shouted. "The coward thought that thou could reach us before my children reached him!"
Tia looked up and drew her sword which flared brightly in the dark room to everyone's amazement. Tia recovered first and shouted back to the floating Goblin, "What have you done with the Gnome!"
The goblin chuckled, "He lives, for now. He will teach me the ways of summoning and command! I will be called a leader of tribes, King of Kings, Lord of all creatures! Man and Elf will bow before me!"
"Not if I have anything to do with it!" Tia shouted, enjoying herself. This was the thing all great heroes were made of.
"You won't," the Goblin King snarled. "Goblins! Kill them!"
At their king's command, the Goblin's surged forth to attack the three Elves. Tia quickly cut them down as they came to her and she moved slowly towards the Goblin King. She was flanked by Ela, who gutted any Goblin that got passed Tia's deadly sword, which seemed to take on an inner fire of it's own and burn the Goblins almost before the bladed cut into them. Elsian struck at the goblins to their sides and rear with his staff. It wasn't long before the three found themselves bogged down and unable to retreat; the Goblins crowed with glee and moved to finish them.
"We're not through, yet!" Elsian exclaimed. "Just keep them off of me!"
Tia and Ela began to battle with renewed hope and kept the Goblin blades away from Elsian, buying him time to cast one more spell. Elsian made a whooping noise and pointed sharply into the air towards the Goblin King. At first nothing happened, but then suddenly a ball of flame emerged from Elsian's outstretched finger. It started small but as it continued on its trajectory towards the Goblin King, it grew till it was the size of an Ogres head. Then it hit with a great explosion and sent the three Elves flying against the far wall while the Goblins in the chamber vanished in puffs of smoke leaving nothing but a pile of ashes and weapons. When the Elves regained their senses, they stood up shakily and walked to the spot where the King's remains should be, but there was nothing left not even ashes.
"Bravo, Elsian!" Tia congratulated her friend.
"Thanks," Elsian murmured demurely. "But it was our Goddess Laeme that granted me the skill that I needed to cast that spell, she deserves our thanks and our love."
"Agreed!"
The trio searched the remaining chambers of the Goblin lair for their "prison" or rather Tia let the other two do the majority of the work. She was a heroine in only a few senses of the word, but she didn't feel like a heroine at all. When her back was to the wall and her life was in serious jeopardy, what did she do? She turned to Elsian and his magic, she should have been the one that had gotten them out of that mess; she was a failure.
"I found him!" Ela shouted. "Uncle Bar! Are you okay?"
"No!" the voice of the Gnome came from Ela's direction. "I'm in a filthy Goblin dungeon! What do you think?"
"Yes, that's him," Tia sighed as she came around the corner towards Ela. Ela was busy picking the lock to the Gnome's cell (you learn a lot from living on the street). "I wonder what his elementals want him back for?"
"Is that the Elfling I hear?" the Gnome grumbled as Ela opened the door. "I told you that you would succeed, didn't I? Just remember that Bar the Gnome Elementalist first acknowledged your talent!"
Tia smiled, but she wished that the Gnome knew the truth that she wasn't so heroic. The Gnome saw her dismay, but remained silent giving her only a knowing and wise smile.
"Who are these friends of yours, Elfling?"
"This is my childhood friend, Elsian," Tia said pointing to Elsian and then to Ela, "And this is Ela, the daughter of the Elf that helped you kill that dragon. They helped destroy the goblins hereÉmore so than I didÉÉ" The last part was murmured sub-vocally.
"Ela?" the Gnome replied in surprise. "But I haven't seen her in years, she was only waist high to me last time I saw her. Now look at her!"
Ela blushed and accepted the compliment.
"Since you two helped Tia rescue me and complete her mission, you deserve some sort of rewardÉlet's see, what to give, what to give?"
The Gnome snapped his fingers and then rushed down the corridor and into an ornately decorated cavern. The trio followed him and as soon as Elsian entered the Gnome pushed a wooden staff into his hands.
"It'll allow you to probe the Elemental planes and find your own companions for life. Use it wisely, for while it signifies you as a friend to the Elements, it can also prove your downfall if they decide that you have misused it."
The Gnome again rushed out of the room and down the corridor with the Trio hot on his heals to the site of the battlefield. He began rummaging through some of the ashes until he came to a pair of finely crafted boots. He shook the ashes from them and dusted them off and pressed them into Ela's hands.
"These were stolen from me nearly ten years ago, they make a thief more silent and talented in all his or her escapades. You will be able to perform your skills quicker and more efficiently."
The three Elves looked at the Gnome for a while, trying to think of a way to thank the gnome for these gifts. However, before any of them could say anything, the Gnome was speaking again, "I sense that your destinies will take you many places but the one that you must seek first is a far beneath the Earth. There you will each suffer many hardships and even separate, but do not dishearten for though you shall be apart, you will find each other and be stronger than before. Good Luck and May Moradin guide you."
The Gnome disappeared with that last blessing and the Elves were left in the emptiness of his passing and the echoes of his words on their hearts. They did not know the meaning of his words, but they did know that if it was their destiny to travel beneath the Earth, separate, and be united sometime later, then they would do so with all speed. They already knew how they would get below the Earth, in fact they were already there. So, they found the Goblin's stores and packed some mushrooms into three Goblin packs. Then Elsian summoned a Will O' the Wisp from the plain of fire, who perched upon his staff and lit their way, and the walked along a gently sloping corridor toward their destiny.
TO BE CONTINUED