The Houses of Healing
They entered the houses of healing to find it somewhat calm and peaceful. A man approached them, he was old and he wore wide robes and a cross hanging from a necklace.
"Greetings, I am Eon, I have been told of your coming and I have a room prepared for the elven lord."
Eon turned and guided them down a wide corridor to a small room with one window on the far wall; beside the neatly made bed was steaming water, clothes and various instruments for medical use. Harrison and Fingarel laid the elf lord gently on the bed. Eon quickly went to work, wetting a towel and cleaning the wound. Then noticed the skin around the wound was turning very pale.
"This wound is far worse than we had thought; this requires healing beyond my skills."
"The bleeding has stopped, what is wrong?" asked Harrison.
"He has been struck by a fell weapon, his only hope lies with the healers of the wooded region," said Fingarel.
"Then we must bring him there!" cried Harrison.
"The journey would be long and hard, he might not survive the trip. You might not either, what with all the dark elves and fell beasts about." Added Eon.
"We must still try!" exclaimed Fingarel.
"I am sped; there is no hope of my survival. Fingarel, send the messengers back to the wooded realm. Inform my father of my fall. Our enemy here is great, our forces are small. Have him send reinforcements. You are to take command of the forces remaining here, Fingarel. Go now, send forth the messengers!"
"Yes my lord," Fingarel bowed and left the room.
"Eon, your efforts are much appreciated but now I crave a word in private with my counterpart."
"As you will," said Eon. Eon left the room and Harrison was alone with the elf lord.
"I am sorry I have brought you into this mess, I had no foresight of these events."
"What am I supposed to do now?"
"You are to follow your own path, against the dark forces."
"You seem to be forgetting that I have no idea what or where the dark forces are, right?"
"You don't, but Fingarel does. Stay with him, he knows of your coming here. You are to journey with him and learn what you can from him and live out your life with care and forget not the perils of darkness. To aid you in your quest, I give on to you my armor and my sword of the old, Gotterdamerung."
"My quest? What is my quest?"
"To...bring balance," The elf lord's words came with much effort now. "Balance, to stop the darkness from...conquering." The elf lord let out a long sigh but did not draw another breath. Harrison was alone. Aimlessly he looked around the room. On the ground he saw the elf lord's armor and sword. He knelt down and wiped the armor clean with a wet cloth. What was he going to do? Harrison removed his breast plate and put on the elf lord's armor. Harrison drew his sword and placed it on the ground and picked up the elf lord's sword. He lifted it, it was surprisingly light. Along the side of the sword were engravings in elvish. The unreadable text was almost hypnotic. It seemed to be saying something to him. It was almost warning him.
"Something is drawing near..." he said to himself. Outside the room there was yelling and swords clashing. Harrison ran out to see men trying desperately to close the main door. Through the crack of the door came orc arrows, every once in a while striking a target. A gnome stepped into the doorway and threw a bottle out the door. Outside, there was a loud explosion. Screams outside, the force pushing the door open suddenly stopped. With apparent ease, the door was closed.
"That will teach orcs to mess with a Gnome! Let alone Grisle Shin Kicker!"
"Well done master dwarf!" said Fingarel.
Fingarel turned and saw Harrison.
"Ah, my friend, I crave a word with you. Tell me, has our lord passed on?"
"Yes, I don't think he suffered much in the end. He gave me his armor and sword."
"Good, you will need them; the city has been attacked by a second host of orcs. Our people are all but slain and the king of this city has fallen as well. We must escape from here and bring news of an invasion from the dark forces."
"Listen, Fingarel, I don't know if you know this but I'm not exactly an elven warrior. I don't fight and I'm not even an elf."
Fingarel gave him a puzzled look.
"Have you not noticed?" asked Fingarel.
"Noticed what?"
"Have you not noticed any change at all?"
"Well, I fell stronger, I feel like I have more endurance. Why?"
"The changes you feel are that of immortality. You are an elf my friend. Remove your helm."
Harrison removed his helmet. As he did so long blonde hair fell down past his shoulders. Stricken by disbelief, he reached to his ears; they were pointed. Harrison truly was an elf.
"How could this be?"
"You came to use like that. I assume you were born that way as well."
"The elven lord told me you knew of my," Harrison paused, "Of my coming here."
"Your coming here? You mean from the realm of men?"
"No, no, I came here-"
"From the realm of men!"
"No, I didn't!"
"You aren't getting me; your name is now Sullendesslar. You were raised in the realm of men. You must let your past go."
"So you do know?"
"Yes. You now must go by the eleven name Sullendesslar."
"Sullen-des-what?"
"Sullendesslar. You were raised in the land of men."
"I see..."
Outside there was yelling. A loud voice sounded.
"Fingarel! Sullendesslar! Help! Their coming in from the windows!"
Fingarel and Harrison ran into the hallway. Coming in through the window were many orcs.
"Sullendesslar!" Fingarel pointed to the window "Seal the window!"
Fingarel ran and started fighting the orcs already in the house. Harrison ran towards the window, there was an orc halfway inside. Harrison raised his sword above his head and charged at the orc. The orc saw him running towards him and screamed. It tried to go back out the window but it lost its balance. Harrison came down on it with a very powerful sword. As the sword was falling towards its target, it burst into a brilliant white flame. The sword made contact with the orc, just below the neck. It cleaved through the flesh and left it charred as if burnt by a powerful flame. The orc fell in two, each part falling on either side of the window pane. With the window clear, Harrison propped a cot over it. With nothing to hold the cot in place, Harrison pushed with all his might. On the other side, there was hard pounding.
"A little help over here please!" yelled Harrison.
With that, the large barbarian with the two hammers ran up.
"Step aside please." Said the barbarian.
Harrison stepped aside and the barbarian pulled away the cot quickly to find an orc caught off his guard. The barbarian quickly smashed his skull in and put the cot back against the window.
"There, the spear. Hand it to me."
Harrison quickly picked up a spear that was leaning against the wall and handed it to the barbarian. The barbarian took it and put on end against the wall and the other against the cot.
"There, that should help. A close call indeed my elven friend. Are you the famed elven warrior, Sullendesslar?"
"Well, my name it Sullendesslar but I don't know if I am famed. Tell me, what makes me famed?"
"I've heard stories of a great elven warrior coming to aid in our defense of the city. I myself thought that you would be taller."
"Are you saying I'm short?"
"I meant no offense by my words. People say that good things come in small packages."
Harrison looked over to see that Fingarel had killed the orcs that had entered the building.
"Fingarel, we cannot stay here forever." Said Harrison.
"I know, I know, but the forces out there are too powerful."
"Those forces out there aren't going to be out there long, soon they will be in here with us. Maybe there wont even be a here soon."
Upstairs, there was screaming and clashing of blades.
"You two, barricade the stairwell!" Said Fingarel to two guards. "Let nothing get down!" Fingarel turned to Harrison. "It would seem that soon came a little too soon."
"There is an exit in the basement that leads to a underground river, we could escape through there!" said Eon. "But please, I beg of you, rescue my daughter!"
Fingarel looked at Harrison in thought. Harrison looked back and nodded.
"Very well, where is she?" asked Fingarel.
"She is upstairs in the library. Please be quick. Her name is Avariel."
"Avariel? That is an elven name." Said Fingarel.
Eon stuttered.
"Y-yes, I am not her real father. Please, hurry! I will take everyone to the cellar; we will wait for you there."
"If you hear the blowing of my horn, leave without us." Said Fingarel.
Fingarel turned and ran to the stair case. They ran up the winding stair with their swords drawn. At the top, they came to a guard lying against the wall with an arrow stuck in his right breast.
"Guard, how badly are you hurt?" Asked Fingarel.
There was no reply.
"My guess is pretty bad added Harrison.
Behind them they heard banging on the shudders.
"Those shudders wont hold for long." Fingarel looked around. "That is the library there!"
They ran to the door.
"Avariel! Come quickly! The house will soon fall!"
Inside they heard a voice. "How do I know you aren't orcs?"
"Because... well. You have to trust us!" said Harrison.
Fingarel looked at him strangely. "Of course that will make her trust us." He said sarcastically.
Fingarel took a step back and in a clear voice spoke elvish. Though Harrison had never before heard it, he understood what he was saying: When was the last time you heard an orc speak the tongue of the wooded realm? The door immediately opened. There, standing in the doorway was a beautiful woman wearing green robes. She had long blonde hair, large green eyes and thin lips. She was the most beautiful woman Harrison had ever seen.
"Come now, we must go to the cellar, your father awaits us." Said Fingarel.
They turned towards the stairs when the shudders on the window shattered into many fragments, as if hit by an explosion. Outside, orc arrows came pouring in. It all was happening in slow motion. Harrison kicked up a large shield that was lying on the floor and ran to the window and covered it.
"Go! To the cellar! NOW!" yelled Harrison.
He could feel the impact of every arrow striking the shield. Then they stopped. Harrison was overcome with a sense of danger. Outside, he hear someone landing on the stoop. Their was a short silence. Then, there was a very hard impact on the shield that shattered it and send Harrison to the ground. Dazed, he looked out the window at a large orc wielding a very large war hammer. It started climbing in the window. On the back of Harrison's collar, Fingarel grabbed him and pulled him down the stairs. Each contact with the next step sent waves of pain echoing up Harrison's lower back.
"I can walk, let me up!"
Fingarel let him go. Harrison tried to reach up to the railing but there was too much pain in his shield arm. He quickly reached up with his other hand and pulled himself to his feet and started running after Fingarel and Avariel, who were already a few yards ahead. They got back down to the main door to see that there was no one there.
"The cellar is this way!" Yelled Avariel.
They followed her to a stair case and started making their way down it. They came into a room and saw Eon, the barbarian and Grissle Shin Kicker standing around a trap door.
"Just smell that air! That is no place for a gnome!" Yelled Grissle.
"Hurry! We don't have much time!" yelled Eon.
The barbarian knelt down and picked up the gnome.
"No wait!" yelled the Gnome in protest. "I..."
Then, before he could finish his thoughts, the barbarian threw him down in the trap door.
"Whose next?" yelled the barbarian.
Quickly, Eon jumped in. Fingarel helped Avariel down and sent the barbarian down after her. From inside the trap door they heard the barbarian cry out.
"Wait! I forgot my hammers!"
Harrison looked around and saw them leaning against the wall. He ran and got them and threw them down the trap door. Below there was a dull thud followed by loud cursing.
"Now you go Sullendesslar!" Fingarel yelled.
Fingarel quickly jumped in after Harrison and shut the hatch. Then they were all sitting there, in the dark.
They entered the houses of healing to find it somewhat calm and peaceful. A man approached them, he was old and he wore wide robes and a cross hanging from a necklace.
"Greetings, I am Eon, I have been told of your coming and I have a room prepared for the elven lord."
Eon turned and guided them down a wide corridor to a small room with one window on the far wall; beside the neatly made bed was steaming water, clothes and various instruments for medical use. Harrison and Fingarel laid the elf lord gently on the bed. Eon quickly went to work, wetting a towel and cleaning the wound. Then noticed the skin around the wound was turning very pale.
"This wound is far worse than we had thought; this requires healing beyond my skills."
"The bleeding has stopped, what is wrong?" asked Harrison.
"He has been struck by a fell weapon, his only hope lies with the healers of the wooded region," said Fingarel.
"Then we must bring him there!" cried Harrison.
"The journey would be long and hard, he might not survive the trip. You might not either, what with all the dark elves and fell beasts about." Added Eon.
"We must still try!" exclaimed Fingarel.
"I am sped; there is no hope of my survival. Fingarel, send the messengers back to the wooded realm. Inform my father of my fall. Our enemy here is great, our forces are small. Have him send reinforcements. You are to take command of the forces remaining here, Fingarel. Go now, send forth the messengers!"
"Yes my lord," Fingarel bowed and left the room.
"Eon, your efforts are much appreciated but now I crave a word in private with my counterpart."
"As you will," said Eon. Eon left the room and Harrison was alone with the elf lord.
"I am sorry I have brought you into this mess, I had no foresight of these events."
"What am I supposed to do now?"
"You are to follow your own path, against the dark forces."
"You seem to be forgetting that I have no idea what or where the dark forces are, right?"
"You don't, but Fingarel does. Stay with him, he knows of your coming here. You are to journey with him and learn what you can from him and live out your life with care and forget not the perils of darkness. To aid you in your quest, I give on to you my armor and my sword of the old, Gotterdamerung."
"My quest? What is my quest?"
"To...bring balance," The elf lord's words came with much effort now. "Balance, to stop the darkness from...conquering." The elf lord let out a long sigh but did not draw another breath. Harrison was alone. Aimlessly he looked around the room. On the ground he saw the elf lord's armor and sword. He knelt down and wiped the armor clean with a wet cloth. What was he going to do? Harrison removed his breast plate and put on the elf lord's armor. Harrison drew his sword and placed it on the ground and picked up the elf lord's sword. He lifted it, it was surprisingly light. Along the side of the sword were engravings in elvish. The unreadable text was almost hypnotic. It seemed to be saying something to him. It was almost warning him.
"Something is drawing near..." he said to himself. Outside the room there was yelling and swords clashing. Harrison ran out to see men trying desperately to close the main door. Through the crack of the door came orc arrows, every once in a while striking a target. A gnome stepped into the doorway and threw a bottle out the door. Outside, there was a loud explosion. Screams outside, the force pushing the door open suddenly stopped. With apparent ease, the door was closed.
"That will teach orcs to mess with a Gnome! Let alone Grisle Shin Kicker!"
"Well done master dwarf!" said Fingarel.
Fingarel turned and saw Harrison.
"Ah, my friend, I crave a word with you. Tell me, has our lord passed on?"
"Yes, I don't think he suffered much in the end. He gave me his armor and sword."
"Good, you will need them; the city has been attacked by a second host of orcs. Our people are all but slain and the king of this city has fallen as well. We must escape from here and bring news of an invasion from the dark forces."
"Listen, Fingarel, I don't know if you know this but I'm not exactly an elven warrior. I don't fight and I'm not even an elf."
Fingarel gave him a puzzled look.
"Have you not noticed?" asked Fingarel.
"Noticed what?"
"Have you not noticed any change at all?"
"Well, I fell stronger, I feel like I have more endurance. Why?"
"The changes you feel are that of immortality. You are an elf my friend. Remove your helm."
Harrison removed his helmet. As he did so long blonde hair fell down past his shoulders. Stricken by disbelief, he reached to his ears; they were pointed. Harrison truly was an elf.
"How could this be?"
"You came to use like that. I assume you were born that way as well."
"The elven lord told me you knew of my," Harrison paused, "Of my coming here."
"Your coming here? You mean from the realm of men?"
"No, no, I came here-"
"From the realm of men!"
"No, I didn't!"
"You aren't getting me; your name is now Sullendesslar. You were raised in the realm of men. You must let your past go."
"So you do know?"
"Yes. You now must go by the eleven name Sullendesslar."
"Sullen-des-what?"
"Sullendesslar. You were raised in the land of men."
"I see..."
Outside there was yelling. A loud voice sounded.
"Fingarel! Sullendesslar! Help! Their coming in from the windows!"
Fingarel and Harrison ran into the hallway. Coming in through the window were many orcs.
"Sullendesslar!" Fingarel pointed to the window "Seal the window!"
Fingarel ran and started fighting the orcs already in the house. Harrison ran towards the window, there was an orc halfway inside. Harrison raised his sword above his head and charged at the orc. The orc saw him running towards him and screamed. It tried to go back out the window but it lost its balance. Harrison came down on it with a very powerful sword. As the sword was falling towards its target, it burst into a brilliant white flame. The sword made contact with the orc, just below the neck. It cleaved through the flesh and left it charred as if burnt by a powerful flame. The orc fell in two, each part falling on either side of the window pane. With the window clear, Harrison propped a cot over it. With nothing to hold the cot in place, Harrison pushed with all his might. On the other side, there was hard pounding.
"A little help over here please!" yelled Harrison.
With that, the large barbarian with the two hammers ran up.
"Step aside please." Said the barbarian.
Harrison stepped aside and the barbarian pulled away the cot quickly to find an orc caught off his guard. The barbarian quickly smashed his skull in and put the cot back against the window.
"There, the spear. Hand it to me."
Harrison quickly picked up a spear that was leaning against the wall and handed it to the barbarian. The barbarian took it and put on end against the wall and the other against the cot.
"There, that should help. A close call indeed my elven friend. Are you the famed elven warrior, Sullendesslar?"
"Well, my name it Sullendesslar but I don't know if I am famed. Tell me, what makes me famed?"
"I've heard stories of a great elven warrior coming to aid in our defense of the city. I myself thought that you would be taller."
"Are you saying I'm short?"
"I meant no offense by my words. People say that good things come in small packages."
Harrison looked over to see that Fingarel had killed the orcs that had entered the building.
"Fingarel, we cannot stay here forever." Said Harrison.
"I know, I know, but the forces out there are too powerful."
"Those forces out there aren't going to be out there long, soon they will be in here with us. Maybe there wont even be a here soon."
Upstairs, there was screaming and clashing of blades.
"You two, barricade the stairwell!" Said Fingarel to two guards. "Let nothing get down!" Fingarel turned to Harrison. "It would seem that soon came a little too soon."
"There is an exit in the basement that leads to a underground river, we could escape through there!" said Eon. "But please, I beg of you, rescue my daughter!"
Fingarel looked at Harrison in thought. Harrison looked back and nodded.
"Very well, where is she?" asked Fingarel.
"She is upstairs in the library. Please be quick. Her name is Avariel."
"Avariel? That is an elven name." Said Fingarel.
Eon stuttered.
"Y-yes, I am not her real father. Please, hurry! I will take everyone to the cellar; we will wait for you there."
"If you hear the blowing of my horn, leave without us." Said Fingarel.
Fingarel turned and ran to the stair case. They ran up the winding stair with their swords drawn. At the top, they came to a guard lying against the wall with an arrow stuck in his right breast.
"Guard, how badly are you hurt?" Asked Fingarel.
There was no reply.
"My guess is pretty bad added Harrison.
Behind them they heard banging on the shudders.
"Those shudders wont hold for long." Fingarel looked around. "That is the library there!"
They ran to the door.
"Avariel! Come quickly! The house will soon fall!"
Inside they heard a voice. "How do I know you aren't orcs?"
"Because... well. You have to trust us!" said Harrison.
Fingarel looked at him strangely. "Of course that will make her trust us." He said sarcastically.
Fingarel took a step back and in a clear voice spoke elvish. Though Harrison had never before heard it, he understood what he was saying: When was the last time you heard an orc speak the tongue of the wooded realm? The door immediately opened. There, standing in the doorway was a beautiful woman wearing green robes. She had long blonde hair, large green eyes and thin lips. She was the most beautiful woman Harrison had ever seen.
"Come now, we must go to the cellar, your father awaits us." Said Fingarel.
They turned towards the stairs when the shudders on the window shattered into many fragments, as if hit by an explosion. Outside, orc arrows came pouring in. It all was happening in slow motion. Harrison kicked up a large shield that was lying on the floor and ran to the window and covered it.
"Go! To the cellar! NOW!" yelled Harrison.
He could feel the impact of every arrow striking the shield. Then they stopped. Harrison was overcome with a sense of danger. Outside, he hear someone landing on the stoop. Their was a short silence. Then, there was a very hard impact on the shield that shattered it and send Harrison to the ground. Dazed, he looked out the window at a large orc wielding a very large war hammer. It started climbing in the window. On the back of Harrison's collar, Fingarel grabbed him and pulled him down the stairs. Each contact with the next step sent waves of pain echoing up Harrison's lower back.
"I can walk, let me up!"
Fingarel let him go. Harrison tried to reach up to the railing but there was too much pain in his shield arm. He quickly reached up with his other hand and pulled himself to his feet and started running after Fingarel and Avariel, who were already a few yards ahead. They got back down to the main door to see that there was no one there.
"The cellar is this way!" Yelled Avariel.
They followed her to a stair case and started making their way down it. They came into a room and saw Eon, the barbarian and Grissle Shin Kicker standing around a trap door.
"Just smell that air! That is no place for a gnome!" Yelled Grissle.
"Hurry! We don't have much time!" yelled Eon.
The barbarian knelt down and picked up the gnome.
"No wait!" yelled the Gnome in protest. "I..."
Then, before he could finish his thoughts, the barbarian threw him down in the trap door.
"Whose next?" yelled the barbarian.
Quickly, Eon jumped in. Fingarel helped Avariel down and sent the barbarian down after her. From inside the trap door they heard the barbarian cry out.
"Wait! I forgot my hammers!"
Harrison looked around and saw them leaning against the wall. He ran and got them and threw them down the trap door. Below there was a dull thud followed by loud cursing.
"Now you go Sullendesslar!" Fingarel yelled.
Fingarel quickly jumped in after Harrison and shut the hatch. Then they were all sitting there, in the dark.