It's me again. This is my second submission!! Wahoo!!
Disclaimer: This is still a Marauders story, so it's all mine (other than the world and the concepts and the names and... oh hell, I'll start again!) I own Ayon and Kalesh, happy?
Authors Note: Thanks to Dalamar Nightson, Ren, Darkbane13, Koth, and Darkbane13 again. You all rock!! And yes, they are all dead, this is a sort of prelude that I thought up when I read some of the questions Dalamar Nightson had for me.
"And as for me, as for me... I made my mind up back in Chelsea. When I die, I'm goin' like Elsie!" –Liza Minelli
The elf stumbled.
Alone and confused, the young elf looked around from her newest vantage point. Dammit, she said to herself, I'm never going to get back before dark at this pace. Where ever 'there' is, she added with a loud giggle.
She rose again and started off, in what she thought was the right direction. Why she was walking alone in the deepest part of the Silvanesti woods she wasn't sure, though she thought it was likely related to the angry dwarves that ran circles in the head.
She staggered again, this time hitting her head on a large rock. Elven grace my ass, she thought as she sank into blackness.
She awoke to the smell of cooking meat.
"You're awake then, mistress mage?" a voice said from beyond her range of sight.
She sat up painfully fast at that last remark. "What did you say?" she demanded to the old elf next to the fire pit.
"I only asked if you'd woken yet, you took a nasty spill."
"Yes. I did, didn't I?" the elf maid said in a cautious voice, fully grateful she didn't have to explain the true meaning of her remark. Of course she was a mage, she decided, looking down at her tattered white robes. She'd been caught up in a rather enthusiastic bout of celebrating the night before. Or was it two nights ago?
"Are you hungry, miss...?" the older elf offered bread and some sort of roast bird in exchange for her name.
"Ayon," she said automatically. "Ayon of the Silvanesti."
"You're quite a ways from Silvanost, young lady. Almost to the borders."
Between mouthfuls of bread, she managed to make a noncommittal grunt.
"It's dangerous out here; a young lady like you shouldn't be here alone. The air is thick with rumors of war."
"I can take care of myself," Ayon said. "Now, I thank you for the aid and the food, but I must be off. I have just passed the test and my family eagerly awaits my return as a true mage. If I may have your name, I'll see to it that your house will be properly rewarded for your actions."
So eager and impatient, the old elf thought. Might as well be a human...
"Sir?" Ayon's question snapped the old elf out of his reverie.
"Kalesh. Kalesh is my name. But you'll find few in Silvanost who remember me, and even fewer who admit to it. I live here, in the forest."
"Hmm... a hermit. Well, I'm sure that if you-"
"I don't need your money, madam. It's reward enough to talk to another person."
"If you insist, sir Kalesh." Ayon said, bowing. She turned and walked away, fully conscious of the old elf's eyes on her back.
"Lady, wait." Kalesh shouted as she left the clearing.
"Yes," she asked, turning on her heel to regard the man.
"Your spell book. You must have dropped it when you fell," he offered her the white-bound book.
"Thank you again, sir." Ayon took the proffered volume. "Again, I am in you debt." She bowed again.
"A thousand welcomes," Kalesh said with a sly grin.
Ayon rapidly decided she rather disliked that grin, and began backing away. With one final courtesy bow, she turned tail and ran from the hermit elf.
Disclaimer: This is still a Marauders story, so it's all mine (other than the world and the concepts and the names and... oh hell, I'll start again!) I own Ayon and Kalesh, happy?
Authors Note: Thanks to Dalamar Nightson, Ren, Darkbane13, Koth, and Darkbane13 again. You all rock!! And yes, they are all dead, this is a sort of prelude that I thought up when I read some of the questions Dalamar Nightson had for me.
"And as for me, as for me... I made my mind up back in Chelsea. When I die, I'm goin' like Elsie!" –Liza Minelli
The elf stumbled.
Alone and confused, the young elf looked around from her newest vantage point. Dammit, she said to herself, I'm never going to get back before dark at this pace. Where ever 'there' is, she added with a loud giggle.
She rose again and started off, in what she thought was the right direction. Why she was walking alone in the deepest part of the Silvanesti woods she wasn't sure, though she thought it was likely related to the angry dwarves that ran circles in the head.
She staggered again, this time hitting her head on a large rock. Elven grace my ass, she thought as she sank into blackness.
She awoke to the smell of cooking meat.
"You're awake then, mistress mage?" a voice said from beyond her range of sight.
She sat up painfully fast at that last remark. "What did you say?" she demanded to the old elf next to the fire pit.
"I only asked if you'd woken yet, you took a nasty spill."
"Yes. I did, didn't I?" the elf maid said in a cautious voice, fully grateful she didn't have to explain the true meaning of her remark. Of course she was a mage, she decided, looking down at her tattered white robes. She'd been caught up in a rather enthusiastic bout of celebrating the night before. Or was it two nights ago?
"Are you hungry, miss...?" the older elf offered bread and some sort of roast bird in exchange for her name.
"Ayon," she said automatically. "Ayon of the Silvanesti."
"You're quite a ways from Silvanost, young lady. Almost to the borders."
Between mouthfuls of bread, she managed to make a noncommittal grunt.
"It's dangerous out here; a young lady like you shouldn't be here alone. The air is thick with rumors of war."
"I can take care of myself," Ayon said. "Now, I thank you for the aid and the food, but I must be off. I have just passed the test and my family eagerly awaits my return as a true mage. If I may have your name, I'll see to it that your house will be properly rewarded for your actions."
So eager and impatient, the old elf thought. Might as well be a human...
"Sir?" Ayon's question snapped the old elf out of his reverie.
"Kalesh. Kalesh is my name. But you'll find few in Silvanost who remember me, and even fewer who admit to it. I live here, in the forest."
"Hmm... a hermit. Well, I'm sure that if you-"
"I don't need your money, madam. It's reward enough to talk to another person."
"If you insist, sir Kalesh." Ayon said, bowing. She turned and walked away, fully conscious of the old elf's eyes on her back.
"Lady, wait." Kalesh shouted as she left the clearing.
"Yes," she asked, turning on her heel to regard the man.
"Your spell book. You must have dropped it when you fell," he offered her the white-bound book.
"Thank you again, sir." Ayon took the proffered volume. "Again, I am in you debt." She bowed again.
"A thousand welcomes," Kalesh said with a sly grin.
Ayon rapidly decided she rather disliked that grin, and began backing away. With one final courtesy bow, she turned tail and ran from the hermit elf.