Somewhere I can Belong Chapter 10

The Druids Tale

Rambling from Rohan: So after finishing my longest chapter ever I'm hoping to get one out at least as long in a much shorter time frame. Corrected some mistakes with the last chapter and if anyone is interested in being a beta reader let me know at almost forgot something important, if something is written in Italics that means Quinn is thinking it.

Oh yeah one last thing, all D&D thing belong to Wizards of the Coast and what not. Now onto the story.

Quinn's mind was abuzz with activity as thoughts raced through his mind, to many questions always to many questions. His trek had not been in silence however, a rich sylvan voice had been whispering in his ear, albeit sometimes very loudly

"Now novice what is the best possible combination to use when fighting a group of the wretches of Grumush."

Between grasps of breath Quinn replied, "The six count, alternating with heaven and earth."

"Good good novice, variety is the spice of life and those unthinking savages are oh so unable to grasp the elegance of the patterns."

Stopping in mid-stride Quinn fired back, "They might not grasp the elegance but they also do not fear it either. I prefer the three count myself when facing orcs. As their comrades lose their heads the remainder grow slower and more cautious something that their fighting style is not equipped to handle. They become sloppy and off balance leaving openings" Slowly Quinn began to count off and by the time he reached 4 the Sylvan voice was screaming in his ear"

"You do not use the "zombie killer" against orcs. Orcs wear helmets for Ehlona's sake novice."

"But not full helms, mentor. Their necks are still open, and why are you still calling me novice still? I thought we were on a first name basis, granted you still haven't told me your name yet but it is not my place to ask such things." Quinn answered defiantly dropping his pack to the ground."

"Ouch don't do that novice, that hurt, I may be dead but I still feel pain."

"The anger that had been building washed away as Quinn gently picked up his pack gently making sure that none of the soil inside had been lost. The sound of Quinn's rushed apology in Sylvan, Druidic, and Elven was soon interrupted by a booming laughter.

"Novice I never get tired of watching you do that. I still can't believe how simple it was to take the grove with you and thus allowing me to use my powers alongside you."

"Thank you mentor, I had my doubts but I had read of a similar account of a cleric and…"

"Wait you mean to tell me that you weren't sure that it would work? My spirit could have been scattered across the twisting nether and beyond!"

Wearily leaning against a small knoll and with a smile on his face Quinn replied, "If it worked for the spirit of an ancient cleric I thought for certain that it would work for you mentor." Within a matter of seconds Quinn realized his mistake and watched as the jovial nature vanished from her ethereal face and rage became easily apparent, and Quinn cringed fearing the wrath that would soon fall upon him.

"Oh so you think that I am old now." She advanced upon Quinn jabbing her finger, into his chest with every syllable."

Seeing her hand slide into his chest and even knowing the threat he was in facing an angry druid. Who was female. Who was a female elf. Who was a spirit of a skilled female elven druid albeit a dead one. In the face of all of that danger Quinn could not resist saying, "That would be more effective mentor if you were actually poking me and not sliding through me."

The look of shock on her face made it impossible not to laugh, and soon Quinn was clutching his sides to try to control his booming laughter. His mentor was quickly chanting a spell and within moments Quinn was doused in water. "Must I call down the wrath of the storm to stop your laughter novice?" Seeing that Quinn was not troubled at all by the rapid cloudburst of water and was actually smiling as if he was reliving a treasured memory. Her ethereal hands grasped her head and grasped her head as if it would help her in understanding this human, and finally realized that there was only solutions…she would have to ask him, "What is so funny novice. You're soaking wet with night about to set in and somehow you seem unable to stop laughing?"

"Oh these last few days have reminded me of my life at home."

Crouching next to her soaked "Tell me about your home novice, I have not been beyond this region in all the years of either of my lives."

"Either lives?" Quinn was perplexed till a moments later everything fell into place as he realized what she had meant, "Ah yes I understand now, dead and not so dead. There is not much to say I grew up in a land to the North called Namoria." Quinn's mind flooded with images of a past he had tried to forget. "There's not much to say about it."

Suddenly Quinn was recipient of something very similar to Crystals Death Stare from his companion, "Novice, one of the great and powerful effect all teachers have is to tell when one of their students is lying to them. Now would you like to try again?"

"It's a very long story mentor and I wouldn't want to bore you with it."

"Don't worry novice, we can camp right here for the night."

Quinn shook his head before staring at his mentor, "I'm not going to win this argument am I?"

"No you are not novice, even if you leave the soil from the grove here I will still be able to follow you nagging in your ear for all eternity. Besides it's time that you ought to learn never to argue with a woman...regardless of their race. You will always lose." She spoke the last words in an almost hushed tone, but Quinn heard every word."

With grim realization showing on his face Quinn answered, "What would you like to know?"

Having dropped the grim stare that had bored into Quinn, his companion settled into the ground and sitting across from Quinn and with an almost childlike smile on her face replied, "Everything."

Clearing his throat he began, "I was a son in a minor household. Images leapt to his mind of a towering castle with a lush forest nearby that spread out beyond the range of sight. My parents wanted me to be the best that I could be and my sisters were always helping to make sure that I stayed on the straight and narrow and not be an embarrassment to the family. Images of countless tasks thrown upon him, unplug the cesspool, clean the moat, polish the battlements of the north tower, and put up a new lightening rod on the keep. It's only broken not bleeding get back up. It was an interesting life."

His mentor interrupted his censored life story, "Why did you become a follower of Ehlona? Being the son of a noble you could have had a much simpler life."

"I was just about to get to get to that part."

Rolling her eyes she said with childlike glee, "Now we're getting to the good stuff."

If only you knew, "It was because of my nanny, her name was Ruehinda."

"Ruehinda, that's an elvish name isn't it novice?"

"Why yes it mentor. Would you like to take over telling the story and I can take a nap?"

"Oh but you tell it so well novice. So you learned your overblown sense of behavior from an elven maiden?"

You could say that, I prefer to think of her as an ebon skinned dweller of the abyss set to punish me for being a male. "She was very good at what she did." Her voice alone was enough to drive veteran soldiers who had been bloodied in countless battles to shake in fear, let alone the snake whip she kept with her with its incessant hissing. "She loved to spend time indoors teaching me the finer protocols of what would be expected of me as a good son." Always crushing my hopes indoctrinating me to be some mindless drone. Dark she loved the dark; I would go days without seeing the sun or even the stars at night.

"Odd that she preferred to spend her time in the manor and not the open air. But not unheard of, perhaps in her old age she preferred the warmth that your family's manor offered."

That ancient crone only lived for the money that my family ever so joyfully gave her and the joy she derived from torturing me. "Well she was old and she did like the manor." Though she went on and on about the wretched hobble that it was whispering advice into my mother ear, my father went mad remodeling it to her likings.

"This Ruehinda sounds like she had quite an impact on our life Quinn. Did she also inspire you to learn the way of Ehlona? Even in some part."

"She encouraged me to spend time outdoors, so in a way she did. I doubt I would have become what I am without her driving force." Quinn stifled a laugh as another memory came to light, that of his first victory over his family and Ruehinda. "You see mentor I used to snore very loudly as a child, and it got to be so bad that my family made me sleep outside of the manor at night." Every beating was worth it as I finally got that crone mad enough to become angry with me and send me outside.

"You became a follower of Ehlona because you snored?"

"For the most part."

"Quinn you are by far the most…unusual persons that I have ever met."

"This coming from a spirit that is bound by a divine edict to reclaim a holy site and fortress?" he replied with a smirk."

"So I assume you left your family to seek out adventure and live your life in accordance with Ehlona's tenants?"

"Your wisdom is indeed vast mentor, I left home and swore not to return until I had made something of myself." Actually fleeing for my life, and to avoid a forced marriage. That and vowing to never return save to destroy that which they had built. From there the rest is history I traveled for some time and made by way to these lands where I met those I once traveled with. Now if you don't mind mentor may we talk about this later. Those of us that still have a heartbeat need their rest?"

"I suppose so novice you need your beauty sleep."

Smirking back at his mentor Quinn retorted, "In my case it would take to much sleep, good night mentor. Oh where did the raven fly off to?"

"Well there are a lot of ravens in this land, could you be more specific young novice?"

"The one that had been following us for the past few days, I believe his name is Burntfeather."

"Oh that raven, oh he's probably off hunting bugs, he really likes those flaming bugs, and I think that's how he was given his name."

"No wait let me guess mentor, as he was trying to eat them, one started his feathers on fire."

"Quite true young novice, poor raven. Spent most of a season half naked as his feather grew back."

"I should have stayed in Namoria, goodnight mentor."

Soon silence settled over the camp, there was no hearth and as twilight settled into dusk soon nothing could be seen leaving the moon elf with only her own thoughts. As Quinn drifted into sleep, with his weapons close at hand, his mentor was left with more questions than answers. When she had shared her memories with Quinn it had been a mutual exchange. She lived his life through those memories and knew everything about him, she felt the love and hatred he had for his family and how he had barely banished his hatred of them over his journey. That and his never ending grief from his failure to save Twrch. "So much pain you hold onto even when it is not yours to bear. Her anger of the drow intensified as she saw the cruelties that Ruehinda placed upon him. She felt the joy and exhilaration that he felt as he moved through the woodlands and the times that he had spent with his friends. Ehlona had sent this one to her for this task and now more than ever she believed in Quinn Elistril. Burntfeather glided down to tell her of the orc movements around the mound and how it was mostly deserted save for an orc ugly by even orc standards. Well best to worry about that in the morning.

Rambling from Rohan: Yay longest chapter ever. Chapter 10 is done and next chapter will be split between both groups. Learn the do or die plan that Quinn's friends must succeed at, and be amazed at how ugly an orc can be in Chapter 11