Tales of Elspeth

"Tales of Elspeth"
Copyright © Barry Montgomery 2007

Seth desperately grasped out to keep a hold onto the root. He prayed that he wouldn't lose his grip. Slowly he twisted his head downwards and saw the sharp dagger-shaped rocks fifty feet below. "How did I get myself into this mess?" The sky lit up with a crack of lightning. The torrential rain started to spill from the sky. He could feel his grip loosening. He could feel himself falling. "Help" he roared "Anyone, please help". Fighting to hold back the tears, Seth felt himself been pulled up and over the edge back to safety. Gasping for breath, he suddenly felt a dull ache as the mysterious stranger kicked him in the stomach with his boot. "Get up!" he barked "Get up!" Clasping his hands over his stomach, he struggled to his feet, shivering from fear and the wintry wind snapping at his rain-drenched clothes. It dawned on him that the stranger had thumped him on his head as his vision blurred. Dejectedly he sank back down onto the ground. He gulped and coughed as tears rolled down his dirt-stained face.

Seth's rescuer stood tall and proud as his muscular outline blackened against the lightning-bolt filled sky. Seth stared in disbelief as the stranger glanced eastwards, with a worried look upon his face. Lightning bolts filled the sky far away to the east, in the direction of his village. Seth heard the guttural cry of a wild beast calling out in the murky night. "Time grows short" mumbled the stranger "Come. We must leave for my campsite. You are too important to be left wandering this countryside alone. We're half a league north of where I would like us to be" "But my family, my friends" Seth stuttered. "Don't worry about them for the moment. Elspeth will explain everything," replied the stranger. "I'm Zander".

Elspeth! The greatest wizard alive! "What does he want with me?" Seth asked. "All will be explain in due time my young friend" was all the warrior would say. Seth began to slump towards to the ground. A firm hand grasped the back of his neck and pulled him roughly to his feet. "Your people need you to be strong". Zander let out a piercing whistle. There was a shaking from a nearby copse. Seth breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was only a horse that appeared from the bushes. Zander took hold of the reins. Placing his foot into the stirrup, he raised himself into the saddle. "But I've no horse" cried out Seth. The warrior let out another shrill whistle, and from behind a tree trotted a dapple-grey pony. Snorting and rolling its eyes, Seth slowly approached the pony as the lightning crashed all around them. He gingerly reached out his hand to grasp the reins, expecting to be nipped at. To his surprise the pony ceased its snorting and with a final swish of its tail settled, allowing Seth to climb clumsily onto its back.

As the two set off towards Zander's camp the moon was slowly creeping up the horizon, giving way to strange and scary shapes among the trees. Seth began to become nervous. He booted his pony to catch up as Zander was already way ahead. "Keep up, you fool" roared Zander as the heavens opened up and the rain began assaulting the two weary travellers. All of a sudden the woods opened up to reveal an encampment, cleverly hidden behind shrubbery and the heavy foliage of the evergreen trees. At first the camp appeared as a few tents scattered randomly around the clearing with only a handful of soldiers to be seen. As they progressed further into the campsite Seth saw more and more elfish warriors and trolls. The trolls were a short stocky-build race with some of the most gruesome facial features. They had that feral look in their eyes that spoke of a race that had only been half-civilised and long to be released from the chains of society. The elves, on the other hand, stood tall and proud with their short pointed ears and piercing blue eyes, which could deliver the most terrifying stare. Their blonde hair and handsome features made them one of the most easily recognised races of the planet.

Seth sweated; he could feel it form on the small of his back when his pony came to an abrupt standstill outside a tent. It seemed to Seth to be slighter larger than the rest of the tents. This must be Elspeth's tent he thought to himself. Quickly he dismounted. The flaps of the tents swung open to reveal a hazy light inside. Unsure of himself, he nervously began walking towards the tent. As he approached the tent a strange smell was discharged from the entrance and puffs of greyish-purple smoke escaped through a little hole in the patchwork. Standing there, Seth stared at the puffs of smoke until a chesty cough reminded him of where he was. Apprehensively he stepped into the tent and was amazed by what greeted him.

Outside, the tent appeared small, but once over the threshold it was comfortably spacious. In the corner, to his left, stood a cauldron boiling over with a greenish misty smoke. This he realised, was the source of the strange smell as his tried not to inhale anymore than he had to. Taking in the rest of the room with a wide-eyed fleeting glance, he noticed an aged oak desk with maps and other various old transcripts covering it. Behind the table was an oversized chair with fanciful designs carved into it. All of a sudden the wizard stepped out from the shadows "Ah Seth, my young friend, how good it is to see you. I was worried."

"I don't understand what it is you want with me". "Please, take a seat and let me fill you in". The elderly wizard shuffled over towards the chair, seated himself, and motioned Seth to do the same. Seth pulled up another chair to the large oak table while Elspeth rummaged through the documents on top of it. "Ah there you are!" The wizard pulled out a strange-looking pipe and proceeded to smoke it. Hearing a rustle of feathers from one of the gloomy corners, Seth looked up. With a haunting screech and a rustle of wings, an owl flew out of the shadows. Swooping down, with its talons the owl grasped a mouse scurrying across the floor. Staring at where the mouse had just been, Seth tried to shut out the sounds of the owl ripping the now lifeless body of the mouse piece-to-piece.

"Eh, hum" coughed Elspeth. "Sorry about him, no manners at all I'm afraid! Now where was I?" enquired Elspeth rubbing his brow irately as he tried to remember. "Ah yes" he barked, banging his pipe down onto the table with such a force he caused it to shatter into little pieces. Cursing his foolishness, he gathered up the pieces of the pipe into the palm of his hand. Holding them up close to his face, he murmured some words and tapped it with his wand. With that the shattered pieces took on a life of their own and floated above the palm of his hand and fused back together. With a flash of a blue light the pipe fell back into Elspeth's hand, good as new. "Hate when that happens!" smiled Elspeth as he placed the pipe back into his mouth. "Anyway, I'm quite sure you have questions you wish me to answers". Folding his arms, he sat back into his chair, puffed on his pipe and began exhaling a greenish smoke in the form of circles...

Slightly intimidated, Seth coughed nervously. "What happened tonight? I was out checking the animals and all of a sudden I saw flames from the village... and the screams..." Looking up, tears started to fall into his hands which lay shaking uncontrollably in his lap. "What happened?" he asked between sniffs. "Drink some of this," said the wizard sympathetic as he reached out with a mug of some strange smelling tea. "You're safe now."

Bolts of lightning lit up the sky and crashes of thunder rang throughout the campsite. Seth and Elspeth heard others shouting followed by the clashes of steel upon steel between the rumbles of thunder. Seth heard the guttural sound that he had heard earlier. Jumping out of his seat, he flayed his hands about his head as Elspeth muttered a foul curse. Walking around the other side of the table Elspeth reached for his staff. Raising it high in the air, he roared: "Be gone, foul beasts of the night" and brought the staff down hard onto the ground, sending vibrations throughout the camp. Seth felt it sweep him off his feet. All was quiet once again. The sound of the disgruntled thunder rolled away across the hills, leaving the cries of the wounded soldiers to drift up into the air. "Prepare yourself" said Elspeth, clasping his hand onto Seth's shoulder. With that he turned around and quickly paced out of the tent and into the chaos.

Nothing could prepare Seth for what he was about to see. Everywhere he looked, he found death. Soldiers lay on the ground with pain etched onto their faces. Men stumbled around, clutching their wounds, trying to stop the bleeding. What shocked Seth most were all the dead ogres littering the ground. A taste in his mouth, the most putrid he had ever tasted, made him turn sharply and empty his stomach onto the ground. All over the camp, men and elves were crying out for help. Seth gazed around searching for Elspeth. He found him clasping a soldier's heads in his hands, and muttering magic words over them. "Too much, too much" mumbled Elspeth as he raced around. Seth tried to keep up, but after the day's events, he soon became exhausted. His legs refused to move anymore and he collapsed onto the blood-soaked grass. Hearing a thump behind him, Elspeth quickly whirled around. Seeing Seth passed out, he shouted for assistance. Two human soldiers came running. "Marg, Karr, Place him in my tent and get those wet clothes off him before he catches a chill. Stay with him and guard the tent. Let no one pass."

Elspeth shouted for Zander. Finding him cradling a dying soldier's head in his arms, Elspeth offered to ease the wounded soldier's pain. He began mumbling words and to stroke the dying man's wounds with his hands. When he had finished, the solider fell into a peaceful sleep and eventually ceased to breath. "Sometimes the wounds are just too much" whispered Elspeth with a heart-rending look upon his face. "He fought well" replied Zander. Picking his sword up from where it lay, he sheathed it back into its scabbard. "May he find warmth and peace in the Gods' arms" he whispered, trying not to let his emotions show on his blood-splattered face. "It seems this band of dark friends was further north of us, heading for the village and discovered us quite by accident. I've sent out scouts and posted lookouts to patrol the area until sunrise. Wait! Where is the young dryad? Has anything happened to him?" asked Zander. "No, no, not at all, he's just tired and needed rest; it all seemed a bit too much for him. I've let him rest up in my tent with Marg and Karr watching over him. Sorry comrade, but I am needed elsewhere." With that Elspeth turned around and hurried off into the night. When Elspeth was gone from sight, Zander kneeled down by the dead solider and looked upon him. Letting out a sigh, for one split second his stone hard expression broke down, "Goodbye, my friend" mumbled the weary warrior as he closed over the dead soldier's eyelids. Standing back up he glanced around and he too stalked off into the night.

The misty morning sunrise brought with it a felling of despair across the camp as the extent of the damage finally became visible in the greyish morning sunlight. While the sun slowly crept from its slumber, relieving the moon of her duties, Elspeth was still rushing around helping with what he could when Zander approached him. "Come eat some breakfast with us, you'll need to regain your strength for the days ahead. I hope you don't mind, but I've ordered the men to begin packing the tents. The sooner we leave the better." "Yes, yes, good decision, thank you my old friend," mumbled Elspeth. "Time has come and gone for us to leave this place."

Meanwhile over at Elspeths tent, Seth was just awakening from the deep slumber into which he had slipped. Stretching and stifling a yawn, he thought to himself that he shouldn't have slept in. There was work to be done and it wouldn't get done with him lying in bed all day. All of a sudden he realised where he was and the events of the previous day came crashing back into his head. Stumbling out of the bed, he rubbed his bleary eyes and reached for his trousers. While he was hopping around, trying to pull his trousers up, the tent flaps rustled and drew back, allowing light into the tent. A shadow filled the doorway and into the tent stepped Elspeth, quickly followed by Zander. Seth looked closely at Elspeth, he looked much older that he had the night previous. His face was much more haggard and his eyelids hung heavily on his brow. He seemed to be leaning quite heavily on his staff, relying on it for most of his support. Before Seth had a chance to speak, Elspeth quietly asked Zander to relieve the guardsmen outside of their duties. Elspeth stood looking at thoughtfully at Seth. Finally he spoke: "I know you must have many questions, but I'm afraid our luck has taken a turn for the worst. I apologize to you Seth, but we are moving onwards. What say you? Will you travel in our companionship?" "But my family? My friends? My village? I can't just leave everything and go. They're probably out looking for me now." "That's if they survived last night's attack, and I'm afraid I am very doubtful about its outcome."