The Paladins of Naretia

Chapter 24

"You did that?" Aria almost shrieked. "You would have killed your queen, and all for the sake of a test?"

"We are ruled by none," said the closest elf to the queen. "The water would have lifted you to safety if we had asked it to."

Aria shot the elf a deadly look but said nothing to his denouncement of her title, for which Olórin was grateful. Instead, she occupied herself with trying to shift Aramus's weight on her shoulders, a difficult task with bound hands.

"Aria has shown her bravery when she stood between the winged man and us. She has shown she is capable of caring for her enemy and is, therefore, allowed to proceed through the forest," said the female elf. "Olórin Talfan, you tried to stop this demon from attacking us, despite the fact we were the aggressor. You may also proceed through the forest."

The female elf's vine swung her closer to examine Aramus, and for a long time she just stared into his amber eyes. Pain was very clearly etched across his pale face as he struggled to stay upright.

"You saved the queen, your prisoner," she said, slowly lowering her bow and slinging it onto her shoulder. "Even though you did, I can still see a great darkness within you. You hide something in the deepest places that I cannot see. I am not sure if it is simply a hurt that was caused to you, or if it is something more sinister."

The elf girl paused, and then reached out and roughly pulled the arrow from Aramus's wing. He cried out in pain and collapsed onto the stoney path again. Olórin gasped and started toward Aramus, only to be held in place by the sharp point of an arrow aimed between his eyes.

"What's wrong with you?" Aria shouted at the elf, desperately trying to stem the bleeding with her bound hands. The elf ignored Aria and lifted Aramus's chin to examining his eyes. He stared back at her for as long as he could before his eyes rolled backward his head.

"There is no fire," she said, satisfied. "His father's powers are subdued for now. He may continue with Olórin and the queen. However," she said turning toward the dwarf again. "I cannot allow you through. You show no care for others, nor do you show any redeeming characteristics that I have seen. You, dwarf, may not enter."

"Whot! Yer kicking me outta here cos I didnae save the growler who murdered me brother?" Bernard raged. "Yer a bloody, head-banging, cuddie-loving, oaf-looking, back end of a scrote, if that's what ye were expecting me tae do? You dinnae know me, ye dinnae know any of us. Whot makes you the judge, jury, and executioner?"

"Do you hear any arguments?" the elf girl said, gesturing to her silent companions.

"You will have to forgive my friend here," Olórin interrupted Bernard before he could say the litany of curses that were visibly teetering on the edge of his tongue. "There has been no time at all since his brothers passing, and I fear his emotions have clouded any normal reaction he might have. However, he carries with him an important item, one that I am loath to be separated from. Could you not see it in your heart to be lenient toward his manner, knowing his pain?"

Olórin had hoped that a vote of confidence from another caste of Naretia would sway the elves opinion of Aramus. But it seemed that they had a long seated resentment toward the dwarfs that Olórin knew nothing about, and Bernard wasn't helping matters with his temper. Today, as with every other day, it seemed their puritanistic views would remain unsullied by outsiders.

"We could not," replied the male elf. "He will not be harmed, but he shall travel no further either."

Without warning, Bernard was lifted off his feet by a thick vine and carried back in the direction they had come. The air turned blue with the vile curses coming from his mouth, and time after time, he sliced his way out of the liana with his axe, only to be caught again by another.

"Bernard, wait for us outside of Elwood," Olórin shouted after him.

"Whot do ye think I am, some kinda lap dog? No, I willnae wait. I will return to Balbuldor and inform the king of Angus's passing."

"You will remember your promise?"

"Aye, I'll remember it all right. I'll be back here wih' reinforcements in three days, and if I have tae level the forest tae find ye, I will. Ya hear me elf? I'll flatten thas place. Stick that in yer pipe and smoke it. Ha!"

Bernard disappeared through the thick trees and Olórin was sure he would cut as many vines as he would curse. It worried him too that the Valefire was carried away with the wilful dwarf. He wondered if Bernard would, indeed, return for them in three days' time. It worried him more that Bernard might anger the elves by desecrating their sanctum if they were not there to meet him. But fate had seen fit to take this part of his quest out of Olórin's hands. So, he had no choice but to trust, and fear, that Bernard would be true to his word.

"Come, your friend needs to be healed," said the girl elf. "We must continue on to the city of Rhidwynn."

Olórin glanced at Aramus and was alarmed to see that his tanned face was now a deathly shade of grey. Elf arrows were imbued with Edwina's magic, poison to the young man. Dark veins pulsated down Aramus's right arm, and as much as Aria tried, she could not stem the flow of black blood. Olórin rushed to his side, but before he could reach him, a vine wrapped itself around his waist and lifted him high into the air.

"No, wait. I must help him," Olórin said as he came level with the dark skinned elf girl.

No sooner had he said it then Aramus and Aria were separated, and lifted into the air beside him, Aramus dangling limply in his vine.

"My name is Sudia," the girl said. "I am one of Rhidwynn's most formidable healers. I have seen these kinds of wounds before in Dark Ones, and can tell you he yet has some time. But not much. We must travel to the city where I can syphon the magic from his wounds. Then, and only then, will he recover."

"You are sure?" Aria questioned. "It is imperative he does not die."

It seemed to Olórin that the queen understood the nature of their quest, or perhaps she was just saying all the right things until she could be freed to kill him herself. Either way, it was too early to tell her true intentions.

"I cannot be certain. But, if he only had dark blood inside of him, our arrows would have killed him outright," she replied. "It is only by his human side that he still lives, and only by his human side that we will cure him. It was his final test."

With more grace and less haste than Olórin would have cared for, the vines moved through the forest and followed the gorge until it came to a thunderous waterfall. Sudia raised her hand and, without a word, the torrent parted in the middle, like the side-ways mouth of some watery beast. From within the darkened tunnel, more vines reached out their woody tendrils and took hold of the party. Aramus's body fell limply into the waiting liana before they were all swallowed by the watery maw.