Wesley Whiteknuckle leaned against a far-off oak tree, his stomach churning and his dark tunic soaked at the armpits. The Autumn festival carried on without him. Wooden pipes of the played off in the background as did the singing and dancing of the partygoers.
"Oi, here it comes," he said to no one.
His gut clenched like a vice and a yellow pulpy stew exploded from his mouth. The sour aftertaste put a grimace on his face.
He spat.
What's wrong with me? he wondered.
He reclaimed his breath and blinked the bright flashes from his vision. But after several breaths, even the serenity of Green Haven could not cleanse what ailed him—and it wasn't the Flatfish soup.
Even though Wess looked dressed for the occasion, he didn't feel like dancing, drinking, or singing. As per the "regulations" desired by the Druids, he shed his weapons and armor for the Autumn festival. Of course, he considered Ravenwing more of a friend than a weapon, so he rigged a thin rope to hang the sheath under his armpit. Covered with his tunic and black cloak the Tenchi blade couldn't be seen, or bumped into by accident while dancing.
Something is wrong.
He caught three Flatheads, sure. Fishing again felt fantastic. With the Stones standing over him even now like tall guardians, they gave him no comfort.
He thought over the past few hours, then slowly, he rolled back time. Anyu's return, seeing the Stones, meeting Haygen's mother, the illusionary entrance to Green Haven, the ambush...yes.
He had not felt right since the ambush. But why?
An Assassin targeted Kayla. Sure. That only made tactical sense.
A wind swept in from the west chilling his damp body.
He set his magical glasses on his nose and walked along the western side near the cabins and lodges away from the Candlewood trees. The closer he moved to northgate, the easier it became to pick out the Laquarrin Archers perched on wooden platforms high up in the tall Oaks.
He reached the northgate entrance and his stomach churned again.
Gods! Something isn't right.
He gave a two-finger signal to the guards and they replied in kind.
"See anything of interest this fine eve, gents?" Wess called out just loud enough.
The Elves replied with a silent shakes of heads.
"Right. I'm going on patrol. Help me back in, ya?"
The Laquarrin to his left nodded and tossed him a white keystone. Wess raised it and nodded his thanks. He heard the faint cry of wolves and he thought of returning to his cabin and throwing on his chain vest. He rested his hand on Ravenwing's grip and it set him at ease. More than enough for a quick look-see, he thought.
Wess walked only a short while down the western road when it happened. Faeling luck traveled closely with him that night as he caught the faint smell of garbage. His talented pallet ran through the possibilities. Rotten cheddar curds, or maybe even goat cheese.
Then, he heard familiar words. Gutteral, but recognizable all the same.
It can't be, he thought. He had not heard the language of his former masters in years. Long past were the days of the war under the mountain.
He spotted them easily with his glasses. Four figures crouched in the ferns with blades out. Hobgoblins by the sound of them. He crept closer. Silent as the Wraith, he thought.
Wraith. A deserving moniker bestowed upon him by his Dark Elf masters. The ones who dragged him from the gutters of Corfé as a lad and enslaved him to work their mines for iron to feed their war machine.
He heard their voices clearly now and moved a bit closer for a listen.
"<No, Fitts. You return. Tell Lord Vöhl of location. We close. From here, he find Stones. You must return in case we fail.>"
"<Hashasi-asal tenets...quad need for sure kill.>"
"<Not this time, brother. Think big mission.>"
"<As you command.>"
The Stones...Lord Vöhl. Wesley's mind worked quickly and his reactions churned even faster. He slid Ravenwing ever so carefully from under his tunic. He hurled the magical blade and cursed the whirring noise as it sailed through the night air. It lodged into the escaping Hobgoblin's thigh, driving through to the hilt. He assumed these Hashasi-asal wore chain vests just as they used to so many years ago. The magical blade returned to his hand as always.
"<Why leave?>" asked Wess in perfect Chiv-na-asal. "<Fun here now.>" He focused on his breathing as he waited for a response.
Many heartbeats passed.
"<Identify,>" said the voice.
The Faeling recognized the voice from the ambush.
It all makes sense now, he thought. How the Hobgoblin moved and cut similar to Wesley's own style, but with much more jagged arcs and jabs.
Wesley's memories came in waves. He'd always heard his life would flash before him when he died. Once a Corfé street rat, starving on the streets, he was kidnapped by the Dark Elves to work the mines for iron ore—feed their war machine. As slaves fell to his left and right from exhaustion, Wess chose to join the front line soldiers and battle the Dark Elf's enemy. He'd rather die fighting than die from swinging a pick.
Wess said, "<Mouse to slave, slave to soldier, soldier to Hashasi-asal.>"
"<Same me...same us,>" replied the Hobgoblin. He held a fist up, keeping his men in position. Then he twisted his fingers into impossible positions. The silent hand sign of the Hashasi-asal.
Wess returned the sign. When the Dark Elves found out the skill of their new Faeling, they immediately put him into the secretive dark branch infamous for spying and assassination. They honed Wesley's natural talent for killing to surgical precision and he slayed many Dwarf enemies of his masters to please them.
"<Join quad,>" said the leader. "<Many Hashasi-asal brothers live.>"
Wess shook his head. "<No. New brothers.>"
"<Join, or fight quad. One not fight four and win.>"
Wess considered this. It rang true, but the Hobgoblin he just injured looked badly hurt. Another of the quad would have to deliver the Standing Stone's location as their fight began...to complete the mission.
No.
It would only take one Hashasi-asal to locate a place such as this. This quad had darker plans. The Hashasi-asal sought blood this night.
But what? Wess wondered. He spun his blade. A killing no doubt.
He thought of running, trying to signal the Laquarrin Elves and warn Green Haven. He shook off the idea as he knew they would cut him down once he turned his back.
His only way out...kill or be killed.
"I like my odds," Wess said backing out of the Chiv-na-asal dialect.
"<Wrent report back,>" said the leader. He then made the standard triangle positioning symbol with his arms bent and thin daggers touching—a signal all present knew only too well.
Standard triangle attack formation, thought Wess. He threw Ravenwing at the new runner, but the escaping Hobgoblin tumbled low and the blade sailed over top of him. The blade spun and began its return to the Faeling in a wide arc.
The three other Hobgoblins tumbled into their position.
Wess feinted forward, then spun and dodged a thrusting shortsword from the attacker behind him. Wess grabbed the Hobgoblin's swordhand and spun the attacker to straighten his arm. He brought the Hobgoblin's arm down fast and his own knee up faster like breaking a stick over his thigh. Wess felt and heard a satisfying crunch and the shortsword dropped to the ground.
"Skrrrr!" The Hobgoblin wailed in pain.
A flying kick from the lead Hobgoblin knocked Wesley's head sideways. His vision flashed and his right ear rang. His head felt full of pressure. His magical glasses snapped in half and went flying off into the distance. But he recovered quickly, relying on his only allies—The moon, the stars, and Ravenwing.
The Faeling kept hold of his victim's wrist through it all and held out his hand free hand finally feeling the ebony grip of his magical blade. He drove the dagger into the screaming Hobgoblin' throat, slicing through tendon and spine to silence him forever. Blood showered him and the warmth of it sickened him.
Burning, searing pain coursed through Wesley's shoulder as the Hashasi-asal with the leg wound drove a curved dagger into it.
"Gaaaah!" Wess screamed. He scrambled away, which only hurt that much more as the thick knife tore a curving gash as the Hobgoblin pulled it out.
The Hobgoblin let out a chuckle, and Wess found the voice in the pale light of the Turtle. Ravenwing flashed from his good hand and drove deep into the stomach of the Hobgoblin. Then, he heard the faintest sound of steel cutting through the wind and ran towards the injured Hobgoblin and away from the incoming leader.
Wess called for Ravenwing as he moved and the dagger pulled free from the Hashasi-asal's belly and came to him. He slashed across that same Hobgoblin's neck, allowing him an honorable death. With that same motion, the Faeling threw his Tenchi dagger towards the leader in a desperate attempt to end the conflict before his pain overcame him.
Ravenwing sailed wide.
Wess squatted in the ferns, trying to hide as he searched for the leader in the dark. He winced from the pain as he held out his left hand for his Tenchi dagger to find its home.
"<Who are you?>" asked Wess to the darkness.
From behind him, a voice came, but not before steel.
Wess arched forward as two thin daggers drove into his upper back, searching for his heart. He found it interesting that death didn't hurt as bad as he thought it would.
"<I am Drukha,>" the leader said.
The daggers withdrew from Wesley's body ever so slowly.
Drukha stood before him now. Wess barely keeping his eyes open, barely keeping his hand out before him.
"<You fought well,>" said Drukha.
Satisfied with the inevitable outcome, Wess barely listened. His eyes rested on the comfort of the approaching dawn. He always found the setting moon more comforting than the rising of the sun.
Just hold on...a little longer, he thought.
"<But, as our masters repeated time and time again...failure is a weakness. Know that before the sun rises, your failure cost the life of your Fire Witch and as many...>"
Drukha fell silent. The Hobgoblin's head twitched.
Wess finally dropped his hand, severing the magical bond between him and Ravenwing. "Sorry, you were saying?" Wess had to chuckle, but then the pain came crashing in.
Bloody drool streamed from Drukha's ever-widening mouth. He fell face down in front of Wess, his last breath escaping him in a gurgle. Ravenwing's grip jutted from his back punching clean through his chainmail armor.
Wesley's first attempt to stand failed him. Then, he grabbed hold of his Tenchi blade in its current position and pulled himself up. He loosed the dagger from Drukha's back and stood for a while, his vision blurring.
Failure is a weakness.
No. Wess shook his head. His last failure as a Hashasi-asal. His final mission for them, his last failure, was the best thing that ever happened to him.
His last mission to kill the Dwarf general who closed in on the Dark Elves trying to conquer the Dwarven homeland of Qar Fell.
The Dwarf general that saw his knives coming and just before his runed hammer came down on the Faeling, Otis Stonesinger took pity on him and raised him as his own son.
That was a good failure. Wess smiled. That was a good day.
Wess stumbled past the three corpses and walked like a zombie into the clearing of the northgate. It took only seconds for the Laquarrin watchmen to see him through the illusionary shell and open the gate with the other guard calling for reinforcements. He collapsed in the Elf's arms.
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Wesley's eyes creaked open like the doors of an ancient crypt. The pain in his back snapping him conscious. His gaze blurry, he heard a beautiful voice. He willed his eyes to work, then he saw her. She had dark hair and blue eyes stared down at him. She smiled a familiar smile. Selene Yandrassil. Haygen's Mum, thought Wess.
"Your're going to be alright, little Faeling," said Selene comforting him. "You're going to be alright."
Wess struggled to speak. His mouth so very dry.
Selene allowed him some acrid tea that burned his tongue and on down his throat.
"Otis," croaked Wess, glad he could still speak.
"I'm here, lad," said the Dwarf. "I'm here. Lie still now." The Dwarf's weary look melted to kindness. That same look so many years ago.
Wess shook his head. "Listen to me...Otis. They're coming. They know where we are."
A/N - Thanks for checking this one out. Definitely one of my favorites! Hope you enjoyed learning more of Wesley's backstory. Hit that star if you are into that!