"I assure you I have no power within me. It is the words of an ancient race long forgotten by your people. Your daughter heals under those words."
§§§
"You know of The War of the Ring?" Illeandir asked. Matilda nodded. "When orcs and goblins among other fouler beasts ran amok across open fields and killed without any resistance against them." Matilda's stomach twisted in a tight knot. "They still do. Though there are fewer of them now than before. I was traveling with my several of my kin when we were attacked at the foothills of the Misty Mountains one-hundred miles north of here. Many were killed and none evaded injury." Illeandir paused, lost to memory. Matilda waited a minute before repeating her earlier question.
"How long ago was this?" she asked, hoping to be able to put an age to him. Illeandir gave a mirthless smile.
"Two-hundred fifty-five years, three months and six days ago." he said. Matilda gasped and staggered back several steps clasping her hands to her chest. Her face drained of all color.
"Y-you c-cannot be that old!" she whispered hoarsely. Illeandir looked at her gravely.
"I am older still. Your king is more than two-hundred years old. What is fifty years more?"
"But he is the king! He comes from royal blood that is far older than tales speak of! You, you are but a boy!"
"It is true. Among my kin I was the youngest," Illeandir said standing up.
"Was?" Matilda asked. Illeandir looked at her but didn't answer.
"I will stay until your daughter is able to walk again. Then I must leave." He grabbed his things and disappeared inside the tent. As he bent over his hair fell away from his ear. Matilda could have sworn it was pointed.
§§§
Inside the tent Illeandir was met with the hushed voices of women tending to the wounded. He saw Everild lying on a small cot in the far corner and made his way over. He passed a man with the lower half of his arm missing and a severe burn on his leg. He was shivering with fever. Illeandir laid a cool hand on his forehead and the man stopped shaking and his breathing eased. A smile showed on his lips as he sunk into a deep sleep. Like a ghost, Illeandir slipped through the tent touching the more seriously wounded. He came across a child, a boy, with a massive laceration across his chest.
The boy's breathing was shallow and ragged. He was beyond the aid of the women and they knew he would die. His mother stood beside him weeping silently. Illeandir stood behind her for several minutes before she noticed him. Her dark eyes shone with tears.
"He's all I have left," she whispered. "My husband was killed."
"What is his name?" Illeandir asked.
"Connor," she told him.
"Strong willed."
"Yes. Very." Connor's mother sniffed and smiled.
"He will live," Illeandir said handing her a small pouch of fine powder. "Give a little of this to him once a day until it is gone with water or food. It will keep away any infection. No more no less. Do this and he will live." Tears sprang to the woman's eyes.
"Thank you!" she exclaimed, wrapping her small arms around Illeandir. She then realized what she had done and backed away quickly clutching the pouch to her chest. "Thank you," she hesitated.
"Elstan," Illeandir said. The woman smiled.
"Hearth," she replied. Illeandir bowed slightly and turned to leave. Hearth watched as he walked over to Everild and stood silently over her with closed eyes. Connor moaned and Hearth turned to her son to soothe him. When she looked back Illeandir had disappeared.
§§§
For three days the village saw little of Illeandir, or Elstan as they knew him. There were little signs of him helping though, a neatly killed rabbit here, a clutch of prairie hens there. Once a dozen fish appeared cleaned and gutted. Family heirlooms, lost in the fire, would appear outside the healing tent. Many were worth a fortune, it would have been easy to take them and claim the artifacts lost forever.
Illeandir was most often seen where the children would play, standing or sitting just a little way off with his bow held loosely in his left hand and an arrow in the other. He would stay like that for hours while the children played, eyes roaming the grassy plains for danger. After the first two days the children's parents relaxed and almost smiled when they caught a glimpse of him standing guard. It was that day that something happened.
Late in the evening, just before the sun set, the seven boys and three girls, excluding Everild and Connor, were playing a game of keep-away with one of the girls' hair ribbons. Suddenly there was a screech and a huge yellow-brown mountain cat leapt from the grass. The children screamed and ran. The cat chased after them, snapping at their heels. In seconds Illeandir had drawn his bow, but the cat was too close to the children for him to hit it without risking the life of a child. Cursing in dwarvish, he cast his bow aside and bounded after them, covering several feet with each stride. He drew a knife when he got close and threw it at the animal's stomach. He missed and the hilt slammed into the cat's back leg. The cat snarled and turned to face Illeandir.
He stood his ground as the massive cat pounced, landing not ten feet away from him. Slowly it circled, waiting for the right moment to attack. When it did Illeandir was ready. He had seen the slight shift in the cat's stance and the momentary pause before it leaped. He jumped out of the way and cut a long shallow cut in the cat's side with his second, larger knife. The mountain cat screamed and twisted midair, bringing it's claws down onto Illeandir but he had already moved. The cat landed heavily on its feet, panting. Long razor sharp fangs gleamed in the fading sunlight as it bared its teeth in defiance. Illeandir snarled in return.
The cat paused, as if confused, then, without warning, pounced. The village watched in horror as, in complete silence, the huge cat landed on Illeandir and they both fell to the ground out of sight. They could hear feral snarling as they watched in their mind's eye the cat tear his body apart. A scream tore through the night and all fell silent. A child whimpered. A crow cawed as the sun dipped below the horizon and fell silent.
The grass in front of them moved and a tall figure stood hunched over carrying a limp object across his shoulders. Illeandir slowly walked toward the villagers with the mountain cat slung over his shoulders. Without ceremony, he knelt down and laid the cat at their feet. For a moment there was silence, then the village erupted into cheers. Illeandir flinched at the sudden noise.
"Elstan, Elstan, Elstan!" They chanted over and over again. Illeandir remained stoic and the chanting faltered. Suddenly there was a shout and ten little bodies raced through the crowd screeching with delight. They surrounded Illeandir and the beast, tugging on his hands and hugging his legs, all the while babbling incoherently. Some of the children, much to the horror of their parents, began jumping on the mountain cat or petting it as if the thing had never tried to kill them. One little girl was tugging on Illeandir's hand insistently. He knelt down beside her and she whispered something in his ear. Suddenly all the children attacked him, knocking the tall elf to the ground with relative ease. Illeandir let out a shout of surprise and fell backward.
The adults laughed to see the children tackling him, the terror of the cat was forgotten. Jaxon pushed his way to the front wanting to thank Illeandir for saving their children but paused in shock and smiled to himself. He motioned for two of the strongest men to take care of the cat and turned back to Illeandir again. He was again surprised. Illeandir was smiling.
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Hey how are you all! Don't forget to vote and comment because I really enjoy feedback and it makes my day.
So Tuesday I had marching band sectionals.... Let's just say a certain person forgot to set their alarm and COMPLETLY MISSED SECTIONALS!!!!
I feel so stupid right now... But at least I didn't have to endure three hours of standing playing a rather heavy mellophone when I could've been sleeping. :) And then when I was unloading the dishwasher I dropped a glass cup on the floor and of course it went and SHATTERED! Gosh, no respect. I was just trying to do a chore that no one told me to do and I almost destroy the house! Stupid cup.
On a happier note, supper for me today consisted of a pork chop the size of my face, baked potato, and baked asparagus. I would have a picture but I ate it all... It was delicious.
No, Precious, not as good as fish but still good.
Anyway, have a wonderful week and never laugh at live dragons, or dead ones for that matter.
Yours irritably and happily,
Illeandir