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Part 10: Dinner
Chapters 39, 40, 41
For the last few minutes Zraxin has been staring at the floor in a daze, mumbling just loud enough to be heard, but quiet enough that his words are lost.
After Gwydeon finishes his story, the little man looks around at those gathered in the room, his manner thoughtful.
Pendran and Dayal sit quietly cleaning their armor. Every once in a while Pendran picks up the battered war hammer and examines it closely. Then he puts it down and returns to his cleaning, only to pick up the hammer again a few minutes later.
“Ah, music”, mumbles Zraxin, who voice seems to slowly get louder, “I doubt anything they have in these dark caves could ever compare to the beauty of the forest. The wind whistling through the leaves, the sounds of the forest animals playing and hunting for food. Nothing they have down here could EVER compare.”
“Its MY bottle!” Voruth suddenly screeches from his position on the floor, “But I’ll let you take a drin.....”
Zraxin suddenly looks up and turns to the old man “Sir, do you think that they would object to me going to a few of their lessons? It seems that might be the only thing to get my mind off of the forest. I would love to learn of their techniques, for one can never be too good when it comes to fighting... especially when your life depends on how well you do so.”
Sivad finishes his prayers.
Je says quietly, “If you train with the dark ones Gwydeon, I wouldn’t be unhappy if you severely beat one of them at their own game.”
“Come on then. I think I remember the way to the training ground. I will translate for you”, says the old man. Turning back in the doorway, he says to the orcs, “I don’t suggest you leave without the company of at least two others as very few know you are an invited guests here and may think you are a spy or something.” With that he turns and leaves, Gwydeon and Zraxin following close behind.
The ogre looks around and says, “Well what are we suppose to do? Normally I would go check out what this place has to offer, but only two of us speak the language here. And both of them left as soon as possible. I would suggest music, but Voruth is too drunk to play and my hands are not suited for the fine instruments.”
“Lets dRinK A TssoaST to MEEEERRy little....”, again Voruth mutters while face down on the ground.
“Perhaps we should put him to bed”, suggests Pendran, “With him in this condition, that insures that we have plenty of time before we leave or even find out what we are here for. I say we go exploring, with or without a guide. If we run into the two wizards they can show us how to get back here. If not, I’m sure these people don’t so many visitors, that they won’t know who we are and where we are staying. Considering how careful mages are, those two seemed very relaxed. I guess that means we don’t have to worry about treachery. At least most of us don’t.”
Pendran glances at Je and the little orc. “It seems nearly everyone has told their story but me. I suppose I shall have to get to that, but I’m not much of a storyteller, besides. I want to know about the rest of you. I should think we have enough time, if not then they will interrupt us.”
At that moment another elf enters the room. Barefoot, wearing only a plain brown shirt and baggy pants (by far the simplest and most uninspired outfit they have seen since they got here). Wearing a black necklace with the symbol of an ankh. He looks around quietly then speaks.
Much to the surprise of many, he speaks in perfect common, “Honored Gentlemen, my name is Eppsus. It is my task to make your stay with us more comfortable, until such time as the Warlord can meet with you. While today he is busy, he has told me to reassure you that he will see you early upon the morrow. After such time, I have been instructed to lead you back out of the home caves. I believe, several of your number know way to the exit....” He is interrupted by a loud snore coming from the direction of Voruth. Seeing the unconscious human, the elf laughs,”Ah, I see he likes to drink. Too bad he can’t handle even the watered down stuff.” He shakes his head smiling.
Zraxin climbs out of the darkness of slumber and open his eyes to see an elf standing over him. The elf gestures for him to get his weapons and follow him. He takes the woodsman to an area of the field where the ground is slightly damp and muddy. He holds his two swords at the ready and they begin their training like before, only this time a little faster. He begins to concentrate his attacks on the side of Zraxin’s secondary sword.
Using this to his advantage Zraxin occasionally picks through a hole in the elf’s defenses as he moves toward that side, score a few hits on him.
Soon Zraxin’s arms begins to tire and the elf signals an end to the sparring for today. He retires to the sleeping cavern bone-tired. Today he received a few cuts, but not as many as yesterday.
Again as soon as he lies down, slumber crashes down upon him. And in the morning an elf wakes up to spar with him again.
This pattern continues for several days, some times when one return to the sleeping chamber they find Zraxin or Gwydeon sleeping soundly, other times the other is out. After several days Gwydeon is surprised to see Mordred sleeping in one of the beds.
As usual he wakes up to find an elf standing over him. As Gwydeon gets up he notices that both Mordred and Zraxin are gone. Today the elf that woke him up is different from his normal teacher. As Gwydeon exits out onto the field the elf takes him to an area where the ground is slightly muddy and damp. He begins with the normal routine of shouting out a command followed by an attack, which he must parry. After several minutes of this, he stops shouting and just attacks. At first Gwydeon can handle his attacks and can retaliate some. Then the elf speeds up more and more until the only thing Gwydeon can do is parry, though the blows are coming fast and furious, he seems to be parrying them with relative ease. The problem is that he cannot retaliate.
After a few moments, Gwydeon finds a hole in his attack and thrust his sword through and is rewarded by a nipping his skin. After this the elf redoubles his efforts to get through, but fails every time. But Gwydeon likewise cannot score another hit upon him either.
After a time, the sparring ends and he retires to the sleeping cavern. He notices Mordred is in but Zraxin is not.
In the morning Gwydeon wakes up to find no one standing over his bed. He finds this very unusual as there is usually someone there. He wakes up fully and looks around. Again, neither Zraxin nor Mordred are asleep in their bunks. Gwydeon walks out of the sleeping cavern and see nearly everyone gathered on the center of the field. He reaches the group and sees everyone standing in neat lines. Gwydeon quickly looks around but cannot see Mordred or Zraxin amongst those gathered.
An old man is moving through the lines pointing at certain people. As he points toward them, they give a shout and run for the edge of the field. As he gets to the end of the line, he points to Gwydeon and moves on. Gwydeon receives a clap on the back from one of the elves he sparred with and then he moves on. Guessing that it’s time for him to go, he walks toward the edge of the field and a fog springs up suddenly. Almost just as suddenly the fog dissipates and he looks around to find himself standing in an empty training field.
As he exits the fog and looks around at the training fields, Gwydeon can see no one he recognizes. He gives a start as an elf appears behind him from the fog and waves cheerily as he sprints by. Which gives Gwydeon the creeps when he realizes that was the first real smile he has seen since he has come to this underground area.
After a few moments, one of the elves comes by from another training field and talks to him. It is quickly determined that Gwydeon does not speak his language and he gestures for the young warrior to follow him. He goes over to another training field asking several elves questions. He finally gets what he is looking for as one of the elves points toward a tunnel leading out of the training field.
He gestures again for Gwydeon to follow and leads him back out of the training field. After a few moments, things start to look familiar as they move through the tunnels. He definitely recognizes a tapestry or two just near the entrance to the cave where the group is staying. Gwydeon walks in on the end of a what the little orc is saying, “....why we began to totally destroy your towns instead of our traditional raids. Some of your people have gone too far and now it is time to show that you cannot push us around!” He stops as Je puts a hand on his shoulder.
Silence prevails as the little man stops speaking and the others enter the room. It is quiet for a while, then the tapestry is pushed aside and several elves carrying trays of food enter as they did before. Some of the group move out of the way as they were standing still in the doorway. The elves setup the table as before. The sounds of thier labor sounding abnormally loud in the silence. The commotion and the smell of food and wine finnally reaches Voruth who climbs out of bed and stands up leaning on the rock to balance himself.
Soon after Magnus walks in looking around.
Somewhere a stomach rumbles.
As Magnus enters he looks around and shattering the silence says, “Greetings all did I miss anything?”
As the elves finishs setting up the food, Mordred says ,”Nice to see our hosts are taking good care of us, I am starved after all that training!” and he moves over to the table to get some food. After getting his food, he settles down at the table and says, “Why are you all so quiet, did something happen when I was training or what?”
The elves seem puzzled as they leave.
Magnus also moves toward the table and grabs a bite to eat before settling down near Mordred.
The ogre sniffs loudly and says, “Hmm, that sure smells good.” He pats his stomach and says, “I do belive I am rather hungry.” And he helps himself to large portions of the food.
The little orc fumes as he stares off into space, he seems to get visibly madder by the minute. Je one the other hand sits quietly his face blank. His feelings betrayed only by the slight grinding of his lower jaw.
The little man looks at them and sadly says, “Well, we’re not all like that.”
After a moment Mordred turns to Gwydeon and says, “Gwydeon what did you practice on those foggy fields? I am tired like hell from all the training sessions, those elves sure know how to use those weapons.”
Upon hearing this comment, Dayal turns in Mordreds direction and inquisitive look on his face.
Voruth looks around and with incredible and ultimately fruitless caution he takes slow careful steps toward the table. With each step forward he stumbles several feet to one side then several to the opposite side. Eventually he reaches the end of the table and grabs a hold. This with a quick look around he sees that no one is laughing so he straightens up and frowns muttering, “no ones got a sense of humor anymore...” He grabs a knife and with a rock steady hand carves some meat from the roast adds a few vegetables, grabs a pitcher and heads back to his bed.
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