Silver Shadows fr-13

by Elaine Cunnighham

  " 'Bout time you got here,* grumbled the dwarf as he rolled aside. This one's jumpier than a bee-stung horse. On yer feet," he instructed the man. "Start aValking east down the street. I'm behind you, and if you run a step or sing out fer help, Fll dig this fine dagger into yer backside."

  "What do you plan to do with him?0 Kendel asked as he fell in beside the dwarf

  The dwarf pursed his lips and considered. Truth be told, I'm a'getting mighty tired of all that's been going on in these parts. I'm for going back to the Earthfaat Mountains and my kin, but first I'm thinking we should take this scum back to whatever pond he's used to floating on. Fd like to meet the man who hired him," he said in a voice full of grim promise.

  "Why?" Kendel asked, surprised.

  "I been a slave fer ten years. More, if n you add the days I was forced to work in that sow's bowels of a tavern. Didn't much like it. Don't much like the idea of anybody, not even them pixie-licking wild elves, being forced into slavery. I wanna know the who and why of it. Hired swords don't come cheap, and taking elves as slaves can only bring a keg of trouble. There's cheaper and easier ways of picking pipeweed leaves. Something else is going on."

  Kendel eyed the dwarf with new respect. Seldom did the insular dwarven people consider the well-being of other races. He was also a bit shamed by the dwarfs concern. He had long heard tales of the forest elves' troubles, but had been unwilling to get involved. To many humans, an elf was an elf, and incidents such as the one in the tavern were far too common. Yet here was a dwarf, ready to go to the aid of the forest folk.

  "Is that why you fought in the tavern that first night?" he asked softly. "In defense of a beleaguered elf?"

  The dwarf snorted and prodded at the mercenary with the tip of the dagger. They spoke ill of me mother," he said. They shouldn't ought to do that."

  "Indeed they shouldn't," Kendel agreed. "You did well to defend her honor."

  "And her name," the dwarf added. "Seems like I do more'n my share of that. See, me mother passed her name along to me. I wear it right proud, but not everyone sees things the same."

  "Ah. My name is Kendel Leafbower," the elf said, curious as to what the dwarfs name might be and hoping to speed the introductions.

  "And I be called Jill," responded his new friend, shooting a cautious, sidelong look up at the elf. His expression dared Kendel to comment.

  That explains much," murmured Kendel solemnly. "In Elvish, the word 'Jill' means fearsome warrior,' " he lied hastily, for storm clouds were already gathering on the dwarfs brow.

  "Aye, that she was," Jill said happily, his ire forgotten. The name come down through the clan to male and female alike. And odd enough, it seems like every male dwarf who bears it fights better 'n most."

  "Probably because you have more practice," the elf observed; then he winced as it occurred to him how the proud dwarf might take these words.

  But to his surprise, a deep rumble of laughter shook the dwarfs belly and rolled upward in waves. "Aye, there's something to that," Jill admitted.

  The new friends shared a companionable grin and set off with their hostage at a brisk pace toward the east, and whatever answers might await them there.

  Sixteen

  After his meeting with Lord Hhune, Bunlap set off for his fortress with a new contingent of hired men and a dark heart full to overbrimming with plans for the destruction of the elves who had taunted and eluded him for far too long. One of his new employees, a priest of Loviatar whose fascination with the concept of suffering lay well beyond the bounds of orthodoxy, had agreed to accompany him eastward and interrogate the slain elves that Vhenlar and his men had retrieved. In time, they would strike the elves in their most secret places.

  But the mercenary captain was none too happy with the news that greeted him upon his arrival. Most of the members of his last war band had died in the forest, and his best archer had been stuck more times than a seamstress's pincushion. The expensive Halruaan wizard still lay abed, suffering from low spirits and unspecified injuries. Worse, Vhenlar had not managed to retrieve a single long-eared corpse for the priest to interrogate.

  "Leave 'em or join 'em. That was the choice we had," Vhenlar informed his captain. "I say we leave 'em altogether-and forever-and let well enough alone."

  "In due time," Bunlap informed him, staring moodily at the forest.

  "What's to be gained from going on?" pressed Vhenlar. The logging operation is over. You got your money out of it and came away clean. What more do you want?"

  "It's a personal matter-" the captain began.

  But Vhenlar wasn't having any of that. "Not again! I've seen you plunge headfirst and neck-deep into trouble one time too many. I didn't spend four years dodging the Zhents just so I could live the rest of my years looking over my shoulder for vengeful elves. I've had a bellyful. Give me my pay, and I'm gone."

  The captain shook his head, not even bothering to look at the angry archer. "Three more battles. That's all it should take. The first will be a minor skirmish. Then it's on to the logging camp. Old Hhune put a fair amount of money into it. That site is strategic and it's ours. We can even pick up the lumbering trade, once things cool down a bit, only there will be no need to split the proceeds with anyone else. You could retire a very, very rich man."

  "I'm not going back into that forest," Vhenlar began.

  "You won't have to. You can fight this one in your preferred fashion-from behind the parapets, shooting down at the attackers. For this you need not leave the safety of the fortress."

  The archer considered this. "How are you going to arrange that?"

  "We wait," Bunlap said simply. The elves will come to us, of that I am confident."

  "Don't suppose you'd care to tell me why."

  The mercenary captain fixed an icy glare on his longtime associate. 'Tou do remember the Harpers, do you not?" ^

  Vhenlar groaned. The secret society known as the Harpers was devoted to thwarting the plans of the Zhentarim, curbing the ambitions of ruthless and powerful men, and just generally being a boil on the backside of any man out for a bit more than what the meddlers considered to be his fair share. "They're snooping into this mess?"

  "Indeed. It is well that I returned to Zazesspur. Word is that a Harper agent bungled his cover and managed to slip out of the city just ahead of the local assassins. I asked around and learned there was yet another Harper in the city, at least until just recently. The elf woman who slipped right past our fortress with that clever little smoke screen is one of their more troublesome agents. You might even recall the name: Arilyn Moonblade?"

  "Not the one they say snuck into Darkhold and killed old Cherbil Nimmtr

  The same. She knows who I am and, if she meets up with the forest elves in time, they'll figure out between them that the source of their troubles lies behind these fortress walls."

  "Oh, she's met up with them," Vhenlar retorted. "She's a gray elf, right? With a magic sword? Well, she was right there with the wild elves, telling 'em what to do. And they were listening, though never would I have believed it. But for her, they would have killed us all!"

  "All the better. You can be certain that elven scouts followed you here. I expect they'll come calling in force anytime now. And that is where your skills with the bow come into play. Kill me a certain moon elЈ and you're free to go where you want," Bunlap concluded grimly.

  The archer nodded, but in truth he had little faith in the other man's assurances. Nor could he muster a shred of enthusiasm for the coming battle. Having faced those elves and that Harper wench, he had no desire to do so again anytime soon. Not one night passed by but he didn't relive the elf woman's blue-fire charge, or awake sitting bolt upright and drenched in sweat,dreaming of enemies he could never see or touch, but who constantly surrounded him.

  Yet what choice did he have? Vhenlar would be forced to fight the wild elves until he was either slain or went mad. Bunlap would not let him go until his desire for vengeance was slaked. And from all that Vhenlar had see
n of his captain, that was not likely to happen easily… or soon.

  Several days after the midsummer celebration, Arilyn walked off alone into the forest. The key to the lythari's den, the wooden pipe that approximated the call of a lythari, was gripped in one fist. What she intended to do was not easy, but she saw little choice.

  The half-elf went as far out into the forest as she dared. Even now, she easily got turned around in the magic-laden area surrounding Talltrees. She raised the wooden summoner to her lips and sent a long, mournful call wavering through the trees. Choosing a fallen log as a likely seat, she sat down to wait.

  Arilyn was not certain Ganamede would even answer the summons. The young lythari had been puzzled, perhaps even hurt, by her apparent inability to understand the gift he had given her in taking her to the lythari den. Nor could she explain to him that she'd had no real intention of asking him to recruit his peace-loving people to join the green elves' battles. In suggesting this to Rhothomir, she had been buying time, purchasing Ganamede's safety. But how could she explain this when it was precisely what she now intended to do?

  "Arilyn."

  The half-elf spun toward the soft voice and found herself nearly nose to muzzle with the silver-furred lythari.

  "I heard a strange story in Talltrees," she began without preamble. The green elves tell of warrior who saved their tribe a few centuries back. It turns out tha^this warrior was one of my ancestors, Zoastria. Soora Thea, they called her. Word has it that she commanded the silver shadows. Is it true your people once allied in battle with the forest folk?"

  "Once, long ago," Ganamede agreed reluctantly. "But the evil that came to the forest in those long-ago times was great, one that threatened its very fabric. Undead abominations, creatures from the dark plane, and an orcish tribe that fought for them, battled for no purpose other than the pleasure to be found in the death of elves. These creatures were an ulcerous growth upon the land, and so the lythari fought until the enemy was no more."

  The humans we're dealing with now are none too pleasant either," Arilyn pointed out.

  "Even so, humans are intelligent folk, and there is much good among them. From time to time the lythari strike against an evil individual-a rogue human, if you will, and sometimes even against an elf. But to do battle with many humans? How can we be certain the good are not slain along with the evil?"

  "Sometimes you can't," she admitted. "At times Fve resented my sword for judging those who fece me, but its a comfort to know that because of its magic, I can't accidentally kill an innocent. Most warriors don't have that advantage.

  "If you will not fight," she added with a sudden surge of inspiration, "perhaps you'd consent to scout? Surely there are many 'doors to the gate' in the forest. You could slip in and out and give us a better idea of what we face."

  The lythari considered her suggestion. "It is as you say. Yes, I will do this, and bring word to you of threats against the green folk. It is not much, but it may help."

  Arilyn smiled and placed a hand on her Mend's furred shoulder. "It's quite a bit, and more than I like to ask of you."

  "I know this," Ganamede replied softly. "For a time I doubted your purpose. But like us, you also walk between two worlds. It is not an easy thing to do, and sometimes others, who see through only one pair of eyes, do not understand."

  "Sometimes I don't understand, myself," Arilyn admitted.

  The wolflike elf placed his muzzle on her shoulder in a rare caress. "In time, you will. And when you do, I will take you where you need to go."

  And then he was gone, bounding off through the trees with eerie silence.

  Arilyn puzzled briefly over his words, then set them aside for more practical and immediate concerns. Despite her words to her friend, what Ganamede offered wouldn't be nearly enough. Scouting would be helpful, certainly, but without the silver shadows beside them, it was unlikely the wild elves would venture beyond the boundaries of their forest.

  And unless they did, and unless they won, Bunlap and his men would continue to press and harass the elves.

  It was clear to Arilyn that the Harpers' original goal of compromise with the humans was out of the question. Briefly, she wondered what Khelben Arunsun would think if he knew he'd urged her to make a deal with a former Zhentilar soldier. This much she had learned of Bunlap when she'd researched his fortress's defenses. The Zhentarim were devoted to evil gods and their own personal profits, but they often showed a special enmity against the elven people. Arilyn knew enough of Bunlap and his ilk to know that his war against the elves was not due to a misunderstanding, nor was it solely for profit. It was a vendetta.

  And it was taking a grim toll. Before her arrival in the forest, Talltrees had been a thriving settlement. Now, fewer than a hundred elves remained to the tribe.

  Perhaps it was time to present Queen Amlaruil's invitation to Retreat to Evermeet. Arilyn doubted the elves of Tethir would accept, and after midsummer, she understood this better. They were bonded to the land, as firmly rooted in their forest as any of the ancient trees. Even so, they should be given the option. There was nothing else for them to do. They were too few to fight alone.

  Or were they? Talltrees was one settlement, its inhabitants one clan of one tribe. Surely there must be others! The Forest of Tethir was a vast place, and the elves of the Elmanesse tribe were relative newcomers. There were other elves who had been living in the forest from time beyond memory. Surely now they would come together to fight a common enemy! As Arilyn considered this notion, she became more and more convinced that this was the path to take.

  Excited, she returned to Talltrees and sought out Foxfire. To her surprise, the war leader was not encouraging.

  "Yes, there are other tribes, and many clans among each tribe," he said cautiously. "Many of the Elmanesse clans were slaughtered during the reign of the royal Tethyr family. There are small groups here and there, but they are too few and too far removed from us to be of much assistance. There is a small community of Elmanesse on Tethyr Peninsula, and other clans that live in the forest to the southeast of Trademeet. These elves are unlikely to aid us. In many ways their interests are tied more tightly to those of the humans. They trade with the farming folk who live to their east, and they carry goods north on the same path used by the caravans of humans and halftings. When the troubles started, we sent scouts northward to see if these folk were the source of the problem." Foxfire paused for a wry smile. "Oddly enough, our scouts met with a delegation they had sent to inquire the same of us!"

  "But how many are there?" Arilyn pressed.

  "There are perhaps two hundred elves in the northern forests, the border lands, and the towns," Foxfire said. "Some are moon folk or gold elves who mostly dwell in towns. There are a number of half-elves as well, but these seldom come to Tethir. Then there are a few solitary elves scattered about the forest: druids, skin-walkers, possibly even some outlaws."

  The Harper considered this. "But what about the Suldusk tribe?"

  "You know more of Tethyrian history than most," he commented. "The river that waters half of Tethyr bears the name of the Suldusk people, yet few people know of their existence. They are more remote than most of the Elmanesse, in inclination as well as in distance.

  "Do you find the folk of Talltrees more insular than the moon people?" he asked abruptly, not waiting for or expecting an answer. "So likewise do we find the Suldusk. In times past the clans of these two tribes raided back and forth. In recent centuries we have agreed to abide by the peace and keep our distance. No one even knows how many of the Suldusk remain. Even if we were to seek help from them, we would find none."

  Arilyn threw up her hands in exasperation. "Fine. So we just sit here and let Bunlap's men whittle us down, a few each battle?"

  "There is something else to consider," the elf said with obviously reluctance. "Perhaps the humans should settle with this Bunlap. They have laws, do they not?"

  "Lots of them, but not the means to enforce them," Arilyn said glumly. "
No, our best chance is for me to take out Bunlap and scatter his men. At the very least, I can keep them busy and out of your hair until I think of something better to do." She nodded decisively, then turned and began to stride away.

  Foxfire stared after her, bemused by her quicksilver decision. At moments like this, the half-elf seemed utterly foreign to him, utterly human: impetuous, impatient.

  He decided it did not matter.

  The green elf jogged to Arilyn's side. "Tell me what you need, and I'll see that you get it."

  She smiled thinly. "Several nice pelts would be a good start. I could also use some dried trail food-111 be traveling fast and the less time I spend hunting, the sooner HI get there."

  Tou will not go alone," he told her. "I will go, and Ferret as well."

  Arilyn hesitated for moment, then nodded. She still didn't like or trust the elf woman, but Ferret had proven to be an effective assassin. The wild elf female possessed deadly skills that might prove valuable, as well as no discernible scruples. Both would be useful qualities for the mission ahead.

  As it turned out, there were four who set out on the three-day journey to the southern parts of Tethir. Hawkwing demanded to come along and, though Arilyn had reservations, she had to admit the young elf held up her end of the load. Hawkwing was among Arilyn's finest students and had proven herself in battle more than once, but the Harper was not entirely certain the elf maid would perform as well once they were outside of the forest. The girl was too impetuous, utterly without fear or forethought. But as Arilyn had begun to realize, she had to accept whatever allies in this battle she could find.

  The southward journey passed quickly, and shortly after highsun of the third day the four stood beneath the open sky. A stream ran southward from the forest. Arilyn set a path along this waterway, which quickly broadened and deepened as it neared the place where it would join the northern branch of the Sulduskoon. They walked along this tributary for several hours more before the Harper indicated a halt.

  "See that hillock up ahead?" she asked, pointing. "It has been hollowed out to make a dwelling. See the etumplike chimney and those doors along the side?"