Elflings

By M.L. Sawyer

Elonan opened a single eye at the noise being made outside his icy cold room at the backwoods inn at some ungodly hour at night only to find that their ship has been hijacked and that he, along with the rest of the Elspeths crew, are now stranded in Menarik.

Of all the icy, out of the way places... It was their fault, it had to be, the group of five that had been part of their cargo. He had known that they were different.

No ship is due for weeks so Elonan has nothing better to do than to try and find out what happened. A question that he will wish that he had never asked.

• Language: English
• Publisher: M L Sawyer
• Release date: Nov 17, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301570706

M.L. Sawyer

M.L. Sawyer is an avid reader and songwriter. She’s written poetry and copy, as well as lyrics that have appeared on nearly 40 albums. She has received many songwriting awards and has had radio airplay in major market stations. Enamored with the exotic, M.L. is excited to venture into new literary territories with her international romance compilation. She has three children and currently lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and youngest son.

Book preview

Prologue

Grisham the Great used his mind’s eye to look back. Time was a difficult concept; he was aware of the quest in progress, or was it the Quest of the Demon? No – that had ended in uncertainty. The ancient mighty dragon was so very tired.

A new quest was to begin, with the forces of light to be summoned to battle again. Tallen had been found, yet she was set on her current path – a dangerous path not of his choosing? She was the first to be called, yet there were others needed, others who remained unknown. He had to keep searching, but already his strength was beginning to fail.

Grisham sensed that darkness had corrupted those drawn to the South; part of the War That Never Was. Though he could not see them, he could feel within his bones that those unfortunates would succumb to the evil seeds planted inside already corrupted minds.

Focusing his energy, he tried to see the next to be summoned; his mighty brimstone breath exhaled in frustration. Nothing.

The wizened old dragon then changed his focus, sending out his senses across land and water to his hatchling brother in the Snow Dunes of Mengah. A mere thought, and Sahat’s consciousness made contact with his own.

Together, their concern mingled, and for a moment, their minds were one. World-threatening questions remained unanswered. Was it time for a second already? More importantly, would the first to be chosen even survive?

Chapter 1

The Elspeth moved at steady pace as the sun sank towards the western waters. A strong wind had been with them for the past two days, keeping the sails full and leaving rippled waves in their wake. Elonan perched precariously in the rigging, balancing with the ease of confidence as he finished adjusting the sails. Next to him sat Lief, an elf, who was currently sitting on one of wooden rails, back against the

mast. They had been conversing about the land of Nahaba but now they remained in comfortable silence.

Elonan looked down upon the deck. Below stood the strange young girl, who was one of their current passengers. Every day she made her way onto the deck to watch the sun go down; a daily sky-watching ritual that found her standing with Gemal, their bosun. However, on this evening there was an unease that seemed to shift her from foot to foot, something was wrong.

Pausing simply to listen, the hairs on the back of Elonan’s neck began to rise. He looked to the sky. Ominous clouds seemed to be racing towards the ship in direct contrast to the way that the winds blew.

A blood-curdling screech filled the air, drawing all eyes onboard towards the sky. A swarm of winged creatures exploded through the clouds, diving straight towards the Elspeth.

The lookout in the crow’s nest violently hammered a metal plate in warning, as the first of many beasts swooped towards the vessel. It had a small, skinny torso with long stringy legs that folded until its knees touched its chest. Its bat-like feet revealed dark claws that shredded the wooden mast as it tried to land. Below its shoulders, its wings had folded neatly into the side of its body.

Elonan scrambled out of the rigging before leaping to the deck. He raced to the weapons chest where his bow was kept. By the time he looked up, the creature had manoeuvred itself behind Ajnos, the luckless sailor in the crow’s next. The beast stretched out, grabbing the sailor’s head so tightly that he dropped his sword. It crashed useless to the deck below.

Triumphant, the terrifying monster opened its mouth to reveal rows of razor-sharp teeth. It whispered something to Ajnos. The sailor’s eyes widened in fear as the creature’s teeth sank into his throat...

***

Elonan woke with a start, the memories of the past week quickly fading from his thoughts. The battle was over, only half of them had survived, and now he was comfortable in bed, still half asleep.

He’s going to have our guts for garters... Gruff but slightly worried words drifted through the icy fog.

Elonan’s slightly pointed ears pricked as the snippet of conversation wafted through his ice-covered window. He rolled over to further cocoon his body in the thick blanket that was his bedding, wishing for sleep, trying to ignore what he had heard. Even though he had buried himself under the covers, he simply could not help himself as his sensitive ears strained to hear more.

You’d better hit me, Steve; make it look like we put up a decent fight. Again he heard another voice. This time Elonan opened a single eye to look around. Still dark, he was in a small room that he had rented from the innkeeper. It possessed a single bed with a sorry-looking bedside table, a burnt-out candle stump and a window through which the occasional moonlight shone when given the chance to peek through the clouds outside. He hesitated for a moment. Did he really want to get out of his warm bed into the frigid cold just to satisfy his slight curiosity? He held his breath as his ears picked up another sound – a grunt and then a thud – someone falling over?

Jeeze Bot, you didn’t have to hit me that hard.

Elonan quietly manoeuvred himself out of bed, his mind racing. That name was familiar. Steve was a common enough name not to pique his interest, but Bot? The two men outside were meant to be on watch over the Elspeth, the very ship upon which he served.

Quietly, he tiptoed over to the window, not for silence sake, but for the fact he did not wish to place his bare foot down on the cold, wooden floor. Slowly he breathed out, making sure his foggy breath was turned away from the window. Needing nothing but the moonlight, his piercing brown eyes drove back the shadows to see two men scuffling in the deserted cobblestone street. One look was all it took for him to be certain of their identity. If they were here, what had happened to their ship?

With unnaturally fast reflexes Elonan kicked his pants off the ground to catch them by the waistline. Hopping on one foot and then the other, he quickly got dressed, placing his boots on without tying the laces. Making sure that he had all his valuables – a full gold pouch with some precious stones, well-made dagger and necklace – he then rushed out the door.

He jogged without faltering over the uneven wooden floor until he reached the dimly lit stairway. Sounds of talk, drinking and games reached his ears, as he knew it would. Half the crew of the Elspeth spent a voyage’s earnings within a week, which was about the time it took to organise a new cargo to earn more money to be spent at the next port, for the process to be repeated again and again.

He shook his head at their foolishness. A couple of drinks he gladly shared with the rest of them, but most sailors let it get out of hand, drinking more and more until they lost control of themselves and ended up with no coin in their pocket, a nasty aftertaste and a massive headache for their trouble.

A few quick steps down the stairway and Elonan had passed into a totally different world from the one of almost uninterrupted sleep only moments before. A thin layer of smoke hung in the air, mixed with the pungent smell of unwashed men and drink. Most sailors were sitting in groups, playing games of dice and coin with the unwary locals, while one man sat on a stool simply watching, as he too gladly drank the night away.

Elonan sneered unnoticed at the lone sailor. This was meant to be their latest captain, Argon. Of unremarkable looks, he had been the first mate not so long ago. At the beginning of their latest voyage, he had turned up at the tavern they had all been staying in wearing the old captain’s hat and jacket. He had informed them that their old captain had retired.

On his first voyage as captain, an unholy battle between those on the Elspeth and some winged bloodsucking and flesh-eating beasts had proven their captain a coward. The man who was supposed to lead the crew had sought to flee to his cabin instead of fight alongside his comrades.

With a sigh, Elonan shrugged. He would not be captain for long, the tradition on the Elspeth being that their leader remained captain until someone stronger came along and disposed of him to claim his place. Perhaps Gemal, their bosun, would finally have a go at it. At least he was a man who men could trust and follow.

Walking down the rest of the stairs, Elonan made his way through the crowded room towards the bar. Some nodded silent acknowledgement at his presence, but most ignored him, which in his mind, was fine. Most of his crewmen would just as soon pick your pocket while you slept as buy you a drink anyway. He was actually happy not to call them his friends, acquaintances maybe, comrades in some rare cases, but friends? Friends were something that he had no need for.

He flicked a finger to signal for a mug of ale, making sure he had the exact coinage before handing it over in exchange for the frothy and bitter brew placed before him. He then sat at the very end of the bar looking towards the door so he had a good view of what was about to happen.

Sure enough, moments later, two dishevelled sorry excuses for sailors burst through the door. Both of them stood, hands on their knees, gasping for air while they soaked up the silence that now surrounded them. One had a bloodied nose and lip while the other could only see out of a single eye, his left swelling rapidly to a close.

What kind of hellhole bar-brawl have you two lazy mongrels escaped from? shouted Argon, who was the first to speak.

Elonan wondered if the captain even realised that these were the two men he had ordered to take watch this night.

Argon slid off his stool to stand as tall as he could while he glared at the two men standing before them all.

The ship, puffed Steve with his eyes to the floor.

There were too many, added Bot, who had one arm clutching his stomach to look as if he was suffering from a chest pain brought on by running.

Whatever else they had cooked up to say, no one would have heard them, as the room full of sailors suddenly erupted. Men shouted questions at the two along with abuse and some mildly creative curses, while Argon quickly crossed the space between him and his two disgraced crewmen. A single, quivering hand reached out to grab onto Bot’s shirt, shaking him in an attempt to find answers. Elonan almost laughed as their most threatening captain barely moved the larger man.

Some of the men in the room drew weapons, making those not of the Elspeth crew swiftly get up and leave; cards left facedown on the table, winnings taken from the angered and unwary. Strangers were rarely considered when comrades fought each other.

Calmly sitting down, taking another sip of ale, Elonan scanned the room in a bid to monitor the turmoil before him. Someone was missing. Gemal, one of the biggest men on the ship was most obviously not in the room. On a normal day the bosun would have been drinking and gaming with the rest of them. When anything happened involving the Elspeth, he was usually the first to know. Yet, the intimidating tattooed face of the authority-wielding man was nowhere to be seen.

The door of the inn hung open again, allowing an icy cold wisp of air to play with the fire-lit torches hanging on the walls. Most of the Elspeth’s crew had forced the two hapless sailors out the door and back down to the dock so that they could see with their own eyes what they already knew.

The Elspeth was gone.

Every sailor knew the consequences. They would be land-bound in this quaint little frontier town until the next ship arrived. Half the crew had already spent most of their funds, and the next ship could still be months away.

Elonan shrugged as he caught a yelp of pain coming through the still open door. The two sailors probably would have been better off fighting to the death to save the ship. Argon was not a forgiving man, and unless they could buy their way out, their backs would be whipped raw by the morrow; more so than usual if it would help Argon win back some of the crew he had already let down.

Finally, the last sailor left, leaving the inn to those too drunk to care or move. Elonan finished his ale quickly to take the stairs back up to the rooms. Instead of going to his own, however, he continued down the dark wooden hall until he reached the end. Without bothering to knock, he opened the door to find what he already suspected. Gemal was gone. All that was there was a lump under the covers, barely large enough to be the size of Gemal’s arm.

The covers moved ever so slightly, causing Elonan to draw his dagger. Whatever it was must have heard the steel, because it froze in an instant, and soon a high-pitched voice made its muffled way through the blankets.

Please, I didn’t steal anything – he said that I could sleep here. The lump before him shivered, though Elonan suspected not because of the cold. He sheathed his dagger. A quick glance around the room told him Gemal was gone for good. The only thing left in the sparse room was the bed, a three legged stool and one moth-eaten sock half hidden under the blanket.

When did he leave? Elonan asked.

Slowly, two small eyes peeped out from underneath the covers. It was one of the serving boys from downstairs.

Not long ago, replied the small boy. The big sailor said I could sleep here tonight as long as I didn’t tell anyone he was leaving. Realising his mistake, a small hand shot out from the blankets to cover the boy’s mouth in a belated attempt to shove the words back into his head. His eyes began to fill with water as he tried to stammer an apology. It had only been an hour and he had already broken his promise.

Elonan simply nodded. If Gemal had left, he would have let the boy sleep here. He was that kind of guy; too kind for his own good. It did not matter. The room was already paid for and he was certain that it would be a royal bed for someone used to sleeping on the cold and probably dirty kitchen floor.

Oh stop blubbering, said Elonan a little harsher than he had intended. The boy cringed at his tone, but managed to stop crying with a sniffle.

I won’t tell anyone, but I do have a few questions.

The little boy nodded as Elonan knelt down so that they were at eye level.

Did Gemal have anyone with him?

The boy nodded again but said nothing else, causing Elonan to sigh. There were many reasons why he did not like children, his impatience for the whelps one of them.

Who did he have with him? he asked more directly.

The young boy’s eyes lit up as he actually grinned. He had that really big knight man and that girl he saved, who fell from one hundred feet into the ocean from the winged beast that tried to kidnap her.

Elonan frowned. Despite the slight embellishment of the tale, he knew who the boy was talking about. Menarik was a small town, and the only knight to pass this way recently was the one they had taken as a passenger.

Go back to sleep boy, but you’d better be up early because some very annoyed sailors will probably come knocking in the morning.

With that, Elonan walked out the door, back to his own room. He did not even take off his boots as he lay down. He would probably get no more sleep this night anyway. Besides, there was much to think about.

Staring up at the wooden ceiling, he let his mind wander back to that horrible evening. The voyage was like any other: sail from the bustling city of Chinta to the sleepy hamlet of Menarik with the cargo. The cargo? Well, aside from some boots and random items of waterproof clothing, there had been a strange group of five that had included a knight, an elf, a boy wizard, a warrior woman and a simple girl. Not their usual type of freight, but they had shipped stranger cargo for less pay.

One afternoon, not too long from their destination, most had been out on deck going about their routines; the cook mixing up some kind of tasteless stew, the bosun, Gemal, watching the sun set with the young girl and himself, up in the rigging, having a conversation with the elf who had been the only one interesting enough to chat with. Strange for the weather that time of year, a dark cloud had begun to form as the sun had just touched the end of the ocean.

What they had soon discovered was that it had been no natural occurrence. The whole crew had become twitchy and the very atmosphere had seemed to crackle with tension, yet no one had known what was causing their distress until it was too late.

The unexpected cloud had spawned a horde of ferocious winged beasts, bigger than the average man. They burst out of the sky, screeching like no human ever could, their claws outstretched and their fangs glistening with saliva. They had set upon the hapless sailors, killing over half the crew and wounding several others.

Just when the battle had seemed lost, the attack was called off. Their goal had not been the ship’s destruction despite the creatures’ obvious lust for death and gore. The leader of the beasts had managed to take off with the young girl as a hostage, despite the valiant efforts of her comrades on deck. It had only been Gemal’s quick thinking and devastating accuracy with a spear that had felled the creature. Somehow, the girl had managed to survive the twenty odd metre fall into the dark and frigid ocean, to be rescued by Gemal who had dived in after her. By then, some of the crew had recovered, throwing out lines to drag them both in. The girl had in fact drowned, but fortunately, her friends had been able to revive her.

Their leader dead, and both himself and the elf armed with recovered arrows, the beasts had fled, allowing them to limp into harbour two days later. It had been in this battle that Argon had tried to flee, knocking himself out on the doorframe of his cabin in a rushed attempt to save himself from danger. But, with them less than half their strength, no one had gotten around to challenging him for the ship; a feat that would be pretty difficult now considering the ship had been stolen.

Elonan sighed as he tried to piece together the puzzle that was only beginning to form in his mind. Gemal was gone and so was the ship. Those were the only facts that he had. Last he heard, the strange group of five had hired a sleigh to go visit some mystical dragon in the snow dunes. The way that the locals whispered it was as if they would never return, but had they come back already? Or perhaps, had they never left in the first place?

He gritted his teeth in frustration. Too many things could have happened. Perhaps Gemal had just found some nice and cosy local girl’s bed to stay in for the rest of the night, and pirates simply came and stole the Elspeth, leaving both disappearances totally coincidental.

Somewhere in his stomach though, Elonan simply did not believe in coincidences. So the real question was, had Gemal gone insane and stolen his own ship, or had the strange group of five coerced him to such a strange act? He shook his head. From what he had seen, they had possessed the power to bend the entire crew to their will; the knight alone had fought like a demon the day they were attacked, while the warrior woman threw her daggers with such accuracy he would be hard pressed to match her, not to mention the elf and his archery... yet none of them appeared to possess the resolution for such an underhanded deed.

Elonan’s confused, sleep-deprived mind set itself to one final answer. Had they come back and taken the Elspeth with Gemal, they must have had a darn good reason. But if so, what?

He lifted his head off the pillow to bring it back down with a puff of dust. So many questions with only one answer. An answer he would not simply be able to ask someone about to discover the truth. The thought of snooping around in this boring little town made his stomach clench. Why was he so damn curious? It had been a bad habit of his ever since he could remember. From finding a husband in a barn with an unattached maiden in the village that he grew up in, to more recently making the unfortunate decision to join the army just to find out what it was like. He had never been able to settle for believing the word of someone else, he had to find out for himself – the last major act of stupidity on his behalf leading to his current, more discreet profession.

Slowly a wan smile began to form on his lips. At least now, with no ship and none due for at least a month or two, he would have plenty of time to waste answering his questions.

***

The next morning, after the disruptions of the night previous, Elonan rose from his bed with bloodshot eyes. He had been right. No sleep had come to him after the questions in his mind had begun. The dim light of a frosty morning shone through the tiny window of his room directly onto the head of his bed. Instead of stuffing the pillow over his face to rid himself of the annoying distraction, he decided to begin his search for information.

He put on all the clothes he owned: two pairs of thin pants, a chest and waist belt that held two daggers, three shirts, one of them long-sleeved, two pairs of un-holed socks, a pair of boots, and finally, a pair of gloves with the finger tips cut off. His bow had been on the Elspeth, so now all his belongings were attached to him one way or another, and he was ready. The first people he needed to talk to were Steve and Bot, if they were still alive.

Elonan securely attached his moneybag under his shirt halfway up his back. It was the second safest place for his accumulated wealth, the safest being a part of his body that no male thief generally would search, but also the most uncomfortable position he could think of, which was why only his good coins sat there.

Down the stairs and into the now deserted taproom, Elonan walked with swift and silent steps. His ears pricked just before the door opened on the far side of the room to reveal the small boy of last night. With little balled fists he was rubbing his eyes with slightly exaggerated motions and yawning open-mouthed. When he saw Elonan, he froze, unsure of whether to offer service or to run away.

Do you know what they did with those two sailors last night? Elonan asked.

Little shoulders sagged in relief. If Elonan was not going to mention the previous night’s indiscretion, neither was the boy.

In the stable, piped the serving boy, pointing with his thumb behind him to the back door.

Bring two cups of boiling water out there, ordered Elonan as he walked towards the end of the room. The chances of the two sailors still being alive were slightly better than he thought; at least they had not been left outside.

The instant Elonan opened the door, his mind began to fervently wish for a hot summer beach filled with half naked women. The icy cold hit him like a slap in the face. It cut into his fingertips; the only parts of his body open to the frozen air aside from his face, which was thankfully, protected somewhat by his growing whiskers. Five snow-crunching steps to the stable and he opened the sturdy door, stepping inside to shut it behind him in an attempt to keep in the warmth without success. Even within the wooden building his breath was fog.

Elonan made his way past frozen over water troughs and the strange leather sleigh bridles used for the Dahnaga; odd cold blooded creatures that pulled sleighs in this part of the world. Elonan thought of the beasts with a shudder. They had grey leather skin, sharp teeth in a disk shaped head and wickedly clawed forepaws to give them grip over icy terrain.

Strung up like slaughtered beasts on the back wall hung the two men who had been on watch last night. Bot and Steve looked in poor shape. Wearing only pants, their chests and arms were bare. They had been strung up from their wrists, leather ties wrapped tightly around their arms to hold them in position. They faced Elonan, heads bowed, bodies limp, and though he could only see their fronts, he knew that their backs would be covered in angry red welts. Usually they would have been tied to the mast of the ship, the lashing carried out for all to see and fear, but with no ship, their punishment outside the comfort of the inn may just have caused their deaths.

Making an effort, Elonan scuffed his boots on the floor to announce his presence. Bot, a man with a hairy chest, stirred, looking up with blurred eyes. Steve however, the skinnier of the two, did not move. His blue tinged features could mean that he was dead or perhaps in the ice sleep that takes over people before they die in the cold, either way he would most likely not be revived. A snort of disgust escaped Elonan’s lips. Not for the treatment given to both men; they had known the consequences of their actions would be dire. But from the stench that only now began to reach his nostrils. Steve’s pants held a dark patch down his leg running to a frozen yellow puddle on the floor. It was most likely this added wet cold that would have led to his death.

Stepping forward, Elonan cut the bonds of Bot’s leather ties, swiftly moving back as the exhausted man slumped forward onto his hands and knees. For a moment neither of them spoke – Bot probably could not move his mouth enough to make words intelligible anyway. Instead, the beaten man stuck his hands under his armpits, hugging himself in an attempt to bring back some warmth into his body.

Who took the ship? Elonan finally asked. His voice was cold and calm but unthreatening.

I already told you, Bot wheezed back.

All on the ship knew Gemal to be a honourable man as far as sailors went, so if that