Lovely Dark Things

FOURTEEN (ISELEN POV)

"Are you sure that the wood elves won't get close?" I ask looking around suspiciously although the only thing I can see are trees, trunks and rocks. We're alone in the middle of a path far away from the campsite, she sun sneaks between branches and the breeze shakes the leaves softly. Some birds are singing and a squirrel looks at us cautiously for a second before vanishing looking for food.

"I told them that you had a plan to kill the beast men but it involved a powerful dark elven magic that only temple assassins can control given that we had to contact the God of War himself through an energy vortex... and being a witness of that conversation could drive a poor forest elf crazy," Ruby laughs amused. "They almost peed themselves out of fear picturing it in their minds, they won't get close, believe me."

"Can you do that?" I ask surprised.

"No, babe, of course not," my wife shakes her head, staring at me exasperated. "But Helien and the Queen can... and the Witch King too, I guess. Can you tell me what's going on? You've been behaving in a strange way for a couple of days while working with elven blacksmiths in their workshop. You know I hate it when you hide information from me."

"All right, but first of all I want you to know that I didn't lie to you, not this time," Ruby looks at me raising an eyebrow in disbelief. "I didn't show you this before because I was busy designing it, finding the right materials, asking dark elves to make the different pieces, I myself had to assemble the weapon alone and tried it a couple of times to make sure it worked. It wasn't easy, it took me years and many tries because, well, I know the theory but I'm not exactly a mechanical engineer. And when I was ready, the fake Eldire came to the court and things got complicated, that's why I never told you about it... but I was going to do it, I swear."

"Okay, I believe you, you promised you wouldn't lie to me anymore and I trust you," Ruby nods, pointing at wooden box waiting on a nearby rock. "Can I open it now?" I wave my hand to grant her permission and the assassin smiles excited, opening the cover and looking at the object inside. A ray of sunshine gets a flash of blinding light from the silver metal and my wife frowns, puzzled. "What the hell is this? I've never seen something like this before."

"It's a pretty accurate copy of a Colt 45... and, dare I say it myself, it looks very good. It wasn't easy, honestly," I sigh wearily while Ruby looks at me with a neutral expression, waiting for an explanation. "It's a firearm."

"Fire?" the assassin frowns, bewildered.

"Do you remember the black powder I used to destroy the cave ceiling?" Ruby nods while watching me taking the revolver and one of the bullets. "There's a small amount of that inside this projectile. You place it into the cylinder, as you can see, I can put six bullets inside at the same time. Now, I'm cocking the gun, like this... and aiming at the target. Do you see my index finger? If I pull the trigger, the firing pin will hit the base of the bullet casing, the black powder inside will explode because of the heat generated by the pressure and the gun will shoot the bullet at high speed." My wife is still looking at me perplexed and I heave a sigh. "It's like a crossbow, babe, but this small projectile made of metal can cause much more damage than an arrow."

"If you say so..." the pretty elven lady bites her lower lip and stares at the revolver with a mix of bewilderment and disbelief.

"Come, try shooting at that trunk over there. I'll teach you the safety rules later: keep your gun always clean and unloaded if you're not using it, never put your finger on the trigger if you're not going to shoot, keep it aiming at the ground usually and never aim at someone that's not your target. Now, extend your arm, cock it and pull the trigger when you're ready. It's going to make noise and will shake your shoulder..."

"Bang!"

"Fuck!" Ruby jumps back and drops the gun on the ground, startled. The fire sound echoes through the forest and birds fly away scared. I bet Ariel's elves have heard it but are hiding under the blankets like terrified children thinking that we're talking to the God of War. "What the hell was that?" she asks angrily while rubbing her right shoulder with her hand.