I turn back towards the way I was walking, and after about a half hour later, I came to the center of the village. There was a small opening that lead to a spiral staircase leading into the tree. The entrance had several sculptures of past keepers of the tribe. I saw a platform of wood sitting by the entrance, and it was half empty.
A moment later an elfe came up the stairs. She wore gold armor, that was etched to look like the pelt of a griffon's fur. On the back panel of the armor was a pair of swan wings etched into the plate that went down to her boots. The boots she wore, were gold also, but had no special design on the front. Her gauntlets were designed to be as sharp as a dragons claw, but safe to use in everyday use. The elf's hair was as blue as the sky, and her walnut eyes shimmered like the sun. Our keeper was a sky elf, the last of her kin.
"Would you like some help with that Keeper?" I asked walking closer. Her face was as kind as a mothers, but at the same time as sinister as a snakes.
"Sure, I'm just taking this wood down to join the rest," she said.
I walked up to the wood pile and grab a large handful of wood and followed her down the steps. Torches lined the stairway as we descended into the core of the tree. We came to a small opening with a door and couple windows. There were candles inside that lit through the windows and brightened the small area. Beside the door was a large pile of wood that almost filled half of the room.
"You can place that right there," the Keeper said, and I placed the wood on the pile neatly. I turned and started for the stairs. It wasn't long before all of the wood was taken down to join the bigger pile. Once all of the wood was down by her door, we started back for the surface. Only a few people were allowed to see the inside of the Keepers house, and I wasn't one of them. Once back in to light, I sat on one of the small benches that was between two of the statues.
"So, what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from the master blacksmith's son?" the Keeper asked.
"Well, my mother isn't happy that her shipment of iron bark was cut by half this month. She asked me to come and ask you if something was wrong," I said, resting my arms on my knees.
"The scouting party that retrieves the bark usually come back with a full supply. Did everyone get cut by half?" the Keeper asked, sitting next to me on the bench.
"As far as I know, they were only cut by a quarter."
"That's strange. Well, I guess the only way to find out what the problem is, is for you to go find out. Say, how old are you?"
"I'll be turning twenty at weeks end."
"It's been twenty years already," she sighed.
I look at her and wonder what she was thinking, but I didn't bother long.
"So where are the scouts that retrieve the bark?"
"Probably at the tavern. Don't get into any fights, don't want to have to punish you before your right of passage," she smiled. "Thanks for the wood, I needed some."
"Your welcome," I said, taking my leave. I turned for the tavern, which was on the way back to my mothers shop.
The walk back seemed longer, as if all my energy was drained from me. I hadn't done enough to be sapped for energy, nor had I done enough magic to be this drained. My eyelids started to become heavy, and I found myself staggering. Suddenly the ground was coming close rapidly. With a painful smack to my face, I found myself on the ground, unable to move. Darkness slowly clouded my vision, the sounds I heard became muffled, and my body was over came by a numbness that was unfamiliar.
"Mister!" I heard some kid's muffled yelled. "Mister, wake up. Help some one help him please."
That was the last thing I heard before completely blacking out.
I awoke in a soft bed in a small room. Orange light came from a small window to my left. My armor sat under the window. On my right was an end table that had a bowl of water and a rag inside. There seemed to be nothing else in the room besides me and the two pieces of furniture.
As I sit up, the door across the room slowly opens. A doll head pokes itself around the door, and then a familiar face peeks into the room. It was the same girl I helped earlier. I small smile appeared on her face and she turned back out the door. A moment later an elf walks in. He wore dark colored clothes, his hands covered with dirty gloves, and his hair wild. His emerald eyes were like daggers as he looked me over. Then he spoke in a raspy voice.
"So, you're the one who helped my daughters doll." I nodded. "Do you remember what happened?"
"Not really. Where am I?" I asked.
"My house. Get your armor on and be quick about it," the elf said, closing the door behind him.
I got out of the bed and put my armor on. I then made the bed and walked towards the door. I opened it and the elf was leaning against the wall across of the hall. He pointed to a door and didn't say anything.
"Thank you sir, I won't forget this kindness," I said heading towards the door.
The door lead outside on to a landing high in the forest trees. I looked up and saw the sky darkening, quickly. I turned and jumped over the ledge of the landing. I soared down and landed on my feet. After a brief look around, I found that I wasn't far from home. I turned and darted threw the forest. I silently cursed my house for being the farthest from the village. We elves can't survive that long out in the night because of the large, dangerous predictors that roamed the forest floor.
By the time I reached the base of the tree my house was in, it was to late. The moon was high in the sky and I saw the unmistakeable red eyes of a werewolf. It let out a piercing howl that filled the forest. I stayed at the base of the tree, not going for the ladder. Werewolves were more humanoid than beast. They normally had wet sand colored skin with some fur over there muscular legs and arms. They had wolf like feet, and the red eyes that were like rubies. But the worst part about a werewolf was that, their head were like wolves. It sprouted from the throat of the humans mouth, as if it was trying to crawl out, leaving the face of the human visible and it's mouth wrapped around the wolf's head.
I slowly drew my bow and knocked an arrow, keeping my eyes locked with the floating rubies The moonlight came through the leaves like streams of light. As the wolf and I had our stare down, I knew that other werewolves were circling me. The wolf that I was staring at stepped into the light, it's fangs showing, and a low growl coming from its lips.
I quickly spun around, counting the sets of eyes as they passed my vision, and regaining the eye contact with the first wolf. I counted more wolves than I had arrows. I sigh and put the bow back into the quiver and the arrow along with it.
The werewolf I was originally staring at slowly made its way closer to me. I started to think about which spell would affect them the most, but the only thing I could think of was my electricity. I didn't want to use it incase someone was watching me. The stars in the sky that started poking through the blackness of the night sky, slowly disappeared. I felt something wet hit my hand, then it hit my ears. I looked around and realized that it had started to rain. A sleigh smile appeared on my face as the rain began to down pour.
I let the electricity arch across my gauntlets. A few wolves slowly backed off and ran, but only a few. A werewolf lunged at me from behind, and I jump to my left, not only dodging the werewolf but entering into an ambush. The wolf stood between me and the tree, along with the other wolves surrounding me.
Another one lunged at me and instead of dodging. I grab it by the human jaw and ripped it off, using the electricity to loosen the muscles, which made it easier to pull. I then grabbed the wolf's throat and send electricity coursing through its veins. When I let go, it fell over, the life gone from its eyes. Before any of the other werewolves could react I turned and shot a lightning bolt at one of them, not only killing it, but sending it flying into another wolf. Then they all attacked at once, slashing with their sharp claws, trying to bite with their powerful jaws, hunting on instinct alone. Light flashed as I defended myself from their attacks, loud clashes of lightning echoed through the forest, and the rain kept on falling harder and harder as the night dragged on.
