The Elf Thief

Chapter 24: Temper Tantrums

Chapter 24

Temper Tantrums

The Seer was beyond angry, he was furious. That no go dwarf! He seethed to himself. If he knew anything about loyalty to his race, he would have led us to them!

The Seer had actually listened to his history lessons, unlike a pompous half-elf he knew, and he happened to understand the delicate situation the dwarves were in.

The dwarves had no allies.

If they had been attacked, or been overrun by a sickness, there was no one for them to turn to. Their biggest problem had always been pride. The dwarves were to prideful to give forgiveness when asked, and to prideful to join the rest of the world, even after they became nothing but a myth, and they would be to prideful to ask for help when they needed it. There was nothing that could stand against the pride of a dwarf.

And now they could help a truly good cause, even if it was overseen by elves. But the dwarves' pride had been too strong again, and this time, it would be their demise. Once the King conquered the elves and fay, and crushed the human rebellion, he would turn on every myth and rumor that might threaten his rule. And they though he would conveniently ignore an entire underground empire? Not likely.

Then there was the half-elf. The way the Seer saw it, that boy was as good as human. He lied like a human, he was as blind as a human, and he hid things like a human. There was something...ancient about that boy, something older than the Age of Kings.

His sister shook the Seer out of his thoughts. "We should split up," Nyx said in a commanding tone. "I'll go with the Seer, and Dearekk and Sonya can go together."

"Which way will we go?" Sonya asked incredulously.


The Seer could almost imagine Nyx looking at the elf-child as though she had just asked which end of a knife to hold. Ever so slowly, the fay princess replied, "Through...the...tunnel."

"But we came in that way," Dearekk protested. "And we want to find the dwarves, not a way out."

The Seer couldn't help but snort. "We are in Mortem," he said bitterly, "do you really think that the Maze of Death would let you just walk in and then walk out? No, you should take whatever the maze gives you, dwarves or a way out. Besides, you won't find the exit though that tunnel, it's moved by now."

The Seer couldn't help but let out a bitter smile at the stunned silence that followed. "Nyx and I will search along the ceiling for a way out. The dwarf used no magic to escape, I would haven sensed it, so the only way he could have gotten out would be though a trap door, or something similar. You two can search the tunnels for anything unusual. A hidden passage or something similar."

No one moved.

"GO!" the Seer roared so loudly that even Dearekk jumped.

Whatever," Dearekk muttered, and followed Sonya out of the passage way.

"Keep calm, brother," Nyx whispered after they had left. "It would do no one any good if you lost your temper now."

The Seer let out a sigh. It was true; he did have a horrible temper. It was once described by one of his tutors to his father as, "a wild fury and blind rage." Blind rage. Go figure.

"I know, Nyx," he sighed. "But time is valuable and I am sick of being led around in circles by some stupid, arrogant, dim-witted halfling!" he felt his voice rising near the end and it took all of his will to keep his monstrous temper under control.