The strong elf

Chapter ten

Larongar led the prince and Kellum into the vaster plains. He'd look to the position of the sun every few hours and look at the ground for answers. Near a stream, lined with pine trees and thorny bushes he stopped them.

"Did you find something?" Ailduin asked.

"Yes, water." Larongar gestured to the obvious water.

"I meant tracks." Ailduin said disappointedly.

"Without the proper rest or resources neither the horses or us elves will be able to continue." Larongar kneeled next to the steam with a pouch for water.

"Where has Kellum gone?" The prince asked.

"When in doubt look to the sky." Larongar had finished filling his pouch and went back to his mare.

Ailduin tilted his head to the sky and saw Kellum in the trees looking out over the plains.

"Kellum." Ailduin called up to the wood elf.

Kellum looked down at the prince and held a hand up to his ear. He was signaling he could hear him.

"What are you doing up there." Ailduin called again.

Kellum still couldn't hear the prince so he jumped down a few branches, with a grace that could only be managed by a wood elf. When he got to a lower branch he sat on it and fell back, allowing himself to hang upside down.

"I'm sorry your highness, what was that?" Kellum smiled.

"Why are you up there? The plains are flat enough to see for miles." Ailduin gestured to the lands around the river.

Kellum grabbed the branch he hung from and let his legs fall in front of him, making his flip backwards from the tree. "I suppose it's a habit among wood elves. They feel superior when they have the high ground." Kellum sat on a large rock and withdrew his sword. Again he looked at it like it was cursed. His olive green eyes looked pained.

Ailduin decided it was best not to talk to Kellum when he looked to intense. Instead the prince went to Larongar.

"Why does he do that?" Ailduin asked.

Larongar looked at Kellum then turned his attention back to his mare, whom he was giving handfuls of oats. Proper care of ones weapons is important." Larongar answered. Ailduin turned to see Kellum was now polishing his sword, but still had a pained expression on his face.

"No, his face. Why does he look at his sword like that." Ailduin asked.

Larongar looked the prince in the eyes. His aged amber eyes put a certain fear in Ailduin's heart.

"That is a question for Kellum when the time is right, for it is not my place to tell." The older elf didn't look into Ailduin's eyes again.

With that the prince assumed the worst. Had Kellum killed another elf before? Had he stolen the sword from a mighty king, and was now being hunted by some other kingdom? Or had he received the blade from a dwarf? These question circled Ailduin's head making a lump form in his throat.

"How will I know when the time is right?" Ailduin whispered to Larongar.

"When he trusts you." Larongar mounted his mare.

Ailduin mounted his steed as well and lined up beside the older elf.

Larongar looked over to Kellum who was still polishing, but slower. "Kellum." Larongar called sternly.

The wood elf's head snapped up as if coming abruptly from a trance.

"We best be going." the older elf said.

"Yes, I suppose it is." Kellum stood, sheathing his sword, with a smile. Larongar patted Kellum's back when he walked by to mount his horse.

***

Once again the elves rode over the plains. However, It didn't take long for something exciting to happen.

It was late noon when a sound like thunder made all three elves turn their heads. Ailduin saw them first. The ogres on their boars. They looked twice as feral as they did the first time he'd seen them. Some of them had a fearsomeness in their eyes that told him they recognized him.

"Move!" Shouted Larongar.

The three elves took off over a the dry earth and into the valley of two small hills. When they came up on the other hill Larongar looked back to see the ogres gaining on them.

Ahead Ailduin saw a line of trees. "There, we may have a chance to escape them!" He turned his horse to the trees. Kellum and Larongar followed.

The trees started to become thicker and thicker as they ran through. The grass became lush and Ailduin knew they'd come to the forest near Vraibia. He panicked. The Ogres had followed him and Leilatha here before, and probably wouldn't make the mistake of missing them again if they went there again.

Ailduin turned his horse sharply away from the cliffs coming up in the distance to run along them. Kellum and Larongar flanked him on either side. They had nowhere else to go, but follow the base of the cliff.

"There is nowhere to hide!" Larongar shouted.

"Yes, there is!" Kellum passed Ailduin and started to lead the elves.

The ogres were close enough for Ailduin to hear them breathing. He drew his bow and an arrow from his quiver. He may be no good with a sword, or be a completely horrible at melee, but he knew his way around a bow and arrow.

Ailduin tied his reigns to the horn of his saddle and knocked his arrow. He turned and fired at the closest ogre, almost hitting Larongar. Who promptly scowled at him.

Ailduin's horse jumped, almost making his fall. He knocked another arrow and fired at another ogre. The arrow whizzed past the ogre and struck another ogre's boar. The prince looked around and saw his horse was still following Kellum, and the Forest had become thicker and greener. The trees blocked the sun, making it look later in the day than it actually was.

Larongar passed the prince and knocked his own bow. Ailduin did the same and turned to the ogres. Before he could fire he heard Larongar's arrow fly by him. He watched as it whizzed through the head of an ogre, and into another ogre's head. Ailduin fired another arrow and pierced an ogre in the heart.

The ogres had to find away the bodies now stacking up. Ailduin turned and saw they were now passing through a wooden structure built like a bridge over the path. It was made of twigs and lush green vines.

Once through, they went up a steep incline and looked down in the wooden entryway.

"Shouldn't we go?" Asked Ailduin. His heart beating rapidly.

The ogres approached the gate, their boars running back and forth in front of the entrance.

"They can't pass." Kellum said. "We're safe here."

Ailduin felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand as a sharp point touched the back of his head.

"However, you are trespassers. So your safety is not guaranteed."

The three elves turned to be faced with a hoard of elves with their arrows pointed at them.

"You're at the mercy of the wood elves." Said a woman elf with her bow and arrow pointed at Ailduin's head.