Elves of Wood and Storm (Book one of The Guardians series)

Fire and Ice

Moving much swifter than usual Lucas sprinted through the trees. His breath was light and swift in anticipation. A long yew bow was slung over his shoulder arrows hung over the other and his knife, the weapon with which he had made his first kill, rested in a simple leather sheath. Around him the snow was beginning to melt, tiny indentations across the surface marked where beads of water fell and broke through the crust. Lucas paid little attention to his surroundings, instead focussing on running as quickly as he could.

The day grew warmer as Lucas pounded through the forest, soon water was liquidizing everywhere washing away the snow. There was nothing left but a gray slush when Lucas arrived at the village, breathing heavily he found the tallest fir and swung himself up into the branches. Despite the heat he pulled his cloak tighter to better conceal himself then pulled out the parchment and charcoal. Carefully he sketched elvish symbols, due to his propensity for writing the beautiful calligraphy was finished in moments it read "You're next."

Lucas giggled to himself, putting away the remaining parchment and the nub of charcoal. He then pulled the smooth shaft of an arrow from his quiver holding it with the hand, and the slip of parchment with the other, Lucas balanced on slim branches. Carefully he pulled a piece of twine from his pouch and attached the message to his arrow, back by the feathers.

Preparations complete Lucas leaned against the trunk of the tree and strung his bow, then he fit the arrow to the shaft sighting it. He knew that the villagers would give the young female a traditional barrial, which meant a procession down the main path. So he waited. Lucas wanted to remove his friend X from the world, he feared that the second elf would make good on his vows of revenge.

A large crowd of elves were gathering in the street, but it was no orderly procession. Lucas squinted watching features, looking for his friend. He hoped X would stand out as a tall elf, but he could not see him. The warm flash that had melted the snow was fading as quickly as Lucas' patience, the temperatures was dropping rapidly freezing the slush into ice. Used to such conditions the elves mourning in the village continued through the cold, and Lucas continued to search for his target. A faint smell of smoke reached him, figuring the elves had started some sort of bonfire Lucas ignored it.

Sighing impatiently Lucas looked at the position of the sun, then a realization fell over him. It was late afternoon, and funerals took place in the early morning, he looked back at the crowds "So why were so many elves out?" His heart began to pound as a possibility occurred to him. The smoke had been growing progressively stronger, but he still couldn't see any flickering light in the village. Hesitantly Lucas looked down, the face he had spent hours searching for looked right back up at him. Lucas gripped his bow tightly wondering how long X had been standing there.

His face was frightening to look at, it wasn't contorted in anger, hatred, or even sadness. It just looked dead, a blank stare met Lucas' gaze. X didn't seem to notice the growing heat around him as piled straw burned, but it caught Lucas' gaze very quickly. Bundles of the dry grass were leaning against the now smoking trunk of the pine tree he sat in, like the burnings of old Lucas was now trapped against the tall wood.

Coughing as the smoke billowed up Lucas looked around for a means of escape, but there was a reason this tree had grown so tall. It rested at the center of a small clearing on a hillock. Lucas looked down wildly wondering if he could climb down, but X held a naked blade in his right hand. He seemed to be waiting for Lucas to do just that. Despite wishing for a death more bereft of an elf like X Lucas pulled his bow preparing to shoot the man through his head, but as he drew the sinew back to aim it snapped in the heat.

Lucas felt like punching the tree, but the weakening wood doubtless would suffer for it. Seething with frustration he shoved the now stringless bow into his quiver and held the arrow in his hand, he looked at his message "You're next" now so ironic and threw it down hoping to hit X. Unsurprisingly the elf slashed it out of the air.

Wood growing ever warmer underneath his fingers Lucas looked around searching for some escape.