As he gazed downward, the horse kicked backwards twice, in rapid succession, and hit something with a dull thud. The large man whirled, freeing his sword to face the sky, his black cloak sweeping after. He abruptly stopped. There was nothing visible there. The black horse struck behind him again and then in front.
The man bore a confused expression on his face as he reached out mentally to find out what was attempting to attack. No heat, no masked energies . . . What the hell? He dove deeper into his mind, reaching beyond it into the Astral plane, quickly scanning for the telltale silver-strands that connected all Astral travelers to their home plane. Glancing to his left and then to his right, he caught a glimpse of the horse flashing into the Astral and beginning another kick before passing onto some other plane.
This was extremely odd.
He felt a presence behind him, and leapt into a forward roll, wrapping himself around his sword. On his feet he finished, sword at the ready, glancing over. His eye passed over a slight, regal form, clad in silk, her green eyes with their nictating membranes glowing softly, and the telltale pointed ears of an elf. He masked his face into a calm smile and bowed deeply, his left knee on the ground, right knee up with his hand resting on it, and his sword resting on both knees. Over all this he bowed his head. The elf's eyes widened just a tad before she bowed likewise.
"My Lady, I must hurry. I am searching for something. Greetings and Farewell," and with that he slipped back to the Prime. In front of him, the black horse struck forward, the kick accompanied with yet another thud. The man gave a basic slash into the same area, and felt his blade hit some rather good armor. He struck into the same area again, hitting nothing this time. He felt out with his foot, finding a collapsed body that "dissolved" beneath his foot.
The black horse turned and struck to the left of the man, again hitting something. As the man turned to slice into this invisible being, the elf popped into this plane, wielding an odd wand.
It was shaped of metal, barely projecting beyond her hand, with a beam of another metal crossing at her knuckles. His sword continued its deadly arc, and he felt his blade catch then rip through. He turned, intending to carefully watch the elf, but something else caught his attention before he could finish his motion. That something was a knife, a dagger, slicing cleanly through his black cloak and penetrating his shirt, jarring to a halt against his hidden plate mail shirt. His sword sliced upwards, into this creature's head. The blade turned sharply in his hand, hitting a hard substance within the head. He looked up sharply to see the elf holding her wand aimed where the head should be, and then she "withdrew" her hand and the obstruction to his blade ceased to exist.
The black horse trotted over and began munching on the sparse grass. Out of habit the man commenced cleaning his sword with the edge of his cloak as he lowered himself, facing the elf. She opened her mouth and then shut it slowly. The elf looked at him and the horse while sitting down, then began mimicking his cleansing motions with her hands.
"Hail! I am Sulighwýn of Matríoc Dell. May the sun shine and the wind whisper through your trees," she said.
"Hail! I am Bæn. May the bounty of joy and the peace of life follow you. What brings a beautiful maiden to the wild parts?"
She grinned. "I might ask what brings a fierce man to the wild parts, or perhaps to the calm parts? Really though, I came following you from the Astral. Your bow caught my eye. Where, might I ask, did you learn the proper elven bow, and our greetings?"
"I am watchful. Why do you copy me? You move as if to cleanse your sword, yet you have none."
"You claim good eyes, but your tongue betrays them. Why should I copy you? Perhaps I do not copy, but rather cleanse a special sword? What say you to that?" Sulighwýn asked.
Bæn finished wiping the invisible blood and gore off his sword and laid it across his knees. He smiled at her. "Since you have an invisible sword, mayhap you can tell me of the invisible creatures that attacked me. Often I sense the invisible creatures with my mind, yet these were not here in any form save touch. I know not how Blackblade knew they were attacking."
"The goblins were not invisible. To my eyes, they shimmered, but I saw them whole. Mayhap it was to your mind only. I can think of no trick, nor majick that would allow invisibility after attacking. "
Bæn stood and sheathed his sword. He walked over to the lip of the cliff and looked down at the forest below. Across the valley flowed the river Aster which fed into the Mord Ocean. Bæn's eyes tracked across a small village set into the woods, and then out over the woods to the river. He felt Sulighwýn approach him. She touched his arm and looked out over the cliff's edge. He moved his arm out of her way and she grabbed onto it, circling her hands around it tightly. Bæn glanced at her to see her face filled with fright and joy.
"What troubles you? Is there an evil you sense?"
"No. No trouble do I sense. I see great beautiful woods and a sensuous river, but must you stand so close to the edge. The height is great."
"Sulighwýn! Have you the fear of heights? So the elves do have common fears, even as the mortal."
"Oh, Hold your peace. Yes I fear the fall. As should all with a brain upon their shoulders." Silence fell for a few minutes, broken only by the gentle breeze shuffling through the branches. "What do you seek?" Sulighwýn asked.
"A point of tower breaking through the trees. I seek the mage tower of Brall_. He is rumored to have died recently, leaving behind the treasure of many years."
"So you are a raider of graves, a defiler of homes?" she asked, stepping back from him. "I will kindly take leave of you, then. May your . . . "
"You are mistaken," Bæn interjected. "I am, well, was, a friend and I have been sent by his son to gather his belongings before one of your defilers gets his stuff. Brall_ also called me to come. He has a geas of sorts on me, one that he set in motion several weeks ago, before he died."
"Pardon me. I spoke rashly."
Blackblade kicked forward, his stroke yet again accompanied with the dull sound of hoof connecting with clothe covered metal. Sulighwýn pulled out her sword/wand and said, "These goblins certainly do not want you here. About thirty more are attacking." Bæn's sword zipped out of its sheath and he went to the ready, then paused, realizing that he still could not see, hear or smell these creatures. He started to go to Blackblade to finish off those he kicked, then remembered Sulighwýn. He looked over toward her and saw that she was moving and flowing from stance to stance with such ease and grace that he almost couldn't recognize the stances. Bæn wanted to sit and watch until he was reminded of the situation by a short sword ramming into the middle of his back. His armor held and he felt the blade brake just before he kicked backwards, twisting around to present his sword to the enemy.
He swung his sword in front of him, utilizing none of his sword training in a style that embodied vicious strength rather than cunning or skill. Continuing toward Blackblade he followed his gut's instinct and lowered himself in a more defensive position. His position immediately saved him when an invisible sword stuck his sword and forced past it, into the space his head had just occupied. Bæn punched upward and cursed as his hand met the chin point of a helm. Leaping to the left, he swung his sword upwards into the enemy's gut, spilling them onto the ground. At Blackblade's next kick Bæn was close enough to make sure that the goblin was "finished."
The battle continued in this fashion, with Blackblade and Bæn working as a team and Sulighwýn cleaning up any that made it past them. *****
"Will you be joining me any further?" Bæn asked. "Your arm could become quite useful, especially if there are many more of these goblins hanging around... as well as your eyes."
"I would gladly join you for the time being. Your... quest... has intrigued me." she replied. "Let us look again for your mage's tower."
For several minutes they stood at the edge of the cliff looking for Brall_'s home while Blackblade calmly chewed on the sparse weeds. It was Bæn who finally spotted the tip of the tower, sprouting forth from the tree tops to the southwest. The little bit that was visible was hidden by greenery growing upon the tower itself, but the distance was to great to distinguish just what did grow upon it. Bæn mounted Blackblade and paused.
"My lady, would you honor me and my steed by riding with us?"
Sulighwýn's nictating membrane winked before she took Bæn's hand and settled in behind him, her dress still somehow reaching to her ankles.
"Tell me of your friend, this mage of yours."
"Bralle? Hmmm, it would be nice to say he was a great man, but who is great? Brall_ was a man who could have slept through a castle raid, but would have awakened at the squeak of a mouse three rooms over. Very peculiar." Bæn paused for a couple seconds. "He was a mage of nature, I guess. Tis strange to think that he is gone now. We had a wager between us over who would fade to dust first. He was always so polite and quiet, basically no enemies save those who can't stand a person they can't make fight back, whereas I have been known to swear out kings and lords, which is a sure way to decrease ones life span."
Silence reigned for several miles as Blackblade backtracked off hill, passing into heavier and heavier woods, before Sulighwýn spoke again, "And his son? What of him?"
"Ingasill? Ingasill is a night guard captain in [Big City]. He was raised by his mother with no real knowledge of his father until he came of age, for she was ever distrustful of majick users, so he was not exactly close, but there was that bond of family between them anyhow. But that is not what you meant. Sill is a good man, but a city man. He tries to do his best and still be helpful, but that is not how most percieve him. And that is becuase he is a braggart, boastful of himself, and for good reason. I can think of nary a man who could best him in shear strength." Bæn fell silent again. "And you? Have you no responsibilities to tie you home, at Matríoc Dell, was it?"
"Yes, that is my home. And you don't want me to keep the customary secretive, mysticism that we use around the mortals?" She laughed slightly. "Someone has told you somethings, but I will leave it there for now. Mayhap another time?"
The fact that he was riding with an elf hit Bæn then and the wonder would be heard in his voice when he said, "Of course."
Soon after, Bæn dismounted and helped Sulighwýn down, for they had reached the edge of the forest and there were too many lowhanging braches to safely ride.