LongestRoad Ellowyn: Greywood

I did gloss over that part a bit, didn't I? Twelve whole years is quite a long time to some people, myself included. Of course, to most inhabitants of this serene village, it is little more than a moment. Tandrien would tell you I was barely there, and gone again. But he was not the only influence Greywood had on me -- there were a few other children near my age, each of whom had their own effects on me. At first, I had little eye for the differences between the elven and half-elven children, though after a few years I did notice that Raine and I tended to "catch up" to Azathael and Lorindael.

When I was brought to the wood by a hunting group, I was just shy of ten years old. Most people are familiar with ages of humans and half-elves as they grow up, but Pevishan have an even shorter lifespan that a human. Most of my kind are settled into a career and a marriage by the age of fifteen or sixteen, and bear their last child in their late twenties. So, I was still a child at ten, but little more childish than Raine was at thirteen, or Lorindael at fourteen. Azathael was old enough to be the obvious leader of the group, as he was almost seventeen years old. He had real tasks and duties, learning to become one of the hunters. But still, of course, he found plenty of time for mischief.

At first, though, I only spoke to Tandrien. I was still quite frail, even after my sickness had been cured. I was not so skilled at finding myself enough food and water in the wilderness, and needed more time to recover. It was a few weeks before I was allowed to come down from the room Tandrien had made for me. And once that happened, the rest is quite a myriad of little stories.

Raine

The first person I met, when I finally crawled out of Tandrien's tree, was an entrancing half-elven girl. She was curled up at the foot of another tree nearby, idly plucking at the strings of a small harp. When I reached the ground and looked over at her, she smiled. She didn't look up at me, just smiled to herself. I still don't know exactly what that smile meant. I think it may have been her way of laughing at me for being so awkward and clumsy. Elves just instinctively know how to climb around that place. It's a little ridiculous.

She was a pretty girl, and played the harp rather well already, even when she wasn't really trying. Her smile was kind, and it dimpled her cheeks a little, transforming her whole face into a warm and friendly expression. It would be classic to say I fell in love at first sight, but that's not really what happened. She had sparkling brown eyes and wavy auburn hair, that looked a little more red that usual against her pale skin and the gray bark behind her head. I was just a little bit jealous. Jealous of her simple attractiveness, her peaceful smile, her calm and collected attitude. I recognized in myself that I was so jumpy and gawky and confused, and I saw none of that in her.

I took a short walk, not straying too far from the tree. When I was tired, I dragged my feet back towards the sound of the harp again. I sat down at the foot of my own tree, and listened for a little while. After a few minutes, a soft voice joined the harp. I looked, startled, not quite believing that voice was really her. But there was no one else nearby -- it was her, singing. It was a gentle, simple song, but she made it haunting. I closed my eyes and listened for a while.

I woke up with Tandrien sitting nearby. The girl was gone, and Tandrien was smiling at me, but looked concerned.

"Just sleeping, little Lakash?" he asked me.

I nodded. "There was a girl with a harp. I took a little walk...and then I sat to listen. She was singing--"

"Ah." Tandrien interrupted me, and chuckled. "So you've met Raine then?"

I could already feel my eyelids drooping again. "Is that her name?" I asked.

"Yes," Tandrien said, helping me stand up and reach the ladder. He shooed me up, and climbed up behind me.

"I hope she will like me. I miss people my age." I was already crawling back into the bed, half asleep again.

The Brothers

When I was strong enough to do chores again, Tandrien developed a habit of always choosing for me the tasks that would push me the most. I was out fetching fresh water from the stream, and while carrying it back, heard a footfall behind me and to one side. I spun around and stepped back, sloshing a little bit of water onto the ground. As I was looking around, a young man stepped out sheepishly from behind a tree.

"Guess I'm still a little sloppy," he said. I wasn't sure what to say, so I just sort of stood there. Come to think of it, I was probably staring like an idiot. I was young -- it's my only excuse.

"They say your name is Lakash...you looked so sick, when we found you. I hope you're feeling better now." He looked like he was trying to figure out whether to smile or not. I nodded.

"You found me? I don't remember very much of it."

He nodded. "It was my first time out with a real hunting party. I helped them carry you home. My mother is a healer...we brought you to her. By the way, my name is Azatha." He moved to help carry the water, but stopped when I made a face.

"Tandrien will scold me, if I don't do my chores myself. Apparently, even carrying water is an important part of my training." I didn't really understand that part, yet, so I probably said that rather disdainfully. But I had definitely learned not to circumvent anything I was told to do.

"So you are studying with him. Raine said you were staying there. Mom says it's been a long time since Tandrien taught anyone. He must have really taken a liking to you."

"You know Raine?" I asked.

"Of course. There aren't many people our age. Me, Raine, and my little brother Lorin. I think the next closest are all in their fifties or something. They stop counting when you come of age here. Which I won't for a while. So, we kids have to stick together." He winked. I grinned. He looked up. "Hey, we're just about back, and I need to run -- but come find me later, when Taskmaster Tandrien gives you a few minutes off. I'll introduce you to my kid brother."

"I usually get some free time on Saturdays..."

"Oof. He really is tough on you. Okay, Saturday it is. West edge." He stepped off between a few trees, and when I looked away for a moment, he was gone.

At the end of that week, when Tandrien set me loose, I roamed around the western edge of the village. After an hour or so, I paused to lean against a tree. I glanced back over my shoulder, and when I turned to look forwards again, Azatha was standing about three inches in front of me. "Gotcha! Tee hee."

I learned to hate that gleeful giggle, just a little tiny bit. Needless to say, I jumped back. A lot. Azatha was still busy giggling to himself when I heard someone walk up beside me, and turned. He looked a lot like Azatha, but younger.

"Lorin." He bowed slightly.

"L...Lakash." I probably looked confused. I spent most of that first year in Greywood looking confused. I'm surprised I don't have a permanent little wrinkle between my brows that makes me look confused all the time.

Lorin nudged his chin towards Azatha. "My brother thinks he's brilliant. Don't mind him." I could tell from the sly smile that Lorin was the smarter of the two. He carried an oak staff, wore plain clothes and a leather vest, and had a symbol I didn't recognize on a pendant around his neck. When I looked again, I noticed Azatha had his bow. And, finally, his composure, what little of it there ever was.

"Come on, let's go." He slunk off. I shot Lorin a questioning look as we followed him.

"He says he found something interesting. That's all I know."

After a while, we came up to the stream. Much further up the stream than I had been before, though. There was a small clearing near it, and a great structure blocking the water.

"Lakash doesn't know how high the stream used to run," Azatha said. "But maybe now you can guess. This is why we have less and less water!"

Lorin stepped close, examining a few stumps and the felled trees across the stream. He looked back up at his brother. "Beavers? That's what beavers do, Az."

Azatha's grin widened. "Just one, Lor. All this, just from one. You know why? Ooh wait, here he comes." We all ducked behind trees and froze, as the most gigantic beaver I have ever seen waddled up out of the water. Lorin's eyes grew large.

"Tell me, Lorin," Azatha whispered, "why there should be a dire beaver damming our stream? That's not really right, is it?"

Lorin seemed to be thinking for a moment, and then shook his head. "No, it's not. This is no place for him."

Azatha's face took on a rare look of concentration as he quitely nocked an arrow. Suddenly, the arrow was singing through the air, then caught in the beaver's fur, and then the beaver was charging across the dam towards us. Hardly thinking about it, I ducked away from his charge and flung out one hand. A brilliant light flashed in front of the beaver as it charged Azatha, dazzling it for a moment. The charge missed -- but only just barely. Lorin took a swing with his staff, hitting it in the hind leg, but didn't seem to bother it. The creature shook the arrow out of its fur and leaped at Lorin. Azatha nocked another arrow, but couldn't shoot without risking his brother. My head was spinning. I am no fighter, but wanted desperately to help these new friends of mine. I reached out to grab Lorin's sleeve, maybe to pull him or push him away from the thing, trying to protect him somehow. But instead of pushing with my hand, I was pushing with my mind. When my hand brushed his arm, there was a little flood of energy, and his skin began to sparkle. The beaver came after him twice more, Azatha and I staring, but couldn't get his teeth into Lorin. He turned to charge Azatha again, but he loosed his arrow and caught the beaver's right shoulder. This one did dig in a little, and the beaver turned on me.

Now, I can already hear you laughing, but stop a moment and think. I was ten, a child, who had made my way through the woods by sleeping under shrubs and in trees, cowering when I heard the howl of a wolf. This was a foaming, frothing, dire, wild beast with huge teeth and claws. I was desperate.

When he leapt at me, I stepped backwards and partly fell, crossing my arms in front of my face. A shining, glowing missile leapt from each hand, tracing a fine arc towards the beaver. All I saw were the glowing spots flying through the air, then the beaver landed on me, gashing my shoulder with his teeth. An instant later, the glowing spots were glowing spikes, stabbing into his back and then disappearing. The beaver slumped down, and rolled off my shoulder. Azatha was instantly at my side, viciously kicking the creature's body out of the way, and looking at my shoulder. He looked up, and Lorin came over as well.

"Can you help him?" Azatha asked. Lorin placed his hand on my shoulder, holding his pendant in the other, and said a few words. The pain faded slightly, and the bleeding slowed, then stopped. Lorin concentrated for a moment, spoke the same words again, and the wound closed slightly, but it still looked bad. I waved them back and stood up, slowly.

"That was incredible, Lakash. I don't know what you did, but wow." I looked from Azatha to Lorin, just as the sparkling across Lorin's skin died down. I shook my head a little.

"I don't know either, but this still hurts. Can we go back?" Okay, so I was a whiny little kid. I bet you would've been too. Azatha and Lorin fell in step on either side of me as we walked back, silently. Somehow, they both knew we'd go straight back to Tandrien. Unsurprisingly, he was not pleased. There was a lot of scolding, and he sent for Arryn. It was the first time I actually got to meet her. I wish the circumstances had been a little better.

"Oh my. This is your doing, isn't it." She eyed Azatha. He knew he'd been caught, and spilled the whole story. She and Tandrien both listened, then spoke to each other for a moment. Then Arryn explained, "You boys have indirectly helped the village, in that we can clear this dam and restore the stream. However, you should have consulted someone before rushing off, and have now gotten Lakash injured."

She paused, and looked at each of us. "Azatha, you will be escorted up tomorrow to clear the dam. You will do all the work yourself. Lorin, you will return tomorrow to finish healing Lakash's shoulder. And the next day, if needed, until he is better. And neither of you will go anywhere else for the next week."

Tandrien just looked at me. I could tell I wasn't going to have a free Saturday again for quite some time.