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“Several years back, I had resigned my position with the Lords Guard and decided to venture out on my own for some time.  I found myself in the forests south of Salaile, near the elfin city of El’leiterra.  I had never been there, but had of course heard tales of it as a child, and I had only seen a couple elves in my entire lifetime.  They tend to keep to themselves you know.  However, this was going to be a different day.  I must have made a wrong turn on one of the trails leading through the woods, or perhaps it was fate, for I found myself standing right in front of the steel and vine gates of El’leiterra.  I felt as though I stood in front of those gates for hours, the intricate designs, graceful arches and ivy winding its way through the entire scene. From outside the gates the city could be barely seen.  There were walls of trees, ivy and vines surrounding the entire city.

Two of the elfin guards emerged from the sides of the gate.  I was right in thinking the gates were magic, because neither of them opened the gate.  Sections of the vines and ivy simply opened enough for each of them to step through.

They greeted me polite enough, but I was still nervous, elves are known for their expertise with bows and I was certain at least four or five were pointed at me at any given time.  I explained that I was simply traveling with no certain course, exploring the inner me if you would. Deciding I was no real harm to them, they invited me to rest within their gates for the night.  While tired of sleeping on the ground, I graciously accepted.  To that point, I had never known the graciousness of the elfin people. They fed me, shared some of their elfin lore and history with me and offered me a sound bed for the night.  While only planning to stay the one night, I became rather intrigued with the society as a whole and asked if I could stay longer. They accepted.

I was introduced to many of their folk, but one in particular stood out above the rest.  Her name was Tatiana.  It was not because I felt attraction to her, though she was beautiful, it was that she had a sad appearance to her. When I found the opportunity to speak with her alone, I ask her why, unlike the others, she seemed so disheartened.  She hesitated for some time, but I finally got her to share her troubles with me. 

Tatiana told me that only five short years ago, her mother Sophia had disappeared.  There had been no sign of her leaving, and no evidence to lead anyone to where she might have gone. Many thought she simply grew weary of the forest life and had chosen to travel, most however thought her dead, killed by one of the creatures of the forest.  But Tatiana knew, deep in her heart, that it was untrue. In her eyes, I could see how she longed to have her mother returned to her in El’leiterra, and if she could not be returned, to at least know the truth of disappearance.

Being that I had no particular destination of my own, I volunteered to look for the missing woman.  Tatiana tried to dissuade me. She told me the searches had been exhausted, there was no chance of finding her mother, and that I should not endanger myself to appease her sadness.  After a great deal of intense conversation, Tatiana had won the debate.  I promised her I would not make it the sole purpose of my travels, but I no less, would keep my eyes and ears open. 

My final day within El’leiterra, I thanked the elves for their courteousness and generosity.  The original one night within their village had turned into more than a week.  I knew as I walked from their gates, I had made friends, and should I ever need a place to rest my head again, their home would be open to me. 

Two years from the time I left their village had past.  I found myself sitting in a pub in Salaile listening to the bantering of drunks and wenches.  One drunk however, was louder and ruder then even I had heard in my lifetime.  He had been harassing one of the wenches, and was getting a bit rough.  I turned to see what was going on when I heard a smack and the bar wench yelling, “Leave me be and go home to that elfin wife ye always be braggin’ about, ye drunken lug”  “She ain’t me wife” the drunk bellowed, “she’s me property, just like ye should be ye worthless whore!”  Suddenly, swirls of memories came rushing back into my head.  The entire conversation I had with Tatiana replayed instantly in my mind. I thought to myself, “Could this elf the drunkard is talking about be Tatiana’s Mother?”

Sidestepping a slap of my own, I grabbed the wench as she rushed by me escaping the scene on the other side of the room. “What dost thou mean elfin wife?” I asked in her ear.  Unsurprisingly, I got an answer I should have expected, “I know nothing I wouldst tell the likes of ye,” she muttered back yanking her arm out of my grasp.  I realized at that point, if I were going to get the answers I needed, my coin purse would be much lighter then when I entered the pub that night. 

After a few coins were transferred from my pocket to the wenches, she informed me that the rowdy patron had for years been bragging how he scored himself an elfin wife, even had a half-breed child with her.  She went on to tell me that, no one had ever seen her, and many assumed it was just the rattling tales of a man that consumed way too much ale in his lifetime. That was enough information for me.  That night, when they finally pushed the well-drunken man from the pub, I followed him. 

He lived just outside of Salaile in a rundown shack on the edge of the forest.  The house, if you could call it that, sat in seclusion.  No neighbors were within shouting distance and this was not an area traveled by anyone.  Except the occasional thief trying to escape punishment. No gardens or animals of any sort marked the barren lot. The house was built of rough-cut logs, no doubt robbed from the surrounding woods. 

There were no windows in the building and there only appeared to be one door leading into the structure. I stayed some distance behind the massive drunk, his size resembling that of one with giant in his ancestry, my plan only consisted of scouting the house and seeing if there was in fact an elf living there.

I gave him enough time to slam through his door, shout some curses at whoever was inside and collapse into a what I hoped was a sound sleep.  I watched the moon creep into the sky for some time, listening for any signs of movement from inside the hovel.  When I had not heard any sound for some time, I crept towards the door, opened it lightly and stepped inside.

Now anyone that knows elves knows they have better hearing and eyesight than the average human.  That would probably explain the bruise I brandished on my forehead when I awoke some minutes after sneaking into the house.  When I came to my senses, I saw that standing over me, with a cooking kettle in hand was an elfin female. 

            “We’ve nothing to steal here, thou mayest as well gather thyself up and leave before I wake the man of the house,” she told me in a bold, yet hushed voice.  It appeared she had no real want to wake the brute.

            My head was still reeling and it took me a moment to gather my thoughts, the only thing that I was able to utter out of my mouth was, “Sophia?” 

            The elf took several steps away from me, a confused and shocked look on her face and she dropped to her knees to address me closer, “How dost thou know that name?” she whispered,” I have not shared that with any soul in over seven years, the man of this house knows not that name.”

            I brought myself to a sitting position, forcing myself not to pass out from the pain coursing through my skull and replied, “Tatiana weeps for thee M’lady.”  

She broke into an almost inaudible sob, and at that point, I realized why it was she had not tried to leave sooner, she was chained to the house. Attached to her ankle was a shackle connected to a chain just long enough for the elf to make it from one side of the house to the other.

 “I’ve come to return thee home, they think thou are dead.” I told her, cursing silently the knot that was forming on my head.

 “How can I return?” She sobbed, “I have been chained here for nearly seven years, I have been forced into child bearing with a man that is not my husband, nor would he be if I had my choice. I know not if I will even be accepted again in El’leiterra.” With that, she fell silent, and a look of fear spread across her delicately featured face.

“Sophia, what is wrong?” I asked her, but she didn’t reply, her eyes just widened and she began to shake. In her eyes, I caught a reflection of something…

I heard the sound of his weapon unsheathing, and luckily, my head was not pounding so much that I couldn’t protect myself. I was able to roll out of the way just shy of a rather large sword slicing my head in two.  To this day, I am still not sure how I didn’t hear him approaching.

“ELF!” the brutes voice thundered, “Who be this man thy hast brought into me house? Thou are MY wife!”

I drew my own sword, and immediately was on the defensive as he came forward at me in raging attack.  His size being almost double of my own, the parries I had to perform caused my arms to start aching almost immediately.  However, his size and drunkenness also made him slow, it did not take long for me to gain the offensive and my thrusts were soon hitting home on his immense body. 

            I could see the blood seeping from several wounds on his torso, but none of them were enough to bring him down quickly.   Blood was starting to find it’s way to the floor, causing slick spots that I tried my hardest not to fall victim to.  The brute drew back his massive sword and made a low swing towards my legs, however, being lighter on my feet then he expected, I was able to leap above his sword.  The momentum of that huge swinging effort however, was too much for his huge body to counteract when it did not connect with my body.  He was falling just as I was preparing my next thrust, which would turn out to be the last of this battle.  My final effort caught him just between the ribs under his right arm.  I felt my sword break through his clothing, and pierce his skin.  Perhaps the wound would not have been a deadly one, but his fall increased the drive of my sword and the tip of my blade penetrated his lung.  He shook the floor as he hit the ground gasping for air, blood pooling on the floor to his side.  It had been a long time since I had seen a man die by my hand. The sight and sound of a man’s dieing gasp will live with you forever, no matter how evil or deserving the man is to die. 

            It took several minutes for me to take in the scene that lie out before me, and when I finally caught by breathe and senses, I realized Sophia was digging through the clothing on the corpse.  Having found what she was looking for, she cried out in relief, in her hand she held a key, the one to her chained freedom.  However, the relief and joy we were both feeling was quickly torn away. Standing in the corner, weeping, was a boy of almost seven years.  He was crying out, “Da!  Da!”  Sophia ran to the child trying to comfort him, but the child pushed away from her and ran to his father’s lifeless body.  “Kahavval!” she cried, but the child would not respond to her, he only clutched his father and wept. 

            I helped her bury the man that had kept her in chains for so long, while there was a noticeable sign of relief within her, there was sadness for her child that was unmistakable.  Kahavval would not look at his mother or me.  They gathered their things and we set out to return them to Sophia’s true home, El’leiterra. 

            Word of our arrival must have reached the elfin village long before it was in sight to us, for Tatiana and many others were at the gates awaiting our arrival.  Far from her fears, Sophia was welcomed back with no question, and I was the first human in hundreds of years to be given freedom within the entire elfin village, a rare honor.  I stayed with the elves for nearly a year.  They were gracious in their repayment to me for returning Sophia to her home; they refined my swordsmanship, taught me to use a bow with exceptional accuracy, and they claimed they bestowed a blessing upon me that would last an elfin lifetime.  I asked for none of these gifts, but they would not allow me to deny them.”

The would-be bard fell silent, his tale having come to an end.  “Fabulous tale Thonas,” applauded one of the sword hands, “’tis always a pleasure to hear one of thy stories.” Everyone around the fire spoke up in agreement, it was obvious none of them believed it true, but they enjoyed it no less.

He nodded his thanks, propped his head on his pack, and settled in for a nights sleep.  The rest of the crew followed suit, heading off to their tents