Orlaigh stood at the edge of the forest and scanned the tree line. He had left the city three days ago with no idea where he was heading; he had just set his feet on the path and allowed the call to pull him along. This morning, the call had intensified and he had all but ran to the spot in which he now stood.
Anticipation was strong in his mind, he was excited and nervous all at once, it was indescribable. He desperately wanted to move forward and see who had called him and why but he was scared that he would be rejected as well. There was also calmness, an acceptance that whatever happened was meant to be.
Examining the thoughts, he realised that they weren't all his own. The fear belonged to someone else, someone who was waiting to see him...the caller. The acceptance was theirs as well. A large part of the excitement was coming from the caller too but part of it was his own.
Thinking back, Orlaigh remembered the first time he had stood at the edge of these trees. It had been almost ten years since he had been here last and most of the memories of his time were hazy at best. Orlaigh had not been lying to the king when he said that to speak of his one clear memory of this place would be to sully it. In fact, he rarely thought of it himself for the same reason.
Now, however, he was back here and he knew that the call he had received was linked to that wonderful time all those years ago. The memory that he had kept locked away these past years came to the front of his mind and with it, the memories from his entire time in the forest unlocked. The last ten years melted away as he looked back and remembered.
The call in his mind wasn't from the same person. It was from Nia. His Nia. His first and only love. She was calling him back to her.
*****
A small, hooded, figure had stepped from the shadows of the forest and beckoned him to follow
"Who...?"
The figure waved him into silence and motioned again that he should follow. Orlaigh paused, not wanting to follow some unknown person into the forest, who knew what would be waiting for him there?
Sensing his indecision, the figure spoke softly
"You have followed the call from our lady this far and now you hesitate?"
There was derision in the tone; a mocking quality that nevertheless spurred Orlaigh on. Without further pause he stepped after the figure and into the forest beyond.
They walked for some time in total silence and Orlaigh had plenty of time to look at his guide. Elf, he decided. Elves were by no means unusual in the land of Kuin, but it was unusual to see one away from the battlefield.
Three thousand years ago, a pact had been made between humans and the elder races. The elders would provide warriors to help fight the shadow spawn that plagued the land and would not interfere with any decision that was made by humans as long as the Elves were given controlling rights to all forests and Dwarves the same with mountains.
The copy of the contract that was held in the palace stated that it was not the full agreement; there was a part held by the Elves that no human had been allowed to see since the original pact had been made. Orlaigh wondered if this was why he had been summoned.
Dragging his mind away from his musings, Orlaigh realised that he and his guide were no longer alone. They had been joined by several other cloaked figures. Seeing his surprise, his original guide dropped back to walk with him
"There have been sightings of a...I don't know if your language has a word for it" she said with a frown
"It is a...creature...made of stone and hate. They are sent by the Shadow to hunt in the mountains but sometimes they are turned here. If it comes we can kill it but it will be hard. You will keep out of the way if we shout." She explained, brusquely.
"We have no word for that. I have never heard of anything like it!" Exclaimed Orlaigh
"I am a mage though, I could help fight?"
The elf raised an eyebrow "No, you were called here for a purpose. You will stay safe and do your duty"
With this rather cryptic comment, the elf moved as if to go back to her place in the lead and then stopped. Turning, she looked at him for a long moment and appeared to come to a decision
"I am Tininiathalasa. You may call me Nia; I know that humans sometimes struggle to pronounce words they are unused to. I cannot keep calling you 'human' I understand that may be seen as impolite. You will tell me your name."
Orlaigh smiled. In the past he had usually met with Elvish ambassadors who dealt with humans regularly. However, from the odd conversation he had had with some of the warriors, he knew that most humans were seen as never getting old enough to acquire enough knowledge to have a wise and open minded perspective on the world around them. If he were being honest with himself he would agree, humans had much to learn, fortunately he had devoted most of his life to the art of acquiring knowledge.
"Thank you Nia, I am Orlaigh and you are right, we humans do sometimes struggle to pronounce words we are unaccustomed to. However, as the Elvish scholar Lymedriirn'ven said: 'Namo avene delotha, ri namo lle'"
"You are right Orlaigh. I forget myself. You would not have been chosen if you lacked intelligence." Nia smiled
"You mention again that I was chosen. What for? I doubt that there is any magic I can do that your people cannot and I have no other skills that you would lack"
