|
The elder was kind to her. He fed her, kept her feathers in order, yet he did not understand her. He wanted her to bond with another, but how can she when her rider was still alive? Would her rider think her disloyal when he returned? She must refuse another bond! She had watched the other heal her rider; she knew he was alive, somewhere.
Tired of
the dilemma, she spread her wings and flew out to find the only other
one she knew well. It felt
good to feel the wind in her wings again, and she squawked with delight.
She did not hear Jemtheriss’ cry of distress behind her.
Her hawk eyes looked to the ground and before long she found the
one she sought…
Chord laid naked on
a rock while the sun shone on her back.
She still felt Longstride’s loss tremendously, and this was one
of the few spots where she felt therapy taking place.
Often times she would doze off, sometimes only to dream of
nightmares. She had killed
an elf for vengeance! How
was she to reconcile not only this but her lovemate’s death?
Suddenly, Chord felt coldness on her back.
She thought this strange, but the warmth returned and so she did
not move. Again, the
coldness and Chord looked above to see a giant hawk whirling above her
in and out of the sun. Chord
put her hand up to her face to block the sun and made a realization.
“Blondebeak!” she said as the hawk finally settled onto the
ground next to her. Chord
ran up to the bird and put her arms around the feathery neck.
“You miss him, too.
Don’t you?” she said as tears again ran down her cheeks.
“And now Rainshy, Blackfawn and Wren are missing.
What is this madness?” Blondebeak ruffled her feathers as Chord tentatively
climbed on her back and held onto the neck ridges to keep from falling
off. Chord had meant only
to be closer to the bird in the way that Longstride had been, but the
hawk had other things in mind. Blondebeak took to the sky and Chord had to hold her
breath from the shock of air brushing by her so quickly. Finally,
the hawk leveled off and Chord let out a nervous and excited laugh as
the adrenaline rush kicked in. This
was fun! Holding onto Blondebeak tightly with her legs, Chord held up
her arms high and smiled at the sun, which was ever so close.
Still, she felt a slight chill on her bare skin from the wind,
but that only made the warmth of the sun feel even better. Suddenly, Blondebeak found prey on the ground in the
form of a small doe. The
large hawk squawked a warning, and instinctively, Chord took hold of her
feathers as Blondebeak dove towards the ground in a large swoop! Chord couldn’t help herself and screamed with
delight as they fell towards the prey with quick precision, and just as
suddenly they were up in the air again.
Blondebeak flew back to Chord’s therapy rock and prepared to
feast. She landed and a
stunned Chord limp legged climbed back to the ground. “What a rush!” Chord exclaimed out loud when she
saw someone out of the corner of her eye.
She felt a little dizzy, but she now could see a clear outline of
someone by the sun rock. “M..Mother?” Chord whispered as she wobbled over
to the rock. “Is
it…?” Now, she could see her clearly.
A flowing blue white gown, black hair much like her own which
seemed to shimmer in the daylight. Chord reached out for her, but touched nothing.
Now confused, Chord only looked at her mother in wonderment, but
her mother returned her stare with sadness. Suddenly, Chord knew the meaning of her visit and
knew she was having a waking dream.
The adrenaline rush from riding Blondebeak caused Chord to enter
this state of consciousness. “I should tell them,” she said aloud with a lump
in her throat. “I’ve
kept it a secret, and made Fox and Rainshy keep it a secret, too.
It’s gone on long enough.
I must tell Silvergrace the whole story and deal with my pain.
I must admit my secret!” Tears once again fell down her cheeks, as her mother
seemed to finally smile at her and look on her with love.
“I
miss you…” Chord said as her mother faded away from her sight.
Tears fell unebeded from her eyes as she sobbed again and she
hit her rock with her hands in defiance.
“Damn you, mountain elves!”
The warmth of her sun rock comforted her as she worked her way
through her misery in her mind. Finally,
Chord turned back to Blondebeak who was munching happily on her prey. She knew the bird would probably go back to the mountain and
so let her finish her meal in peace as she clothed herself and headed
back to the Holt.
Later into the night, Chord respectfully sent for Silvergrace and
Laughter to attend Shadow Vale’s howl and dance around the firelight
that night. Surprisingly,
nearly everyone from both wolf and cat tribes showed up to find out what
Chord had to say. While
everyone danced and feasted, Fox finally stood up and asked for silence.
“Tonight, Chord has something important to tell us all.
I have kept her secret for this long out of respect, and I hope
that all you can understand her feelings.
Silvergrace and Laughter, thank you for both being here as you
both need to hear her story.”
Finally, Chord walked into the group with all eyes looking at her
in expectation. She walked
with her head high as she sat to tell her tale of Longstride and explain
why three elves could be missing. However,
the words could not come to her. She closed her eyes and prepared to give out a mass sending
so that all could understand completely.
Fox sat down next to Chord and held her hand to help her with the
sending.
Feelings of happiness and laughter filled everyone’s minds as
they were shown Chord’s meetings with Longstride in their beautiful
cave. They all felt her
growing affection for him and were joyous over their shared love of
music. Then, the strange
thoughts about the mountain and how Longstride had forgotten his own
music, only to return that night to be slaughtered by another mountain
dweller. The shock and rage tore through them as they felt what Chord
felt as they took her revenge. Then,
the sorrow over the loss of her lovemate and the reasons of why she’d
kept it secret, the need for privacy and her personal shame. Now, the knowledge that Rainshy had been involved and a
possible reason of why she and two others had gone missing. Now, an explanation of the attacks and too many coincidences,
including Holly’s adventure with a large bird.
Pieces of the puzzle were starting to fit together evenly as
Chord finished her send and waited for the chieftess’ words.
Silvergrace took in a deep breath, thoughts filling her head. She
had dealt with enemies before, human trolls, an occasional elf, but this
was beyond her reasoning. Strange things happening to these Mountain Elves, memories
wiped away. Something was amiss.
Laughter wanted to scream. She was too young; she had no training
for this. She felt a firm hand on her shoulder and turned her head to
see her friend and co-chief, Powder smiling down at her.
Powder lock-sent. **Calm yourself my friend, I can feel your
tension, You are able to handle this! This is what we all have trained
you for.**
Nightwish lock-sent from the crowd. **Laughter, it almost sounds
like they have a High One in there. Mind-wiping is a very rare power and
only those strong enough can use it. Maybe they have High one up
there?**
**You mean there is someone older than YOU around?** Laughter
broke her tension with that quip. **Could it be Poison? No one ever
found her body, could she have made it here?**
Nightwish sent back. **I doubt it. She could never do that
anyway, so it would have to be someone who has been around longer, maybe
even longer than Lothlorian.**
Powder decided to quip this time. **That is old.**
She paused. **I think we need to see what Silvergrace wants to
do.**
Laughter walked over to where Silvergrace was sitting, conversing
with Manzanitabow and Knifeblow. She waited until the silver haired
Chieftess looked at her and she stated. “I think we need to talk.”
Silvergrace and Laughter lock sent for a few minutes. **I really
do not like this. This should not be the reason that our tribes gather,
to discuss an unknown enemy. I think your tribes mate could have spoken
with you first, then myself if needed. Not to both tribes at once.**
Laughter shook her head. **I agree, however Chord is not exactly
of my tribe. She is from the same tribe that some of your tribe mates
are from. The Fox Hunters and she is one of their proudest, if not
best.** She paused, looking around at the staring faces. **Think about
it, those Fox Hunters are a very proud tribe. They would rather die then
ask for help, if this had been Rainshy, we would never have known.**
**It would seem that they have an enemy in the mountain.**
Silvergrace started. **How else could Longstride do these strange
things, and why else would Rainshy, Wren and Blackfawn disappear without
a trace. Why else would we
be … attacked in such an insidious manner?**
**Is it not ironic that the only ones that have been attacked are
Fox Hunters, Silvergrace?** Laughter asked.
**It is almost as if they knew which elves to attack, or scare.
How could they have known?**
Silvergrace rubbed her chin, looking wirily at Chord. Indeed,
How? The Chieftess of Shadow Vale motioned for Chord to come over and
join in the conversation. **Chord, how would those Mountain Elves know
which ones of us are Fox Hunters? As far as we all know, they have been
the only ones attacked.**
**Longstride often spoke of an elder named Jemtheriss.** Chord
spat out. **He punished
Longstride once because he was seeing me at the cave.
Perhaps Longstride told him more about me than he should have!
Jemtheriss is a traitor!**
**Certainly, but is he the only one?
Whom would he report to?** Laughter questioned.
**That is the burning question, is it not?** Silvergrace replied.
The Chieftess was not ready to make assumptions. She was about to say
something else when a new voice entered into the crowd.
“Silvergrace! Laughter! I have news! I know who has been
attacking our tribes! Her
name is Nightbringer, and I beseech you all to help us defeat her.”
Everyone turned towards the new voice
and saw Wren standing there with a new elf behind him.
Phantom Fox and Quetzal ran towards Wren as they welcomed him
back and excited voices started to mumble about the exciting
developments.
“Timeaura and I barely were able to escape Nightbringer’s
clutches, but Rainshy and Blackfawn, we presume, were not so lucky.”
Wren continued and everyone hushed around him.
Then, with a caring eye at Chord he added openly, “Chord, There
is an elf there named Nightbringer. She controls the mountain
dweller’s minds in a strange manner.
I imagine this is the reason for Longstride’s strange
behavior.”
“ARE we under attack??” Laughter reasoned.
Wren shrugged. “I am uncertain, young Chieftess, however this
Nightbringer was very upset at your holtmate, Rainshy. She had her tied
down with strange ropes and was torturing her with her mental powers. I
only escaped with Timeaura’s aid.”
Laughter shook her head, uncertain herself on what to do, so she
looked at Silvergrace. “What should we do?”
Silvergrace looked back at her own family sitting patiently for
this discussion to blow over. Manzanitabow looked as if he were ready to
go off on one of his hunting trips alone. She felt like joining him. The
silver haired Chieftess looked back at the younger one. “For now, we
wait and see what happens. This could be an isolated incident and if so,
I do not want to get into a war with those Mountain elves.”
Before Laughter could say anything, Chord jumped in. “You are
not going to help? What kind of leader are you?”
Several of the Shadow Vale elves jumped up, hands ready to fight.
Silvergrace made a motion and they backed off. “I am a good leader and
a good leader always puts the tribe ahead of their own emotions. I do
not know the situation. I could be leading us all into a Viper’s nest
and I will not allow that. You have been without leadership for far to
long it seems, because you jump at the chance to strike back before
thinking about the consequences. “ Silvergrace turned to look at
Laughter again, who’s face was red with embarrassment. “What I was
about to say before I was so…rudely…interrupted was that if any of
my warriors would like to help Chord, they may. I will not enter this
until I know what we are up against exactly.”
Chord muttered an apology, she had always been quick to jump to
conclusions.
Laughter nodded in agreement. “Any volunteers?”
Nightwish was the first to volunteer. As several more came up to
offer their blades, Chord breathed a sigh of relief. “Good, “
Nightwish ribbed her hands together. “Now, this is what we shall
do………….” |
