"Calliope (part 2)" by Samuel Kisko

Laird coughed slightly when he sipped the dry ale. It had been ages since he could afford the luxury of a beverage other than stale water. He felt the ale quickly fill his veins and mix with his blood. He closed his eyes and just listened. His heart rhythmically pulsed in his ears and he felt a sudden wave a dizziness come over him. Indeed had been a long while since his last drink. Perhaps a year? He thought, So long, at least those days are over, time to drink again. A noticeable grimace appeared on his face. Laird ran his hand through his feeble beard and he grimaced again. It had been a bad habit for two-hundred years for Laird to twist his long beard for it was tough as wire and it was a endless job to groom it. Now his beard was a feeble mockery of what it once was. He felt as though his old beard remained in some phantom form and he kept on wanting to twist and pull at it. In reality his beard was recently shaved and has grown out an inch. Although his beard was incredibly short for a Dwarf, it was massively thick. The strands peered straight out in every imaginable direction like a wire brush infesting a mans face. Lairds bushy black eyebrows twitched over his wide eyes, he almost always looked angry, even when he wasn't, and Laird knew that. His large black eyes always stayed wide and always looked forward in a pseudo-glaring fashion, he glared at everything, the fat pig-like bartender, the noisy guardsmen across the room, even his sour Ale. No one even glanced at him, it was very undwarf like. He took another drink but he realized his beverage was all but gone. He lifted the mug up to his mouth and the last few drops poured in. He then slapped a silver coin onto the table and waited patiently for the busy serving wench to come his way. In a few moments a petite human girl came his way with a tray in her hand. Not saying a word he lifted his mug and looked into it with a disappointed look on his face. The young barmaid quickly took the glass to refill it. Laird had a strange attraction to human women, especially the petite ones with dark hair. He had always kept this to himself from others of his kind, they would think of him oddly if he didn't. Not that it mattered now! As he reached for his beard. He use to eat lunch periodically outside of the "Green Griffin" just to catch a glimpse to a pretty human girl. This is one reason he choose to venture to a human city instead of returning to the stone halls of his homeland. The serving wench came back with a large mug with ale pouring over its side and placed the it in front of him. Laird simply nodded his head and lifted the mug to his thirsty lips. The girl placed his change, four copper coins on the table and left to serve someone else. The ale quickly worked wonders on his tired body and his worn soul. Soon he was smiling and the simple things of life interested him more than usual. He looked at the candle that light his table and stared into it mesmerically. Soft smoke from someone smoking pipe caught his nose, it smelled sweat and bitter at the same time. Although Dwarves had never smoked much, he liked the strong scent. "So you started without me, sir", said a voice to his left. Laird looked over with his glazed eyes and saw his friend, Siarc. Siarc was also a Dwarf, though he had reddish hair and was slightly younger than Laird himself. He too took the shame of a being shaved for his beard was also a mear inch long. Siarc had a lower forehead and his eyebrows were thinner than Laird's, though the shock of his red half-beard seemed to jump out at Laird. Siarc also had blue eyes, which was rare for Dwarves. Some say that Siarc had some human blood in his clan, thus his red hair and blue eyes. This could also explain Siarc's curiosity of humans, which Laird seemed to share himself, but not many others of his kind did the same. "Wench, I want a Lopter Mead", Siarc casually shouts to the serving maid. He than took a chair at Laird's table and looked straight into his eyes like all Dwarves do. "You have'n Ale, sir", Siarc asked.

"Bhaker's Ale" "Been a while 'as in it, sir", as Siarc cracked a smile. "Some time, yes"

"I sold the ring, I got seven gold ducats for it", as Siarc's large hand poured the seven large gold coins onto the table. The glitter of gold brought something of an instinct to the pair of Dwarves. The innate luster of gold brought the lust of wealth and desire to the both of them. Even though the gold had not been well earned, they both just peered into the coins. This had been more money than they both had seen in a long, long time. "The ring was made by elfkind, seems a nitch for these things here, sir" Siarc pointed out. "They lack the skill here to forge things cold wrought"

"Ah, I forgot, sir" Siarc replied. The serving wench brought a stout mud filled with mead and placed it in front of Siarc. Siarc looked up at her, "Thank ya miss!", and he handed her a few copper coins and smiled with his toothy smile. "I think it would be wisest to go south, maybe to Jeorloph or Langkline Peak", Laird spoke. "Sandals, sir", Siarc replied. "What?" "Sandals, we need sandals, sir", Siarc said, "Since the mines we had no sandals. I dunno about yourself but when we were in that hellish place I dreamt of sandals." Siarc glanced down to his feet looking at his numerous scars. Sharp obsidian and marble rock had slowly took its toll on the dwarfs feet. "Fer a damn year we had no sandals, sir" "We'll get some after in the 'marrow", Laird said lifting his glass, "I almost forgot about proper clothes, we'll need some cloaks as well for our travel, we an't afford a mule though" "Yes, sir", Siarc signed and drank a long draught of his mead. He signed again and spoke, "Did ye see the trial of Lord Cosien, sir?" "I wouldn call that a execution, not a trial." "Something to do on a mid-autumns day though, sir", Siarc replied.. "Guess so."

"Anyway, it goes like so. Lord Cosien was a one o'those magic users that worked for the Baron before he got exiled to..." "I know who he is, get on with it", Laird interrupted. "Well, it goes like so. Poor Lord Cosien was sentenced to death last month like all the others but he escaped for a while with his wizard-like powers, but you see, them wizard like powers weren't all that up to par. Anyways, he wizarded himself out of the death dungeon somehow and he fled to the forest west of town, but he was caught by them loggers who were taxed for using the river to do them logging things.", Siarc took a quick sip of his mead and continued, "As I heard he was beaten and tortured by the loggers fer an entire month by them loggers out them there. Tortured by them loggers I bet he got logged if you know what I mean!", and Siarc smiled and giggled to himself. Expecting a smile from Laird as well but Laird sat emotionless and just stared at Siarc like a he would stare at a empty mug of Ale. Siarc quickly straightened up and continued, "Anyways, what they say is the militia found him up there by them loggers and took him back to town to be executed you see. Poor ol Lord Cosien was in a bad frame of mind from bein torched for a month an bein beaten and then gonna be killed the next day. So they say he kept on repeating the same phrase over an over through out the night, I think it goes something like this; Maker of thane, grant thee a tail souvenir and give thane a dissolution without suffering!, or something like so." Siarc took a long drink of his mead and continued the story, "Anyways, in the daybreak they grabbed him and took him to the branding block to be publicly taken; that's were I was, anyway he kept on repeating that phrase over and over. Maker of thane, grant thee a tail souvenir and give thane a dissolution without suffering! Maker of thane, grant thee a tail souvenir and give thane a dissolution without suffering! Maker of.." "Get on with it!", Laird shouted. Siarc took a another long sip of mead and continued, "Anyways it was kinda annoying me all his chanting so I just wanted em to do em in. Well, they tied him to the burning block and got him them irons like they do the cattle. Most men that'll shutem up real fast and they'd start yellen, but this Lord Cosien just kept away chant'n, took his punishment real man like. They kept on doin this and pulled his meat away on his chest with them red hot iron thongs, hurt me just looken at it." "Ouch", Laird pointed out.

"Aye! Your telling me! Too bad is wasn't the Baron of Aromling himself. Anyway, this Lord Cosien kept of chanted through all the pain and the magistrate took him to be dismembered by the ropes. He got tied up to four horses, two for the arms an two for the legs and they tied him real good like. They then whipped them horses to run in opposite ways." "I know what roping is...", Laird said. "All he did was chant while his bones popped and things crunched and twisted the way things like that shouldn't . His legs and arms wouldn't rip off so they had too hack'm off with a hachet while the horses pulled, but just kept on yellin and chanting; Maker of thane, grant thee a tail souvenir and give thane a dissolution without suffering!, you see.", Siarc shook his head slightly and drank some more mead. "He gots whats coming I guess", Laird said. "There's a bit more", Siarc replied," After he being ripped apart like that I could still hear his faint voice chanting over and over. The magistrate finally had Lord Cosien impaled on a metal spike, just picked up his stump of a body and drive it into a big ol spike like a piece of meat. Still after all that I could see his jaw moving up'n down chanting away." Laird raised one eye brow and sipped his Ale. "So thats what I did today, how bout you, sir?", Siarc asked. "..nothin", he replied. A long silence took the pair and they just slowly drank their mead and ale in the quiet. The entire tavern seemed quiet as if everyone was listening to Siarc's story. "Where we going since all the trials are over?", Siarc asked.. "Ways off is Jeorloph, we can get some work there. Likely they never even seen our kind though, but we should find some work", Laird said. Siarc's brow tensed and he took a long drought of mead and his voice became more serious than before, "I was think'n of somewhere else, sir", Siarc said sternly. "Where? Not home look'n like this do you think?"

"No, sir", Siarc mentioned, "I mean lookin' for blood for our wrong'n, sir". "We rightly put the slave master's to their place during the trials, you ain't think'n of going to Hule are ye?", Laird asked. Siarc pulled an older coin made of a silvery material from his vest pouch and laid it on the table. The coin was made of a rare metal called electrum, though not as valued as gold or platinum, its worth more than silver is. The coin was an older mint and had a portrait of the Baron of Aromling on it face. "Yer ain't serious!", Laird shouted loudly, "We ain't hardly have the guts to down a few Ale let alone wrack revenge on a noble! Besides I hear the Baron of Aromling is a grand Marquise in the lands of Hule." "I still can't walk rightly 'cause o'my feet, sir", Siarc said with a moot tone of voice. "Aye, but this is a crazy mans talk! Revenge ain't the way Siarc. You just need to live again, maybe we should get to our roots, yes?", Laird asks. "An be shamed with our kind? ", he rubbed his beard, "I'd sooner go home with no loincloth" "Hule is a far land away", Laird points out. "Yes, sir."

Both paused for a long moment and began to ponder the future. "And they likely won't take gentle to us bein' Dwarves and all.", Laird noted.

The slow crunching of leaves filled the quiet forest trees and echoed throughout the deep canopy. With erratic strides Ardel seemingly wandered the forgotten groves with a glazed look in his eyes. His entire body was covered in cracking gray mud that laced every part of him from his hair to his boots. He had to tie his thick black hair back with a leather boot strap to keep his muddied hair from dripping in his eyes. A deep gash on is hand was covered by a loose cloth and radiated a reddish purple hue as thick congealed blood oozed down his fingers. His feet often stammered as he walked and his thigh had a noticeable hoof mark right above his left knee that obviously left a serious bruise underneath his knitted trousers. Every step echoed one thing throughout his mind, just one pure emotion with every twisted stride. "Ouch…ouch…ouch", he whispered to himself audibly. The thought of becoming lost was a far, far thought in his mind. He wandered without direction until midday turned to evening and evening turned to night. The darkness of night brought a new kind of pain into Ardel's mind. The deep throbbing of his hand seemed to amplify when the curtain of night fell. He could feel his heart beat through his arm and his fingers began to tingle if he kept them absolutely still. Pain wracked his hand with the slighted jolt and this quickly convinced him to stop moving and attempt to sleep. Luckily the forest air was moderately warm this time of year. Most of Ardel's supplies now lie at the bottom of the mud pond and he had no idea how to make a fire without a tinderbox. He laid himself softly on the mossy forest floor and propped his wounded hand on a near by rock. His head laid on a small fern that felt surpassingly comfortable. In mere moments his body relaxed and sleep overcame him. His last thought before succumbing to slumber had something to do with spiced meat with large Ale jumbled with hoping a bear would not come to eat him.

"Look! Look!", yelled Suria pointing at a deer carcass that managed to get itself Thirty feet up a maple tree. Her twin sister quickly came, gave a quick glance and shivered while making a disgusted look on her face. One girl ran and the other quickly followed through trees, under bushes and around creeks. Both had flowing brown hair and were relatively young for Deep Elves, a mere 85 years by human standards. Even at this age they had just entered womanhood and into the confusing pseudo child-adult phase of there lives. Both girls had finished their chores early in the morning so they could explore and track the elusive great cats that rarely venture from the Hills beyond. Lately several elder elves spotted tracks from the mysterious creature and opted to leave it to its own ways. Easy for them to say! They had seen magnificent beast before, but Suria and Klies had never ventured from the deep groves and had never seen a mortal man let alone a great white cat from the north. Both girls found it odd that the great cat killed a deer and dragged it up a tree; yet they could find no tracks. Suria dropped to her knees and closely examined the mossy floor. She found not one unturned leaf or depressed piece of moss. Despite both of the girls notable tracking skills, they did not notice a hint the creature was here besides the dead deer. "Give me a boost", Suria called. She put one hand on the tree limb and Klies eased up her foot and pushed her up the tree. Suria offered her hand for Klies to follow but Klies shook her head and waited comfortably below. Suria climbed branch after branch and wondered what manner of a beast could drag two hundred pounds of meat up this tree. She began to get close to the mutilated deer, the creature didn't smell of death yet so must have died not all to long ago. Klies peered upward in curiosity. Her arms crossed as if warming herself, she could feel the death in the air and that always made her uneasy. She doubted the great cat had stayed here for long, it had probably heard the two coming and left hours ago. Or so she had hoped. Suria got within a few feet of the deer's twisted body. She looked down and quickly looked towards the horizon so she wouldn't become afraid of the height. Didn't look this high from down there! Curiosity over came her and she examined the corpse from a distance. The deer was obviously render to shreds by powerful claws on its under belly. She noticed the crushed neck, probably where the great cat bit down and killed the helpless deer. She found it odd that no blood dripped filled the creatures wounds. Perhaps it had been licked away. Either way it unnerved her. Most of the deer had been devoured. All that remained is the head and a meaty skeleton. She hoped this was a finished meal. Suria began to climb down and saw a half paw print in the dew on a branch. She lowered her head to align it with the branch and looked across. She saw several prints from the morning dew. They seemed like the creature was pacing back and forth on this branch. She was surprised how small the paw prints were. Perhaps only the size of her small hand. She surmised that since the prints were visible on the branches and not on the ground, perhaps the creature traveled from tree to tree. "Let get moving", Klies offered as she looked around. Suria agreed and quickly went from branch to branch to the stable ground. She pointed to the North-west and judged the creature may have gone that direction. "We shouldn't scare it, it may be unpredictable", Suria noted. "I'm not too worried about the cat being scared Suria.", Replied Klies looking at her shivering hands. Again she wrapped her arms together as if warming her self. They methodically went to the north-west. Both became unsure if it was wise to take this course of action, but curiosity overrode inhibition.

Ardel couldn't believe he hurt even worse when he woke up than the horrid night before. His sleep was wracked with strange dreams and got awoke more than once by strange noises in the night. His mind felt as if it was filled with fog. The only good thing about the morning is that his pain in his hand seemed to have subsided. The dried blood caked his entire hand and some of his arm. He didn't even want to look under the bandage as if afraid the wound had gotten much worse. Ardel staggered to his feet and his left knee buckled from the weight. He tried again and managed to balance himself on a loose branch on the ground. Although his leg was not broken, he could tell it would not support his full weight. His stomach grumbled to life and the hunger pains began to strike him. It had been nearly three days since he has eaten and a deep thirst came to his dry parched lips as well. With a branch used as a cane, the young mud covered thief stumbled slowly across the forest. He rubbed his face to clean off the mud but just managed to smear blood across his cheek. The mud caked his eye lids and made it difficult to see straight. He wondered if it was truly from the mud or perhaps his loss of blood had made him weak. Ignoring the deep seeded pain he began his long walk and attempted to regain his bearings. After a hour of travel Ardel could still look behind him and tell where he had slept. His movement had begun to get painful and for the first time, he realized that he may actually die. The thought never really crossed his mind before. Though he had faced peril in the past, after all, the life of a thief is often a short lived one. Still, he never really pondered his own death. Ardel began to slow as depression filled mind. The wind seemed to have slowed creating a eerie cloak around the trees. He felt afraid to breath as he might break the silence. He heard slight voices talking in the far distance. He thought perhaps his mind was getting the better of him but the persistent voices slowly began to get louder. Though he couldn't understand the voices were saying, he was filled with joy and rushed to meet his saviors. A deep smile filled his face and he began to stumble along as fast as he could and waved his arms franticly for help. Almost out of breath he rushed over a slight hill and yelled, "Help! Please!".

Suria and Klies talked among themselves for comfort. Mostly simple things, places they would like to go and things they would like to see. The wind grew surpassingly strong and blanketed the little valley they had been traveling in. Both froze simultaneously out of instinct. Thrashing leaves from a heavy creature lumbered towards them from a distance. Both were startled and looked at each other in panic. Klies drew her bow and a long arrow in a swift movement. The ungraceful creature that lumbered over the hill shocked both Suria and Klies. It was covered with some Grayish mud and lumbered like some sort of twisted man-thing. It seemed to carry a club or some sort of weapon and waved it menacingly at them. The most frightening aspect of the creature was it filthy maw and its hand was covered in thick blood. Klies almost dropped her bow in sheer terror. She had never imagined such creatures of the dark even existed and this one was lumbering to take her soul! Suria froze and her eyes widened with her mouth agape. The evil creature took a few more lumbering steps and showed its toothy maw with white teeth and began to utter some guttural sound. "Ugjdsi! Plduhw!", the gray man-thing exclaimed.

Both Suria and Klies were not sure what the creature said, but it was startlingly familiar to, "Ujdsi-Pludhu". Which in the ancient elfish tongue meant "After-Dinner Snack".

To Ardel's surprise, two beautiful elves stood silently waiting his approach. One of them carried a short bow, which he was afraid he might get shot. He knew he must have surprised them and he's sure he looked a mess. For a moment he thought he was seeing double, both of the elfish women looked very much the same. He noticed however they had different apparel and one carried a bow. He smiled wide and pleaded for help once again. The one with the bow lowered her bow in what looked to be a offer of peace and other girl just looked into his eyes peacefully. He grinned at his luck and stumbled to meet his saviors. Tears of joy came to his face and happiness filled his heart. He was so happy to see his new elven friends he would give them a big hug!

The two twins were mesmerized in terror as the man-beast lumbered inhumanly towards them. It showed its evil maw again and spread its arms wide in a sudden attack to devour them! Both girls shrieked and sprung into action. Klies quivered and hastily aimed her bow at the creature and let her arrow fly. She was so scared she almost forgot to look at the target. Her arrow flew twenty feet above her intended target in a massive misjudgment. Suria ran one direction and then another and then another not knowing where to run. She realized Klies was behind attempting to fight the vile thing and she turned to help her sister. The man thing suddenly ducked and had a surprised look on its face. For some reason it suddenly looked meek and Klies almost felt sorry for it. She decided to run before the creature could get its bearings. She turned in a sudden swift movement and ran into full stride. With a resounding thump, the two sisters ran full head on into each other in confusion and hysteria. Both were dazed. Klies laid flat on her back and realized what had happened. Suria was on her rump rubbing the knot on her head. Klies quickly grabbed Suria's hand leapt up to run. She could see the man-thing rush again towards them taking advantage of their situation. Suria, dazed ran with her sister and picked up a heavy rock and heaved it frighteningly at the creature with all of her strength. She didn't even guess if the rock hit the creature or not. The sisters ran hand in hand running at full speed into the deep forest.

Ardel didn't even know what hit him. He tried to greet his saviors but they must have panicked. Perhaps he had scared them, or maybe they didn't know if he was alone. Before he knew it, both girls flew into a mad flurry of motion. He barely saw the arrow fly at him. Luck for him the girl was an horrible shot. The girls suddenly collided and he almost laughed at them. He began to come towards them to help them up when a large rock flew towards him and thumped him on his head. The last thing he remembered is stammering feet fleeing into the woods before he lost consciousness.