An adolescent elf is still several times more agile and swift than a human- the only advantage I had over her when we first met was years of experience. She was clumsy, a fact made clear by her failure in picking my pockets. I had her backed against a wall and a knife to her throat before she knew what hit her. Something in her eyes, though... she had a stubborn defiance in those blue eyes I'd never seen before. I released her and sent her on her way, but it wasn't a day later that she'd sought me out and demanded I train her. I had never trained anyone before, but for some reason, I agreed.
It took a while for both of us to gain our bearings around each other- rogues aren't especially social as a rule. I had to get used to being a tutor and she had to get used to being a pupil.
Days turned into months, and the next thing I knew, it had been three years and she beat me in every sparring match we had. She had recently had a birthday and was slowly turning into a beautiful woman- maybe I was prejudiced, because as time passed, I had fallen irrevocably and hopelessly in love with her. I was stupid. She would live for centuries; I would be lucky to last another fifty years. It was because of this that I never told her.
Despite her outgrowing my training, we continued to travel together. Time flew. I felt age creeping up on me as I neared my fortieth year, especially while in the presence of someone who was so long-lived. Not a single wrinkle appeared on her face. Without looking in a mirror, I knew I was getting the beginnings of crows' feet around my eyes. I felt aches and pains in my bones when I woke up on particularly damp mornings that I had never worried about before.
I was frail.
When I was cornered by a basilisk matriarch deep in an iron mine, trying to retrieve the foreman's gear for him, I was helpless. I tried to avoid her petrifying gaze, but as I looked away I could feel my limbs growing heavier, stiffer...
A scream so full of fury and passion like I'd never heard before sounded when Seilu exploded from the shadows, her blades raised high. Before the basilisk could even glimpse its attacker, the elf had plunged her dagger into the creature's side and begun to hack furiously at her with her sword. The matriarch roared with anger, whirling around and knocking the sword away as she bit into Seilu's leg.
The Quel'dorei screamed again, but it wasn't just in pain. Drawing a smaller knife normally used for throwing out of her boot, she buried it into the basilisk's eye- so agonizing was the wound, that the massive reptile released Seilu- one of her fangs breaking off into the high elf's leg as she did so- and turned, making an attempt to flee. My Seilu wouldn't have any of that. She tore the fang out of her leg and leaped onto the basilisk's neck, then stabbed it into the very top of her skull...
My consciousness was dwindling, as was my sight, but I felt warm hands- wet with blood- cupping my face. Soft hair brushing my forehead as the woman I wished I could live to love leaned over me, calling my name and pleading me to come back. "I love you," was the last thing I could say before the petrification reached my lungs and chest, depriving me of the ability to speak or even breathe.
"I love you, Ian. I'll never forget you. I promise."
No comments:
Post a Comment