The Axe's Edge

by Summers, Derick J. M.

  Once the forms were completed, the three began their close combat training. Lan’thor and Logan selected two long staffs and faced off, bowing respectfully before starting. The two began slowly and carefully, showing Le’land what was expected and taking the time to relearn each other’s quirks and strengths. But slow was never their strength and before too long both were picking up speed and ferocity, this came as something of an education to Le’land. Though he was familiar with such training, all Elfin warriors were, he was awestruck as the combatants moved faster and faster.

  It was clear from the beginning that neither Lan’thor nor Logan were going full out, but Le’land still had trouble following their movements. Attack, parry, counter attack, all in the blink of an eye. Wood met wood as their movements flowed together like some strange martial dance, a breathtaking show to behold. Le’land knew that if one of them slipped or misjudged, the other would exploit the mistake and take control of the match. There was no room for error.

  Before long, and before Le’land’s body had had a chance to cool down too much from the run, it was Le’land’s turn. Lan’thor gestured towards Le’land’s staff and motioned him to the centre of the clearing while Logan stepped off to the side to grab a mouthful of water from the small stream.

  “Okay, Le’land,” announced Lan. “Let’s have some fun with this, shall we?”

  It was clear from the beginning that Lan’thor was slowing down for the young Elf’s benefit and though Le’land’s pride told him he should be getting upset that he wasn’t being treated as an equal, he began to realize that he really wasn’t one. Even at the slowed pace, it was impossible for Le’land to get past Lan’thor’s guard.

  Le’land’s frustration grew and his own attacks came faster and faster, desperately trying to score on his commander. Lan’thor handled the increased aggression with apparent ease and smoothly continued to block all of Le’land’s attacks. To make matters worse, he seemed to anticipate Le’land’s attacks before Le’land had the chance to launch them, his blocks seeming to appear long before Le’land’s strike.

  When Logan finally called a break to the session, Le’land was doubled over and breathing hard while Lan’thor was hardly winded, though both grabbed a drink from the stream.

  “Good work today,” Lan’thor said reassuringly. “Don’t worry about the speed, it will come. You should have seen Logan when he first started. Trees grew faster.”

  Logan stuck his tongue out at his friend.

  “And yet, I could still kick your scrawny Elfin butt.”

  “You think so, do you?” Lan’thor laughed.

  Lan’thor’s sudden lunge would have taken Le’land by surprise had he been the Elf’s target, but not Logan. The smaller man caught his friend mid-lunge, turning his own body so he managed to keep his feet and catching Lan’thor’s arm in a simple arm lock.

  “You’re getting slow, Lan. The Elves not working you hard enough?”

  The element of surprise gone, Lan’thor quickly broke the arm lock and steadied himself. The two grappled and fought in earnest. Le’land watched in fascinated silence as the two ranged all over the clearing. Lan’thor was clearly the faster of the two but not by as much as Le’land would have thought, and what Logan gave up in speed he more than made up in strength. At one point Logan held his friend aloft as he prepared to throw him into the stream. As he threw, Lan’thor twisted his body, catching Logan with his legs and using the shorter man’s momentum against him, sending them both tumbling into the cold water of the creek. Le’land watched, stunned, as both men came up laughing.

  Lan’thor looked up at him from the water as he brushed his long blue-black hair from his eyes.

  “Well don’t just stand there gawking,” he called out sternly. “Help us out.”

  Le’land moved to the edge of the bank and reached to take Lan and Logan’s hands. As each of the waterlogged warriors gripped a hand tightly, Le’land had a sudden flash of horrified realization and knew exactly what was about to happen. He desperately tried to pull back, but the two warriors already had a solid grip and yanked in unison.

  One moment, Le’land was struggling to free himself and the next he was sputtering water and listening to his training partners’ laughter.

  “And there I thought you boys trained when you came out here,” came a voice from a nearby tree.

  All eyes turned toward the assassin sitting in the lower branches of a nearby tree.

  “Of course we train,” yelled Lan from the creek. “We just needed a bit of cooling off. Now would you be a dear and help me out.”

  The assassin just snorted in amusement at the Elf’s outstretched hand.

  “You don’t trust me?’ he asked innocently, doing his best to look hurt.

  This started the assassin laughing and she jumped down from her branch and turned toward home.

  “Breakfast is nearly ready, boys,” she called over her shoulder. “Don’t be late.”

  Within moments she had disappeared into the trees.

  “How does she do that?” came Le’land’s exclamation of surprise.

  Logan laughed as he pulled himself from the water.

  “She takes the idea of stealth to a new level.”

  “That she does,” Lan’thor agreed, a proud smile on his face.

  The three companions gathered their weapons and began their trek home at a slow run. They arrived with breakfast well in progress. Thankfully, Tanel had made sure to save them some and the three promptly tucked in.

  When breakfast was over, preparations were made for the return trip to the Elfin village. After much boisterous discussion it was decided that Tanel and Smash would stay behind and look after the homestead while Logan and El dealt with the necessary family obligations. Smash wasn’t happy being left behind but given the Elfin reaction to Trolls he could, grudgingly, see the sense of it. He knew that his presence would just make an already difficult situation that much harder.

  Deja-vu, North

  The trip through the forest to the Elfin village was uneventful. The party made good time through the day and camped at dusk. Even though he had made the trip before, it was all very new to Logan. That made sense really because the last time he had made the trip he had been on the edge of death. He had been wounded and suffering from extreme blood loss and that didn’t even begin to take in to account his psychological state at the time, having just watched his parents slain and his sister taken into slavery. He had been in such a troubled, barely conscious state that he’d been lucky that he’d managed to keep his body moving north, much less remember anything from the journey.

  After several days’ travel, they arrived at a small river and began to set up camp for the night. The various tasks of setting camp were routine by this point in the journey and the Elves went about the tasks efficiently. While they worked, Logan just stood on the riverbank and stared at the water, his mind drifting along with the slow moving current. This river unlocked something deep within his mind and he was flooded with memories of his first trek through these woods.

  This place, this small river, this was the first really cognitive moment he’d had after the tragedy of his parents’ deaths. It was in this little river that all the things that made him Logan had returned. It was here that he’d taken the time to clean the caked blood and mud from his body and his clothes. It was here in this icy cold water that his brain had finally regained control of his body. It was here that he’d finally started to live again. The time before the river, from the point he was left for dead by the slavers to the moment that he had reached this bank, existed in his mind as little more than abstract thoughts, a strange collection of sights, sounds and feelings with no real form or substance. But here, here was where that all changed.

  Moving silently down the bank, Logan moved to the water’s edge and sat and began to undress, some part within him needing to relive that baptismal swim of so many moons ago. Laying his clothing and Leveller carefully to the side, Logan slipped into the coo
l, pure water. Like it had so long ago, his body and mind drew comfort from the cold water against his skin. Logan allowed himself to float in the river’s lazy current, his mind lost in a peaceful swirl of nothingness. Tension he had barely realized he’d been carrying seemed to be washed away by the river’s waters.

  “Having fun?”

  El’s amused words broke him from his reverie. Tilting his head back and opening his eyes he saw her on the bank smiling down at him.

  “Sure,” she continued. “You leave everyone else to set up camp while you sneak off to go skinny dipping.”

  Logan stopped floating, his feet coming to rest on the muddy river bottom and looked back up the bank to where El stood watching him. Seeing her standing there in the fading daylight, her golden hair shimmering in the late day sun, her hands resting on her hips, an amused glint in her eyes, Logan was suddenly filled with naughty thoughts. A blush raced across El’s cheeks as she became aware of those thought.

  “Care to join me?” Logan asked with a leer.

  “You’re terrible!”

  Logan couldn’t hold back his smile as he slowly began to move toward El and the bank.

  “You really think so?” he asked innocently. “I mean you didn’t seem to think so the last…”

  “Enough, you!” El snapped as her cheeks turned an even brighter crimson.

  Logan laughed out loud and moved even closer to the bank. El playfully kicked water at him before moving to step away from the edge. She wasn’t quick enough. Logan lunged and caught her hand before she could put enough distance between them. Struggling, she tried to pull away as Logan began pulling her slowly towards the water.

  “Don’t you dare!”

  Logan simply smiled in return and continued his steady pull toward the water’s edge.

  El shrieked as a final tug pulled her from the bank and sent her splashing into the cold river. Sputtering as she surfaced, she glared at the now laughing Logan, her golden hair wet and draped across her face.

  “You! You!” she sputtered in annoyance.

  Logan moved closer to put his arms around her.

  “Oh no!” she pushed him away fiercely. “Don’t even think you’re touching me after that.”

  “But, I love you,” Logan murmured softly as he moved towards her.

  “And I bet you think that’s going to make everything all better?” El snapped, pushing him away again before crossing her arms across her chest and glaring at him.

  Smiling at the glaring Elf, Logan slid his hands forward in the water and held her by her hips.

  “But, I really do love you,” he said again as he pulled her towards him, kissing her softly.

  At first she held her ground. Refusing to respond to the pressure of his lips on hers. But as his strong arms encircled her, she found herself weakening and was soon kissing him in return. Logan slipped his hands forward and slowly began to undress her. Her glare returned quickly as she felt his hands moving against her body, but was shortly turned into a look of shock as she realized what he was up to.

  “Logan!” El slapped at his hands, blushing again.

  “But, El,” Logan smiled innocently. “We need to give your clothes a chance to dry.”

  Return To Er’thaental

  The Elfin village, Er’thaental, was even more spectacular than Logan remembered set a hundred feet above the forest floor and stretching on for what seemed like an eternity, its branch roadways criss-crossing in a tangle of roads and avenues. Logan remembered those networks of branch paths. He remembered fighting Lan’thor hundreds of feet above the forest floor on some of the thinner ones and he remembered the two of them nearly plunging to their deaths.

  As he watched, Lan’thor triggered the hidden door to the tree trunk stairwell. Logan gave a deep, sorrowful sigh. He also remembered the seemingly endless array of stairs needed to ascend to the village far above. A small groan escaped his lips and Lan’thor smiled at his friend’s response.

  “Oh, come on, Logan. It’s not that bad.”

  “Well not for those of you with five foot long legs,” Logan snapped back as he gave his friend a dirty look.

  Lan’thor laughed out loud as he led the way up the waiting stairs.

  The climb up to the village was about as painful as Logan remembered it, stair after stair, hundreds of feet into the distant canopy. The worst part for Logan was the utter lack of scenery. The tree trunk was closed, as you’d expect a tree trunk to be. The only light came from the small phosphorus worms that wriggled along the walls of the trunk, casting everything in an eerie glow. The seemingly never-ending spiral coupled with the strange phosphorous light given off by the tiny worms and the light headedness that came with great changes in elevation, guaranteed a complete disorientation of the senses.

  Finally, after what felt like hours, they reached the top and even though he was in good shape, Logan found he was winded by the time he reached that landing. And, as it had on his first visit to the Elfin village, the ascent was forgotten as he looked out over the magnificent view. Carefully approaching the platform’s edge - the Elves didn’t believe in railings - Logan leaned over. He could just see the forest floor between all the leaves, more than a hundred feet below. The funny thing about distances, he thought, they always seemed so much longer when you were looking down than when you were looking up. He felt El come up behind him, her hand gently resting on his shoulder. Her thoughts reached out to his mind.

  Do you remember the first time I showed you this view?

  Logan smiled and leaned back into the Elfin maiden, as he thought back to her.

  Mmhmn, you were afraid I was going to fall.

  The heights can be dizzying, and how would it have looked if I let my hero fall to his death.

  Logan chuckled at this and they stood in silence enjoying the moment.

  “I suppose we should go see your father?” Logan finally said, breaking the moment.

  He felt El tighten slightly, then force herself to relax.

  “You’re probably right. Just let me do the talking, okay?”

  He smiled at her. “As you wish, m’lady.”

  “Actually, your father wishes to see you alone,” Lan interjected. “And Logan, my father would also like to have a few words with you.”

  Logan and El paused and regarded their friend.

  “I suppose that makes sense,” El finally said after much consideration. “I really should speak to him alone first.”

  “Are you sure?” questioned Logan in concern.

  El flashed him a reassuring smile.

  I walked out of the village against his express order to the contrary, El thought to him. I made that decision on my own and it’s only right that I should answer for it on my own.

  Logan thought for a long moment before replying in kind.

  You may be right. But remember, you’re not on your own, not anymore. It’s your call to make, just remember that I’m here if you need me.

  “I know,” El said aloud before leaning in to kiss him lightly on the lips. “Now you go see what’s up with Lean’thor.”

  Lan’thor led the way along the tree paths to the main council chamber. Things were just as Logan remembered them, two armed Elves standing guard before the doors. They nodded curtly to Lan’thor and gestured for the trio to pass. The main throne room itself was empty and Logan gazed around at the large expanse of space. The Elves’ faith revolved around the star, one point for each of the five main elements, earth, air, water, fire, and spirit and the room itself was designed to reflect that. Five thrones occupied the points of the star, facing inward, the floor before them recessed. Those seeking an audience stood in the centre and were surrounded by the leaders of the Elfin clans.

  Like all Elfin buildings, this room was grown from the trees in harmony with nature. A lattice of branches composed its ceiling allowing light to fill the room. Logan still wasn’t entirely sure what they did when it rained. When he’d asked El about it, she had simply blinked at him before ass
uring him that the trees provided shelter. Unfortunately, it didn’t really clear things up for him.

  “Your father is waiting for you in his private chamber,” explained Lan indicating toward the two guards standing guard near the outside wall behind the spirit throne.

  El took a deep breath before nodding. Giving a reassuring look to Logan, she walked toward the two guards. As Logan watched, the guards stepped aside, revealing a small passage in the tangle of branches. El passed through the door Logan hadn’t even realized existed.

  “Come on,” prompted Lan’thor. “Best not to keep my father waiting.”

  Logan pulled his gaze from where he had last seen El and nodded to his friend.

  “Lead on.”

  Lan’thor led him to the chamber behind the fire throne, nodding at the two guards stationed outside as they passed through another hole in the wall of branches.

  Facing The Music

  El’dreathia stepped into her father’s private chamber with a certain amount of trepidation. It was like stepping back in time, she felt like a little kid again being called into the office. It had been years since she’d entered this room and it made her uncomfortable, it always had. There was nothing particularly upsetting about the room itself, but she associated it with being in trouble with her father. The room was simple enough, containing a desk and a couple of chairs, all grown into place in the Elfin way. Each of the five clan chiefs had such a room. It was a private place for them to retire from the public eye, to consider and discuss the issues and challenges that faced the Elfin people, or any personal matters that were not for general knowledge, like scolding a recalcitrant Elfin girl and wayward daughter.

  The chamber was just as she remembered it. The long desk grew out from one wall, a chair grew behind it and two chairs grew before it, each holding leaf cushions for comfort. A long couch-like protrusion grew against the sidewall and the room was decorated in the traditional green leaf motif. A lattice of widely spaced branches covered what could be best described as a window, two large leaves hung to either side of it and could be drawn should the need arise. Her father sat behind the desk, his gaze never left her as she entered the room. Thanks to his elfin nature, he hadn’t aged a day and his face was still wrinkle-free, his skin still a golden bronze. The only change El noted was that he wore his silver hair pulled back into a braid.