“She does know how to make the wind howl, and I know just the man to light up the skies, other than our own,” Cambria giggled.
“You wouldn’t put Equilor in the same area as Chasm,” Gabriella gasped. It wasn’t the best of ideas was her thought, at least not for now.
“Why not?” Cambria wondered. “They work well together.”
“You mean worked well together,” Gabriella informed Cambria. “They had a huge falling out a couple of months ago, shortly before I bonded with T’Harris. My understanding is nothing much has changed between them. Every time they see each other, the wind around Chasm picks up and any cloud around Equilor shoots off lightning and begins to weep.”
“Is that all?” Cambria dismissed the problem, before adding, “Foreplay. It is time for those two to work off a bit of their sexual tension. I will call Equilor, and you can contact Chasm. I will make sure he doesn’t set fire to the forest. He can dump as much water over Chasm as he wants, and she can try to keep it away from her. By the time they have played themselves out, there should be only the remnants of a hot summer rain going on.”
Gabriella looked thoughtful for a while, then agreed, “You may have an idea going there. It will accomplish several things at the same time too. The forest floor is so dry there are cracks in the dirt and the creeks are drying up. I hope the boys entering our territory brought boats, because things are about to get wet enough to cause flash floods in the area where they are.”
“The thought is enough to make a girl want to shift into Dragon form to watch the action from overhead,” Cambria admitted.
“Like that will ever happen,” Gabriella sighed. She had shifted several times, but always with T’Harris close by to watch over her. He was like a mother hen with a clutch of chicks. Although in this case, it would be a clutch of Dragonets. She often got the impression he didn’t trust her not to watch for the welfare of her own brood.
“You too?” Cambria caught on to Gabriella’s thoughts without needing to be told. They had always shared the capability of being able to read each other. In this way, things hadn’t changed, and they supposed it never would. They were equally pleased about it.
“I suppose it is for the best,” Gabriella sighed. “I am only beginning my third month and already I am showing signs of my pregnancy.”
“Right there with you, Sister, although, I guess I am several weeks ahead of you in this case,” Cambria noted happily. She wasn’t certain how she had gotten to the point of her life where she was looking forward to being a mother, but here she was contently fussing over the fact she was about to give birth. She was even considering the possibility of visiting her mother to talk to her about the matter to see whether it had been the same for her. Considering how little Gabriella and she had seen of their parents over the centuries, this was quite a revelation.
Gabriella, as was usual, was right there in Cambria’s thoughts, “I think our parents might like it if we flew in to see them. Neither Anders nor T’Harris have had the chance to meet them yet either. It might be fun to watch those two squirm in front of Mom and Dad for a few moments.”
“Gabriella, you have a mean streak in you,” Cambria happily noted. “I love the idea though. It is also time we exposed those two to the Eagle Claw clan properly. They are getting too smug for their own good.”
It was as Cambria quit talking when Gabriella noticed something going on at the far end of the practice field that caught her interest. T’Harris was beginning a sparring contest with someone, and it looked like he was having a difficult time. This, she had to see, especially as she couldn’t remember ever having met the Elf he was facing off against. She quickly sent Chasm a message to report to Cambria, then contacted her sister.
“Something is happening, and I need to check on it,” Gabriella stated. “Can you put those two Elementals to work on your own?”
“Of course, but what is happening that you know and I should as well?” Cambria wanted to know.
“T’Harris has met his match on the practice field,” Gabriella announced.
Even before Gabriella got to the place where T’Harris and the mysterious Elf were matching each other stroke for stroke with their swords, Anders and Cambria appeared in the sky and quickly shifted to join her.
“Neither Anders nor I want to miss this,” Cambria admitted. “Getting our enemies wet can wait. If we saw to them first, this would be over before we could get here. Anyone that can beat T’Harris will either be your match on the field or perhaps even better. I have heard of no one in the Elven Empire capable of doing either.”
Gabriella and Cambria watched the match unfold in front of them with interest. There was no question in Gabriella’s mind which one of the two men was the superior swordsman. T’Harris was an exceptional Warrior, but this Elf was like nothing she had ever seen before. She wanted to know more about him.
Cambria wasn’t as interested in how the Elf could handle his swords as she was by how he looked. With this in mind, she stood mesmerized while she studied him, and took special note of how much he reminded her of someone she knew. He could have passed as either of their brothers anywhere. He had the same color hair, and the sleek physique of an Elf used to wielding weapons on a daily basis. When the Elf tossed T’Harris a wide smile and quickly disarmed him, she knew she was seeing an Eagle Claw master at work. He didn’t even need to turn to face her to look at her with his silver blue eyes for her to be sure of this.
The Elven Sword master turned to face Gabriella, and in his deep baritone, he spoke as he bowed low before her. “It will not be much longer before you will be unable to face the type of challenge I offer to you now. Are you interested in facing me on the field?”
Gabriella smiled back, as she drew her swords and accepted the invitation to cross swords with this Elf, “If what you say is true, and I have no doubt it is, we can consider ourselves lucky you chose this day to visit.”
“Are you warmed up enough to get into this yet?” he replied.
“I guess we are about to find out,” Gabriella answered, as she strode forward. “I didn’t get the workout you just got, but that may not matter.”
The stranger saluted Gabriella’s flippant answer, and with obvious anticipation, he prepared to meet her in mock battle. Those standing on the sidelines immediately began to sit on the ground to watch the two masters. They were sure this was going to be a long and memorable match and no one wanted to miss the exhibition, except T’Harris. He didn’t want it to happen at all. It was all King Gerolth, Emperor Lariel, and Anders could do to keep him from storming onto the field to stop it. He would have done this by attacking the Elf that had disarmed him earlier, only he wouldn’t have done it with a weapon, he would have shifted into Dragon form and allowed Thrax to do the task for him.
Several hours later, Gabriella and the Eagle Claw sword master called a halt to the contest. They shook hands and with faces beaming with satisfaction, they declared the match a draw. They were both breathing heavily and were slick with sweat from their efforts, which told everyone neither had given an inch during the match.
King Gerolth and Emperor Lariel, deciding it was probably safe enough now that the event was over, released their holds on T’Harris and ordered Anders to do the same. For all their good intentions and efforts, they each got a glare from him, before he stormed away.
T’Harris strode angrily up to the happy couple on the field and was about to tear a verbal strip off the both of them, when the strange Elf bowed deeply before him, and then completely took him by surprise with his next words, “You have been truly blessed by the Fates, for you have been granted the highest prize in the Elven worlds. Our Gabriella is not only a Light Elven Female, but she is an Eagle Claw with breeding true to her heritage. All honor goes to you in the bonding of this woman.” He then turned and walked off the field and into a mist that suddenly formed a moment before he disappeared, leaving no clue to his identity.
An hour later Gabriella and Cambria set a f
euding Chasm and Equilor into striking range of the campsite the Humans had set up in the forest. It took those Elves even less time to gather the right type of clouds and pull up a wind, as they shot insults and innuendos at each other.
“What do you think?” Gabriella asked.
“I hope those below are prepared for a rough night,” Cambria chuckled. A moment later a flash of lightning crossed the expanse of the darkening sky and the booming sound of thunder shook the ground.
From their positions high in the sky, Cambria and Gabriella watched, while the men below scattered to prepare for a sudden storm. They needed to move fast if they intended to stay safe and dry, for not only were they unprepared, but they were camped on the banks of a dry ravine.
“I am thinking there will be several very wet and tired men in that camp come morning,” Gabriella chuckled.
“I was thinking they might even be muddy enough no one will be able to recognize them at first glance,” Cambria added.
“We could make this possible,” Gabriella considered the matter briefly.
“There are half a dozen dead trees upstream from them,” Cambria noted. “It wouldn’t take much to knock them down in this wind.”
“That would loosen the soil enough to create a minor mudslide,” Gabriella added.
“I will talk to Equilor,” Cambria offered.
“I will get Chasm to knock the trees down,” Gabriella stated.
When the orders had been given and everything was in place for what was to happen, Gabriella asked, “Should we leave the lovers alone to play their games?”
“Might as well,” Cambria snickered. “I can think of better things to do than watch those two go at it. When they are finished venting their tempers, it will be a good thing the forest will be so wet or they would burn it down with the heat they will create between them later.”
“Besides, T’Harris has promised to massage every muscle in my body until they feel like melted butter,” Gabriella informed Cambria.
“Mmmm…” Cambria hummed. “Lucky you, but I guess you probably need it after the pounding you got earlier on the practice field. I never thought I would see the day someone would come along to equal you.”
“I just hope he didn’t come from the Elven Nation,” Gabriella stated. “If he is the kind of Warrior they train there, I would hesitate to face him in a real battle if it came to that.”
“He isn’t from there,” Cambria assured Gabriella.
“How do you know?” Gabriella wondered.
Cambria looked puzzled for a few moments, and then answered, “I have no idea how, but I somehow do. He is on our side.”
Gabriella only sighed in relief as she answered, “Thank the Fates.”
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The General Page 26