The Conquest of Mytheyr
Chapter 15

“Father!” the masked Dark Elf protested, ripping off said mask, “You can’t be saying we will do nothing!”

Morgan sighed inwardly. The company had been asked to wait outside, and Teren, Vath and she had come into the forest town’s greathouse. Teren was representing the people from his village, Morgan was representing the help the Dragonkin offered, and Vath… Morgan wasn’t sure why Vath had followed them in. He certainly looked like he regretted it now, as he was shifting his weight nervously, hoping no one would notice him.

“We will do precisely that, Asa.” the Chief said firmly. “This enemy is beyond you, beyond any of us. You are young; you know little of the evil things twisted magic can do.”

“Please listen to him,” Asa’s sister begged, “just this time, Asa.”

“Excuse me,” Morgan said, stepping in. Usually, she’d allow the family to sort its own issues out. But Asa reminded her of someone. Also, they needed an army, quickly.

“I know what Semele is capable of. I’ve seen it, too. But that is no reason not to stand against him. He will come, whether you do something about it or not. But we plan to put an end to him before this goes too far. We need any help we can get.”

Asa’s father sighed heavily. He met Morgan’s eyes, and they sized each other up. They both saw age, wisdom and pain in the other. But one was full of regret, and the other wasn’t.

“In truth,” the Chief said, “I cannot keep any here who do not wish to stay, my son included. We will give you supplies and a place to sleep tonight, but tomorrow you will leave. Should others go with you…” he gave a sad look at his son, and nodded slightly to him, “then that is their choice.”

“Well,” Morgan said, as they walked out of the greathouse, and Teren went to talk to his people, “I thought that’d go down hill when they started arguing, but that wasn’t too bad.” Vath nodded, barely paying attention. “Hey! Follow me.” Morgan told him, jogging off.

Confused, Vath followed Morgan. She stopped in a seemingly random place, on the edge of the village near a large knotted tree. She took off her satchel, and rummaged through it, pulling out a crossbow and a quiver of bolts. Vath did a double take, wondering how they could have possibly fit in such a small bag, before realizing that it was probably magical. The crossbow was made of a black wood, and its metal components were made of a strange silver metal. The bolts were made of the same metal and wood, and fletched with gray feathers. She loaded the crossbow and handed it to Vath.

“Crossbow, target.” she said, pointing at the tree. “Line up your target with the bottom of this V,” she tapped the metal sight, “then pull the trigger. Don’t aim with one eye closed; it throws off your perspective.” Vath lifted the crossbow. It was heavier then he expected, and his shot landed far left of the place he was aiming for.

“Try putting your left arm here,” she said, standing behind him and moving his arm, “so that the bow rests on it.” Vath blushed at her touch, and was grateful she was behind him, and couldn’t see it. Morgan handed him another bolt, and Vath loaded it, surprised at how hard it was to pull the string back. He lined up his shot again, and this time only slightly missed. Morgan applauded, and laughed. “A near miss is still a miss.” She handed him another bolt, “Again.”

They spent the rest of the day like that, Vath shooting and Morgan offering little tips of advice. By the time the sun started setting, Vath was hitting his target at least seventy percent of the time.

“Just practice incessantly and soon you’ll be able to hit a fly in flight.” she chuckled at the redundancy of her statement, and reached to scratch the back of her neck, her fingers encountering something foreign.

“Vath,” Morgan said confusedly, turning around and moving aside her braid, “Is there something on my neck?” Vath looked, and recoiled.

“There’s a giant bug!” he exclaimed.

“Ugh!” Morgan cried in disgust, “Can you get it off? I can’t see it well enough.” Vath made a face and grabbed the bug’s head. “Pull it out slowly,” Morgan instructed, “or you’ll just break off its mouth.”

Vath cringed, and pulled it off, dropping it immediately. Morgan crushed it under her heel, and the tick popped, its meal of blood spattering everywhere. They both made the same disgusted sound at once.

“Those are nasty little fuckers.” Morgan said, rubbing the back of her neck.

“I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you swear.” Vath noted.

“I swear like a dwarven sailor, but only in certain company. You haven’t been around me long enough.” Morgan smiled at him. “Today was fun, though, minus the big ass tick.”

“It was fun,” Vath answered, trying to hand her the crossbow.

“No, you keep that.” Morgan said, handing him the quiver. “Dig those bolts out of the tree, too.”

Vath slung the crossbow over his back using the strap on it, and he buckled the quiver onto his hip. Morgan looked him up and down appraisingly.

“You look like a badass.” she said, smirking. “Go dig those bolts out; I’ll save you something to eat.”

“Ok, see you soon.” Vath said, and Morgan dashed off, the dying light flickering on her wings. Vath smiled to himself, unbelievably happy but unable to explain why.

Someone came up behind him as he wrenched the bolts from the bark. Vath spun around to see the chief’s son, standing uncomfortably close.

“Who are you?” Asa demanded.

“Vath Burntbush.” He answered, taking a step back, sliding the bolt in his hand into the quiver.

“You know nothing of the nature of magic, do you?”

“I- wait, what?” Vath said, startled at the sudden question. “Of course I know. I am an elf.”

“Show it to me, then.” Asa told him, holding a hand out. A small ball of purple Dark magic the size of a marble formed above it, the surface of it not liquid or gas, but not quite solid either. “Manifest it. Show that you can.”

“What’s it to you?” Vath said, pulling the last two bolts out and walking away.

Asa stood, arms crossed, ball of magic resting above the back of his hand. It dissipated, and Asa brushed his short gray hair out of his eyes. His black eyes narrowed as he glared at Vath’s shrinking figure.

“I knew it.” he hissed under his breath.

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