Bailindra was taller than her peers, which isn’t too odd being she was an Elf living amongst the Dwarves. Normally she wasn’t too bothered by this fact, she had lived this way her entire life. Her parents were diplomats sent from Errogand to the underground home of the dwarfs, Hammerfell. The two cities traded diplomats every quarter century to keep the peace between the two, this has been going on for almost one-hundred and fifty years now. Well, one hundred and forty-nine years and three-hundred and fifty-one days according to Bailindra, who has been counting down the days until she could return home and another group of elves will show up to be the diplomats between the two cities.
Bailindra was too young to remember the trip to Hammerfell when her parents volunteered to travel and take up the duty as diplomats, thus she also doesn’t remember the ambush that claimed the lives of her parents before they could reach the city.
Bailindra has spent all of her life that she can remember living with the dwarves in Hammerfell after they had chased away the raiders that attacked her families caravan. Her adopted father Thorson, son of Thorson, who was part of the rescue group that tried to save her family told her the story of the ambush once he felt she was old enough to handle it.
Bailindra loved Thorson like a father, though she had been missing her family more and more as of late. With the time to become replaced as the diplomatic family fast approaching she felt both excited and apprehensive about it. Here, she knew everybody, they took her in and treated her like family but once she goes home she won’t know anybody and she was worried about acclimating to the elves culture. Thorson had attempted to teach her about the elves way of life, and the difference between them and the dwarves. But without her own elven parents around to help her Thorson could only tell her of stories he had heard from previous diplomatic envoys.
“Any day now,” Thorson said, in his low gravelly tone. “You will be leavin’ me ta head back to be with your own people.”
“You know you are my own people.” she replied. “I know of know no other life besides this one”
“Aye, but tis the way of things, we always knew this was a temporary stay.” Thorson stood and moved to a chest sitting in the corner of his families small home.
“I am going to miss you, Thorson, you are the closest thing i have to a real family.”
“We are real family, you may not be of my blood, but you are and always will be my daughter.” he smiled as he returned to the table holding a small cloth covered object.
“Thank you, I am slightly scared, though it pains me to admit it, of returning home”
“No lass, this is your home, has been and always will be, even if you are no longer livin’ un’er this stone. But i know you have to return home to make your report of the last twenty-five years. You are always welcome to return, without the duties of being the diplomat.” He uncovered the object in his hands to reveal a beautiful necklace of silver with a sapphire gem inlaid in the middle.
Bailindra’s eyes went wide, “Thorson, how?” she trailed off wondering how he could afford this on the little he earned working at his old age. “You didn’t need to get me anything”
Thorson smiled, “i didn’t get you anything, i made you this gift, to remember me by in-case you decide ya want ta stay when you ya git back to Errogand. Ya know, i was once a skilled Jeweller a’fore i lost me hand.”
“Thank you so much, but i would ne’er forget you.” she said letting some of her own dwarven accent she picked up from so much time spent amongst them. She had been practicing talking without the accent in anticipation of going back ot Errogand.
“Aye, truthfully, i will be missin ya something fierce once yer gon’. I just really wanted to give you a gift before you left. Get some sleep now lass, big day ahead of ya tomorrow.
“Thanks you, again, its a beautiful gift” she said admiring the gem in her hands.”Good night” she then stood and moved to her own room for the night. Tomorrow she will be ready to make the two week track back to Errogand.
Bailindra woke early the following morning, unable to sleep much due to the anticipation of leaving. She grabbed her sack of clothing and all her own personal possessions, most of the stuff she was leaving behind would be for the next group of diplomats, and headed to the door.
Thorson was sitting on the bench outside the home, he smiled at her as she came outside “i see you didn’t sleep well, either.”
“No, not at all, today is the big day. I will leave here and travel back to the home of the elves, passing the group that’s due to replace me on the way.”
Thorson laughed, “aye, lass i know the drill, i have been around for quite some time” he winked at her.
“Sorry, i’m just nervous. Will you walk with me to the caravan?”
“O’ course, why do you think i was out here waiting anyways.”
They walked in companionable silence towards the main entrance to the cavern system they called Hammerfell, making inconsequential small talk along the way. As they approached a group of armed escorts joined them.
“Oy, I’m malley, and i will be your trusted bodyguard for this trip, we will be escortin’ ya to the meetin’ spot where the elven caravan and its guards will pick ya up.” said a younger dwarf with red hair and a red beard that hangs down to his belly.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
She smiled at Malley, “are we ready to depart then?”
“Yes, as soon as your stuff is loaded into the cart we will be on our way.”
She turned and hugged Thorson, stooping down to his height, “i am going to miss you.”
“And I you, lass. This is a so long for now and not a goodbye. Now get a move on before you see an old dwarf get all teary eyed.”
They broke their embrace and she headed towards the cart. Throwing her stuff into the back. She climbed up next to the driver, who gave the horses a quick flick with the reigns and off they went.
“The trip to the trade-off point, which is roughly half-way between the two cities takes two weeks on horse.” Malley told her after a few hours riding on the horse-pulled cart. “We have all the provisions needed to make the trip there, and back with the new group of diplomats”
She already knew all this about the trip, so she thanked him and sat slumped in her seat and closed her eyes.
After an uneventful and boring week they were halfway to the meeting point.
“This is quite a boring trip.” Bailindra mentioned, for perhaps the one-hundred and fifteenth time.
“Yes, but it beats the alternative.” Malley said, with a grin. “Me an’ the lads here don’t mind a boring and uneventful trip. Means everyone is safe and we are still doin’ our jobs right.”
They conversed about meaningless stuff for a while when Bailindra asked Malley if they could take a small break for the noon-hour and get out of the sun and heat for a bit. He agreed and the guards started setting up a meal and erecting a shady canopy to eat under. They all ate together in companionable silence for a while when malley scratched his chin thoughtfully and asked “Bailindra, i noticed you have a weapon tucked away in that sack of yours in the back of the cart, is that some type of decorative hammer you’re keepin as a souvenir?”
Bailindra looked at him scornfully. “I’ll have you know that i have been practicing with that hammer for as long as i have been able ta wield it.” letting a bit of the dwarven accent slip out again.
“No insult meant, we have a little time before we have ta hit the road again, fancy yourself a little spar?”
“Oh, i wouldn’t want to hurt ya, i need you in one piece to protect me after all.” she hopped up and started heading to the cart knowing that he wouldn’t let that pass without sparring it out now.
“Oy, i got 10 gold says you won’t even be able to hit me”
They stood a few yards apart, surrounded by the rest of the guards. Bailindra held her custom made hand and a half gripped hammer that Thorson had commissioned for her on her twelth birthday. Its an important Dwarven tradition to gift their children and have them trained when they are young. Even if they aren’t looking to get into a militarial position, everyone needs to know how to defend themselves.
Malley was wielding his mace and shield like it was just an extension of his body, and he looked like he knew how to use them.
“You can still back out Bailindra, and i’ll let ya keep yer coin.” he waved his mace in the air in a conciliatory gesture.
“You sound scared Malley, but i’m not worried about you getting any coin from me, first to land a blow wins, and I know you won't be able to get me with that little mace of yours.
“Aint nothin little about my mace lass, but alright, if you insist.”
They started circling each other, Bailindra with her longer maul like hammer and Malley with his mace and shield. After about a half circle when the sun was positioned behind him and Bailindra had to squint to avoid the blinding light malley darted forward, mace moving towards her protective breast plate to land a clean hit and collect his coin.
Bailindra swung her hammer towards his shield as he was rushing her but with the sun in her eyes she didn’t see what happened as she missed, but Malley stumbled back, with a bolt in his chestplate. Bailindra looked at him in shock, he just looked down at the bolt protruding from his abdomen. The other guards we were watching and cheering on the fight suddenly were armed and looking around for the source of the bolt.
Coming down from the hill behind where they set up their lunch camp came a dozen tall figures on horse back. The six guards that accompanied Malley didn’t stand a chance, they were cut down, though not without a couple of enemy casualties.
Bailindra was in the middle of it, she was swinging with wild abandon, trying to save herself and her comrades from this unknown assailant. A tall figure leaped from his horse and landed with a brilliant grace that must have been practiced to achieve. He looked at Bailindra and removed the cloth hiding his face.
He was an elf, with blonde cropped hair dressed in black riding leathers and he was smiling at her, though there wasn’t malice in it, just a grim determination evident in his smile.
“I’m sorry it has to be this way, but we can not have you making your rendevous. I have orders to ensure your merry little party doesn’t make it.”
“Why are you doing this?” Bailindra seethed, not understanding, barely able to even begin to comprehend what has just happened all around her. She had never seen anything like this in her short, underground life.
“Because, we need to start a war. The war we tried to start twenty-five years ago when we ambushed you and your family on the way to Hammerfell, but we weren’t able to complete the job but this time will be different.”
He started walking towards her, sword raised, when she sprinted towards him hammer already swinging horizontally ready to smash it into the side of his head. Bailindra looked in an amazed, detached awe as he expertly bent his back backwards and her hammer went right over his nose as he moved only enough to dodge and not a fraction of an inch more. He leaned back forward without even stumbling a step and planted his sword into her chest, twisted, and pulled it back out.
She fell to the ground, eyes open, staring emptily at the corpse of malley.