Chapter 2: Gift from the stars(part 1/2)

1 Hour after

outskirts of the elven city of Amil

inside an elven mansion

Two people talk inside a very well decorated room, furnished with master crafted chairs, tables and statues, and lavishly trimmed tapestry. There are so many  luxurious articles of art that someone unaccustomed to such things would have been dizzy at the sight of it. One of them is a majestically dressed elven men, with a very pronounced belly and completely gray hair, pointing to his bad habits and old age. The other is a defined young elf dressed in leather armor that allows for fast movement of the body, with a bow still strapped to his back.

The two of them are looking each other's faces. The young elf sweating profusely and looking as pale as the moon, while the older elf was so red, he looked to be ready to burst.

"..."

"..."

The older elf broke the silence between them, and with a very calm voice, asked:

"Can you repeat what you just said?"

"Yes sir! Immediately!"said the younger one that now started trembling, the calm voice being scarier than the appearance of his patron." The human escapee was found at the base of the Great Fist in the ruins near the town, together with the corpses of two manhunter wolves! It appears that she killed the wolves and died right after from the wounds inflicted by them!"

During the report, the older elf's face became riddled with more and more bulging veins, and at the end of it, he turned around, grabbed a bust of marble of rich patterns and master crafted designs, and smashed it into the ground while screaming with all the force his lungs could muster:

"SHIT!SHIT!NO!NO!NO!AAAAHHHHH!"

In rage, he proceeded to stomp the smashed bust, until only dust remained.

"WHY DID THEY UNLEASHED THE WOLVES!?"

"th-the commander said he had some problems with the humans in the working fields, so they released the wolves to contain them and track the fugitive... and three guards died in the commotion."

The old elf wasn't listening to the report anymore, and immersed himself fully in self pity.

"My masterpiece! My prized human! gone... entire generations of my family's work... it's all just GONE!"

His family had been human breeders for a long time, even for elves, and were renowned for their quality in producing excellent pets and pure breeds. However, ten generations ago, one of his ancestors had the wish of breeding what he considered to be a perfect human. He started this project, and his wish was taken by his children, and their children after them. The human that had escaped was the current chosen as the one to carry the project forward, and being the only child of its predecessor, its survivor was of ultimate importance, being the one to carry the dreams of his family. And now it was dead.

"why! why do the gods play with me so!... if only there was another one... if only there was..."

Suddenly he is struck by a thought that remained hidden in his mind.' Wait... wasn't she pregnant? yes... yes! I received notice of it being born! A white haired child... that's it! YES!'. He immediately turned to the messenger, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but in that room, and said:

" There was a baby! did they found a baby with her!?"

"n-no sir!"

"Tell every scout in this city to look for a baby human with white hair! tell them the first to find it will be rewarded their weight in gold! Tell to start in the old ruins, I want every nook and cranny of that clearing searched!"

"th-the fist too?"

"NO! NOT THAT CURSED THING! DO YOU THINK I WOULD SEND MY MEN TO DIE!?"

"n-no, of c-course not, sir!"

"THEN WHAT ARE YOU STANDING THERE FOR!? GO! NOW!"

With great speed he run to finish his job, while the old elf was left in the room praying- for the first time- for the safety of his human.

____________________________________________________________________________

A day earlier

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

in the dunes of the endless desert

"So tell me, what can you see?". Spoke a weathered and strong voice.

On top of a dune, two lone figures were looking into the distance. Their bodies were completely covered by cloth except for a slit for the eyes, and over the cloth there was a layer of sand similar in color. They were practically invisible at the top of the dune, only being exposed by minute movements of the arms and head.

"What do you mean father... there's nothing here to see."

The father gave his son a very serious look and said:

"Now, you don't really mean that, do you?"

Under the scorching gaze of his senior, the youth could do nothing but respond with a doubtful "No, master", right after returning to gaze upon the barren lands of the desert.

"I see dunes, rocks, some wind blowing, mountains in the- ouch!!"

The young apprentice's words were cut short by a firm hit in his head. He looked up to see his father with a serious and somewhat angry look on his face.

"Do you really think that is what the scout duty amounts to?"

The young man kept silent this time as he went back to gaze at the desert.

" As a Protector in scout duty, you must pay attention to the movements in the sand, the direction of the wind, the potential new settling ground and much more... It is one of our most important duties, the whole caravan depends upon it, When will you realize it Kal ?"

"..."

Kaleb said nothing as he looked upon the desert. He was training to be a Protector, the proud work of his father, in order to maintain and protect the caravan and its inhabitants. However, as Kaleb came to know, the work of a Protector did not end at the mastery of the sword, it also included the crafting of utensils of the trade, their maintenance and scouting. A lot of scouting. Scouting for water, for danger, for food, for a lost trinket. And its this scouting that the youthful Kaleb most hated. He saw the need, it didn't mean he had to like it.

"Fine, we'll talk about it when we get back. now again, what do you see. No mockery this time."

Giving a sight of defeat, Kaleb tiredly put his attention back to the nothingness of the desert.

"I see a... a sandstorm?"

In the distance, behind a faraway dune, a smokescreen of sand was being raised. At the unexpected answer of the youngster, the old Protector gazed at the oddity and announced:

"That is no sandstorm... too quick to form and too localized. Something is stirring the sand..."

They kept looking towards the distant smokescreen as it came closer and closer. It took some minutes until they finally could see through the smoke.

"It's a caravan!" spoke Kaleb enthusiastically. It was uncommon for caravans to meet outside an oasis and other gathering places, and it was always exciting for youngsters like Kaleb to see and hear the stories of Protectors of different caravans. The stories of his caravan were few as they were one of the smallest ones around in recent years.

 He looked towards his father expectantly, but the man was contemplating the coming caravan with a very serious face, his sharp eyes looking towards it intently, as if trying to discern something.

" Something's not right, I don't see their Mark of Ancestry, and they're going at full speed... They are running from something."

Kaleb now had a look of worry on his face and, while being careful not to break his father's concentration, He spoke:

"To raise so much sand they must be a caravan at least twice as big as ours. What could be so threatening as to put them on the run?"

"Few things, Could be a Great Migration, but its the wrong time of year... Could be a horde of Shriekers, but then they would not be running like that.. Or it could be.. hah damn."

Whatever the Protector was going to say was cut short by the horrific visage that had just passed through the smokescreen. With beasts that galloped at high speeds even in the sand, lauching balls of fire and arrows of wind against the escaping caravan, and carrying with them cages and chains, collars and whips. There came the dread of humanity. There came...

"Demons!"