"Velicion? Are you in here?" Iskra called out for the sorceress as the young girl plowed into the elven woman's tent.
The elven woman stared the young girl with a disgusted look as the sorceress looked up from her current task; she had been given zero time to react to her guest before the human girl had already made it several large steps inside of the elfs tent. Her hands gripped a well-polished dagger; its blade had paused midmotion as the sorceress held the burnt out wooden shaft of a rusted brazier. The weapon had the design that suggested it was for a more torturous and wicked purpose than whatever it was that Velicion was currently doing.
Ash covered wood carvings littered the floor as chips, scrapes, and slashes were abundant throughout the entirety of the short wooden pole; at first glance it looked as if this wasn't the first time that the sorceress had decided to take a knife to the rusted braziers stand.
"Don't you know it's rude to enter someone's room without knocking, or at least announcing yourself beforehand?" Velicion said in a chastising tone while she carefully placed the pole down in front of her knees. The fearsome knife quickly followed suit, its blade being planted deep into the earth.
"What are you doing?" Iskra cocked her head to the side as she asked the simple question. The young girl completely ignored the sorceress's words as she stuck out her right index finger and pointed it towards the pair of items.
To the young girl, her curiosity was far more important than the apparent lesson in etiquette that the elven woman wished to push onto the one time nobility.
Iskra knew full well of the proper ways to announce one's presence, but at this place, and at this point in time, she cared little for such things.
The sorceress let out an anguished sigh as she decided that it was probably for the best to answer the young human without having to worry about correcting the rude girls' behavior. The lithe elf was in no mood to find out how the banished teenager would take to the idea of being lectured on something she should have already been taught.
"I'm chiseling away the braziers pole," Velicion said as she gestured towards the items that lay in front of her. She made to say something else, but Iskra cut her off before the elven woman had the chance to speak further on the matter.
"Obviously," The young girl said as she rolled her eyes and made a face to say that she wasn't blind to what was in front of her. "I meant, why are you doing it?"
As she spoke, Iskra moved closer inside of the woman's tent. Her eyes shifted to and fro as the young girl weaved and bobbed her head, avoiding the oddly placed baubles that hung loosely from the top of the tent. For the most part, it was similar enough to that of Iskra's tent. Barebones and hastily put together with only a bedroll to keep her company. Except for, of course, the glaringly out of place rug that had been placed near the far end of the tent and the exotic, yet oddly shaped glass baubles that had been hung in various places.
The young girl moved to sit down atop of the rug, curious as to where her would be teacher had received the item. The rugs make was that of a soft fabric that shimmered brilliantly in the dimmed sunlight that managed to pierce the tent's heavy leather. It's red, black, and gold coloration only managed to prove soothing to the young woman's eyes. The square black blocks, as dark as a starless night sky, absorbed much of the light while the blood red lines shifted her sight towards the glistening gold as the sparkling metal caught her attention.
Iskra's emerald green eyes remained on the shimmering piece of art for quite some time as she wiggled her body over the plush fabric. Compared to the hard and rock littered ground that was common throughout the encampment, the rug was a godsend. The young girl wondered to herself if she had been unaware of the true extent of what the expedition had brought along with it, or if the elves happened to have these items in their possession the entire time.
Eventually, she turned her attention towards Velicion who had a blank expression on her face. The young girl was unsure as to why that was. She thought that perhaps it had more to do with how the human was treating the sorceress's personal property.
"Nice rug," Iskra said in a satisfied sigh as she crossed her legs. It was at that moment that the young girl decided that she would come to the elfs tent more often now that she was aware of such luxuries.
"Thanks," Velicion said with a slight hint of annoyance in her voice as she shook her head in disbelief. "And as to your question…"
The sorceress leaned forward as she picked up the chiseled pole. The rugged shaft looked ready to snap at the slightest breeze, but somehow the thin piece of wood managed to keep itself together.
"I'm chiseling at the portions that the fire managed to consume," Velicion wiggled the emptied brazier in her hand. The pole bowed and wobbled in an intense manner as Iskra looked on in wonderment at the fact that the shaft refused to break and held itself together. "Don't want it to snap and catch my tent on fire, now would we?"
Iskra let out a grunt, somewhat satisfied with the sorceress's explanation, but that didn't mean she understood everything that the lithe woman was doing.
"But why is it so short?" The young girl nudged her head towards the rusted and battered metal that stood at the head of the shortened wooden rod. "There's no way that you've used it to the point where it would be as short as it is now."
"That's because I shortened it myself," Velicion replied as she carefully placed the item back onto the ground. "I use it to help keep the bugs out of my tent. Most of them don't really like smoke you know."
The sorceress smiled as she watched the young girl mouthed an 'of course,' satisfied that Iskra was happy with the answer she provided her. For now at least.
"Do you think you could do the same for me?" Iskra asked as her eyes roamed over the homemade bug repellent. Her dainty fingers skimmed along the full length of her slim arms. She was all too aware of the biting night terrors that plagued her in her sleep.
Iskra thought that even the slightest help in restoring her chaotic sleeping schedule would do wonders for the young girl's beauty.
"I don't see why not." Velicion said with a hum. She hoped that this new project would keep the girl's attention from prying further into the origins of her possessions and why the sorceress did the things she did.
"Great," Iskra leaned forward and grasped at the hilt of the sorceress's knife. With a huff, she plucked it from its muddy resting place. The pale skinned girl let out an astounded 'ooh' as the flat of the blade shimmered in the dim sunlight while the carefree girl brought the weapon to bear.
The deadly blade bounced and wobbled in Iskra's loose and carefree grip. The wicked weapon looked ready to fly out from the young girl's hand as she slashed and stabbed at the empty air.
"You know," The girl started to say as she swung the blade wildly in the air. The sorceress looked uneasily towards the girl, keeping a careful eye on the weapon as she moved a few paces back in a vague hope that she would be safe from any undue harm if the blade were to fly out of the girls grasp. "This is my second time holding a knife. It's a lot heavier than the one I used back then."
"It….Shows." That was all Velicion could muster as her eyes darted back and forth, her body was both wearily and ready to spring into action if anything were to happen. "Maybe you should put that down before you hurt yourself."
"I'm not a child you know," Iskra gave the sorceress a strange look as she proved oblivious to the woman's concerns. "I'm not going to hurt myself."
The sorceress opened her mouth to say something but quickly closed it as she didn't want the young girl to be made aware that Velicion was more concerned for her own safety than that of the humans.
'Maybe this was how the girl came to be banished to this place,' Velicion thought to herself as she made ready to prepare a spell that would make the young human more pliable in her demands. 'Two children playing around with something they found and an accident occurred. Only for the onlookers to be caught up in the moment and proclaim the apparent attacker as a murderer.'
Whether her thoughts were what really came to pass or not didn't matter at the moment as she was far more concerned with not having something sharp and painful jammed into her flesh.
Once again, she opened her mouth. She readied herself to speak the arcane words that would allow her to take command of the young girl. It would only be for a short moment, but the sorceress felt that it was a far better outcome than watching blood ooze out of a wound.
The spell never came to pass as a familiar voice called out the sorceress.
“Velicion, are you in? I need to speak with you.”
The voice was both lavish and gentle in tone, and the owner's pronunciation was both warm and slathered in slick honey. The accent suggested that the individual in question had a higher degree of education than most; it was clear that the speaker was from a very influential family.
The voice still had a ways to go in terms of maturity, however. At times the voice would crack in a higher pitch before quickly moving to a deeper tone. To Velicion, it was plain as day as to who the owner of the voice was and going by the mesmerized expression plastered onto Iskra's face, so did the young girl.
"I'm in here," The sorceress said as she looked towards the front of the tent before she shifted her gaze back towards the young girl who struggled with what to do with the knife in her hand. "What do you want?" Velicion rudely said as she rolled her eyes and shook her head in amusement while she watched the panicking girl tighten her grip around the hilt of the weapon and plummeted the blade deep within the soft earth that made up the tent's flooring.
"You know mother wouldn't be very appreciative of your tone with me at times," Prince Aurelius stated as he pushed his body inside the tent. The young boy moved gracefully around the few glass baubles that made their home near the tent's entrance.
It didn't take long for the blonde teenager to stop dead in his tracks, his face becoming beet red as he came face to face with the realization that the sorceress already had a guest.
The boy stood there, bewildered as to what he should do next as his mouth opened and closed in rapid succession. Wordless sounds escaped his lips as his eyes darted between Iskra and Velicion.
"And she isn't here, now is she?" The sorceress bluntly stated as she snapped her fingers at the boy and motioned for him to sit down next to her.
'For all of the care and planning that went into the boys tutoring,' Velicion wondered to herself as she watched the boy sit next to her. 'Did the Arch Mistress really not think to expose the prince to women of his own age? Or was the boy just at that awkward stage in his life where his mind stopped working the moment he laid his eyes on someone who looked to be the slightest bit attractive.'
Whatever the case was, Velicion watched in agony as the two teenagers stared intently at one another.
Iskra, who seemed to have stopped breathing, looked at the boy as anyone would when it came to finally meeting the object of their admiration. There was also a glimmer of a possessive nature deep within the girl's eyes, but that was neither the here nor there. Aurelius, on the other hand, appeared to have stopped thinking entirely. His mind most likely lingered on what he should do next as his eyes glued themselves towards the young girl's massive chest.
If the two teenagers were going to act like statues in front of one another, then it was Velicions duty to push forward the subject at hand.
"Aurelius," The sorceress said as she snapped her fingers in front of the boy's face. "What did you come here for? I have a guest you know."
Having his focus broken by the sudden gesture, the young prince shook his head and turned towards the elven woman. The sorceress watched tiredly as the young boy's eyes struggled to maintain their discipline and slowly drifted back towards the human girl.
"It's about the goblin we brought back with us," The boy said as his gaze slowly drifted its attention towards Iskra. "Why does it have to be with me?"
“Because I said it has to,” Velicion stated as she snapped her fingers in front of the boy’s face for a second time. If the young prince was going to be as rude as he was now whenever he was near the girl, then the sorceress would be more than happy to return the favor. “And because I don’t trust the humans to leave it alone if it were with anyone else.”
“Yeah but,” The boy had an uneasy look on his face as he, once again, returned his gaze towards the elven woman. “It smells like a pile of refuse that’s been left out in the sun.”
“Then take it to the lake and wash the damn thing.”
“What if it tries to attack me?” Aurelius asked in a grave tone.
Velicion couldn't believe the words that were reaching her ears. For a boy who had brazenly announced his intentions on raising a band and going on an adventure into the wider world, he sure as hell sounded sheepish at this very moment. To have serious doubts about trying to wrangle with an unwashed goblin was something that the sorceress couldn't even begin to fathom where such cowardice was coming from.
Perhaps it would be better if the three of them were to see to the creature now instead of waiting and allowing the foolish prince to do something regrettable in the near future.
"If you're so worried about what it will do to you, then perhaps…" Velicions words trailed off into silence as she let the young boy stew over what she would say next.
The prince looked at her with a hurriedly curious expression as the sorceress turned her attention to the young girl that had sat patiently next to them as the elves had conversed in their own tongue.
"Iskra," The sorceress called out to the girl as she switched to the humans' own tongue. "Would you like to see the goblin?"
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It took a while for the young girl to realize that the elven woman had spoken in her language, but that didn't mean she fully understood why the elf had said what she said.
"Why would I do that?" The young girl said in an astonished tone as a look of disgust rolled over her face at the mention of the grey skinned monster.
Velicion let out a tired sigh as a hand planted itself over her face, the two teenagers were an exhausting couple to deal with. Prince Aurelius was calling for the sorceress to explain what was going on and the girl that sat before her refused to do much of anything besides to look pretty.
Truly the gods had decided to bless her with nothing but playing both a loving mother and overworked advisor to spoiled children.
“Because,” The elven woman said as she shoved a hand towards the prince, making sure that he stayed quiet for the time being. “You went through all that effort to save the goblin, did you not?”
Iskra remained quiet as she nodded her head, curious as to where the sorceress was going with her line of reasoning.
“And for that, you angered those that have made it their duty to protect you and this camp. Right?”
Again, Iskra remained quiet as she nodded her head in an exaggerated motion. The girls’ eyes roamed the air as she tried her best in thinking where the elf was going with this.
“So then that means if you wish to see the fruits of your labor pay off, then you need to visit your little toy at least once, right?”
Once more Iskra remained quiet as she nodded her head, the young girl mouthing the word 'toy' curiously as she wondered why the woman had chosen to say it in that particular tone. A quizzical expression formed on her face as she continued to fail to follow where the elf was going with her reasoning.
Velicion shook her head in astonishment as she realized that she needed to a little more blunt with what she wanted to say. "Look, if you want to sway the creature in your favor then you need to convince it to follow you and allow it to pledge itself to your commands."
The sorceress hoped that would do the trick.
"But didn't it already do that?"
A fair question to ask, but only for those that didn’t understand how creatures such as goblins worked.
"No," Velicion replied. "You've only made it look to you as something to fear. In order for it to respect your rule over it, you'll need to further convince the creature as to why."
"And I'm assuming you will help with that?" Iskra asked as she wondered what the elf had planned for both herself and the goblin.
"Of course," The sorceress said as she made to stand. "It'll be quite an easy task in reality. We just need to give it a little shove in the direction we wish it to fall. Now come on you two, I've got a story to spin."
"Velicion?" Iskra called out to the sorceress as the elven woman disappeared from her sight. The young girl hurriedly made to follow as she continued to call the elfs name.
Dumbfounded and confused as to why he even came to the sorceress's tent in the first place. Prince Aurelius looked around the now empty space in utter confusion.
"What in the world is going on?" The boy muttered to himself as he hastily followed the humans trail, unsure if he was about to get into more of the usual shenanigans he had become so accustomed to these past few months.
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"Velicion, wait up!" Iskra called out to the sorceress as she ran out of the tent, nearly stumbling over her own two feet as she made a sharp turn towards the direction of the elven woman.
The young girl, not used to running after such a fleet-footed individual, nearly collided with a small number of nearby elves. A few called out to her in their language while others said nothing, confused as to why the human girl was among them in the first place.
Ever since the elves first arrived at Ruined Home, the two races have found themselves separated in self-styled racial quarters. The humans had kept themselves to their own personal tents while the handful of elves had done the same. The only time that the two races ever mingled with one another was when they sat side by side, eating their meals.
Velicion was a little different, however. Her tent was slightly further away from most of the elves, but not to the point where the sorceress was closer to the humans than her own kind. The reasoning for this was unknown to the young girl, but she believed the sorceress to be the type of person who liked to be left to their own devices and not to mingle with most people. She could be wrong, however, as Iskra often found the lone elven woman to be among a handful of various individuals at most times.
Eventually, the girl caught up to the woman. "How can you be so fast?" Iskra said as she took a deep breath.
"You're just as tall as me," The sorceress said as she gave the young human a dumbfounded look. "Learn how to use your legs before you crawl."
"Wha-" The young girl stopped herself from saying much else as she shook her head, bewildered at the elfs words.
Instead, she turned her head towards her immediate surroundings.
To her right stood a tent that was similar to most of the tents that had been provided to all members of the expedition. There were no obvious signs of its owner adding any personal touches to the outside, but Iskra assumed that the inside of the tent would be a different matter. To the front and behind her stood even more tents that had been clustered around one another.
Most likely, the two women had made it to the center of the elven portion of the encampment. A few tents had more personal touches to them, but these were in the form of crude signs made out of scrap wood with strange pictures and words carved into them. A way to distinguish who they belonged to and who can and cannot enter them if the raven haired girl were to guess what the words meant.
Finally, there was the pit to her left.
A few elves lazed about throughout the wide yet shallow pit, those who were nearby looked at the pair of women with curiosity as they chatted amongst themselves or played strange games with each other. Most sat upon wooden benches made from carved up logs while a few laid out in the muddy dirt without a care in the world as they looked up into the cloudy sky, perfectly contempt to let the sun's rays hit their exposed chests.
At the very bottom of the pit was a pile of rocks crudely placed in a manner that reminded the young girl of a fire pit. The stones were stacked at knees height and looked to be well used as Iskra caught a glimpse of ash and soot covering a number of the rocks.
A few of the elves called out to the sorceress, and the elven woman gave a quick reply to what they had to say. A few would chuckle, but most gave the lithe elf a strange look at whatever the woman had said.
The atmosphere changed swiftly as most of the nearby elves called out towards the approaching elven prince. They called out to the young boy with both gestures and obscene banter. Iskra watched on in confusion as Prince Aurelius made a quick detour and pushed towards the pit, greeting the individual elves in turn with strange handshakes and a few rapid pats on the shoulders as they spoke a few words with one another. On occasion, the elves would laugh at whatever had been said, but eventually the prince made his way out of the social arena and approached the two women.
To Iskra, it was apparent that the young prince was well liked among the group of elves.
Aurelius spoke to the sorceress, pointing towards the tent that the two women now stood in front of. As she followed along with the boys tone, Iskra assumed that this was the prince's tent.
'Why else,' She wondered as her eyes flicked back and forth between the pair of elves. 'Would he be so adamant about this particular one?'
Velicions reply was quick and absolute as the sorceress waved her hand in front of the blonde teenager, forcing him to stay quiet as he gave the elven woman an odd look.
He was unimpressed with whatever the sorceress had attempted to do.
As the prince departed the pair of women, one of the nearby elves yelled out a few words and waved towards the prince in a silly gesture which prompted the remainder of the crowd to erupt in laughter. Aurelius appeared to dismiss what had been said with a wave of his hand and a disgruntled sounding remark.
He disappeared into one of the nearby tents shortly after.
"Now that that's all settled," The sorceress began as she clapped her hands together with a smile over her face. "Let's get started on this goblin matter, shall we?"
"Right, so do we go in now?" Iskra asked as she turned towards the tent.
"Not quite," Came Velicions reply as she reached out and grabbed ahold of the young girl's arm. Her grip was tight, but only to the point where she could control the humans' movements. "Before we go in, I need to do a few things. Similar to what I did when we first rescued the creature."
Thinking back to when they had first encountered the injured goblin, Iskra nodded her head in compliance. She didn't dare to think of what sort of disease she might catch from the unwashed and uncouth creature that she was about to come into close contact with.
"Perfect," The sorceress said as she forcibly spun the girl around. The elfs slim fingers poked at the girls back as she continued to speak. "As before, you'll feel a slight tingle with what I'm doing."
Iskra shivered as the elfs magic coursed through her body, the woman's fingers began tracing strange shapes and patterns while the nearby group of elves kept their attention squarely on whatever it was that the two women were now doing.
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For some time now, Dasher had been left to his own devices as the goblin waited for the scary golden maned elf to return.
At first, the goblin had been content to sit in the corner of the tent that he had assigned to himself. He feared that if he had found the courage to move around his confinement before the scary male elf had returned, then he would be cruelly punished. Eventually such thoughts waned, and Dasher had begun to look around the inside of the tent.
Besides the very fancy looking bedroll, to Dasher at least, that had been casually laid out to the left side of the tent; there wasn't much to speak of with regards to ownership and who the elven boy was.
Perhaps there was some strange and obscure way that elves marked their territory. Maybe even something that would drive the goblin mad with insanity if he were to learn such methods. As of right now, however, Dasher had no clue as to who or what the elf was.
For all that he knew, the blonde haired terrorizer was a nobody. A nobody that he feared to be precise, but still a nobody in all things that mattered. Though he couldn't shake the nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he had been purposely placed alongside the tall boy.
He was just about to make his way towards the front of the tent when a sudden commotion rang out from somewhere outside. Curious if it was his apparent jailer, Dasher stayed where he was. The goblin was unwilling to move an inch until he knew for sure if the blonde haired elf had returned.
After a while, everything went quiet. The silence was so deafening that his oversized and misshapen ears twitched at the sound of footsteps both near and far.
A familiar voice reached the goblin's ears as the tents leather flaps flew open. Dasher covered his eyes in an attempt to stop the light from obscuring his vision. As he did so, he recognized the familiar form of Velicion, Magic Chucka of the Tall Lady.
The goblin was about to greet the magic user but stopped dead in its tracks as he recognized the form of the Tall Lady as she made her way inside. What little light had managed to make its way through the opening of the tent had now found itself to be warped around his savior's glorious form as a holy aura irradiated itself from every inch of the Tall Lady' noble person.
In a near instant motion, the goblin threw himself on the ground and prostrated his pathetic form towards the dark haired woman that had found him worthy of being saved.
As Dasher babbled incoherently, throwing out a jarring slur of muffled words and sayings towards his savior the two figures that stood over him conversed amongst themselves. They showed little signs of caring over what the goblin had forced himself to do.
The conversation appeared to have ended as the Tall Lady moved to the far side of the tent, well away from Dasher and the Magic Chucka as the elven woman made to place herself next to the goblin.
"Yo Dasher," The long haired woman said as the elf placed her hands on top of his shoulders. "Ya can stop all that now."
The goblin looked up towards the elf. Crumbs of dirt fell from the bridge of his crooked nose as he stared eye to eye at the elven woman. Almost Immediately he looked away for fear of having his soul stolen by the elf.
"Why has the Tall Lady come here?" Dasher asked with shock in his voice. He didn't dare to look towards the gracious figure that was his savior, for fear of incurring her wrath.
At the goblins curiosity, Velicion allowed a mischievous smile to creep onto her face. The sorceress was pleased to hear that the creature had bought into the vague words she had told him only a few days ago.
"The Tall Lady wishes for ya to prove yer worth, know wot I mean?"
Dasher shook his head. Never in his life had he ever had to 'prove his worth.' He couldn't even begin to fathom what that entailed.
The smile upon the sorceress' face grew wider as the goblins confusion became even more apparent. This was precisely what the elven sorceress wanted from the current situation.
"When the Tall Lady brought you back to the place of the living, your soul pledged an 'Unheard Oath.' You've ever heard of those?"
Once again, Dasher shook his head in the negative. The elf was starting to speak with more fancy words, and that brought a hint of fear into the goblins face. Especially now that he had just found about his soul signing some sort of oath. Whatever an oath was.
A deep chuckle escaped from Velicions lips; her eyes looked upon the creature with both pity and poisonous intent as she continued to speak. "It's a thing that no one wants to have their souls tied to. Your life is now bound to the Tall Lady. If she wishes it, then all she has to do is think of a way for you to die and it will become so."
A look of panic flashed over Dasher's face as he stifled a gasp from escaping his throat, his body was tense as he stared hard towards the human woman. Whatever the Tall Lady was, it was something that was far more powerful than he had initially suspected.
"Who-" He started to say before he was quickly cut off by the elven woman.
"Who is she?" Velicion said as she finished the goblins thoughts.
Dasher nodded his head furiously as he remained quiet. The goblin was more than satisfied to let the Magic Chucka tell him what he wanted to know.
"The Tall Lady is an ageless being born into a fancy family long, long ago. She didn't know of this at first, but as time went on she watched as her family aged and died," Velicion paused as the goblin let out a gasp. For what little she had spoken the creature was pleasantly enthralled with the tale she was now beginning to spin. She was quite pleased with herself. "Through all that time, she learned that she could divine those capable of serving her greatly within the mortal world. Through their great deeds, those mortals have earned their right to stand at her side in the realm of the gods."
All was quiet for a moment as Dasher's mind slowly worked over what he had just heard. To the goblin, it sounded so surreal. As if what was being said to him was nothing more than a fancy tale. That couldn't be the case however, how else could he explain the light around the Tall Lady and how she was able to save his life?
“So,” The goblin said after thinking over the words presented to him. “The Tall Lady is a goddess?”
Slowly, Velicion nodded her head. A pleased smile moved across her face as the goblin made it clear that he understood what was going on. “To be precise,” She said as she attempted to tone down the creatures expectations. “The Tall Lady that you see now is nothing more than an Avatar. Through countless cycles she has lived and died, only to come back with a new form to find more mortal followers to help her on her quest.”
“And…” Dasher said with barely a whisper as he pointed to himself. “I’m one of those fancy people?”
"Of course, why else do you think she saved you?"
"But why? Why me and what about that gold haired elf?" Dasher asked without taking a breath. His eyes pleaded with curiosity as they danced between the two female forms that sat within the tent.
"For the boy, I can only say that he is but another champion like you. The Tall Lady has deemed him to be the 'Hidden Prince of all Elves.' His deeds are hidden from me, but our shared mistress claims that his destiny lies with a bird of fire."
Dasher was in awe at what he heard and found himself gasping in amazement. Not just at what he had heard, but also the prospect of a this 'firebird'. It was something that he had never heard of before, and the goblin couldn't even begin to understand what the elf was talking about. It was fancy, and that was all he knew. As one would expect out of an elf. Plus the fact that the golden haired elf was some sort of hidden prince of the elves sounded scary, another thing that one would expect from such a scary race of people.
The sorceress couldn't help but roll her eyes as she watched the reaction pour out of the goblin. These creatures were so easy to fool. Now all that was left for her to do was spin an equally fancy tale for the goblin and call it a day.
"As for you," Velicion continued as she placed a gentle hand over the goblins right shoulder. His grey skin lost all of its color as his eyes dwelled on her delicate looking hands. Most likely, he was afraid of something she wasn't going to do. "She has a great task for you."
The goblin's eyes slowly lost their interest in the elfs hands as they made their way towards her face. Terror was ever present in his very being as he stared hard at the woman's void-black eyes.
"In three days you are to exit this camp and make your way out into the wilderness. Where you will go, the Tall Lady does not say, but you must travel away from here." Velicion paused as she waited for the goblin to signal that he understood what was being told. She continued once the creature had nodded its head. "From there you will save a beast clad in white and shortly after that you will skewer a gluttonous pig. Bring her its head, and you will be rewarded. Once that is finished your next task will be to become the mightiest warlord these lands have ever seen and from that title comes the privilege of being the first to raid the southern human kingdoms."
Velicions hand left the creature's shoulder as she finished what she wanted to say. It was all high and mighty, and the sorceress doubted that any of this would even come close to happening, but it was good that her audience was so enthralled by what she was saying.
"All of that," Dasher said as he pointed to himself. Tears began to swell in his eyes as his voice wavered in disbelief. "I will do?"
Velicion nodded her head as she rolled her eyes. For the sorceress, this was the first time she had ever seen a goblin cry. It was a ridiculous sight to behold.
"And more," She said as she made to stand up. Dasher's head followed her movements as the elven woman gestured for the young girl to take her leave. "But the Tall Lady will not say any further on the matters regarding her mortal champions."
As silence began to fill the tent, Dasher watched through teary vision as the two woman stepped out of the tent. Their forms disappearing as a bright light blinded the goblin for a brief moment.
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