Ralowyn

Prelude Five

Read before Chapter 13 of Stone & Sky

Training her ears to focus and sift through all the noises of the world around was a difficult task for Ralowyn. It was not merely that her pointed elven ears were designed for superior hearing, but she also had a rather grand gift for empathy; something that had caused her much discomfort while she was a young elf. Even from a young age, she could hear the trees moan when they struggled through growing pains. She could hear the rocks groan underfoot when others stepped on them. She could hear the creek’s ache as it slammed into large stones and diverted in winding streams.

It had been a particularly difficult gift to control, but Master Tenlien at the wisdom tower of Loralith, had done his best to teach her. Over time, she had learned to quiet the world, but the ancient elf mage had cautioned her to harness the gift rather than suppress it. When she was a child, she could not understand why anyone would want to have such a gift. It felt as a curse to her. But over her 245 years of life, she had come to develop an appreciation of her empathy.

Especially on her walk.

She had always been a keen learner and hungrily took in most anything that Master Tenlien would teach her. When she was only seven years old, her parents had gone with an envoy to the Nari Desert in the far south and never returned. Little about that event had been explained to her over all these years, but Master Tenlien treated her fairly. Some would argue rather unfairly, and with great favor. Lanryn, another elf around her age who studied with her at the wisdom tower, would often tease that Master Tenlien favored her whenever she’d learn something quicker than him.

She smiled at the memory as she sat on a log in the middle of Elderwood Forest. Her silvery hair floated in the breeze in shiny strands. She took a deep breath in and tried to remember how long exactly it had been since she had last seen Lanryn. In a very real way, she saw him as a brother. They’d spent most of their young life growing and learning at the wisdom tower together. Larnyn was a fine student, but Ralowyn seemed to have a particular proclivity for the more obscure magics. This, of course, was absolutely fascinating to Master Tenlien, and she had received a lot of his attention over the years.

Eventually though, she and Lanryn had reached the traditional time of testing for elf mages at the turn of their second century. Lanryn was given a wand, no longer than his forearm, and sent into the forest for his walk. And in a rather strange turn of events, he had connected to the magic of the wand quickly and returned from his walk only a few months later.

In all that time, Master Tenlien had continued to work with Ralowyn, trying to find the right item for her to wield, but nothing they tried seemed to work. Master Tenlien was so frustrated with the results, or lack thereof, that he even started conversing with Kosoral the blacksmith to help him create a new item. He had run out of ideas. That is, until one night when he was sitting in the third-floor library of the wisdom tower at Loralith.

“Ralowyn!” He’d called.

She could almost hear his voice dancing on the forest breeze as she remembered running down from her own room on the fourth floor. “What? What is it?”

“Come! Come help me.”

She hurried over to where she found him, standing on a table that he’d moved near to the fireplace. Gingerly, he grabbed at an ancient artifact that had been the centerpiece above the mantle for a thousand years. It was a long staff, silver in color, etched with intricate scroll-work from a long-ago blacksmith. Ralowyn thought the ancient blacksmith more of an artist as she inspected the staff now, with the limited light allowed through the dense canopy dancing along its length.

She remembered Master Tenlien’s look as he stared crazily at the staff, as if he should have thought of the artifact before. When he handed it to her in that moment, the staff hummed to life. Ribbons of light purple energy flowed around the staff, and the magic blazed bright inside the swirled metal at the pinnacle. Master Tenlien stumbled a couple of steps backward, staring at her eyes as they erupted in lavender fire.

“I can’t believe it!” He said. “No one has been able to connect to the magic of the Staff of Anvelorian since… since… Anvelorian himself!”

The staff hummed louder and louder in the room that night as it vibrated uncontrollably in her hands. Suddenly, she dropped the ancient staff to the ground with a clang!

“I’m sorry,” she said, shaking. “I couldn’t hold it any longer.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” the old elf mage answered. His face was the picture of surprise. He could not hide his reaction even while he comforted her. “I will do what I can to help you. But once you can hold it, you will need to go on your walk,” a hint of sadness edged Tenlien’s words.

“I…” Ralowyn started. Truly, she did not know what to say. Master Tenlien had essentially raised her and taught her everything she knew. It was a strange moment in which they found themselves. All of a sudden, all the normal routine of their lives had changed. Master Tenlien, the source of so many answers to questions she had faced, would not be able to help her with this. He might be able to get her started, but she would have to forge her connection to this power on her own. And both of them had a strange feeling that she would be on her walk for a long time. Hers would not be so easy as Lanryn’s.

And they would miss each other.

As a blue-pelted squirrel scurried by her, she wondered now what Master Tenlien would think. She had been out in Elderwood Forest on her walk for 40 years. Of course, that is but a season for the long-lived elves. Still, she had learned much about her connection with the Staff of Anverlorian. Not so much in the understanding of the artifact itself, but rather, she had been able to hone her abilities and tap into its powerful and mysterious magic.

Her eyes glanced over toward the staff that stood upright, suspended on a nearby stone. The purple hue of light that shone at the pinnacle did so in an automatic fashion. She squinted her eyes and the purple light erupted into a mystical blaze. A ball of fire launched from the staff into the fire pit that she’d already prepared. Flames danced to life, gobbling up the kindling.

As she watched the campfire ungulate in a primal flicker, she wondered how long she would be out here in isolation. As Master Tenlien had explained it to her all those years before, an elf mage knew when their walk was done. She wasn’t sure she understood what he meant back then. And frankly, she still wasn’t sure she understood now. But something scratched at the back of her mind, as if her spirit were trying to prepare her for something.

She could sense it.

She wasn’t sure what it was, but she knew that something was coming.

She’d only been asleep for a few hours before the Staff of Anvelorian pulsed with magical energy, waking the elf mage from her dreams of star views in distant lands. As she had learned to do some years back, she had set the staff to warn her should anything draw near. Elderwood Forest was full of creatures and monsters that would find the slight elf woman to be a delicious midnight snack.

The vurve-vurve-vurve of the staff’s magical humming woke her as it was supposed to. Her pointed elf ears twitched, trying to hear what might be coming. Leaves of the canopy scraped together in a loud chorus as the trees danced in the midnight wind.

Crack!

A stick.

Crack!

Another.

Something drew near.

In one fluid motion, Ralowyn grabbed the Staff of Anvelorian and twirled behind a nearby tree. She scanned the forest, peering into the deep darkness. Her keen ears continued to twitch vigilantly.

Crack! Schkk.

When her eyes first landed on the bear, her heart nearly leaped out of her chest. After she regained herself, she stepped out in front of the large bear, which reacted as though she had startled it just as much. “You scared me.”

The bear grunted, trying to recover from its own heart attack.

“I thought you a horrible monster.”

Another grunt.

“What are you doing wandering about so late? I thought surely a beautiful bear like you would be asleep for the evening.”

The bear seemed to pay her no mind as it sniffed the air. The creature’s superior nose could smell something that Ralowyn’s could not sense. She eyed the bear thoughtfully. “What is it you smell?”

The bear moseyed onward, sniffing the night air.

“Well, you’ve already woken me. I suppose we’ll just have to find out what it is that you smell.”

Ralowyn flourished the Staff of Anvelorian, sending swirling lavender ribbons dancing through the air. A moment later, the campfire was gone, and the campsite appeared as if no one had ever been there. She stepped quietly behind the bear, following it at such a distance as not to scare the creature again.

Wind swept through the trees, rustling the leaves of the thick canopy, sounding somewhat like unending waves of the sea. Dancing moonlight poked in through the canopy occasionally, highlighting knobbly tree roots and casting strange shadows in the wood.

In all the years that Ralowyn had been on her walk in Elderwood Forest, she could count only a few times that she’d traveled during the night. It was a dangerous place, and some of the more vicious monsters prowled the ancient forest in the dark. Generally speaking, it was much wiser to travel during the day, even though the sun did little to illuminate some of the thicker parts of the wood through the dense canopy.

Suddenly, the bear stopped and stood still like a statue.

Ralowyn halted her pursuit. She could not smell anything yet, but she thought she could hear something trying to break through the scraping of billions of branches and leaves. She climbed atop a fallen tree that rested at an angle, as though the other tree had tried to catch his fallen comrade. She walked to the highest point, stepping easily over and around branches on the fallen giant. She peered through the darkness but saw nothing.

Then she heard it.

Something was barreling through the woods.

The bear clambered halfway up a nearby tree, petrified by whatever was hurtling through the forest. It was nearly impossible to pinpoint the noise, but something ran through the woods with little regard for stealth. Ralowyn still could not spot whatever it was, but her eyes met the poor bear’s as it clung to the nearby tree with a panicked hug.

Shh… My friend. It’ll be alright, she sent her thoughts toward the terrified creature.

Crack! Crick! Skut! Crunch!

Ralowyn’s elf ears twitched as the noisy intruder grew closer. She could now make out which direction it ran, and she peered through the dim, hoping to catch even a glimpse.

A shadowy figure blasted between a pair of trees in the distance, not running at the hiding pair but by them without even noticing. She could not make out the figure, but it didn’t appear to be the shape of any monster of the wood. Rather, it seemed like her. Maybe another elf?

As the intruder ran on through the forest, its pace never slowing, Ralowyn felt the need to follow. It had been a long time since she had spoken with anyone. Travelers did occasionally move through the forest, but she couldn’t remember the last time she had run into one.

Perhaps it’s this that I’ve been sensing. Maybe this will be the end of my walk?

She climbed down from her perch atop the leaning tree.

“Rrrr…”

A grunt from the bear stopped her. She turned to see the poor creature, still clinging to the tree for its life. Though it is difficult for most to see, Ralowyn saw clearly the worry in its eyes.

All of a sudden, it struck her how strange all of this was. She remembered elf legends about hags that lived deep in Elderwood Forest, that had the ability to shift their form. They would change their form to entice their prey to draw near to them. Once the helpless traveler realized that it was all a facade, it was too late. The hag would shape shift into a horrible deadly monster and consume them.

Ralowyn had no intention of being eaten tonight.

She looked to the bear again with a mixture of sympathy and determination.

“Maybe we can help each other.”

They tracked the intruder for many hours before Ralowyn noticed the footprints getting narrower. She slowed her companion with a mere thought while she inspected the trail. Broken branches on bushes, crunched sticks on the ground, and heavy prints in the moss and muddy areas made it easy for them to track their prey.

The she-bear grunted in the cool morning air nearby. The sun had not completely risen yet, but it soon would. Though the forest would stay cool in the shade of the canopy for many hours to come. A blast of steam came out of the bear’s mouth as it breathed heavily. Ralowyn acknowledged her new friend with great thanks. They had not stopped pursuing the figure all night. The bear’s lavender eyes flickered as the elf thanked her telepathically.

Ralowyn had only been able to accomplish such a feat a dozen times in the past. When she had been able to connect with the animals before, they’d usually been smaller and of a more delicate nature. Every time had been the same. She had tried to force her way into their minds before, but it did not work. The first time she was able to connect with a creature, it was a deer. Ralowyn had done everything she could to force her way into the deer’s mind, but it would not work. Eventually, she let go. She stopped trying to force it. She tuned herself with the magic in the Staff of Anverlorian and it was as if a candle suddenly lit the way. It was not the animal’s mind with which she needed to connect. It was the heart.

In that moment, she had asked the deer if it would help her. Not so much with words but her emotions, her heart, her rora. It worked. She and the deer played all that afternoon and she was able to convince the deer to travel with her to a far-off natural spring that she knew. It was a marvelous day she would not soon forget.

The bear was not entirely easy to convince, but both of them had been scared. And for some reason, Ralowyn sensed that they both cared for each other’s safety. Either way, the creature had reluctantly allowed Ralowyn to make the magical connection, and the two had partnered up for the chase.

Now, here they stood, analyzing everything around them as the trees swayed far quieter than they had late in the night. Ralowyn had easily identified the tracks as soft boots. It was entirely possible that they tracked an elf who had run into some trouble with a monster of the forest. Or perhaps it was an elf on his walk, trying to understand his own magic. Elves tended to be more light-footed than the person they trailed. However, grace is often the first thing to be dropped when fear rears its ugly head. There were a great many possibilities. But she did not dismiss the possibility of a forest hag. Ralowyn would have to be careful to keep her grace about her. One false step in a tussle with a monster of Elderwood Forest could be the difference between survival and certain death.

The pair walked in near silence, each footfall landing perfectly between sticks that would snap under their weight and give away their position. It was deliberate work, especially as she guided the she-bear’s great paws.

A couple of hours later, the sun began to peek in through the canopy in haphazard splotches. Ralowyn halted the bear again. The elf mage sensed that the she-bear had smelled something. She did not understand how, she just knew as the creature reacted internally. Ralowyn bent low to the ground, hovering her hand over the tracks. They were very close together now. The runner must have run to exhaustion.

We are close, she thought to herself and her companion. Be ready.

She tilted her head to give her pointed ears a better chance at hearing anything that might give them a clue as to the identity of the runner. In the distance, she heard something. She could not tell what it was, but for some reason, her fear melted away and her body felt the flood of compassion.

Her emotions shifted quickly between compassion and confusion. What is this? Some sort of trick? Are we being tricked by a forest hag?!

But as they continued forward, she heard more clearly that the runner was letting out broken cries between heavy breaths. The runner had finally stopped, finding some rest in a small section of the forest where the sun illuminated the forest floor through an opening in the canopy.

Ralowyn mentally signaled to the she-bear to wait from a distance while the elf looked for a safe spot from which to investigate. She peered through the trees while she moved and could see a natural well and a nearby cave in the small open area. She could not, however, see the runner.

She hopped onto some low branches of a nearby tree and swung herself higher to get a better view into the open area. And then she saw him.

A human?!

Ralowyn’s mind reeled. She had spent all of her life in Loralith, an elven city of ancient tradition. Few other peoples visited. Dwarven traders from Galium would traverse the woodland roads, but human traders were rare at best. Seeing one in the middle of Elderwood Forest was entirely unexpected.

As she watched the man, he continued to cry, hunched over, sitting in the dirt. He rocked slightly in between heaving breaths and sniffs. She could not see his face as his scraggly shoulder-length hair fell forward in sweaty mats. It was then that Ralowyn noticed that the man clutched something close to his body. What is that? she wondered, as she leaned on a branch, trying to get a better view.

Her heart began to ache with compassion again. She sensed her connection with the bear waver and shifted her focus. Ralowyn put every ounce of attention she had on maintaining the connection until the she-bear settled back into the bond.

Her heart pounded so hard inside her chest that she could feel it in her ears. That was close…

They knew nothing of this man. Was this some sort of trap? And if it wasn’t a trap, What is he doing out here? What happened? Who is he?

For now, she would watch. There was much about the situation that they did not yet understand. But the elf and the bear would watch and learn what they faced.

She had a great many questions, and she intended to get some answers.