Part Three
"He saw me," Dale whispered as he lay beside Gwindor on his cot. "Eru looked right at me."
"He saw nothing," Gwindor replied softly in the same Elven tongue. "He saw only a shape. Men cannot see so well in the dark."
"Not so well as Orcs," Dale sang.
Gwindor caressed Dale's face.
"I wish I were in his bed right now," Dale said, sounding sane again.
"He is in my command."
"How fortunate for him to be destined to die." Gwindor thought perhaps Dale was yet unstable. He was crueler when he was agitated.
"Do not toy with him."
"If I were in that bed now, I would be in your command. No more..."
"Must it be so?" Gwindor whispered.
Dale did not reply then but put his head to Gwindor's chest. Gwindor was such a kind being. It was a shame people kept dying on him. Should he be blamed for being such a survivor? Should I? Dale asked himself. Perhaps not blamed for the survival itself, but Dale felt, perhaps for what he had done in order to survive. Perhaps it all should have ended long ago...but now that time was past. Dying now would mean he really had acted in vain. He should live, even if it hurt. Maybe, especially because it hurt.
"I like him," Dale whispered, "He offered to take away my pain."
"Willow will not numb your pain."
"He looks quite interesting, for a man. How many years to you suppose he has? He is not quite so hairy as some others."
"It may not be age. Some men just have more or less hair. He told the Company he was older than thirty."
"Thirty? That is quite old for a man, isn't it? So much of his life already past. A shame that he...and someone like me is immortal."
"Do not jest. Do not dare you make light of that, Friend. The ages are for you to be well and beautiful, as you always should have been, as you are."
"Lonely Moon," Dale sang. "Two moons in his grey eyes. There is another alone. My Lonely Moon."
"None of your lewd songs. Go back to your own barracks."
Dale huffed and sat up to braid his hair.
"Does his name mean Moon?" Gwindor whispered as Dale pulled on his clothes.
"Yes. I know many words that are spoken at night."
"It was a good song."
Dale smiled. He walked by Tsuki's bed as he left the barrack, dropping a gift to him.
When Tsuki woke in the morning, he was holding something and his body ached from the beating in the tavern yard. He sat and reached for his pants, noticing bruises. "May I assist you?" Gwindor asked from Tsuki's back.
Tsuki rolled his shoulders, then turned his head to watch Gwindor approach. "I told you that I could tend my own wounds." Tsuki noticed the apple in his hand and wondered if Gwindor had left that also. He put the fruit to the bed and lifted his hands to prod his ribs and then his sides. "Nothing broken. I shall see if I pass much blood this morning. If so, perhaps then I will need a healer."
"Perhaps we will call for a Wizard."
No Wizard would come, Tsuki thought. The Brown was here, but he was not the same as His Master.
"Dale has been asking about you. Be cautious," Gwindor told Tsuki. They were both so young; he did not wish to see the Man or Elf hurt.
Tsuki said nothing, but watched Gwindor go, before standing to dress. When, Tsuki wondered, had Dale asked about him? They had only met last night, and there had been little time after Dale returned from Barad's office. Perhaps Tsuki had been asleep by then.
Tsuki examined the apple. It seemed unspoiled and he put it in a pocket.
Dale was in the bath when Tsuki walked through the washhouse to the latrines. They saw each other and then Tsuki continued, moving out of Dale's view. Tsuki wondered why Dale was here so late and why he was wearing a garment while bathing. For the moment, he put the thought from his mind. He was in pain and needed urgently to relieve himself.
Dale did not like that the baths were so close to the latrines. He liked it less that he should share a bathing area with Men...and Dwarves. The personal hygiene habits of Dwarves were unlike that of Elves and some Men were not far better. He disliked the odor that wafted from that area to the bath. Men-stink mostly. Still, though the dislike was an unpleasant fact, Dale knew there were worse creatures with which to live. He knew he had lived without baths at times. The dislike was quite pleasant compared to those times.
Surviving as a Ranger was not such a bad thing.
The Man came back into view. Tsuki went to a washstand and poured water to cleanse his hands. "You are here late," he said without facing Dale.
"You are late. I am often here at this time."
"Washrooms are so much cleaner in Wizard dwellings."
Dale began to feel agitated. "Have you looked at the outside of a Wizard's tower? Where do you think all the waste is flushed in making the inside of their house so clean and comfortable? Wizards pollute the earth with their chimneys and plumbing. Filthy, dirty Wizards. So filthy." He was singing again.
Tsuki wanted to say that he did not care what a mad Elf said; he just wanted to be in a Wizard home again, but he had never thought of the situation in such terms before. The water wheels and the furnaces and the failed experiments of The Art flushed through the plumbing must all have some effect on the land. Tsuki cared, but he still wanted to go back.
Dale cringed in his bath. Dirty, dirty, Wizards, he thought. What had they done to that boy that he looked like that? Tsuki looked as if he knew the Wizards were wrong, yet would rather die than live without them. Dale closed his eyes and tried to fix his mind on something other than Wizards. "Did ya eat it?" he asked. It sounded to Tsuki as if he were speaking gibberish again.
"Pardon?"
"Don't you like eating apples?"
"Apple you said? You gave it to me, then?"
"Rush and leave me now. Don't be late for breakfast!"
Tsuki went out to the yard. The air was better there, removed from the dampness and waste that was drained at the back of the washhouse. Still Tsuki felt ill. Perhaps it was from the beating, or the ale to which he was unaccustomed. Perhaps there was some other cause.
The sickness troubled him, as Tsuki had rarely been unwell. He went to the well and filled his waterskin. They were on strict rations on food now, but on their honor to draw water only as needed. All his time as a mercenary it had seemed he was above such things, superior to the petty maladies other men faced.
Tsuki leaned heavily against the wall of the well. He drank from his waterskin and ate the apple Dale had left for him. "Why are you not at morning meal, Mister Eru?" a voice asked. Tsuki did not recognize it when he first heard it, though it was familiar.
The Brown came into Tsuki's view and lifted an aged hand to Tsuki's brow. Tsuki flinched.
"Are you well, Mister Eru?" The Wizard asked.
Not really, Tsuki thought, not since the end of the war, and not much better before that. He felt especially at a loss now, knowing a Wizard and Instructor was questioning him and deserved an answer.
"You look like you have been in a fight. Not good for morale. Go to the Hall of Healing for the day. I will notify the commander."
Tsuki nodded and walked through the yard to the Hall of Healing. He notified the Elf there that The Brown had sent him. The Healer did not look old, Elves never did, but he had an air of wisdom about him. Tsuki rested on the bed and drank the infusions the Elves brought to him.
Some of his Company came to look in on him, more curious than concerned on most accounts. Tsuki did not notice; he slept most of the day.
That evening he crossed the yard to go to his barrack. Dale watched from the window of the Barracks of his Company. He was the only Elf among them. The rest were Men, but for one Halfling. He would have disturbed most Elves. Dale tried not to think about it. His Company was decent enough; even the Halfling was some manner of veteran. They tolerated his fits, because they had witnessed a sword in his hands and because he told funny stories and sang amusing songs, and he could obtain what they wished to acquire.
He no longer required very much sleep, even for an Elf, and he knew how to go unseen in the night. It was easy to get over the wall from the inside and there were two towns and miles of wilderness available in a night's run. The trick was getting into a Ranger fort from the outside. It depended who was on Guard. If they were not sympathetic, it meant scaling the wall closest to the latrines. The guards tended to stay away from that section due to the smell. It was not a very easy climb, but Dale had done it times enough to be proficient.
"Dale, come sing us an Elf song," one of his Company called. He usually got along with Men rather well, as they were not Elven and could not know how unlike a normal Elf he was. There were good things and bad about their lack of knowledge. They expected him to know the songs of those Elven kingdoms familiar yet mysterious to them, and Dale had not lived long with those Elves.
Dale removed his cloak and walked to the space between the cots. He did know a few Elven songs, and he realized after a few days at the fort, that those in his Company would not know an Elven song well enough to correct him, so he often made them up.
Dale sang his songs for them and then he lay on his cot and listened to the others speak. Could he get something to eat, the Halfling was asking. Dale agreed with a languid wave of his hand, still scrying at the ceiling. He did not fault the Halfling for being so hungry; he was convinced their kind truly needed more fuel to work their bodies. The amount he was eating now, even though he was cheating the ration, was an impressive sacrifice for his kind. It would be no trouble; Dale knew the trees he would visit.
He plotted another task as he stared into nothingness.
When the lights were put out, Dale put on his cloak and left his barrack by a window. He went directly to the Wizard's hut. He spied out the tripwires and powders the Wizard had lain out as traps and alarms. He gained access through a window and soon was in the study.
A well-placed kick and a leap and Dale was crouched over the Wizard, his foot pinning the oak staff to the floor and his hand on the Wizard's mouth to keep him from incanting. "Did you make the Eastman sick when you met him at the well today?"
The Wizard looked at Dale steadily, seemingly unafraid. Dale worried and averted his eyes. Never knew with Wizards. They had powerful minds and not all Wizardry was The Art. Dale shifted his slight weight, meaning to pin the Wizard's hands, but he failed.
A gesture and Dale was thrown to the corner by an invisible force. "Cursed Hand-Wizard," Dale hissed, "did you make him sick?"
The Brown seemed suddenly large, as if he were larger then the room they stood in. Dale struggled to see through the illusion. He knew magic and this had to be an illusion. "Mad Fool Elf!" The Brown boomed down at him. He reached and his staff came to his hand. "We are all very sorry that you were raised by orcs, but it gives you no right to invade my home like a sneak thief in the night, you may spook the Elves and tempt the Men but I will not tolerate a poorly trained recruit disturbing my work."
"Raised? Raised?" He was laughing. It was not really funny, but the laughter seemed to come; sometimes Dale believed he had used up all his tears.
"Gather your wits, what remains of them! I have no wish to put a spell on you, for good or for ill, without your consent, but you must stop this madness."
"Not raised!"
"Pick up the chair and sit!"
Dale looked to the chair. The Wizard had ordered, but not compelled. It seemed an ordinary wooden chair. The Brown no longer seemed to loom over him. Dale clenched his teeth and crawled to the chair. He righted it and then sat.
"Have you not problems enough without taking up causes of others?"
"I thought that was the point of becoming a Ranger...to do good works in the world...to benefit others who cannot help themselves."
"Right you are, Mr. Maple."
Dale used that name sometimes. Elves would not have considered it proper for their records, or they felt content to keep thinking of him as a ghost rather than one of their own that had suffered what none wished to suffer. Dale Maple was convincing enough for Men, and easy for them to pronounce.
"Has he bartered for your services like so many other recruits?"
"Eru doesn't know I am here."
"Speak properly. I know you are able. That was butchered beyond Vale Elven."
"Eru knows not that I have come here on his behalf," Dale said slowly and in Common Elven.
"I would no sooner cast a spell on Mr. Eru without permission than I would on you." The Brown saw Dale was about to object. "Small force and illusion only to defend myself."
Dale shrugged and looked at the blackbird on a branch outside the window. The Brown rushed to open the window and shoo it away. "Never know, they might yet be spies."
"One must not be evil to enlist the aide of animals; I see no reason why coloring or nocturnal habits make any difference. I can sing to birds or trees by night as well as day."
"Possibly better by night," The Brown observed. "There is nothing wrong with your friend; in fact, he is recovering."
"He is sick because he is recovering?" Dale laughed. That seemed a poor joke.
"Amusing or not, it is the truth. He feels he is sick because something that held influence over him in the past is loosing its hold on him. He is, one might say, becoming more what he ought to be, though he may not feel this is true."
"Can't you...pardon...have you any power to help him, Sir?"
"None. The healers and I agree, there is nothing physically wrong with him. No spells or Art involved. I believe I see why you are moved to take up his cause."
"It is in his mind," Dale whispered.
"Of course you will not speak of this to anyone, including your new friend. If you did, I would feel obligated to report on your activities, Mr. Maple. He needs time to recover himself; you should understand that very well."
"Aye, sir."
"Now, go feed your Halfling and then go to sleep. It will not hurt you to sleep at night."
"Do you know which one?"
"That I cannot tell you," The Brown answered, understanding the question well. "They did wrong to Mr. Eru, but I do not believe they had evil intention. They may not have realized their influence."
"Doesn't make it right," Dale sang, "they really don't consider what they do."
"Some of us consider greatly, Mr. Maple. Some would create Art without harmful product, or find ways to reclaim waste in constructive manner."
"Good luck with that," Dale said sadly, "Bless our spirits if Wizardry is the way of future ages. Quite disturbing these rumors about the Age of Man. He is so often fascinated with Wizardry and so misinformed about Elves."
"Peace between races has come, for the most part, and it is what the Rangers are working for. Peace will lead to intermingling. I am afraid Man is quite average. An Elf could get offspring with any of the speaking races and the child would still be more Man-like than anything. It falls true for all combinations. Men are the future. Do not despair your future, the same may come to Wizards. I am afraid we will know more of The Art and less of anything alike to true magic."
"Bless your spirit and mine both. I would depart to the west body intact, but I am so tainted."
"They would welcome you especially, because you deserve peace. It is noble that you remain."
"Alone," Dale said, but it was indistinguishable from Eru's name as spoken in Elven.
He left the Wizard's hut, careful not to disturb traps on his way, especially with The Brown watching. He made his way over the wall quickly and gathered what he needed from locations nearby. He approached the gate to gain re-entry. The guard was a Man, known to Dale, and accepted his bribe quickly.
Dale stopped in the yard to drink at the well then went to his own cot and slept.
Early in the morning, before the sun rose on the horizon, the recruits woke and went about making themselves presentable, dressing, washing if necessary and trimming beards and tying back hair as was required of them. They met for their morning meal in the Eating Hall. Dale was late, but this was usual. Most of his fellow recruits found him odd and there were still many rumors about him, as there were about Tsuki, even after a month had gone by.
Those in Tsuki's own Company, Third Company, knew slightly more of him than others, but they were still likely to speculate regarding his past when he was not within earshot. Those in Dale's Company did not speak of him so much, even when he seemed to be out of range of hearing, for he had said plainly he did not care what they said, with the condition that they not tell others he was the one who acquired what they had. It was profitable for those in Second Company to keep their source a mystery while they bartered with other recruits. If pressed, they could be quite informative about his apparent madness and habits not related to acquiring goods. The recruits of Companies First and Fourth had no qualms about discussing either, or anyone else for that matter. It was true that Tsuki had been spared many rumors regarding Dale, because his company included so many Elves and one had been appointed their Captain. Only when free to visit with other recruits did those in Third Company hear of Dale's exploits.
It seemed strange when Dale sat down across from Tsuki. He reached across the table and touched Tsuki's forehead. There was laughter throughout the hall, as many had been watching them. They supposed now that the Mad Elf had finally gotten around to pestering the Easterling and checking to see if he had a scar.
"Dale, go back to your Men," Gwindor said irritably.
Dale laughed and sang in that mad butchered Common Speech. "I wanna ride today. Feel the wind in my hair."
Some Men sitting around them laughed. It was a play on words that many understood; the Elves, though usually fond of wordplay, did not approve of this joke, or else, they knew better than to show amusement when Gwindor was mocked.
Dale leaned across the table, as if most interested in Tsuki's porridge. "Feeling better?"
"Yes," Tsuki replied honestly. He was still puzzling over what might be so amusing in wanting to go riding.
"If you need anything, even if you are not supposed to have it, tell me; I'll get it."
"Perhaps later."
Dale grinned then put his finger into Tsuki's bowl and scooped up porridge. As Tsuki raised his eyes, Dale put his finger into his mouth and sucked the porridge from it, so hard that his cheeks hollowed.
Dale stood and walked away; he went to sit with some Men from his Company.
"It makes me sick to think what they did to him," One of the Elves whispered, "He does not understand that it is unseemly to do that in public, and in such mixed company."
"Quiet," Gwindor said.
Unseemly? Tsuki went over the conversation in his mind, and then he understood the advance that had been made. He had not seen, even when it had been right in front of his nose.
When the meal was ended and it was time to go to instruction, Barad came into the hall. "Those who were caught fighting during their leave will report to me now for their punishment."
Tsuki put his used dishes onto the appropriate table and then walked toward the door. Dale also went. Their commander waited and, when they reached the door, gestured for them to come with him.
As they walked toward the armory, Barad said, "I have a mission for you to complete, together. You will carry a message to our fort of River Forge. I will provide you with a map and there are roads along part of the way, should you wish to use them. If you are met or challenged, you will identify yourselves as Rangers, but understand, you are still in training and this is a training mission. I expect you work together and each keep the other from harm or trouble."
They came to the armory then and Barad entered first. Inside, the arms warden and an assistant were bringing items from the shelves to a table at the center of the large room.
"Here is the message container. It has my seal on it," Barad said, lifting the leather cylinder from the table. Dale and Tsuki both understood this meant they would not know the message they carried. Barad pointed out the map he had mentioned, which was drawn out on parchment. Tsuki stepped in to look at the map while Dale looked across the table to the Warden.
Tsuki quickly noted that River Forge was a town of Men some distance to the south and slightly toward the east, on the opposite bank of one of the minor rivers that came down from the large north-south range of mountains to their east. When he looked up to question the commander Tsuki noted, as Dale already had that some of their own gear was on the table.
"You will be allowed your own horses and weapons, or if you choose, you may leave those you brought to the fort and take a weapon you have been training with. Also, we will give you the pay for the month you have trained, but if you had a purse when you came here, you may not take that. You may take the clothes, packs, knives and all gear that has been issued to you here. We will supply no food, you will eat what you can obtain on your journey."
"Pardon, Sir, I see a town and a bridge marked. Is the fort part of the town?"
"The fort is both the bridge and the town. The roads are still watched, for there are enemy troops still moving and bandits to be found. When the guards challenge you, tell them you are Rangers bearing a message for Lord Duinhir. He may be on the bridge or in town. See that he reads the message, for within the container will also be instructions for how he may direct you to return to Stone Keep. Do as he commands until you return to me."
"Lord, I need my cloak and boots!" Dale said.
"You were issued both cloak and pair of boots."
Dale laughed eerily. "I really need my own cloak and boots if I am to go out there...with roads."
"Did you not register to train and give service as a Ranger? For now, there is no pressing need for secrecy and it is safer you appear what you are, though we have no uniform, the make of the clothes will identify you."
"My whip. I want my whip."
"Dale," Barad said firmly, "A whip is not a weapon, it is a tool sometimes used by Men on their animals and not something any Elf has use for. Choose a weapon and only one."
"Only Men?" Dale asked, his voice tinged with that mad sing-song tone.
"Dale," Barad said, as if this name for the Elf soothed him. It did.
"Not only men," Tsuki said, "Orcs use whips to drive or punish prisoners or subordinates. Are you an Orc or an Elf, Dale?"
"Yes, yes, you are correct. Elf. I am an Elf. I would have only used it on them. I need to scare them away."
"Surviving Orcs are on retreat," Barad said, "I cannot guarantee that none remain in small groups, but I know they will be frightened of two Rangers, even without your whip."
Seeing that Dale had his answer, Tsuki addressed their commander. "Sir, may I have my sash so that I may hang my swords properly?"
"Of course you may." Barad gestured to the Warden and the Elf in charge of keeping the armory looked to Tsuki.
"It appears a length of brown fabric and black cord. It was taken with my swords when I registered."
The Warden went to a shelf, where Tsuki's belongings were stored, and retrieved the sash.
"My Lord, did you not say 'one weapon'? Why does the Man get two swords?"
"As you have been with us a month, I have had time to hear word from those you listed as able to give the Rangers good reference as to your past actions. The former commanders of Tsuki inform me that the swords are used most effectively in tandem. You see how they are mated to each other?"
Dale looked to Tsuki who was arranging his sash and sword about his waist. The scabbards were certainly matched. "They look small. Let me see the blade."
Tsuki gave a nod and then drew the longer of his pair of swords with his right hand. The blade gleamed and seemed remarkably thin to Dale, and to the Warden and Barad as well.
Dale laughed. "You fought the armies of the Dark Lord with those?"
"Pluck a hair from your head and give it to me."
Dale shrugged and plucked a long red hair from his head. It was fine as Elf hair always was and Tsuki had difficulty grasping it, but he managed to wind the end about his finger such that he could feel it's position. Tsuki extended his arm. "Now, choose any sword but one of mine and cut the hair."
Dale looked around and then took his own sword from the table and unsheathed the blade. It was an Elven blade and seemed elegant and functional to all who saw it. Dale fixed his eyes on the hair then swung the blade. The hair was not cut, but glided over the top of the blade and then swayed in the air.
"Now, you hold the hair," Tsuki instructed.
Dale put the sword on the table and grasped the hair. He held it away from his body, as Tsuki had. When Tsuki moved his sword through the air, the hair was cut in two. Dale lifted the remained of the strand of hair to look at the cut end.
Tsuki returned his sword to his sash. "They are not swords that bludgeon or stun an enemy. They take a head from the body cleanly in a single stroke. If one does not wish to kill immediately, a limb is taken as easily, or to wound, a slash inside the arm."
"And can you block an enemy sword?" Dale asked.
"Yes, and in some cases, break it." Tsuki saw that Dale had not fastened a weapon yet. "If we are to travel together, perhaps you will choose your bow? You can rely on me to protect you in close quarters and we should be able to hunt as well."
Dale laughed. "Tsuki fails the test."
"It is not failure," Barad said. "Tsuki has chosen the weapon he is most proficient with and considered the strategies available in working with a partner and given thought to finding food as well."
"I see your point now, Dale," Tsuki admitted. He had not realized that even their choice of weapon was a training exercise. "A sword could not be so easily created or obtained along the way, while we might find materials available in the wood to make bows as well as arrows."
"Staves. Were I a Dwarf you should be wise to suggest I take my axe, but I am...an Elf, and so I will sing to the trees to provide us with wood when we need it, but we do not need it, for if I wish meat I kindly as my brother animals to give up there lives for me and slaughter them mercifully when they come."
"I was not certain Elves ate meat," Tsuki said, looking at Dale's strange smile.
Dale did not answer, no one did. The answer was understood, Elves did
not normally eat the flesh of any creature, but Dale did.