Rolling Shadows - Chapter 10

The severed tail landed with a thump as a safe distance from Tha'lif as Cassy declared her defiance to her perusers. Tha'lif looked at the tail for a moment deciding how best to pick up the deadly appendage. It didn't take her long to see that it had been sliced with a sufficient stump. She carried it by the stump, held out in front of her like someone else's dirty handkerchief.
As Tha'lif placed it on the ground the herbologist, who wore thick gloves, picked it up by the deadly end. With her other hand she used a dagger and sliced the tail through and with great care she removed a poison sack. She then placed the poison sack into a wooden bowl, along with some herbs and sliced the poison through, it dripped into the bowl.
“That'll kill him!” exclaimed Th'liff.
“It'll save him,” the herbologist said softly, “he is dead if we do nothing. It is different if ingested we can teach his body to fight the poison.”
“So he'll be immune?”
“No,” the herbologist said, “but it'll save him in the here and now.”

Cassy arrived back, she lay panting on the ground. Next to her, her staff pushed itself up on a pair of vines and wriggled itself into the ground. It soon became a restful tree once more, gathering energy from the diminishing light. Cassy rolled onto her front and looked ahead at the spell being performed by the pixies. Having flown so far she was glad of something to watch, something she didn't need to be involved with. Sitting up she watched. The pixies were reciting an incantation, seated around a small bowl.
“It is ready,” the herbologist said.
Tha'lif held La'ingif's hand in both of hers. The herboligist dabbed his wound with water, then poured some of the antidote onto his lips. Rubbing them gently with a large leaf his lips slowly opened. The herbologist then poured the rest of the liquid into La'ingif's mouth.
“Now what?” Cassy asked.
“Now we wait.”

As night came Tha'lif wasn't sure that the medicine had helped. La'ingif's body had begun to quiver again, and it seemed to be getting more intense. Tha'lif felt she couldn't watch any longer. Time was all that was required now and Tha'lif sat with Cassy, with the glowing jewel of a staff for light.
“We should have heard from Nayrath and Shaydon by now.”
“They will contact us when they can,” Tha'lif said, “we should continue on tomorrow.”
“I know,” Cassy said, “its just I've never had a command before.”
“You'll do fine,” Tha'lif said, she hoped her tone was reassuring, “in any case we don't know what happened to them. As you contacted The Twelve – they may well have been rescued.”
Cassy was unconvinced by Tha'lif's words, “I've known Nayrath for a long time - if that were the case he'd have reported in by now.”
At that moment there was a thud of a message orb just ahead of them. Tha'lif reached for it with her staff and it rolled towards her. Holding it in her hand Nayrath's voice emanated from it, “we're alive. The Twelve responded to our request. Get where you're going, we do not have much time. Tha'lif knows where the spirits lie. Go with her and we will do our best to keep the manticores away. Good luck.”

It was only just light as Tha'lif awoke the next morning. She walked over to La'ingif. A pixie had been seated next to him all night. Tha'lif knelt next to the observer as she looked at La'ingif wondering what to say, the pixie spoke.
“The cure worked. He sleeps now.”
“Can I wake him?” Tha'lif asked.
The pixie frowned at that question, she shrugged as if to say, its nothing to do with me.
“La'ingif,” Tha'lif said softly. She kissed him on the cheek, then on the lips. His eyes fluttered and he looked at her.
“Tha'lif!” He grabbed her arm and quickly hugged her to him. “Thank you. So good to be able to move. Thank you for all your efforts. I could sense everything. I could see and hear, but couldn't move – well not controllably anyway. Can you imagine that?” He paused. “I could have been left, eaten alive, no pain, but...”

As the sun rose the pixies awoke – as if spirited into life by its rays. They began to prepare food for the travelers. La'ingif was ravenous, he had never been so pleased to see food. Each fruit tasted so much better than normal. It might have simply been the sudden sensations after having been paralyzed or that the symbiosis between the pixies and the trees meant that the food was much improved.
Once he had eaten La'ingif felt suddenly energized. He got to his feet and said, “I'm going for a walk. I've done nothing for the past few days.”
“You were paralyzed,” Cassy said, “we do have, what could be, quite a long trip ahead of us.”
“I know,” La'ingif said, “but a short walk isn't going to make much difference.”
“All right,” Cassy said, “I'll use the time to gather some supplies together.”
“We would be happy to help,” one of the pixies said.
La'ingif headed off into the wood and Tha'lif joined him. At their command the staffs came leisurely through the air to their hands. The elf couple held hands as they walked in silence.
“Far enough,” Tha'lif said.
“Sorry?”
She smiled at the look of utter confusion on his face as she kissed him and stroked his long black hair. Her hands moved to his arms caressing them. She kissed him again and whispered, staff in hand. With a white light her clothes fell to the ground and folded themselves neatly. La'ingif looked at her naked body, pulled her to him and kissed her, more passionately that he had ever done before. He ran his hands over her breasts as he whispered the same spell. His clothes joined hers in a neatly folded pile. They touched their staffs whispering a couple more spells and the staffs moved away. They kissed again running their hands over each other's bodies, then they touched foreheads. Tha'lif placed her hand on La'ingif's chest and he fell lightly backwards onto a conjured rug. Tha'lif lent over him and kissed his lips, neck and chest.
While Tha'lif and La'ingif caressed and kissed their staffs became intertwined. They rapped branches and vines around one another. Jewels glowed and the staffs became one. They moved like a slow dance as their masters made love.

“This should do nicely,” Cassy said. The Pixies had filled three bags with supplies for their trek, “thank you?”
“You are most welcome,” the pixie who had been assisting her said, “while you wait for the others, tell us a tale.”

Tha'lif breathed deeply as she lent forward to kiss La'ingif on the forehead. She swung her leg over him and lay down beside him. She took a moment to neaten her hair, and smiled stroking his cheek with the back of her hand. Meanwhile their staffs had separated, connected by vines clutching one another.
“I hope you don't think I took advantage.”
La'ingif sat up before he responded to the question, “no.”
“I wanted to show you life,” Tha'lif said, “after pain.”
He flashed a smile as he kissed her, “Cassy will know.”
“How?”
“The trees!” he said with a slight delay, “they do prattle you know.”
“No different from home trees,” she giggled, “well maybe a little – didn't even bother me.”

Hand in hand the couple returned. Cassy was engaged in the telling of a story to the pixies. They were gathered around her, hanging on her every word. It was somewhat odd to Tha'lif and La'ingif the interest with which the pixies sat. The story was very familiar two them, often repeated by grandparents and parents alike. - Sort of the elf version of 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf', in terms of how well known it was.

“Thank you,” one of the pixies said.
“Your welcome,” Cassy said, “when our mission is over I'm sure my people would be interested in setting up a trade relationship with you.”
“We would be interested too.” The pixies stood and moved away into their dwellings. They exchanged no words of parting and one could almost imagine that they drifted rather than walked around. Cassy stood and coming over to the couple asked, “have a good walk?”
“Yes,” Tha'lif said, chocking back a double entendre remark that came to mind.
“Good,” Cassy said, “as it is we've lost no time. I've been 'paying' for our supplies. We've got packs and are ready to go. Where do we go from here?”
“I'm afraid,” said Tha'lif, “They are said to live atop Elgrin mountain. Waking them might be difficult, they have been known to sleep for thousands of years. They are neither nocturnal nor do they live in the day. It is always tomorrow with them – they can always put something off.”
“Then we'll fly to meet them.”
“Not possible,” Tha'lif said, “the mountain is protected. They only way is to climb. The spirits are the epitome of magic, they can grant wishes. You'd be surprised how much a climb can put people off, make them forget the wish.”
“Is it safe?”
“Yes,” Tha'lif said, trying to keep her answer succinct, “to the centaurs the mountain is holy. Believed to be the place where one of their prophet died.”
“I see,” said Cassy, “anything more I need to know?”
“Well.”
“Go on.”
“Its not relevant,” Tha'lif said, “I wouldn't want to ramble on like a warlock.”
“I always rather enjoyed the warlock's ramblings,” Cassy said, “even to the point where I was disappointed when the Warden cut them off.”
“All right,” Tha'lif said, “the mountain is protected by a small group of centaur guardians. I am unsure whether they will help us. However, since we are not causing damage to the mountain side, I doubt that they will hinder us. The centaur legends do say that the prophet was unsuccessful in contacting the spirits. So the centaurs may find it laughable that we think we can achieve what he could not.”
“We should go.” They swung their sacks onto their backs, mounted their staffs and headed away.