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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cevalic" data-source="post: 1443812" data-attributes="member: 171">Chapter 9His name was Christopher Lightenguad, a ranger no more than twenty years old. His funeral was the first time that I saw him, though I did not venture close enough to get a real good look at his body. From where I stood I noted that he had golden hair, with a well built frame, that probably caused most women that saw him to do a double take when he passed. Not that it mattered now.They had the funeral to the north of town, in a small valley enclosed by a ridge full of trees. The youth’s body was placed upon a stone table. Slowly each of the villagers brought forth bundles of wood and piling them around the base of the slab. This continued for quite some time until the body was barely visible. I hung back from the crowd, a spectre as silent as death. Most of the villagers undoubtedly blamed me in some way for the young man’s death, and I didn’t wish to have any confrontations at the funeral. Indeed, there were quite a few people who occasionally glanced over their shoulders, with looks of evil intent upon their faces.I ignored them.They were fools to think that it was my fault the young Lightenguad had been killed. Had I known there were more gnomes lurking in the woods, I would have gone out hunting. Not that it would have saved Chris. Derrin said they had found his body on the western trail leading into the town. Next to him lay a dead gnome. The young ranger had fought bravely, but must not have known there was another gnome out there either, for he was found with a shortspear in his back.He would have been dead long before I got there. There was a good chance that I killed the gnome that did him in. Not that any of the villagers thought about that, or would take much solace in the fact if they had. To them I was the one who the gnomes had come for, and that was the reason that Chris was dead.I partially listened as Derrin gave a eulogy to the weeping crowd. Apparently Chris had come to the village an orphan, although the village leader mentioned it only in passing. Indeed every part of the speech had the deceased youth to be overcoming some sort of obstacle or doing some good deed. Derrin ended, tearing up, by saying that although he never had blood relatives, he was a part of everyone in the village’s family.More than one head turned at that comment.“Let us pray,” Derrin said bowing his head. As one, the entire village lowered their heads.“O Great Earth Mother. We give back to you the one you gave to us. We thank you for the blessed time we were able to spend with him, and ask that you hold him close in the Afterlife. We will strive to be as good of a servant to you as he was. We now send him into the air, where he can flow upon the winds, finally settling in the places that you deem worthy for his remains. With, and for, your love, Au-shwam.”“Au-shwam,” the villagers repeated.I made a silent note to ask Derrin about the last phrase, as it was one I was completely unfamiliar with. In utter silence Derrin moved over to a large torch, and struck to rocks together next to it. Fire enveloped the torches head, as sobbing from the crowd reached my ears. With a walk filled with respect and sorrow, Derrin moved towards the body, and lit the pyre.As the body began burning, most of the villagers began going home tears running down their faces. I stood there with the few that remained. All of the rangers stayed and continually hauled more wood from the forest to throw onto pyre. I never moved. My eyes were locked on the flames and ashes rising from the immense blaze.The fire that danced in my eyes, echoed in my soul.* * * * * * * * * * *There were nine people at the meeting that night, all of them rangers. The four missing rangers were out on patrol, and there was much grumbling that all of them should be out, although it grew quite quiet once Derrin arrived.I sat apart from them all, in a cushioned chair along the wall. My spot, however, gave me a decent view of the table and the maps lying upon it. No one had said a word to me since I had entered the chamber. In fact, the nod from Derrin was the first acknowledgment that I was even there.They all resented me now, even the ones that had saved my lives from the gnomes not so very long ago. Not that I cared. As soon as I had the information and equipment that I needed, I would begin my own personal war with or without this small group.Derrin moved towards the end of the table and cleared his throat. Everyone in the room, including myself, turned our heads to give the village leader our undivided attention. The look in his eye showed the burden that had been placed upon his shoulders.“I won’t waste any time getting to the point,” his voice came across as restrained, as if he wished to yell and start throwing objects all around the room. “We all know why we are here. There is no question that some type of action must be taken against the gnomes, but in this I must ask for everyone’s opinion. This is not my decision alone. Everyone in this room is going to be laying their life on the line, and therefore everyone should have a say.“Now we all know an open war against the Gaulguch clan would only lead to our deaths and of those we love.” As Derrin spoke to his men I found myself quickly growing impatient. None of this concerned me. “Yet we must take some form of action, the question is what do we do?”The enormous man, who had carried me not so long ago, stood up and placed his hands on the table. “As you say, it would be foolish to attack one of their cities for it would only invite the death of our loved ones. We could start picking off the gnomes in small groups as they hunt or patrol their borders.”“I, for one, disagree,” came a whisper of a voice from the far corner of the room. I was surprised at the sight of a cloaked figure sitting there, almost blending in with the shadows. My curiosity was aroused at what the figure had to say. “They would not be expecting an attack on their city, or more to the point, their leadership. We could be in and out before an alarm was raised. They wouldn’t even know for sure who slaughtered their leaders if we did it correctly.”The short, wiry man had stood by this point, and had cast his hood back. There was a small scar on brow, almost covered by a mop of unkempt brown hair. His face held a blank look, one that had uncaring written all over it. His green eyes, however, smoldered in the dim light given off by the hearth.“No offense, but I’ll not kill anyone in their sleep, even if it is one of those damn gnomes,” the mountain of a man shot back. “I’m a warrior, not an assassin.”“And a poor assassin you would make,” the small man grinned. “To carry off something with such important would require an amount of skill and planning that would just cause someone like you to get a headache.”“There is no need for that, Marcos,” Derrin’s voice bordered on that of anger. Whoever this man was, it seemed like he had few friends in the room. And that was something I could relate too. “And I agree with Tomas. I will not have anything to do with an assassination of any kind. My conscious would not let me live with that.”“And the gnomes might not let you live period,” Marcos countered. A murmur went through the room, as everyone voiced their displeasure with the comments. “Come now, are you all foolish enough to believe that a guerilla war against the gnomes will work? You have no chance of surviving such a war. Sooner or later they will launch a large attack against this village. At least killing off the leaders would cause enough turmoil that we could have evacuated the village and found some others who would help us in this war which will start soon enough.”“I said no,” Derrin’s voice grew strained as his nostrils flared in anger. “There will be no assassination.”“Then you, and everyone else, will die.”Marcos immediately turned and quietly moved to the door, even as the group of rangers began yelling towards the small man. I was surprised when no one threw anything at him, or ran to attack him, especially with the anger that was building in the room. I wasn’t surprised, however, when I found myself standing up.I knew what I had to do, and there was no way it was going to take place with Derrin and his men. I nodded to Derrin as I moved toward the door. His only response was a questioning look as I grasped the handle. Turning my back on him, without giving any indication of my intentions, I pulled the door open and went after Marcos.* * * * * * * * * * *“Marcos!” I called out as I walked after him.The thin figure stopped and turned. He squinted as I approached in the waning light. “Ah, the elf. Come to try and give me a lecture on assassination and how your kind is against it?”“Actually, I wish to help.” I could tell my answered surprised him, although he gave little indication of it. “I have a score to settle, and starting at the top seems like the best way to do it.”“This is about more than scores,” Marcos didn’t seem overly excited by my proposition. “I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t think it would help the village. Regardless of what those men in there think,” he motioned to the cottage we had just left, “I’m not a cold-blooded killer.”“You could use another skilled sword in case things go wrong,” I pointed out. It was not that I needed him, but if there was a chance I could start with the leaders of the gnomes I would take it.“I didn’t say I didn’t want your help. I just want you to know this isn’t just about bloodlust and grudges.” I was surprised at how he presented himself to me. “There are lives at stake. Those of my friends and family, and I don’t want anger clouding your vision if you come with me. We’re going in, getting the leaders, and getting out.”“Fine,” I nodded. I knew as soon as I was there though, what I did wouldn’t be quite what this man had in mind, but that would be his problem. “I will do what you say.”“Good. We’ll meet at this spot early tomorrow morning, two hours before dawn,” he drew close enough to me that I could smell an odor of pine about him. “Tell no one. If one of the rangers finds out, they might well try to stop us. I will have the supplies we need.”“Very well,” I responded as he turned to move away.A shiver of joy ran down my spine. Not only was I going to be able to strike at the gnomes, but I would strike at the very heart of their community. Smiling I turned to see if I could find some weapons for the trip without alerting any of the rangers to my activities…</blockquote>

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