Illara Chronicles: Swordplay

The Edge of Adventure

Kelith stared, wholly enamored by Galens tale. He could smell the rust in the damp stone prison that he'd described, and he resented the crafty caster that had promised them freedom to trick them into summoning an ancient evil. "...it had horrible horns like a bull, and swung an axe the size of a barn. After the tower fell, the beast set its violent intent squarely upon us." Keliths heart raced. Galen gestured to his friends at the table, an elvish wizard with one eye and a rouge with a sharp smirk. "Its steps shook the earth we stood on, it all but leveled the city!"

"Did you save her people?" Kelith sat forward on the bench seat, leaning his elbows on the oaken table.

"We saved three, and escaped with our own lives which for much of the ordeal was more than any of us expected."

"Well? What happened next?" Kelith felt like his excitement was too much. The words spilled out too eagerly, he likely came across as over enchanted, but why should that matter? It was amazing. These people, this place. It was like a dream, a dream he'd have had when he was a boy. A dream from before he became afraid.

"Next? We..." The Paladins face fell. A pained and distant look raked across his features. He changed the story. "Well..next we saw those few that we'd saved to safety, and began our plans to reclaim the city, which we did." The rogue held a fist out to the wizard who begrudgingly complied, shaking his hooded head.

Kendreth looked up a curving flight of stairs to where Hadlynn ate and drank with Aelandra. He smiled at her laugh, differently than he smiled all the time. Kelith found this one was rooted more completely in his eyes, as he set them back onto Galen, and the group at his table. "What's next for you?" Kendreth folded his arms across his chest.

"At dawn we ride to face the foul lich that deceived us all those years ago. We three ride to finish what we started, in the name of a friend." Magic filled Galens eyes, so that they shone brightly. "There is much good in you." He said to Kendreth. His eyes sifted Kelith and Taldren. "But your companion carries an evil that is just as intense...an artifact. To what trouble will your road lead you and your friends? Knight of the Fallen Stars?"

Kendreth opened his mouth to speak but Taldren cut in confidently, "We're going to avenge Kendreths family."

"Vengeance?" Galens face wrinkled into a frown.

Kelith was surprised by the look Kendreth gave Taldren. It was harsher than usual. Shock, maybe even offense crossed his features briefly, before that glimmer returned to his eye. "I haven't room in my heart for revenge for I am far too fond of my friends." He put a hand on Taldrens shoulder. "A dragon has nested in the heart of our homeland. There are many in danger and we seek the power necessary to help them."

"Dentren needs to pay for what he's done!"

"He has paid Tal. Revenge will not lessen the pain that I feel. No amount of retribution will return to me what I have lost."

"I'll kill him." Taldren said to the sea.

"You can honor their memory by letting-"

"-letting the sun set on a better world than the one it rose in!" Kelith finished the phrase. Kendreths father told them that often, as boys. It had been his mantra for keeping them honest, busy with chores and eager to lend a helping hand. That giving and good spirit had helped Clynn to endure much, but he strayed far from it before the end. This fall from grace manifested primarily in the poor treatment of Orabeth, his wife. Kelith felt at his ribs where she'd struck him before she escaped into the fire. He should have gone after her her.

"That is a noble ideal if ever I've heard one." Galens voice was muted by the sound of Keliths own thoughts. He felt suddenly disenchanted.

"Excuse me." Kelith stood, interrupting awkwardly. Taldren asked if he was alright and Kendreths blue eyes rippled with concern as Kelith left the long wooden table. He took in the enclave. A warm breeze rolled through a pine forest in the distance and across the glassy waters that surrounded the small island. The scent of it paired nicely with the smell of the food. The sound of it, with the soft music. The ancient white stone structure wreathed in greenery and vines, full of adventurers young and old, of every people from every age.