Meadow Meeting

[Sylvano the Wasabus]

Meadow Meeting


He was a young dwarf, a beardling, and that’s probably why he was in this situation. A more experienced dwarf would not have strayed so far from the hold. He wasn’t lost- it was a kind of blasphemy for a dwarf to be lost- he knew approximately where he was and it wasn’t a place he really wanted to be. He’d been chasing a deer- dwarves usually aren’t deer chasers, but he’d fired a crossbow bolt at it and the bolt had hit and the young dwarf had followed the trail of blood further and further, not wanting to give up the deer or to let it die somewhere and be wasted on wolves and other scavengers.

He had not seen the deer for a bit and the trail of blood was now almost nothing- just a drop here, a drop there- very difficult to follow. It was nearing midday now and the bright sunlight was making it harder for the beardling to see with his cave and tunnel eyes.

The good news was the deer seemed to be stumbling. Its trail now showed that it was staggering, crushing vegetation and breaking branches off bushes. The poor thing was heading for the one place the dwarf didn’t want to go- the forest. It was as if the deer knew it’s only chance of escape was amongst the trees, where dwarves hesitate to go.

But this dwarf was young, and although he’d been raised with a healthy suspicion of trees and woods he’d never actually spent much time in them himself. So when he found that he was suddenly surrounded by trees he was amazed. It seemed so foreign and so... insubstantial. The leaves moved in the wind, the bushes moved if you touched them- a gossamer world so different from the dwarf world of solid earth, metal and stone.

And then he came upon the deer. It was on its side, in the grass at the food of a large tree. But the deer was not alone.

The young dwarf blinked- it was- it was... Taylor Swift standing beside the deer. Long blond hair, the impish expression, the eyelashes- and then Taylor Swift saw the dwarf and knocked an arrow into its bow. The dwarf grunted. Not Taylor Swift. An elf. He hadn’t realized that elves might look like Taylor Swift. He’d been feeling lonely and listening to her music, dreaming about finding a good dwarf woman- but there was no time for that now because the elf was sneering at him, and even speaking.

“Well, well, little dwarf, I suggest you leave.” The elf smiled. “This deer is mine.”

It was a male elf. The dwarf had never seen one before. He wondered what female elves looked like, if male elves looked like Taylor Swift. Perhaps the females looked more like Kelly Osbourne? What a bizarre race- no wonder they hid in the trees.

The elf was speaking again. “Can you hear me little dwarf? Best move on.” The elf pointed the notched arrow threateningly.

He may have been young but he was a dwarf, even if he liked Taylor Swift tunes.

“Over my dead body!” The beardling growled.

The elf was swift. It unleashed arrow after arrow which the dwarf deflected with his buckler. The beardling set down his crossbow and drew his axe. Arrows and bolts are for lesser races.

“Come here pretty elf, and let me cut that hair.” The beardling growled.

The elf regarded the dwarf with suspicious eyes. “You wish to fight hand to hand?”

“I wish to take my deer and leave this place. However, if you deny me that, I am willing to kill you first.” The dwarf replied.

In a flash the elf was up the tree. What kind of squirrel nonsense was this?

“Are you retreating then?”

The elf notched another arrow in reply.

“I will fight you face to face.” The dwarf said. “No weapons. And may the better race win.”

“I am faster and stronger.” The elf sneered from the tree.

“Let us put it to the test.” The dwarf growled, but he knew better than to drop his weapons just yet.

The elf seemed to consider the proposal. Or maybe the accursed thing was waiting for some more of its kind to arrive? Then without warning it clambered down the tree into the meadow and set its bow and quiver down.

“No weapons?” The elf said.

The dwarf smiled and nodded. He would have a tale to tell tonight at the inn. He sat down his axe and his buckler.

The two opponents began to circle each other. The elf was nervous, twitchy even, as if it expected the dwarf to attack at any moment. The dwarf was young but he had wrestled enough with his comrades to know how to play this game. He would not waste his energy on feints- he would wait for his opening, and then take the elf down. But what then? Should he kill it, or let it go? He was inclined to let the thing go – after all it had been brave enough to fight him hand to hand- but yet there were all those other things that happened in the past between the two races. Irreconcilable differences. Grudges. Blood debts.

The elf moved swiftly, a blur, and plucked the dwarf’s cap off. The elf laughed and threw the cap at the dwarf’s feet.

The beardling knew the trick and ignored it. He wasn’t going to take his eyes off the elf for an old cap. And suddenly the opening was there and he grabbed the elf and twisted the squirmy thing to the ground. The thing wiggled so much it was like holding onto a snake. And then there was a knife in the elf’s hand and it plunged the blade into the dwarf’s chest, twisted it and pulled it out.

The beardling released the elf- his arms suddenly weakening.

“I should have known you would cheat.” The dwarf gasped.

“It’s not cheating. I outsmarted you.” The elf sneered. “You dwarves are easy to fool.”

The beardling didn’t care what the elf said. As his life ebbed away he replaced the contumely with Taylor Swift’s voice- it was like he was seeing her and hearing her right there, in the meadow.

“You belong with me.” The beardling said softly. And spoke no more....

[I Hate Atlaga]

Nice.
Stupid cheating elves. +rep

EDIT: Gotta spread the love around.

[bumper15]

Very good story, except that you said that the dwarf climbed the tree, but then the elf was there instead?

Other than that

[TGRF]

I think the elf was supposed to go up the tree. Pretty good.