“Like that? Like that, what is like that? What does ‘like that’ even mean when you yourself don’t even know what you did?” Frodeg whined.

  “I don’t know. I am just trying to think this through.”

  “Well you’re going down the wrong track, how many entrances do we have to defend?” Leldeif asked.

  “Eighty-five, not counting the river entrance and exit,” Frodeg replied quickly.

  “Are they guarded?” the elf shot back.

  “No, we keep a bookkeeper at each one to collect fees but there is no guard and some of the bookkeepers went up with the boys to Pine Hold. I have more than twenty deputies stationed strategically, but they are not trained or equipped to fight an opposing force of any magnitude.”

  “How have we become so weak?” Tia whined.

  “I beg your pardon, miss, but we ain’t weak. We’re focused on the economy both private and on a larger scale. That takes a lot of time and effort but it doesn’t make us weak.”

  “I didn’t mean it that way, Frodeg, we’re all in the same boat here. We spent so much time making money and establishing position that we forgot that a group with enough swords can take it all away from us at any time, so what do we do?”

  “And now we are back to the point in the conversation where you came in,” Leldeif said with an exasperated shake of his head.

  “Well maybe if you had thought to include someone with intelligence into your planning you wouldn’t have to backtrack,” Tia sneered.

  “Intelligence? You? Be serious,” Leldeif said showing a lot more of Nigel's nature than his own.

  “You’re quite ugly for an elf you know. I met elves when Uncle Rowen and I were out and they were much prettier than you, not to mention more courteous,” Tia spat and Leldeif laughed.

  “I don’t see where this line of conversation is going to help us right now and help is what we sorely need,” Frodeg verbally stepped between them. Tic didn’t know what was going on with Leldeif and Tia, but it was clear that they really weren’t fond of each other.

  “There’s really not much to discuss. There are no dwarfs left to defend us and the elves have issues of their own. I don’t know of any human settlements close except Skorsdale, so that leaves us with only one real option.”

  “Oh, and what is that?” Leldeif asked snidely.

  “We need to get the piners to help,” Tia stated as if it were obvious.

  “You heard the piners on the way in. They won’t go to war,” Tic said.

  “Aye, I have to agree with yer brother here. I’ve never known piners to take up arms,” Frodeg reinforced Tic’s statement.

  “Wrong. You heard the piners say that they wouldn’t help in the elven war or any other war. But losing Riverhouse is not a war. It is their livelihood and if they want to keep making money, then they had better sharpen their axes and get their butts in here.”

  “Makes good sense actually, but how are we going to contact them?” Tic asked.

  “You’re going to have to go and get them,” Tia said as if it were obvious.

  “I can’t leave, Tia, I am connected to this place and have to stay here,” Tic protested and she turned to the sheriff.

  “No can do, milady. I too am bound to the house,” Frodeg said causing her to look at the elf.

  “Trust me, you don’t want me negotiating with piners.”

  “Yeah, you’re too ugly anyways. I guess I’ll have to go,” Tia said resignedly.

  “You don’t know your way around the forests up here, Tia, and the woods are crawling with trolls, muridai, and halfmen. You’ll be captured or killed before you make it a mile,” Tic said.

  “Give it a rest, Tic, it has to be done. I just traveled hundreds of miles and survived, I can surely do this. I’m pretty good with a sword…let’s hope that I am good enough.”

  “You’re not,” Leldeif said.

  “You’ve never seen me fight.”

  “Don’t need to, I’ve seen them fight and I doubt that you’re sneaky enough to skirt around them,” Leldeif replied, causing Tia to look as if she was going to rebuke his comment but instead turned and walked away. Tic wanted to stop her and beg her not to go. They would find someone else to go to the piners, maybe Rowen when he got back from the southern communities in the house. Sadly, he recognized that look, she was going whether he said anything or not, nothing would stop her now, well other than those who waited outside. Tic looked at Frodeg who said, “I’ll draw her a map to Kyle’s place, he’s the closest.” Then left.

  Tic turned to Leldeif. He didn’t know what he expected from the elf, there was no way he could stop her. He had a good sword, but Tic had never seen him use it though others who knew the elf gave him a wide berth.

  A low growl escaped the lips of the elf. He turned abruptly and left.

  * * *

  Tia kept hearing something behind her as she made her way down a long tunneled, private exit from the house. It wasn’t footsteps or breathing, it sounded more like pebbles falling or bouncing down from the ceiling causing her to think that the tunnel itself might collapse. Then one of the stones hit her left shoulder followed by another one landing in the exact same spot.

  Tia spun with her sword out only to be greeted by the smirking face of an ugly, scarred elf.

  “What are you doing here?” she said in a not so kind tone.

  “You didn’t really think that we would let you go it alone now did you? I mean really, a silly little girl like you?” Leldeif said egging her on. Elves didn’t suffer under the typical sexual prejudice that humans did so his words were hollow, but to Tia, they rang as true as the fight she had fought her entire life.

  “No, you’re not. This is my deal so you just go find something else to do.”

  “Oh, I have other things to do…many other things. Once we get out there though, you’ll be glad that I came along, trust me on that,” he said as he swept past her and made for the door that was only fifty or so feet away and around a bend.

  “Yeah, but I don’t like you…not even in the slightest,” she said, eliciting a laugh from Leldeif. If she was honest with herself, she was grateful not to be alone, but the only thing worse than Leldeif would be the arrogant aerial coming along. She strode toward the door with a purpose, ready to start her trek but an out stretched arm stopped her.

  “There are times to move fast and times to move slowly, going through doors is always a time to move slow. Remember that the lighting is going to be different out there, so give your eyes time to adjust and use your ears first. This door opens into a cave, so it could be a nice hidden entrance or it could have been found and turned into a bed chamber for dozens of foul folk, we never know until we are there.” He cracked the door open slightly and they both listened, there was a sound, but Tia herself couldn’t identify it. He quietly closed the door and whispered to her.

  “About a dozen sleeping, we don’t want to use this exit.”

  “A dozen what?” Tia insisted.

  “Does it matter? We don’t want to have contact with them no matter what they are.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  Relax, there is another one farther up, it is elevated and hard to get down from but it is a better option than this,” Leldeif said before leading her off to the left and up an inclined passage.

  Tia found herself falling in to a rhythm with the elf, she wasn’t all that fond of him and he seemed like a drunkard or a bum more than anything, but that persona seemed to have vanished. Now he moved like you would expect an elf to move, smoothly and without hesitation, confidence established through years of living in the elements. Suddenly she was grateful for his presence, even if he was annoying. This passage seemed to wind upward quite steeply and didn’t accommodated many foot treads during its existence making Tia wondered if it was an entrance at all.

  “What kind of path is this?”

  “Not a path, a vent. I use it from time to time, but nobody else that I know of does. Tic comes here occasionally on his rounds as there are junctions in the weaves that he has to check but other than that and a few elves who want to come and go unnoticed, it is rarely used.”

  They came out onto a ledge that overlooked the forest surrounding the northeast side of Riverhouse. They stayed well hidden amongst the scrub brush that dotted the steep incline and they were high enough up that being spotted wouldn’t immediately identify them from the distant clearings where she could see numbers of beings gathering. They all looked human size, so the rumors of giants and trolls might have been an exaggeration.

  They followed a goat path along the face of the slope that sometimes dropped down in sheer cliff faces. They tucked in behind a group of standard pines to survey and plan their next steps. Tia stifled a scream when a strange voice suddenly said, “Hello, elf.” They turned to see what would have been an unusual sight if she hadn’t already met the diminutive man.

  “Pomen? And Gi’noo? What are you doing up here?”

  “Crap, I was hoping to avoid you this time around,” Leldeif said sarcastically.

  “Shut yer trap, Lindeif.”

  “It’s Leldeif and you know it,” Leldeif countered, causing the gnome to pull the pipe from his mouth speculatively before pointing the mouth piece at the elf.

  “It is what I say it is. You can think what you want boy, but you can’t run from your past. Who you are always catches up with you.”

  “We have a lot to do, Pomen, so save your lectures for later.”

  “I know, I’ma comin with ya. The harbor master sent me a sprint last night so I decided to meet ya here since I was already in the area.”

  “He prefers Harbor Coordinator.” Leldeif said snidely.

  “Bah, who cares.”

  “How did you know that we would come this way?” Tia asked.

  “Well, there are so many tourists down there waiting to get in to see the splendors of Riverhouse that I figured these would be the only unoccupied trails left. The foul folk don’t take nearly as kindly to the representatives of the law these days. How are you, lass, are you adapting well to this side of the swirl?”

  “Good, I got to travel down and see Mikalene and the dwarf kingdom though it is hardly what I would call a kingdom.”

  “Yep, the old kingdom was pretty much abandoned once the House was opened, but the monarchy still resides there and most of their arsenal, if it be called, that still exists is kept there but not much else. They stay for the stone quarries since they are still productive, they still produce the finest unmarred granite in the world, they do.”

  “Save the story time for later, we have to figure a way past this mess.”

  “Well, we have to stick to the ridge until we’re clear of them.”

  “We can’t, she’d never make the Barrons.” Leldeif said referring to a grouping of cliff faces that jutted sharply out and making for very treacherous travel. Tia didn’t have a clue so she just kept her mouth shut for now.

  “No, she wouldn’t…but Gi’noo can. So she will simply have to ride over the roughest part of the trek. I really didn’t expect you to be here, Lindeif.”

  “It’s Leldeif now, Pomen.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Well I been callin ya Lindeif for nigh on two hundred years and suddenly you expect me to change?”

  “It is custom for people in my situation to alter their names such. As far as the girl goes, her brother insisted I come along.”

  “I heard that you got a new job, quite strange being an elf and all, but a man has to survive. I have met Mattic Rowe, and I doubt that he would be the type to whip you when you get out of line,” Pomen said to which Leldeif chuckled and Tia stared at the warden wondering how he knew Tic’s full name of Mattic. No one ever called him that and as far as she knew, he hated it.

  “No, it is not that kind of relationship. He’s a good kid who needed help and I needed something to do is all,” Leldeif said casually.

  “Hm.…you are probably not the best selection to be guiding our up and coming youth.”

  “Tic is not your typical up and coming youth, Pomen, he is a very focused individual.”

  “And…you’re drawn to him,” Pomen said as a statement of fact and Leldeif dropped his eyes to the ground as if he didn’t quite know how to respond to that.

  “No need to worry, my friend, I feel it too. In fact, every piner I run into asks me about the wellbeing of young Master Rowe. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out,” Pomen finished, causing Tia to have a million questions, but for some reason even unknown to her, she decided to just ask what has been gnawing at her.

  “Is that what is happening? Are people being drawn to him?”

  “Aye, at least I think so, lass, why do you ask?” Pomen asked.

  “I don’t know, we met some elves in Mikalene and gave them a lift to Skorsdale, they seemed very interested in Tic and even said they had been waiting for him. They tried not to show it, but I think they have some sort of Messiah complex going on.”

  “Elves?” Pomens asked doubtfully.

  “Wood elves from the western reaches,” Leldeif added.

  “Those flighty bastards are nothing you should be worrying about, lass, nor to be taking seriously on any subject. Tricksters and performers is all they are.”

  “I don’t know, Pomen, they sure seemed to fight well. Pulled our butts out of a fire to tell the truth,” Tia said remembering the fight on the Second Wharf.

  “Aye, they can fight that’s for true.”

  43

  Wilderness

  Tia and Leldeif moved quickly and silently across the ridge, letting Pomen act as scout. He knew the area best and Gi’noo had the sharpest senses among the group and would let Pomen know if there was danger in the area. Traveling a traverse was tough due to more than simply the steepness of the grade. She didn’t think that she could walk five steps without having to cross a stream that was a foot or two wide and rushing at break neck speed down the mountain side. Ice usually coated the banks on either side and for several feet out, huge drifts of snow left over from last winter blocked large swaths of potentials paths. At first, she avoided stepping in the streams simply because she didn’t want soggy shoes and cold feet, but when they came upon one that was three feet wide Pomen counseled her to jump it.

  “These runnels look innocent enough,” he said, “but you never know how deep they’re going to be.”

  Tia had to admit that even though it was only three feet wide, it would be dangerous if it was an equal distance deep. If it was deeper than say four or five feet deep, she knew they would be finding nothing but her battered corpse at the bottom of the mountain so she heeded his warnings and of course slipped on the ice on the opposite bank.

  Her path was straight and plodding always in the tracks of Gi’noo’s hoof prints. Leldeif on the other hand was everywhere at once, checking lower trails and peeking over the top to see what exactly could get in their way. At lunch they stopped for a quick bite of cheese and bread and he told them what he saw.

  “We have a lot of movement heading out toward the plains ahead of us. If you’re going where I think you’re going, we are already blocked off with more on their way. I think they know we’re here and are moving to block us.”

  “I know that elf, except that they only suspect we’re here because if they knew we were here there would a dozen trolls, which are much better’n you on these slopes, right in front of us,” Pomen said, making sure that Leldeif thought he was wasting time and energy with all of the checking he has been doing.

  “Either way we’re walking right into a trap and I am in no mood to go up against thousands of halfmen or muridai for that matter.”

  “If we’re gonna get through this you’re going to have to start acting like a gnome,” Pomen said and paused, letting that sink in. He knew that the other races never gave his kind credit for what they are capable of but being a gnome, it just didn’t really matter. Gnomes don’t often care what others think.

  “Okay, I’ll bite. How do I behave like a gnome?”

  “First off, you do all of your watching from where you stand. All of this running about you’re doing will call attention to us.”

  “Need I remind you that I am an elf? We are quite legendary at our abilities concerning stealth.”

  “Bah, you know nothing. I bet you have never heard of the Pass of Kings, now have you? Nope, I figured you hadn’t. Funny thing is, is that your people came up with the idea but only the royals know about it. The royals that is, and rangers, of which I am one.”

  “I thought you were a warden?” Tia said innocently.

  “Aye, warden of this territory, but in order to be a warden you have to first be a ranger. You see, a couple of miles ahead there is an access to the path, though it is hardly recognizable unless you know what you are looking for. Now the trail is a bit hairy in spots but if we go slow and stay quiet, we will be alright and should come out on that ridge peak just behind that largest group.”

  “Is it a tunnel or something?” Tia asked.

  “In some places it is and in others it be more like a river, and others it be vast caverns, and I am sorry to say that there are some unsavory things living down there, but if we stay quiet and keep a good pace we’ll be alright,” Pomen said confidently. Somehow Tia didn’t feel nearly as confident as the ranger did and Leldeif looked very skeptical about the proposed plan. The fact, however, was that they were out of options. Pomen had a plan and neither of the other two did.

  “Why are they just out here waiting, why don’t they attack and get it over with? They surely have enough soldiers.”

  “I don’t know, lass, could be they’re waiting on more giants or trolls.”

  “Or pterodacs. I haven’t seen any of those flying around yet,” Leldeif added.

  “I’m not too worried about pterodacs inside of the House, at least not since I heard you have an aerial in there. They may be great flying beasts, but against an aerial they are naught but flies to be swatted.