Elf-Made Man

It had hardly been a triumphant return.

Daring had caught one of the strikes from Forester's dagger near her elbow, and the other under her ribs; she'd had Camilla tend to that one before she left the Temple. She had managed to leave unobserved, and had stiffly made her way to the window of her office at the Wandering Ax, painfully climbing back inside.

She took stock of her gear. She'd lost her bolo, which was easy enough to replace. She had to replace her bottled clouds; her leathers needed patching, too. But, she also had lost both of her fighting sticks, the polished mahogany rods that had seen her through many a sticky situation. She missed them already.

Her pride was unshaken, though. She could now add to her list of accomplishments that she had fought a demon in melee and survived to tell the tale—not that she would tell, of course. Very few people could say that, though. Summer finished putting the bits of Daring away and closed the chest.

A demon. There was a demon taking over Oak Mill—her town. Summer scowled, trying to think of what she could do to fight back. Unfortunately, she was no kind of Mage or Priest. The best way she could help would be to play to her strengths: gather information, and get it into the right hands. Make it easier for Camilla to do what she needs to. Maybe I should check on those mages...but I shouldn't draw attention to them.

Summer slept in a while, recovering, then spent Eighday morning walking slowly through the town, avoiding the guards while talking to the tradespeople whose shops were still open. She didn't tell them about the demon. She knew the logic. She hated it, but couldn't find fault with it.

If you warn the public about a demon, they will sensibly flee in all directions. But, that is exactly how a demon spreads its reach, and how it consolidates control over a town. The more healthy people leave, the larger the share remaining that serves the demon. You have to warn people as if it were a monster attack: never be alone, hunker down at home if you can.

She indeed hated the cold logic, but she understood it.

A lot of people left town every day, and returned in the evening. Lumber was the chief reason for the town to exist. So the town was a lot busier in early morning and evening than otherwise.

By midafternoon, Summer was running out of errands. She hadn't encountered Piper all day, which was slightly concerning. She had to trust that the urchin had found a safe haven somewhere. However, it meant that she needed to go visit the elves in person to see about getting paid. Besides which, there was bound to be some interesting gossip concerning the nonhumans in town.

It didn't take much time to find Anna and learn which house she had rented to Tom Walker. It took much longer to work her way around from Anna's shop to Summer Street, given the way she had to dodge guards and basically anyone else who looked angry. Finally, she reached the correct door. She heard an odd whistle come from inside the house a few moments before she knocked. Someone's signaling my approach.

After the sounds of a bar being lifted, the door opened quickly, to reveal a woman dressed all in gray, including gray gloves and a gray veil hiding her features. "Hello?"

"Hello. My name is Summer Daring. May I come in?"

"Yes, of course." The woman opened the door wider and Summer slipped inside. The door was slammed shut, and a man lifted the bar back into place. A reasonable precaution. She looked around, getting a sense of the room.

A fireplace had a large blaze going, and several elves were gathered around it. Any conversation had halted as they all stared at the new arrival. Summer counted three other women besides the one who had answered the door, a couple of men, and three children. All were elves except for two of the children: a young boy who looked familiar, and Piper. The third child was an elven boy, and the three were sitting at a table.

"My name is Eubexa Corvolli. May I offer you a drink, or a seat by the fire?" the woman in the veil asked.

"A seat would be lovely, thank you."

The woman said something in Elvish and the women shifted to make room. After a moment, a short, busty woman got up and apparently decided to stand closer to the fire. That left space on the bench for Summer to sit and join the group. Once the buxom elf had turned to face her, Summer blinked.

She's got a face and body men would start wars over...and probably will.

Black ringlets framed a soft face with bright violet eyes and perfect skin. The elf's expression was wary as she watched Summer settle herself. For a moment Summer wondered whether the woman was staring at her amulet, but a brief touch told her that it was still tucked inside her blouse. Well, if I had looks like that, I'd be wary around strangers too. It must be especially nightmarish for a—

Summer's thought cut off abruptly as she belatedly realized something. A quick glance around confirmed it—none of the elves were wearing slave collars. Interesting. What's actually going on here? Is Tom Walker in control of these people, or not? The answer's probably complicated.

"How may we help you?" the veiled woman—Eubexa—asked. Summer quickly gathered her thoughts.

"Well, I believe I was hired by you all yesterday, to find someone to break Tom Walker out of jail. I have received my payment from Piper, but I was promised a gold for the people who actually did the rescuing."

Eubexa spoke in Elvish for a moment, and then a pretty woman with amber eyes and straight black hair stood up and smiled at her. "Yes. Please wait. I will get coin," she said in broken, heavily accented Western. She turned and left the room.

"I'm afraid none of the other elves are fluent in Western yet, so I will be translating," Eubexa explained.

"I see."

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"Hi, Miss Daring!" Piper called, getting up from her table and walking over. Then the girl turned to the room and said, "Summer Daring-ta fez."

"Fezu," a blond elf man corrected. "Summer Daring-ta fezu."

"Summer Daring-ta fezu," Piper repeated.

"Zedda."

"Gozalo, Kervan-ta," Piper responded with a nod.

"You're learning Elvish, Piper?" Well, aren't you a clever girl?

The little blond urchin smiled hugely and nodded. Her grin lit up her face more than Summer had ever seen anything else do, even getting a pay bonus. The sight tugged at Summer's soul.

She had to remind herself that, with all her "outside activities," she couldn't afford to take care of a child. She's too young to be trusted with my secrets. Maybe someday, when she's older. With a slight pang of regret, she set the thought aside.

One of the elves, a tall red-haired woman, was talking rapidly to Eubexa. After a few moments, Eubexa translated, "This is Varga." Varga waved energetically with a grin when her name was mentioned. "Varga says that she was given a package for you in Rivermarch. She was supposed to deliver it to you when she reached town, and she just has."

"A package? Who from?"

Eubexa translated the question, and Varga answered, "Di Whistler-ta kel."

Summer stiffened. Sure enough, Eubexa translated, "from Mrs. Whistler, the tailor's widow."

She took a slow breath. "May I have the package now?"

More Elvish back and forth. "Apparently, she left it with us in one of the wagons. We brought it to town four days ago, but we didn't know to bring it to you, since apparently someone forgot to tell us. It should still be in the wagon."

"I see." At that point, the other elven woman walked back into the room and held out a gold coin. She spoke for a few moments, then Summer reached out to take the coin, wincing a bit. That caused a few reactions and more Elvish. It even sounded like an argument.

"You appear to be hurt," Eubexa eventually translated. "We are very grateful to you for your help. We would like to offer you something, in exchange for your...discretion."

Summer raised an eyebrow. "Very well. You have it. What is your offer?"

"Would you like to receive some magical healing?"

She blinked twice, absorbing that. "I...would welcome that. Yes, please."

Once that was relayed, the busty beauty slowly approached. Good Gods, and she's an elven healer besides? The first noble who sees her will seize her. Summer released the knot on her sleeve and rolled it up, exposing the bandaged cut on her bicep.

"Sheema asks you to hold very still, please." She nodded, and waited for the healer to grip her arm. Instead, the woman simply held her hands a few fingers away from the wound, took a deep breath, and half-closed her eyes. A soft, wordless crooning came out as a whisper.

Summer felt her arm begin to tingle with magical healing. The tingling intensified, and kept increasing. Summer took a deep breath and concentrated on holding still. Whatever this elf was doing was more powerful even than Camilla Deepwell's healing spells. The wound began to sting, and then that was replaced by a burning sensation. Finally, the feelings all faded.

Sheema pulled her hands back quickly as Summer shifted slightly. "Oh, I'm sorry." But Sheema shook her head and backed away again, resuming her place standing close to the fire. There was more conversation, especially between Sheema and Diavla, the one who had paid her.

Summer looked to Eubexa for explanation. "Oh, Diavla was asking why Sheema didn't touch the wound, and Sheema's saying that she's practicing greater challenges. The two of them seem to be a little competitive."

"Is Diavla a healer too?"

"Oh! No, no. Diavla tried to learn healing and it didn't work. She doesn't have the affinity for it."

"Oh." Summer wondered what she was missing there. Surreptitiously, she flexed her right arm, and felt very little discomfort. What pain there was sat mostly on the skin. She wondered what she would find when she removed the bandage later.

Gathering herself, she stood up and bowed slightly. "Thank you very much, Miss Sheema." She paused, then added, "I would strongly advise that you not reveal that you are a healer to anyone else. In fact, if you are traveling, I would suggest that you wear a veil in public, to avoid drawing the attention of a noble who might decide to buy you, with or without Tom Walker's permission."

It took a while to translate that and for Sheema to respond. "Thank you for the advice. I consider you trustworthy, but I will not reveal myself to just anyone." She looked around, unsure who was in charge of the group, and settled on the translator. "With your permission, I will ask Anna Houser to let me into her carriage house, so that I may retrieve my package."

"That will be fine, of course. We would bring you to it, but..."

"I understand. Matters should be coming to a head soon, win or lose."

Eubexa shifted slightly. "Meaning?"

"I think you're aware of the..." Summer paused, wary of the human children. "...the threat facing Oak Mill. It will be resolved in the next day or two, I expect." Eubexa turned to Sheema and started talking rapidly.

"Ah, please wait a short while before you go, Miss Daring." A heated argument broke out among the elves. It went on for some time. Eubexa paused to explain while the discussion continued.

"We've been debating whether to keep waiting here, or attempt to leave the town, with or without Tom. We have mostly decided that we want to try to leave immediately, but we're trying to figure out how we could get to the wagons and animals and get past the gate."

Summer considered for a moment, then replied, "I can get the animals and wagons here for you, for a price. I'll need to pay some people." Most of the arguing stopped soon after.

"How much?" Diavla asked in Western.

Summer put her fingers to her lips in thought, then realized that she was doing so without pain. Don't be churlish, Daring, that was a gold worth of healing at least.

"You know...never mind the pay. You healed my arm. I'll get the wagons here. It will be up to you to get past the gate. Piper?"

"Yes, Miss Daring?"

"Do you know how to drive a wagon?"

Piper stared at her in surprise for a moment, then paused in thought. Finally, she held out her hands in front of her and started gesturing. "This is go, this is stop, this is go left, this is go right." Summer had the strong impression that Piper had never done it, but didn't expect it to be a challenge. Since the gestures looked pretty accurate, she might well be right, but Summer didn't want to take the chance.

"Never mind, then, I have a different job for you. Can you get from here to the Temple, and tell Tom Walker that the elves are all leaving town? There's a place to rest a few miles out, and they can wait for him there."

"I can do that," the child said after a moment.

"I'll help," the boy declared. Piper rolled her eyes. Summer left her to deal with the child-to-child diplomacy.

"I'll use the back door," Daring declared. "If I don't see you again...good luck."

∘ ⛥ ⛯ ⛥ ∘

Daring made her way to Anna's again, and explained that Tom and the elves were leaving. She needed her help to know which wagons and which animals belonged to the group. Fortunately Houser's man Brody was in the barn when they arrived, and was able to get the oxen over to the carriage house and hitched to the wagons without interference.

While that was happening, Daring went to retrieve the package from Sesca Whistler. One of the wagons contained only bags of salt and bundles of hides. The other had various personal effects. Varga's items were tucked in one corner of the wagon bed, behind a small wine cask. The first one turned out to be a collection of black leather straps, some kind of harness perhaps. The other was the item she was looking for. She took it, bag and all.

They were just about to drive the wagons out onto the street, when Daring suddenly heard the Temple bells, striking in groups of four: clang clang clang clang, clang clang, clang, clang...She grimaced. That was the signal for the mages to set up the sealing wards around the walls of the town, to trap the demon inside before he realized what was happening.

They had just run out of time.