This village was very isolated. Mika had told him that it had few visitors and that his sister and her husband had been the last to move here. It was a peaceful place the few times Mika had visited. Full of happy people living simple lives. Now no one lived here. It was a shame.
He looked up to see Karleen careening out of the village and toward the camp he was setting up. He reached out and grabbed her as she ran by. "Whoa there girl, what happened?"
"The-there's a trap spell." She shook as she spoke. Just the idea of the two trapped spirits made her sick.
Talen understood though. He had come across trap spells before. "Have you told Levy yet?" he paused. "No, I can see you haven't. Stay here with Mika. I'll go tell him." He gave her a gentle push toward the slumbering elf and walked back to the village. The rest of their party was pulling the bodies out of the burnt buildings and laying them out in the village square. He found Levy gathering the bones of what must have been a lame old man. The leg bones were twisted, and not by fire.
"Levy, Karleen tells me there's a trap spell up on the scaffold." Levy looked up in interest.
Levy was a slender human man with long brown hair and serious grey eyes. Unlike most mages he dressed in a tunic and breaches and carried a weapon at his side. A weapon that he knew how to use almost as well as Talen knew his own. "A trap spell? Now why would there be one there?" He mused out loud.
"The two beings up there are Mika's family. Their bodies have been preserved in the state they were in when they died. Even the blood is still fresh."
Levy nodded at that information. That was obvious from the way Mika had reacted on coming upon them. What intrigued him was why was there a trap spell laid on their death site. "Give me a few more minutes to finish up here and I'll look it over. You and Samis should start digging."
"Why?"
"If I remember correctly the grey elves bury their dead. We will need a large grave to bury these poor souls." He looked out over the village. So far they had laid out over fifty bodies. There shouldn't be too many more to be bought out of the ruins. He could see the other elf in their party carefully shifting through the ruins of what must have been the bakery and their little halfling friend gathering together what ever goods he could find that had survived the massacre and the fire that followed. From a brief spell he had cast on finding the village he could tell that the destruction they had found had happened over a year ago. There was little to be found here in one piece. The elements had finished the destruction of almost everything had been left by the attackers.
He went over to the scaffold while going over the various means he knew to take down a trap spell. The two spirits inside needed to be set free carefully. In the past the release of a trap spell had been mucked up enough times that it was one of the first things a journeyman mage was taught to insure that there were no mistakes. Levy had seen a mistake just two years ago. He had been a few days behind a Blood mage who had tried to release a trapped elf soul. He had inadvertently created a creature of great power in his slip up. He had released the spirit without the knowledge of how to send the spirit on. It had sprang free and become a danger. A banshee. It had eaten the blood mage and stayed attached to the site of its death. Luckily for Levy he had been traveling with an elven priest of endings. He was just strong enough to hold off the banshee until the priest could banish it to the beyond. That spirit had been dead for a very long time.
Over one hundred years. These two spirits had been dead a much shorter time. He knew that they were very unlikely to become a hazard. They had been good people in life and it would take more than a year trapped in a spell to turn them into banshees.
The sight before him as he climbed the stairs was a gruesome one. The two elves had been tortured, whipped and beaten before their throats had been slit. The stasis caused by the trap spell had kept everything in the state it was when they were killed. He could see the blood pooled around their bodies. It looked fresh. He could even still smell the iron tang of it. His empathic senses were not as strong as Karleen's but he could just feel the emotions that had been trapped inside the globe of power. There was a great sadness here. As he studied the runes he could see he found that this was one very strange spell. It was not cast by one of the races he was familiar with. The runes were the same for most races but there were some he had never seen before. He was still studying them when Slias came over to him. "Any luck, my young friend?"
"Not much. This wasn't cast by any school of mage craft that I'm familiar with. The runes move about like a snake."
"I think that you may have hit upon your answer."
"What?" Levy turned to face the priest. "What do you mean?"
"I have been doing a little investigating of my own. Masq has granted me a partial vision of the massacre here. The spell was laid by a snake man."
"Snake man? I haven't run into one of those before."
The priest nodded. "They are from very far south of here. It is odd that one would be traveling so far into what they consider the frozen northlands. They usually stay close to their homelands. The few I have met in the past have always been good souls. I do not understand how one of them could have been part of the evil we see about us." He shook his head. This was a contained evil. Even the most hardened of the travelers felt uncomfortable here. "We must do something soon. The night will be falling in a little over an hour. I would not want to be here after dark."
"I can agree with you there, priest. Are you up to laying these ghosts soon?"
"A proper burial is all the others need." He paused. "The two here will need the combined efforts of both of us. And one other."
Levy looked at the priest. He knew that he meant Mika. The poor elf would have to be here to lay the spirits of his sister and brother-in-law. There was no other way. "Should we wake him now?"
"No, not yet. The two here will not be able to do anything. They can't interrupt the funeral of their friends."
"Then let's check on the others. They were almost through all the ruins when I came up here."
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Katlin carried the last body to the village square. The small bones she found were not those of a child, she knew, but she felt the same as if they had been. She could tell that this set of pitiful remains belonged to a woman who had given birth at some time. She could see the widened hipbones. The day had been terrible. Of what had been described to her as a thriving village of gentle elven craftspeople she had found only bones. In all she and the two human fighters had laid out fifty five piles of bones. There was only one place that they hadn't searched yet. The home of her friend's family. She had put that off for last. Never in her over four hundred years of life had she been able to face the bones of a child. Mika had told her of his little niece. Though he had never seen her face to face he had read the loving letters his sister had written to him. He had been so happy to know that his sister had found a place to live where she was accepted and loved. Katlin remembered the sweet young elf when she had lived in their home city of Mer'Beryl. She had always been full of laughter and song. Never the serious young bard that the elders had wanted her to be. It had been many years since she had last seen her friend and when Mika had told her that he was worried about the lack of letters from his sister she had agreed to come along.
She gently placed the bones on the ground next to the others and walked out of the village and up the hill leading to the forge. She could just see the foundation through what remained of the trees. The stone that the house had been made of had protected it somewhat. She could see one wall still standing. The one containing the fireplace.
Standing just outside she gathered her courage and stepped over the tumbled rock onto what was left of the floor. She looked about but she could see little left. Near what would have been the back wall there was the remains of some type of instrument. She carefully picked up the pieces. It had been a small lute. Now all that was left was a bit of the neck and some of the metal strings. She lay it back d
own. Standing up she sighed. There were no bones here. She was turning to go when she spotted a large metal ring in the rubble. She bent down to pick it up when she noticed it was attached to a door in the floor. Stepping back a bit she examined the floor. Yes, there was a trap door here! She planted her feet firmly and pulled up on the ring. The door came up easily. She let it fall over with a crash. Inside the hole revealed was a ladder leading down. She paused for a moment and then climbed down.
The ladder led to a small room under the house. It was untouched by the fire that had taken the house above. She found a child's treasure trove inside. There was a small cracked harp, a child's sword and a few other toy's here. In a small chest she found a leather covered journal. It was filled with songs. She looked them over. They were like but not quite like the ones she remembered Silvershine singing. These must be from little Greyfox. Mika would want these. She stuffed the book through her belt and gathered what little there was. She had not found the bones of the owner of these things. Maybe the child was alive somewhere.
Climbing out of the little room she hoped that these treasures would help Mika with his grief. The child, if she still lived, would be his only remaining relative. His sister had been allowed to leave the city only because she had other brothers and sisters. That had been many years ago. Time had taken away Mika's three brothers and two other sisters. It had been thought amazing that their family had been so large back in Mika's youth but time had made sure to take away the gifts that the gods had given them. The brothers had left to fight in a war and never returned. The sisters had been taken by a fever that had swept through the city not more than ten years ago. A fever that had never been seen before. It had taken over half of the young women in Mer'Beryl before it left. Katlin hoped that there was some clue to who had taken this village. Some way of finding the young girl who was missing. Mika needed his family. The girl would be fifteen now. Just starting to grow into womanhood.
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Back in the village Talen and Samis had finished digging the mass grave for the pitiful remains laid out in the square. They sighed and lay down their shovels. "What a terrible waste." Samis said as he wiped his brow. "A whole village of craftspeople killed. Who would do something' like this?"
"I don't know my friend but I'm pretty sure that we'll find out. Slias and Levy are working on that right now."
The little halfling came up and sat on the ground near his large human friend. "There wasn't much left. The fire burned near everything up." Their was a catch in his voice. The little thief had always been a sensitive soul. He let out a sob at the bodies he could see stretched out. Talen sat down and put his arm around him.
"Its all right Meryl, let it out."
"There were no swords, no weapons anywhere....." Meryl said with a sob. "These people didn't have any way of defending themselves!"
"I know. I know" Talen patted the halfling's back and looked over at Samis. Samis just shook his head. He had known of this village. He had visited here bringing Mika's letters to his sister. He had known many of the elders and had liked them and been liked in return. He sat stoically not letting his feelings show. He thought back on his last memory of this place. Filled with smiling folk. He remembered little Greyfox. The only child living here. He just couldn't understand the mind of those who slaughtered his friends.
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Katlin walked over to her friends. She could just hear the sobs of Meryl. The little one was always so sensitive. They should have made him stay and set up the camp but he had refused to be protected. He sat with Samis and Talen near the burial pit. It would soon be time to bury the bones of those who lived here. She sat next to Samis a quietly asked him if they had found everyone.
"As far as I can tell all but seven of the villagers are here. Did ya find anythin' up there?"
Katlin brought out the little book and the other things she found. Samis took the book into his large hands and gently turned the pages. He recognized the letters as elvish script. He had never learned to read elvish but he could tell that they were songs by some of the notations. He had seen this book once when had visited Silvershine. Little Greyfox had been so proud when her mother had given it to her. He looked up. "Nothing else?"
"No. I didn't find her." Katlin sighed. It was both a good and a bad thing. Now they would have to look further. She looked over toward Slias and Levy. "How are things going with them?"
"I don't rightly know. They've been working on somethin'. Just what I don't know."
"I should probably let them in on my news." She gathered up her findings. She reached to take the little harp from Samis but he asked if he might hold onto it. She nodded. She had forgotten that he had known Greyfox. She quietly got up and walked over to Slias and Levy
They looked up at her approach. "Hello Katlin, any luck?" Slias looked at once hopeful and afraid. He didn't want to hear that the child was up in the burnt house.
"Just these." She once again showed her findings. Slias took the little sword and Levy the book. They both got a faraway look in their eyes. She knew that meant they were spell casting. Waiting impatiently she tapped her foot. After a moment Slias came out of his prayer. "The girl still lives, but I can't get a fix on her."
"We should tell Mika. He will be glad to hear that." Katlin sighed. There was at least one survivor. Now all they had to do was track down one small elf child in the whole of the twelve kingdoms. What a task! Levy slowly came out of his spell. The look on his face wasn't good. He didn't say anything as he turned and walked toward where Mika was sleeping. Katlin and Slias following behind.
Karleen looked up as Levy entered Mika's tent. He obviously had some news and it wasn't good. "Is it about Greyfox?" He nodded. "Is she?"
"No. She lives but...." The look on his face said that his news wasn't good. Karleen turned to Mika's sleeping form. She didn't wish to wake him but this was something he needed to know. She reached out and placed a hand on his brow. Sending a gentle surge out of her palm she woke him. He blinked a few times, confusedly, before the memory of what he saw rushed back to him. His eyes filled with tears and he took a deep breath. She bent and whispered something to him before he could start to keen again. He slowly sat up, breathing deeply. His friends could see the struggle on his face. After a moment he spoke.
"All right, I'm back now." He voice cracked. The pressure of holding in his grief could be plainly heard. Turning to face Levy he spoke. "What do you have for me?" Levy held out the book in his hand. Mika took it. He recognized it. He had sent it to Greyfox for her tenth birthing day. He opened it and looked at the songs inside. They were a little unpolished but he recognized her talent and her mother's training. "Is she.....?"
"No, Mika, she is still alive." Levy spoke gravely.
"Tell me what you saw."
"She's in the hands of Samuel Elvenbane."
Silence fell in the tent. All within had heard of Elvenbane. The Half- Orc killer who had it in for elves. Mika closed his eyes. He knew of his sister's history with that particular Half-Orc. That he had found her and killed everyone here was bad enough. That he had his young niece was terrible. In a low hard voice Mika spoke. "Can you track him, Levy?"
"I'm not sure." Mika's gaze was horrible. It was like he expected betrayal from his friend. Levy put out a hand to stop Mika's train of thought. "He has a mage of very strong powers with him. A snakeman. He put up the trap spell around your sister and her husband. Slias and I are trying to find a way past it."
"Do it."
Mika stood up and pushed past his friends. He was no longer trapped inside his grief. He strode purposely down into the village. He stopped when he reached the square. Before him he saw the bodies of his sister's friends. He wanted to ride now after his niece but there were things that needed to be done now. The pitiful bones before him must be laid to rest and his sister and her husband must be released. He called out to the others to gather before him.
"It is time to
bury these poor souls." He told them as he stepped forward and picked up the first bundle of bones. He gently placed them inside the grave that his friends had dug. It took over an hour to place all of the bones reverently in the grave and to cover them over with the loose soil.
After that had been done he paused for a moment and as Slias prayed to what ever gods where listening he started to sing. It was the elvish song of passing. The others stood in silence as his deep voice filled the clearing. He rarely sang. He had left the pleasure of music to his sister but now he showed that he carried in him the same ability to reach into the souls of those listening. Not all of those understood the song but they were all moved. After the first verse Katlin joined him with her low alto. Together they sang the spirits of the dead to rest. Levy could see the spirits lifting from the buildings around them as they paused a moment and then drifted off to some distant destination. He looked over at his other human companions and the halfling and he could see that they were enthralled by the song. They could not see the souls of the elven dead leaving their home. Each soul drifted over to the two elves singing to them, touching them with feathery touches of gratitude before leaving. Levy could see Karleen looking over at the two souls trapped in the globe of power on the scaffolding. The tears in her eyes were enough to tell him what she felt. As the sun set Mika and Katlin's voices slowly drifted into silence. The village was peaceful. Most of the spirits were free now.
"That was so beautiful." Meryl said in a quiet, little voice. He had never seen a elven funeral before. He was young enough to not have seen many funerals in his short life.