3 Chapter Three: The stranger is an Elf?

Scene One

Arthur and Loran continue to gaze up at the stranger who suddenly appeared after they had defeated the golem.

(Man) "Where do the two of you hail from? Are you of Ramhail"?

Arthur slowly moves in front of Loran.

(Arthur) "We came from far away, and we don't know where we are".

The man dropped down from the root, landing only two feet from Arthur and Loran.

He stands up revealing that he was a few inches shorter the Arthur.

Arthur who was 6'3, couldn't help but feel like this stranger was extremely capable and more dangerous than he appeared.

The stranger took a step back giving Arthur and Loran a bit of space, then he pulled his hood back revealing his face.

He had sandy blond hair and emerald eyes, his hair was grown out around his ears which came to a point.

Arthur instinctively started evaluating the stranger, he seemed to be slim, yet he had a firm stance.

The Stranger lifted his arms and held them out to the sides of himself.

(Man) "Be at ease my friends, I mean you no harm".

(Loran) "W..what are you"?

(Man) "What an odd question. Do you mean to ask whether I am of the Woodland or of the Starlight"?

(Arthur) "No, I think she means are you human or something else".

(Man) "Human? There are few of Manity who still walk this land, but I am not one of them. Have you not come across elven folk before"?

(Arthur) "Elven! You're an elf"?

(Loran) "His ears".

(Man) "Yes, My name is Morkeet of the Starlight. I am an Elven ranger, returning home from a pilgrimage to our brethren of the Woodland".

(Arthur) "Wow! W..well my name is Arthur, Arthur Rice Kalloden".

(Morkeet) "It is a pleasure to make you acquaintance Arthur".

(Loran) "Are there others like you? Wait you said that there are! Sorry I'm just having trouble taking it all in".

(Arthur) "It's okay, we just have to take it slow and figure one thing out at a time".

(Morkeet) "You two aren't from here are you"?

(Arthur) "Honestly, We don't even know where 'here' is".

(Morkeet) "You are in the great western forest, in the continent of Akriun".

(Loran) "Akriun"?

(Morkeet) "You mean to say you don't even know in which land you currently reside"?

(Arthur) "I'm just going to be blunt. This isn't our world, we were somehow summoned to this place while we were sleeping".

(Loran) "We don't have any idea of this place or what is considered normal".

(Morkeet) "I... I don't know what you speak of. Not your world? Are you implying you are of another realm? Like those which are spoken by the historians? Of the ancient ones who had come here from another realm and taught the ancestors of culture, magic, and science"!

Morkeet's words only confused Arther and Loran, causing their uneasiness to show on their faces.

Morkeet seemed to realize that his questions were only creating more confusion between them.

(Morkeet) "Forgive my enthusiasm, you don't seem to have any knowledge of my ramblings.

Allow me to bring you down the forest edge, there I will prepare a campsite for us to rest at.

And I will cook for you a meal which will calm your nears, and soothe your souls.

After which, you can tell me of your story, and how it is you found yourselves in this land".

Arthur started to relax a bit, something about this stranger just seemed so genuine and trustworthy.

(Loran) "Why do you want to help us? What do you get out of this"?

Morkeet paused, raising his hand to his chin in a thoughtful gesture.

(Morkeet) "The company of two foreigners, and a story to pass the time. We of the Star Light love to share stories with others".

(Arthur) "(Chuckles) You have a deal".

Loran looked up at Arthur, giving a glance of fear in her eyes, she did not feel the same sense of trust that Arthur had.

Arthur noticed her look of discomfort and simply smiled.

(Arthur) "It will be okay, I'm here with you".

Loran seemed to relax a bit, and she moved away slightly, no longer clinging to Arthur as she had been.

(Morkeet) "Alright, shall we be off then"?

Morkeet turned away from them and began walking.

Arthur followed him, followed closes behind by Loran.

Scene Two

As Morkeet lead them to the edge of the cliff, he walked next to its edge until they found a narrow path that inclined down the forty-foot cliff.

The three of them started down the two-foot-wide path, and Arthur and Loran cling to the cliff face as they made their way down.

Scene Three

As Loran made her way down, a gust of wind pushed on her, and she clung to the rock surfs and let out a slight squeal.

(Arthur) "Are you okay"!?

Arthur moved in closer and put his arm around her trying to make her feel more secure.

(Loran) "Don't Touch Me"!

Loran slapped away Arthur's arm, and he stumbled back a bit, taking a glance down the twenty-seven-foot drop.

Arthur regained his footing and breathed a sigh of relief.

(Morkeet) "Be careful my friends, a fall from this height might not kill you immediately, but I assure you that it will leave you paralyzed".

Morkeet continued down the path while Arthur waited patiently by Loran's side.

Loran stood there clinging to the rock face, unable to move.

Her mind filling with distrust and fear.

(Loran) "I just need a minute".

(Arthur) "If you need help I can guide you down, I'll...".

(Loran) "No! I can do it myself"!

Arthur was taken aback by Loran's response, just earlier she had clung to him as if he was the only thing she trusted, but now she was treating him like a stranger.

He looked at her with concern in his eyes, when he noticed her hands shaking.

As he waited patiently he noticed the tattoo on her left hand was slightly glowing, and the veins in her arm were bulging.

(Arthur) "Are you doing that on purpose"?

Arthur pointed at her left hand and Loran looked at it with confusion.

Her adrenaline was ramped up and she felt a helplessness flood her emotions, but there was no desire to receive help, in fact, she didn't trust anyone!

She knew in her mind that Arthur was a good guy, he was a guy she knew.

But yet in the moment, she felt like she didn't want anything to do with him.

(Arthur) "Loran"?

(Loran) "Just Shut Up"!

Loran forced herself to let go of the rock face and started making her way down the slope.

(Loran) "Just let me get down Art, I just need to get down".

Arthur continued to make his way down behind her, all while trying to figure out what was bugging her.

Was it the height? Or something else?

Scene Four

The three of them make it to the bottom of the cliff, and start their journey to the Three Mountain peaks to the southeast of where they had emerged from the forest.

They traveled through an open field for an hour and a half before they finally found a small wooded area beside a river.

(Morkeet) "Okay my friends, this shall be where we make camp for the night. I have some Dire wolf pelts in my pack you can use for your bedding. There are pots and a spade in the pack as well, if the two of you could get camp ready and get a fire going, I shall hunt us some game for supper".

(Arthur) "Alright, I'll get the fire started. Thank you Morkeet".

(Morkeet) "You are welcome my friend".

Morkeet set down the large pack he was carrying and pulled an elegant bow out and a quill of around thirty arrows.

(Morkeet) "I'm off, May the Psyggír watch over you".

Morkeet made his way up the side of the river, into the woods and Arthur pulled out the spade and started to clear an area for the campfire.

Scene Five

Loran found a tree to lean against and watched as Arthur, began digging the hole for the fire pit.

She knew in her mind that he would never hurt her, that he loved her.

But she could never return that love, he was honest and brave, he deserved to be with someone who would be able to stand beside him and support him.

But Loran couldn't be that girl, even now, after he had spent the whole day protecting her, and taking care of her, she couldn't trust him.

She didn't even know why, this was Arthur for goodness sake, he could never hurt her.

Yet she had yelled at him, even pushed him away, he could have fallen down that cliff and it would have been her fault!

Loran curled up wrapping her arms around her legs.

She could barely even look at Arthur, the gilt of what she had done began to eat at her insides and cause her a wave of depression to set in.

(Loran) "I'm... (whimpers) I..I'm so..so sorry Art"...

Arthur turned toward her, only partially hearing what Loran said.

(Arthur) "What?"

He walked over to her, shoving the tip of the spade into the loose dirt as he slowly approached her.

He stops two feet away from her and falls to one knee.

(Arthur) "What's bugging you... I.. I can't help if you don't tell me."

(Loran) "I... I can't trust you... I know in my head that you would never hurt me, I know that you would protect me... But I just can't trust... And I don't know why.."

Arthur begins to feel weak in the knees, he felt as though he had just been stabbed in the gut.

(Arthur) "I... Okay, I don't understand... but if that's how you feel, then I'll do my best not to upset you"...

Arthur turns to face the river and takes a step.

(Loran) "Art.."

Arthur stops and continues to stare into the river.

(Arthur) "Yes?"

(Loran) "I'm sorry... I know you are doing your best... I.. I wish I could feel safe around you..."

(Arthur) "It's okay... I will prove to you that you can trust me, even if it takes years. I'm not going to abandon you here."

Arthur walks over to the spade and pulled it from the freshly loosened dirt and sets it over his shoulder.

(Arthur) "I'm going to go get wood for the fire, if you feel up to it, please set up the bedding while I'm gone."

(Loran) "Art wait!"

Loran stood up suddenly reaching out to Arthur ever so slightly with her hand.

(Arthur) "I'm not going far, I'll be close enough to hear you if you yell for help."

Loran stands there hesitant to speak, something written on her face showed Arthur just how emotionally torn up she was.

He didn't want to leave her alone, but he knew that now wasn't the time to sit idly by and let the situation fester into a relationship of emotional chains.

If he gave in and stayed beside her, he would be rewarding her emotional bipolar swing and simultaneously committing his heart to her in an unhealthy way.

He knew that he would do anything she asked of him, but if she could not trust him or feel safe around him, then him delaying doing the tasks he needed to get done merely because Loran didn't want to be left alone, would put them into a cycle of codependence with no real love between them.

Arthur left into the wood, wondering all the while if he was making a mistake, was his decision to leave right, or just an escape from the pain he felt in his heart.

Scene Six

Morkeet takes a long thin knife from off the wood stump they had been using for a table and started cutting off a piece of meat from the small boar he had killed for dinner and was roasting over the fire which Arthur had set up for them.

He rapped the piece of meat into small leave made pouches and handed them to Arthur and Loran.

(Arthur) "Thank you".

(Loran) "Thanks..."

Then he took off a chunk of meat and set it atop the leaf pouch he had in his lap.

(Morkeet) "So my friends, I would guess you are quite tired being you have been up for many hours passed you slumbering hours.

I am eager to hear your stories, but I all Candor I myself have been traveling for must distance today and would like to retire soon.

So if you don't mind, I would hope to hear only a short story of your journey here and then we shall retire.

Is this Prime"?

(Arthur) "So just the abridged version, okay, I'll try my best".

As Arthur told the story of how he and Loran had come to be in Akriun, Morkeet listed and pondered his words thoughtfully.

He refrained from asking too many questions, as he knew that twilight was drawing closer.

He would however occasionally ask for more details so and do his best to explain to Arthur and Loran what they had encountered in the great forest.

The troll-like creatures which Loran had encountered were known as Hargons a race of low intelligence that was part plant part creature and were more related to pixies than to trolls.

And the Goblin creatures which Arthur had encountered were a subclass of the Goblin race known as Hoblins, they were capable of learning other languages, and had slightly higher intelligence then a normal Goblin, they were also capable of learning magic, and for that fact many of them worked for a type of Sorcerer called a Koeán or a type of witch called a Dairra.

Morkeet briefly explained that the Koeán and Dairra are the last of the Human race's decedents, a war over two hundred years ago between Manity and a race called the Caztsonin left both sides almost extinct.

But that was all that Morkeet was willing to say on the matter.

After they had finished talking, morkeet bid Arthur and Loran goodnight and climbed into a tree next to the campsite, dire wolf pelt in hand, and laid against the trunk of the tree on three branches that made a V shape.

Arthur took a pelt and wrapped himself in it, five feet from the dying fire.

And Loran took one and leaned against the tree she had been sitting under the whole time they had been at the campsite.

As the three of them, fell asleep under the stars, the silhouette of a giant creature could be seen running off in the distance.

Morkeet lightly bowed his head and whispered.

(Morkeet) "I wish you well in your search Lord Psyggír, I pray the hunt will end soon, so you might rest with your mate and raise your heir."

To be continued...