Taken

Ardiel Elrond

I could see her face contort when the boy approached Tariel and spoke something. Perhaps he was riling her up? Saying something snide to get her to fight more seriously? But that wasn't it. Her face wasn't the "I'll show you what I can do" type of face, instead it spelled out "I will kill you".

The expression that was plastered on her face was nothing but pure rage, yet it was for only a few moments before she turned completely expressionless.

When Helga sat down next to me, the fight began. But to call it a fight was an overstatement, more like a one sided beating. From the moment the first arrows were fired, it was clear who had the advantage. From that very first shot, Tariel already began to overwhelm her opponent.

She was cold and expressionless, but he was overflowing with rage and hatred. At first he spat curses that echoed across the arena and the bleachers, but that turned into pained screams moments after.

He was dashing around, trying to avoid Tariel's arrows while firing his, but to no avail. Almost all of his arrows missed, and despite his attempts to dodge, Tariel's arrows kept piercing him. 

She didn't even flinch or bat an eye as her arrows pierced his flesh. Every sound of impact and the painful scream that followed did nothing to affect her stone-like demeanor. She was absolutely calm and calculating. Aiming most of her shots at Damien's limbs, it was like she expected her arrows to land, and wanted to hear him yell.

Tariel was an unshakable, emotionless force, inevitably dawning on Damien like death itself. As she began walking forward, nothing could stop her. Not Damien's barrage of arrows, not his screams or curses which he spat at her.

Her eyes spelled "killer", and her very demeanor spelled "murder". I never saw this side of her. The usually cheerful and bubbly girl now turned into someone who looked like they went through hell and back. Her approach was like an impending doom, and the boy visibly cowered as all of his desperate attempts to prevent or even halt her from coming closer were in vain.

She fired off her arrows as she walked, and the boy's potion had run out. He was barely holding up on his legs, entirely covered in wounds and blood, and he swayed from side to side as if he was about to collapse at any moment.

But Tariel was undisturbed. Even seeing him in this state, she still shot arrow after arrow, which pierced his arms, legs, and chest.

"I can't deal with this anymore! She's going to kill him!"

I sprung up from my seat to make my way down onto the arena. This was not a match anymore, this was a one sided slaughter. Why were the examiners not doing anything? As if they're waiting for Damien to release his final breath. A set up? To use Tariel as a murder weapon? I certainly was not going to allow her to become a killer at such a young age, nor break her out of jail.

But before I could rush down, a strong hand grabbed me by my arm. Helga.

"Why? Can't you see that…"

"Calm down Ardiel. She is fully in control of herself, she won't kill him. Sit down." She said sharply, and reluctantly, I obeyed. It seemed like Helga was completely confident in her words. Anyways, if things go to shit, I could at least delay the approaching guards or whoever else to allow Tariel to escape.

But that wasn't necessary. As I snapped out of my thoughts, Tariel was already simply standing over the boy who was holding his bleeding nose. I missed what happened, but it looks like the match is over.

Again I sprung up from my seat, and ran over to Tariel while looking over my shoulder a few times to make sure that no guards would be rushing in. Instead, the doors to the arena opened, and in came a team of medics.

Yes, thankfully no one came in to drag Tariel away. And as we were making our way over to the bleachers together, discussing our experiences with the adventurer exams, I couldn't help but think that what she did was overly excessive. No matter what that guy said, he didn't deserve something like that.

Tariel simply responded that she saw through what kind of person he is, but even so, it was too much. She drove him to the brink of death, and even as the medics were casting healing spells on him, he still couldn't stand up. Healing spells is one thing, blood loss is another. Perhaps more advanced healing spells could help with that as well, but where could you find a healer like that in a outskirts town like Tralelin?

No matter how much someone insults me, I could never see myself beating them to such a state. Yes, if he was an asshole to Tariel, I'm all in for kicking his ass. Assholes need their asses kicked, it makes sense. But near death? Yup, way too much.

But I was also shocked to see this new side to Tariel. She never got mad, and even when she did get slightly pissed, she controlled it. So what was it that prompted her? Some kind of sixth sense? Like she could sense that he was the devil incarnate or something?

I decided to not go into any further detail regarding this topic as Tariel herself seemed to be uncomfortable with talking about it, so I let it slide for now.

On the bleachers, we watched as the rest of our group completed their exams. Galen was a tornado of kicks and punches, but his fight had the same illusion of victory as mine, and once the examiner decided it was enough, Galen was quickly subdued. 

The twins also fought quite well, using both magic and swordsmanship. Like always, they weren't prodigious in either, but were nevertheless formidable.

The one who surprised me the most was Faelar. Earth, water, air, he was already a tri- elemental mage with the ability to wordlessly cast some of his spells. His fight was a back and forth exchange of spells with his examiner.

Once all of us finished, we happily discussed our matches. Me and Tariel decided to not talk about what happened during her fight, and just said that the examiner was impressed with her ability to use a bow, which was why her exam took so long.

Loueras met us at the front desk, and like last time, we were getting surprised stares and whispers from the adventurers in the hall, but none of us minded.

Tariel and I got "C" rank, her as an archer, and me as a universal combat adventurer. Galen got a "D" rank as a hand to hand fighter, the twins got "D" rank as universal combat adventurers, and Faelar got "D" rank as a mage.

Even though some of them got "D" rank, they didn't seem upset at all. After all, a rank is most of the time just a show of status as an adventurer, nothing more than that. Of course, it also indirectly displayed an adventurer's power, but my friends were so preoccupied with talking about their fights that they couldn't care less.

When we made our way outside, Loueras told us that we would be making our way to the armory shop. Buying weapons and armor? Hell yes! It was a joy that a kid experiences when they get this desired birthday gift. 

Oh, also a fact about elves, is that they don't celebrate birthdays. I mean, I guess I can kind of understand. For someone who lives for thousands of years, a year doesn't really seem like that much time. I still can't really wrap my head around living that long. Will I get bored after like a hundred years or so? And then what?

But, as I was thinking about birthdays and gifts, we made our way to the armory. The inside was very spacious, and had literally everything. For a small town like this, the armory was amazing. Swords, rapiers, blunts, daggers, bows, and many types of armor. 

On the walls they also displayed stuffed heads of monsters, which was also incredible to see. One of them had a gnarly green face with tusks, probably some kind of orc or ogre? One looked like a grotesquely deformed elf, a goblin, and the third was some kind of reptilian head.

The shopkeeper froze wide eyed as he saw our gang of elves barge into his shop, and didn't utter a single word. Meanwhile, we were inspecting the goods.

I made my way over to the swords. Ok, compared to the finely made elven swords, these were quite brute and simple. Many of them were too big for me to use, but then something caught my eye. It was s straight-sword, with a very thin blade. Not rapier thin, but still thin. It was short enough for me to wield comfortably, and was also very lightweight.

The handle was wrapped in a dark brown, toughened leather. The blade was polished to absolute perfection, and didn't have even a single fault to it. Not a scratch or dent, nothing at all. But the most peculiar thing about it is that unlike every other sword it wasn't silver, but milky white. What kind of material even is this?

I swung it a few times, and it felt natural, like it was made for me. The sword sliced through the air with incredible speed and agility. I could use it all day and not get tired! Then, I noticed the shopkeeper warily approaching me.

"Hey um…you, understand me, no?"

"Oh, yes, I do." I responded. Thanks to learning the human language, I could somewhat comfortably converse. A young mind sure is wondrous, it absorbs information like a sponge.

The shopkeeper visibly loosened, and continued. "You like that sword?"

"Yes, it's amazing. It's light, and comfortable to use. Do you know who made it?"

"Truly, I can not answer that question. Some hooded man came in here and sold it to me for cheap a few days ago. Told me that this sword will find its destined wielder very soon. Strange feller. So, will you be buying?"

I thought about it for a few moments. Some man came in here and said the sword will belong to someone destined for it? It did sound strange, like some kind of prelude to a spiral of events in a fairytale. Is this it? Is this when I will start fighting dragons now?

But that aside, I had no reason to refuse this sword. It felt great, was easy to use, and I liked its unique design and the mystery to it as well. "Yes, of course."

I made my way over to Loueras, declared this sword to be the one I chose, and he nodded. Then he made his way over to the counter, and paid.

By this time, everyone else already selected their choice. Tariel found herself a darkwood bow, polished to a gleam. Galen got himself a pair of simple metal gauntlets, and the twins both chose rapiers. 

But Faelar didn't choose anything. Of course, this was an armory, and he was a mage. But as we made our way outside, delighted with our new weaponry, Loueras announced that we will not make our way over to some kind of mage shop.

It was even more beautiful than the armory. Shelves of various kinds of herbs and potions outlined its interior. On the walls hung staves, hats, and mage robes. The shopkeeper here also stared at us in disbelief. 

Faelar selected for himself a simple gray robe, and got himself a pair of golden rings with an embedded crystal, which he put on his middle fingers. In this world, mages can use many different things to enhance their magic. Staves, wands, rings, and maybe there is even more interesting stuff in a mage shop in a bigger and more wealthy city?

As it was getting dark, we had no time to go buy armor, so Loueras took us back to the inn.

All of us satisfied with our new gifts, we happily chatted away on the entire trip back. At the inn, our excitement quickly died down due to being forced to eat the food once again, but quickly stirred back up once we went back up into our rooms.

After washing up and going to bed, I couldn't fall asleep. Too much information from this day was circling in my head. I met a demonfolk, passed an adventurers exam, saw Tariel get mad, got myself a mysterious sword, and explored a mage shop. Honestly, what a wonderful day it was.

But as if fate was toying with me, the alarm went off in the girl's room, followed by screams and a commotion.

All of us, me, Faelar, and Galen, quickly sprung up and rushed out the door that very instant. In the hall, we already made Loueras, his eyes wide, and his face slightly pale.

"WATCH OUT!" He yelled, and knocked the wooden door down with a single kick.

The door fell with a loud boom, and kicked up a whole cloud of dust. Once it settled we saw the twins huddled into a corner with their nightgowns on, shivering in fear, wide eyed, and faces pale. The window was open, and the curtains were flowing in the breeze. Tariel was nowhere to be found

Loueras immediately bent down towards the twins, and began calming them down. After a few moments they finally stopped shivering, and desperately embraced Loueras

"It's ok, you are ok." He soothed them, but despite his calm voice, Tariel was nowhere to be found, and he was as pale as a ghost. 

"Tell me, where is Tariel?" He asked in a shaky voice.

"They…they took her. People in black cloaks." Lyra mustered through tears and sniffling.

This was not how I expected our adventure to start. Tariel got kidnapped.