Dennis McCiernan - Into the Forge

Then did Rael step forward again, and this time she presented the Waerlinga with hooded cloaks sized to fit them-an elusive dun brown on one side, a shadowy grey-green on the other. Dark metal clasps were affixed at the collars. "Now that ye go into peril, wear these well. Choose which side to mantle inward and which to mantle out depending upon the surround, and hard-pressed will be eyes to see ye, whether they belong to friend or foe."

Oohing and Ahhing and turning the grey-green side out, the buccen donned the garments, Tipperton setting aside his lute to do so.

Twirling about, Beau said, "Well then, how do I look?"

"Like a wee Alor, my Lord," replied Jaith, and then she and the other Darai burst into gay laughter, Tip and Beau joining in.

But then Beau sobered and looked at Tip and said, "But we have nothing to give in return."

"That ye go against Modru is enough," said Rael.

"Speaking of going against Modru," said Beau, glancing at the open stable doors and the sunshine beyond, "it looks as if the time has come."

Catching up his lute and shouldering it, Tip said, "If we're ever to deliver this coin…"

They turned to go, yet Rael stayed them with her hand, and kneeling, she kissed them both, then said, "Though we know not what they mean, remember the words of the rede: seek the aid of those not men."

"Lady Rael, surely your words are not meant for us," protested Tip, "but for Eloran instead. He is the one riding to the High King's side, not us. All we have to fulfill is my promise to a Kingsman dead."

Rael stood and looked down at the two Waerlinga. "Nevertheless, Sir Tipperton. Sir Beau, ye both were present when those words were said."

"Yes," agreed Beau, "we were there. But so were others:

Eloran, Gildor, Vanidor, Faeon, and Talarin… and yourself, of course, Lady Rael. I agree with Tip: surely those words were meant for someone other than us, for we're nothing but a couple of country bumpkins and totally inconsequential."

"Nay, Sir Beau, inconsequential thou art not," said Rael.

Jaith cleared her throat. "When thou dost get a chance, Sir Tipperton, tell Sir Beau thy sire's tale of the curious fly and the sleeping giant."

Tip laughed. "That I will, Lady Jaith. That I will."

Rael smiled, then looked down the passageway and said, "Loric and Phais, they await ye without."

Tip took a deep breath and looked at Beau, and together they started down the corridor leading from the mews, the three Darai coming after.

And they found outside a gathering of Lian, come to see them off, for they had made many friends in the eleven weeks following their capture by the march-ward at the edge of Drearwood. Too, resembling as they did Elven children, many had come to see them embark on this mission dire, for their hearts would not let them do otherwise. And when the Waerlinga, resplendent in their Elven cloaks, stepped out from the stables and into the bright sunshine of spring, many gasped and turned aside, tears springing to their eyes, for it was as if precious young of their own were setting forth on a mission which would put them athwart harm's way.

Now Talarin stepped before them, his gaze somber but clear. And he said in a voice all could hear, "Fare ye well, my friends, fare ye well. And may the hand of Adon shelter ye from all harm."

Then he embraced Loric and Phais, and knelt and embraced each of the Waerlinga and kissed them as well, whispering to each, "Take care, my wee one. Take care."

Now other Elves came unto the four, and many knelt and kissed the buccen, some weeping openly as they did so. And Tip found tears on his own cheeks as well, yet whether they were his or those of the Lian, he could not say.

Last to come unto the buccen were Jaith and Aris and finally dark-haired Elissan. And when Elissan kissed them both, she turned to Tipperton and forced a smile and said,

"When next thou doth take a bath, keep thine eyes open; else thou mayest once again have thy splendor revealed."

Tip blushed and even though both were weeping, they managed to laugh through their tears.

And then the buccen were lifted up to the backs of the packhorses, where amid the cargo they straddled fleece-covered frames built especially for them, with stirrups on short straps for their feet.

Mounted on their own steeds, Loric and Phais turned to the buccen tethered behind. "Art thou ready?" asked Phais.

Tip nodded, and Beau said, "As ready as I ever will be."

But then Tip called out, "For Adon and Mithgar!"

And all the Elves lifted their voices in return: "For Adon and Mithgar! "

And then Loric and Phais spurred their horses, and across the clearing they galloped, packhorses and buccen trailing after, with Beau on the one behind Loric, and Tip on the one after Phais.

And all the Elves, some yet weeping, stood and watched as the foursome rode away, to reach the edge of the clearing and pass into the trees beyond…

… and then they were gone.

And only the sound of the spring-swollen Virfla broke the quiet of the vale.

Southward among the soft pines of Arden Vale rode Loric and Phais, with Tip and Beau on packhorses trailing after, a high stone rampart to their right and a river engorged on the left, the swift-running Virfla singing its rushing song of flow. A crispness filled the air, and bright sunlight filtered through green boughs to stipple the soft loam of the valley floor with shimmering flecks and dots and streaks of glowing lambency. And in the distance a lark sang. Now and again they crossed meadows burgeoning with blossoms of blue spiderwort and white twisted stalk and pale yellow bells and other such early spring flowers, the meads abuzz with queen bumblebees harvesting the nectar rare.

They rode at a trot and a canter and a walk, Phais and Loric varying the gait to not overtire the steeds. And now and again all would dismount and give their own legs a stretch. Occasionally they would stop altogether, to relieve themselves or to water the steeds, or merely to pause and rest. But always they mounted up again and rode ever southward.

"Lor', but it's good to finally be underway," said Beau, at one of these stops.

But Tip shook his head, saying, "Had we known of the Horde in the pass, we could have gone long ago and be ten weeks farther down the road."

"Hindsight oft gives perfect vision," said Phais.

"What?" asked Tip.

"Hindsight oft gives perfect vision," repeated Phais.

"Not only do we seldom foresee the full consequences of actions taken, but we are just as blind as to what will occur as a result of actions delayed. It is only after we have chosen a course and followed it as far as we can that we see some of the outcomes of our choice… though perhaps not all, for many a consequence may yet lie beyond our sight in morrows yet to be, e'en mayhap some so far in the future none will remember just what choice or choices caused it to occur. Regardless, in this instance, all we can say is had we known then what hindsight now reveals, indeed we would have been on our way weeks past. But we did not, and so we waited… and circumstances changed… and now we follow a different course, one which has unseen outcomes yet to occur."

Tipperton sighed. "You're right, and I know it. Even so, still I wish I had, wish that we had, started ten weeks ago."

" 'Tis in the past and lost," said Phais, "and thou must set it aside. What passes now and what lies ahead should be thy chief concern."

Before Tip could respond, Loric took up the reins of his steed and said, "Let us press on."

And so they mounted once more and resumed the southward journey through the wooded vale, occasionally taking unto the high stone pathways now that the river was in flood.

Altogether they covered some thirty miles before stopping that eve to camp on high ground above the flow.