Today’s Feature, Elf Killers
A little bit about Elf Killers
It is the very worst time to
be in the woods.
Oisin’s plan is to come with
his bow to help Aedan and Doona lead a party of children into the forest to
gather the maidenhair seedlings his people would take across the sea as they
flee the trolls who hunt them as prey. Maybe he can be back in time for supper.
And if he only dares to dream, he might also be back in time to speak with
Dyr's plan is an early
evening head smash for the foolish Elves who think they can steal away to the
sands of the endless eye sting water and build their strange float huts. They
will make a glorious feast.
But on the way, Dyr's brutes
stumble across Oisin's gathering party and attack, leaving Aedan mortally
wounded and scattering Doona and the children to flee in terror into the dark
mountain woods, only to be run down and captured by the bloodthirsty trolls.
Can Oisin find the bonfires
of the trolls and rescue them before it’s too late? And what then? Will any of
them live long enough to reach safety?
A little bit about the story
"Isbal! Reina!
Strangers!" bellowed the troll as he wheeled and vanished into the
adjoining room.
"It
talks!" cried Kieran, springing after to let fly an arrow which glanced
off a long polished table top and stuck in the far wall. "Stop!" shrieked a woman, suddenly appearing from the hallway.
"Aunt Isbal!" cried Oisin, letting down his bow. "You're alive!"
"Yes I am. Now don't shoot our troll...!"
"'Our' troll? Who else made it through the massacre? And how would you ever have a troll?"
"Your aunt Reina is who else. Now you heard me about not shooting him, right?"
"How does one not shoot a troll?" said Kieran.
"By being polite enough not to, Kieran!" said Isbal.
"I'm sorry, Isbal. I just saw them kill..."
"Yes. So did I. But this one won't. Come on out Darragh. Come on now."
After a pause, a chair scooted away from the long polished table with a screech on the stone floor as Darragh lumbered out from under it and slowly stood up.
"Now this is Darragh, and I swear he'll not harm a single hair on your head..."
"What's the
matter with it?" said Olloo. "I've never seen one with snow white
hair before. And what's wrong with the thing's eyes?"
"Shake their
hands, Darragh," she said as she gently took him by the wrist and held his
hand toward Kieran.
Kieran stepped back
as Oisin came forth in his place and took Darragh by the hand.
"How do
you?" rumbled Darragh with a beetle browed nod as he pumped out a couple
of giant handshakes.
"Carefully,
sport," said Oisin with a wary look as he stepped back.
"Meanie. And
he meanie, too," said Darragh, wrinkling his nose with a sneer and
pointing at Kieran and Olloo.
"Well shake
his hand, Kieran," said Olloo.
"No!"
said Darragh, shaking his head from shoulder to shoulder. "He big big
meanie. He dirtybutt stinkerman."
"Well,"
said Olloo, "there've been moments on the way here when we've thought so
ourselves, Darragh."
Kieran bit his lip
and kicked Olloo in the ankle.
"See?"
said Darragh. "Meanie!"
"So how did
you come by him?" said Oisin. "And where's Aunt Reina?"
"Back through
the house," said Isbal. "I can see that this will require some
refreshments. Let me take you to the sitting room. Come along, Darragh."
Soon they had
exchanged greetings with Reina and were all seated comfortably around a tea
table in a small parlour. Isbal and Reina disappeared into the kitchen and
returned shortly with hot blackberry tarts and tea. "We harvested the blue
maidenhair you're about to drink last year right after the massacre," said
Reina as she set down the tray with the steaming pot.
"Why do you
have it so dark in here?" said Oisin.
"The light
hurts Darragh's eyes," said Isbal. "If we don't keep it dark, he'll
sleep all day and keep us awake all night...""Drum and hoot-hoot, Isbal?" said Darragh as he tumbled onto the floor in front of her and pressed his cheek to her foot. "Please hoot-hoot?"
"That's
probably a good idea. Go get the instruments," she said as he sprang to
his feet and raced out.
He was back in
short order with a field drum and two clay jugs. He set the drum on its side
with a bang and reverently nestled the smaller jug in Isbal's lap before
plumping down cross legged on the floor with the larger jug. He scooted the
drum about until he could touch its head with the ball of one foot. Like a
conductor tapping his baton, he shifted about for a moment and got still.
Presently he began a brisk tapping of the drum with his foot: pum, pum, pum,
pum, pum, pum, pum, pum...
Isbal joined him in
time with her jug: foof...foof...foof...foof...
Darragh in turn
added a commanding: toofa...toofa...toofa...toofa... so that together they
went: foof toofa, foof toofa, foof toofa, foof toofa, foof toofa, foof toofa,
foof toofa, foof toofa... for a very long time. After a spell, it became quite
mesmerizing indeed. Suddenly he stopped his jug with a loud thump of his drum:
bam!
Isbal continued:
foof...foof...foof...foof... until Darragh went: wham! on his drum, sprang to
his feet and gave a dignified bow. For a moment, there was not a sound in the
room.
At last, Oisin set
down his teacup with a clink. "Why, I've never heard the like," he
said. "That was quite impressive, Darragh."Darragh grinned hugely and bowed again and again.
"Darragh,"
said Isbal, holding out her jug, "why don't you go out and play for a
while? I promise that as soon as Reina has the next pies out of the oven, we'll
call you in."
"Oh good,
good!" he said with a bounce as he gave her a squeeze and took her jug. He
scurried out at once with the jugs. He was back immediately for the drum,
pausing to stick out his tongue at Kieran. "Bad meanie stinky privy
seat!" he rumbled. He gave his chest two good thumps with his fists and
tramped out."Just what does he have against me?" said Kieran.
"I expect he takes exception to being shot at," said Isbal.
"Nay. He's just a good judge of character, is all..." said Olloo.
Kieran leant aside with a frown and gave Olloo a smack on the back of the head.
"Do you ever
play your lyra with him, Aunt Reina?" said Oisin.
"I tried once,
but the moment I drew the bow across the strings he covered his ears and
howled. He won't have anything to do with it. I don't play much anymore, but
the instant I pick it up he runs outside. But so much for that. Tell me, how
are your mother and father?" "They're quite well, or at least they were the last I saw of them..."
"Now just what does that mean? They did make it through the attack, didn't they?"
Oisin shared a look with Olloo and Kieran. "Well you see, they and most of the rest of Baile Gairdin have set sail across the sea to Deatalamh with King Faragher to make a new start."
Isbal and Reina set their cups in their laps with wide eyes.
"Well then," said Isbal, picking up the teapot, "we don't have to feel guilty any more. This nice sitting room and the rest of the house are indeed ours. I'm glad they're alive. We'd feared the worst."
"Your buoyancy sounds awful, Isbal," said Reina. "Here I was all set, the moment I laid eyes on them, to have everyone follow them home and bring Baile Gairdin back to life."
"So was I. I expect it'll never be."
"Well then," said Reina, turning to give Oisin careful study, "are you three alone, just as we are, or are others on their way? Where have you all come back here from?"
"The Strah..."
"Out with the shawkyn spooghey?" she said with a gasp as she and Isbal set down their cups again and gaped at each other.
"We're safe enough, and we're clean away from the trolls..."
"Does anyone live out there with you? And how on earth did you ever end up out there instead of across the sea with Faragher?"
Oisin began the briefest account he could manage of the death of Aedan and the flight of the Elf children from the trolls up the lava tubes of Mount Sliabh and out into the Great Strah to Carraig Faire, and of Vorona and the others finding their way to Carraig Faire to join them. When at last he told of the coronation of Queen Vorona, Isbal broke into laughter.
"You don't approve of her as Queen?" said Oisin.
"No, no! You misunderstand. I'm utterly delighted. Vorona may be a commoner, but she is the eldest of the Elves and possibly the wisest. And Faragher showed his fitness to rule by consulting with her."
"She won't wear a crown," said Olloo.
"I'm not
surprised in the least," said Isbal, as she poured the last drop of tea
and held out the pot to Reina. "And if I know her, she'll die defending
the lot of you as equals."
"Well,
speaking of fighting and dying, if you know what I mean, how ever did you come
by Darragh?" said Oisin. "Do you really trust him?"
"So the dear
child scares you, does he?"
"Not as much
as on first sight. Child? I can see that he sort of acts like one, but he's a
good head taller than me and might weigh as much as all three of us." "He's not an Elf Killer," said Isbal, looking up as Reina returned with another pot, "Well troll he be, but he is indeed innocent."
"How can you call any sort of troll a 'dear child,'" said Kieran, "or innocent?"
"Because that's what he is, Kieran," said Isbal. "Darragh wouldn't harm so much as an insect unless it bit him first.
"You say he's actually a child?" said Olloo.
"Aye,"
said Reina as she poured tea all 'round. "We reckon that trolls are grown
enough to start pestering sows at about eleven. You'd have to bathe him, but
you'd see he's not near there yet.
"Eleven!"
"They're
pretty short lived. When did you first get giddy over girls, two hundred and
ten or two hundred and twenty, perhaps?"
"But trolls
are monsters, Reina," said Kieran. Reina sighed and carefully set the teapot on the marble tea table. "Monsters they be, Kieran," she said. "We were captured, don't you know, along with who knows how many others." She turned a haunted look to Isbal and licked her lips. Isbal took up her hand and squeezed it, but neither of them smiled.
Everyone sat for a
moment, stunned by this. "How did you ever...?" said Oisin.
"Oh, as far as
we know, we were the only ones to escape their horrible fires. They had so many
captives, and were all gone wild with their hellish carousal that they seemed
to have no interest in a couple of dried up old gammers. They never even
bothered tying us up. They just threw us down in the dirt outside where
everyone could see us. We were so terrified that we just stayed right where
they put us, doing everything we could not to watch what was going on. We still
wake up in the night with horrible dreams..."
"Then a scrap
broke out right in front of us," said Isbal. "The big old trollbrutes
tore Darragh away from his mother. The moment they took out their sharp flints,
fixing to cut him open, she stopped kicking at them and began licking their
feet..."
"With her
tongue?" said Olloo."Yes indeed, all over the tops of them and between their toes, and it stopped the curses from cutting him open. They yanked him up onto his feet by his hair and shoved him at his poor mother..."
"And the
instant they did that," said Reina, "I grabbed Isbal and we ran for
the brush as hard as we could go. Just after we'd got well out of sight of the
fires, the mother grabbed us by the hair and yanked us onto our backs. As we
were a-struggling to get up, she shoved Darragh at us and got on her hands and
knees and went to whimpering and licking at our feet. Poor Darragh was crying
and carrying on too, and she bit him good a couple of times and made him go
with us.
"We ran for
what seemed like hours, and Darragh stayed right with us, hanging onto us for
dear life. When we got back here, we found no one alive and we spent the next
several days, burying bodies. We just kept running into them. Darragh kept
trying to help us, so long as we didn't go out in the bright sun. He also
started in right away, trying to use our words. He won't use trollish..."
"How can you
be sure he won't turn on you sometime?" said Kieran.
Reina heaved a
sigh. "Well he's not about to," she said. "A few weeks ago,
maybe fifty trollbrutes came back here late in the evening and nosed around
through building after building for long enough, we thought they'd never leave.
Darragh hid us in a passage in the palace that he'd found. He was playing
outside when they showed up and the very sight of them terrified him. He was
trembling all over and he kept calling them 'monsters,' and we couldn't begin
to coax him out of the passage until long after they were gone. He won't ever
talk about living with the other trolls, but over time we have managed to piece
together that he was tormented by them day and night, and that they were
continually threatening to eat him." She clapped her knees with sudden
resolution and stood up. "I think the pies must be ready by now."
"Yea,"
said Isbal. "It might do you some good, Kieran, if you went out and got
Darragh. My guess is that he's out in the stable. He won't be far. He's crazy
about blackberry tarts..."
"Me?" "Just go out through the kitchen."
Seeing that no one
was about to come to his aid, Kieran sheepishly rose and followed Reina. Beyond
a long roofed breezeway, he stepped into an enormous barn like a rough hewed
cathedral. "Darragh?" he called. There was no answer. He went from
stall to stall along both walls, standing empty in the cobwebs.
"Darragh?" Not finding him, he climbed into the mow. Pigeons cooed
and strutted along a great timber, high up the far wall. "Darragh?
Darragh! Come on! They've got pie!"
"No!"
cried Darragh, standing up in the hay. "You dirtybutt meanie!""Come on, Darragh! I came out to get you for pie!"
Darragh shook his
head from shoulder to shoulder. Without warning, he threw a fist sized rock,
taking off Kieran's hat, making him see stars and setting him down hard upon
the mow floor. Darragh was standing over him at once. "We even,
Dirtybutt!" he cried as he gave his chest a good drumming with his fists.
He held out his hand. "Now maybe you no more be meanie."
Kieran took his
hand and stood up."Now. Any more meanie?"
"No. I came
out here to get you for pie."
"Good, good! I
like pie.""Even better than what you ate when you lived with the Marfora Siofra?"
"Boof! Dyrney no eat good things. Dyrney say they'll eat me and say they'll eat me and say they'll eat me. Dyrney even want Fmoo to eat me."
"Are Dyrney the Marfora Siofra? Who's Fmoo?"
Darragh clenched his teeth and his fists and gave an angry shudder as he nodded and hissed through his nose. "'Dyrney' be troll talk for 'people,' but Dyrney no be people. Dyrney be awful, awful, awful, awful monsters."
"Who's Fmoo?"
"Fmoo be my real momma. But 'fmoo' and 'Dyrney' be troll words. I hate troll words. Just Elf words, please? I be Elf now."
"You've got a deal, Darragh."
"Good, good!" cried Darragh, with a thundering leap on the mow floor. "We eat pie."
The heady aroma of
blackberry tarts met them as they returned to the parlour beyond the kitchen.
"Kieran no more be dirty butt meanie," said Darragh as he scurried up
to sit on the floor before the tea table.
"Why, that's
remarkable," said Olloo, earning another smack on the back of the head as
Kieran took his seat. "We never quite managed."
You can find (Carol Marrs Phipps) at:
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Amazon
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