An elven commander looks out on the starry night. His gaunt expression is the only way he expresses his feeling, which is a mixture of anxiety and worry. He turns around to see one of his subordinates who has noticed his gaunt expression and has left the party going on in the mansion behind him.
"Sir, what's wrong?" asks the subordinate.
His master does not reply.
"Sir, what's wrong?" repeats the subordinate.
His master's silence leads the subordinate to walk up to his master. Just as he does, his master turns around and walks back into the building. The confused subordinate chases after his master, shouting his master's name.
"Nicolai! Nicolai! Wait up!" shouts the subordinate.
Nicolai has well recovered from his gaunt expression and nearby guests have taken no notice that he was gone for a period at all. Nicolai turns and asks to his subordinate: "Yes, Primo?"
The subordinate named Primo repeats once more with "Sir, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. I have been expecting Simon to arrive here for three hours. I wonder if something may have happened to him?"
Primo's surprised look tells Nicolai that Primo has forgotten the event completely.
Both master and servant are quiet for the rest of the party, although for different reasons.
Three hours later, the party guests have left, leaving Nicolai and his subordinates alone in the large hall.
After the last remains of the party have been cleaned up, Nicolai makes an announcement."As some of you may have noticed, Simon has still not arrived yet. I fear something may have happened to him, so I will leave in fifteen minute's time to search for him. Any volunteers to come with me?"
Every last hand in the hall, excluding Nicolai's, was raised.
Nicolai takes a good deal of his elves into the forest, and leaves Primo's squad in charge of defending the mansion in case of bandits or something evil.
Among those who went with Nicolai are Ladbrook, one of the best pikemen in the region, Jeremiah, an assassin hired by Nicolai two years ago, and Travis, an elf who is decent at using pikes, bows, and magic, but never finished any apprenticeships to those trades.
Nicolai's troops ride on their horses on into the forest, unsure of what they might find...
No comments:
Post a Comment