Private Tales Outsiders

[Jhyrann]

"No."

Ittoi said the single word and held his club out to his right, blocking the path of the younger elf.

By the standards of his tribe, he was relatively old. Ittoi had not lived to this age by making foolish mistakes.

"Look."

He pointed his club forwards. Nestled in the ferns ahead was a bright orange leaves around a swollen low-hanging fruit.

Ittoi scanned the canopy above. Every corner of the dense jungle was filled with danger. This threat was a particularly nasty one. He saw the pink vine and followed it up.

"There!" he pointed.

The body of the quindell was barely visible in the leaves above. The wind changed and it's toothy maw was just visible.

He waited until everyone in the party had seen the danger. It was a lesson for them all.

The fruit was part of the quindell's body. A lure on the end of a thick tentacle. Whilst it typically ate smaller ground foragers, a large one was capable of pulling an elf to their death.

Even if it wasn't large enough, the talons behind the fruit could lacerate flesh.

If there was more time he might have tried to kill it with a poison-tipped arrow. Quindell were a rare danger and were not placed in the food chain to keep other predators under control.

They were in a rush. A runner had warned them of danger at the shore. Something that hadn't been seen for years.

 

[Jhyrann]

A man standing in their path would barely notice the elven war party passing by. They climbed and walked on bare feet. They had painted themselves to blend into the environment.

Talloc was a dangerous place, but the elves survived. They extoled stealth and hunting to survive Talloc's natural dangers. They extolted martial skill to deal with the greatest danger on the island: other tribes of wild elves.



Ittoi was not renowned for his skill in battle, but he had survived several skirmishes with the neighbouring Rak'tell tribe. His job was to show the asolescents how to survive the depths of the jungle.

Children were made to fight, over and over, from a young age. Less than half made it to adulthood. Most of those deaths were disease or predators or deadly flora. More than a few were from wounds suffered at the hands of another tribe member.

There was one constant across the tribes. A bow and arrow were suitable for killing prey or warding off monsters, but another elf deserved to die up close, knowing the name of their killer.

Many tribal disputes had been solved with less bloodshed by just a few of their fiercest fighters coming to blows.


He heard the shore before he saw it. The delta waters lapping at the silt shore. The reached the treeline. Tillia headed high into the canopy, the others spread out. Ittoi was first to advance and take a look.

A wooden boat had been dragged up the shore. A group of men sat around a fire. They saw boats of varying sizes passing by their island.

This was the first time he had heard of one landing. They were likely stopping for a rest and then would leave.

He was about to draw his party back and leave an observer when the light changed. One of the men glinted in the light.

He wore an entire vest of Ioha. How such a thing could be, he did not know. Ioha was a gift from the place between worlds, between their world and the higher beings. If a man had been gifted this, then perhaps he would have an Ioha blade.

That was a great prize.

He whistled once And Tillia snaked down the twisted branches.

"Go, fetch Cess," he hissed. Tillia vanished into the jungle without a sound.

 

[Jhyrann]

Cess arrived within an hour. She was not quiet in her approach.

Ittoi had found a comfortable nook from which to watch the men as well as the deeper jungle.

Cess carried Thorn at her hip. The single Ioha blade that his tribe owned. It was a marvel, long and straight but with a fine curved edge near the tip.

Everyone in the tribe knew the history of Thorn, just as they knew the history of every Ioha blade.

Ittoi had fought Cess once. He had not faced Thorn. He was not worthy of having an Ioha blade drawn against him for practise.

Fighting Cess had been fighting a demon. His concentration had been devoted to keeping his weapon in his hands and his feet on the ground.



Cess walked out onto the shore. A round of panicked voices came from the men around the boat.

Cess drew Thorn. His war party gasped. It was a rare event to see an Ioha blade drawn, but they were all expecting a second wonder.

They were about to see a new Ioha blade drawn. One gifted to men. They would be the first to set eyes upon it.

Cess drew a line in the sand with her foot and pointed her weapon towards the man wearing a shimmering vest. A challenge.

He must have understood because he stepped between Cess and the rest of the men.

He did not draw a sword. Instead he lifted a large circle of wood to guard his left side and then raised a club. The end of the club had the characteristic silver glint of Ioha.

Ittoi shook his head. He could not understand it. Ioha was a gift. One that she have taken the form of a wondrous blade. That was just a jump of Ioha on the end of a stick.

 

[Jhyrann]

He could see the confusion as Cess canted her head to one side.

The man walked on without fear. He was two heads taller than Cess. A giant of a creature.

She waited until he was three steps away. Cess charged in, shrieking one last challenge. The large men might as well have been motionless compared to Cess. She was fluid in motion, almost as fast as the eye could perceive.

Three feints a step to her left. Ittoi was certain it was over.

Thorn glanced off his Ioha vest.

Ittoi's eyes widened. The blade of Thorn could cut through spear and club, flesh and bone, as if they were grass.

Cess darted back. This time the lumbering man advanced with his club held high and the circle of wood held in front of him.

There was - Ittoi realised - some skill in his movements. So much skill that as he fought with a more defensive mindset he survived a whole two minutes against Cess.

It was not long before she tired him out and Thorn was driven through his neck.

As he fell, the men beside the boat drew spears. Perhaps they did not respect the challenge.

With a whistle Ittoi summoned his party and joined Cess on the silt. Those men were not worthy to be killed by Thorn.