Chapter 75: Chapter 70: The other shoe drops

Sagle gave us a bit more information about living wood weapons while we were on our way to the meeting place. I was surprised to learn that Nier guy had been a member of the defense ‘nimandare’ and he actually had one of these weapons on him at the time we fought.

This was apparently the reason Sagle was so stunned I did not know about living wood weapons before. The reason Nier had never pulled his weapon was because I had disabled it immediately in a manner that made everyone involved think that I’d done it with that as my intention.

He had been wearing his weapon under his armor, and when I froze it I’d also done a great deal of damage to Nier’s living wood weapon. Not enough to kill it, but it was put in such critical condition that it would not be able to exert it’s full power without receiving healing from the one who had originally made it.

Ice, it seemed, was the one thing capable of putting these living wood weapons into such a dormant state and deal such lasting damage even after healing from it.

It was also confirmed that, indeed, Levin and Rolwen would be completely unable to make use of these things as they are now. The ability to use the green word was absolutely essential to using a living wood weapon. It is possible for humans to learn how to use the green word though, and Eirlathion would be able to teach them.

With those things settled, I had kept one of the wooden bracelets for myself and distributed the rest to Tia, Levin, Rolwen, and Mr. Adderson. And, we made our way to the meeting site.

I was hoping we would arrive to a meeting site where the tribe we wanted to meet might already be there, and that we would be the only visitors from the fey to encounter them. What we got though was the exact opposite.

There was a black haired and deeply tanned man dressed in a glistening breastplate much like the one Nier was wearing. The difference he had form Nier’s equipment though was that he was also holding a rather oddly shaped shield.

The first impression I got from the overall profile of the shield was that it looked like he was holding a cello upside down. It was made completely out of metal and was unusually thick and wedge-shaped, but the most prominent feature that caught the eye was definitely the tapering point that came down from the end like a small lance that made a person doubt that the thing he was holding was actually meant as any kind of defensive equipment.

It can be both I suppose, a shield that combined in functions of a weapon. One curious feature I noticed though was what looked like an ornamental embellishment coming off one side of the spike that came down from the end of the shield. This little embellishment hooked off of the right side of the spike, and curved slightly. Although I would normally think such a thing would be just for decoration, something about it just screamed that it actually had some kind of functional purpose I just wasn’t aware of yet.

The center wedge-shaped portion had a rather curious design as well. It looked like the metal was shaped by hand, as though it was no more than clay. The diamond-shaped wedge in the center tapered off toward the edges with messy striations that were almost the perfect size to have been made by someone’s thumbs.

There was a lot of extra material in the center too. That thing looked like it must weigh at least 30 lbs if it was all made out of metal, quite likely more, and it was not a large shield. It was about 2/3 of a person’s chest in width, and the length, not counting the spike, came up to only about the size of the wielder's arm. This further reinforced the notion that the item was made more for offense than defense, with smaller volume allowing for quicker movement and the high weight giving it extra momentum when you try to thrust with that very nasty looking spike.

Now that I knew what to look for, my eyes roamed over the man’s body and also caught sight of a wooden belt around his waist that seemed to be twisted in a way to make it resemble some kind of vine. He had a living wood weapon, and the shield was probably meant to compliment it.

It suddenly occurred to me that this could be the reason behind that odd hook shape on the shield. It would be the perfect size and shape to steady an especially long spear, especially one that could suddenly become longer if the wielder willed it to do so.

Overall, the man looked both oddly out of place in this battle gear, but at the same time I couldn’t imagine him any other way. It was like someone took some tribal warrior and dressed him as a knight. In fact, after a moment of thought, I realized that was almost certainly what I was looking at. Eirlathion had said something about members of the fey court being reincarnated members of the Hidan tribes.

There’s no doubt then. This guy is probably here to meet the tribe that is coming to this meeting place. There is a very strong chance they could actually be his descendants. He did have the fairy wings too, so there was no doubt.

Our little group had grown to become quite large, and while we weren’t being particularly noisy we were not really trying to be quiet either. As such, the man had clearly been aware we were coming. By the time we caught sight of him, he was looking straight at us like some sort of sentry evaluating an unknown person approaching the gate he was guarding.

I got a sinking feeling that this was not going to go well, and my intuition had been right lately at a rate that was actually starting to legitimately alarm me.

[He is likely here to meet the tribe he hails from.] Sagle announced. [Do not be worried, I will vouch for you.]

After saying this, Sagle quickened his pace as his little-man body began to transform and grow to a full adult height. This time though, his features did not reflect that of a normal human at all. And, although his ears became pointed, he did not resemble an elf either.

His skin took on a light bluish-grey color, and his hair was pure white. The most startling feature though was something we only saw when he turned back to give us a nod. His eyes had grown to roughly three times the normal size, and they were completely black.

The man’s expression changed when he saw this, but he did not seem particularly surprised. In fact, he seemed to grow slightly more relaxed and gave a light nod of his head upon seeing Sagle in the new alien form he had taken.

“Awenglis, eower freogan mid doa ides scieroeod” The man spoke in a deep and powerful voice. I did not recogize a single word he said though. What language is he speaking? It certainly did not sound like elven.

[I am.] Sagel responded in Elven. [I come on a mission from the queen to make contact with a promising young talent from among the elves. I was not able to bring her to trust the queen after she was wronged by a member of the court, but I have managed to convince her to accept the Hidan as a guardian.]

The man glanced over toward us, his eyes scanned over me, Tia, and the boys in particular before he glanced back at mother and then toward Sagle.

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[The woman there, I presume?] The man took the hint and switched to elven. [Did they attempt to come for the children?]

[It was the children who were attacked, but it is not the mother who has the talent. It is the daughters.] Sagle said. [They were conceived under the heaven fall, and both have incredible power. More than that, they also possess full memories of the former lives they have lived.]

[Hmm…] The man made a thoughtful sound and nodded. [That is unusual. From what I have heard, it is also unusual to see double births among the elves. Very well. It is my tribe who is to come to this place soon. My former people would be honored to take these children into the tribe until they have grown and the fear they have toward the court has faded.]

He turned back toward us and took a few steps in our direction. This time though, his eyes locked in on Mr. Adderson and he just stood there. His face reflected an upbringing in a culture of stoicism, and his features did not reveal much. The way his eyes lingered though combined with the rigid body language suggested that his thoughts were on the negative side.

[So, why did the queen send the outworlder on an important mission like this?] He asked. His tone was mostly casual as though he was just engaging in simple small-talk, but the way he had phrased it portrayed a lot of what he thought of Mr. Adderson.

[He was not assigned to this mission.] Sagle said. [He was assigned to the unit with the noble who went to hunt them down. He acted to protect them, and this has earned him trust. He is one of the few in the court they accept right now.]

The man nodded in acceptance of this explanation. [Hmm… making himself useful for one thing.] He said. [At least one of them can be somewhat competent. Of course it is the one who resembles a Jinn. At least he is not making himself an insult to those who are of the Ether.]

“That bastard’s talking about me and I know it.” Mr. Adderson said without breaking eye-contact with the man. “What the hell he just say?”

“Umm…” Rolwen stammered, he didn’t quite seem to know what to say in this tense situation.

“He is complementing you, but he is doing it in a way that disparages the other people from Earth who came with you.” I told him, not wanting to hold back the truth.

“That right?” Mr. Adderson said and then crossed his arms.

Suddenly, the stoic look on the fairy man’s face cracked as his eyes honed in on Mr. Adderson’s wrist. When he had crossed his arms, he had put the arm that had the wrist band on it on top. The smug grin I saw on Mr. Adderson’s face told me immediately the guy had done it on purpose. The hell is he thinking?

The man suddenly turned an accusatory glair toward Sagle. [The outworlder was given a weapon of living wood?] He demanded. [How could he have gained the trust for that? I have heard the Jinn-man had made some progress learning some of the fey bloodline, but even the progress he had made was lacking to earn such trust from the great spirit!]

Sagle sighed. [That is a part of the talent that I told you about. That weapon was not made by the the great spirit. It was made and given to him by one of those children. The one called Asaren.]

Great.

The formerly stoic man suddenly looked like he was ready to trip over himself when he heard that. [That… is truly a talent. That cannot be true!] He said.

[I watched her make them right in front of my eyes.] Sagle said. [It is completely the truth. I was sent with subordinate fairies to aid me on this mission. After this part of the talent the girls had was discovered, I immediately sent those fairies back to inform the queen.]

The man nodded. [I see. A talent like that may even be too valuable to leave in the hands of only my human tribe and the outworlder. I shall join in seeing that these children are protected.]

Great! Way to go Terry.

That little attempt at a subtle provocation just made things significantly more difficult.

No, Sagle is the real problem here. He’s supposed to have actual information warfare training. He should know full well what the results of his words would be. He meant for this to happen.

I should have known something like this was coming. He had offered up his deal earlier far too easily. For all I know, he might have even had his little fairies deliver a message to have this guy come here just for this exchange.

Well, looks like it’s time to go round two of negotiations. Somehow, I have a feeling that Sagle does not intend to be anywhere near as accommodating this time around.

“Guys, we’ve just been played.” I told our group.