Hummingbird

"Should I make a guess as to why a human stands in your house, Usarafi?" Zasor asked mildly.

"This human is alleged to have saved my daughter's life twice, protecting her from a band of human fiends who sought to kill her," Usarafi sighed.

"Oh, what wonders I have seen in my life! Among these wonders are accounts in which humans have proved themselves worthy of our respect, as I have often told the other elders, though they often turn a deaf ear to such as myself. So, to find once more that this is the case yet again does not surprise me in the least! Human, if your actions be true, you are a rarity among your kind, and most likely a disappointment to them as well. I imagine they might consider you a traitor to your own kind, would they not?"

I allowed, "Perhaps they would, at that."

"Cuthbert?" Raina's voice was like a balm upon my ears.

I turned to her, and knelt at her side.

"Why have you brought me home?" she seemed highly concerned, but still too weak to manage anything more than a vague alarm in her voice, "Do you realize what they will do to you?"

I nodded, "If I had not brought you back, you would have perished. There was no other way."

Usarafi saw our exchange, and then his eyes narrowed suspiciously, "Raina, tell me you have not found favor in him. "

"And if I have?" she challenged, her voice quiet but with conviction, "This man, out of the kindness of his heart, and with no thought to his own safety, saved my life twice, and now once again, by bringing me home. Zasor, think not that I have dismissed you, for you have brought me from a grave fate with your genius remedies."

Zasor grinned, "And my heart leaps at your return, so it does!"

Usarafi scoffed, shocked, "Such a thing is unheard of, and quite forbidden! I will not have it!"

She glared at him, drawing herself to sit up with a wince, "Cuthbert is kind, and gentle, and his concern for my safety and happiness has won my heart."

"Surely it must not be so!" Usarafi turned to Naku and Rasab, "You two shall wait outside, and I will deal with you shortly."

Zasor watched the conversation mildly from aside, seeming content to witness these events.

"Gods!" Usarafi sighed, shaking his head, "Must I be tested so sorely? All the worthy, young men in our city, and my own daughter instead favors a human! Zasor, I seek your council."

He led the old elf from the room, and Raina turned to look at me, "I fear that this will all end quite badly, my love. I am fond of my father, but I know that such as he would never change his views, not even for his own daughter. He has been upon this earth long, almost six hundred years, and his hatred of humans runs quite deep. And he would not risk exile of the clan, not even for my sake."

I nodded, feeling weighed down by dread. I might not leave this city alive, and I would never be allowed to remain with Raina.

"And you were willing to risk losing me forever rather than be responsible for the banishment of my clan," she frowned at me.

"Please forgive me, Raina, I meant not to ever hurt you. I..."

"Your heart is ever in the right place," she touched my cheek, "I know you mean well, and I cannot remain cross with you for that."

Usarafi and Zasor returned, and they both appeared subdued.

"In spite of everything," Usarafi spoke gravely, "One thing cannot be ignored. Human... Cuthbert... your regard for my daughter is not something shared by others of your kind, and is difficult for me to comprehend... and the favor you have found with her is most unheard of. However, if we were to bring it before the elders of the other clans, they could never be convinced to allow it. The union of a human and dark elf is not only forbidden, it is blasphemy, a repudiation of everything that our kind holds sacred... the clans would not approve, ours least of all, and I cannot risk the exile of the Moonlock clan, not even for my own daughter."

Raina began to protest, and he shushed her, "However, if my daughter insists upon her decision to remain with you... then I will respect her wishes."

Raina gasped in surprise, "Father? You speak true?"

"It will be difficult for me, but I would have to preserve the repute of our clan as well... I will have Naku and Rasab escort you from Farfell under the guise of having you executed where your blood may not be spilled upon the ground of our fair city. As for Raina... there is a church far from here, Iverezad. If questioned, I will say that Raina has been sent there upon a pilgrimage, as a part of her development into a valued member of our city. She will join you soon, after a week or two of preparation here."

I felt that weight of dread ease slightly, but Raina seemed wary.

"Furthermore," Usarafi added, "I am sure that you are aware of the differences in the spans of your lives. Raina will have long to remain upon this earth, centuries."

I nodded, and he continued, "Perhaps there is a way to ensure that you remain to make my daughter happy for longer. Zasor, is there a way?"

Zasor hobbled forward, his staff clacking on the marble floor, "There be a way, Usarafi, an enchantment that would add at least a century to his life... be this your wish?"

Usarafi sighed wearily, "Never before would I fathom that I would wish this... but I do," and to me, he proclaimed, "You may consider this my blessing, if you decide it so. Perhaps, when the enchantment wears off, my daughter might return to me."

Raina was baffled, awestruck, and still wary, something not quite right, "Zasor, do you speak true? You have an enchantment that will prolong Cuthbert's life with me?"

"Do I speak true?" Zasor replied haughtily, "Do you doubt my powers, tell me, I beg? I have studied for centuries, child, practicing until the wee hours, until my head pounded from it, until my eyes seemed fit to fall out! It can be done, child, be it ever true!"

Usarafi shot Zasor a look of warning, intending it to be inconspicuous, but Raina picked up on it, and her suspicions were confirmed.

"You plot something!" she accused, struggling to her feet, making it with my help, "Tell me, I demand!"

Usarafi flinched, and tried to recover his façade, "Raina, you cut me with your accusations! What is the meaning of this?"

"Do not attempt to deceive me, father, I shall guess at your scheme: perhaps Zasor will pretend to perform the enchantment, only it will reverse 'unexpectedly,' killing Cuthbert instead. Of all the horrors! And you will appear blameless, as you so obviously meant well, did you not? Speak true, father, I demand it!"

Usarafi snapped, "Demand nothing, ungrateful, willful child! You oppose me at every turn, going to the surface when I request you refrain, and then you meet a filthy human, and you favor him over your own kin! It is a sacrilege, I say, a desecration of everything our kind stands for! I will not allow it, and, as your punishment, I will have this disgusting beast executed before you, so you may see for yourself what comes of such unholy actions!"

"I knew it!" Raina glared furiously at her father, "Ever mindful of your own status over the happiness of your own child, to plot such deception! I knew that such as you could never, would never change, so blinded are you by your hatred, not even when the evidence is plainly before you. I cannot allow you to harm him, and I will not."

"I will give you one last chance to renounce this beast, and swear your allegiance to your clan and your people! There will be no other opportunity."

Raina stood tall, "The only thing I will renounce is my status as your daughter. I will not claim a father who would do such horrible things, at the expense of his own child, to maintain his own repute. Therefore, you are no longer my father."

Usarafi flinched, shocked, "You cannot mean such words!"

When Naku and Rasab came back inside, drawn by the shouting between Raina and Usarafi, I drew my bow and readied an arrow.

"How dare you!" Usarafi glared malevolently at me, "Behold what you have done to my house! And now you aim that cursed bow once more at a dark elf!"

"I do not intend to spill your blood, but I will if you leave me no choice," I replied calmly, though I quaked inside, unsure of my chances of leaving here alive with Raina.

"Zasor," Raina turned to the old elf who had not moved to argue either side, "You wound me the most, that you would go along with his plans to kill Cuthbert."

Zasor did not respond in his own defense, simply standing where he was.

"We must go," she said to me, "This is no longer my home, and I wish never to lay eyes upon it again."

"How will we do that?" I asked, "We would be slain before we reach the gate."

"Usarafi would wish to keep all of this from the elders of the clans, so he would not risk calling for guards," she responded bitterly, "So he cannot stop us without drawing the wrong attention."

I nodded, and turned to Naku and Rasab, who stood with their spears at the ready, and I aimed my arrow between them, "I am truly sorry about this. I had truly hoped for a better outcome. I ask that one of you surrender your spear to Raina. Her leg is still weak, and she would require it for assistance."

Naku gave her his spear, and she leaned on it gratefully.

"Do not do this, Raina," Usarafi pled, "If you leave this city, you are a traitor to your own kind, and I will send hunters after you. I must protect the Moonlock clan's integrity."

"Do what you feel you must, but expect that I will do the same," she spat venomously.

She and I left the house, turned right, and hurried as fast as her injured leg would allow. She grabbed my arm, stopping me.

"This way," she indicated a small path between two large houses, "There is the tunnel I always used to go to the surface in secret."

I followed her along the small path, and we reached a tunnel mostly concealed behind the wall of the house on the left. It was narrow, and we had to duck to gain access to it. Before we had gone twenty steps, we heard a noise behind us, and I whirled around, my bow drawn.

"Be you still, as I am not a threat to such as you," said Zasor calmly, his dark eyes glittering in the gloom.

"You!" Raina frowned, on the verge of tears, "And I thought you my friend, only to find betrayal!"

"Believe you so? Perhaps you do, at that. Only, search deep within yourself and ask this question: For years, you have sought my stories of the wonders of human kindness, a rarity, but not unheard of, and, when presented with the rarest of humans, the one that not only shows kindness, but love, would it do for me to cause the death of such a human?"

Raina blinked, confused, "But... you were going to..."

Zasor cackled with glee, "You believed it so, but, more importantly, so did your father! He believed that he had my cooperation in a quite nefarious plot. But you are sharp, dear girl, as always you have been, able to see what others are too blind to, sometimes even myself."

I was completely baffled by all of this, and eager to be off before we were discovered by the scouts, or agents of Usarafi.

"You were always such a terrible liar," Raina's lips curled up a little, "Is this why you sought us, so that you might clear your name with me?"

"Did I ever tell you that I once loved a wood elf?" Zasor asked, "That I loved her as I have never loved since?"

Raina gaped, "You never spoke a word of it to me before."

"A union between a dark elf and wood elf is considered as much a blasphemy as a union between dark elf and human," he frowned, "But it was so, all the same, it was so, and I loved her so! Ilinika, such a splendid beauty she was, a songstress of great renown. I was of a mind to run away with her, to forge a new life elsewhere so that we might remain together, oh, wonders to behold! Only, it turned out not to be."

"Someone found out," I guessed, and Zasor nodded darkly, his eyes suddenly bitter with memory.

"Aye, young Cuthbert, so it happened just that way. Someone found out about our love, and he was as blind with hatred as your... well, as Usarafi, willing to end the life of his own sister to preserve what he knew. This despicable creature beheaded his own sister and left it for me in a glen where she and I met."

Raina listened carefully, and then it dawned on her, "Beheaded... you don't mean..."

"Aye, the very same who once wielded the bow that Cuthbert now uses for your honor," he sighed, "It has been ages since last I saw her alive, and, even now, her lovely face is foremost in my mind."

"I am truly sorry," Raina spoke softly, tears in her eyes, "Dear Zasor, please forgive my harsh words."

"Do not be sorry, dear girl, for it is upon this bitterly sad tale that I offer your own love the blessing that Usarafi only feigned. I wish to bestow upon you the life that I should have known, the chance to love whom you choose to love without fear of reprisal."

"You mean," Raina took his gnarled, old hand, "The enchantment is true? I beg of you, please speak true, is it possible?"

"Oh, quite possible, so it is! Only, it did not take years of study and experimentation to make it possible, only an old fool who stumbled upon it by accident, while trying to prolong the life of the food in the city's stores. It will work, though others in the city shall never know it exists. Otherwise, I should have all manner of elves begging and pleading for it, and men of office demanding it... no, I destroyed all my notes on it, so that I, and now you both, are the only souls upon this earth that know it is possible. I offer it to you, Cuthbert, at least two centuries of life in addition to the years you already have, so that you may longer provide the love that Raina deserves."

I looked at the old elf, hardly daring to believe that it was possible, and yet fiercely hopeful.

"Raina," I turned to her, "Do you trust in what he speaks? Tell me, I beg."

She kissed me gently, and answered, "He speaks true, and I trust him fully."

"Then I will, upon your word. Zasor, as you offer, I accept and am ever grateful for your kindness. What shall I do?"

There, in the nearly dark tunnel, Zasor produced a small, wooden rod with a glowing, green stone perched upon it.

"I require that you lie on the ground and bare your chest, do ya," he instructed, and I obeyed.

He held the bottom of the small rod to my chest, and, upon his instruction, I held onto it, keeping it standing upon my breastbone.

"When I say, and only when I say, you shall drive the rod into your chest. Fear not, for you will feel no pain, only a momentary weakness, and it will pass quickly. Before this, I must chant, and you must repeat my words exactly. I assume that Elvish is not a language you possess?"

I shook my head, and he nodded, "Aye, so I shall speak slowly, but you must repeat it precisely. Shall we begin?"

I glanced at Raina, who waited pensively. She nodded, and so did I.

Zasor began speaking slowly, pausing frequently for me to repeat the words, and I did, though with difficulty. Elvish is quite a tricky language.

After a few minutes of this, Zasor opened his eyes and commanded, "With these words, take the life offered to you, take it into you, Cuthbert, now!"

I took a breath, and then thrust the rod into my chest, and it sank in through my breastbone with the ease of a sword through water, disappearing completely without a scar or wound, the light visible under my skin for only a second. I could not feel it within my body.

"And, my friends... may I consider it so, to befriend a human? I bestow upon you, Cuthbert, the remainder of my years upon this wondrous earth. Enjoy them well, I beg."

"Wait," Raina took his arm, "What is the meaning of this? What have you done?"

"Dear child, there is a balance to all, as there always has, a life for a death, a failure for a success, since time out of hand. One cannot just make life from nothing, and I cannot imbue years of life without the sacrifice of my own, for the balance must be kept. Therefore, Cuthbert, the years of life you have gained are the years of life that I have left, so it be."

"No," I shook my head, shocked, "I cannot gain life at the expense of your own. Please, you must take it back!"

"Even if I could, I would not. Be not concerned, as we have both done each other a service, my friend. Ha! Wonders shall never cease, dear boy, that you would be so concerned for such as me, even! You see, my love, sweet Ilinika, she waits for me in the hereafter, this I know with my heart, old as it is. And now, I shall meet up with her so much sooner, and this is all I could want, so it is."

"How much longer do you have?" Raina was crying now.

"Oh, cry not for me," Zasor took her hand and patted it reassuringly, "Only celebrate my swift exit from this world and my reunion with my Ilinika. Dear, that leg will just not do, will it? You have a journey ahead of you, and your leg will only slow you down. I believe I have just the item to help."

He rummaged through his purse, grunting to himself, and then pulled out a long piece of dark linen, "Ah, this should do nicely."

He asked for her leg, and then wrapped it around the wound, tying it tightly, "It will remove your wound quite quickly, but, mind you now, once it has done its work, you may never use it again, for it would give the wound back to whomever you use it on. So, when it is done, you must burn it completely."

Raina winced, but did not complain, still concerned for the old elf, "Will you be okay to return home?"

"Still you worry for me!" Zasor clucked his tongue, "Be easy, dear child, I still have a bit of time, perhaps a week, perhaps a little less, but it is plenty to get my house in order. I believe you should be more concerned with Usarafi and his promised hunters... there, I believe I have one more gift for the both of you. It will last for a while, and will make you dim to whomever Usarafi may send after you. Step back, do ya, and I shall begin."

He muttered a moment's worth of chants, moving his staff in small patterns over the ground, and then lifted his staff. He drove it down to stab at the dirt, and, to our astonishment, it became a column of bright red flame in his hands. He seemed unaffected by the conflagration, his hands unburned. Then he struck the ground once more with the staff, and the flames vanished.

"Take this, Raina, and I shall trade for the spear to get me home. Keep the staff close, and, wherever you lay your head, it will protect you from those that Usarafi sends to harm you. And this is my final gift to you, for you must go now. Be well, and may your lives be blessed with happiness."

I took his hand, thanking him for everything he had done for us, and Raina embraced him. Then he turned and disappeared into the tunnel.

Raina untied the cloth from her leg a few moments later, and, another marvel to witness, there was no sign of any wound on either side, not even the thinnest of scars. She stuffed the cloth into her ruckah.

"There was never such as Zasor," Raina smiled, still crying a little, "And there will never be another like him, I fear."

I nodded in agreement, and we left the tunnel, headed down the gradual slope at the edge of Mount Leedhi, and to the fields.

"We may need to make a new home elsewhere," I suggested, "My cabin is known to Naku and Rasab, and they may lead others to it."

"This is true," she sighed, "Will you be able to part with it? You have known it as your home for so long."

"It is only a cabin. We can build another, one that is ours, and it will be home as long as you share it with me."

She stopped me, reached into her ruckah again, and from it she brought out the hummingbird carving, which was miraculously unbroken. She showed it to me, smiling, and then kissed me fervently for a moment, so sweet was it because I had despaired that I may never feel her lips on mine again.