Mell Naneth,
Aunt Lume has asked me to write you. She bids me to assure you we are all well enough here, all things considered, although my excursion has been of equal measures educational, exciting, and not without some danger. Throughout it all, Ada and Teahesto have been excellent guides and Luminere the most gracious of hosts. I know that they have kept you abreast of everything, except for the latest event… Aunt Lume’s island was attacked by pirates!
Ada and I were returning from a glorious day sailing and fishing the surf on the Cape mainland, near the Cathlond docks. It was approaching evening when we spotted a corsair river raiding boat tied to the Tol Falthui dock, and Ada swung us about to land on the seaward side of the island out of sight. Ada was sure there was no one aboard the boat and we saw no one on the dock, but when we pulled ashore, we heard shouting and banging coming from the main house. Ada bade me stay with the boat while he crept up to see what was happening.
A few minutes later, he returned, surprising me as he always does when he is in the spirit of the stealthy Black Fox. This time was different though. His usual sweet manner, even present when we hunt together, was gone, replaced with … nothing. With a coldness I’d never seen before, he placed my bow, quiver, and blades, retrieved from the stable, into the boat with me and bade me return to the docks and get help, for the mansion was under siege. With his own weapons, he turned to return to the now dark island, and I simply said, “No, Ada, I will not leave you.”
He turned and stared at me with an emotionless gaze. In the next moment, anger crossed his face, but then he softened. “I had hoped I would never have to teach you how to kill a man, Danny. But if you stay I must. Do you think you are ready for that, son?” Without hesitation, I picked up my weapons and climbed out of the boat to follow him.
Ada whispered his assessment and plan to me as we crept towards the dock. “About a dozen of them are at the door with a ram, trying to bash it in. A rune-keeper leads them, and he is trying to use his powers against the door as well. No doubt, the Captain and Aunt Lume have the door barred and … protected, as only she could, but the door won’t stand forever. We need to both create confusion and signal the mainland there is trouble. Since you will not carry that call to the docks, then we must fire their boat and hunt them from the shadows. If we can draw enough of them away from the door, the Captain and Aunt Lume may have a chance to attack.” He paused for a moment and drew me close. “A man knows the world around him mostly though his eyes. If we are to hunt and kill them, we must remain unseen. The dark will help us and will also add to their confusion.” He stared at me silently until I nodded. “Other than that, a man is much like a boar, and you already know where to shoot them from a distance and where to strike them if they get close. These boars, son, carry blades. Don’t miss with your bow.” After a moment I nodded again, and he continued to lead us to the dock.
Their boat sat unattended, and we climbed aboard to find a way to set it ablaze. The raiders had left a few torches and bottles of lamp oil, and soon we had flames and smoke rising high into the night sky. Ada had us separate, he on left side of the dock, me on the right. “Scale the wall on your side and hide. Watch for me to draw their attention and pick off the closest to you. Leave the leader to me. We will be moving, so pay close attention and stay concealed!”
By the time we had each hidden, seven of the raiders were rushing toward the dock down the paved path beneath and between us. The leader directed the others to put out the fire while he scanned about to see who might have caused it. Ada hooted and rose enough to loose an arrow into one of the firefighting crewman, killing him instantly. The leader called three others to follow him in pursuit of Ada, who ducked down out of site. As the group chased back up the path to search the yard above them, I rose to shoot the one in the rear. It was a clear shot, but I hesitated, knowing I would kill this fellow. It took only a moment to remember he’d kill us if he got the chance, so I loosed my arrow. It struck him squarely in the back over the heart. He instantly dropped and lay motionless; my first Man kill. It sickened me, but I had to press on.
Once at the top of the path to the dock, the leader, flanked by the other two, took an odd pose and shouted a strange word. Around him the air cracked, and a bolt of lightning shot from him into the bushes near where Ada had hidden. I watched in horror, expecting the worse, as the bushes were suddenly engulfed in flames but then heard another hoot off to the rune-keepers right, near the darkened water garden, followed immediately by another of Ada’s arrows downing a pursuer.
Suddenly, from the mansion, a tremendous rushing noise and a brilliant orange flash erupted, followed by a storm of shattered pieces of the massive door, and the screams of burning men. As the ringing of a great sword rhythmically joined the chaotic scene, I realized that the Captain and Aunt Lume had entered the field of battle and I turned my attention back to Ada’s pursuers. I had to step out onto the top of the dock pathway to get a clear shot and aimed at the leader’s last flanker, disappearing into the trees near the water garden. I didn’t find out until after the battle that he was my second Man kill.
Heavy, running footsteps approached from the dock; the two who had been left to put out the fire were rushing up the path toward me. They had given up on the hopelessly burning boat and were rejoining their comrades, and now were bearing down on me, weapons drawn. I had just enough time to put an arrow through the neck of the closest, my third Man kill, before I had to drop my bow and draw out daggers. My enemy was a foot taller man and was half again my weight. I fell back warding off his confident attack; he could see he had the advantage. Again, I heard Ada shout from the right, followed quickly by his arrow plunging fatally into my opponent’s temple. When I swung to face my father, I saw the terrible choice he had to make for me.
The rune keeper had been facing me, having returned from the darkness near the water garden. He had been prepared to unleash his power on me while I was avoiding certain death on my opponent’s scimitars. Ada was behind him and to his right, and the arrow that had whizzed by the rune-keeper to save me distracted him, causing him to duck. The rune-keeper turned to my father, and it became a race whose attack on the other would be first……...
