Ch 1. Trespasser
Fiachra
The further Fiachra circulated out from his home the less the moon’s light filtered through the trees. It was one of the ways he marked the distance, although these grounds were so familiar he didn’t need any markers, he just knew. Still, the pale white rays were pleasant and he enjoyed how the light played with the leaves on trees and underbrush along the forest floor as he passed each patch of light. He followed a route noted purely through mental mapping, intentionally avoiding well-worn animal trails to purposefully track anything irregular. It was a patrol he performed almost nightly.
Every so often, he would look back without pausing and see the shadowed form of Gronw trailing behind. He rarely heard them as their steps were as silent and natural on the forest ground as Fiachra’s, but he could at least see his knee-height hobgoblin companion. Gronw kept close, almost touching distance, they didn’t possess the keen eyesight Fiachra had but their hearing surpassed even his and provided a nice counterbalance when hunting. They both carried on in silent comradery while travelling ever deeper into the black of the great forest.
Beginning the circuit back to his house, a small flash of light caught his attention. It dimmed out of existence almost immediately, causing him to doubt he had seen anything at all. Nonetheless, he stopped. With suspicion creeping in the back of his mind he nocked an arrow on his bow and drew it, ready for any target. Gronw had a hand on his calf but removed it presumably to step out of the way. They waited. A moment later burgeoning light caught his attention. It winked into existence like a firefly and grew into a pale gold orb lower to the ground. It was unlike anything he had seen naturally occur. Fiachra called out a warning in Fae and waited a fraction of a second. No response came. He loosed an arrow straight at the orb’s center before I could grow to its apex and when the arrow touched it, the orb shattered into sparks dissipating into nothing.
“Gah! Nngfh!” An unfamiliar cry, followed by a sharp, hiss-like inhale of breath, splintered the silence before quickly cutting off.
Quiet darkness enveloped the area once more. His eyes adjusted quickly, making out a huddled mass of shadows near where the orb had been. He nocked another arrow and took a few steps forward, carefully keeping his distance.
“State your purpose.” He declared in Elvish, breaking the still air once more. The shadowed mass shuffled ambiguously giving away nothing of what it was, if it was hostile, or if it even understood. “What business have you here?” He waited for a threat to rise with an arrow trained on the form.
“I pose no threat. I only wish to pass through and forage,” a quiet but assured voice said. Their Elvish was fluid enough to cause Fiachra to pause.
“Show yourself.”
As an answer the gold orb took life again, starting as a speck and quickly filling out into a substantial ball the size of both his fists together. The shadows diminished, revealing a pale face of long smooth angles and wide slanted eyes the color of deep gold. Their hair was as pale as their skin with a marked difference in highlighting from the light, fine braids decorated the top of their head and silky plaits of white hair swept behind their ears as long and pointed as his own. It was clear they were elven and far removed from their homelands. The rest of the figure came to light as the orb’s illumination grew in intensity. They were crouched, kneeling on the ground with an open bag at their feet. He studied the bag for a moment and noted it was full of plants and fungi, but not any nondescript plants, they were species he cultivated specifically.
“You’re stealing,” He stated simply.
“Foraging,” the trespasser countered, eyeing the tip of Fiachra’s arrow.
“I can’t allow you to leave my grounds with anything from it. Everything in this vicinity is under my jurisdiction and you have no leave to take anything.” He stood his ground watching the trespasser as closely as they watched him. He adjusted his aim of the bow to target the chest, a wider area and easier to hit should the other elf try to dodge.
“My apologies, but I need these supplies and it’s vital that I return home with them.”
“You could have asked.”
“I wasn’t aware anyone lay claim to this area even down to the most meager of plants.”
“Don’t be a fool or insolent, Wood Elves range far and we protect our charge of the forest closely.”
“I am not from around this area, or close to it.”
“That much is obvious,” he said, taking in the elf’s markedly white skin and how the only color seemed to come from the gold hues of the light. It was a striking highlight to the rich gold in their eyes.
“It’s not much that I’m taking and everything I need is in abundance here, so it is not as though I am depleting any resources.” They pleaded their case with a level of calmness that was admirable when faced with an arrow in fatal range, a quality rarely seen outside of Wood Elves.
“Then I will make you a deal, I will allow you to leave with your life and supplies if you trade something of useful value.”
There was a moment of silence, the elf regarded him with burning intensity, crouched form stiff. “I have precious stones mined from the neighboring mountains.”
“I have no need for them.”
“What?” They rocked back, the drop in their jaw making their face more angular and sharp. “Gemstones are invaluable for trade with everyone’s lust for them, dwarves and humans especially.”
“I have no dealings with the likes of them, or did you not notice how removed I live from any population?”
“I did… that’s why I was foraging here.”
“Try again.” He kept his face plain while the other elf scowled.
