Pool of Twilight - James M. Ward [37]
"It has been quite-"
"-some time since we left-"
"-Sifahir's tower behind. Will you-"
"-stay with us for a-"
"-time, fair Listle?"
Listle sighed. "Much as I would love to, I'm afraid I can't. I've come on some dire business, Brookwine and Winebrook. It involves my friend here, Kern."
"Ah, yes!" Brookwine said, raising his snowy eyebrows. "It is the Hammer-"
"-seeker," Winebrook continued. "We are honored-"
"-to meet you, young human."
Unsure how to behave, Kern attempted a stiff bow with at least partial success. "Er, pleased to meet you," he managed to say. He wasn't sure which elf was which.
"We shall go-"
"-tell Primul of-"
"-your coming," the two wizened elves finished together. As quickly as they had materialized, they vanished. The two brilliant specks fluttered out of the chamber.
"How in the world can you tell them apart, Listle?" Kern asked when they had left.
"Isn't it easy?" the elf said in a miffed tone. "Brookwine's eyes are blue-green and Winebrook's eyes are green-blue."
"Oh, of course," Kern mumbled abashedly.
Suddenly the air of the chamber was shattered by a thunderous voice.
"Listle Onopordum! Is it truly you?"
Kern spun around to see what had to be the hugest elf in all the northlands stride into the room. He towered head and shoulders over Kern, his massive shoulders and chest knotted thickly with muscle beneath his forest green tunic. His broad face was open and strikingly handsome. Long golden hair was tied behind his neck with a silver wire. Around his waist was an intricate belt of fine golden links. Rumbling with laughter that shook the tree-hall like an earthquake, the gigantic elf crushed Listle in an embrace.
After a minute or so, she good-naturedly reminded Primul that she needed to breathe, and he set her down. Kern could only shake his head. So much for the general impression that all elves were delicate and wispy.
"Now, who is this specimen you've brought to my tree, Listle?" the big elf boomed. He turned his blazing, leaf-green eyes on Kern. "A human whelp?" Kern did his best not to shrink down into the floor.
"He's a friend, Primul," Listle soothed. "A good friend. I'd like to keep him in one piece."
Primul snorted. "Suit yourself. Although I'll have you know humans make terribly amusing noises when you pop their limbs off."
Kern blanched.
"Primul…" Listle warned.
"Sorry. Just having a little fun." He grinned broadly at Kern and winked. "No hard feelings, eh?"
"Of c-c-course not," Kern stammered.
Primul led the way to an expansive table where he firmly set his guests down and poured them each a cup of pale, sweet mead. The cup handed to Kern was beautifully crafted of silver, inlaid with lapis lazuli. Kern knew it was a vessel fit for a king's hall, but Primul seemed to treat the chalices as if they were made of ordinary clay.
"Did you see Brookwine and Winebrook?" Primul asked Listle as he quaffed his third cup of mead in as many minutes.
Listle nodded. "They look wonderful."
Primul rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, they're better than when Sifahir had them in magical chains, that's for sure. But something tells me they'll never really be their old selves." For a moment a look of sorrow crossed his broad face. Then his expression cheered. "Say, Kern, has Listle ever told you how she helped us escape from the tower of the evil wizard Sifahir?"
Kern shot a puzzled glance at Listle. What was Primul talking about? The young elf looked distinctly uncomfortable.
"That's how we met," Primul went on in his rumbling voice. "It was about ten years ago. You see, there was an elven wizard who lived on a small rocky island north of Evermeet, the homeland of the gray elves. His name was Sifahir, and you've never met a wizard with a darker heart. He brought all sorts of people under his enchantment, using them for his wicked purposes until the very life was squeezed out of them. Then he would throw their dried husks away without a second thought"
The big elf