The Lich's Master

Chapter 5: Elves and a Particular Knight

As soon as he stepped between the trees, he found himself staring at the pointy end of a spear. The sun’s light reflected off of the shining metal, nearly blinding him as he tried to look at the weapon.

“Give us one reason to let you live!”

“Uh… I come in peace?” He suggested, raising his hands in an attempt to show he wasn’t reaching his weapon.

“Don’t dare cast spells!” Another voice shouted as more elves appeared all around.

“I’m not a mage!” Kyle quickly tried to clarify. “I have no magic whatsoever!”

“Then what are you doing here?” Another one of the elves asked. His deep voice startled Kyle as he stepped out of the woods. He was taller than the others, and his long, white hair swept the floor behind him as he approached Kyle. “This orchard is only of use to mages. Are you with that other human then?”

Kyle gulped. This elf’s voice carried power. Angering him seemed like a horrible idea.

“What other human?” Kyle asked. “I didn’t come here with any other humans.” Skeletons didn’t count as humans, did they? He sure hoped not.

The elf narrowed his eyes and glared at him.

“What did you come here for then?”

Kyle breathed a sigh. “Fruits. If that’s ok with you – I don’t intend to just steal them!” He quickly clarified as the eld furrowed his brows.

His words seemed to surprise the elves as they glanced at each other and whispered something in elvish. Kyle waited as they discussed amongst themselves, wishing he knew elvish. It would have been so useful to understand what they were saying!

A while passed, and finally the elf holding the spear to his throat lowered his weapon. Their leader, the elf with the deepest voice, spoke up right afterwards. “We have little trust for humans. You have settled on the lands and forced nature to bend to your will.” He folded his arms and raised his chin with pride. “What will you use the fruits for?”

Kyle gulped. He couldn’t tell them what he really needed them for. Elves notoriously hated the undead, claiming they were unnatural and cursed. They… were pretty much spot on too. There was nothing remotely natural or normal about Cacophus or his skeletons.

“Someone I know needs them for their research.” He carefully replied. “His notebooks and… well, everything, was destroyed due to a human Knight’s carelessness and utter stupidity. I’m trying to help out.”

The elves’ leader narrowed his eyes. “Research? About what?”

Kyle shrugged. “I don’t know, I’m no scholar.” He lowered his arms, half expecting the other elf to skewer him with that spear of his. “If you are worried about his research harming you or your lands… I can promise that I would never let that happen.” He suggested. He was confidant enough that he could stop the Lich from doing something stupid such as pissing off the elves.

The leader of the elves crossed his arms by his chest and tapped the ground with his foot twice. Some of the elves sighed and walked away while a handful of them remained, weapons in hand. “How can you promise such a thing?”

Kyle forced a smile. “Let’s just say that he owes me something like a life debt, and he doesn’t want to anger your people.”

The elf glared at him for a while, then all of a sudden smiled. “Alright then.” He said with an oddly satisfied expression. “Let’s make a deal.” His smile made Kyle question his decision almost immediately.

“As I’ve said before, a human has been bothering us. A lot. I’d like you to dispose of him for us.” His smile widened. He seemed so satisfied as Kyle hesitated.

“Uh.” Kyle shrugged. “Okay? Where is he? How strong is he?” He pointed at his sword. “I’m only a mediocre fighter.”

The elf’s expression quickly turned to a scowl as he pointed downhill, towards a stone path leading all the way to the distant city. “He is not particularly strong.” He added after a moment’s silence.

“Why didn’t you dispose of him?” Kyle asked as he fixed his clothes and looked at where the elf pointed at.

The elf raised his chin with pride. “Because unlike your people, we adhere to the treaties we sign. We would harm no human, and your people would not harass the wildlife of these woods.” His gaze lingered on the left side of the stone road.

A narrow, yet deep crack in the earth separated the road from the forest on the other side. Kyle could see a narrow wooden bridge connecting the two sides, and a horse tied to a fencepost not too far away from the bridge. “I see,” He said. “I would apologise in their stead,” He shot a glance at the elven leader, whose expression grew darker. “But that’s just empty talk. I’ll get rid of the knight for you.”

With the watchful gazes of the elves still on him, he walked down the dirt path passing through the middle of the orchard. He unsheathed his blade as he reached the stone road at the foot of the hill and shot a quick glance at the blade.

“Yeah, no.” He muttered with a sigh. He was going to need to do this the smart way. If the knight was even half as strong as the dumb one who constantly harassed Kyle, he couldn’t take any chances. Having no class yet, he was still quite weaker than those just a single level above him.

His steps carried him down the stone road, towards the wooden bridge that connected the two sides of the narrow, yet surprisingly deep chasm. Kyle approached the bridge and shot a quick glance down, to the bottom of the chasm.

Nothing. He saw nothing down there, as an almost unnatural mist covered the surface below. It swirled and churned, almost as if it tried to reach the sunlight, but always returned to the bottom half of the chasm. It felt like a living, breathing entity. A hungry one.

Kyle gulped. He wouldn’t want to fall down there.

“Oh.” He smirked. He definitely wouldn’t want to fall down there.