Challenge #01922-E098: The Big Guns
She unleashed the most powerful, devastating, army-halting, tyrant-toppling weapon... the puppy dog eyes -- TheDragonsFlame
In the times of Dragons, a very young Elf only has one defense. And after the Orcs raided her village, and Tila woke up in a cage, it was a matter of urgency to find a time to use it on creatures who certainly planned to eat her. Once she realised her situation, she certainly couldn't return to anything approaching rest. Every Orc was carrying a young Elf in a cage on their back. There was no sign of the adults, anywhere.
The Orcs ran all night and finally took shelter in a network of caves at dawn. The Orc that had been carrying Tila put their pack and Tila's cage down. She could hear many other Elf children crying. Tila unleashed the most powerful, devastating, army-halting and tyrant toppling weapon that every Elf child had. Puppy eyes.
"Please don't eat me?" she asked in Common. Every being in the realm spoke Common. So she was told. So she hoped. So she fervently prayed.
The Orc stared at her for a heart-stoppingly long time. "Child," the Orc finally said, "this is a rescue mission. We were saving you from the humanmen." The Orc undid the cage and held out a paw/hand bigger than Tila's head. "I'm Zuczuc. And you need to stay out of the light. We're still within humanman range."
The food was not that great, being basically lembas, jerky, and assorted foods that travelled well. Tila was allowed to mingle with the other children, but there were no games. No laughter. Everyone whispered. And it was truly telling that the Orcs were guarding the entrance, not guarding the Elves.
Tila found an older cousin. Only eighty years of age. To the likes of Tila, almost grown up, but according to the adults, not an adult yet. Cousin Raf, who usually sneered at her and treated her presence as an onerous obligation, looked down with sympathy and murmured, "Need a hug, rugrat?"
Tila nodded and opened her arms, grateful that Cousin Raf scooped her up and started finger-combing her hair. "It's all right, kid. They knew the password. All our parents are distracting the humanmen so we can get free."
All around them, kids were distracting themselves. One was trying to create a figure with a cats' cradle. One was drawing with one stone against another. Vague figures, but definitely the figures of a whole family. One child amongst the multitude was determined to press their left foot against every stalactite in the cavern.
Tila clung close to Cousin Raf and let the tears fall.
Zuczuc found them, and handed them each a waterskin. "Drink. Soon, the Dwarves will come. They will take you the rest of the way."
"The rest of the way where?"
"Where, we hope, the humanmen will never be able to reach," said Zuczuc. "We have the guarantee of the Dragons. That has to count for something."
Tila said, "What's happening? Why is this happening?" And, picking their words carefully, others told her about the opening volleys in what would soon be called the Xenophobia Wars.
The humans - humanmen - thought the entire realm belonged to them. And they were getting better at war with every one they fought. They had almost wiped out the Orcs. They had learned not to mess with the Fae, but nobody with two brain cells to rub together even tried to interact with the Fae. Not even to plead for their protection. The price was just too high.
Humans. By all accounts, they should not be bothering anyone. They had lives that were too short. Just a few millennia ago, they were still working out how to bang rocks together. And now they were getting beyond organised. Their general attitude was just like their lives. Nasty, brutish, and short.
Therefore, any creature that wasn't human and wasn't foolishly attempting to end the humanmen so the realms could have peace, was bugging out. Heading for isolated places that the humanmen shouldn't be able to reach for hundreds upon hundreds of years. Guarded by Dragons. Kept safe by the Dwarves' clever mines, the Gnomes' intricate illusions, and the Kobold's dazzling devices.
Even the Orcs, deemed to have a weed-like ability to bounce back, had suffered under the humanman onslaught. They would take an age or more to build up their strength once more. And by then? The humanmen would be even stronger.
When they weren't fighting with other peoples, Cousin Raf said, Humanmen fought each other.
The Dwarves came, eyeless and large-eared from their evolution underground. And from the sunshine side of the cave, came a trickle of Elven adults. The honour guard. Not the adults from Tila's village. Not yet. Those Elves were leading the humanmen on a Wild Chase. These ones were making certain that the children emerged safely in the hidden place.
It was a long journey. Cold and damp and frightening. The Orcs had to have their hands on a Dwarf to navigate the dark. Many of the Elves cast small illusory lights to frighten away the imagined monsters in the dark. Tila had Cousin Raf's hand to hold, and they both knew that the real monsters were outside in the daylight. Clad in and wielding cold iron. Riding giant horses. Dreaming up messier and more devastating ways to kill another living being.
Wasting so much. Wanting so much more.
On the other hand, the sheltered place was beautiful. They would weave a city out of those trees in no time. The community might be a little more difficult, but Tila was certain that they would find a way to cope.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / appalachianviews]
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