no qualms about it ...

   Thal watched as the argument between Kael and the gnoll became louder and more threatening, unsure of how to act.  True, Kael was the definition of a scumbag, the likes of which the forest had never seen before.  But he was a wood elf, and thereby kinfolk.  He had no qualms with letting Kael be on the karma end of something that was his own doing.  But this wasn't that kind of a situation.  Thal wasn't sure if he could live with himself if he said nothing, regardless of whether or not Kael deserved what was coming to him.

  Against what Lyri would consider a judicious thought, Thal quietly reached into his bag for one of the blue glass beads that she had given him instead of the seeds.  Fitting it into his slingshot, he thought to himself that if he missed hitting the gnoll's elephant sized head, he would deserve whatever happened next.

  He waited, poised to shoot until the argument between the two of them reached a fever pitch to drown out any noise he might make.  Kael and the gnoll were nearly to blows when they both turned away to look at a noise from the other side of the tree.  Now was his chance.  He pulled back even harder on the sling and released his shot.

  What happened next Thal was never able to fully remember.  The bead hit the gnoll just behind his left ear.  As he spun around to confront whoever hit him, there was a sound of a roar from the far side of the tree, out of Thal's sight.  Kael also spun around, but not to confront an unknown attacker.  His eyes were wide with fear, and he ran into the woods to Thal's left, rather than running straight ahead into the waiting ambush.

  The gnolls that had been hiding in the woods around Thal gave their own answering roar and charged forward out of the trees towards whatever was approaching from the other side.  In the ensuing confusion, Thal was knocked to the ground, unconscious, and run over by several of them.  Something that worked in his favor ...

  It was dark when Thal finally regained consciousness, and something heavy was pinning him to the ground.  Whatever it was, it also stunk to high heaven.  After struggling for almost thirty minutes, Thal was finally able to get free of what turned out to be a very dead gnoll.  All around him were more dead gnolls.  He didn't see Kael anywhere, nor did he see what might have killed the gnolls.  They didn't have many enemies that Thal knew of, and in this battle at least, it appeared the fight was one-sided.

  Thal's head was pounding, but he knew he needed to quickly get back to the heart of the forest where the wood elves lived.  And Lyri.  He needed to get back to her.  But the beating his body had taken as he'd been trampled by the gnolls in their panic had zapped his usually limitless energy and strength.  Now he slowly made his way back home, forced to stop every few hours to rest and sleep, always mindful of the danger Lyri could be facing with each passing day.

It's Words for Wednesday again ...

on this day ....

in 2022... 

I'd created a canvas showing little bits of who I was.

The top row isn't pictured, but it included a clay paw imprint of my soul dog, Trooper, as well as a photo of a German man in lederhosen driving a horse drawn wagon.

The middle row from L to R includes found feathers because I love watching birds, and my favorite color combination of turquoise and brown.

Bottom row, my love for reading; upcycling vintage finds; and a piece of a postcard because I love getting them in the mail along with letters and cards.  (I'm a semi-closeted mail-aholic).

thoughts on a ...

L-R:  My mom, me, Grandmother, Aunt, cousin
I may now be the age my grandmother was in this photo.

  ... Saturday morning.  Thursday got away from me this week.  It's actually been a week that has felt like a month.  Maybe even a year.  Monday brought news of health concerns for two family members, and combined with the unexpected snow on Tuesday, it just threw my week for a loop.   The one family member's diagnosis was not as serious as originally thought, which was a relief.  However, my last aunt was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and died last night, only days after the diagnosis.

  I've been up before the sun, although "up" is a relative term since I've not been "down" to sleep except for a about an hour or more while watching TV last night.  That's always an odd sensation when I wake up without even knowing that I'd been drowsy or was falling asleep at some point.  Just "poof."  Going to bed was just a wasted effort because I still don't feel tired at all.

  I suppose it is all the thoughts rattling around in my head.  Life.  Death.  Mortality.  Aging.  All the things one thinks when a loved one is lost.  I never expected to reach this age.

~ Invincible Summer ~

"My dear, In the midst of hate, I found there was, within me, an invincible love.  In the midst of tears, I found there was, within me, an invincible smile.  In the midst of chaos, I found there was, within me, an invincible calm.  I realized, through it all, that ... In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.  And that makes me happy.  For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there's something stronger ~ something better, pushing right back."

~ Albert Camus ~

Hug someone today ... Ci 💚

... stuck between a rock and a hard place ...

   Thal left in the early morning as soon as he saw Kael slip away from the small community of wood elves where he had been staying to court Lyri.  He didn't see Thal following him at a distance, and neither did Kael's winged spies.

  It would have been cruel of Thal to speak to Lyri before he left.  He knew she cared deeply for him, and his own feelings were hard for him to describe.  He wished he hadn't needed to leave without saying goodbye, but he was afraid it would have been the last time he saw her, and he wasn't ready to face that yet.

  When he returned, he would formally ask her father if he could court her, but until then, he was determined to save the forest as well as his community.  Whether it was to prove himself worthy of a woman like Lyri, he wasn't sure.  But it was something that he needed to do for all of their futures.

  Sneaking through the underbrush, Thal was finding it hard to keep up with Kael as he was equally suspicious and determined not to be followed.

  Finally, Kael stopped at a massive oak tree that stood at the edge of the forest and the beyond.  A solitary guardian between the world of the elves, and the world of the humans.

  A lone gnoll appeared on the other side of the oak tree, and Kael stepped forward to greet him.  Thal couldn't hear what the two of them were saying, but whatever it was, it was making the gnoll angry.  Raising his arms, he appeared to be threatening Kael.

  Thal moved closer to the two, hiding himself in some blue elephant grass, and in doing so he realized that he was suddenly in the middle of several gnolls who had not yet noticed him.  The gnoll that was arguing with Kael had set him up for an ambush!  

  Now Thal was faced with a horrible decision.  Does he warn Kael and risk his own life, or does he let Kael be attacked and risk the wood elf community?

~*~*~

What was I thinking?!?  I forgot it was Tuesday and the Words for Wednesday prompts were up at Postcards from the Bookstore!  It has been a "week" at work!