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.
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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!
What a position to be in! I'm very much enjoying your continuing story.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering...was it the gnoll who set Thal up for ambush or was it Kael working to his own plan?
ReplyDeleteThat is a good question! Could it be that the ambush was intended for Thal? I will have to see where next week's words lead me.
DeleteRe your " I will have to see where next week's words lead me."
DeleteIt reminds me of what John McGahern once said: 'As a writer, I write to see. If I knew how it would end, I wouldn't write. It's a process of discovery.'
Exactly! When I was writing novels, I would sometimes start out with one direction in mind, but three hours later when doing edits, I would be surprised at how the story line took a completely different turn than what I had intended ... and sounded better!
DeleteI don't think Kael deserves the help but I think Thal would help Kael but it's a hard decision. Good use of the prompts.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely day.
Thrilling. Suspenseful moral dilemma. The next culmination point is approaching ...
ReplyDelete