Heart of the Canopy
It was the cold pale winds of Bajor that cut through the flesh, almost as strong as the ropes upon his wrists. Bound, gagged and knowing only the form before him, Ecallon, a high elf on a mission, had to live. It was not long after midday when he found himself ambushed by the familiar crest of Falls Kindle, the great protectors of the ancestral homeland of the elves.
His assailant also proving as his steed was quick to build the fire, from what all would assume was from centuries of practice, and yet both knew only the past year truely mattered. "It is said that your people have a great practice of magic, even with the libraries being destroyed." Ecallon found himself surprised by the effeminate voice before him, clothed in simple leathers and mud. "So if I get a hint that you are casting a spell, I shall end you. My life is more important than getting you back to the warden."
Having set a fresh caught and skinned rodent upon the flame, she shuffles herself to Ecallon and removes his gag. An arrow closely within reach, to ensure she keeps her word. This he notices and maintains his silence as she leans back. "So... Explain yourself lightskin? What were you doing in my throat?"
Moistening his lips, Ecallon looks through the darkened leather mask sitting before him before speaking slowly and carefully. "I was trying to follow a trail." "A trail? So you admit to poaching than?" "No, a trail of Gnolls." The ranger tisked, picking up her bow and using it to turn the rodents slowly scorching over the flame. "Hasn't been a gnoll at our feet since Lanfest. I think you may have lost the trail."
"Im well aware of my failures. I was not much of a hunter, I gathered for our camp." "Your camp you say? strange I haven't seen any campsites this close to the border for at least a week" the ranger said picking up and pricking the rodent, the slightest bit of juices squeezing out betwixt her fingers. "Because the gnolls took them. Well... they took the survivors." The ranger stopped her prodding and points the rodent skewered stick at Ecallon. "Again... you have gotten very lost. I've been here for three days a-"
"Then help me find my people... I know the children lived through the attack, and you caught me without an issue." The rodent dripped some of its fresh juices onto Ecallons leg while the ranger stared him dead in the eyes, betraying their internal deliberation. Even so, the high elf stared back into the deep green eyes of his captor. "You aren't lying. And you were easier to catch than a rabbit with no legs." she says before using her arrow to pry apart the knot on his hands.
"I still haven't decided to let you go yet but... gather your strength." She hands him the rodent before removing her mask. Her pointed features softened in the twilight within their underbrush hidaway. Ecallon, even unbenownst to him at the time would always remember the first time he saw her face, and the words she spoke after. "I dont want to carry you to your grave."
"I have to say its odd to see gnolls run in such an organized fashion." The ranger said through her leather mask, eying the gnolls the pair of them had been following for nearly two days now. "Its like I said," Ecallon whispered back to her, "They knew when to strike and how hard to strike. I think they have more than a little practice hunting elves."
Ecallon looked back at the past few days. Finding the tracks just outside of the forest, and following them from a not insignifican't distance from the forest allowed the pair of them to barely see the smoke from the campfire not long ago. Yet those two days felt like merely a blink of an eye, especially with his nearly silent companion the majority of the time. Well... nearly.
"Looks to be about twenty seven gnolls, maybe more in the tents. I dont think we could get to your people if-" Ecallon held up a hand, holding several small berries of pungent odor, interrupting the wood elf mid speach as she scrunches her eyes and nose at them. "Poison? Really?" "Not poison. Fermentation." "As if there is really such a difference." she scoffed and rolled her eyes. "they took away my people while I was picking these exact berries. I knew they would be useful, so I kept them."
The ranger sighed and looked back to the encampment. "It could work, but its not very sporting..." "Says the ranger who knocked out an opponent with a single kick?" "I didn't say you were very sporting either." Stifling a chuckle, Ecallon smirked at the ranger. Even behind her mask, he could tell that a sly smirk was forming behind the hardened leather as well before she looked back to the encampment.
"Gnolls always bring around a community source of drink or food. And, thankfully for us, happen to eat everything put before them." the ranger said before looking back towards the encampment. "We don't have to get very close." Ecallon says with a bit of a murmur, also looking at the ramshackle tents. "I cannot claim that you are right about my people... but you guessed well on my talents." "Not much of a guess when sorcerers spend more time practicing than they do taking a hit."
"So... we have your magic, my skills, and a fistfull of 'fermented' berries, against twenty seven gnolls that are looking either hungry, or greedy. Probably a bit of both. Do you have any ideas?" Ecallon and the ranger look each other in the eyes as Ecallon's gaze slowly drifts to the bow strapped across her shoulder. "It might be insane, but I think I do..."
Crouched in the grass, and away from the normal vantage point, Ecallon lays down upon the grassy hillside just below the sightline of the gnoll encampment. "Any minute now..." he says quietly to himself, as he impatiently awaits the signal.
He hears it, suddenly, as a shattered screech billows out of the campsite. Even the patrolls rushed their way into the forest on the other side of the camp from Ecallon. And yet, even from this distance, he could see the ranger jumping down off the tree, and firing yet another arrow at the encroaching gnolls. Fifteen of them after this singular archer as she runs into the woods. Finally it was time.
He rose from his embankment and nearly sprinted towards the nearest tent, careful to try and not cause as much noise as possible, before making it to uncertain safety within the encampment. He carefuly stepped around the walls, listening for every footstep. Sneaking through the campsite, he notices that the remaining gnolls seemed to congregate around specific tents moreso than others. Keeping note of these tents as he found another two gnolls guarding their stretched skin of the groups water supply.
Stepping just out of sight, Ecallon pulls the berries from his pouch, and speaks softly, yet firmly as he removes the smell and flavor from the berries, and lifts them from his hand. His practice with Kinesis finally making proper form from his fancy parlor tricks of the past as he floats them ever so gently into the water, sealing the fate of the gnolls as he runs back to his hiding place.
Nearly an hour passed before ten gnolls make their way back to camp, even from his perch, quite a few are bruised, and injured as they are brought back to camp. Water is passed around to everyone from their hunt. If any of them were reasonable or intelligent spotters, they would have seen a smiling high elf, gazing not only at the gnolls, but at the shadow of a wood elf jumping to her vantage point from the other side.
Not two hours later under the cover of nightfall, Ecallon and the ranger were leading the re-collected tribe back into the woods, far away from the gnolls and their previous capture. Now safely away from their captors, the rescued elves break their cold demeanor, and embrace one another, giving thanks to Ecallon and the ranger equally. Even Ecallon noticed there were several tribes of high elf and wood elf alike under thier care now, and the idea of having to feed everyone was overwhelimg at best.
The ranger falls back slightly, in order to keep pace with Ecallon while she removes her mask. "So, the brave sorcerer saves what remains of his family. What happens next for him?" "Honestly, I haven't thought that far ahead. The gnolls could come back at any time, and we just-" "Come join the Rangers."
Ecallon looks back to her with a bit of surprise. "Excuse me?" "Come join the rangers. Though I could have heard you from a mile away, you have a good mindset for protecting the wilds. Everyone here will have a place to stay, safe from the gnolls for now, and you could learn your talents better than practicing in a field picking berries."
Ecallon looks back to his new companions, the tribes that the both of them rescued. Beaten, battered and bruised, the majority of them look too broken to go on much further without rest. "Just think, on how many more w-you could prevent this from happening again in the future." Turning to the ranger Ecallon sighs. "The way you put it, it seems like I don't have much of a choice, do I?"
Smiling at the high elf, the ranger shrugs. "Sounds more like a philisophical quandry than an actual one. what do you say?" Ecallon sighing, looks up to the canopy. "I say we need to stop for a bit, let the wounded meditate for a few hours before we move on... to a new life for everyone I suppose." He looks to the ranger with a light smirk. "That is if you were not planning on turning me in to the warden like you promised."
"Well, that depends entirely on you stranger." She says this, her hardened smirk transforming into a soft smile. "Ecallon." he says returning the smile. "And I suppose its a fair trade, one life for a tribes worth." Putting back on her mask, the ranger gives a gentle nod to the high elf. "One life for another. A fair trade indeed Ecallon. My name is Gwillith."
It had been nearly five years since Ecallon and Gwillith had their chance meeting together. After a few days journey, and a conversation with the head of the wardens, Ecallon became the first known high elf to join the wardens, being put on a team with Gwillith in the ranger unit because they worked so well together.
Forest fires, monsters, the vita, and the occasional traveler were more than common on a regular basis for the duo as they protected the woodlands. They fought together and helped each other overcome nearly any challenge. That was until the orcs of The Outlands finally settled in with their tribes, and started to raid the villiages on the edge of the forest. In fact, due to occupation, the tribes of high elves trying to raise grain on the outskirts of the forest were being burned and all were forced to fleep deep into the woods.
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