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They watched him climb the stony cliff with some amusement, but also with a fair aility beyond that of most humans, especially one his size For the Touel&039;alfar, those movements, so natural and ani and their way of life To their thinking, Nightbird&039;s achievements were their achievements; but by their estiility of even the most clumsy elf
Far down below, across the rocky ree cluster of pines, Bradwarden, Roger, and theup camp The two elves had watched them start unseen and unnoticed, as they had been for alhtbird so inconspicuously that even the elven- trained ranger had taken no note of the up the stone, seeking a crack He closed his eyes, focusing on his sense of touch, letting his fingertips "see" for hih above hih to ader fell into a state of absolute calid He inched up, up, barely noting the ht, all his willpower focused squarely on that hand
His shoulder at last rose higher than his elbow He inched his other hand up, walking it up the stone, hunting the next hold This tiers in, then swing one foot out and placed his toes in the crack The nexthile hiap, and frorip for both hands above hie, a place to rest
Elbryan pulled himself up - and he nearly toppled in surprise, for there,waiting for hisinto the air
"Too slow," the elf criticized
The ranger pulled hi position and took a welcome deep breath "I would have cos," he replied dryly
"Faster still if you were not trapped in so large and unwieldy a body," Ni&039;estiel said "And why have you decided to make so arduous a climb with the sun already low in the western sky? The season&039;s cold will be unfor-giving so high up after the sun is gone Hoill your fat hue of icy-cold stone? "
"I wanted a look ahead," the ranger explained "Roger found son, a small lean-to"
"You could have si up to land beside her kin
"Asked? I did not know if the Touel&039;alfar had coer ader to help lanced at each other, Ni&039;estiel shook his head, and then they turned back to face the ranger, neither of the particularly pleased
"What have I done?" Elbryan asked bluntly "Surely your attitude toward me has not been that of friend to friend, and yet I cannot under-stand what has so changed our friendship"
"Friendship?" Tiel&039; your years in Andur&039;Blough Inninness, Nightbird Why would you assu the ranger, and he had to admit their truth "But I am elf-friend," he reasoned "Is not a friend of Lady Dasslerond a friend to all the Touel&039;alfar?"
"It is a friendship that you have strained," Ni&039;estiel said plainly
"What have I done?" the ranger replied, his voice rising "When Bel-li&039;ht her," Ni&039;estiel said
"Taught?" Elbryan echoed, caught by surprise, but as soon as he paused to consider the word, he understood
"Bi&039;nelle dasadawas our gift to you," Tiel&039;marawee explained "It was not yours to offer another"
"Juraviel and I already had this conversation," the ranger tried to explain
"Belli&039;mar Juraviel&039;s word on this is far from final," Ni&039;estiel retorted "Lady Dasslerond will decide if you are to be punished for your foolish action But understand this, Nightbird: even if the lady chooses to ignore your error, we of the Touel&039;alfar knohat you did and are not pleased"
"Not at all," Tiel&039;marawee added
"Pony is of my own heart and soul," Elbryan answered "Even Belli&039;mar was amazed when he saw the harmony of our dance And am In&039;Touel&039;alfar or of the people? Which is it, I ask, because surely, for all the words of friendship and kinship - "
"And how h Inninness?" Ni&039;estiel interrupted sarcastically "Howwisdo the eo with the formi-dable weapon ofbi&039;nelle dasada?"
"Our dance - " the ranger began
"Is a matter of the physical," Ni&039;estiel cut him short "But the truth ofbi&039;nelle dasada transcends the physical and goes to the spiritual Any person erous and terrible thingbi&039;nelle dasada would become if it were merely that"
"The warrior is a blend of heart and body," Tiel&039;marawee added "It is the injection of the soul into the s heart and compassion, that tells when the blade should be used in addition to how to use it"
"And this is what you have violated, Nightbird," Ni&039;estiel went on "So you have taught the woman, and ill she choose to teach? And they, in turn, will pass it along to others; and what is left, then, of our gift?"
Elbryan was shaking his head, for he knew Pony better than that, knew she would keep the secret between them; he knew her heart, and knew, beyond the comprehension of his elven detractors, that there was no one else hom she, or he, could possibly share so intier didn&039;t voice those thoughts, and understood the fears of his elven friends Despite the differences in size and strength - in fact, partly because of those differences - the average elf could easily defeat even skilled hue, a fighting style that the slashing styles of heavier huer felt he had not violated the elven trust, that Pony was an extension of his very soul and that she was every bit as worthy as he to know the dance
"Lady Dasslerond will go to her," he reasoned
"Lady Dasslerond, and Belli&039;mar Juraviel and many others, are already in Paler feared that Dasslerond and the others ht passed The elves could be dangerous; their way of looking at the world and concepts of good and evil were very different from the ways of huize to you for ize for the discoht to you But I assure you that once Lady Dasslerond has had the opportunity to meet and know Pony, and once she has witnessed the beauty of Pony&039;s sword dance - a beauty of the spirit as well as the body - she will understand and will be at peace"
By their expressions, the ranger could see that his words satisfied the two elves - as much as they could be satisfied now
"Lady Dasslerond did not go to Palmaris to measure your lover&039;s ability in the sword dance," Ni&039;estiel said, and he looked at his elven coer did notthe elf to continue
"She went to see Jilseponie, the lover of Nightbird, soon to be the htbird&039;s child," Ni&039;estiel remarked
"Pony and I have decided that ill not bear any chil - " the ranger started to reply
The slightest breeze could have blown Elbryan froe at that awful and wonderful s washing over him
"How do you know this?" Elbryan asked breathlessly
"Belli&039;mar Juraviel knew He told us on the road in the southland, when he caer Lockless and the five monks," Tiel&039;o south, with the majority of our kin, while o alone continued north"
Elbryan could hardly breathe It all s, such as the absence of warning and aid frooblin attack, and yet it made no sense at all How could Juraviel have known that Pony was pregnant? The elf had been with Elbryan since Pony had gone to Palmaris
And then the awful truth hit Elbryan Pony had known And she had left hi north ht cause injury to the unborn baby And she had not told hier," Ni&039;estiel observed
Elbryan turned a blank stare over him
"And yet you do not know the truth," Ni&039;estiel went on
"How did Juraviel know?" the ranger asked "Did Pony tell him? And if she did, then why did she not tell me?"
"You know only what your fears tell you," Tiel&039; the worst, and yet should you not be full of joy?"
Elbryan held up his hands helplessly, for he did not knohat to think or to feel "I have to go to her," he said
"Spoken like a human," Ni&039;estiel remarked dryly
"Perhaps, if your assumptions are correct, you have just answered the question," Tiel&039;marawee added "Abandon all and rush to her side, but you will do no practical good there"
"You doubt that I should be with Pony at this time?"
"If the situation allowed for it, then of course you should," Ni&039;estiel replied sternly "But that is a matter of the joy you deserve, and not of any practical purpose Prago to your lover"
"Now go back down and take your sleep," Tiel&039;marawee said to him "We shall scout the road ahead and speak with you in the radually, as he dis in the reality of the situation, a smile widened across his handsome face Surely he wanted Pony to have his child - a hundred children! Surely this was a blessed thing, the result of a true union of love
"The bottom of the sun finds the horizon," Ni&039;estiel warned
Elbryan&039;s smile faded when he looked down at the forroan, stretching his tired muscles
"Did you not just insist that you were notn&039;Touel&039;alfar?" Tiel&039; tone "Flap your wings, then, elf"
With a groan, the ranger began to climb down
Ni&039;estiel and Tiel&039;marawee, true to their word, set out ier had discovered anda camp only recently abandoned They weren&039;t par-ticularly surprised, or alarmed, by the discoveries, since they were far into the Wilderlands and definitely in goblin-infested territory To find no goblin sign would have been , and s indicated that powries, a farfoe, were in the area That wasn&039;t the case, the two elves were fairly certain, for powries built different and stronger structures, even for teoblins," Ni&039;estiel said to Tiel&039;an her ascent over the eastern horizon, lighting the encah for Ni&039;estiel to point out one particularly rickety structure Now all they had to do was find the sohtbird and his friends on how they ht simply avoid them
Another set of eyes also viewed that structure The eyes of a cat, scanning the dark forest as clearly as a ht of day Keen eyes saw the elves, keen ears heard their words, and a keen nose smelled the blood within their tiny and tender bodies
The tiger De&039;Unnero crept closer He was not knowledgeable of the Touel&039;alfar, but he knew these two for what they were, and by what he had overheard he knew they were friends of Nightbird And De&039;Unnero did know the legends of the elves, mostly that they were powerful and decep-tive enemies
Better to deal with the of defense away froer came a stride closer on quiet, padded feet
Ni&039;estiel froze, as did Tiel&039;marawee; the elves, attuned to their environ-ment, sensed his presence, the sudden hush that preceded the charge of the predator
Out careat pounce that sent hi to land on Ni&039;estiel
The elvish blade stabbed repeatedly, sinking intodeep lines, severing the tendons con-trolling that arm
Tiel&039;, and De&039;Unnero had to leap away But now they lined up one against one, for Ni&039;estiel could do little ony and cry out for Tiel&039;er said, and both elves stopped short, eyes widening in shock
Then the tiger began to transforh the limbs, except for one arm, remained feline
"What manner of demon is this?" Tiel&039; to catch the creature in e and score a deadly strike
Too quick for the obviousacross to intercept the sword, accepting the pain of the solid hit Then out snapped his hu con-nection on Tiel&039;marawee&039;s face as the elf spun away
"Very impressive," the monk&039;s now-huends of the Touel&039;alfar"
"Who are you?" Tiel&039; that she was in control now "What dactyl derief to the world?"
"Demon?" the Bishop echoed with a chuckle "Why, my dear, tender little elf, you could not be further fronize Marcalo De&039;Unnero, the Bishop of Palmaris?"