Nord stood against a trunk of a tree, watching as his nephew took careful aim on a deer with his bow. He could just barely make out the rolling green that formed the hilltops, leading to where the halflings lived in Hobton. That made him wonder how Jaxon, an old friend, was doing. Nord could picture his short friend, using his tools from before the Dragon Wars, building a house or slamming together a bookcase.
The autumn colors of the trees contrasted wonderfully with the emerald green of the hills in front of them. And in those trees, a beautiful ten point buck stood, just out of Lov's bow's range. Nord waited patiently to see what his nephew would do.
The young half-elf stood next to another tree, maybe ten paces ahead of Nord. The lean giant couldn't help but admire his magnificent nephew. Young Lovonian shone in the morning sun, like a blue-gray storm cloud that did nothing to hide his golden heart. If you were to look close enough, you would see that his entire skin was nothing but tiny tightly fitting scales. Even his fingertips had the distinct pattern. Instead of fingerprints, he had scale prints.
Lov lovingly caressed his bow. He enjoyed how smooth it felt, like solid silk. The wind changed slightly, coming from behind the two of them. As the boy felt the first kiss of the wind on his cheek, in one fluid motion he drew back his bowstring, pointing it at an angle in the air. As soon as his arm stretched as far as he could draw the bow, Lov released the arrow.
Nord almost started, thinking his nephew was playing with his birthday present. He had warned Lov that if he started to treat this bow as a toy, he would take it away. Perhaps Tyrosh was right when suggesting that Lov was too young to own a weapon such as this. Nord had heard about that while getting dressed. Another of Amon and Tyrosh's epic battles, no doubt.
The arrow flew straight and true, threading in between the low hanging branches of the trees, and Lov lost it amongst the leaves and pine needles of those branches. Nord even lost it for a second, before it dropped suddenly from the trees and struck the chest of the buck. It took two steps, then collapsed onto its side.
Lov ran forward, knife in hand, ready to end the suffering of the poor animal. But it wasn't needed. His arrow had struck true, and hit directly in the heart. The animal was dead before it knew it.
"Amazing shot, Nephew. I thought the deer was out of your reach." Nord clapped the boy on the back. "That was smart using the wind like that, to carry your arrow the last few meters easily. I didn't really see you aim at the deer, though. You just seemed to fire it off without thinking."
Lov smiled up at his Uncle. Nord towered over the boy. He would not only top any elf, but would be taller than most men and orcs as well. His platinum hair shone in the bright morning air. Eyes of deep blue considered Lov as he started to speak.
"Of course I thought about it. I waited for the perfect breeze to send that arrow on its way. I knew the deer was barely out of my reach, but I figured if I caught the wind just right, well, let's just say everything went according to plan." The boy's grin seemed to grow even wider if that was possible, considering it spread from ear to ear.
Nord lovingly smacked his nephew on the back of the head. "Don't get cocky now, son. That was only one shot. Let's see how you do over the next few hunting seasons, shall we?" Nord smiled down at his nephew with pride, "Now, comes the fun part. I'm going to make you gut your kill. You shoot it, you clean it!"
Lov lost some of his impish grin, "Okay, but you let me know if I'm doing it wrong."
"Well of course I will!" Nord replied with a hearty laugh, "I mean, after all, that is dinner tonight, I don't want you to taint the meat!"
Lov got down to the dirty business of gutting the deer, and as he worked, slowly his smile returned. These are the joys in life, he thought to himself. Good honest work with people who love you.
Nord and Lovonian lead their horses back to their camp, the buck that Lov had shot spread across his horse's flank. Their little lean-to tent and the circle of rocks they used to mark their campfire seemed undisturbed. A thin tendril of smoke still climbed from the embers of the fire, raising slowly through the branches to be lost in the sky.
Nord dismounted and went into the tent, bringing out a bundle of cloth that he began to spread on the forest floor. Lov dismounted and began to search for wood to rebuild their fire again, and sticks to place a couple of deer steaks onto. By the time he returned with two good sticks and an armload of wood, Nord had already cut off their steaks, placed the deer carcass inside the spread out bundle of cloth, and had wrapped it tightly.
"Welcome back, Lov. Let me see those sticks there." Nord walked up to his nephew and pulled the sticks from on top of the bundle of wood. As Lov began to stack the wood next to the fire, Nord skewered the steaks and set them to hang over the flames. His uncle smirked at him a little and said, "You know, if we had your father here, he'd be telling me I need to learn to cook. Then he'd grab some leaves, shove these in the coals, and we'd take twice as long to be able to eat. I do have to say though, he does make one hell of a campfire steak."
Lov continued to work. He wasn't happy about his father not hunting with them. His father being Wise, Lov had grown used to sharing him. But it still hurt. This year, his first year with a bow. His father wasn't even here to celebrate in his first buck, taken down with his first arrow.
Uncle Nord is amazing and fun to be around, he thought to himself, but nothing compares to sharing these wonderful moments with my father.
He finished stacking the wood, and began to brush the sweat and pine needles from both of the horses. The saddles were piled just outside the lean-to. As he finished brushing all the muck from the horses, he saw his uncle pull the meat from over the fire, giving it a chance to cool. As Lov turned from putting the brushes up, one of the steaks smacked him in the face. He barely caught it before it could drop to the ground.
"Nice catch," laughed his uncle, a huge chunk of meat already torn from his hunk. Nord didn't even bother to finish chewing and swallowing before continuing, "Good thing you didn't drop it. Wouldn't have been as good with dirt on it!"
Lov tore hungrily into his food. They've been camping for a week, and while they'd packed provisions for a few days, they had planned on catching a deer during the first day. So they ran out of food two days ago. The savory juices from the steak dripped down Lov's chin as he ate his dinner.
Afterward, they sat down together and Lov listened as Nord told him the story of Nord's father, a golden being who had come from the sky for the love of his mother.
Her beauty was said to be unsurpassed, and many an elf had tried to win the hand of Aliyah. She possessed rich creamy white skin and beautiful violet eyes. Her hair was a dark deep purple, almost black in color. By many, she was considered the most beautiful woman in the world.
Nord's father had spotted Aliyah one day, and had been struck by her beauty. His heart cried out for desire of her, and he had pined after her for months. Finally one day, he saw his chance. Thinking he had her alone, isolated from her people deep in the elven forest, the golden being dropped from the sky, landing at her feet and smiling down at her. No, landing wasn't the right word, more like hovered in the air, floating just above the ground. His iridescent wings like a dragonfly's seemed to be made from the very wind currents themselves, swirling around him like miniature tornadoes. His skin was a translucent gold and his hair a bright scintillating white. And his face, as soon as Aliyah spotted him, she felt herself melting inside for him.
They spent many days together wandering the forest woodland, even though he never touched the ground. They played hide and seek amongst the trees, chasing each other and being overjoyed to share their company. Finally, after weeks spent running together, the man felt the pull of home. He explained he needed to return there, and being an honest person, told her that she may never see him again. That night, Aliyah pulled him the rest of the way to the earth, and they spent the night together fueling and giving into their mutual passions.
The next morning, he was gone. Aliyah left the campsite and headed back to Elvenhom.
"I've never met him." Nord said sadly. "Even though I was already grown by the time Amon was born, it still hurt to watch him grow up with his father, while I had no father to confide in, no one to ask how to be a man." He smiled at Lov, "That's just one more reason you're lucky, child. You have a wonderful, attentive father. Don't forsake it, for you won't know what you have until you're missing it."
Outside, Lov showed a normal response, but inside a part of him, new and raw, seethed angrily. That part wanted him to ask his uncle why his father wasn't there.
"Well, we need to get an early start tomorrow. Kick some sand over the fire, boy, and let's get some sleep."
They spent the next couple of days at camp, smoking their deer to store for home.
Lov would go fish at a nearby stream during the days. It seemed to have an endless supply. He caught four fish the first day.
He started to walk up the bank of the river, exploring the forest. The stream meandered its way from deep in the woods to where it passed by their camp. Lov grabbed some smooth stones for his sling, and as he walked he kept his eyes out for small game. The young half-dragon spotted some squirrels in the trees, but didn't want to chance them getting stuck there.
After a few miles, he turned back towards their camp. About halfway there, Lov spotted a rabbit. He pulled out his sling and took his shot, smacking it right on the head, killing it instantly. He gave a small "Whoop!" and ran over to snatch it up. It was a big rabbit, he had problems lifting it. He was admiring the feet, considering chopping one off for a good luck charm, when an angry roar exploded from the forest. A loud thumping sound began to draw near. He took a second to look around before a sense of danger settled over him. Lov didn't want to take any chances, whatever it was, the creature sounded huge. He began running for his life, dropping the rabbit he had killed, and hearing the thumping right behind him every step of the way. His mind screamed for him to turn and see what he was running from, but he felt if he did, whatever it was might catch him. He just ran, trees passing him in a blur. Slowly the thumping feet fell behind him, but Lov was too afraid to notice.
He was back at camp before he knew it. He saw Nord sitting at the fire, eyebrow raised curiously. "What the hell is making all that racket behind you?" He asked Lov.
Lov shrugged, as he finally turned to face what was chasing him.
"I don-"
Nord couldn't believe his eyes. Out of the woods hopped the biggest bunny he'd ever seen. Easily the size of his horse, it ran a bee line right at Lov. Nord jumped up sprinting towards his nephew, but knowing even as fast as he was, Lov would have to make the beast miss before the skinny giant could reach him.
Lov saw the rabbit barreling towards him, and considered his options. He could run, hoping to out-distance and out-speed it, but he was tired from racing to the camp. He could attempt to dodge it, hope that his uncle could save him, or...he thought it, and it happened. The rabbit seemed to explode from the inside out.
Nord, who was right behind it running to save his nephew got the worst of its demise. When it exploded, it sent a hail of rabbit pellets splattering against his chest and face. He cried out in horror at having some hit him in the mouth, and somehow managed to keep the onslaught of scat out of his eyes.
Lov stood stunned by what he had just done. He hadn't known what he was going to do before he did it, but it had worked! He'd burned the beast from the inside out.
Nord was still coughing and spitting disgust out of his mouth. The moment he felt clean enough, he demanded, "What in the bloody blue hells was that?"
Lov shrugged his shoulders again. "I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I think it was a giant rabbit chasing me because I killed her baby." He sat on the ground, dropping from shaking legs.
Nord shook his head, "That's not what I meant! I mean what in the bloody blue hells happened to it? I was chasing it and poof!"
Lov began to pat his chest and pants as if looking for something lost in his pockets. "I'm not really sure, Uncle." He replied, searching his person as if he'd hidden something from himself. Slowly he regained control of his movements, and brought his arms to his side. He thought about what had just happened. A smirk appeared on his face. "Hey, Uncle Nord, what's ‘rabbit slayer’ in orc?" He asked, eyeballing his bow.
Nord gave him a curious look. “‘Kotaled Oloc’, why?"
Lov smiled, reaching out to caress his bow. "No real reason."
Nord shook his head perplexed as to what to do, other than clean the manure off himself. "I'm going to head to the creek and wash up. Stay here and stay out of trouble, okay?"
Lov nodded and Nord took off towards the meandering stream. He all but ran, eager to get the filth off himself.
"Oh, Uncle," he heard from behind him, "don't forget my fish!"
Nord made it to the creek and stripped. Scars lined his body, a thousand little cuts from people who should have killed him. They all had been either more skilled or quicker or even more intelligent on how to use the environment, but somehow Nord’s luck always won out.
He fingered a particularly deep scar across his shoulder blades, one still pink from healing. The orc who had given it to him fought bravely, and should have won. The orc had used the same attack Amon always used to finish their duels. He dipped his head under the water and gave himself a thorough scrub with sand, clearing his head.
He finished cleaning himself and his clothes and found Lov's fish. Lov had caught some decent sized ones, they could have a veritable feast with what his nephew caught. He cleaned and gutted them in the stream, and made his way back to camp.
Lov was moving the last of the big pieces of the rabbit. He'd set some of the cleaner pieces aside to share with Nord, and looked to be carrying one of the feet tied to his belt.
Nord flipped a fish onto the small flat rock they had been using to cook their deer steaks. It sizzled as it struck the hot surface, and the most wonderful of smells began to permeate the camp.
As Nord cooked the fish, Lov pulled the last of the deer they were smoking from the fire. He wrapped it carefully in some linen cloth, and placed it with the other bundles of smoked meat. The pack mule was going to have a heavy weight to carry home.
Nord poked at the second fish he was cooking. His mouth watered, and his stomach grumbled as he pulled it off the stone. As Nord was slapping the third fish onto the rock, Lov let out a scream sure to roust the old ents from their slumber. Nord dropped everything, running to his nephew while he bellowed out, "What is it? What's wrong?"
Lov whispered very quietly, but Nord heard him. "He's gone..."
Nord looked puzzled, trying to figure out what Lov meant, when he felt it. The loss, a piece of himself missing. And then he knew. His brother, Amon the Wise, had died.
Lov moved for his horse.
"Wait! We don't know what happened, Lov," he said as Lov shoved the saddle on his horse, "and it's too late for you to do anything about it."
Lov finished cinching the girth strap. "I know, Uncle, but you don't expect me to sit here, do you?"
"Yes," Nord said solemnly, "I do, we still have camp to pack."
Lov snorted, whatever little boy Nord had been seeing was gone. "Something is wrong, Uncle, and I'm going to find out what."
"Fine, I see there's no stopping you." Nord said his voice full of disappointment. "But consider this, no matter what, we're half a day's ride from home. It's still going to take us hours to get there, even if we leave right this second. So please, stay and help me pack the camp."
Lov growled, making the hairs on Nord's arms stand up. "Fine, I'll help pack the camp, but then we get home!"
"Of course, Lov." Nord said, placing an arm around his nephew's shoulders. "Don't forget he's important to me, too."