Archives: Search for the Stormlord
Chapter 3: Lunch with Bella and Midau
Seeing the others leave, Midau turned his attention to Bella. “So, my dear grassrunner, what will you have for lunch? Nothing flavors a good conversation like the promise of free food.” He gave her a slight wink and called a barmaid over.
Bella turned on her stool to face the bar. “Oh, I’ll have whatever is available, but no meat,” the shamaness replied. Grassrunners, like most other spirit peoples, were vegetarians.
Midau smiled. It was a while since he last had female company to dine with, regardless of her being a grassrunner, she was still a woman. “I’ll have whatever the special is,” he paused. While he had been accustomed to meat in human foods for the last forty or so years, he figured Bella might blanch at the sight of ingested meat. “Also without meat, please.” He gave the barmaid a small smile and turned to Bella. “So, what is Alecrast like?”
“Oh, it’s a large place, I can’t speak for the entire continent,” Bella replied. “But from what I have explored, Alecrast is much like Lodoss. Humans have their nations, their wars and petty conflicts. There aren’t many dwarves or elves in Alecrast, not natives at least. Those there are travelers from Lodoss.”
“Truly?” he marveled at the idea. “My youngest child moved to Alecrast, but he’s with his wife and I’m obviously not one he wishes to keep in contact with. I have a child in Moss as well, I wonder how she is faring.” He went off in thought for a second, then shook his head and returned. “Anyway, you wanted to know about the Forest of No Return? What about it interests you?”
Bella was surprised to hear he had children, not many elves, or grassrunners for that matter, adventured after settling down to have a family. As with most of their spirit kind, Midau was far older than he appeared, and Bella couldn’t know if he was thirty or three hundred. “Well, I want to meet the high elves, and learn about contracts with King Spirits. It’s not a shamanist skill that grassrunners generally study, and there is so much more that the elves know than us grassrunners.”
Midau darkened at the mention of the king spirits. “Yes, I have, or had four children. Two adopted human children, one who died on the Raiden seas, and the other who lives peacefully in Raiden, and two half-elf children, the one in Moss and the other on Alecrast.” He sighed. “The high elves are a...interesting bunch. I too went to them for guidance seeking to make a pact with the king spirits. I met my first wife there too. We had no children, but...” He sighed. “It was over before it started. She died at my own hands when my contract with Efreet...I...” he stopped. “Well, I’m sure you’ll do well with the high elves. Their kind are a little selective of who they’ll talk to. Sometimes.” He rubbed his right arm reflexively.
Bella felt her hair raise as Midau said he had attempted to make a contract with Efreet. “Why would you want to summon Efreet?” she asked in an icy voice. Fire spirits were taboo to elves, and even more so to Grassrunners. “I wouldn’t even dare to consider a contract with Efreet.”
He sighed. “I was two-hundred years old, arrogant and brash. I wanted to contract all of the king spirits, not just Efreet. My contract itself was a success. Like I said, it was in the summoning that I failed, lost my wife, and the feeling in my right arm.” He touched his right arm gingerly, as if it pained him to bring up its deficiency. “I returned my wife to the Forest of No Return, and there, my link with the spirits was...ended.” He gave a small smile. “I was under the impression that if I had contracted all of the King Spirits then my search for knowledge would be satiated. Instead I lost almost everything.”
He thanked the waitress when the food came, and daintily dug in to his food. “Sometimes, I forget that the presence of meat in food upsets those unaccustomed to the ways of man,” he said lowly. “Of course, eating only vegetables in front of a human makes them look at you like you’re a rabbit or something.” He wiggled his nose imitating a rabbit and smiled.
Bella gave an amused half-smile to Midau at his imitation of a rabbit. However, the previous conversation was too depressing for her to be entertained by his antics. He had lost his wife, full use of a limb, and his ability to communicate with the spirits. It was tragic, but he seemed to be busy just continuing living.
Bella delicately impaled a steamed sprout on her fork and bit into it. “I’m too busy trying to convince humans I’m an adult to care what they think of my diet,” Bella replied.
Midau laughed. “Understandable. Your short stature is quite beguiling at first, but your curves are much more appreciative of being a woman.” He ate his meal quickly. Noticing that she still seemed depressed, he decided on another measure. He licked a spoon, blew on it and placed it on his nose. It stuck there and he crossed his eyes at her. “See?” He stuck his tongue out to stabilize the spoon and continued try to make light of the mood. He figured if it worked for his kids, she may find it humorous as well.
Bella was not so easily entertained. The grassrunner gave a small, tolerant smile at his antics. She may have been entertained before she left home, but since being in Lodoss, she had become colder from her pent up anger.
She wasn’t smiling much, and Midau was starting to get a little nervous that he said something to annoy her. He placed the spoon down and reached across the table to stroke her cheek. “It’s alright not to fit in.” He remembered saying the exact same thing to his children. “I know it is frustrating, and people refuse to accept you for who you are, but that’s the way the world is for now. One day it will change, people will realize the futility of racial segregation and accept other races as brothers in this strange, crazy world of ours.” He withdrew his hand, feeling he had overstepped his bounds. “I apologize Bella, I shouldn’t have.”
Bella’s hackles rose as he touched her. She wasn’t a very physical person, and she liked her space. Not to mention there was something paternal in Midau’s eyes. He was treating her like a child. However, he realized his mistake and pulled away.
Bella looked down at her plate, avoiding his eyes for a moment. “I accept your apology,” she said and resisted the temptation to remind him she was an adult. He seemed to remember on his own, if too late.
Midau sighed. “I’m sorry. I know you’re an adult Bella, it’s just the age difference between us pulling tricks on this old man’s mind.” He grinned. “My youngest child is nearly a half century old, so it makes it hard not to relate all youth as children. I know you are a woman, I know that. You’re just young, very young to me, and that is why I felt like I did at the time. I’m terribly sorry though.” He laughed. “So, what do you want for dessert? I’m sure they may have strawberries or perhaps some cake.”
Bella smiled at his explanation, and felt a little guilty for her cold reaction. He was a father, and his children were all much older than her. In fact, his children were probably as old as her parents. He was old enough to be her grandfather!
“Strawberries sound delicious,” Bella replied with a smile. “And I’m sorry too. I’m just so tightly wound from these humans assuming I’m a child. I can’t help but lash out when someone treats me that way,” the grassrunner added, looking down at her hands.
“Alright, well now that we’ve apologized all around, can we drop this foolishness?” He patted her hands gently. “Let’s get some strawberries, and let us see about some cream for dipping, alright?” He motioned over the barmaid again.
She didn’t hesitate this time, coming over to serve them as she would any customer. Midau gave her the order and let her go on her way. He turned his attention back to the young woman in his company and lifted her chin. “Cheer up, Bella of Alecrast. You are a fine young woman, and I’m sure your parents would be proud of you. Regardless of the humans feeling that you are a child, we all know how old you are, and have no problem thinking of you as an adult.” He gave her cheek a little tug playfully. “So cheer up or I’ll force a smile out of you.”
Bella did smile, and it was honest. Midau allowed her to relax a bit, and the real Bella was starting to shine through.
The barmaid returned and set down two plates of strawberries and a bowl of cream. Bella thanked her and began to delicately nibble at her strawberries.
Midau watched her nibble with a small chuckle. “You eat so daintily.” he tossed a strawberry into his mouth and chewed it silently. “Then again, I guess with such a small mouth, you kind of have to.” He didn’t care much for cream, it was more of a treat for Bella than for himself. If she seemed to want more strawberries he pushed the remaining of his bowl to her. “So, what are you doing traveling with the human boy and the priestess? Or have I misinterpreted your being with them when I first walked into this establishment?”
Bella dipped a strawberry into the cream and took a small bite before answering. “Niklas helped me get into the inn. The innkeeper refused to believe a word I said, so Niklas said I was his ward. I was going to go with him to help him find the dwarf he was looking for, and we met Luda.”
“Ahh.” Midau smiled. “That was nice of the boy. He seems nice enough, after all, he helped both of us today. I wonder if he is having any luck finding that dwarf.” He lightly tapped Bella’s leg under the table with his foot. “I’ll bet you a gold piece that he got lost.” Midau wasn’t a big gambler, but the idea intrigued him. Then his thoughts caught up with him. A dwarf? Must be in need of a craftsman, or... his thoughts stopped abruptly. Dwarves were known for crafting good weapons, some of the best in the world. “I wonder what he is picking up. Did he tell you?”
“He didn’t say, he’s just looking for a specific craftsman,” Bella replied. “I’m sure Luda can guide him, she lives here, I think.”
Midau rocked back in his chair a little. “Well all we can do is wait. I mean, as much fun as it would be to have armed men try to kill me for my race, or have them believe I’m trying to kidnap a well endowed ‘elf child’, I’d rather have gums scraped with a rusty nail and then drink salt water.” He rocked too far back to catch himself and toppled over backwards. The dark elf, sprawled on his back laughed and picked himself up. “Well, my dear, that was embarrassing.”
Bella stared at Midau for a moment, as he lay sprawled on the floor, then began to giggle. “Well, I though all elves were graceful,” the grassrunner quipped.
Midau laughed. “I guess not all elves are as graceless as I.” He patted Bella on the head. “So, let’s see how much of a woman you really are under those clothes.” he gave her a wide lecherous grin. “I’ve always been interested in ‘bridging’ the gaps between the races. Shall we try ourselves?”
Bella stared at Midau in disbelief. “Excuse me?!” He couldn’t be serious.
He gave her a little wink. “Once you go dark meat, you never go back.” He was having a hard time keeping a straight face, but he wanted to make her laugh.
* * *
Jereidon entered the common room from having finished some business, the room was rather empty today and it was apparent why. Neria had been rather irritable, she hated the cage and kept poking him in the side. “Calm down in there please, once we’re back on the road I can let you loose.”
The spider made some noises on the bars and then looked at him, he was getting strange looks from others and they were avoiding him.
“I’ll let you hunt then too, until then I’ll see what I can do.” Taking a seat at an empty table in the empty area he looked over to a barmaid who timidly came over, she was obviously wanting to not do this. He ordered some hot tea and a bowl of stew, knowing it would make her nervous he asked if he could get a chunk of uncooked meat as well. She took the order and headed off, glad to be away from there. He hated this, why did everybody avoid him unless it was their own problems with others and he had to fix them. “This is our fate Neria, I guess I’ll just grin and bear it.”
She responded with another series of signals, not really understanding what he meant but in some small way trying to comfort him.
* * *
Unfortunately, Bella didn’t find it funny. “You are joking, right?” the grassrunner asked, obviously unamused. With Midau’s flirting, she hadn’t noticed the new comer at the table next to them. The inn was mostly empty. Most people had gone to work or checked out, and those who would have stayed around left to avoid the dark elf.
Midau sighed. “My dear Bella, I was trying to make you giggle with girlish delight, pardon my rudeness.” He poked her in the side. “Are all grassrunners straight laced as you, my interesting friend?” His ears twitched at the spider’s presence. He didn’t want Bella to suddenly realize that there was a creature nearly the size of her head not ten feet from her.
Bella blushed shamefully as he called her straight laced. It was all just a joke trying to make her laugh, but she took it so seriously. While she had always been proper and responsible, the last year of traveling had left her frustrated. Laughing didn’t come very easy anymore. “Well...no,” she replied.
* * *
Jereidon finished his meal and picked up the cage, Neria was slowly finishing the chunk of meat. Heading over to the counter he looked at the person there, seeing the spider he gave a disgusted look as Jereidon asked about a room. “Yer gonna have to pay double if ye want that monster with ye. It’s already driven away the rest of my business. Even if ye did, there ain’t any rooms available, so go elsewhere and don’t come back with your spider.”
Jereidon looked at him with an annoyed look on his face, he spoke back sharply and with no spite or malice in his voice. “You’re lying to me, old man, and I’m not going to accept that answer. Will you allow a paying customer or a room and quit your griping? If you don’t, I’ll take my business elsewhere. I don’t care if your trying to keep customers I would like a room.” He then cracked his knuckles and set down the money for his meal, he would not move until he had his answer. He was not going to use force but instead moral persuasion, he hated this.
“Leave now before I call the guard and have ye arrested. I won’t tolerate this kind of treatment from ye! I’m gonna give ye this one chance to walk out, with no trouble.”
Jereidon looked at him and shook his head, he was going to prove his point and even if it took that he would at least make the man think. “Looks like there’s no reasoning with you. In truth, you’re worse than a racist as you will even discriminate against your fellow man. I will take my business elsewhere, because I refuse to deal with a bigot like you.”
Neria watched this and was looking at the Innkeeper like he was food, but making no move. Sweating he stepped back and sighed, the young man was becoming a problem and he was terrified by the spider.
“She says you’re lucky, if she were not in the cage you’d become food for her. You’ve gone and gotten her mad too, just bring some more tea over to the table and leave me be...” Jereidon then went back to the table and sat down, flustered the innkeeper had the barmaid bring the tea to the table and then even she scurried off. “We’ll never catch a break Neria, looks like we’re going to have to camp in the woods again for the next few days.”
Without taking his eyes off Bella, Midau attended to the young man. “Threatening people is not a good way to make friends.” He grabbed Bella’s shoulder and dragged her into his chest. “I don’t want you getting freaked out, so just stay here, alright?” He whispered in her pointed ears.
When Bella was secure against his chest, he turned his attention completely to the young man. “As much as you and your...pet are not well liked, that is no reason to make malicious intent towards another.” He then turned his lecture onto the innkeeper. “At least give him some shelter, even if it is only sleeping in the stables.” His red eyes made the innkeeper nervous, but he remained defiant.
“I will not allow that thing and its master lodging here, no matter what yehave to say...or do...” the last part came out meekly as he tried to avoid the dark elf’s eyes.
Midau stroked Bella’s head affectionately and stared the innkeeper down. He didn’t want Bella to think that he was going to hurt the innkeeper, he just wanted equality.
“...the stables. But only on the condition that his pet doesn’t leave the confines of that cage, and he has to pay upfront.” The innkeeper muttered something unintelligible afterwards. Midau ignored the racial slur and turned his attention back to the young man. “As much as you are welcome, do realize this: as much as people may hate and fear you, you must not loose your temper or allow your emotions to get out of hand. Also, acting like a spoiled child is not the best way to win someone over.” Midau lectured. He released Bella from his chest and stroked her cheeks. “You have a soft little face, my petite beauty.” He knelt down beside her and kissed her palms. “Shall we return to our lunch?”
Jereidon let the dark elf handle the problem and listened to his words, he was acting irrational and probably left a sour taste in the innkeepers mouth. “I did not threaten him myself, she did and she was merely upset at being called a monster. I apologize, I am just frustrated at this kind of reception, and thank you for talking to him. My name is Jereidon Thappis, and I owe you a favor for this that can be called upon at any time.” He then turned back to the innkeeper and placed down the necessary money money for three days, giving him a respectful nod he looked to the cage and sighed. Neria tapped out something on the bars, she was trying to apologize. “Please do not call her that, she is far more civilized than other giant spiders. Though I admit she is fearless to a fault, but Neria apologizes too.” He then returned to his table and sat down, the stables would work his purpose. He was still trying to find his sister alive or dead, though he was inept at diving he kept trying to find out the truth.
Bella was surprised to be drawn close to Midau, but when she saw the enormous spider in the cage, she clung to the dark elf like a frightened child. And she was rightfully scared, that spider could make a nice meal out of her.
However, she relaxed as she assessed the situation. The young man the spider belonged to could communicate with it, and it gave her security. And with that security, she grew curious. The grassrunner stood by Midau’s side, but her attention was drawn to the caged spider.
“You alright Bella?” Midau touched her cheek gently. He knew that the spider was harmless now, and his main concern was with Bella’s well being.
Neria looked over to Bella and tapped on the bars, she seemed to be curious as to what the girl was and asking about it.
“That’s a grassrunner over there, she is an adult so treat her like one. She doesn’t look to scared either, it must be nice for somebody not look at you with fear,” Jereidon said to the spider.
She tapped out another string of sounds and he chuckled and laughed a little, she actually liked somebody for once besides him. He looked over to Bella and Midau and grinned a little as if he found the scene refreshingly different, finally somebody who did not get scared by them. “I see your watching Neria there, my good lady, it’s no big deal to her. She says hello and wonders who you are. Normally she’s not too big on other people but she’s curious about you.” He continued to sip his tea and watched them, his gaze was calm and steady now. He had calmed down and was trying to get things back in order, of course he had a lot of stuff to do before the evening. These two were very interesting, a dark elf and a grassrunner together in Roid was something he’d not seen before.
Bella was surprised by the way the mage and arachnid interacted. She never considered that spiders, even giant ones, were intelligent enough to understand humans. Bella took a step away from Midau’s protection. “Oh my, you can really speak to it?” the grassrunner asked.
Jereidon heard her question and laughed a little, this was turning out to be an interesting day. Of course he knew how he could and others did not, he was however capable of more than most. “Yes I can, Neria is my familiar. She is pretty much like my family, though she will one day be too big to even take into a city. Your the first grassrunner I have met, tis an honor to meet you.” He bowed and then waited for her answer, he was aware that they did not know him and he had gotten off on the wrong foot. He would have to make a better impression here, she was actually willing to approach. “She normally snaps her jaws at new people, but she knows you two are safe so she’ll be alright.”
Midau sighed. “I’m not too fond of things with more than four legs.” he said from a distance. “I’ll be fine from here.” The vegetarian meal did little to fill him up. He ordered a larger meal, one consisting of meat and potatoes. He’d rather be full then worry about Bella’s thoughts on his eating habits.
Bella didn’t approach the spider any further. She was curious, but she didn’t exactly care for a hands-on experience. “How did you get a spider as a familiar?” the grassrunner asked.
Jereidon looked at her as she asked her question, he would answer her question and tell her the story. “It’s quite simple, one night on the road I was attacked by highwaymen and had to take refuge in a cave. She was there too and for about a week we had a stalemate until we understood each other enough to form a bond, she was the last of her brood who were killed for their poison... That night is hard to talk about, it just got a lot of personal history tied into it... She’s all I got for family, if I knew where she really was I’d go to her but that’s something I don’t know...” He then trailed off as he drank his tea, looking at the pendant he wore he closed his eyes and sighed as if he wanted to remember something important.
“Sorry about that, is there more you’d like to know?” He was willing to answer more questions, even if he had to answer vaguely.
Midau ate his meal with the utmost vigor, devouring it quickly so not a trace was left of the meal on his plate. He rose to his feet afterward and passed Bella, giving her cheek a soft rub in passing. He walked to the barkeep and pulled out his pouch. “How much for the meal?” he asked. The barkeep told Midau the amount and the dark elf paid in full. He then returned to his seat and removed the vanbrace from his wounded arm. The skin of that arm had scarred and never quite healed right so it looked as horrible now as it did forty odd years ago. He flexed each finger individually, testing the flexibility of his flesh. The human bothered him for some reason, perhaps it was the feeling of the boy being less than truthful, or maybe he was just in a bad mood that Bella didn’t take well to his jests. Either way, he was occupied with making sure his skin didn’t crack open at the exaggerated movements.
Jereidon looked at Midau’s arm and cringed a little, he looked away and did not seem to want to look back his way. The sight alone was bad enough, though he was talking to Bella originally.
Jereidon’s explanation confused Bella. Where she really is? Isn’t she right here? Bella thought. “Wait...who are you talking about?” the grassrunner asked, obviously a little confused.
Jereidon heard her question and snapped out of thinking, she wanted to know about his sister. He seemed too quiet now, almost like he did not want to speak but at least she did deserve something of an answer. “Possibly my only surviving family, a younger sister who could still yet live... Her name is Neria, other than that it happened a long time ago...” He looked around like he was trying to bury something that had come back up, she knew who now but not why or how. He did not want to remember, it was too much for him at any time.
“Oh...” Bella said, looked down at the floor. “I’m sorry for your loss,” the grassrunner offered. She glanced back towards Midau and saw the dark elf examining his scarred arm. She was suddenly reminded of how little she had suffered in her life. Midau had lost a wife and child, and Jereidon had possibly lost his entire family. The greatest injustice she had suffered was constant misunderstandings of her age and race.
Bella had yet to sit down, keeping a safe distance from the large spider. She wanted to learn more about Jereidon, but she couldn’t get herself to move any closer to Neria.
Jereidon noticed her hesitance to come closer and replied before he put an idea into play here, that way she would not have to see the Neria and Neria could rest some. “I’ll cover the cage up with some thick cloth and put it under my seat, she is nocturnal anyways. Thank you, most would not even listen as far as you have.” He then pulled a cover for her cage from his bag and slipped it over, moving the cage he placed it under the chair as it barely fit. Neria was not moving and in fact she seemed rather content, fast asleep as well. “Does that help any, your friends arm seems rather tragic... I can see why he keeps it covered up.”
“Yes, that’s better,” she replied to Jereidon. The grassrunner looked back at Midau again. It would be impolite to simply leave him alone. Though she was curious about Jereidon, she considered her manners first. “Midau, would you like to come speak to Jereidon with me?” she asked.
Midau refitted the brace on his arm and looked at Bella then Jereidon. “I have nothing much to say, Bella. You can go talk with him if you would like, but his mind is a little too agitated for his words to make much sense to me. It reminds me of trying to talk to a sugar-high fairy.” he waived his hand. “I think I’ll pass.”
The grassrunner blushed slightly at the comments Midau made. They were a little rude, but honest. Jereidon was just dancing around the edge of a story, not wanting to tell it. Bella hopped into the seat across from the mage, and sat cross-legged on the chair. Though her short legs couldn’t reach the floor, she was still subconsciously nervous about the spider.
“If...you don’t mind me asking, what happened to your family?” she asked, speaking softly enough for it not to carry beyond the table to the innkeeper, but just loud enough for his human ears to hear. Midau probably hear, but Bella didn’t mind him eavesdropping.
Jereidon kinda looked a little nervous at that question, he always tap danced around it. Now he could not it seemed but he had to figure out how to handle telling it, maybe he had to just talk and deal with the consequences. “My family, well for most I will not talk about it. But I’ll tell you since you seem so interested, please don’t mind if I seem hesitant.” He took another drink of his tea and a breath in, trying to keep calm so he could tell her about his family. “I’m from Alan, Bella. My father was a magistrate for the courts and my mother was a skilled cook. Most of my life would bore you, so I’ll tell you what is important. I started studying under my master, Darjis, to become a wizard. That’s where you want to know starts.
“It was seven years ago that my family died. Former Marmo soldiers turned highwaymen killed them and left my little sister Neria for dead. Neria was three at the time, all I learned was that she was not found with their bodies. You know about what happened approximately a year ago already, how I came across my familiar. I’ve traveled seeking my sister for a year now, though I have had no luck in my search. I know who killed my parents though, their faces are burned into my mind and I want justice as well. That is all I really have to say about my family, it’s really not that long a story,” he spoke clearly, loud enough for them to hear as he tried to make sense this time. Midau did have a point and he realized that. He was curious about Bella as well, he wanted to learn more about grassrunners himself.
“You are an idiot.” Midau snorted. “‘Justice’ is not a word one can throw around after saying words like that. You don’t spout revenge and claim it is ‘justice’.” He was becoming annoyed with Jereidon’s idiocy, something Midau was starting to lose his temper. He had lost his temper all of three times in his life, and each time it wasn’t a pretty sight. “You foolish, dumb {arrogant, young, brash} damned wizard.” Midway in his sentence he switched to elven out of a mental slip. His thoughts were always in elven, and then translated to common so he could talk to most other people. He continued to curse the wizard in his home tongue and went back to being quiet at his table.
Bella bit her lip as Midau spoke sharply to Jereidon. He didn’t seem to like the mage at all. “Well, he’s right, I suppose it does sound more like revenge than justice,” Bella replied with a shrug.
Jereidon sighed, he knew they were right but then he also had no proof except his pendant they were the attackers. He was in a situation of letting them go, or killing them so they could hurt no more people. “No magistrate would ever bring the matter to trial. All I have is the pendant that belonged to my mother that one had and my sister is unknown. If she were alive maybe she could help out, but she may have been too young to remember or the trauma made her forget. So all I have left really is to stop them from harming others by ending their lives, unless of course there is another way that I have completely missed.” He spoke as if he was hoping for a better solution to this matter, he hated the thought of killing them and even mentioning it he looked a little sick to his stomach. All he wanted was justice, but how far would he have to go in order to achieve it without violence?
