Lwellon stooped. The
plain before him stretched out before him, fading sunlight high over head and
hot, green grass yellowing in the summer drought, mountains just visible, fading
to distant blue on the horizon, but here in this spot, was a treasure the half
elf had not hoped to find.
It was ragged, exposed to sun, wind, rain, and several years
of snows, but as Lwellon pulled the coarse, ill-kept wood out of the dirt, it
took the unmistakable shape of a bow. It
had long ago become unstrung, flexing back to its shape at rest. And just a little bit of resistance
preventing the bow being unearthed told Lwellon that something more was here.
He gently lowered the form back to the earth and stood away,
not yet standing upright, but back, trying to take the whole form in. He started to think of something to call out
to the others, but held off. He just
stared for a minute, looking, now while it was only him and the form lying on
the ground. Could this have been his
father?
Ha, that would be a lucky find indeed, thought Lwellon, but
it could easily be one of his comrades. It
could be a discarded body of one of a hundred and eighty elven skirmishers that
descended from the forests at the foot of Mount Sonien to scout out and report
back on the movements of humans through the region, now almost 80 years
ago.
Lwellon raised his eyes again to the plain, filled with
grass and scrub, and here and there colored flowers blooming, honey bees buzzing,
and all the signs of life, save farmers.
The land here was dry, keeping farmers at bay and looking for better
lands to plow. The humans would be back,
he thought. He had to catch himself,
reminding himself that he was half-human.
Looking back at the fallen form, now seeing what was a
minute ago invisible, a form of bones, with legs and arms, and a head turned to
the left, but still face down. He
blinked, and the entire image retreated to his imagination, left him staring at
a clump of dirt, slightly raised but no more descript than the forty over
there. But he had found the bow, thought
Lwellon, and there is likely to be more.
Standing back up and straight, he called to his company, and
announced the discovery of the bow…
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