Wonderful 72.

The Principality Of Maladimbáh...

Over the last few days, Kaldeàlil Haldéilv along with her hired guards from southern Belinswae, Harrick and Linden. Have hired mercenaries and others, and sent them into the lands of lord Haldéilv, to undertake a number of tasks for the illegitimate daughter of the head of the Haldéilv family.
The elven magic user, who for the most part, has kept in the lands of the Walashàele family to the east of her father's lands. Makes her way across the river that separates much of the lands between the two noble family's who are neighbours and rivals.
The attractive elven maid, who because of her illegitimacy, is not a noble. Crosses one of the bridges over the river, whilst in disguise.
Kaldeàlil Haldéilv has no fear at getting caught, the charm or talisman she wears on a thin silver chain around her neck. Blocks spellcasters from sensing that she too is a practitioner of magic.
The attractive elven maid as she walks in the morning sunshine, goes through the river side village across the bridge. Once through it, she walks along the road that heads westwards to her father's seat of power, which is only six or so miles away at the other end of the mountain valley they're in.
Kaldeàlil walks for a few hundred yards, before she takes to a trail off the road, a trail that heads north. After making sure that she hasn't been followed, the elven magic user looks northwards through the trees, and teleports away.
The attractive elven maid reappears up the side of a mountain, over five miles from where she was previously. The illegitimate daughter of lord Haldéilv looks back from where she came from. She looks down into the valley, and for a few moments she looks at the palatial like tower upon the tor, that is her father's seat of power.
She finally looks away from it, and looks further to the south, where in the distance she can see the vast, dry, arid plains that are home to the human nomads. Kaldeàlil Haldéilv slightly shakes her head, then she continues up the mountain pass that she's teleported up to.
The pass is a trail, that in places has steps that have been built, for further along the pass is a grove of trees, that is sacred to elven kind in this part of the principality of Maladimbáh.
Kaldeàlil passes a couple of other elves on the pass who are making their way down it, after visiting and spending the night in the sacred grove. They don't recognise the illegitimate daughter of lord Haldéilv due to the spell she has cast upon herself, though she recognises them. For they live in the village at the base of the tor which her father's tower is on top of.
The elven magic user passes the grove of pine trees that are sacred, and she continues up the pass, and over a saddle between this peak and the next. Once she's heading downhill again, Kaldeàlil Haldéilv drops the illusion spell she's used to disguise herself, then she teleports down the mountainside.
There's a wagon track amongst the trees below, that the attractive elven maid appears on. Somewhere away to her right she hears foresters and others collecting dead wood for firewood and other uses.
The elven magic user continues along the forest track, until she gets to a trail that goes off it to the left, to the west. She walks quickly along it, until she sees a hut, outside of which stands the younger of the two guards from southern Belinswae, Linden. With him are a pair of elven mercenaries who were hired in the east of the Walashàele family lands.
"Anything?" asks Kaldeàlil Haldéilv in the common language to the three outside the hut, which belongs to a human forester, who has been hired by the illegitimate daughter of the local elven lord.
"Nothing here" replies Linden the mercenary guard who continues with "Or in the surrounding area" the attractive elven maid nods her head, as she wasn't expecting anything here, as it's still pretty close to her father's seat of power.
"Harrick go north, after he checked things out to the west?" asks Kaldeàlil Haldéilv, the human mercenary from the coast in southern Belinswae nods his head yes, then says "He did" Linden continues with "Took some more of the newer one's with him".
"Good" quietly says the elven magic user, who doesn't expect her enemy to come straight at her father's palatial like tower to find her, for he isn't so direct.
Unlike that undead bastard who came and got the mage, Kaldeàlil Haldéilv sourly thinks to herself, the attractive elven maid, who is expecting the elven prince Helbenthril Raendril to head this way, from an unexpected direction, not from the south or west, the direction of the Nomads Plains, quietly says "Let's get going".
There's four horses tied up around one side of the hut, and they mount up, they turn back onto the track, with Linden in the lead, and the elven magic user at the rear. The human mercenary glances back at Kaldeàlil Haldéilv, who nods, the guard from the region of Belinswae stops, and a few moments later sparkling coloured lights appear a dozen yards infront of his horse, quickly the lights turn into a rift, which Linden then the others ride through.
They ride out onto a road in the northern region of lord Haldéilv's lands, Kaldeàlil drops her rift spell behind her, and she moves her horse up to next to Linden, the two elven mercenaries have already ridden away.
One is crossing some fields away to the west, fields with long yellow wheat stalks growing in the late summer sunshine. While the other mercenary is heading north along the road, before he turns off after a bridge, and heads along a track that goes into some woods to the northeast.
"Hopefully they get word from the others" says Linden as he and Kaldeàlil Haldéilv ride along the road northwards, heading towards the stone bridge that crosses a river "Hopefully" says the attractive elven maid who looks away to the west, for in that direction here in the north of her father's lands, is where she grew up with her mother's extended family.
The two of them cross the bridge, once they do, they pick up the pace, as the land for the most part is pretty flat, with few hills, and the only mountains in the area, are far in the distance to the north, and the east.
To the west is predominantly flat, with farmland, where a lot of the wheat and grain in the south of Maladimbáh is grown, it's a valuable source of income for lord Haldéilv, making him one of the more powerful lords, not just in the south of the principality, but in all of Maladimbáh.
Kaldeàlil Haldéilv who knows her father definitely doesn't want a noble family to take the vacant throne of Maladimbáh, rides beside the human guard from southern Belinswae as the road curves to the northwest, they pass a farm wagon heading northwest too.
The attractive elven maid doesn't recognise the elven farmer, and he likewise. The elven magic user wouldn't care if he did, for she has found out that here in the north of her father's lands, the local populace for the most part hasn't heard about the attack on her father's seat of power, which resulted in the escape of Kaldeàlil's prisoner, the mage Reinholt.
Nor have they heard about her being shunned again, and how she's not allowed to be in her father's lands again, nor her two hired guards from southern Belinswae, Linden and Harrick, who were escorted out of lord Haldéilv's lands.
"Nice place up here" quietly says the human mercenary, who continues with "Much more fertile than most of Belinswae" the elven magic user nods her head, then says "It is" she then adds "Though winters here can get a little tough" the illegitimate daughter of the local elven lord continues with "Least in Belinswae it's fairly warm all year round, apart from up in the north along the coast in the Stone Hills".
"Only dwarves and idiots live up there" dryly says Linden who continues with "You won't catch me up there" as he looks around as they ride deeper into the farmlands.
The mercenary guard Harrick nods his head, then asks "You sure?" the elven mercenary who has just rode in from the north, nods his head, then says "He's positive" the mercenary, who is from the east of the principality continues with "They all match the description of them".
Harrick nods his head again, then recalls the map of the north of lord Haldéilv's lands, then he says "What's that, about half a day's ride north?". "A little bit longer, maybe closer to a day" replies the elven mercenary as they stand behind the stables of the inn Harrick is staying at "Blew a horse out riding here, had to change to another in one of the villages further north".
"Hell, they could be here tonight" quietly says the human mercenary from the southern coast of the region of Belinswae, who then adds "Or at least tomorrow morning, especially if they come down the main road" the elven mercenary nods his head in agreement, then he quietly asks "When do you expect her?".
"Today, around midday" replies Harrick who looks up at the clear mid morning sky of the late summer's day, and he murmurs "Which is a good thing" the elven mercenary nods his head to that, then Harrick says "Come on, we'll tell the others" the two of them head to the inn.
Later in the day, and Harrick stands at the open window of his second storey room in the inn, it gives him a clear view of the road that heads southeast through the surrounding farmland, the human mercenary is looking down the road when he spots a couple of riders in the distance.
There's a knock at his door, and Harrick says "Yeah" the door to the room opens, and another of the elven mercenaries pops his head into the room, and quietly says "That's them on the road to the south".
The human mercenary nods his head, then says to the elf "Have the others get ready, then ride out and gather the rest in" Harrick continues with "We could be leaving in a hurry" the elven mercenary nods his head in understanding, then he hurries away.
Harrick puts on his sword belt, and exits his room, he makes his way downstairs, and through the common room, and out of the inn, he heads through the village, to the road to the southeast. He waits at the corner of a house on the edge of the village for the two approaching riders.
"They're here" quietly says Harrick when the two riders stop and look at him "Where?" asks Kaldeàlil Haldéilv as she and Linden dismount "About a day's ride north, they were spotted in a village". "You absolutely sure?" asks the attractive elven maid "The informant who told Jarmahílth is" replies Harrick who continues with "He described all of them, and we didn't inform him of any of the others apart from the elf in the white hooded cloak, just that he was in a group".
"Definitely them" says Linden, Kaldeàlil Haldéilv nods her head in agreement as they walk to the nearby inn, the attractive elven maid then asks the older of the two human mercenaries she hired in southern Belinswae "How many have we got here?". "A dozen or so" says Harrick in response to the elven magic users question, he continues with "There's others in the surrounding area, I've sent Farlithané to get them, and to get them ready".
Things couldn't proceed better, Kaldeàlil Haldéilv thinks to herself, though she knows what she plans, will depend a lot on luck, and good timing, for she knows to either capture or kill her quarry, a lot of things will have to go her way.
"Any of my father's guards in the area?" quietly asks the illegitimate daughter of lord Haldéilv "Apart from a small squad of four who rode through yesterday, i haven't seen any" replies Harrick, who continues with "I'll have to ask the others when they come in if they have".
"Do so" says the attractive elven maid, who hopes to use her father's guards unwittingly in her attempt to capture and kill the elven noble who killed her lover Xanderlith Karlavilt three years ago in the elven principality of Alínlae in the Southlands.
"All of them eh?" quietly says Kaldeàlil Haldéilv as they head around the inn to the stables "All of them" says Harrick who continues with "The ranger, the little preacher in the funny hat, the big knight, the elf in the greys, the two youngsters, as well as him". "At least that big guy, and the mage aren't with them" dryly says Linden, which earns him a couple of stares from Kaldeàlil and Harrick "Well, it's true" says the younger of the two human mercenary guards from the south coast of Belinswae.
"I know, but you don't have to bring it up" says the attractive elven maid as they enter the stables "I've been trying to forget all about it" sourly says Kaldeàlil Haldéilv as she leads her mount into a stall, she silently adds in a dry tone, and that bloody maniac of an ork isn't around too, at least that's something.
Once Kaldeàlil and Linden have stabled their horses, the elven magic user who is the illegitimate daughter of the local lord says "Once the others are all here, we're leaving by rift" as they cross to the inn, she adds "North to get them once and for all" Kaldeàlil Haldéilv pauses for a moment, before she continues with "To finally kill him".
Behind her the two mercenaries from southern Belinswae glance at one another, for they clearly heard the driven, and slightly unhinged tone in her voice when she said that . . . . . .