Call Me Inktomi

[Erzuli]

"So," said Inky, "Whats yer name then?"

There was a slight pause, then a reply...

"Alberic Luntashee"

"Right.. said Inky a bit slowly. That’s a mouthful ain’t it? I’ll just call you ‘Al’ if you don’t mind."

"I do mind."

Inky ignored her rowing partner and continued.

"So...Al, she continued, just what is it with you and that moonlight? Why do you keep starin’ at it? Ain't I beautiful enough to hold your attention?"

Alberic felt the cool night breeze that blew through the grid of the hatchway leading up to the deck. The moonlight was bright. It was probably a full moon - a hunter’s moon as old da’ used to call them. As looked at the moonlight filtering through the hatchway he thought of the waving waving grass of his homelands. In his mind he saw saw the small stand of trees where he used to play as a child. His mind drifted back across the decades, back to the time his old da’, a fourth generation druid, told him about being able to shapeshift into a wolf, protecting their homelands. His reverie was broken by a harsh whisper from the goblin next to him.

"Well?" said Inky in an irritated tone that was her usual demeanor, "has my great beauty left you speachless?"

Alberic tried not to laugh. He wasn't sure why. Maybe he was afraid that if he insulted his gobin rowing partner he would have to do all of the rowing, as if he wasn't doing the brunt of it now.

"As stunning as you are? he began to the goblin, who was simply delighted at his compliment, refusing to take it for the sarcasim that it was. As stunning as you are, he began again, turning to Inky, I was thinking about the moonlit nights of my homeland."

"So what's on yer mind aside from me?" said Inky.

And so Alberic told Inky of his childhood:

Being an wolf was about patience; and Alberic had infinite patience. He carefully watched his quarry, studying its habits - where it went, what it did. Alberic the wolf waited, planned. He bided his time. Waiting for the precise moment guaranteed success, without bring danger to himself and his tribe. Alberic was a druid, tutored carefully in the ways of the Earth Mother.

Now he had traced his quarry to their dig site; a mine they had driven into the very bowls of the Earth Mother. There were five Deep Dwarves Dwarves and only one of him. Not good odds for a druid such as himself. "Perhaps they should go find some more friends," he chuckled to himself. The smell of his quarry’s filth, lingered in his sensitive nostrils.

Alberic the wolf prowled carefully through the tall grass near the edge of the Dwarve’s dig site. Even druids, no matter how skilled, cannot prowl entirely without risk leaving a trace of their passing. He followed a small gully that ran up the side of the mountain ridge to the area just above the mines. It had once been a small creek, now run dry as if somehow in reaction to the evil that lay within the corruption of the Earth Mother.

He lay in wait, hidden by tall prairie grass, at the top of the ridge. Hesitating, the mighty wolf slowly crept out of the edge of the tall grass and peered over the ledge and looked down into the gaping pit the dwarves had dug into the Earth. It seemed to Alberic as if it where a gaping wound.

The open wound horrified Alberic. The ore they gouged from the Earth Mother seemed as if it where huge gaping lumps of her flesh. It made him retch, spewing the contents of his stomach into a nearby patch of weeds. He crawled slowly edged back to the safety of his hiding place, afraid that the noise he made might have alerted the dwarves.

When all was quiet Alberic silently padded his way to the edge of the precipice. Looking down, he crept over to the gully that lead down to the dwarves dig. Cautiously he made his way through the filth the dwarves had left in their wake as they ripped in to the Earth Mother’s flesh. Alberic the stealthy wolf kept to the shadows of the setting sun as he approached their camp site.

Overhead clouds from the east threatened to overtake the beautiful sunset. A slight mist began to fall, lightly coating Alberic's fur as he lay in wait. An hour passed with Alberic listening to the dwarves laugh while wooden mugs filled and refilled with Dwarven ale. He inched forward into a mud filled trench in which the dwarves had been working. The light rain had turned the earth to ooze that reminded him of the Earth Mother giving up her blood as the result of the Dwarves treachery. The muck coated his fur as he crept forward ever so slowly, making him blend perfectly with his surroundings

The hours wore on as he made his way closer to the campsite, now a dry patch in what had become a sea of mud. With the setting of the sun, the temperature began to drop. The moon was full, it's light glistening in the drops of water on his fur, shinning like diamonds. Water ran down from the precipice filling the formerly dry gulch. The rhythm of the water pounded like kettle drums in his ears. He waited-until midnight-then ever so cautiously he made his way into the campsite. Hiding in the shadows, Alberic carefully placed each paw so as not to create the slightest sound. At the center of the camp, the fire dwindled. One of the two remaining dwarves reached behind him and threw another log into the center of the flame, stoking the fire. He recognized the older of the two dwarves at the fire as the leader of the dig site. Both dwarves stared intently into the flames as they shared a conversation. This was just the distraction that Alberic was hoping for.

"Patience is not only my forte," he told himself, "I am the very paragon of perseverance."

The mighty wolf Alberic crawled on his belly, edging toward the unsuspecting dwarves. Soon he was within pouncing distance.

From his hiding place he could see the two dwarves laughing. Laughing at the elven families no doubt. Then, the older dwarf pointed directly at him! How could this be? He had been discovered. His mind raced, trying to decide on a course of action. Too soon his foe set upon him. In a moment the leader reached him...

...pulling him out of the mud. Alberic smiled for a moment, as he related the story to Inky, remembering his mother looking down at her little boy, that she and her friend Morningstar had seen hiding in the bushes again.

"Alberic!," cried his mother, holding him at arms length.

There was little Alberic covered from head to foot with mud and leaves plastered all over his body. Morningstar burst out laughing behind his mother; and soon his mother joined in the laughter as she surveyed the condition of her son. Setting down her little boy, she smiled down at him.

"Have you been playing mighty wolf protector again young man?" she asked.

"Yes mommy," said Xasxas ever so sheepishly."Have I been bad?"

Son and made their way back to the wooden bench to join her dear friend Morningstar near the fire. She sat little Alberic on the bench between the two of them.

"Alberic," She told her son in a mildly scolding tone, I don’t mind you playing 'mighty wolf protector.' I don’t even mind the messes you make of yourself. But you have got to get over this anger at people who don’t understand Mother Earth the way we do. Isn’t that right Morningstar? She added looking up at her friend for support."

Morningstar smiled down at her best friend's son. Ignoring the mud that caked the little boy, nearly matching the color of Tajqa’s skin, she took the tiny hand in hers. It looked so tiny against her larger hand. Looking into the worried little eyes Morningstar spoke to little Alberic ever so gently, reassuring him.

" Alberic, she said, your mother is right. It doesn’t matter where you came from. It doesn’t matter where you go in life. We are your family. You will always have a home here and the Earth Mother will always have a safe retreat here where people love and respect her."

"But mom" Alberic blurted out looking over at his mother, "those dwarves think we are all just dumb, they will NEVER learn. Before he died dad said..."

"Yes, Morningstar said. I know what they think of us. You are right. But you are a wood elf, you can be proud of your heritage. We all miss your father. But you still have a mother who loves you and our tribe wants you with them. We will look out for the Earth Mother together."

"I love you, Alberic’s mother said, smiling at her son. She took him in her arms as she hugged him and whispered in his ear - we are safe here little one."

"...aren’t they going to kill us like they did dad?" Alberic asked through nearly silent tears.

"These lands are well protected, his mother said with a reassuring smile. We don’t have to fear those bad men any more. I will always love you"

Then mother and son hugged each other in silence for along time, with Morningstar looking on. Moments passed as little Alberic enjoyed the warmth of his mother's hug. The moments lingered on, and his mother’s grip loosened,dropping Alberic to the ground - her eyes wide open in both shock and horror. Alberic watched as his mother dropped slowly into Morningstar’s arms. Then she saw the black shaft of an arrow that protruded from the back of his mother’s neck..

Not understanding fully what had happened the little boy just gave his mother a puzzled look. In a pitiful little voice he managed to squeak out the words...

"Mommy?"

Morningstar had spotted the source of the angry black shaft, but too late. This was the last place she expected an attack. She watched helplessly as the assassin slipped back into the night, fading from sight. She held her dieing friend in her arms, watching as the light that was her life, faded from her eyes. Morningstar watched as Alberic’s mother gagged, struggling for breath and a voice that would not come. A silent tear coursed down the dieing woman’s cheek. Morningstar followed her friends eyes as they look one at her son one last time with a mixture of love and anguish.

"Dearest friend, Morningstar whispered - for that is all the voice she could find - dearest sister, you can go into the next world in peace. I will always love little Alberic. I will raise him not as my own. For truly now, he is my own. Your son will always be loved and cared for."

With that the light behind those dark elf eyes, the window of the soul, slipped into eternity.

A long silence ensued, as strugged to remember what his mother, who had died so young, looked like. Inky just stared at Alberic, the blurted out...

"You can turn into a wolf? She kicked Alberic, hard. YOU can turn into a WOLF and you never said a thing? she kicked him again. You idiot she hissed. Why don't you get us out of here?"

Now angry, Alberic turned to the goblin.

"I pour my heart out to you, I said angrily, I tell you might deepest, most hurtful memory. I share my soulwith you and that's all you have to say? You insensitive little...here he hesitated a moment...lout."

Undaunted, the nasty side, a dark side possessed by many of her race, came out.

"Get us out of here now!"

"I tried that once..." he began.

"And? " she hissed.

"And the row master kicked me across the deck, grabbed me by the scruff of my fur and put an iron collar around my neck. He chained me to the deck and I had to eat dog food for a week."

"It can only be an improvement on the slop they feed us now. Inky turned back to the moonlight and slumped over the oar. Then she added to herself. Of all the wood elves in the world, I get chained to the same oar as a druid school dropout."


Copyright 2007 © Julie Whitefeather

[Erzuli]

I have loved bringing you these stories. I actually have alot more to post that I have already written, and more stories to come in the vanguard world. However, it seems that these forums are going to move over to the Silky Venom website in the near future. I have nothing against the Silky Venom site. I do know about the many flames over there.

The comments and compliments here have been great. However, the fan fiction over at the Silky Venom website is rarely, if ever, read compared to this site.

If anyone has any ideas about where they would like to see the rest of the stories posted, please let me know.

Julie

[Erzuli]

For all of you who have enjoyed my stories, and want to know how it turns out. Here is a link to where they will be continued. Obviously I will have to change the setting a bit, combine a few other parts of stories that I have written. I will be posting here (I am a staff writer for the podcast that this site is associated with):

World of Warcraft Chronicles Podcast