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Library: compilation

Books

Author: Pirotessa
Date:Mar 8 1996

This is a compilation and continuation of the stories in the SK library.
 
The author makes no assurance that any of the situations depicted in this
story are purely fictional.  Cooresponding names and/or events may or may not
be coincedental.
 
     The Life Before - Part 1:  Loss
     ----------
A while back, a tiny little sprite or fairy asked me why I hated normal elves.
 I could have stepped on him but for once I felt mercy toward teh poor thing. 
"How are you to know, I hate them because they threw me ou.t"  He insisted I
was being very means and so, and misjudging them, so I just yelled "You
weren't the ones they threw out, easy for you to say..." and began to ignore
the annoyance.  For clarification, I am not a drow, I am a dark elf.  Know
your elves.
 
But this harmless incedent reminded me of the life before, if something is
missing it is because of this.  Life is just a downward spiral, and death
alone solves no problems.  I was a happy elf-child with two good parents in a
peaceful land.  A land now forgotten, and a place never to return to me.  They
taught me the basics of what I know now, the control I still covet and rely on
to this day.  The methods may be different but the end result is the same,
perseverence, self-improvement, survival.
 
Why learn the blade, and magick, I asked them?  No one had ever been attacked
in our realm for many years, and that wasn't changing.  Sure kids still fought
with toy sticks, and shrines were dedicated to battlemages long past, but it
was not a violent world.  There were no humans there, and I still think that
was the decisive factor.  Just different types of elves, each adapted to a
different environment.  Some developed flight, others developed underwater
abilities, and so on.  "You'll need them someday, Piro.  It is always best to
know over not knowing.", they would insist.
 
Then somehow a lone demon, or devil, I find them hard to tell apart, entered
the realm.  My parents insisted that this kind of thing happened regularly,
and not to be afraid.  After all, they were the ones chosen to fight for our
race, as was I.  Finally I understood why they had concentrated so much on the
fighting arts and combat magick they taught me, then I understood.
 
I prefer not to talk about the next part too much.  It still bothers me. 
After the demon killed my parents in a terrible-anti-climactic battle, it
corrupted some others and so on.  I killed it slightly after, trauma is the
best teacher.  Eighty years of combat training couldn't half measure up to the
sudden improvement in my magickal abilities had right after that tragedy.  I
don't believe that stuff about their power transfering to me when they died,
no, this power came from within, from me.  The demon was then a martyr to his
corrupted people, who continue to fight to this day:  while I admire their
perseverence I can say nothing for their effectiveness.
 
What is important is what is after this.  This demon faded away, and in times
other minor ones came, fought, and were defeated.  But I no longer had my
parents.  And back then they were important to me.  I like to think they still
are, but I know, we'll, of course they still are.  If I could bring them back,
even to this place, I would.
 
Life without my parents then just wasn't normal.  My race seemed glad their
new gaurdian was capable, and many said they never even doubted my abilities. 
But I dearly missed my parents, and had to deal with the guild I secretly
almost felt glad about their demise because of what it did to my abilities. 
Still, if I could have them back, even at the cost of that, I would not
hesisitate.  Maybe even today.
 
Even this was still a pretty good life as I call it.  Feasts, parties,
courting, more parties, everything was plentiful, and most needs were met.  I
didn't get my parents back, though, and I wanted that at least.  So I kept
seeking for answers, but found none.  Killing that demon kept me alive, sure,
but that's all it did.  And to live a life of partial misery while surrounded
by hapiness and prosperity was enough torture in itself.  Everyone else had
parents, and no one else's would die.  We were ageless.
 
So I finally decided I had to end it.  I did not care what happened to my
race, or me, or anything else.  I would let the next attacker kill me.  They
seemed vicious enough, shouldn't be that hard.  So I waited.  And waited, but
none come.  Fifty years passed, same courting, feasting, and by now my life
was becoming a true misery.  "Why a guardian at all", I would ask, and the
elders would insist something dangerous would come soon.  Bleah.  When you
want something it never comes, and when you least it will.  
 
     The Life Before - Part 2:  A friend
     -----------
I didn't have the will to kill myself.  So I decided I wanted at least to find
a friend.  Friends were good, I told myself, and then forced myself to nod. 
So first I watched things carefully.
 
Once, late after a binging party at another elf's house, everyone else had
passed out.  I was still around, and still was Elysse.
 
     "You can talk to him, and he even talks back, don't you Sly?", asked
Elysse.  She had a little too much to drink, I thought, she had been partying
all night.  Sly was her cat.
     "Yep, he meews back at you.", I answered.
     "What's that sly?  You want some more wine?", she asked, pouring him some
more.  He meewed again, and she put it into a bowl.  He was lapping it up.  I
just shook my head.  He had cute eyes, they had this blue tinge to them.  And
the cat was a siamese, those were rare here.  Totally grayish, stripes of
black and white.
     I felt the impulse and followed it.  First I grabbed the cat, then
holding it against my chest, I said "Mine."  It was pretty tame.  I pet it as
I left.
     "Hey, what are you doing?", asked Elysse, as she looked confused.
     "I wanted a friend.  Now I have one, don't I?"  I opened up the door to
leave her place.  I was guardian, I was the only one in this entire race that
had been trained to fight.  She charged me nonetheless, but she was not at all
ready for what would come next.
     I just grabbed and unseathed my rapier.  Normally you do a four, first
thing, but she had nothing to parry.  So I just stuck the blade right out and
let her charge into it.  Elves sure do crazy things when they're drunk.
     I let go of the blade and looked away.  I hate this part, I hadn't quite
gotten used to it.  Great, a body.  That's evidence.  What do you think the
elders are going to decide when my sword, the only sword in the realm, is
stuck through her body.  "She grabbed it, and used it to kill herself."  Sure.
No, I was the only person in this world who could fight.
 
I dropped Sly.  Then I retrieved my sword, and washed it off.  Then I got an
idea.  "Maybe this useless skill does have a use after all...", I thought,
bending over and taking out my knife.  "Skin the body.  Turn it into fresh
leggings.", I muttered, and in a few minutes it was done.  I cleaned up the
blood, wiping it up off the floor where she'd fallen.  They're so messy when
they bleed.  But of course the corpse was gone.  Which was good, I hated elf
corpses.  Dead demons might be a work of art, but not dead elves.
     So now I had a pair of bone leggings.  No corpse, no evidence.  Nothing
to worry about.  The worst the elders could do now was make a new plot for the
next Elf-Vid due out.  Those things are sure dumb.  This one would probably
say "She might be dead, but her spirit lives on, in Piro's bone leggings..." 
Don't laugh at that, only I have enough of a warped sense of humor to write
that in the first place.
     Grabbing Sly, I was off.  "Good cat, Sly"
 
And that is how I got a friend.  Afterwords, I thought up some story about
"spontaneous elven combustion" and used that to justify her mysterious
disappearance.  And then I had a friend to go on with.
 
     The Life Before - Part 3:  A Scary Elf named "me".
     -----
I loved that little animal.  I took him with me everywhere I went.  "Sly, you
know... did you ever have parents?", I would ask.  I suppose he didn't, no, I
mean, he didn't remember his.  Still, occasionally I would remember mine.  And
sometimes it even would still make me upset, but not very much.
 
In time, the attacks had subsided altogether, and the Elders still would
insist I needed to be guardian.  "Kuso ii na", I would keep muttering to
myself to keep my temper under control.  It was an unwritten law that elves
did not attack elves.  As if that stopped me before, but attacking and
Elder...
 
I talked with the elders some more, and they were simply unreasonable, they
would not have it any other way.  So then that was pretty much it, I hated
this whole race anyway.  Everyone except myself.  What was I defending the
rest of them for anyway.  Out of some warped sense of duty, I decided, and the
fact I wanted to avenge my parents, by killing more demons.  Once again I
reminded myself that killing alone solved nothing.  
 
So I left.  I got up one night around midnight and walked away.  Taking my
only sword, a change of clothes, and Sly.  "This race sucks...", I mumbled.
 
I shared a cave with a bear and a couple of bats for a few years, just
hunting, surviving, and staying alive.  The bear would guard the cave and I
would bring him live animals to eat.  We'll, that was fine for a while, but I
just got bored.  Even Elves need something to do, and so I decided I could
exact my revenge on my old village.  I thought up a decent plan for the ones
that had used me, and then told the animals I'd be back and made to the
village.
 
For one, the lead elder had a very nice crown I wanted.  But that wasn't
really important, mostly what I wanted was their food stores.  Without those
they would starve and all die, or at least be forced to farm double to make up
the loss.  The crown was quite simple, I just snook in during the night and
lifted it off its holder.  Leaving I passed some kind of demon which had
decided to pay the guy a visit.  It noticed me, and since I had a reputation
among these folk, backed off and then bumped into a wall.
     "Hehe, like I care.", I chortled, poking it with my sword lightly.  It
just hissed, and mumbled a few things.  "All I'm here for is this", I motioned
to the crown.  I shrugged.
     "What?", it asked, as I poked it again.
     "I suppose you ought to die now, sayo-", I nodded, as I felt it trying to
probe my mind.
     "You like stealing, don't you...", it asked, pointing at the cat and then
to the crown.
     "Only a minor hobby."  It continued to probe my mind, as if I cared.
     "You steal just to steal, you don't like the things you steal, do
you...", it continued.
     "Why am I talking to you?", I asked, lightly cutting it's left cheek with
my sword.  Dark blood, just a few drops.
     "I can help you steal something real, something you'd like much more. 
Like your cat."
     "Sorry, this was the best thing to steal, and that's allready been
done.", I replied, slashing its other cheek.
     "I don't mean like that...", it mumbled as I got ready to impale it.  "I
mean like steal one of you, y'know."  I stopped the blade a little short of
its hideous chest.
     "Like another elf?  We'll, Piro thought about that, but the child would
yell too.  Piro would have to kill the kid just to get it to shut up."  I
think it was just trying to buy time, but then, what difference does it make.
     It did seem to have an interesting idea, I'd thought up that before but
seriously the child would yell at least once before I gagged her, and elves
are light sleepers.  It would wake them, no doubt.  I could fight, but I
didn't want to kill so many of them.
     "Ah, but if a demon like me were to cause some havoc, then yuo wouldn't
have to worry about a few extra yells, right?", it asked.  We'll, I could
cause havoc too, but I suppose it was much uglier.
     "Fine, try not to kill too many.", I asserted, backing off.
     "I won't, ever since our master died no one cars about killing anymore. 
All we care about is chaos."  I seathed my sword.
     "Master?  Died?", I asked, but it was gone already.  It's sure fast, I
wonder why it didn't try to run from me to begin with.  A few seconds later I
heard numerous shrieks, and I headed over to Ravesh and Azure's place.  They
had a cute elf-girl they were very protective of.  The demon darted past me
and into the house, and I quickly followed it.
     That was easy.  First I laid down Sly and told him "stay, good kitty."  I
grabbed the girl in her sleep, and she didn't even start shrieking till she
noticed what was happening.  There was so much havoc and yells around that I
didn't really care.  I scooped her up and quickly ran from the village. 
Stealing the grain could wait.
 
When I got to the cave I managed to calm her down some, and showed her the
friendly bear.  That would occupy her, I thought, and quickly made it back to
the village to retrieve Sly, and then returned.  She was riding piggyback on
teh bear, but seemed terrified when she saw me, quickly jumping off and
running into the cave.
 
The cave wasn't terribly large, so I just trapped her in a dead end.  She was
tall for her age, a little over 130 cm. prob'ly.  She looked like a typical
elf, light hair, dark complexion.
     "Anni, right?", I asked.  She was terrified no doubt.  We'll, I could
make her yell herself out, then she'll feel a little better.  I dropped Sly,
and then unseathed my sword and swung it wildly a few times.  She shrieked all
right.  I had to reseath the sword and cover my ears as the shrieks echoed
through the cave.  She yelled for about half a minute before she finally ran
out of breath.  We'll, I suppose this is giong to take some talking.


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