The Secrets of Tarneth
an excerpt

Bec was delighted that he had been right about the southern wood, even though it took a trick to get the answer out. He looked up at the tree he was sitting in. Bec was a powerful climber. Perhaps this elf likes to race, Bec thought, slowly removing his shoes. I would like another success, and Lukos still sleeps like a bear in mid winter.

“Do you ever race trees, ‘my new friend’? Bec was standing now too, one hand lightly touching the trunk, his feet bare as well.

Wyn was still standing but at these words his body settled into a more solid position.
“Aye, I do, but, “ he paused, “both up and down”
Bec was shocked for a second but then without pausing to think it through he shouted, “Accepted”
“Met”

And they were off. Grasping one of the boughs over his head Bec pulled himself quickly up to the next level. He tried to spot two or three branches ahead of where he was to find the best path to follow up the tree. For it was like a path on the ground, following a route up a tree, and Bec was good at it. He had even raced Father before and beat him. The best in the area were still faster than Bec but he knew once he reached full growth he would be amoung the fastest. He glanced over at Wyn who was making good progress as well, his ragged clothes streaming about him as he scrambled up section to section.

The two elves seemed to fly up the tree, passing over limbs by reaching and pulling with their arms, now pushing hard with their legs and landing on a totally new section of the tree. These trees towered over the forest reaching heights of over 100 feet. As he reached toward the top the wind and his own body weight made the tree shake a little. When the branches around him grew thinner than his wrist he stopped and looked quickly at Wyn who was only now pulling himself up the final few feet.

They both sat, silently, legs hanging to the ground while they panted slightly and looked around them. The light breeze that is always swirling around the tops of tall trees cooled them even as the sun shone hot on their sweaty bodies. There was a faint smell on the wind that Bec didn’t recognize, slightly spicy, that intrigued his senses. He could hear the birds complaining below about their rough passage and he felt good inside. Off in the distance he could see even taller trees and he was tempted to suggest that they move that way.

“Well won” Wyn finally managed to say without panting any more, his pale eyes flashed as he added, “Ready?”

Bec hesitated just a moment. Races were usually up trees, not descending. He’d moved quickly down a tree before but never racing. As he considered there came a faint sound of something crashing below him, followed by a cry.
“Lukos!” and forgetting the race he began to drop as quickly as he could.

But he was not as quick as Wyn. The pale elf flowed over the branches without stopping to land on any of them to slow his passage. The branches seemed to move to the side as he plummeted downward far faster than Bec could trust himself to move. Even as Bec tried to speed his descent his fingers slipped and he only just caught himself on the next large limb. As frustrated as he was he had to slow down to arrive in a condition to help his friend. The branches whipped at him, small cuts appeared on his arms and legs but he barely noticed. Lukos! How could I be so stupid as to leave you unprotected? Another loud thump sounded and he realized that he was close to reaching the bottom. He prepared to grab the small blade tucked into his belt as he took a look prior to making the final leap to the ground.

Below him Lukos and Wyn were standing back to back, a furry creature the size of a traveling bag dying at their feet. Two more lay a few feet back and as he watched Bec saw Wyn set fly with a rock from his sling that crashed into the head of yet another dirt crawler. It gave a shrill cry and toppled to its side. A group of 5-6 of the creatures was still pressing forward toward Lukos feet as Bec dropped to his pack and took up his bow. As he landed the creatures looked his way distracted; Lukos stabbed at the nearest one with his blade while Wyn dropped another with a stone. Bec now had his bow and managed to get a couple of shots off before the remaining few animals realized they were outnumbered and they scrambled back into the trees and vanished.

The three youth looked around somewhat dazed by the quick turn of events. The were eight dead dirt crawlers on the ground, Lukos was deeply scratched on one hand and arm and Bec had scratches himself from his flight down the tree. Only Wyn seemed unscathed.

Lukos turned and knelt by the nearest creature. As he rolled it over, Bec could see that the knife that had cut its throat was still embedded in the neck; Lukos pulled to remove it. It took three hard tugs before the blade came loose from the bone that had held it in place. He carefully wiped the blade and turned to Wyn. He handed it back handle first with some ceremony
“Your blade. Oh, that was…wow. Thank you for saving my life!” Lukos swung to take in Bec as well, “Thank you both.” His face was red with exhaustion and a frustration of emotions. He looked closer at the crawler. “Why is it grey?”