"You're early!" Haldir shouted with surprise and a great amount of enthusiasm as a horse and rider approached. The elf acknowledged him with a nod, surveying the area.
Dismounting, the elf tilted his head slightly and said with indifference, "There are more here than I anticipated."
"I had not expected so many to answer the call, but it has been some time since we recruited." Haldir sighed, and said in a low voice, "It's the second worst part of the job."
"How so?" questioned Palentil, not needing to ask what Haldir's least favorite task was.
"I wish I could add them all to the roster – so many of them are so upset about not being chosen, or being chosen for a job lower than they had hoped for, and I feel badly for that. For instance, the newest of my sergeants," he said, motioning to Dinendal, who was currently participating in defensive exercises in the clearing, "has an elder brother who was very interested in being in the guard. He spoke with me at great length, in fact, about getting into the guard early."
"Couldn't fight his way out of a straw basket on a clear day?" guessed Palentil.
Haldir shook his head and his brow furrowed. "Actually, he's an excellent fighter. My worry was his attitude. I've seen how he behaves around his parents and his brother, and I do not tolerate disrespect." Haldir paused as a great falcon came down and landed upon Palentil's arm. "I had hoped to see you at the trials."
Palentil chuckled. "That is for the young and the brave," he said, "and I am neither."
Frowning, Haldir lifted a finger to stroke the bird beneath her chin, receiving numerous nibbles from the falcon. "Do not lie, my friend, you are braver than many I know, and we are as young as we wish to feel."
"I thank you for your kind words, but the answer is the same," smirked Palentil. "I have no desire to kill. No matter how vile those creatures are, it is not their fault for being born as they have been. A border guard refusing to carry a weapon is of little use to you, Haldir."
Deciding not to press the matter, Haldir focused his attention on the falcon. "Who have we brought today?"
"This is Vorino – Vorino the fourth, more accurately. Do not ask me to count back the generations to the first, as I have already told Rumil, I do not keep track of such things, only the birds themselves and the great sacrifice they all have made in aiding me through the years." Palentil lifted Vorino slowly up toward his face and made a soft chirping noise, to which Vorino responded by nipping his nose in an affectionate manner.
Raising an eyebrow, Haldir smiled as Palentil kissed the bird on the top of her beak before lowering his arm. "Go ahead, spit it out," said Palentil. Haldir shook his head, but Palentil continued. "Unacceptable behavior, kissing a bird in the middle of the training grounds."
"Not at all," answered Haldir. "In fact, you'd fit right in."
"You have other elves among your troops kissing birds?"
Haldir rolled his eyes. "No, but I have a lieutenant and a commander who on occasion go…canoodling down by the river."
"Canoodling?"
"I'm not spelling it out for you," said Haldir, crossing his arms.
Palentil gave Haldir a sly look. "Don't tell me you've not canoodled by the river before."
"Not while I'm on duty!"
"Oh, well, I heard-"
"That wasn't by the river."
"So that rumor is true!"
Haldir sighed. "Yes, that rumor – wait, what other rumors are there?"
Palentil smiled to himself, turning his attention back to Vorino.
"You may look the innocent elf," scolded Haldir, "but I swear, your thoughts are quite perverse sometimes."
"Of course. That is something you would know," Palentil answered back, causing the captain to roll his eyes once more. Palentil grinned and lifted his hand so that Vorino could take flight. She beat her mighty wings a few times before swooping and rising back up on the wind. "Down to business. How many are there today?"
"Twenty-three," replied Haldir.
"Hmm. I only expected seventeen." Palentil moved to his saddlebags, pulling out a number of quivers of rather odd-looking arrows. "Good thing I came prepared for thirty," he said to himself more than to Haldir as he fastened a quiver to his back.
Giving a sharp whistle, Haldir waited until the new recruits were assembled in formation before giving any further directions. "I will be turning the remaining portion of today's session over to Lord Palentil, whom you may have seen guarding in the inner city. He will be stressing the importance of keeping your enemy in sight, no matter what. Lord Palentil," Haldir bowed his head, and made a sweeping motion with his arm toward the troops, then dismissed the veteran soldiers who had been assisting in the training.
Lord Palentil, noted Dinendal, was not dressed like any other guard he had seen. In fact, he looked perfectly useless as a guard, clad in greys, deep purples, and some sort of blue-green Dinendal would only be able to classify as bright. He much preferred that uniform to his own, if it even was a uniform, and wondered where one signed up for that position.
"Many of you have the misconception that being an Elf gives you leave to simply use your senses of smell and hearing to simply `know' where your enemy is. There is a great neglect when it comes to sight, because it seems so basic, and yet, can be the one thing that can save your life. Keep your eyes open. Keep your focus on your enemy." Palentil was walking through the lines as he spoke, his hands clasped behind his back. "Never assume you know who your enemy is." Palentil stopped, looking over the group of young faces, each elf standing straight as an arrow and looking forward. "But, why talk when we should be doing."
Palentil walked back to the front and motioned for Haldir to approach him. "I am going to have your Captain blindfold me in just a few minutes. With me today I have marking arrows." He held up a feathered arrow, to show that instead of a point, the end of each had some sort of a small red sack attached to it. "The gut of a deer, filled with its own blood. It may look harmless, but mind you, it will sting to be hit, and we will know you have been caught. You are to stay within the training perimeter; anyone caught outside of it will be penalized. You will have the count of fifty after your Captain has given you his mark to run, hide if you wish, but for your sake, hope that I do not find you."
Haldir lifted up the blindfold and began tying it around Palentil's eyes. "As a courtesy," added the lord, "I shall stay here upon the ground to give all of you a slight advantage."
Checking to see that the blindfold was properly placed, Haldir made a swift motion with his hand, causing the wardens-in-training to flee. Rumil began a loud count of the time, and sooner than those who were being hunted, shouted, "Fifty!"
Removing the blindfold, Palentil blinked a few times, and Rumil hurried out of the range of fire. Only Haldir remained in Palentil's sight, and he was quickly given the Captain's bow. "Let me see…" Palentil took an arrow slowly and carefully from behind, scanning the trees. "There's one – two – three," he counted in rapid succession, firing and hitting three very clumsily hidden Elves who chose low spots or areas with little cover. A fourth joined them soon after, sporting a large red stain on his sleeve as he slunk out from behind a tree.
"There is one behind-"
"Thank you, but I do not require the assistance, Captain," said Palentil, firing a fifth arrow. A sixth was shot high into the air, arching suddenly, and coming into a tree. A yelp soon followed, along with Celebdreth hitting the ground in a most undignified manner as the red dripped off of his hair and trickled down his nose and neck.
Head down, the young Elf marched past his uncle, but was given a brief smile, and he sighed in relief. Haldir turned away from his nephew, to see that three more had been caught, bringing the count to nine. His eyes saw something else, high in the sky, and he tried not to smirk as he watched Palentil lower his bow.
Vorino circled twice around the trees, once high, once low. When she came around for a third pass, she slowed, and the bow was raised once more. Following Vorino carefully, Palentil had only wait for her to call to him, and fired into the tree in the direction of her cries, bringing his total to twenty before she flew away.
"Captain, if I may," asked one of those in training as he approaching, limping slightly, red staining his pants. "Our enemy was not only Palentil, but the eagle as well."
"She is a falcon, but you are correct," complimented Haldir. The elf bowed slightly to his Captain and joined his comrades as Palentil spotted the briefest bit of movement in the trees and fired, adding another casualty to the list.
Palentil slowly turned, watching the trunks and branches for movement. He made a second pass, keeping watch of the grass this time, and drew another arrow from the quiver. The new recruit stumbled up in an attempt to flee, but was knocked back down by the force of the arrow.
"That was very nicely done," said Palentil, resting on his bow. "Usually takes me less time to shoot everyone down."
Haldir frowned and walked to Palentil, pulling one last arrow from the quiver. "Who has not been found?" The recruits looked one another over as Haldir quickly counted the troops, and counted them again, replacing the arrow.
"You did say twenty-three, correct?" Palentil looked at the pile of arrows he had not put into the quiver. "I had thirty, you said twenty-three, there are eight left…" Palentil scanned the elves standing in the group, none of them looking at all guilty of anything. Each of them sported a `wound' somewhere – the most obvious of the group being poor Celebdreth, whose hair was drying with streaks of crimson. "It appears we have been stumped, my friend," said Palentil.
"Who was not shot?" questioned Haldir. Once more the troops looked each other over, and finally, an arm slowly raised itself up. The elves parted, leaving Dinendal standing and looking quite sheepish.
"When Celebdreth was hit, the blood came down and spattered on me," he admitted. "So I made my way back through the trees, and joined the group."
"Well, my congratulations," said Palentil, holding out a hand. Tentatively, Dinendal approaching, taking hold of Palentil's lower arm as Palentil did the same. "I have only been beaten once before," he said, smiling at the Captain.
Dinendal gave a small smile, and turned to look at Haldir as he let go of Palentil's hand. "If I may inquire, Captain, how did you manage?"
Haldir smirked. "I didn't run. I stood behind Palentil the entire time, following his moves so that he could not see me, and being quiet enough not to be heard."
"A fine job he did. If his fellow recruits had not been laughing so hard, I would have been none the wiser to it and would have spun myself in circles all night," said Palentil. He paused, waiting for Dinendal to look away long enough, and then swiftly drew the final arrow, shooting in a split second later.
It should have hit the young elf, but he heard it. He knew and felt it. He could not run, he could not escape, and so, he fell.
The arrow whizzed by, inches from his face, and he follow its path, flinching as it burst open and ran down the front of the unintended victim's tunic.
"Belly wound," frowned Palentil, trying not to laugh. "Might as well call it a night," he suggested.
Haldir bowed his head and lifted up the edge of the cloth. He wasn't exactly used to being hit, but he could prepare himself for it with the experience that he had. The blow hadn't knocked him down as it would have the younger elves, but he knew he would be sore in the morning. Twenty-two recruits had fearful expressions on their faces, while one was biting his lip extremely hard so that he would not laugh at his uncle. "Sergeant, go to the officer's tent and bring me a fresh tunic. The rest of you, five laps, then hit the river. Celebdreth, six. All of you will report back here tomorrow at dawn." Everyone nodded, Dinendal running off to the tent while the rest began to run to the outer edge of the area where they trained.
Bending down, Haldir picked up the spent arrow, and handed it back to Palentil. "You were aiming for me," he said simply as the large falcon swooped down from the sky and perched herself onto Palentil's arm.
"Never let your guard down, Captain," said Palentil. He winked and turned around, calling back over his shoulder, "Don't worry, pen- neth, I'm still looking out after you."
