There was little\nmore than half an hour of daylight left, judging by the position of the sun.\nDilmir whirled around, dodging Ilrin\u2019s sword. The day had been uneventful, save\nfor the fact that it was becoming increasingly harder to control his magic. No\nmatter how much he tried to hold it back, a little too much power seemed to\nescape him whenever he cast a spell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ilrin\u2019s blade\nglinted in the dying sun as it dove towards him, seeking an unprotected point\non his neck. Dilmir flicked his own blade up and met it, twisting around at the\nsame time to avoid it as it came back down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dilmir had spent\nthe morning worrying about the elf. The\nassassin,<\/em> he had realized. Assassins, hired killers, were not tolerated in\nEld\u2019rin. If one was ever found, he would be banished before he could draw a\nblade. The fact that one had managed to enter Eld\u2019rin and had tried to kill him\nwas disturbing to say the least. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And still,\nDilmir had told no one about him, not even Ilrin. Normally, the news of an\nassassin within Eld\u2019rin would cause soldiers to search the entire city until he\nwas found, but Dilmir had his doubts about what the results would be in his\ncase. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ilrin had told\nhim that morning the conversation she had overheard yesterday. If the elves\nthought that he was dangerous, telling them that an assassin had tried to kill\nhim might have unpleasant repercussions. The elves would definitely be in no\nmood to help him; that was certain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dilmir shook his\nhead, trying to clear it. He had been distracted the entire morning, with the\nresult that he had done even worse than usual. The afternoon training was the\nonly chance he had to forget about the problems the other elves created, and\nlose himself in the duels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dilmir focused\nhis attention on the sword before him. He angled his blade upwards, intending\nto catch Ilrin\u2019s as it descended towards his arm. In that moment, all thoughts\nbut one were driven from his mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The assassin,\narms folded, a comfortable smile lodged upon his shrouded face, was leaning comfortably\nagainst a tree root not fifty yards from where Dilmir stood. His eyes did not\nmove from Dilmir\u2019s face, his serrated sword, almost short enough to be a\ndagger, obvious beneath his dark cloak. His face was devoid of concern. Dilmir\nfroze, his sword suspended in the air. <\/p>\n\n\n\n An instant\nlater, Ilrin\u2019s blade sliced painfully into his arm, dying its tip crimson, and leaving\na deep cut from Dilmir\u2019s wrist to his elbow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh!\u201d cried\nIlrin, the shock evident in her voice as she leapt back and dropped her sword,\nclearly mortified at what she had done. Elves began training with wooden\nswords, but after a year, the chance of either of them severely wounding the\nother was so remote that they trained with real blades. An elf\u2019s reflexes were\nsuch that he could stop his sword an inch before it broke the skin of his\nopponent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The trainer started\nforward, a grim expression on his face, but Dilmir, though the pain in his arm\nwas intense, remained staring at the assassin. His smile broadened as he saw\nDilmir looking at him, but he made no other movement. He might have been part\nof the tree against which he rested. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAthen selar,\u201d\nsaid the trainer, placing his palm on Dilmir\u2019s arm. Dilmir looked up just in\ntime to see thin lines of green magic lance from the trainer\u2019s hand and shoot\nthrough his arm, mending it in an instant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat will be enough\nfor today,\u201d said the trainer firmly, though the sun still had a ways to go\nbefore it set. Any other elf might have inquired if Dilmir was injured anywhere\nelse, but the trainer merely turned and walked towards the city, leaving Dilmir\nand a white Ilrin alone on the field. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAre you all\nright?\u201d breathed Ilrin, picking up her sword. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFine,\u201d replied\nDilmir, a little absently. The assassin still stood, watching him intently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat shouldn\u2019t\nhave happened,\u201d said Ilrin, her voice clearly quavering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dilmir turned at\nthe sound. She was trying to sheath her sword, but her hands were shaking so\nbadly that she couldn\u2019t replace it in the scabbard. Silently, Dilmir reached\nout and steadied the sword for her, allowing her to slide it into the leather. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s fine,\u201d he\nsaid. \u201cI should have blocked it, I just got distracted.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ilrin smiled her\ngratitude at him, and Dilmir chanced a glance back at the assassin. He still stood\nthere, leaning against the root comfortably. He looked back at Ilrin. She\nwasn\u2019t there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Spinning around,\nhe saw her just behind him, walking slowly towards the shape of Eld\u2019rin, fast\nfading in the dying light. He hurried to catch up with her. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As he fell in\nbeside her, he looked back at the assassin. He had straightened, and was now\nwatching them intently. He turned back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIlrin,\u201d he\nsaid, making up his mind. \u201cI need to \u2014\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n But Ilrin\ninterrupted him. \u201cMy mother wanted me home once training was done, Dilmir,\u201d she\nsaid. \u201cShe needs my help with some things.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dilmir could\nonly look at her. The assassin had said he couldn\u2019t kill Dilmir; it was very\npossible that he might go after Ilrin instead. Something of his thoughts must have\nshown on his face, for Ilrin smiled and said, \u201cI\u2019ll see you tomorrow, Dilmir.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n With a final\nsmile, she then departed, heading towards the front gate. Dilmir wanted to call\nafter her, to warn her, but he couldn\u2019t form the words. As if they had a mind of\ntheir own, his feet turned, and he watched the assassin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The elf, arms\nstill folded, followed Ilrin with his eyes until she was out of sight. Then,\nmoving with a deadly sense of purpose, he began to walk after her. He didn\u2019t\nlook right or left, and didn\u2019t spare Dilmir so much as a glance, but remained\nfocused on the point where Ilrin had slipped into the city. As if propelled by an\ninvisible force, Dilmir quickly followed him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A deep cold\nseemed to envelope Dilmir as he walked, his eyes intent on the back of the\nassassin, his mind formulating every means possible of stopping him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The elf entered\nthe gates easily and strode into Eld\u2019rin, as confident as if he did this every\nday. Dilmir followed close behind, his breathing short and fast. Ahead, he saw\nIlrin turn into the lower district, walking at a comfortable pace, wholly\nunaware of the procession that followed her. A moment later, the assassin took\nthe same left turn, and Dilmir hastened his steps, lest he lose sight of him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He need not have\nfeared, however. The assassin\u2019s gait was so steady, that Dilmir wondered\nbriefly if he knew he was being followed. If he did, he didn\u2019t show it. His\npace matched that of Ilrin exactly, every step he took was in time with hers,\nmasking his footfalls. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It suddenly dawned\non Dilmir just how easy it would be to cause the assassin to turn, to give\nIlrin the time to lose him. As far as he knew, he as yet did not know where she\nlived. All Dilmir would need to do was stop him for a few seconds. Almost\nwithout thinking, the magic began to form in his mind. His arm was halfway\nraised when he lowered it again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He couldn\u2019t use\nmagic against the assassin; that would be what he wanted. The assassin knew\nperfectly well that Dilmir followed him, and he was hoping that he would attack\nhim. If he did, he would be banished, and forced to go into the Great Forest,\nas the assassin had said. If the elves really were as against him as he had\nsuggested, which Dilmir did not find hard to believe, then they would take\nalmost any excuse to be rid of him. The assassin was trying to get him to\nreact. And yet, how could he not, if the assassin decided to do more than just\nfollow Ilrin? <\/p>\n\n\n\n The elf\ncontinued his even pace, however, and Dilmir kept his distance. Ilrin soon\nreached her house, and ducked inside the door. To Dilmir\u2019s horror, the assassin\ndidn\u2019t even break his stride, but headed straight for where she had disappeared.\nHe passed the doorway at the last moment, however, and took a left. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ilrin\u2019s house\nwas triangular in shape, as many of the lower district dwellings were. It was\nonly one level high, formed by three immensely thick roots which enclosed it,\nall of which served as walkways for the elves. It was surrounded by countless\nother houses, all very much like it. Ilrin\u2019s house, as it so happened, was also\nsituated next to a line of small, one room cells. Elves who were awaiting their\ntrial by the council stayed there until they were summoned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dilmir,\nquickening his pace, turned the corner, just in time to see the assassin take\nanother left. His pace was still steady, but he seemed to be bent on something.\nDilmir walked quickly down the root, bending low to glance in the windows of\nIlrin\u2019s house, making sure he was not observed. He turned the final corner and\nfroze for the second time that day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The assassin\nstood, bent forward slightly, staring through a window. All of the houses of\nthe lower district were sunk below the roots that led to them. Their windows\nwere level with the path outside, so that anyone walking by would have to stop,\nback up, and then hunch slightly to look in. From inside, however, they\nprovided a clear view of anyone outside, as well as offering plenty of daylight\nfrom the sky above. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The windows were\nnaturally dark, so that everything seen through them from outside the house was\nshadowy and blurred, but Dilmir felt that the assassin could see through them\nperfectly. The windows, after all, were merely enchantments, hovering in place,\ndesigned to keep cold out and heat in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As he watched,\nDilmir suddenly realized which window the assassin was watching. He had been in\nIlrin\u2019s home only the previous night, and had not forgotten the design of her\nhome. As if to confirm his suspicion, he saw a shape flit past the window;\nIlrin was in her room. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The assassin\ngazed through the enchantment intently, making no move, but watching all that\nhappened within. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dilmir, without\nknowing, slowly began to form a fist with his right hand, feeling magic course\nthrough his veins, yearning to be let out against the elf, but he held it in\ncheck. He couldn\u2019t lose control. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dark thoughts\nrushed through his mind, and he was surprised when a low muttering escaped him:\n\u201cGet away from her window.\u201d He silenced himself at once, but the assassin,\nthough he could not have possibly heard him, whipped about and faced Dilmir in\nan instant. Before Dilmir could react, the assassin smiled knowingly at him,\nand stepped backward, melting into the wood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dilmir\nrearranged himself against the hard wood of the root. His back was sore from\nleaning against it, but he didn\u2019t move from his position. A full moon glowed\nsilently overhead, its light rendering the scene a peaceful one, lit with a soft\nglow. It washed Ilrin\u2019s home in white, striking the window, which let it in to\nreveal that all was dark inside. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dilmir shivered\nmomentarily against the cold, and then settled himself again against the rough\nbark. Only now did he appreciate how uncomfortable it must have been for the\nassassin to watch him and Ilrin train. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It had been two\nhours since the assassin had left, but Dilmir didn\u2019t, wouldn\u2019t, trust him to\nleave Ilrin alone. Fortunately, no one had seen him here, for it would not look\nwell if he was spotted watching someone else\u2019s home. However, he wouldn\u2019t have\nleft if anyone had seen him anyway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A cricket\nchirped drowsily nearby; the night seemed strangely silent to Dilmir. His aunt\nwould begin to worry about him, especially if he stayed here much longer. He\nhad been home late before, but never by this much without telling her where he\nwas going. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A bank of clouds\nscurried suddenly across the moon, hiding its brilliance and plunging Dilmir\ninto semi-darkness. Dilmir sighed, but rose and made his way around to the\nfront of Ilrin\u2019s home. Still shrouded in the absence of the moon\u2019s rays, he\nplaced his palm softly on the wall, grown smoothly from the root on which he\nstood. \u201cEnsir aniliim ethen ner aser aniliim eld’sudern as’nelikath,\u201d he\nbreathed, infusing the words with his magic. A brilliant blue glow suddenly lit\nup the wall from beneath Dilmir\u2019s palm, and he glanced behind him to make sure\nno one had seen, but the next moment it was gone, and Dilmir could feel his\nenchantment within the wood of the house, pulsing through it. It would\ndissipate when morning came. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As the moon\nreturned, its light undiminished, Dilmir turned, and began on his way back\nthrough the roots. He soon found his way, and quickened his pace until he was\nnearly running, not wanting to keep his aunt waiting any longer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He dashed\nthrough the roots, almost lost his way twice, but soon found himself in front\nof his house. It was then that his heart nearly stopped. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The assassin\nstood, just inside the doorway, examining it as if checking for cracks in the\nwood. He turned as Dilmir skidded to a halt. His face broke into a wide grin,\nand stepping sideways, he melted into the wood, leaving the door dark. Dilmir\ndidn\u2019t wait another second, but rushed into his home. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There was little more than half an hour of daylight left, judging by the position of the sun. Dilmir whirled around, dodging Ilrin\u2019s sword. The day had been uneventful, save for the fact that it was becoming increasingly harder to control his magic. No matter how much he tried to hold it back, a little … Continue reading Chapter Eleven – A Lack of Sleep<\/span>