El-Vador's Travels by J. R. Karlsson Page B

El-Vador felt the weight of the woman's life in his
hands. She was dangling limply from the Orc's arms now and he
undoubtedly planned to end her should he not retreat. He couldn't
afford to leave him alone with her, Pixie or not. Could he make a
shot from this distance and avoid hitting the Pixie that the Orc was
now using as a shield? He wasn't sure, the uncertainty and doubt made
him pause.
    'Release
the girl and I shall not end your life where you stand.' El-Vador
finally said.
    A
nasty grin spread over the Orc's face now. 'So you value her life
then? From the way you speak Orcish I'm guessing that you're one of
those bleeding heart Elves. What in blazes you're doing out here I'll
never know, you're going to step out of the trees so I can get a good
look at you though. Otherwise...' he let loose his curved blade and
placed it over the woman's throat meaningfully.
    El-Vador
let loose his shot in response.
    The
Orc's head snapped back. Blood spurted from the open wound and its
twitching hands dropped the Pixie, who fell heavily onto the forest
floor.
    After
making sure the Orc had twitched its last, El-Vador walked out to the
clearing. His arrow had narrowly missed the captive Pixie and
embedded itself in the eye socket of his foe. If any of the Orcs
discovered their kin lying dead in a clearing with an Elven arrow
through his eye they would raise his settlement. If the Orc were to
vanish in the forest, never to be seen again, who could say for
certain what had befallen him? It was a chance he had to take now so
that the Orcs wouldn't immediately think of Elves. The other Elves
seemed too cowed to possibly attempt such a thing. El-Vador was
banking on their meek pacifism to help him for once.
    The
Pixie was like something out of the tales of the Faerie that the
elders in his settlement spoke of, the wings sprouting from her back
were beyond description and not like those of an insect or bird.
Somehow they did not seem out of place on a body that seemed Elven in
appearance, if slighter and more pale in complexion.
    She
still breathed, the fall had bruised her arms and legs but there were
no markings on her head or face from the fall to suggest concussion.
Her appearance was marred by the ugly bruise the Orc had given her,
it didn't look overly dangerous though.
    With
that in mind El-Vador came to a decision. Taking hold of the Orc's
boots and dragging him back through the forest. He knew that a river
was nearby and if he could somehow haul the body there and submerge
it, those that came looking for him would not discover his fate.
    Before
pushing the body into the river, he went back and carefully erased
every sign of the Orc having been in the clearing, including most of
the not inconsiderable trail that it had left getting here. By the
time he was finished he felt his strength failing him, he needed to
get back to the body and dispose of it.
    After
he had completely submerged the body he was soaked from head to foot.
Having taken care of that last detail, he went back to the clearing
to check on the Pixie only to be greeted by emptiness, she had
vanished.

    El-Vador came back home carrying an old wolf he had mercifully killed
that had crawled out into the woods to die and chanced upon his path.
    'What
happened to you?' His father asked from the bedroom. 'You look like
you washed up outside the front door.'
    'I
dumped a corpse in the river.' answered El-Vador, deadpan. Yet saying
those words somehow gave his actions meaning, he had finally killed
his first Orc. It had felt strange.
    Cusband
struggled out of bed and advanced toward him, somehow he still
appeared intimidating, even in his sickness. 'You did what?' he
asked, the ominous tone in his voice held no potential retribution
but still stirred feelings in El-Vador. 'How could you do such a
foolish thing?'
    El-Vador
maintained eye-contact with his father, it was important that he saw
the reaction. 'I saved the life of a Pixie in the woods from the Orc,
nobody will find