The Steel Bolt Division

Eluver:



The country of Talera was at the
time having a civil war between the Humans and the Elves. So far the Elves had
been winning but a few times the Human’s had struck very large blows in their
forces and managed to push up through the area where the city of Talera now
stands.


With this chance in place the
infantry forces wanted to claim a mine that the Elves had been using to supply
their troops. It would be very difficult to send a large force in there but it
was still a large threat. Instead of attempting to destroy it the plan was to
capture and hold that position with a group of soldier that had been trained
for stealth and a new style of warfare. This group was named The Steel Bolt
Division, known for the steel tipped bolts they shot from weapons known as a
Crossbow.


Eluver was one of these members and
yawned in his chair. He was temporarily stationed to ‘guard’ the large tower
standing as the current capital. The true reason for him being there was due to
the fact that The Steel Bolt were meeting here to receive orders on how to take
the mine. “So, General Coler, Are you going to tell us how this goes or what?
We’ve been waiting for at least three hours…” Eluver smirked and aimed his
crossbow at the wall and shot a bolt into the wall.


Coler gave him a cold stare,
“Eluver! Cut out that nonsense!” He crossed his arms and then briefly gave the
orders for the mission. They were to sneak through the Elvish forces undetected
and then fight their way into the Mine using their crossbows and the darkness
of the night. “Any questions?”


One of the men raised his arms,
“Sir, do we get horses or are we walking that distance?”


The General nodded and stroked his
white stubble, “You will be taking horses to an outpost of ours near there but
then it is perhaps…a week’s walk?” He nodded, confirming the distance on the
map.


Eluver raised his hand, “Do we have
permission to kill on the way? It couldn’t hurt to weaken their shield.”


Coler shook his head, “No, this is a
stealth mission. If any Elves are killed then they may suspect an error and
seek to fix it. Any other questions?”


Rensol: had been listening from a corner of the
room. He casually raised one hand, his crossbow resting in the other. “So what
exactly is the mission then? I mean obviously we know the basics but any
specific goals you have in mind, sir?”


Eluver:


“Yes, Once you obtain control of the
Mine, go ahead and set up a base there. Do whatever you need to do in order to
hold it. You could be in there for months. I recommend assuming the roles of
the Elves in order to fool the other side.” He looked to Eluver as he glared a
bit.


“Our ears…wouldn’t they notice?” His
eyes narrowed.


Coler
nodded, “Probably, but Lieutenant Sonta will be in charge so any questions as
to how you will hold it will be given to him.”


Eluver sighed, “If you say so…”





Since the orders had been given they
equipped themselves with some leather armor stuffed with fur to keep them warm
in the winter snow. Other than this they were given steel bolts that would last
a year. Eluver nudged Rensol on the way to the stables, “I wonder how Sonta is
going to handle himself as Lieutenant. This is his first time as a leader since
the last died in combat.” He chuckled as he picked a horse that had been his
since he joined the military. Blithe was the horses name and it was snow white.
Eluver took great pride in his horse and once killed a stable boy for hitting
Blithe when he tried using violent force to make the horse obey.





Rensol


“Well I guess we will see now won’t we? “ He shrugged and
climbed onto his brown steed. “We should get moving soon. Don’t wanna keep the
elves waiting after all?” He let out a light chuckle.


Eluver


Eluver returned with his own
chuckle, “Aye. And let their defeat be swift…” They spent quite the time
traveling. Occasionally Eluver would sit back and eat a loaf of bread, sharing
some with his horse Blithe. Whenever they stopped in a small wooded village on
the way he stopped at a farmer’s shop and picked up a bag of fresh carrots. He
ended up eating half of it himself and Blithe eating the other half. It seemed
odd how similar they were and at a point it would seem as if they were
communicating through some unknown means but most would pass it off as
skeptical paranoia. Rumors of Weirchildren had spread in the Human forces when
it was made clear that the Elves lived among them freely.


Humans on the other hand made
certain to prevent this from happening.





They stopped
at the base near the cave and walked the rest of the way as night fell. Eluver
was carful and silent the entire way, making sure not to blow their cover.





Once they reached the Mine Eluver
and another archer moved up to the front as ordered by the Lieutenant. Two
Elves were standing guard but Eluver and the other took them out swiftly and
ran up. Eluver let the Crossbow fall and hang from the cotton strap as he
pulled out a dagger. He kicked the door and forced the dagger up into the
throat of an Elf standing near the entrance. No one else was in sight for now.


He made a swift motion with his
hand, calling for the others to enter. Two men dragged the bodies inside while
a third picked up the one Eluver stabbed, it was important to hide any bodies.
“Make sure blood doesn’t get on the uniform…” the men nodded to his comment.





The
Lieutenant made them line up for orders. “Split up into teams of two, from
there we shall spread into the tunnels and clear out any miners and soldiers.
No hostages, no survivors. Understood?” The men replied with a nod.


Eluver was the first to move, as he
made his way towards a tunnel snaking down into the mountain.





Rensol


Rensol
paired with Eluver. Slowly he moved forward, following close behind and keeping
his eyes out for any prying eyes. Once they had reached the tunnel, Rensol
stopped. Should we move forward?


Eluver


He replied with a silent nod and
held his crossbow up. Eluver had noticed the flickering shadow of an elf
dancing on the wall. After making sure Rensol had seen the shadow he moved
forwards. Taking the shot himself he rushed around and found that one other had
heard the sound.


Eluver grabbed the corpse and
dragged it into the shadows, leaving the other to Rensol as he loaded another
bolt in place.


Rensol


Rensol darted around the corner,
crouched, and took a perfect shot in the back of the elf’s head. He caught the
body before it fell and pulled it into dark corner where a hay stack lay. He
shoved the body into the stack, making sure the body was completely out of
sight. He then eyed Eluver to see if he was prepared to move forward. He
reloaded as he did this.


Eluver


The scruffy man had reloaded his
crossbow and the two of them would take out a few more men before taking out
every Elf in their section of the mine. Sometime after laying the bodies in a
line he wondered off to examine the mine. He went down a specific hall and
suddenly he saw a black cat that returned the gaze with glowing red eyes.


Eluver and the cat stared silently
at each other; Their posture shifting ever so slightly as they seemed to
communicate through posture. Finally the cat spoke, “So, why might someone such
as yourself be in a place like this?”


He chuckled and crossed his arms, “I
could ask you the same thing, cat.”


The creature
flicked her tail, “But I asked you first, horse.”


“Oh yeah, I forgot that others can
see my soul as well.” Eluver blinked.


“This is
your first time speaking with another Weirchild for a while, isn’t it?” The cat
replied as Eluver nodded as his own response.