Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 708: A Bruised Heart Hath No Mercy

Ever since he’d learned about the deal between the monarchs of the city and the hero of afar, Elowen’s mind has been anxious. He’d tried to distract himself with mapmaking and completing the job that had been provided to him by the same hero that plagued his mind. But no matter what he tried, his quivering fingers wouldn’t let him finish anything. Thus, tired of wasting time, he brought his daughter to the front of the shop and with her sitting on his lap, he guided her fingers to practice mapmaking with him.

Her strokes were whimsical, almost as if she was intentionally messing them up. But in reality it was her inner child guiding her, turning the parchment into a playground for the pencil. Her father did not mind, she didn’t have to perfect, as long as she was willing to learn. For one day he would be gone and although an elf lives a thousand years and maybe more, he had doubts that he would live that long.

”That’s it, that should be good enough.” Patting her arms from the side, he lifted her from his lap and began guiding her towards the door that connected their shop and their house. The young girl resisted going away just yet, but knowing that the hero would come today, he didn’t give her a choice and forced her to retreat behind that wooden door. ”Be a good girl and read, will you? I brought you that book that you wanted so don’t let it rot on the shelf.”

The mention of the book put a pep in the little girl’s steps. She didn’t waste another second before disappearing into their home. Locking the door, Elowen sat back down on his workbench and turned his chair towards his desk. Picking up the pencil with his eyes bored into the map made by his daughter, he decided to curb some kinks and bring it a little closer to perfect.

’Maybe we should leave this place.’ However, even as he worked, his mind wouldn’t let up. ’If that hero fails against the general then this place is doomed and that fucking god is already of no use. We should escape while we have the chance, I can probably get one of the informants to shortlist a few routes to those island cities, Lantherem and the other ones.’

To escape into the hell’s ocean was a tempting prospect compared to what waits for them if the hero and his army fails to kill the demon general. In any other circumstance, the mere thought of making another trip through the desert after losing his wife to it would’ve sounded insane to Elowen, but right now it felt like the most sensible thing to do.

Distracted by his thought, Elowen leaned onto the map engrossing himself in it. His mind was distracted by his fingers now working comparatively better than before. Correcting the lines drawn by his daughter, he carved each stroke with vivid memories of where each sand dune rose and fell. Even knowing the height of each and everyone, he was so long in memory that he never noticed a shadow being cast over the parchment.

”Hey...” Faking a cough, Dandelion–the owner of a shop not far from there, tried to get the elf’s attention. ”I...Uhmm, I need your help with something.”

Her voice instantly rang an alarm in Elowen’s head, and before even looking up he reached under the desk and with a swift jolting movement he brought that knife right under Dandy’s chin. When he got across the desk and how he even managed to catch her so off guard, the dark elf had no clue, but one thing was for sure, any sudden movement was bound to separate her head from the rest of herself.

”Heyheyhey! I-I know you hate my kind but please just listen!” Her faint Adam’s apple bobbed as she tried gulping her angst. Yet the knife didn’t leave her throat, and Elowen leaned closer to her ears and whispered.

”What do you need? Say it and get the fuck out of my shop.” His voice neither disgruntled nor pleased, was tolerant, and that’s what he was doing, tolerating a dark elf for murder within the city walls was still a crime the last time he checked.

Keeping her hands up by her chest with her chest heaving with terror and anxiety, Dandy thought about reaching for her whiff or disappearing through objects as she did while treasure hunting for the rare items that she sells. But since her attempt to escape would only further anger him, she decided not to do something stupid and simply spoke as to why she’d come to his doorsteps.

”I just want a map to where my friend went, the hero, remember? Our hero? I know you made him a map, I just want a copy of it so I can go after him, he hasn’t been back in a year and I’m really getting worried.” Panting at the end of her sentence, Dandy took a cautious step back and the elf allowed it.

”Freind of a dark elf,” Elowen’s expression contorted into anger for the mere thought of a person befriending one was reprehensible to him. ”Don’t make me laugh, but if you wanna roam the desert and die trying to find him, sure I’ll be glad to help and get rid of at least one of your pests.”

”Is it really necessary to say all that?” Dandy retorted, hesitantly.

She didn’t wanna go against the man, but hearing him talk about her like some pest was too much for her to keep her mouth shut.

”Shut up and just take it and get out,” the elf responded.

Walking around his table, he reached into his desk and began rummaging through the copies of numerous maps that he has created for other people. Amongst them, he eventually found the one that he’d given to the hero. Back then, he had spilt some blue ink on the edge and now it helped him find it quickly.

Holding it towards the dark elf, he waved it around and waited for her to take it. Eying the man and the map, Dandy was hesitant at first but then with a quick jerk forward she grabbed the map and jumped away from Elowen.

”Now go,” he said, and although the dark elf’s eyes furrowed, she simply folded the map and left his place.

But before she could ever use the parchment, a surprise was waiting for her that would render this encounter with the elf useless, and not just for her, but for Elowen as well. Why exactly? Because the news of the Athenian hero had travelled far, and on the same day as he was coming back to Eclanor, Dandy’s childhood friend and Asmareth’s chosen had decided to pay his hometown a visit, a surprise one at that.