The snow continued to fall as the Goblin band pushed through the forest. Urgh-jan, the Hobgoblin ranger knew the dangers of fighting in the winter and a winter fight at night would be certain death for his foolish troopers. Their main party had been slaughtered by the Wabash Se-pe (Wood Elves) and Urgh-jan seeing that the tied was turning against the troops of Goblins took his twenty men and withdrew to the north, hoping that he would be able to hook up with the Worg riders that had an encampment several miles to the north.
The goblins were miserable, struggling through the snow, and the dusk and quickly turned to nightfall, it was not the dark that would be the problem Urgh-jan thought, but the cold, the cold that would freeze the goblin raiders where they stood. Then as they continued walking, feet numbing and all sensations tingling they saw a small light. Urgh-jan turned around and looked at his men, one of them was gone, must have been the cold he thought. He order 4 to go to the left of the light and another 5 to go around to the right of the , the remaining ten would follow with him to the front of what he had already decided was a camp.
Reichaline has been very cautious and though the night was cold, she was confident that her four children would be safe, her kinsmen were nearby, fighting the invaders. Allawen her husband had died recently leaving her with her four children, Vall the youngest was 12, his sister Clarion was 15, Dwemer had turned 30 and though a fully matured adult was emotionally still a youth but had earned his way to become an adept ranger, but was still in the small camp with his Mother and Gondol was now at the end of that awkward age for young Elves when he is a full almost a young man at 60. Elven training had always been long, slow and arduous, but the results were an exceptionally well trained and well disciplined warrior of renown. Sleep and cold soon overcame Reichaline as she snuggled herself deep in the blankets of fur, close to the bodies of her children for warmth in the small wigwam.
Urgh-jan was now well aware that there were six small wigwams, he estimated that there was no more than twenty in this camp, probably all women and children he figured, probably easy for him and his men to take. He knew the goblins would alert an elven sentry, it was a matter of fact with their ability to trance and rest. The children needed more times, but there were at least 6 adults here maybe 12, mostly women. He was confident that his men could take the camp, raid, rape, and loot and still be on their way north to meet the other goblins. The decision was only rational in the goblin mindset, for if he was not a hobgoblin, Urgh-jan would realize that this small group of wigwams would be a direct destination for the Wood Elves once they realized that some of the goblinoids had not fallen in their ambush. If he wasn�t a hobgoblin he would have realized that the elven rangers may very well be on top of them at this moment.
The goblins, following Urgh-jan�s directions split themselves up to about three per hut, stood at the small wooden doors covering the Wigwams and burst in. The elves were unprepared and the goblins were swinging and slashing like crazed madmen, half driven to madness from their very fear of the elves. Reichaline rose to her feet and cried out to her children. Though the first goblin stabbed her in the chest and she crumpled to the ground, still alive but her sacrifice gave Gondol and Dwemer time to draw their swards and yell to Vall and his sister Clarion to flee for their lives. Vall grabbed his small quarterstaff and pushed through the bark exterior of the wigwam with his older sister in toe. The two children were running, running for their lives.
In the camp, the surprise, to the delight of Urgh-jan had went successfully, however as Urgh-jan strode from the wigwam he was grabbed and off his feet by a great bear. Urgh-jan had but seconds before the giant bear rent him in two. Though the goblins had heard the cry they had all come out of the huts to see what was going on. What they saw was the horrifying sight of their leader being torn in two by a Dire Bear. Before they could even respond to this or the white wizard with a quarterstaff who was speaking to the bear as it at two more of their companions, the elves were upon them.
Dwemer and Gondol, had killed one of the goblins, but without armor, and their youth made them unprepared to face the two toughest goblins who sadly had decided to set upon their camp. Grumul and Vingul were busy desecrating the body of Recihaline when they heard the terror filled cry and the horrible squishing and crunching sound. They looked to each other and knew the name of the beast�Bone-Breaker the Bear. Their encounters in this wooded land had taught them that the Bear was the friend of an even more fearsome Druid, and if one enraged Bear was not bad enough the Druid could become an equally fearsome bear as well.
The two goblins ran into the woods following the footprints of the children. Grumul was hungry and two elven children, well they would fill his crying belly. Though the elven children were faster, the snow and the cold soon caught up to them, and the goblins were the fiercest of the band were now upon them. Vingul threw an axe at Clarion. Clarion hearing a sound turned, only to have the axe bear down upon her separating her dainty skull in two. Vall was enraged, blood poured through his body and hatred filled his being. Taking the quarterstaff he charged, for the first time in his life, two foes. His felt as if it was on fire, and soul felt as if he was touched by something. Though his rage was almost blinding he could see the terror in the goblins eyes. For unbeknownst to the young Val, the goblins had slain his sister in the sacred grove of the Wood Elf Druids. The earth, the trees and plants, the snow seemed to be alive suddenly for the young elf and a power he had never known before surged through his body like and energy that he could not begin to comprehend nor describe. The quarterstaff, was no longer a quarter staff, but a shillelagh, the feared weapon of the druids, a true sign of the chosen wood elf warrior. The first blow crumpled Vingul and to Grumul�s surprise the young boy was able to use this weapon with such skill that he then struck Grumul down.
Vall stood in the snow, alone, in the silence of the snow fall. Shaking from head to two, he was so stunned and in shock he could neither cry or scream out. Then from within the glad he saw a women walk out from a tree she was dressed in white to match the snow. �Come here child� she commanded in a soft yet authoritative voice. Her locks were black and could be seen highlighting her face through the white fur trimmed hood. Val was stunned but obeyed, he had never been exposed to the druids before though he had heard of them from his brothers, they were the medicine men, the shamans, spiritual leaders and warriors in one. They were known, even by eleven standards to be ageless, and they were admired as much as they were feared. When he walked into the glad he stood before the women, freezing, shaking and holding his quarterstaff, which was much too large for a boy his age.
�You are Vall of the Clan Woodshadow?� she asked.
�Yes� the boy mumbled.
�You are the last of your clan� she said in a soft musical tone that belied the harsh reality of the statement. �I will now be your guide. You are of the chosen. Do you realize what words you speak?�
�I can understand you my lady.� Replied the exasperated and quite confused child.
�Yes, I know, you know Ogham, the language of the earth, the trees,a nd the animals�.this is why you are a chosen one. Only a few know the language from their heart as you do. Come with me before you freeze.�
When Vall looked around he saw Druid man wit the largest bear he had ever seen sitting watching what was going on. Several rangers had now caught up to the man and the bear and were discussing the matter at hand, the slaughter of the innocents and the strange boy. But for Vall, the feeling and warmth of this women�s hand and the fact that he felt calm at heart and at home seemed, even to his childlike mind, to make the fact that he was not upset ater watching his Mother and sister slain before his very eyes strange. The women walked with him into the tree and like a door they appeared in a long house where the central pillar was a great tree. The women turned to him and said.
�Someday you shall be able to do this and so much more. You should be very excited. Now I will take you to rest.�
The young boy with his simple quarterstaff was put into a barracks and given a bed and told that he would be attended to in the morning. He was calm and felt comfortable, but the terror of the goblins in his dream would not allow him to sleep more than a few hours at all.
The Druid women sat with a Giant Owl outside the long house waiting, the Man and the giant bear appeared.
�So the Magwa is inside?� asked the man.
�Yes, I put him to bed with all of the other sons in training.�
�He is too young.�
�He is a Magwa, he knows the language from his soul, he is a true grove defender and we must assist him to become such.�
�We must assist him to become whole again first, he is a babe in the woods, what if he is not sound.�
�I will guide him to make him whole� said the women �Roberon you shall guide him to be the warrior that the nation, and the forest needs him to.
be.�
�Gadrielina, he is a child!�
�Then when he becomes a man, in eighty years, when he is ready to pass the test he shall be strong.�
�Whom shall nurture him? Whom shall take care of him as a Mother would?�
Gadrielina laughed and looked at the man. �Roberon, why do you as such simple questions when the answers are right before you? I shall raise the Magwa and so sell Artimita..Gadrielina pointing to her owl.�
In the years to come Gadrielina and Roberon had become the parents to Vall. Vall never understood in the early years what made him so special, why he was viewed in awe by his peers, but he accepted this as part of his life his routine as a Druid. Gadrielina spent countless hours and days teaching him the way of the wind, the willows and the way. That there is a balance in the universe that must be maintained. Roberon taught Vall to feel the way, to seek it, to become one with it and most importantly draw power from the Way. For as Gadrielina taught Vall that The Way and oneness are everywhere flowing through everything, Roberon taught him that the Wood Elves were the masters of this force and to become one with it is to harness it as he had done so many years before.
Countless hours were spent in meditation and studying the movement of wind, of stars and sky. Others were spent pondering the depths of the rivers and lakes and feeling the balance of the forest.
It was upon his fortieth birthday that Roberon woke him;
�Magwa, wake.�
The dreamy eyed Vall rose to his feat.
�We are traveling. Come.�
Val grabbed his sling and his quarterstaff.
�No, put that down� stated Roberon in a matter of fact manner pointing at the sling. �Here.� Roberon thrust into the boys hands a long bow and a quiver. �You have earned it, now we hunt.�
This was a great honor for Vall and a challenge as well for only the �men� are allowed to hunt, though in truth, a druidic adept such as Vall would be allowed to hunt with his master at the age of sixty and Vall was still eighty seasons short of that time.
The two passed through the great oak and exited an oak many miles away in the Great Hunting Glade. It was a large uninhabited section of the forest and the Druids specifically stalked their game here.
�You are the Magwa, and though you are learning these skills at an age much younger than your peers, when you come to the test you will be faced with a harder challenge, but I know that the shillelagh shall always serve you well, for you are a warrior of the forest and her limbs are your weapons, the leaves your bed, and her fruits your nourishment. Now come.�
The hunt was long and arduous. Vall had only used the long bow in practice and now he was expected to deliver a kill. Roberon had transformed himself into a great brown bear and the Dire bear Bone-Breaker followed behind. Vall caught sight of his quarry, raised his bow, but no, the quarry moved. It took three days, before Vall could get the quarry I his sights once more. He had to make a clean shot, one shot through the heart to instantly kill the stag that he was pursuing. This was the Druid�s way.
The bow was drawn, his sweat dripped from his brow and the arrow flew. True to his skill the arrow flew hard and fast into the heart and through the lungs of the great stag. The arrow hit the stag as it was leaping through the air when the stag�s body hit the ground, the skill of the shot to it�s life. Now Roberon became an elf again and taught Vall how to prepare and skin the deer, what items were of magical interest and what items were of medicinal interest.
Upon returning home with the stag, Gadrielina was waiting.
�So today my little Magwa is now a warrior and a man.� She embraced the exhausted Vall and brought him into the Long House. To Vall�s surprise there was a celebration in his honor, for unknown to him, Roberon had left for a day and Vall was working with Bone-Breaker and Skull-Crusher, Roberon�s two bears. Vall was even more excited at hearing this news, knowing that he had, after all of these years he had earned the trust of the two great companions of Roberon.
The training continued for many more years focusing his skills and abilities and just as soft and suddenly as the seasons do pass, so does time for the elves. Then one day, while he was helping an old elven women who was ill, Gadrielina came to see her son and prot�g�e. Vall was busy listening to the tales of the women while he dressed her sores and used some magical healing to help relieve her pain and restore her to her health.
�You have done well Magwa.�
Vall knew immediately that it was Gadrielina. �Thank you Gadrielina, I think I have learned from a master.�
�That you did my son. Now it is time for your test. You are 120, it is time for you to avenge the loss of your parents. You will be accompanying Roberon in battle, if you live, you will become a Druid and will be on your to becoming as we have all seen, become the Magwa, defender of the forest, sacred champion of the glade.�
� I will not fail you.�
�Know this, you cannot fail if your heart is true to the earth and to the land. If you are one with the way, if you are contemplative, yet like a tiger, like water, yet like rock, immovable while being flexible. For the tree that stands to strong breaks and the rock that does not roll is shattered.�
�Your wisdom is one of the universal truths master.�
�There is no truth, but oneness and the way, for in the way, are all things.�
It had been over 110 years when Vall stood before another goblin with his quarterstaff. His wolf friend Manco stood at his side and the elves knew the acolyte to be the Magwa. The goblins were neither spared nor tortured, but eliminated in a flurry of bites, spells and blows. One, two, three, four, goblins fell to the ground.
The pent up rage and anguish of a thousand moons now blazed in the cold icy gaze of anguish that exploded from Vall�s eyes. Manco knew the burning of his master�s soul and was spurred on by it. He was as he had been, touched by the fey masters of the Glade and through them he was their instrument to wreak havoc upon the retreating goblins.
When the battle ended the acolyte and his wolf, again, stood in the snow alone. Twenty goblins had fallen that day and Roberon stood by and watched the victory of Vall� the last of the Woodshadows. The rangers had watched in awe, but for Roberon it was not in awe, for Vall was the Magwa, the Defender of the Glad, and through him the balance would be maintained.