Promises, Promises

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[133] Jinquil: Promises, Promises
Fri Aug  5 07:56:29 2011
To: Shalonesti Shalonesti_kingdom Thaxanos Wargar All Kyri IMM RP Zandreya
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The elven scout that had come to them the night before had warned that
there were thousands of dwarves in the forest and they were marching west to
the sea in an attempt to cut the vallens off.  Though wounded the man
insisted on continuing, warning that more refugees would be pouring through
the city gates.  He made it clear that this time they would need assistance
in reaching the city. 
Until the wee hours of the morning the elves of the vallen city rode out
continuously from it's gates, meeting the wounded refugees that had become
as steady a stream as the river that flows through the heart of Shalonesti.
Unlike many of the first refugees, these groups consisted only of women and
children.  Maimed, some were missing limbs and badly bleeding, their wounds
tended only by themselves as they had fled to escape the onslaught of
murderous dwarves.  Using her steed, Jinquil ferried the worst of them from
forest to temple, meeting all she could at the tree line to assist them
safely inside the city. 

Occasionally the elves were forced to make a quick grab of a woman or child,
narrowly avoiding the swing of an axe or sword.  Adding insult to injury...
The continued attempts at the lives of these helpless elves who had been
forced to flee wounded into the smoke shrouded forest brought her a sense of
rage she could not completely contain and Jinquil found herself growling and
picking her way through the lines of soldiers at the city walls, approaching
one of the elven archers. 

Within moments, Jinquil held the man's bow over her shoulder and was riding
back into the woods.  Halting her horse several yards from the gates, her
eyes found the form of Drondon, rolling as he rescued another child from
death by stump.  She pulls an arrow from the quiver at her shoulder.  It's
tip, serrated at the edges in a leaf shaped pattern, glimmered red gold in
the eerie light.  Arrow notched, she pulls the string of the bow back and
aims high, sending the arrow arching with a whisper through the woods.  The
emerald and golden shaft whizzes brightly through the dark night, striking
the ground just a few inches from the fleeing dwarf.  Promise sent, Jinquil
circles her steed around to follow and shield Drondon's retreat with the
injured child. 

Having volunteered to risk the current dangers of the forest to usher them
home, Jinquil spent the evening and the dark hours of the morning doing so
with the same diligence she turned to any task, working herself to a state
past exhaustion.  Fortunately the frustration and anger she felt at being
powerless to prevent such carnage fueled her and would give her strength to
continue with the plans that had been meant for the previous day. 

After giving orders to have the Sha'qelas scout ships patrol the western
coastline, Jinquil turned her attention to preparing her steed for the day's
journey into the thick of the woods.  Her mind refusing to relinquish the
image of the scout, clasping the wound at his side and demanding to return
to the forest.  She had left to guard the gate and only learned from the
Songmaster later in the eve that the man had passed away from his wounds.
With a sigh of sorrow and a prayer to Zandreya for the man's safe passage
into her realm, Jinquil left for the stables to seek out Llorana, silently
hoping she would have the opportunity soon to repay the dwarves in kind for
their transgressions.