* * *
Celebiar leaned between the crenellations and shouted down at the encroaching Saracen. Beside him, Pher gestured once, sending a black sphere hurtling towards the invader.
"You were saying before we were so rudely interrupted?" Pher raised a white eyebrow delicately, folding his arms over his fine robes.
Celebiar ran a hand through his brown hair. "Just thinkin' about returning to the mainland." He frowned out at the island of Thidranki. "Guard duty's worth a bit of money, but I've got to see how my family's doing. You and the other mages seem to do well enough at keeping the invaders away from the archway."
Pher involuntarily glanced at the subtle archway that led back to Hibernia, as if to make sure that no assassins had somehow managed to climb over the wall and were mere feet away from entering it. "Oh, aye, we do, Cele. But surely your family can take care of themselves for a few more seasons?"
Celebiar tried not to smile. His friend was a powerful mage and an incredible dicer, but he knew very little about having siblings, as he had none of his own. "If I leave Maliar and Mithiar alone long enough, they're bound to get into trouble." He grinned. "There are other people to look in on, as well. Angie joined with the O'Suilebhain clan some time ago and I followed her." The elf frowned, scowling menacingly down at the group of Norsemen who had set up camp at the base of the hill. "It's only proper to make sure that the lord and lady of the clan - Get any closer, ya halfwits, and there'll be a foot of carbide through ya! - still remember I exist."
Pher nodded. "I suppose that is important, but I've seen plenty of members of that clan get portalled through to here. Why don't you leave word with one of them?"
Celebiar shouted down at a troll that had stepped across the line that every guard knew was there. Immediately, another of the mages, Doron he thought it was, sent the black sphere of destruction towards it. The troll fell and Celebiar returned to his discussion with Pher. "Oh, aye, I could, but that's hardly polite."
"So?"
There were times when Pher's general inability to deal with people other than keep guards disturbed Celebiar. "So, bein' rude to the clan that took me in would be a bad thing. Like sendin' a rookie up to guard the central keep."
Pher nodded, understanding the wisdom of that. Guarding the central keep was a difficult task that rotated among guards from all three realms. The reason it was so difficult was because the lord and the mercenaries residing in the keep might not be from your realm, so you were required to play turncoat until the shift from the appropriate portal keep arrived and you could make your way back to where you belonged. Not something you wanted a young, hot-headed guard involved in at all.
"Well," the eldritch said idly. "If you're going to do that, you'll have to do it soon."
Celebiar nodded. "Aye. I'm waiting for word on whether Luighseach thinks anything of my proposal."
Pher's brows furrowed as he sought to place the name. "Luighseach....?"
"The blademaster trainer in Tir na nOg, and thus, the one who ultimately makes the decisions about changes in their training regime."
"Ah...." Pher pursed his lips. "What would being a blademaster have to do with you? They're Path of Harmony and the only elves who follow that Path are mentalists.... Which you, most certainly, are not."
Celebiar smiled, his amber eyes darkening. "Well, you see, I've been watching some of the enemies we've been fighting. Some of those Bretons who carry two weapons are Avalonians, half-elves. And if they can learn that style of fighting, why can't an elf?"
Pher blinked twice and tossed a black ball of destruction at a kobold who had gotten too close to the walls. "Why would you want to learn that, though? There's no magic involved, it would be a waste of your talents as an elf."
Celebiar raised an eyebrow, pointed down at a dwarf as it entered the berserker frenzy. "That's fighting with two weapons, and I don't know any of the guards here who wouldn't give their wives and/or money to learn that. Well, I might not be able to learn to turn into a ravening beast - Curse it! Bring him closer to the keep and we'll deal with him! - but I could certainly learn to summon a second sword."
"Third sword."
"Second sword." Celebiar smirked. "What, you thought I was going to give up my shield even for that?"
The End