Page 23 of Blackwood Milk Farm #7

A Wager’s Chance

Morning light filled the eastern skies, barely penetrating the thick mists of the valley.

The light gray mists held a troubled mood as many stood in the front of a farmhouse, waiting for what was to come.

Asher and Elara stood with their foreheads touching each other, their fingers entwined with each other at their sides. The couple enjoyed the muted solace of the mists as their hearts beat as one.

Nearby, Bolla Brewblade, mayor of Mist Valley, stood with Nyn and Amber. The trio spoke in hushed tones to pass the time. The blonde dwarf kept a confident smile as the elf and faun looked over to Asher and Elara with worried eyes.

On the porch, Blyss leaned against a wood porch pillar. The goblin was armed with a short sword sheathed at her waist and an attitude in her yellow eyes. Her dark green hair was tied back. She wore leather armor like she was ready to go to war. Behind her, Keefa and Paasha stood. The pair looked over silently to the man and elf whom they loved.

Brynda stood silently like a statue. She didn’t move, her exceptional hearing taking in the surroundings for any drop of deception or attack. She wore her leather armor with two broadswords strapped to her back. Her flaming red hair was a thick braid as her eyes stared at the couple.

It didn’t take long for the morning sun to lance through the mists. They began to part much quicker in the early summer sunlight. As they parted, the world opened to them, and suddenly a figure appeared.

The regal elf was not dressed in his usual mystical robes. He wore travelling clothes and a light leather jacket. His white hair was tied back. He wore shin-high boots. Despite his normal clothes, his features still contained a sense of uptight nobility.

Sontar looked at everyone gathered with amused eyes as the last wisps of mists faded away.

“It looks like the whole clan is here for our little wager. There will be so many disappointed faces when we are finished,” Sontar said with a haughty tone.

Blyss put her hand on the pommel of her short sword and stepped off the porch. She marched across the front yard and approached the mage.

“Say that again and Lord Blackwood will not have to worry about you ever again,” the goblin said with spite in her eyes and tone.

Sontar looked at the goblin with a smile. “That, I have no doubt, brave goblin. But it is not Lord Blackwood I have an issue with, but the Lady Moonwhisper staying on this farm and not at her home.”

The mage lifted his gaze to Asher and Elara as they approached.

Asher put his hand on Blyss’s shoulder. “Thank you for defending our good name. Please tend and protect our clan as I handle this.”

The goblin stared hard at the elven mage before she turned and marched back.

Sonta was about to part his lips to speak when he stopped. He could see the giant in the back, her hard gaze directly meeting his.

“Well, erm, I understand how unusual these circumstances are for your gathered clan, but we have a wager to finish for the proper outcome,” Sontar said as he brought his gaze back to Asher’s eyes.

“Yes, we do have a wager,” Asher said with steely eyes.

Asher stood in his traditional ranger clothes and green cloak. Under the cloak, he wore his leather armor and belt. The enchanted dagger was sheathed at one side, a short sword sheathed at the other hip.

Bolla walked over and bowed to Sontar.

“I’m Mayor Bolla Brewblade of Mist Valley. I was told of your wager and I am acting as a third party to ensure everything is fair with this contest.”

Sontar bowed his head to the dwarf.

“I don’t know how fair you will be since you know Lord Blackwood better than I, but I am in your valley and will abide by your ruling,” Sontar said with a gentlemanly tone.

The mage and ranger looked at each other.

“The rules will be simple,” Asher began. “A ruby is being placed at the wild gate, several miles into the forest. Our fastest runner should be on their way back by now. When they arrive, we may begin.

“First person to retrieve the ruby and step back on Blackwood land will be proclaimed the winner.”

Asher took Elara’s hand and squeezed it. The beautiful elf held back the outrage in her oval eyes.

Sontar spoke with his chest out, “Let’s not treat our dear Elara like a pack animal being traded. I had thought it over and came up with a better solution for our quandary.”

Everyone was silent as they listened.

Sontar looked at Elara with warm affection. “To take you away from here because of a wager would only wound your heart further. You have great affection for him, and I never want to stand in the way of love, no matter how fleeting. That is why I propose a change to the outcomes.

“If Lord Blackwood wins, I will leave the valley, and you, forever. You will never hear my name again, or see my face. But if I win, when your love has run its course, either through death or Lord Blackwood’s old age, you come back to me and we live the rest of our lives together, our hearts bonded before the gods.”

Elara’s eyes gleamed at the sudden change of the wager’s outcome. Her inner fire burned less, but it was still there. The thought of living any part of her life with him soured her spirit. He was an elven man that her heart simply did not want.

“I find it acceptable,” Elara said, knowing her beloved can win the challenge.

“As do I,” Asher said, heeding the small respect for the elf.

Sontar clasped his hands before him. “Well, since we are settled on those matters, I’m sure there will be some restrictions to make it fair, yes?”

Asher nodded. “You cannot use any magic that will allow you to fly or teleport.”

Sontar nodded. “Sounds reasonable. I have a rule of my own to add, we can do anything we wish to slow the other one down. Anything short of taking another’s life or any permanent damage.”

Asher watched as Sontar’s oval eyes narrowed.

“I know you may have tricks up your sleeves, since this is your valley, one you know well. But I doubt, even with the restrictions on myself, you have enough power to stop or hinder me. That is why I will make this wager a little more sporting.”

The elf licked his lips before he continued, “There will be no restrictions on you, other than those mystical wings of yours, my dear Blackwood. I wish to see how far you will go to have her because after we are finished, no matter the outcome, she will outlive you. Your love is a farce, and it will end when age gets the better of you.”

“Agreed,” Asher said without emotion and held out his hand to the faun nearby. “Amber.”

Amber let her hand drop to the side, a long leather strap with potions along it. She lifted it up and placed it in Asher’s hand.

Lord Blackwood slipped the strap easily under his cloak and over his shoulder. He closed the buckle at the bottom and gave it a tug, ensuring it was snug to his body. Eight different colored vials sloshed with various liquids to within each.

Asher knew he didn’t want to give away the many edges he had to win the wager. He mentally reviewed the potions he was armed with along his alchemist strap. He had two healing potions, one giant strength potion, one invisibility potion, a lightning potion, an animate tree potion, a cloud potion, and a giant form potion. For the ranger turned alchemist, he wondered if it would be enough.

Sontar hid his mouth with his hand as he chuckled.

“Marvelous,” the mage waved his hand like he was gently swatting a fly away. “You believe those potions will give you some kind of edge? Truly, I am dealing with a sophisticated opponent.

“Yes, yes, please keep and use all those useful potions. You will certainly need them.”

Asher eyed the elven mage. His attitude and demeanor were one of amusement, but the ranger knew he was hiding his power and intelligence. Asking him to not use his wings, but use anything else spoke to concerns. The elf was putting on a brave exterior before his true self would appear.

From the forest, an exhausted Nuha appeared. The goblin was huffing and panting. The goblins, led by Blyss, rushed to her side and helped her walk to the main group at the Blackwood gate.

“The ruby has been placed at the gate, Lord Blackwood,” Nuha said to Asher, ignoring Sontar.

Asher nodded as he took her hands into his, knelt, and put his forehead to hers.

“Thank you, my strong and beautiful Nuha,” Asher spoke true.

Nuha let out a long, relaxed exhale. She pulled away from Asher with a warm smile.

Asher smiled at her before he stood up and faced Sontar once again.

“Everything is in order,” Asher said with ready eyes.

“It is,” Sontar said with his own amused gaze.

Bolla cleared her throat to the two men.

“The rules of the wager have been said and noted. The first to retrieve the ruby and bring it back past the gate is the winner. You may start when you’re ready.”

Asher glanced at Elara. The beautiful mature elf looked at him with loving eyes. He then turned and looked at the thick forest before him.

Sontar faced the forest with a relaxed stance.

Bolla looked at both men. “Begin!” she shouted.

Sontar said an arcane word and his muscles increased slightly in size as Asher darted toward the forest.

Sontar let out a cleansing exhale before he darted like an arrow. Just as Asher reached the edge of the forest, the mage shot past him.

“Not a good start for you,” Sontar chuckled as he darted past trees.

Asher continued to run past trees as he grabbed the Lightning potion from his alchemy strap. He pulled the cork and lifted it to his lips. He drank as he ran.

Energy blasted along every part of his body. An aura of erratic energy encircled the ranger. Eyes burned with white light as he shot forth like a lightning bolt. He arced through the forest, his form changing from bolts of lightning to his true form and then back to lightning.

Sontar’s senses were enhanced just like his body. The Body Sphere of magic increased all things with the body and the mage knew it well. He glanced to the side to see lightning arcing through the forest and bypassing him with Asher’s hand appearing and giving a small wave.

“Short of death,” Sontar said with less than enthused eyes. He whispered arcane words and accessed the power of the Stone Sphere of magic.

Asher moved like lightning through the forest, a smile across his face. He knew the mage would have some kind of trick, so he added his own tricks to his potions. The Lightning potion allowed him to be part lightning. He phased between energy and matter. His uncle left a wealth of books, filled with different potions that could be created from various milks.

Asher continued to flash through the forest until a stone wall shot up from the ground. The lord quickly leapt over it, but as he was about to flash down, more stone walls shot up, blocking his path.

When Asher landed, he darted between a wall and struck a smaller one that stabbed upwards from the ground. The ranger staggered back as he tried to regain his balance, when a shoulder slammed into him.

Asher was knocked off his feet and his back slammed against a wall.

Sontar was before him with a fist raised back.

“Lightning cannot pass stone,” he said and swung his fist right at Asher’s face.

The ranger’s energy body dodged to the side, Sontar’s fist missing him by an inch and striking the stone wall. The wall shattered into flying debris.

Asher turned into a lightning bolt and slipped over the edge of the wall and bounced along flying debris. When he moved past it, a stone hand shot up from the ground and caught his leg as it appeared.

Asher hung by one leg as the stone hand lifted him higher.

Sontar looked up at Asher with amused oval eyes as he hung upside down by the stone fist.

“You have made the contest much more interesting, Lord Blackwood.”

The effect of the potion wore off, Asher hanging in his true form. With a quick hand, he grabbed a green potion from the belt and threw it at a large tree. The potion bottle shattered against it. Green liquid splashed against the tree and mystical power along it.

Sontar turned to see the tree lifted itself from the ground. Dirt fell away from the roots as the tree took on a vaguely humanoid form, branches forming into arms and long-fingered hands. Roots turned into rudimentary legs.

“Free me and then stop the elf,” Asher commanded

Sontar took a step back as the large tree came at them, its legs shattering stone walls before it. The mage lifted his hand and whispered an arcane word from the Fire Sphere. Flames stretched from his hand and formed a blade of fire.

“You have made this much more fun than I expected,” the elf said as he leapt at the incoming tree.

The tree reached for the flying elf with a gnarly hand, when a flame blade sliced down, severing its arm. The tree let out an odd moan as its rooted foot knee came up, slamming into the falling elf’s mid-section.

Sontar’s eyes widened as he let out a loud grunt, his body bending over the tree’s knee.

Asher was still stuck in the stone hand’s grip. He grabbed the Giant’s Strength potion and pulled the cork. He drank the contents in one gulp, and dropped the potion bottle as new strength instantly filled him.

The ranger stabbed his fingers into the stone hand, cracks forming along it. With a mighty pull, the hand shattered to pieces and the man fell to the ground.

The ranger was back up, marveling at his new strength and toughness. He glanced over to Sontar, slicing off pieces of the animated tree. He glanced at a big rock next to him. He reached down and picked it up. The large stone light as a feather as he threw it with the power of a giant.

The elven mage sliced and burned the tree with each strike. The animated tree took a step back as parts of it were badly burned. Sontar leapt up, ready to serve a killing blow to the animated tree when a small boulder struck his back and exploded. The force of the impact sent him sideways and he crashed onto the ground.

Sontar spit out dirt as he glared back at Asher, holding another small boulder.

“This is much more fun than I expected,” the ranger said and threw the small boulder.

The mage leapt to his feet and slammed his fist at the incoming boulder. The boulder shattered on impact, sending shards of stone in all directions.

“My body is stronger and faster than yours. You don’t have a chance against me, Blackwood!” Sontar laughed.

Asher picked up another small boulder with one hand, and pulled another potion from his alchemist strap. His thumb lifted and popped the cork to it.

“I don’t need to overpower you. I just have to slow you down,” Asher smiled before he hurtled the boulder at him.

Sontar chuckled as he darted to the side, the boulder missing him by a few feet. The mage let his fire sword fade away as he used a different spell to stop the ranger permanently. His eyes widened when branches circled around him and snapped closed on his body.

The mage elf let out a hard exhale, his spell fizzing out. He glanced up at the tree holding him with more branches. The tree’s grip was like iron and the mage’s magical strength was not enough to break free. He glanced back at Asher as he drank another potion.

Sontar’s face tightened into demonic rage as the ranger waved to him and then turned invisible.

The elven mage cursed out arcane words. Fire engulfed his body, burning white hot. It flashed outward into a fiery explosion. It ripped apart the tree branches arms and sent the burnt trunk of the tree stumbling back.

The tree wilted as its form began to change. Its roots dug back into the ground as its damaged body returned to its true form, singed, and burnt, but still alive.

Sontar’s body smoked as he lifted his hand and spoke more arcane words. He accessed the Air Sphere. Air swirled before him. Wisps appeared and reshaped into white arrows by the hundreds. The cloud of white arrows hovered above him.

The mage eyed the forest, knowing the trees would be in the way. He calculated where Asher might run and made a movement with his finger. White arrows launched in waves. Arrows shot past trees and dug into the ground.

Asher was invisible and running as fast as his legs could carry him. White arrows shot past him from all directions. When an arrow struck the ground before him a foot away, he leapt over it and kept charging.

The invisibility potion’s effect wouldn’t last long, but Asher hoped it lasted longer than Sontar’s arrows. He weaved, ducked, and jumped through the forest filled with flying white arrows.

I just need to pick up my next advantage.

Asher pumped his legs as he darted through the forest. The farther he went, the less arrows he encountered.

Meanwhile, Sontar let loose his last arrow and it struck deep into the forest, missing its target.

The elf let out an angry hiss before he darted into the forest with his greater than normal speed.

Sontar moved swiftly through the forest, seeing no sign of the ranger. An anger bubbled within, the stray thought he was outwitted by a human. It sickened his stomach and only added to his growing contempt for Lord Blackwood. He felt his chance slipping away to ensure Elara remained in his life at some point, now or later. With that thought, he pushed himself harder in the direction of the Wild Gate.

Asher moved swiftly through the forest. When he caught sight of the clearing where the gate was located, he pumped his legs harder to reach it.

The ranger burst from the edge of the forest and into the clearing. His eyes caught sight of the three knee-high standing stones. On one of them, a glimmering ruby sat atop of it.

Asher knew the mage would use any magic at his disposal to take the advantage, so he would change the odds to his own favor.

Lord Blackwood rushed past the stone with the gem and reached a tree at the edge of the clearing. He reached around and took hold of his mystical bow, Frost-Fire, and a quiver of arrows. The ranger swung around with bow in hand.

The moment he swung the bow around, Sontar burst from the clearing on the other side with a crazed look in his eyes.

Both men looked upon the ruby on the stone. It was equal distance from both as a shaft of sunlight touched the ruby, making it glow with crimson light.

“I’ve won,” Sontar grinned with manic eyes.