Post by Joshua on Jul 16, 2013 22:08:28 GMT -5
'Confound it all!' the elf thought sharply, squatting down to pick up yet another scroll that he had dropped while making his way up the mountain to the vault. He couldn't just bring the cart up the mountain, it might fall, and he couldn't magic the books, because they were too old! He hated this, it was completely ridiculous that he was bringing them to the vault in the first place. Yes, they were on subjects of extreme importance to the riders and needed to be protected at all costs, but still, such a journey with such a load was absolutely preposterous!
He blew a stray strand of his white-blonde hair from his eyes as he rose, continuing his picking his way up the mountainside, the thin trail he had been directed to take making the trip even harder. Whatever... at least he would be shed of some of the responsibilities that came with such important tomes and parchments. Once they were locked away in some back corner of the repository which held the dragon eggs, they would be safe and could simply forget about them, just as everyone else soon would.
As he stumbled over his forest green robes for what must have been the hundredth time, he found himself almost wishing that he had worn a pair of trousers with a tunic, at least then the job would be simpler, even if he did look a fool in the eyes of most of his kin. He nearly threw up his arms - and lost the items tucked underneath in the process - as he stepped on a sharp root, the tip of which penetrated his leather shoe and poked at the soft flesh of his foot.
"Nothing... I repeat, NOTHING... could make this day any worse..." he hissed as he halfway walked and halfway limped onto the stone platform that signaled his arrival at the vault. He just wanted to go home... Why did it have to be him that did this? In just one trip up the trail, his robe was tattered in places and he had scratches on his arms... not to mention the myriad of bruises that were going to be on his feet after stepping on even more rocks and roots in the three subsequent trips that it was going to take him to get the rest of the books and scrolls into position.
"By order of Anurin, Grandmaster of the riders, grant me, Malenwryn Galahath, passage into the repository." he snapped, his arms, pockets, and bag filled to the brim, with even a few being held under his neck. He was in no mood for pleasantries whether these guards were the ones who had ruined his day or not...
He nodded slightly and curtly as the doors were opened for him and as one of the guards motioned for him to go through, but not before muttering something that Malenwryn could only barely make out. "Ooh, a mouthy laborer, how original..." he scoffed, rolling his eyes as he began his descent into the bowels of the vault. At least it was cooler here under the earth, or at least it seemed so compared to the humid air outside. With the darkness only penetrated by the occasional torch or magical light, he had to be careful walking in here as well, something he ought to have paid more mind to than he did...
There was only a slight splash before there was a thud which echoed loudly throughout the cavernous stairs as Malenwryn then went downward in a headlong tumble, books and scrolls flying every which way as his hands scrabbled for something to grab onto and stop himself. He wanted to curse whoever made the staircase, the slick stone not allowing him anything save more speed from its little resistance. Could he actually concentrate on something other than his bad luck and pain, he may have been able to use magic to stop himself... then again it was all over in the matter of a few seconds which had merely felt like minutes...
He sighed as he finally stopped, but not before groaning in pain, for he had not stopped of his own accord, but because something was in the way of his continued movement. The only sound which now filled the caverns was the slight fluttering of paper that was still coming from the staircase, as well as... the movement of steel on stone? He had barely looked up from his lap when an oblong object fell into his hands, his eyes widening as he realized what it was he held. "Oh, no! Oh, no! A thousand curses!" he breathed as he hurriedly stood and checked it for cracks, the dragon eggs being some of the only things the riders were willing to go to war over.
In his haste to place it back however, the now frantic elf knocked into another, as well as a third as he struggled to right the wrongs which accompanied his disturbances. His hands shot out to grab them, the first being tucked betwixt his legs with superhuman speed. He could not break one of these eggs, he just couldn't! After all, what would happen to him if he did? He didn't even want to think of such a thing...
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