Today's #flashfiction A Neutral Party

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.”

Wile E. Coyote* #quote

If you ever get lost in thought, remember that you should have brought a map. Anyway onto the flash fiction!

A Neutral Party

         The mountain elves didn't follow the disciplines of their woodland cousins. Their magical protection to fire allowed them to become smiths of the highest caliber, and they worked straight out of volcanoes, selling their wares. The Smoke clan sold weapons to whoever would pay.

          One day, like any other they worked on another batch of swords. The magma heated their furnaces, but the thing that made that day different from any other was that soldiers broke down the door to their smithy. Humans wearing armor enchanted to cool themselves.

         “Surrender everything you have,” the soldier with the blue tassel on his helmet that designated him as captain. Such was the convention for the West Kingdom's army.

          An old mountain elf, his orange skin and white hair covered in patches of soot approached the soldiers. He was three-fourths the size of the shortest soldier, however his old body managed to show the muscles he'd built over the years.

         “I am Harin, eldest elf in the Smoke clan and owner of this smithy. I don't remember getting any orders from the West Kingdom.”

         “We are seizing your weapons,” the captain said.

          Harin thought for a moment. Mountain elves didn't worry about attack since they didn't work for any kingdom in particular. Kingdoms bought their wares, weapons or not. The elves were considered neutral. To attack the mountain elves would mean the inability to purchase from them again. The West Kingdom must be desperate. They must be unable to purchase any more weapons or need to cut of the weapons the Smoke's smithy provides or if they're really losing whatever war they're fighting, both.

          “Okay,” Harin replied. The rest of the Smoke clan was shocked. They knew Harin as a bold, tough elf. They expected him to fight to the death with the captain. But here he was surrendering “Take everything we have.”

           Harin looked at what carts they had to carry the items and ordered weapons onto them. But it wasn't just the good weapons he loaded onto the cart. He had the elves load in knives, failed weapons, scrap, and everything he could without the soldiers noticing. Also during the process he took the soldier's water and food.

           In a few days time the elves found the soldiers again, their horses tired, themselves nearly dying of thirst, and Harin bargained for all his wares back for some water, food, and an agreement to tell their superiors that they couldn't find the elf's smithy so that no soldier's from the West Kingdom would bother them again.