Vanmoriel wakes me early… Well, she gets me out of bed—I was already awake. I seem to be adjusting to the Elven sleep cycle. While two hours is not quite enough for my Human half, about two and a half to three is completely sufficient.

We have a quick breakfast and I help clean up. I pack my few things and Vanmoriel shows me a new charm, “It is actually a low-energy charm; it is designed to use as little of your energy as possible, since you will be using it for some time. It will, however, not stand up to close scrutiny.” I look at the reflection of my fully humanized face; my pointy ears are gone, my face is rounder, I am not so waif-like—but if I really look closely, it begins to waiver. She then shows me the charm that uses more energy, but that will stand up to close encounters… Not that I should be in any situations needing that. I am surprised at the difference in energy drain.

Finally, she shows me how to apply the charm to her. I feel the same drain as if I had applied it to myself. I give her a curios look. She says, “When you came here a few days ago, your mother had applied a simple protective ward to you. She maintained control of the ward, however—and, as such, suffered the energy drain. There are ways to transfer control of the ward, or simply to transfer the energy consumption.” She shows me how to transfer the energy consumption to her and I feel the energy stop, but she still looks human. I can still fully manipulate the charm. Then she shows me how to transfer control over to her, as well. She still looks fully human, but I can no longer manipulate the charm. She easily makes her own changes now.

She leaves my charm as is and has me put one of my own back in place—and we set off down a trail on the Human side of the brook. We don’t take up a fast pace, but we still cover ground. Vanmoriel is fairly quiet, which gives me a chance to think.

After some time, I look over at her and ask, “Vanmoriel, one thing has been bothering me.” She laughs her strange laugh and asks, “Only one?” I blush and say, “Well, no, there are more… But this does not make sense to me… You say your price to cross the brook for Humans is to replenish your supplies of Moon Fruit. If they however cross into the Elven Realm, how do enforce payment?” She giggles…I think. Then she looks at me and mumbles a ward that I can’t fully hear. Suddenly, I can’t help myself…I stand there and energetically jump up and down…I can’t stop. She terminates the ward and I stop…my heart beating fast from the exercise.

She asks, “Do you understand now?” I catch my breath and say, “I…think…so… You place some sort of compulsion ward on them?” She nods and says, “You could have fairly easily broken that ward if you had tried…it is hard to force someone to do something that they really do not want to do. But, if I had asked your permission to place the ward on you, it would have been become binding and completely unbreakable. As part of the deal to cross the brook, the Humans have to submit to the ward. I also transfer the energy consumption to them, although I maintain control, and that gives them extra incentive to follow through. The compulsion is fairly simple—they simply have this uncontrollable desire to bring me a large bag of the fruit…no matter the cost…”

I nod. Devious, but not inherently evil…they do submit to it… “And Aunt Lothi said it was a win-win,” I ask. She nods and says, “If they agree, I get the fruit. If they don’t, the Elves don’t have to deal with the Human. Remember—relations have been broken off…” I ask, “Why not simply completely shut down the border, then?” She smiles and says, “Well, you will have to ask your mother that question, but I think in reality, the Elves are eternal optimists…they hope that relations can be resumed and don’t want a fully black or white option at this time…this leaves a sort of grey area for them…”

I nod and we continue on in quiet for quite some time…

About midway through the three-day journey to my Father’s castle, Vanmoriel pulls me aside—into the forest. A band of four Humans is coming our way from the opposite direction. I give her a curious look and she motions for me to be quiet. When they are range, she blasts them with blue lightning and they all fall lifeless on the spot. I gasp and ask, “What? Why?” She just pulls me out into the path and says, “They are not dead, Princess. It is time for another lesson. I sensed that one of these Humans is tainted by Darkness. I can sense this from quite a distance. I can teach you to sense it, as well. It will require you to touch the individual, though. You will need this skill at your father’s fortress.”

She shows me how one of the Humans has a strange black cast; I don’t know how else to explain it…like he has two shadows… The others don’t… When she is sure that I have learned how to distinguish them, she places a short amnesia ward on them and we hurry off before they come to. They will have no idea what happened to them…

Two days later, we are very close to Eagle’s Ledge…my Father’s fortress visible high on the mountain in front of us…not far from the dwarves’ realm. Vanmoriel looks at me and says, “This is where we part ways…for now. Your father has some lessons for you…then we must fight the poisonous stream… Keep your ward up and tight my little Halfling sister… I will meet you again in four weeks…”

And she turns…and is gone…

I look at the castle nestled in the mountainside ahead of me, square my shoulders, stiffen my spine, and march across the mote to the gate….

The guard at the gate gives me a hard time. I say, completely exasperated, “I am the King’s daughter. Let me in! He looks at me and laughs… Luckily Father happens by… He sees me and comes to hug me. He asks, “Brooke, why have you not come into the castle…?” The guard is not a happy camper when Father finds out that he did not follow protocol…

A few minutes later, I am sitting in a large dining hall with Father, alone, dining on a vegetarian meal. It is of good quality, though not as fresh as in the Elven Realm. I look at him and ask, “How did the claiming go?” He laughs and says, “Well, there were a few that thought that I had forfeited any right to the throne, since I had been gone so long… That was quickly taken care of, though….”

A pretty red-headed maiden enters the room at that point. Father says, “Brooke, meet Melinda. She is my sister—your Aunt. It is complicated how she has not aged any more than I have, but, suffice it to say, she has the family witching gene… She is going to teach you some things that you will need to know—things that not even the Black Witch knows…family secrets, so to speak…”

I greet Melinda and she takes me to a new room after I finish eating. She smiles at me and says, “That is a fine ward that you have in place to hide your elven features. I can easily detect it, though—but, only because of my inherent powers. I assume you know how to put a stronger one in place to avoid close scrutiny?” I nod and concentrate a few seconds…my stronger ward kicks in and Melinda smiles. She says, “Very good! I could almost be fooled by it. When I am done, you will easily be able to fool me—and with that anyone else…”

The next weeks are all about learning more wards and charms from Aunt Melinda. What Vanmoriel was able to open up to me in terms of wards and charms, Melinda is able to eclipse. By the time it is coming close to Vanmoriel to come pick me up again, I am a virtual encyclopedia of Human ward and charm spells…and I feel that I have barely scratched Melinda’s surface of possibilities…

The weeks in the castle are not without other interesting times, though. I have grown into a beautiful girl…nearly a woman… It is hard for me to adjust…since my most recent memories are those of a young boy. The menstrual cycle is a really hard one to adjust to…I am just starting to bleed again…my second cycle. And I don’t have Vanmoriel to brew me her potion. Surprisingly, Melinda has a different solution that she shows me… But, this monthly curse is not all that I am having to get used to…

Going from a ten year-old boy to a sixteen year-old girl, in a matter of minutes, creates issues that you cannot not really fathom, unless you have gone through it. I suddenly have large breasts that are…well, very pert and create quite the…male-desired…amount of cleavage. I have full, luscious, kissable lips. I have a cute little upturned nose. In all, I have an elf-like face—even under the influence of the charm. I am…hot…desirable…totally sexy from a guy’s point of view. On top of that…I am…lustful—insatiable, really. I mean, let’s face it…I am horny!

And there are all kinds of cute boys around here… I think Father is going to have a heart-attack with my flirting—something I don’t even realize that I am doing.

I actually lose my virginity to a cute young Knight my first week at Eagle’s Ledge—I am still able to maintain sufficient state of mind to scan him for taint; he is clear…which is the last coherent thought I have before succumbing to my first orgasm. Melinda gives me some potion to ensure that there are no…consequences…to my action… That potion is well used during the rest of my stay at the castle… It is just too much fun to not use my new…equipment… I justify it by convincing myself…and Melinda…that I need to practice my scanning… There are a lot of happy knights…and all of them are untouched by taint…which is good news for Melinda; she will pass it on to Father. It is a good thing that Father does not find out how she knows—there might not be ANY knights left, otherwise…

On the twenty-eighth day since my arrival at Eagle’s Ledge, Vanmoriel sends me the message that she is waiting for me at the edge of the woods…at the base of the mountain. I kiss Father good bye and hug Melinda. I make my way down the trail and meet Vanmoriel at the agreed-upon spot. We quickly prepare to travel to the neutral area between the Free-Earth and the outer realm controlled by Drakyre…

We are now the Elves' only hope of saving the Tree of Life…