This is the continuing saga of a once lost and orphaned boy—now a Princess in her own right.
Shauna
I stand up straight and tall on the pedestal; but I am fidgety. I am being fitted for my coronation gown and have been standing here for what seems like hours while she pins, and snips, and pins, and sews…
To distract myself, I think back over the events of the last week…ever since Miri and I had rescued my parents. Once we had arrived back at the castle and everyone saw that Mother, the missing Queen of Elves, was back…well, all Hell broke loose. Then, even more broke loose when they found out I really am her Halfling daughter… conceived by the King of Humans; in defiance of her own law.
From that point on, it was all about her explaining why she had left and had had me—and me getting ready to be crowned as Princess. The first Halfling Princess ever in the history of the Elves; no pressure at all. Oh, wait—there is also the small expectation that I will somehow be able to make nice with the Black Witch and, together with her, save the forest, including our ‘Tree of Life’—a very old Oak in the middle of the forest, from a stream of poison seeping in from the cursed outer realm. Like I said, “No pressure at all!”
The seamstress looks up at me and asks, “What did you say, Princess?” I roll my eyes. Did I say that out loud? I sigh and say, “Nothing, Melda, I was just talking to myself. Are we almost done? My feet are killing me.” She snorts and says, “We will be done in due time, Princess. Just a little longer…”
An hour later, I finally get down off of the pedestal. I kick off the really high heels and limp out of the room bare-footed. I nearly run into Miri waiting outside the door. She giggles and says, “Well, it is about time you got out of there!” I give her a nasty scowl and retort, “Maybe I can abdicate. Let’s go tell Mother, right now!” Miri giggles again and we go to the dining hall.
Mother gives me a nasty scowl as we enter the hall and I am carrying my heels. I sigh and slip them back on. I whisper to Miri, “How do you stand these things? I never had to wear them before Mother got back!” She whispers back, “No, you never had to wear them until you turned into an adult woman. At your age, it is expected… Especially, as royalty. And, yes, I wore them…you just never noticed... Well, and I didn’t when we were out practicing archery, of course.” I groan and say, “And this bra…these boobs are so…inconvenient!” Miri giggles and we sit down to eat.
I won’t fidget! I won’t fidget!
I stand straight and tall…in front of the crowd. Like I have a choice in the ultra-tight coronation gown…and the corset that won’t let me take more than half a breath at a time… I know I look awesome, though!
Mother carries the crown over to me…presenting it to the crowd the whole way. She lifts it high…slowly sets it on my head…and…the crowd roars… I am now officially the crown princess of the Elves… Oh, don’t forget, though I am still a Halfling—no pressure…
I look at the crowd roaring and blush. A few days ago, I did not expect this to be happening. There was a lot of discontent that Mother even considered crowning me… That got worse when she would not change the law on Elf-human bonds—not that anyone wanted to; it was just the principal that she was allowed and no one else. She settled things down, though, by pressing the message delivered by the Sequoia. She also explained that it opened up the possibility of reestablishing relations between the races, which could change the law, if a way could be figured out on how to screen Darkness-tainted humans…
I look down and see my Father smiling up at me. I still have no idea how this coronation plays into my role as a human princess—again, no pressure! I know that he is leaving to go back to the human realm in the morning and retake the crown. I am to follow him in several months to help foster relations between the races, before embarking on the mission to stem the poisonous ‘flow’ from the outer realm. But first, I have to learn to work with my Halfling counterpart; the Black Witch.
Mother brings me out of my reverie, as she says, “Nellethiel, it is time to go to the clearing.” I nod and pick up the small red velvet bag, carefully tied closed with a golden drawstring. I very slowly get down off the podium, taking each stair carefully. Between the long gown, the ultra-high heels, and the tight corset pushing my now formidable breasts up into my face, my balance is off and the dress is a tripping hazard. Just HOW did I get to be a girl again? I didn’t have these issues as a boy…
I take up my spot at the head of the procession and slowly make my way to a clearing about a quarter mile outside of the main castle area. I nearly trip on several roots and stones, but make it without falling on my face. Miri keeps promising I will get better at this…it should would be nice if it was NOW!
When we reach the clearing, I continue on to the center, while the rest of the procession forms a circle around the perimeter. I carefully open the small bag and gently let the precious acorn from the Oak ‘Tree of Life’ fall into my hand. I kneel down, unsteady on my heels, and place the small seed into a prepared hole in the fertile earth. There is a small watering can waiting for my use and I pour water onto the small mound after scraping the loose dirt into the hole.
Then…I sing… Mother had taught me the ‘Coronation Song’. It is a slow, almost melancholy song to begin with…then becomes faster-paced and more upbeat…then positively happy. As I sing, the acorn sprouts, then starts to quickly grow…and mature. By the time I am finished, there is a small oak sapling—almost as tall as I am—standing where the hole stood a few minutes ago.
I smile at my Mother, tears in my eyes. This is the next generation Tree of Life. Every newly crowned Crown Princess plants a new oak, which is the new Tree of Life when she takes over as Queen. I take an emotional and shaky breath, still totally shocked that I actually created a tree, and stand up.
I hug Father and say, “Must you go? I just got you back…” He hugs me back, tightly, and says, “You know I must, Princess. I will see you at the Eagle’s Ledge in a few short months. Make nice with Vanmoriel…learn to work with her. Then come and reconnect with your Human heritage. You are one half of free Earth’s hope… I know you will be the savior you are determined to be, my daughter!”
I look at him and want to scream at him… Talk about ‘no pressure’ …then I remember not remembering him…thinking I had lost him forever; and I sob… I say, “I will see you soon, Father. I will expect to be treated as a Princess, you know!” He snickers and says, “Yes, Milady!”
And he crosses through the golden veil. A minute later, he is on a horse…galloping away…
I look at Mother, Aunt Lothi, and Miri. I grimace and whine—very un-Princess-like, “Do I have to?” Miri rolls her eyes, and says, “Nelle, get a grip! You are only meeting with the Black Witch for a play date. How bad can it get…?” Then she giggles and says, “OK, don’t answer that!”
This time, Mother rolls her eyes and says, “Nelle, Vanmoriel will be fine. I have explained the prophecy to her. She is looking forward to meeting you.” Now, it is my turn to roll my eyes. I say, “Mother, I have met her. She tried to kill me!” This time, Aunt Lothi speaks up, “Nelle, if Vanmoriel had wanted you dead, you wouldn’t be here. Right now, it is not about what you feel comfortable with—it is about the safety of your people. Get over your prejudice and go meet with your Halfling cousin!”
I gasp and ask, “She is my cousin? Who…?” Mother gets impatient and says, “It was a figure of speech, Nelle. Now, GO! I am tired of this procrastination!” I lower my head in shame and say, “Yes, Mother.”
I dip a toe into the brook and Laesneniel greets me. She bows and says, “Hello, Crown Princess. The Black Witch, Vanmoriel, is on her way.” I feel that whoosh of wind—like long ago—and the witch stands on the bank opposite me. She reaches out a black-clawed hand and says, “So, the other Halfling graces me with her presence.” I swallow my pride and take her withered hand. I climb out of the brook and onto the opposite bank.
She smiles; she is deceptively beautiful. Her coal-black hair shimmering in the light of the full moon. Her bright red lips, plump and iridescent. Her perfect teeth nearly glowing in the dark, they are so white.
She looks at me intently and says, “You have developed well, Halfling. I was not sure you could survive when we last…met… I am glad you live—we can be a formidable team.”
She leads me through the forest—on the human side of the brook—to a cottage. She enters and beckons me in. A fire is slowly dying in the fireplace, the embers glowing bright red. I look around, expecting…I don’t know what… Children in cages? It looks like a normal cottage; neatly kept and clean.
She motions for me to sit in a chair and goes to stoke the fire. Soon the kettle of water is hot and she is making a pot of tea—from some mix of unknown herbs… She quietly lets it steep as I continue to scrutinize my surroundings. After a couple of minutes, she hands me a cup of the hot brew. I sniff it… Peppermint, orange…and? I take a sip…Oh…cinnamon……and…feel…heavy…but happy…
I wake up in bed…but where? Then, I remember… The Black Witch’s cottage! I look around. It is barely dawn…and hardly noticeable—there is so little light that makes it to the bottom of the Witch’s Hole.
I quietly slip out of bed and make my way to the door. I am about to open it up, when I hear, “If you need to use the bathroom, I have indoor plumbing. It is over here…” I sigh and follow the sound. I was planning on escaping home…but, I know Mother and Father are counting on me. As are the whole of the Elven and Human races… No pressure!
I take care of my morning business and come back into the main part of the cottage to the smell of frying bacon. I have not had meat in so long, I find myself both salivating at the smell—and gagging at the thought. When she is done, she places a plate of fried eggs, bacon, and fried potatoes on the table in ‘my’ spot. I sit down and fight the urge to gag—then take a bite. I moan—I had missed the flavor… I quickly down the plate of food and sit back to let it settle. Then, I run outside and throw it all up… Every bit of the wonderful breakfast is soon on the ravine’s floor…
The Black Witch hands me a glass of water and some melon. She says with a semi-sympathetic tone, “You are a Halfling. The ward hid your Elven side…now it is free… You cannot tolerate meat—even though your other half needs it to survive. Here, here is a platter of fruit. Eat up! It is what your dominant Elvin side will accept. You will need you energy for what is next.
I finish the last bit of my melon and…am attacked by the witch! Before I get a chance to even think about reacting… I am going to die! How could this happen? I was just trying to think of a way to start the conversation and she sends a stinger at me.
I shake my head and think. I have not learned many defensive wards or charms; the sounds of the spells, however, are the best motivator of creativity. In a few minutes, Vanmoriel and I are both panting—out of breath. We are at a standstill…of sorts… Vanmoriel could easily have killed me; but I have not been bad; and held my own for a first makeshift lesson. Vanmoriel smiles; it is a scary smile, but a smile, none-the-less…
I stand there…waiting to see what she will do next…
Vanmoriel looks at me and quickly calms her rapid breathing. She looks slightly pale and wordlessly goes over to the table. She eats a small piece of strange looking dried fruit and looks immediately more like her semi-evil self. She cocks her head to one side and asks, “Well?”
Well, WHAT? I can’t help myself; I say, “I don’t get it! What was that for? Why did you attack me? I thought you were supposed to be helping me…” She laughs—at least I think that is what it is; it is sort of a combination of a cackle, giggle, and crowing. She sits down like nothing just happened and says, “I had to test you; see what your instincts are. I needed you off-guard; not thinking about it. They are not too bad; something we can work with. You have rudimentary skills at defensive wards and charms. The ones your mother cast on you won’t go far in Drakyre’s world, however. You are going to have to learn more—stronger ones. Those take a lot of energy.”
She nibbles on a piece of bacon and says, “It has taken me a long time to be able to eat just this bit of bacon without my body revolting. We will talk about energies later, though. There is still a price you owe me for crossing the brook that day…regardless of what your Aunt says.”
She nibbles on a bit more bacon and says, “Your elf half allows to you to produce effective defensive charms and wards. Your elf half, however, relies on physical offensive skills. I understand you are decent with a bow and arrow.” I nod and she continues, “Well, those will be ineffective against Drakyre and many of his minions. That is where offensive spells come in. You get that ability from your human side. That is what makes us formidable as Halflings, being capable of both. Of course, you more so, given your heritage on both sides. The royal elf family is very strong in Earth magic and produces very strong wards and charms. Your father’s family line is strong at tapping into many sources of energy and has produced many powerful witches and wizards. I have been looking forward to meeting you for a long time…to see what the result of that union is.”
I give her a side-long look and ask, “Why? So you can somehow pervert me? Test your own skills? Why should I trust you at all?” She laughs in her strange way and taps her long nails on the table in thought. She absently draws circles with them for a bit, then says, “You shouldn’t. It is good that you don’t. However, we need each other…and so we are going to have to learn to trust one another—like your mother and I did…”
I look at her in shock and ask the obvious, “Mother? What has she got to do with anything?” Vanmoriel smiles that crooked smile of hers and says, “Well, if she had not trusted me, then you wouldn’t be here. And I don’t mean just here in my cottage, right now. I mean, not even born. Your mother brought your father to me to be tested for the Dark Taint. I am the only person that can reliably test a human for the Taint. Once she was sure that he was free, then she committed the crime against her own law to conceive you through a union with him…”
I gasp. Can this be true? Somehow, I know it is…I have her to thank for my very existence—as much as the Sequoia, my Mother, and my Father… My fate is intertwined with hers…
“Do you know how much energy it costs me NOT to blow you to bits? Concentrate!” She is pelting me with blue lightning and seems to be in more pain than I am. I retort, “What do you mean?” She sighs as we take a break. She says, “Spells take a lot of energy. Combine spells with wards and the energy consumption is near catastrophic—that is why we have to eat so much. The dried Moon Fruit is an excellent source of energy, but very hard to come by. I have to set up a ward to filter my spell so that I don’t kill you. It is draining me way too fast.” She eats a bit of the dried fruit and looks better. I ask, “Why don’t you just use a lighter spell?” She mimics me in a mocking voice, “Why don’t you just use a lighter spell? Oh, so you are the expert, now?! Well, Your Highness, it is not that easy. I am so powerful that I can’t just send a trickle at you. That would be like the Mighty Water Falls trying to just spit on you… Now, concentrate and put that ward I taught you in place…”
I concentrate and put the ward in place—I feel the energy drain. She moves about a hundred paces away and plies me with blue lightning. I feel a slight tingle, but nothing else—except more energy drain. The intensity of the blue increases, and so does the tingle, but not bad—the energy starts going down faster, though. Then there is a furnace blast of blue that comes at me. The tingle turns into a sting, but the ward holds…and I run out of energy. I black out…
I come to in the bed again…I feel weak. She gives me some bacon and tells me to take small nibbles. I feel my face turn green, but do as told. I take very small nibbles and feel my stomach rumble and start to revolt. She quickly hands me some melon and a beancake and I hurriedly eat them. My stomach settles and I start to feel better.
She looks at me with a grin and says, “Well, the good news is that your ward held—even up to the full level of my attack. The bad news is, if I was a Drakyre minion, you would be dead, since you shorted out right after my attack. You would have been easy pickings… You will have to learn energy conservation… So much to learn and so little time…” I groan—a massive headache coming on—and ask, “Why can’t I have some of your Moon Fruit, if it is so good?” She eyes me wickedly and says, “It takes a long journey through the elf realm to the borderlands of the dwarves to find the bushes that grow the fruit. It is the price a human has to pay for me to allow them into the realm—they have to go and get a large bag of the fruit for me. The dwarves don’t really use the fruit—but they don’t want anyone else using it, either. It is a rather dangerous endeavor to get any. The last vestiges I have were the payment your mother gave me when I scanned your father. I am nearly out. You will, of course, refill my supply as payment for crossing my river…”
I shake my head and say, “Aunt Lothi explained that the tariff does not apply to me…” She gives me a wicked grin and say, “Maybe so…but when we start combining wards and spells, you are going to quickly burn out without the fruit… As an elf, you can quickly cross the realm, get the fruit, and return. It would not take you more than a couple of days… I can also show you an invisibility ward that will keep you hidden as you pick the fruit…”
I near the border between the Elven and the dwarf realms. It had only taken me a little less than a day to cut across a small triangular wedge of Elven territory that cuts in between the Human and dwarf realms. I still come out at a spot that is pretty deep into the foothills of the dwarf realm, from a Human geographical perspective. I look through the golden shimmer of the Elven Realm’s veil and see the bushes about halfway up a small mountain. They are only about a quarter mile away, but they may as well be 25 miles…
I sigh…and concentrate on the invisibility ward. It won’t last long; it drains huge amounts of energy. But, if I can make it to the bushes before it gives out, then I can sustain it with the energy from the bushes’ fruit. I run…fast… I feel the tingle of the veil as I pass through it… I start to feel weak…black spots start to form in front of my eyes. I concentrate to maintain the ward, knowing that I am almost out of energy and will pass out. I make it to the first of the bushes and dive into them, effectively hiding myself, just as I can’t maintain the ward anymore. I greedily eat a couple of the fruit. They have a bitter-sweet flavor, but I can feel my energy levels rising almost instantly. It is hard to believe how quickly my levels rejuvenate—and Vanmoriel says the dried fruit is even more potent…
I quickly fill my sacks with the fruit, eat two more, and concentrate on setting up my invisibility ward. I am just about to say the enchantment, when I hear a noise. I peer through the bushes and see a band of…what must be dwarves. Having never seen any, I am not sure. What else can they be? They are interesting looking creatures—small, but tough. They are carrying various lethal-looking weapons—battle axes, maces, things like that. And…they are getting much too close for comfort.
I quickly finish the ward and check to ensure that I am invisible-then quietly move to a different spot. I groan inwardly when I notice the small pile of pits I had spit out from the fruit I had consumed. I also have to continue eating the fruit to maintain the ward as I quietly sit waiting for the dwarves to pass. Unfortunately, they notice the pile of pits as they are walking by…
I barely am able to slip by them as they start yelling and screaming and swinging their axes through the bushes in angry swipes. My heart is beating so fast and hard when I slip the golden veil and back into the Elven Realm that I think it is going to pound right out my mouth. I let the ward drop and quickly make my way back towards the brook and Vanmoriel’s cottage. Of course, it takes a little longer this time, since I am weighed down with several sacks of Moon Fruit…
I come up on the brook the next day and decide to have some fun. I eat one of the fruits and enchant myself with the invisibility ward. I step across the brook on the stepping stones and see Vanmoriel ahead. I just want to sneak up on her to show her how good I have gotten with the ward. I am still about fifty paces away when I am hit with a semi-strong bolt of blue lightening that completely paralyzes me…not to mention makes me feel like I am melting in one of the dwarves furnaces…and my ward disintegrates.
I hear Vanmoriel’s laugh. She turns and says, “Never rely on a camouflage charm alone to protect you, Princess. First, no one crosses the brook without me knowing. Second, that ward does not work on individuals who have touched the Darkness. I could see you plain as day.” She takes the bags from my still frozen fingers and says, “Good girl! This is a nice haul… You will help me dry them for our little journey…”
And suddenly I can move again. I yell at her, “You could have told me the ward does not work on everyone! What if those dwarves had Darkness in them?” She looks at me and asks, “What dwarves?” I tell her about the party of dwarves that had almost found me. She looks slightly…concerned. She says, “But they did not seem to see you, right?” I shake my head and say, “No, they seemed to just be swinging blindly…” She smiles and says, “Good! I was not sure that I had adjusted that ward properly for you. It is not as if I can test it, you know—being as how I can see you even when you are using it properly…” I groan and decide that when this is all over, I am going to kill her…
The next morning, I wake up in tremendous pain. I double over and feel like the cramps in my abdomen are going to kill me. I moan and Vanmoriel comes over to see what is wrong. She asks, “How many of the Moon Fruit did you eat yesterday?” I shrug and moan at the same time, “I don’t know ten…fifteen…” She looks at me in thought and asks, “Is it time for your menstruation?” I am hit by another cramp and gasp, “What are you talking about?” She looks at me, “Your menstruation, your monthly visitor, your period?” I give her a blank look and wince at another nasty cramp. She sighs and says, “This is your first cycle…? Of course it is… So, I can’t say if this normal for you…or whether the Moon Fruit enhanced the cramps…something it is known to do if too much is consumed…”
Then I feel wet and sticky between my legs and scream… Vanmoriel gives me a harsh look and says, “Get over it! It is just a little blood—you are a girl now! This will happen every month…our monthly curse… I will fix you something that will ease the pain… I will also give you a pad…you will need to wash your sheets, though—I don’t want my sheets stained.”
She hands me a pad and shows me what to do, with a sour look on her face, when I give her another blank stare. She fixes up some potion and has me drink it. She says, “These are things your mother should be handling, Princess. I am not here to explain the birds and the bees to you…” After a few minutes, the potion seems to kick in and I feel a lot better. I get up and am surprised at the amount of blood in my bed. Vanmoriel says, “The Moon Fruit can cause heavy bleeding and cramps. Keep that in mind, girl.”
I spend the rest of the day washing and drying my sheets—something that I have never done—and helping Vanmoriel dry the Moon Fruit…
The next day, I am feeling better, but still take some of the potion, just in case. After breakfast, Vanmoriel says, “OK, today we are going to start practicing spells. This is completely different than charms and wards. They feed off of completely different energy—but can drain you just the same as wards… Wards are usually more a trickle drain, since they have to be maintained for periods of time; spells are usually more a sudden drain, since they normally are like shooting an arrow...quick and they are over…”
She demonstrates a spell by shooting a bolt of blue lightning straight at me. I am caught off guard, but have learned to maintain a small protective ward at all times; it strengthens itself when I am attacked. The blue lightning bounces off of me harmlessly…but I feel the drain. She smiles and then explains how to do the simple attack spell…
After a couple of failed attempts, she starts getting frustrated. She almost shouts at me, “You need to find your human side—that is the only way to tap into the proper energies. Elves can’t do it—you have become too focused on you elven side.” I concentrate really hard and finally ‘see’ where I need to focus internally…I get a small fizzle of a bolt to shoot from my fingers. I jump in surprise when it actually works…I am also surprised that my bolt was green After several more attempts, I get a stronger, but still very small bolt to appear. An hour later, I get a bolt to reach Vanmorien at twenty paces.
After that, we quit and go to prepare dinner. I ask about my green lightning. Vanmorien says, “The color of the person’s lightning is dependent on many things. Mine is blue because I am neither good, nor bad—light, nor dark. Why that translates to blue, I have no idea—but I am the only person that I have ever known to have that color. People on the Dark spectrum, usually have red or black lightning. Drakyre, for example has lightning that is blood red, but so dark that it is nearly black—you will never meet any deadlier than his. Most humans on the Light side, have either white or greyish lightning. Green is unusual, but I think it reflects your Elven half…and your ties to the Earth energies through that half. You should have some unique capabilities once you practice enough to actually carry out a meaningful spell…”
After we eat, she says, “Go to bed and rest, Princess. Tomorrow, I will take you to your father’s castle…”
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…
Vanmoriel tells me that she has done a reconnaissance mission to the borderlands and that there are two stops that we must make before we go there together. The first is back home in the Elven Realm. The second, she will not elucidate on, for now. Try as I might, I can’t get it out of her.
We practice several wards and charms on our way back to the Elven Realm. I think I sort of surprise her with some of the things that I have learned over the past weeks from Aunt Melinda. Finally, on the third day, we reach the Realm and I go in alone. Vanmoriel stays behind in her cottage; for some reason, she won’t enter the Realm…
An hour later, I am back at the castle and hugging Mother, Lothi, and Miri. Mother wastes no time and takes me to the Tree of Life… There she carefully gathers up an acorn from the special store and places it in a velvet pouch for me. I raise an eyebrow and she says, “Vanmoriel has suggested that you take it with you. If you have to use it, trust Vanmoriel on that, then it will be a noble sacrifice—you remember the growing song, right?” I nod, still confused. I know that now is not the time to ask, though.
After I carefully store the acorn in my purse, Mother goes to the great Oak and places her hands on the trunk. She sings another song…one about great sacrifices… Then she has me come and place my hands on the trunk, as well. She continues to sing and I feel the tree vibrate…and a large limb drops to the ground. Mother has me gather one end of the limb and she gathers the other; we walk back to the village—to a small hut. Mother talks to a man, he nods, we leave the limb with the man and we go back to the castle.
Mother takes me to a private room and says, “OK, Daughter, we have an hour or so to talk. I am sorry that I was not there for you when you had your first menstruation…or that I wasn’t there for you for the aftermath that I am sure you felt once you got to your Father’s fortress. Melinda did give you the potion that I taught her to make, correct? The one that protects you? I would have loved to have been there for you for your first heat, but, what you did was so much more important—one of the downsides of being royalty… You have to put your subjects before yourself at all times…”
I look at her and tilt my head… I ask, “Heat? Is that why I was so…insatiable…? It would have been nice to know that was coming… Does Father know…? I mean, I did my best to hide…my actions…from him… Are you saying I didn’t need to?” Mother giggles and says, “Great Tree, no! He has no idea… It is not something that you will go through every cycle, either. Now that you have gone through your first one…and satisfied the biological need, you will be more or less normal for the next year… The potion both kept you from getting pregnant, but tricked a part of your brain into believing that you are. That will reset your clock for a year… The potion works well, but only in conjunction with actual orgasms…and it takes several. Some Elven traits just can’t be tricked… But, tell me…did you enjoy it?”
I feel my face grow bright red and Mother giggles. She says, “Nelle! It is nothing to be ashamed of—we are connected with nature. And there is nothing more natural than the need to procreate—that the act that goes along with that is enjoyable is not our fault.” The heat from the blush in my face dissipates and I grin at Mother. I say, “Well, it was…very nice!”
There is a knock on the door and Mother goes to answer it. She barely opens the door and whispers to someone on the outside. She takes something from the person and closes the door. She returns with the most beautiful bow and arrow set that I have ever seen. She smiles at the glow in my eye and says, “This was made by our best bow-maker from the bough that the Great Oak sacrificed for you. It is infused with your magic…it will be like an extension of yourself. This is a great gift from both the bow-maker, who is retired, and the tree. Cherish it and use it well, Sweet Daughter.”
She comes and gives me a teary-eyed hug. Then she breaks it and says, “And now it is time for you to go meet with Vanmoriel again. I am not happy about this next stop that you must make, but Vanmoriel has convinced me that it is necessary. Then you will face an even worse enemy. Miri will accompany you and the three of you will buy the Elven Folk and Humanity some time—until we can fully defeat Drakyre… May the Goddesses be with you, Daughter-of-Mine!”
Miri and I leave the castle after saying our goodbyes to Mother and Aunt Lothi. We quickly make our way to the crossing point at the brook and then to Vanmoriel’s cottage. She is waiting for us—impatiently…
We start out immediately. After a couple of hours of walking, she looks at both of us and says, “OK, I need to know your skills with the bow…” She points at an impossibly small target almost a quarter mile away… She asks, “So…which of you can hit that…”
Miri and I both string our bows and nock an arrow… We let go at the same time…and both hit the small target dead center…both arrows, for all intents and purposes, in the same hole… Vanmoriel seems satisfied and we move on…
Several hours later, we are in the foothills of some mountain range. I look at Miri and she shrugs. Vanmoriel has been quiet the whole way… I decide to call her ‘Mori’…her name is just too long… She does not like it—but what do I care? I figure we will all be dead in a few days, anyways…
We stop for the night. Mori is quiet again—I think she is not sure how to interact with Miri… Miri and I giggle and are typical ‘teenagers’… Mori rolls her eyes and goes to bed… Miri and talk for a while and then go to sleep ourselves…
Mori is up first, closely followed by Miri… I feel like a late sleeper—even though I only get two and a half hours. I feel great, though, and get up to help with breakfast.
To my surprise, we head up into the mountains after we clean up from our breakfast. I look at Miri and she shrugs. Mori finally says, “We need a very specific product if we are to have any chance of stopping the flow of poison out of the outer realm… Now, be quiet…I would prefer we do not wake it until the very last minute…” I look at Miri again…she is obviously as confused as I am…
We are headed up a mountain with its peak well above us…the further we go, the more Mori urges us to be quiet. Finally, she stops us and quietly puts a ward on all three of us. I am not sure what it does, though. Mori then, finally, tells us what we are about to do, “The ward I just placed on you is tied to my energy; there is not much else I will be able to do at this point…it is a tremendous drain on me to maintain all three wards. It will not make you invisible to the dragon, but it will make you sort of sylph-like…transparent and misty to it.” I almost blurt out, but catch myself just in time, and ask in an urgent whisper, “DRAGON? What dragon?” Mori ignores me and says, “Miri, you will need to distract the dragon by shooting arrows at its head… Try not to kill it; that is not our purpose… So, do not aim for the eyes… Nelle, you will need to aim this special arrow at the base of the dragon’s tail while Miri is distracting it. The arrow is attached to this very fine, but very strong filament…made from the silk of a very special spider. Once you have the arrow in place, this special compartment will collect a pint of the dragon’s blood…and we will pull the arrow back to us. Then, it will be up to me to strengthen the wards to full invisibility to cover our retreat… Any questions?”
Miri and I both look at her like she has suddenly gone crazy… Mori says, “Move! I can’t maintain these wards forever. The dragon is in the cave. Miri, go draw him out and keep her attention while Nelle gets her blood!”
Miri looks at me…pale in the face. I shrug and say, “I guess you only die once.” I hug Miri and she squeezes me back…and we go to literally pester a dragon…
Miri sneaks up in front of the cave opening…but at least five thousand paces out. I climb up above the opening of the cave. I only hope the size of the opening is not an indicator of the size of the dragon… Miri fires a few blind arrows into the cave…and the ground under my feet shakes from the roar inside.
Having never seen a dragon, I am not really sure what to expect. Whatever it was I was expecting, it didn’t do reality justice. The creature that comes storming out of the cave is huge—almost as tall as the Tree of Life, itself. It is greenish-bronze color and at least five hundred paces long. It has a long, thin neck and a small head. Thankfully, it does not have working wings…nor does it seem to breathe fire—at least that was not its first reaction… But it is FAST!
Miri dodges and shoots arrows at its head… They bounce of the tough scales as if they are feathers hitting a steel plate. She is barely fast enough to stay out of the range of its razor-sharp claws. When it is sufficiently far enough out of its cave, I take aim at the soft spot at the base of its tail… There is a small spot that has less dense scales… I shoot and…miss…
Cursing the swiftness of the dragon, I reel in the arrow by its filament, nock the arrow, pull back on the string, breathe, and release it with a song… It hits the spot dead on and the dragon spins looking for what hit it. Miri plies it with arrows again and it spins around to face her again. I yank hard on the thread and the arrow dislodges itself from the beast. I reel it in again… The attached container is full of the dragon’s blood.
I send up the signal arrow and Mori intensifies our ward… We disappear from the dragon’s sight and run for our lives. When we are at a fairly safe distance, we stop and I give Mori several pieces of dried Moon Fruit. After ten minutes of total silence, she is recuperated enough that we can move on…
I say, “I hope I never have to fight a dragon again… Did you see the size of that thing?” Miri nods her head, wide-eyed, and agrees. Mori just says, “Just hope you never have to fight a full-grown one that can fly and spit fire… That was just a baby…"
Armed with the hard-won dragon blood, we start on our journey to the border of the Elven and Outer Realms. It would be much quicker to cut through the Elven Realm, but Mori insists that we skirt the Elven Realm—on the Human side—and cut up along the Elven/Outer Realm border on the Outer Realm side.
“What do you have against the Elven Realm, Mori,” I ask for the hundredth time. She responds the same way every time, “I just prefer not to go there…” So we walk just outside the golden veil in quiet for some time. Finally, I ask, “Mori, if that was a baby dragon—how big are full-grown ones?”
Mori laughs in her strange way and says, “Well, I may have been exaggerating a bit when I said that was a baby. Teenager is more like it, I guess. It won’t get much bigger, but its wings will now start growing and become functional and it will start eating the brimstone in the mountains, close to its lair, and learn to breathe fire. It does not take much brimstone for them to be able to breathe fire for several months…”
I shake my head and we keep moving. The detour we are taking will add three days to our journey, two of which will be in the Outer Realm. I grumble at the thought. We could cut through the safety of the Elven Realm and come out where we need to… I spend a lot of time practicing with my bow and arrows, or practicing charms and wards—especially my invisibility ward. The first time I do that, I almost give Miri a heart attack.
And so, we make it to our first camp site, about a half an hour’s walk from the Human/Outer Realm border. We will cross that dreaded line early in the morning, right after dawn. We eat a cold supper and talk about the plans for the next day. Mori prepares us a little for what we will likely encounter in the Outer Realm.
She tells us, “If we stick close to the golden veil, we should be fairly safe. Nelle, be prepared to cast a protective or invisibility ward over Miri and yourself at a moment’s notice. I will do the same. Invisibility wards will be of less value in the Outer Realm, since many Dark creatures there can see through them. Also, protective wards will have to be iron-solid—there are some nasty creatures over there. Drakyre has created some real horrors out of simple human beings…”
She has Miri and I barely dip the tips of our arrows in the dragon’s blood and says, “It does not take much, be sparing with it—unless you want to go back and visit the baby again.” When we are through, she inspects our work and says, “Good! OK, let’s bed down. We leave in three hours.”
I wake up two and a half hours later, refreshed. Miri and Mori are already up and bustling around. Miri hands me a plate of fruit and Mori gives me a few small pieces of cold bacon. Miri retches when she sees me eat it—I am getting more used to it. It only makes me want to throw up now—not violently throw up. Mori tells me it will take months to get to the point that I will only be slightly queasy…
We pack up our stuff and start the second leg of our journey. After thirty minutes, we pass into the Outer Realm. I am instantly on edge. After another thirty minutes of not seeing anything, though, I laugh to myself. Well, not much going on…not sure what I was worried about… Mori tells me to not get complacent and to stay vigilant—especially when it gets closer to being dark.
And so the day is very draining; always paying attention to every little movement and sound. We make good time, though—always about thirty minutes inside the border from the Elven Realm. Mori says, “There is a greater chance of running into something right by the veil. This is sort of a sweet spot—far enough away from the border, but not too deep inside the Realm…”
And then twilight settles in…and the sounds start picking up. Mori’s and my half-Elven eyes and ears are more sensitive in the dark than a full Human’s. Miri’s are even better. We are still all on edge—although, Mori is putting on a calm demeanor. Miri and I jump at every sound; Mori stays cool.
And so we keep moving for another hour. Then Mori comes to a sudden stop and motions for us to be quiet. She indicates that we should each nock an arrow… We had just done that when this horrible perversion of a Human comes out of the woods and comes straight at us--FAST!
Miri and I both let loose an arrow at the same time. Miri’s hits the creature in the heart. Mine hits it right between the eyes. Smoke comes out of the holes where the arrows are protruding. The creature takes several more steps and falls to the ground less than a hundred paces from us, writhing in pain. Then it is quiet.
Mori says, “Good work, girls. You just met your first vampire. It is actually good that it is a vampire; they usually hunt alone. If it had been a werewolf, we would have had a pack to contend with. If it had been a zombie…well…it would have been a small army…”
She takes us to the corpse and says, “Quickly. Take a good look. The dragon’s blood will quickly destroy the carcass. The vampire is a shriveled-up little body, hardly any muscle, at all. The skin is near black…not because the human’s skin was that color before, though…this is more unnatural—like charcoal-black. Instead of fingernails, there are long, very sharp claws. The mouth is full of razor-sharp teeth and the canines are elongated. I shudder as the corpse dissolves and turns to ash…leaving our two arrows on the ground. Miri and I pick up our arrows and we move on.
As we walk, Mori quietly tells us, “Vampires are actually vulnerable in either of the locations you shot. Typically, the head shot is better, though. Werewolves are more susceptible to a heart shot, just because it is harder to hit them between the eyes. Zombies, well, try and get them in the mouth. And be warned, if any of them bite you and you survive it, it will not be good. If you were a full human, you would convert to the same sort of creature that bit you—completely consumed by the darkness. Miri is most protected as a full Elf; but even then, she would not be able to fight off the effects of the darkness and would turn into a Dark Elf. Nelle, you would be worse off. I am not really sure what the exact outcome would be, but let’s not find out, OK? My unique situation actually provides me with the most protection—the thing is that it is rare for someone that is bitten to actually survive, at all. If any of those creatures get close enough and through your wards that it is able to bite you, then they will usually kill you. Drakyre controls the biter when he wants to create more of one type—ensuring that the victim lives…and becomes a dark soldier…”
I shudder as we go for another hour, without encountering anything else, before setting up camp. We eat another cold supper and take turns sleeping; one asleep, while two hold guard.
I get up from my sleep—I had been the last to sleep, since I need a little more than the other two. Miri tells me that she had to shoot another vampire while I was asleep. I shudder; glad that Mori had set up the guard rotations.
We eat a quick breakfast, pack up, and move on. As we are walking, Mori explains to me, “Nelle, I can actually sense the Dark-consumed individuals. They have a black spectrum that I can see. That is because of the darkness in me. You don’t have that capability…but what you can sense is the absence of the Light. At the base, these are Humans and you can sense them much better than a full Elf. That is why the Elves cannot determine if a Human has been touched. You can… You have to train yourself to look for that absence, though. It is like looking for a small hole in fabric. On our next encounter with a Dark One, practice—but make sure you don’t take too long before you kill it.”
I nod and we continue walking—again without any further incidents.
We reach our goal after another three hours. It is the exact spot where the crest of the poisonous stream is flowing from the Outer Realm into the Elven Realm.
Mori looks at me and says, “Nelle, I need you to plant your acorn right on the border right there. It is important that its tree grows equally on both side of the border. Then I need you to sing it into a full grown tree. Elves and Elven magic send up a huge flare in this realm. I have been maintaining a charm on Miri this whole time. You and I are only a dim blip, since we are only half-Elves. Me even less so, since I have so much Darkness in me. The point is, that is why WE had to do this. But, once you start singing, and I lift my charm from Miri, a huge flare is going to go off. I doubt it will be sufficient to warrant Drakyre’s attention. In fact, I am banking on that. But, there will likely be a response by a squad of nasties to see what is going on. Again, I am banking on that.”
She takes a breath and continues, “Miri, as soon as the tree is big enough, I want to get up in the lower branches. I will be in the highest branches, helping Nelle maintain a protective ward while she sings. You and are I will be the bait, once the nasties figure out they can’t get to Nelle. They will attempt to climb the tree to get to us. It is important that you kill as many as you can at the tree’s base—or on the tree trunk itself, without them getting to us. I won’t be able to maintain the ward on Nelle, do what I need to do, and protects us, too. Our fate is in your hands. Understood?”
Miri pales, but nods.
Mori nods at me and I take a deep breath. I straddle the borderline, half of me in the Elven Realm, half of me in the Outer Realm—something that only a half-Elf, half-Human can do for extended periods of time. I dig a small hole and carefully place the precious acorn into the hole.
I nod to Mori and Miri. Mori nods back and, still straddling the line, I start singing…
As I sing, the little precious acorn starts sprouting. I continue singing and the little sprout grows…and grows…and grows. After a few minutes, the sprout is a sapling…then a small tree…then it is almost big enough to start climbing.
I sing for almost twenty minutes…sending up huge magic flares. I am surprised that none of the baddies have shown up, yet. Then I realize that, somehow, Mori is dampening the magical ‘flares’. I take a intermittent sips of water to cool my burning throat and continue singing…and singing…and singing…
Then, the tree is big enough to get into; Miri and Mori get in it and ride it upward as it continues to grow. Suddenly, Mori drops the flare dampening ward and strengthens the protective ward around me…and I make the mistake of looking up at the horizon…
A pack of the ugliest looking ‘wolves’ I have ever seen is fast approaching. Well, now I know what werewolves look like. I hope Mori can keep me protected… I stand my ground and continue singing…
The wolves come straight at me…and run into Mori’s protective ward surrounding me. They fight it for several minutes and then give up and turn towards the tree. It is now about half the size of the Tree of Life…
I look around again, never faltering with my singing—in spite of being on the verge of losing my voice—and see a band of vampires coming. So much for them being loners… That must mean that Drakyre himself is controlling them…
Then…I see the zombies…hundreds of them…coming in a huge wave… The only saving grace is that they are slow…
The tree is now almost as big as the Tree of Life. Mori is high up in the top-most branches. Miri is lower—shooting arrow after arrow—killing wolf after vampire after wolf…
Then the first zombies arrive. Miri keeps shooting—she has to be coming close to running out of arrows—even though we had prepared hundreds with dragon’s blood… There is a huge pile of dead wolves, vampires, and zombies at the base of the tree. Baddies are starting to both climb the tree and the pile of bodies…getting closer and closer to Miri—like blocks piling up in a Tetris game.
Then the tree stops growing up…and starts growing out; it has reached full maturity…
Mori drops my defensive ward and places an iron-clad defensive ward on Miri as I quit singing. I put up my own wards as Mori starts chanting… She has a pitch black aura developing on one half of her—almost like it is sucking up all of the light. She has a bright light surrounding the other half of her—almost like she is the sun itself…
The black aura descends on the Elven side of the tree. The light aura surrounds the Outer Realm side of the tree. Mori pours the remainder of the dragon’s blood onto the tree and it flows down the trunk…consuming the baddies on the light side…melting them and melding them into the tree itself…
There is a huge BANG and the tree stands there…strangely misshapen… Mori and Miri are still in the branches—there are no baddies to be seen. They were all consumed by the tree…
Mori and Miri climb down and Miri pushes me fully into the Elven Realm—followed closely by Miri.
I look at Mori and ask in a very hoarse voice, “What just happened? Where did all of Drakyre’s…minions go? What happened to my beautiful tree…it is…UGLY now… And, I didn’t think you would come into the Elven Realm…”
Mori is pale and shaking. She does not say a word until she has had a hand full of moon fruit. She gives me a couple of pieces, as well, and my voice is almost immediately restored. She washes down the dried fruit with some wine from a pouch and slumps against a tree.
After several minutes, she says, “I have created an abomination with your help. The tree that stands on the border of both Realms is like me now—a creature of equal Dark and Light. It can only survive on the border of both Realms…and feeds off of Dark energy from the ground and Light from above… By melding the Dark creatures into it as it finished maturing, I set its feeding pattern. Its roots run deep and strong, thanks to your miraculous singing, and reach deep down to the poisonous flow streaming below it. It will drink deeply of that flow and thrive…stemming the flow into the Elven Realm…and allowing the Tree of Life to recuperate.”
She takes another dried moon fruit and soaks it in wine. She continues, “I have nothing against coming to the Elven Realm… It is half mine—just the same as it is for you. We took the long journey we did to prepare you for what was…and IS…to come. You needed exposure to Darklings…to learn to sense them…to learn how to fight them. Did you practice sensing them while I had you protected?”
I roll my eyes and say, “Well, it is not like I wasn’t busy trying to grow a tree… But, yes, I could sense the shadow-aura. Similar to yours…but different.”
Mori nods and says, “Very good. Remember that… Now come, we have a several hour walk to get back to the Tree of Life. Your Mother will be waiting there for us…”
“Mother!” I run into her arms and hug her. I am still not completely used to being a girl, but these touchy-feely freedoms—the ability to engage in (and the social acceptance of) public displays of affection—feel really good.
Mother hugs me back and smiles at me…then at Mori and Miri. She says, “You have all done well! VERY well! The Tree is already reviving… It will take several weeks to fully recuperate, but it will make a full recovery—if it is not disturbed again.”
Mori says, “Not even Drakyre can destroy the Protective Tree. It is itself protected by divided magic, like my own… Drakyre cannot overcome that kind of magic since he only has Dark powers at his disposal. It takes blended Dark AND Light powers to overpower that kind of magic.”
Mother nods and says, “Good! Very good! We must rest… Tomorrow is a busy day. I must prepare you to take over the Queendom, Nelle. I have to go be with your Father to start mending relations from the Human side… You will do the same from here…as Queen… It is time for me to step down.”
Everything goes dark as I fall to the ground—exhausted…and totally shocked out of my mind…