A friend

He was now standing close enough that I could clearly hear him.

'No of course not, come join me.' He spoke politely, his arrogant tone was nonexistent this time.

I looked over at his little camp, it was just a small fire and a copper jug of water.

'Sure.' But I hesitated, still not sure whether or not I trusted him. All I knew was that I needed to keep alert.

'Didn't you say you we're going to the city?' I made sure to say casually. It was then that I noticed he had specs of blood on his white shirt. His velvet cloak also looked dissimilar from this morning, it was dirty and the fabric seemed worn out.

'I did.' He sat back at the same spot and laid against the tree bark. I instead sat crossed legged away from him but near the fire camp, just so I can warm my hands over it. I also made sure to keep my walking stick right by my side.

'So it must be close ?' I raised my eyebrows, slightly shocked I yet haven't reached it.

'Not from here. It was from where we parted ways.'

He must be talking about the other side of the forest .

'You must have figured the gluttony.' His intimidating cold eyes looked over to me.

'Somewhat.' I didn't feel the need to explain myself,

'But I didn't think leaving it would take one further way from the city.'

'Yes, this is the final part of the city's forest. Going beyond here will take you to the mountains. Then beyond it you'll find other city's' He remarked slightly snarly.

'Then this place is the capital? is there some sort of monarchy ?' I wondered, perhaps this place yet wasn't as developed as back home.

He bowed his head down, revealing a scalp of hair that was almost as translucent as his pale skin and then laughed before giving me an answer.

'You are the monarchy.'

I was perplexed and confused.

'Surely the ruler is not human?' After all we cross over here accidentally.

'No, the ruler is the starlight Elf. Your kind decided that they deserved the highest rank around here so they naturally became the rulers. The higher the rank the more control they have over their consciousness.'

'But how were we able to choose so?' Was what he was saying even possible.

'The oldest species in these lands is the centaurs.. the first human to come here subconsciously created them, from there the city only grew more.. with every human visit. The centaurs naturally lost that hierarchy along the way, since they had less of a consciousness like the others who joined had. The more consciousness the human who subconsciously created them grants them the higher their rank.'

'So where do your kind rank?'

'Well, we're under the Elfs.' He sounded unimpressed.

'And then?..'

'Then the ghost spirits, wizards and witches, centaurs and ogres and the animals that do not talk.' He reached over to the copper mug.

'What about the humans, how many of us are there?'

'Your kind is not rankable, you have no limit to how much your able to control your consciousness.. it depends. So far I'd say you fit in alongside my kind.' He then jugged from the copper mug chaotically. Spilling water from the the corners of his mouth callously as he tilted the mug further forward.

So he's implying I have as much consciousness as he does. The human who created the starlight Elfs must had given them immeasurable state of awareness for them to be in an even higher state of consciousness.

'Then what exactly makes the Elf different from everyone here.'

'Well you asked about rulers and they're the only one who can ever rule wherever you go to, they're the ones with the palaces and the richest. That's what makes them different. Like I said your kind decided they were most fit to rule, so they'll continue to do so, unless something changes, though their state of consciousness is almost impossible to overtake.. or .. is found.'

'Is found?' I grimaced.

'Like a .. key.' He said the last word especially carefully and clearly.

'What use is a key?' I unintentionally said a little to mockingly.

'What use?' He echoed then laughed the same eerie laugh I heard earlier this morning.

'This key will give every living thing along these lands the same state of rank and consciousness as the Elf, everyone can rule and so be rich if this key is ever found.'

'Isn't that how it should be, to be equals.' perhaps my perspective was irrational but I believed in justice.

'And ensue war? Everyone if they could would want to rule the world.' He said with a half suppressed chuckle.

'So what.' I challenged '.. that way the Elf could reign in a separate land to your kind, so each will have their own country and way of reign.' I thought about the society I lived in that they could mimic.

'You think the ogres haven't already tried that, they hate how powerless they are. They built a complete city once with even a palace of their own so they could have their own reign. They woke up the next day and had found it gone as if it never even existed. So they tried again, the same thing happened.. everything they built.. was gone. So they tried again, and it happened again, the city they built from scratch was yet again gone. Your kind made this place so that it was unchangable. No one can alter it, you can't change anything other than what is already provided.' His jaw muscles became prominent from how hard he clenched his teeth... 'So even if we all became of the same rank, only one kind could reign amongst the rest. And no doubt will there be a war of who does.'

I could tell he didn't like the hierarchy, I could tell he was angry at my kind and I could tell he wanted change.

'So has no one tried to overtake the Elf forcibley.' I asked.

'They can't. Even if they have thought of it their consciousness knows where it stands and prevents them from ever acting it out. Like I said, the Elf have been given absolute power.' He looked over at me smiling. I could tell it was passive aggressive.