Chapter 2 The Elves

"Whatever you do, don't anger him. Don't even touch him. We don't know who he is or how he thinks. I fear we may be doomed the moment he wakes."

I heard the old man's voice again. I still felt as though I was in a stupor. Gathering my energy to wake my body.

"A human, of all beings to come into contact with the potion of Rage. This couldn't be worse."

The old man continued.

The voice that followed was beautiful.

"Humans may be the worst-case scenario to inherit the power of the potion but, this one looks different. I've never seen clothing like this. Have you?"

Neither high nor low pitched. Perfect sound in the middle of the spectrum. I felt a tug on the collar of my polo shirt.

"Don't touch him, I said!"

The old man yelled and sounded angry.

"I wanted to feel the fabric. It's familiar but the method and design are nothing like what we have here. Besides, do you really think I would be here if I was that afraid of death?"

She speaks like an angel, but why would they be afraid? And, why is she not?

My energy felt returned to me.

"Jeeze, cant anyone get some shuteye around here?"

I teased.

"Back away guard! He is already getting angry. I told you not to get close!"

The old man bellowed.

"Relax, man. Ever heard of sarcasm?"

I responded casually. My eyes opened and saw the short grumpy old man in a green robe. His brow, wrinkled. A long and unkempt beard of dark grey. He was balding but still had half of his hair. Then I remembered the ears. I focused on his ears. Sure enough, they were pointy.

I pressed down with both hands to push my body up off the floor and managed to stand up with little effort.

"Aren't you too old to be playing the role of an elf?"

A prod for information and an immediate response.

"I 'am' an elf, you human oaf!"

"Okay, okay. You're an elf. Calm down, don't have a heart attack."

Then I remembered the image of the female voice had yet to be seen. I paned my vision to the right and caught a glimpse of something shiny in my peripherals behind me. A skinny female in armor pointing a spear at me.

Intricate designs were all over the metal plates that made up the armor. The rest was tan leather and green cloth. She must be over six feet tall. A helmet blocked my view of her hair. What little was sticking out around her face was of a pure blonde color. Her eyes were almost glowing bright blue, even in the shadows.

"I promise not to cause trouble. I have no weapons to speak of. You don't need to point a spear at me."

I said in as calm a voice as possible to avoid any confrontation from her.

"Says the human who came for the potion of Rage."

I raised an eyebrow.

"The what of what?"

"Don't try to fool me. You came here to gain the power of the potion of Rage. Our people have protected it for over 1300 years. I can't believe you managed to get past our advance scouts."

Something she said piqued my interest.

"Here?"

I murmured to myself.

"What did you say?"

"How did I get here? Where am I? And who are you?"

She chuckled.

"I suppose, you don't even know who you are? I don't buy it."

It was my turn to chuckle.

"No. Sorry, that 'was' a cliché amnesia question. I do know who I am and where I'm from. My problem is just 'where' I am. I somehow fell from the sky but, I don't know how I got there. I was leaving my house and fell. The next thing I knew was that I was falling and I did not expect to survive."

As I finished that sentence I recalled all the pain I went through. The tree, the landing, the breaking of limbs. I felt fine though. I browsed my body. There was a lot of blood. I saw no breakages or cuts, nor did I feel any pain at all. My clothes were in tatters. Evidence that my imagination was not simply in overdrive. It actually happened.

I looked up. I fell from so high.

"How... am I alive?"

I heard the clang of metal tap the ground behind me.

"Such a pure look and a genuinely curious question. I believe you."

I brought my gaze back down to look at her. Her spear tip now touching the ground.

"Do not believe him! He must be a spy or assassin!"

Grouched the old man.

I heard footsteps. Many footsteps. Guards, half a dozen or so, waltzed into the room and immediately surrounded me. They were dressed like the female guard and pointed their spears at me in unison.

"Do not attack!"

Both the female guard and the old man shouted at the same moment.

"I thought you didn't like me, old man. Why are you defending me?"

The female guard spoke up.

"The potion of Rage spilled all over your mutilated body..."

She was interrupted by the old man.

"Do not say anything. If he truly is ignorant of his situation, we must keep it that way. Guards, take him somewhere free of meddlers."

One of the guards spoke up.

"The prison?"

The old man thought for a second.

"No, that is too close to the center of the village. Somewhere on the outskirts. A villa of a noble? Ah! Take him to the house of Lethroh. Tell sir Lethroh that he is a guest of the Elders, awaiting a summons."

The guard looked confused.

"Sir? Isn't that..."

"Do as I say, there are reasons for my decision."

Before he could finish his sentence, the female guard waded through the others and took possession of my right upper arm. I was guided through many hallways and downward stairwells. The female guard never let go and the others were in tow. It was a silent walk. Almost like a death row walk, I thought. Where was my final destination?

We made it to a doorway with daylight peeking through. As we exited, I noticed that there seemed to be no path. No walkway nor any decorations of any kind on the outside of the structure that we just left. The old man was the last one out. He turned around, almost as if to close a door but I saw none. I couldn't see what he was doing. To my surprise, the doorway was gone. The moss-covered cobblestone wall was all I could see. Again the old man did something else, this time the entire structure was, for lack of a better word, invisible.

"Are you a Magician?"

I asked.

He ignored me and we made our way through the forest. I couldn't tell what direction we were facing.

I figured, they knew the way so, I let them lead.

At last, we found a path. I looked behind me. Somehow, all of the elves left no trace of themselves behind. I could see my path quite clearly. One of the guards fell behind. Was he clearing the path that I left in my wake? I have a feeling that I was just removed from a very important and hidden place. I heard a loud whistle. Several horses and a horse-drawn open carriage began trotting up to us from the other side of the path. Also a hidden area?

The old man mounted a full-size horse with ease. He is not as feeble as he looked. Without words, the old man was off and I was placed on the open carriage. Four guards had their own horses, and the other two sat up front to guide the carriage. I was left with the female guard. We were off.

"He isn't."

I looked at the female guard.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Her eyes stared straight into mine. Like daggers but gentle somehow.

"He is no Magician. That is a title held by the most esteemed Magecrafters."

"What is a Magecrafter?"

She gave a gentle laugh.

"You really aren't from here. You would know if you were. Even humans are not that ignorant of their past. What little humans are left, anyway. What would you call that? What Barrow just did?"

"Uh, Barrow?"

She smiled.

"Yes, Barrow is the old elf in the robes."

That made more sense.

"I see, if you are referring to the stone building disappearing, then I would call that magic."

"Magic huh? That's funny. We haven't had magic here in several thousands of years. It is a lost practice. It went extinct when the final Magician had used up all magic left in the world. He did it to send an evil sorcerer who had drank the potion of Rage, into another dimension."

"That sounds... unfortunate. What was that back there, if not magic?"

I wanted to ask about the potion but, I didn't want to get her into trouble with Barrow. She seems nice.

"That was the leftover remnants of magic. Like a memory. When magic was used many times for the exact same purpose, it created a memory. That memory can be recalled. That building is older than any elf left in our race so, the magic memory is strong in that spot. There are not many places left in the world where magic memory is that strong. We call it Will of Memory, or WoM for short. Barrow's ancestors passed down the method for opening that door and as long as he knows the method and wills the building to do his bidding, the WoM does the rest. His daughter will inherit the method someday."

She was slouching a bit at that point but, she suddenly sat up with vigor and alarm.

"I just realized, we don't know each other's names. I'm Estheria."

"A pleasure. I'm Lake."

One of the guards at the front of the carriage spoke up.

"Why are you exchanging pleasantries with a human, Esther? Not only did he not understand half of what you said, but he is also probably only thinking of one thing. How to kill us and get away. Savages."

Estheria made the first angry face I've seen from her.

"Do not call me Esther! You know I hate that. Do you want to be stationed by the sewer entrance, again?"

"Again?"

I chuckled. At that, I heard a ruckus of birds behind me. All the guards looked in the same direction.

"I hope that's not one of those damn, black cats hunting in our forest. It's getting old."

One of the guards muttered. Esther prompted the guards to continue our trek.

"Anyways, If you were listening to our conversation, dummy, you would have noticed that this human is different."

I looked back at her.

"He is polite and more civilized than the clods we are used to."

The guard grunted. It seems like he decided to let the spite in her voice go.

"I appreciate you sticking up for me but, what is it that the other humans do that causes so much hatred? Am I really that unique in my behavior?"

She reached over and gently began dragging her fingertips across the back of my hand.

"Did that bother you?"

"Not at all. Why be bothered by a soft touch?"

She smiled again at me.

"That alone is proof that you are different. The humans we know would be repulsed by a simple touch like that from an Elf. They hate anything that is not human or human-made. They treat the world like it is theirs by right and anyone who says different, should die."

I almost couldn't believe that my own kind is so narrow-minded, almost.

"Unfortunately, I'm not really surprised by this. Where I'm from, there are those who would share the same view as the humans here, I'm sure. There are, also, those who would be saints next to the best of you in this world, I'm also sure. I happen to be in the middle. I'm far from a saint but nowhere close to a devil."

She gave me one last faint smile.

"I am glad for that. This world may yet survive."

Those words bothered me. Why would it matter who I am in comparison to the survival of the world? I could make out buildings in the distance now. Tan cobblestone lined with vibrant green vines. The mountain I saw, before I started my landing in the large tree. It is lined with these elf housings. Hundreds of them.

We came around a corner of the path we were on. Many more elvish buildings came into view. The foot of the mountain was filled with them. The four guards on horseback split away from the group.

"I'm sorry, Lake. But, I must take the lead from here. Maybe we will talk again another time."

A guard on foot, guiding a horse by the reigns came close to the carriage. Estheria grabbed the reigns and mounted the horse right from the carriage. She raced to the front to lead. Just as I thought I might get to see more of this village, we turned another corner. The village slowly disappeared from view.

Every so often, I spotted a path to one side or the other. Occasionally, I could see large buildings at the end of one of the paths, but most of them curved out of view.

"What do these paths lead to?"

I tried asking the guards at the front of the carriage.

"Shut it human. I don't care what you have to say."

I guess I'll just keep my thoughts to myself. Nothing new. I was quiet, more often than not in my homeworld. One of the paths ahead had two guards stationed at the entrance. Was that to be my destination? We made the turn between the two guards. The path was not long, just long enough to be hidden behind trees. A mansion of sorts. Large homes for the rich, was my best guess for the paths along the road we took.

There were three elves. Two were a man and a woman. They were lavishly dressed in vibrant colors and frills beyond what is comfortable. The third was a girl, standing behind the other two. She was bowing her head. She had no special clothing on, just a simple plain dress. A daughter maybe?

The carriage came to a halt in the round-about at the front of the large dwelling.

"Get out human."

The two guards scowled at me, not that it bothered me.

"So rude to a guest of the Elders. You two should leave my property at once, before I..."

One guard hopped off and grabbed his spear before his feet touched the ground. He pointed the spear at the male elf.

"Or what? You no longer hold sway with the Elders, traitor."

The smaller plain elf looked a bit worried, but the dressed female leaped forward with elegance and quick stride.

"Let us not make the air of our surroundings unpleasant."

She touched her index finger to her lips in a manner of seduction.

"You must have other work to do, do you not?"

Elegant and alluring. I'm sure she could wile her way into any man's bed that she could want. Maybe that's part of why they seem to be at odds with the authorities here.

"Stay away from me. Your charms can't work on those who are wary of you."

At that, the guard's spear was back in the carriage and so was he. At a moment's notice, the guards were gone. The dressed man strode up to me.

"Well, I do apologize for that nasty business. You see, my wife and I are under house arrest. We have been framed with very serious crimes. We are considered 'Untrustworthy' and we are to await a trial. 'Tis a bit uncouth of me to introduce ourselves as potential criminals. However, I dislike the idea, that a guest of ours has to wonder what has caused such a ruckus without explanation. I am Rahmik Lethroh. This is my wife, Y'gdrim."

The woman reached out and grabbed my hand.

"Such a pleasure to meet you."

She bit her lower lip seductively as her eyes met with mine. Rahmik put his hand on her shoulder.

"Y'gdrim, do keep your undergarments on. He is a guest of the Elders, not ours."

In response, her cheeks flushed red and she backed away quickly while looking down.

"A pleasure to meet the both of you."

I gave a full bow at the waist.

"I'm not too familiar with elves being polite, I was under the impression that humans were hated by most, if not all. Not that I am complaining, but why are you and your wife not hostile toward me, Sir Rahmik?"

Rahmik gave a wave of his hand.

"Please, just call me Mik. No need to be formal. As to why we are so courteous to a human guest, the Elders seldom have anyone they would consider a guest. You must have the highest status among the elven kingdom, below that of the Elders themselves."

I scratched my head.

"To be honest, I still don't understand why."

Mik gave me a look as though he was asking me if I were serious.

"No matter. Let us abandon the outside world and retreat into my personal abode where we can replace those tattered things you call, clothes."

I was instantly embarrassed. I was trying to act as formally as possible while wearing shredded, blood-covered clothing. I must look like a bum.

As my embarrassment washed over me, I could see some of the green trees around me fade into a more tan color.

"Is that normal?"

I asked as I pointed at some of the now tan and almost dead-looking trees. Mik spotted the trees. He said nothing but his face was furious. He gracefully strode over to the small plain elf and slapped her, hard.

"How dare you kill those trees. You need to water all of them, not just some. Stupid girl."

He wandered over to the entrance to his house and opened the wooden door.

"Let us depart this... deplorable mood."

He did not wait for anyone and entered as though the rest could follow if they wanted. Y'gdrim walked over to the door and turned to me.

"Come, come. Let me get a bath started for you."

I walked a straight line over to the small elf who was still on the ground. Her hand still on her face, caressing where she was hit. I could see a tear forming in one eye. I reached out a hand. She backed away.

"I won't hurt you. I don't feel you deserved what he did to you."

I whispered to her. She cautiously took my hand and I helped her up to her feet. Y'gdrim spoke up.

"Don't worry about her, she is no one special."

She was actually quite pretty, up close. Jet black hair, down to her shoulders and trimmed quite neatly. Her eyes, almost as black as her hair.

"Pretty."

I accidentally muttered aloud. She heard me. She blushed and bowed in a hurry, then left.