Alni Page 7

  They became human, starting a new race. One with bitterness and hate. One that began to yearn for the very power the elves had..that they once had, as well. They created weapons and formed villages, numbers growing with each passing year. They began attacking the elves, fearing them for the power they possessed. The dragons kept out of it, living in solitude as they continued the work that the magic of Desin commanded of them. They created mountains and oceans, brought life to the most desolate of areas. But they did not help restore order between elves and humans.

  So, the elves took part in a ritual. They combined their power, draining it into one stone. The Stone of Dragons. With the blood of the dragons and the magic of Desin in their veins, the elven leaders were able to use their power to control the dragons, to use that power to push the humans back into submission and take order. The combined magic created a being known only as the Mystic Dragon. A powerful force that was within the stone, calling to the dragons like it was their King.

  Such power and evil did not come without a price. Although the elves aged slowly and their bodies remained strong, that final spell took their magic from them. It was put back into Desin, hidden away from the sins that had been done against it; the punishment for those who tried to use the magic for power instead of healing and peace, as they had been commanded.

  Once again, the dragons are being used. A war is upon us and, this time, the elves will not stop until every last human is destroyed. The King really does believe that cleansing Desin of their betrayal of custom will bring back the magic and purify the lands. Although those under his control do not agree, one has no say when at the mercy of dragons. No one can touch him, no one can harm him. His eyes are everywhere, nestled in the darkness of the forest, seeing through the eyes of his pawns. Even with the stone incomplete, he can control enough of the beasts to get the power he seeks while he searches for the other shard. The stone calls to its missing brother, needs it to become whole.

  When the winter winds die down, he will attack. I fear he will not stop there, the forests tell me he will come for the humans, then he will attack and conquer the mountains and dwarves. He will slay the fairies and drain them of the little magic they possess, they will search far and wide until he uses the dragon’s own power to destroy the dragons themselves.

  The elves are not evil, no, but when faced with fear and death, when faced with a leader who promises a great many things in exchange for blind trust, horrid things can happen. He weaves stories with his calm words, instilling comfort in his people while he plots to murder countless others. They will do nothing because, as history has shown, some may stand against the darkness, but in the end the masses will watch it go by. They will comment only after the destruction has been done, and yet nothing changes. Then it is on to the next war. Until it is brother against brother and our world is no more.

  However, if the few that stand against the darkness succeed, that is all it will take to end this evil before it is able to fully take hold. Take heed to my words and story, know they are truth.

  ~

  Alni awoke the following morning to the glare of the sun above. He sat up, alarmed for a moment as the night before slowly came into focus. They had been listening to the story…the Man in the Tree. Had he been real? Was he still drinking mead at the tavern in Vayhlbrook?

  There was the smell of meat cooking and the roar of a fire near him and Alni looked over, catching sight of Dora standing beside the fire. He half expected her to be long gone by the time he woke and was surprised that she had decided to remain. But where was the Man in the Tree? The bag he had carried with him did not remain, nor did any other signs he had ever been there in the first place.

  “What’s that you're cooking?”

  Alni ran his hands through his red hair before reaching for his maroon cap on the floor near him, pulling it down over his ears as he approached Dora and the fire.

  “I found some berries over in a clearing and I caught a rabbit.”

  “Was it a rabbit you borrowed from the dragons?” He asked, taking a seat and extending his hands, warming them near the flames.

  The morning air had become colder and colder as of late. Soon enough, snow would cover the forest floor around them and turn Nevina into a wonderland of glistening ice.

  “Not a great way to start the morning,” she sighed, a small twitch at the outside of her lips.

  He didn’t press it further, deciding it was better not to push while she was in charge of the food. It wasn’t like he had anything better to offer up to her and already his stomach was demanding he feed it.

  They had a quiet breakfast and Alni started them off in the right direction, thankful their detour had taken them even closer to the route to Glade, a large city on the outskirts of the Elven lands. It was just far enough from the castle to stay out of harm’s way and just loyal enough to the King to ensure that was the case. It was one of the largest trading villages and if ever there were a place to start over? That was the one.

  Alni remembered his parents telling him stories of Glade before they died; of growing up there and experiencing the wonders of a town just on the outskirts of old customs and yet in the throngs of modernity. It was where his father had met his mother, where he claimed to be the first elf to ever take a human as wife. A thought that, at that time and even now, was considered a disgusting dishonor.

  Now, he was running towards their beginning in an attempt to escape their memory; of all the dark memories associated with home.

  They had been walking for a good twenty minutes before Alni broke the silence. He had never been good with it, always assuming that silence meant the other party was uninterested or something was wrong. Which could have very well been the case here, but his curiosity over her story and what they might run into drove him onward.

  “Tell me more about yourself, Dora.”

  “If possible, I will need to stop in Swordstale Village on the way to Glade. A friend of my family owns an inn, can you lead us there as well?”

  She looked over to him, her short black hair was messy and unkempt, spiking out around her face. Her lips were full and red, icy gusts of air escaping in puffs. She looked beautiful, cold, and small, as they walked along the pathway. Nothing like the sneering, angry girl in the wanted poster.

  “That’s not an issue, it’s also not something about yourself,” he stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking at the cloak wrapped around her. Although it seemed to dwarf her small body, he wondered how warm it truly was.

  Thankfully, the sun started to shine down on them, finding a break in the clouds.

  A smile broke across Dora’s face, eyes lifting to the sky and closing for a moment as she seemed to relish the warmth on her face. Alni paused and watched her, perplexed by her beauty and the situation they had found themselves in.

  “I am an only child,” Dora said, the smile never fading as her golden eyes opened and looked over to Alni, starting to walk once again.

  “Progress,” he laughed, continuing on, one hand leaving his pocket to push a stray branch out of their way as he ducked beneath it.

  The path was becoming overgrown, clearly not as well traveled as the others they had encountered. For a moment, Alni felt concerned they had taken a wrong turn, grabbing for the map at his side. His fingers stopped, a humming in front of him catching him by surprise.

  It was a small woman, no larger than his index finger. Her wings spread beyond her body, beating the air so fast he could could only see the blur. She leaned forward in the air, one small finger touching Alni’s nose as his eyes crossed and refocused on the small fairy. She smiled- small, pointed teeth shining as she lifted her free hand to her curled, auburn hair.

  “Guests…it has been quite some time since we’ve had guests…”

  Chapter Ten

  Dora came from out of nowhere, hand batting the air in front of Alni violently and blowing the small fairy towards a nearby bush.

  “Ignore them, Alni. Fairies are no good and I�
��m sure you know it.”

  Alni, however, had never quite been introduced to the small creatures, only having heard stories of their mischief and the good they did for the forest. That was when he noticed the others around them- small, shimmering orbs that balanced on tree branches and hovered above bright flowers.

  “Beautiful…amazing,” Alni murmured, eyes widening as the one that had been knocked away by Dora’s hand jumped back out once more.

  She flew from the bush, adjusting a sack upon her small hip before glaring daggers at the two of them. Although all the orbed fairies looked humanistic, there was something sinister in their faces, illuminated by the sight of their sharp, little teeth.

  “They are not beautiful, nor are they amazing. Let’s get out of here while they take care of the cleanup.”

  Dora’s hand jumped back and grabbed his mid arm, walking with a ferocity down the path. Behind them, there was a buzzing, bright lights darting forward on either side of the two travelers as the fairies followed them along.

  “The cleanup?” Alni inquired, looking down at her hand on his arm, amused.

  It seemed this elven thief was apprehensive of a great many things and traveling with him brought them all out into the light.

  She glanced over her shoulder at him, one thin eyebrow quirked up as she spoke.

  “The fairies groom the flowers and bushes of dead branches and rot every evening. There are billions in the world, and they all care for Desin and do as the magic demands. They repair the damages we have invoked by our existence. At one point, it was the elves’ duty to do such things but…priorities shifted.”

  Her voice was monotone, controlled and calm as she looked to the trail ahead. Suddenly, her face made contact with a small fairy, the body of which had been hovering close to the traveling duo.

  The fairy staggered back in the air a moment before darting toward Alni’s face. She stopped before him, leaning forward as she observed him closely. Once Alni’s eyes adjusted to the bright light she emitted, he saw her long dark hair and the green skirt of leaves adorning her tiny body. Her face was sharp-featured, wings far larger than the rest of her. There was one daisy woven into the side of her makeshift dress, looking too large for her to possibly fly around with it for long. Alni knew nothing of the strength or power of these tiny magical creatures.

  The fairy emitted a high-pitched giggle and pointed at Dora, her voice so hard to hear that Alni had to lean towards her to listen, in doing so almost brushing against her small body. She met his lean, small hands touching his ears as she spoke.

  “We know about that girl, she is a dangerous one, be careful of her,” the small fairy whispered, her body angled towards Dora in preparation of a swat after seeing what she had done to her friend.

  “Overgrown ant,” Dora murmured under her breath, eyes narrowing as she fixed them on the fairy, her long ears twitching at the malicious words.

  “Yes, milady, or milord, it is so hard to tell with you. I am sorry for offending,” the fairy retorted, one hand winding around a strand of her long brown hair, absentmindedly twisting it about her finger.

  “Watch it or I’ll knock you into the trees like I did the other one. Maybe take your wings off,” Dora said, hand tugging on Alni’s arm as she tried to urge him forward.

  “Please, oh handsome one, save my beautiful wings! The evil witch shall beat me!”

  The fairy moaned, hands on either side of her cheeks as she fell from the air by Alni’s ear and rested on his shoulder. One hand rose and stroked his ear slowly, eyes that had been closed in faux shock looked up to him.

  “I am Rose. Be wary of your travel partner, she is nothing but trouble from what we’re told. A powerful man like you shouldn’t travel with the likes of her. If ever your girlfriend and you should part, you know where to find me.”

  “Not my…” but Dora stopped, one hand rising to press against her forehead, as if to rid herself of a headache that threatened to take over, “Whatever the case, begone, fly.”

  Her hands shooed the air near her and Rose lifted up on Alni’s shoulder. In a small puff of powder, her butterfly wings hit the air and she headed away from the two travelers. The others in the immediate area followed suit, disappearing from the trail they followed and leaving them be.

  “I kind of liked her,” Alni said, a smile crossing his face as Dora let go of his arm and fell into step next to him.

  “I don’t know much about you but I imagine they are your kind of folk. Let’s pick up the pace.”

  “Demanding, aren’t you?” Alni teased, but he sped up, long legs easily doubling her steps through the bright woods.

  “So, I told you a bit about myself earlier, now you can do me the same, I’m sure. How did you know the dragon? Or that…man from last night.”

  She seemed hesitant to ask it, body slowing slightly as she stuffed both her hands into the pockets of her cloak. Alni wondered what hid in the many pockets, as she did not carry a pack like he did. He supposed her knife provided enough of a weapon to obtain food, so what else did she need if her home was the forest?

  “I had run into a pack of boys that did not care for me,” Alni responded.

  He lifted a hand to pull down the top of his tunic, pointing at the yellow bruise at his collar bone. One of the last wounds to finally finish healing and where the boar had kicked him viciously during their scuffle.

  “She scared them off and gave me a place to sleep. I don’t know if she’s following me or if my luck and karma are simply fighting for dominance…”

  “Seems fishy to me,” Dora said then, her voice low.

  “Same. But in the end? We aren’t dead, but we are well-fed, and on our way to Glade. So, whether it’s some sort of trap to obtain my journal of musings and maps- which are really quite good- or whether they really are just guardians, at least we aren’t dead or with the guards,” he shrugged nonchalantly, emerald eyes watching the outline of her lips as the shadow of a smile crossed them.

  It seemed every time she smiled, it only managed to scrunch her face into something that was both awkward and painfully adorable. A facial change that caused Alni’s chest to feel light and sped up his heart rate. It was a reaction that he was certain was equal parts the excitement over the adventure and travel, and the mystery surrounding this beautiful elf. Aside from his father, she was the only full-blooded elf he’d ever been in the company of.

  “What are you looking at, half-breed?” Dora murmured, eyes darting over to him before fixing themselves back on the trail.

  “Ever wish you had more siblings? I’m an only child, as well, but I’m sure you have plenty of friends from…wherever it is you’re from,” he said, foot kicking up a broken branch that lay in his path.

  “I’m from Glade. A few friends, good friends. I think that’s all you really need in the end, what’s the use in collecting those who have expectations?”

  The branch Alni had kicked jumped into Dora’s path. In turn, she kicked it, sending it back to Alni’s side.

  Kicking the branch back over to her along their slow walk, Alni nodded.

  “I suppose you’re right…but what if your friends have themselves a lot of land or they own a tavern? I suppose it’s alright to keep friends in that company, no?” He let out a laugh and nudged her softly with a friendly shoulder.

  At first she moved away, looking at him as though he’d lost his mind. But a moment later laughter spilled from her lips.

  “Correct, you are.”

  The small talk continued for several hours, the irritation she had been directing at Alni seemed to slowly drift away the longer he insisted on asking her questions. He was careful not to pry too deep with the traveler, not wanting to scare her away. There was something fearful about traveling with someone he knew little to nothing about, and with each mile the feeling diminished, leaving them both with an almost friendly demeanor towards each other.

  It wasn’t until the darkness started to take over the deep forests that Dora became q
uiet, her movements slowing until she was at a dead stop on the trail. The wind picked up, whistling through the undergrowth and meeting them head-on, almost as if the eye of the storm rested just ahead of them on the trail.

  “I think we need to find a place off the trail to stay for the night…stop and eat some more…” she said, looking to her left through the dark trees, “I sense something ahead and I do not think it wise for us to continue.”

  “Sense something?” Alni murmured, dread setting deep in his chest.

  The wind had left him with a chill before, but now it seemed almost ominous; like it was carrying their scent to those who hunted them.

  “You’re half-elf. Don’t you use your senses?”

  “Of course I don’t. Does it look like I was raised around your magic tricks?” Alni sniffed the air, somehow believing that might give him some clarification as to what she was sensing.

  Could one smell evil? Closing his eyes, he tried to reach out into the space before them and sense something, anything. The only thing he could register was his own hunger and the soft pounding at the bottom of his feet from the distance they had crossed.

  Opening his eyes once more, Alni caught sight of a dark bridge ahead, one he could not see the other side of from their position. The longer he stared at the brick pathway, the more tired he became, the more exhausted.

  “You’re right, lead the way,” he murmured.

  Alni followed Dora off the path and down a ravine, stopping when they reached a small stream at the bottom. She moved over to the base of a large tree, relieving herself of her cloak before reaching inside one of the pockets and retrieving a large hunting knife; one similar to Alni’s but far sharper, handle curving around her hand for better grasp. It glinted in the darkness, shining at the handle as though it were encrusted with jewels.