The girl turned, her blue eyes searching
the forest, “I’m here!”
Footsteps approached. Robert squinted trying to see who it
was. A tall elf with black shaggy hair
strode towards them. “Lydell,” the elf
said firmly, “I’ve been looking all over the place for you, thinking that you
had been kidnapped by this man. What are you doing? Don’t you know better than to run off with a
stranger?! You could get hurt!” He crossed his arms and glared at her, his
brown eyes flashing.
Unabashed, she smiled and answered, “He
couldn’t hurt me, and you know it.
Besides, you gave him an awful greeting into our land. I was hoping to make a slightly better
impression.” She tossed her hair
saucily. “Robert, meet my brother,
Lyden.”
Robert stared at the elf with surprise,
anger, and fear all mixed into one. This
was Lydell’s brother? The one who was
less then friendly? He shifted uneasily,
surprised at Lydell’s carefree manner.
Her brother looked like he could break a horse in half if he wanted to.
Lyden ignored Robert and said firmly, “I
can take care of him. Go home.”
Lydell sighed and rolled her eyes then she
whirled around and ran off through the forest, her gold hair flying. Robert watched her go then turned back to the
elf. His eyes immediately were drawn to the
sword hanging by his side. The sheath
was silver with a slightly cooper hue.
While Robert could only guess what the blade itself looked like, the
handle was a piece of art, with tiny carvings that looked like they would
unlikely be felt when the sword was used.
“Come.”
Lyden walked off briskly.
Robert hesitated, and then followed. He did not want to risk the elf pulling out
his sword. It was not long till Robert
could hear voices in the distance. Just
when he was beginning to wonder where they were coming from, they entered a
town. At least, that is what he thought
it was. There were no houses built on
the ground. However, when he looked up,
there were houses in the trees. They
seemed to be carved out of the tree itself.
This place gets stranger and
stranger all the time. The small,
excited voices of children filled the air as they played some sort of game that
resembled tag. Then a wild yell filled
the air as a chunky young boy tackled a smaller one. The little boy yelped and tried to wiggle out
of the others grasp. Lyden shoved his
way through the group of children and grabbed the boys and pulled them
apart. “Visky, Aaron, stop it now.”
The bigger boy, Visky, snapped, “Well,
then, why don’t you tell that Aaron to leave.
He doesn’t even know how to fight.
He is chicken!”
“I am not!”
Aaron lunged at Visky’s throat.
“Stop it, stop it right now!!” Lyden shook them both firmly. “Both of you go home. And I mean now.” Aaron turned and quickly walked away, a
relieved, but slightly angry look on his face.
Visky glared at him and mumbled something under his breath, then left as
well. Lyden watched them go, and then
motioned for Robert.
As they continued on through the village,
Robert could not help but ask a question.
This place was so strange. “How
many towns do y’all have?”
Lyden studied him for a moment as if
wondering why he wanted to know, then answered, “There are many small villages
like this one, however, there are only five major towns. The one we are headed to is called Absconditus.”
Robert nodded, and was quiet for a few
seconds, then asked another question.
“Are y’all the only ones who live in this land?”
“Y’all?
What type of word is that?”
“Um, you know, you all, everyone. The elves.
Are your people the only ones living here?
“Oh, well, yes and no. We are the only ones who live around here,
well, except for the Odisunus; however, there are rumors and legends of others
things, creatures, people, whatever you want to call them, that live
elsewhere. Of course, there are the
dragons that live up on the mountains, but I suppose Lydell has already told
you about them. They are all she talks
about.” His face hardened.
“Are they as dangerous as she told me?”
“Worse.
They are unstoppable, undefeatable, untamable, and unlikeable. ” The
elf’s eyes narrowed in anger and hate.
“They are killers with no regard for anything else but themselves. They may seem to be intelligent, but I think
that they are just big beasts with a few things that they do well, like any
other animal.”
Robert was surprised at his vehemence. But I
don’t blame him. If they are as bad as they seem, then there is no way to ever
live without the fear of them attacking. “What do they look like?”
“If you have any more questions about
dragons, you should ask Lydell. I don’t
wish to talk about them anymore.” Lyden
quickened his stride.
“What are Odisunus?”
Lyden stopped and looked at him, “Listen,
when we finish our journey I will make sure you find out everything you want to
know about Odisunus, dragons, and-and anything else you are curious about. Understood?” He stopped in front of a large
tree on the edge of the village, and shouted up at the house in it. “Anyone home?!”
Behind them a
voice answered, “No.”
Robert turned to see who the voice belonged
to. An elf, slightly shorter and
stockier than Lyden stood there, a twinkle in his eye. Lyden smiled in greeting and said, “I need to
ask a small favor.
The jolly looking elf leaned against a tree
and said, “Ask away. You know I am
always willing to help out a friend.”
“I need two horses with enough stamina to
make it to Absconditus by this evening.”
His eyebrows shot up, “That is over one
hundred miles away!”
“I know, but I need to make it there by
this evening. Queen Veragus is expecting me.”
The man hesitated then nodded. “Follow me.”
He led them a short distance into the woods. There a group of seven horses grazed. He quickly picked two horses, a bay and a
black, from the herd. “These are the two
best ones I have. They should get you
there in time,” he said while placing a saddle and bridle on each of them.
“Thank you.
I am in your debt.” Lyden quickly
swung up onto the chestnut and motioned for Robert to take the bay. “I will return them to you as soon as
possible.” He raised his hand in
farewell, then whirled the horse around and took off at full gallop. Robert quickly followed.
~
Wind whistled by Robert’s ears as the horse
picked up speed. The ground below him
was passing at such a dizzying speed that he tightened his grip on the saddle,
then scolding himself, let go of it. Had
he not ridden horses all his life? Why
should he be scared now? In front of him
Lyden bobbed up and down on his horse seeming completely at ease traveling at
this speed. I must not let him realize that this pace makes me uneasy. Rotern
thought determinedly. Since he was
young, he had always worked at being the best; the one that everyone stood in
amazement of. Now it was different. He had never been in a situation where he had
to follow another person’s leading.
Others were supposed to follow him.
His father had continually warned him that one could not live like
that. He had insisted that the only true
leaders were the ones that were servants first.
Robert had scoffed at the time.
Now, he wasn’t so sure if it was as silly as it sounded. He had always assumed that his father was
wrong about everything. After all, he
claimed to be one of those crazy Christians.
Time and time again his father said, “Robert, you need to stop the
direction your life is going. It will
only lead to destruction. Believe me, I
know.” Perhaps he did. According to stories his mother had told him,
his dad had been quite reckless when he was younger. One day when he came home, he was
changed. He said it was because he had
become a Christian. Perhaps the thought that someone more powerful than you and can make
you mind, makes you behave better. That
has to be the reason for the change. But
I won’t be so stupid. No matter what the
temptation. However, even with that
resolution, Robert felt a tug at his heart.
For the next hour, the horses ran at a full
gallop. Finally, when Robert thought
that his legs were about to fall off, Lyden pulled up his horse at a small
stream and said, “We will let them have a quick drink of water.”
Both horses stuck their noses out
impatiently, wanting water. As the bay
drank, Robert quietly stroked him while wondering if Lyden would answer a
question. It can’t hurt to ask, he thought.
“Why are we going to . . .” he stopped trying to remember the name.
“Absconditus?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you really have to ask? It seems like you would know.” Lyden shook his head. “We are going there because you are a
complete stranger to us. We don’t know
who you are, or what type of creature you are.
You aren’t an elf, and because of that, we cannot trust you,” a look of
frustration crossed his face, “Now, let us go.”
Robert shakily mounted. What would happen to him? From what it sounded like, there was no such
thing as humans in this place. That made
him an oddity, and if all other elves were as suspicious of him as Lyden was,
he was in big trouble.
Dusk had just begun to fall when Lyden
stopped his horse and pointed ahead. “There
is Absconditus.” This city, unlike the
village they had passed through, had buildings that were built on the
ground. Curious, Robert asked why that
was.
“All houses meant to be lived in are in the
trees, but schools, stores, and stables are built on the ground. It is just easier. The palace is also built on the ground to
make it more accessible.” Lyden clucked
to his horse. The horse snorted and
moved to a canter.
Robert clucked to his horse also. “Why do y’all choose to live in the trees? It seems rather strange.”
Lyden shook his head. “Strange?
Why is it strange? It is our
nature. It is what we do.”
Tactfully Robert decided to remain silent
for the rest of the trip. It was late
and there were few elves on the streets.
Robert had thought that the streets might be paved in some way, but they
were just plain dirt. You would think that a major city would have
paved roads.
Lyden pulled his horse up in front of a
large iron gate and called out something in another language. The gate slowly creaked open and they moved
on through. There were as many trees in
here as there were outside the gate. It
was as if someone had built the gate to keep the trees in. Ahead of them a large ornamented building
sat. Tall double doors with tree
carvings on them swung open and two elf soldiers dressed in mail and well armed
with swords rushed out and challenged them.
Lyden quickly said, “I have come to see the Queen about the matter of
this stranger. She is expecting me.” The one on the left nodded and ran back
inside while the other held his sword at ready.
A moment later the elf returned. “The Queen awaits you. Follow me.”
Two other elves came
out of nowhere and held the horses as they dismounted. The large doors closed behind them with an
ominous thud. Fear snaked up Robert’s
spine as they walked down the large barren corridor. This place gave the feel of as if one was
walking to their death. Up ahead another
set of double doors loomed. A detail of
soldiers drew their swords, but did not challenge them, yet their eyes seemed
to say that any of them would willingly kill them if they attempted anything. The doors swung open as if on their own
accord. As he entered the room, his eyes
were attacked by a swirl of light and color, then a firm voice said, “Welcome.”
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