The Emerald Obelisk: An Elf Story >>-->6

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Faye had remained in a sort of daze for the entire three days she had been traveling with the group of elves. She spent most of the time trying not to relive the memories of her burning village and failed several times. She had become numb. Sometimes she would brush her (now short) hair out of her face to find that her cheeks were wet.

She was thankful for Orrin, Alinair, and Zaara. Alinair was sometimes able to break her out of her stupor long enough to make her laugh. Zaara had a comforting aura; Faye felt more peaceful simply knowing that the she-elf was nearby. And Orrin treated her with more care than anyone had in her life. He wiped away her tears, made sure she had enough of everything she needed, did not back away from her even when she was crying, and reminded her constantly that she still had a life to live.

She took turns riding with each of the three elves (never Runehn - he didn't like her, not that she cared at this point) so that none of the horses would have to bear extra weight more than the other.

She was riding with Orrin that day. Unlike when she rode with Alinair or Zaara, Orrin insisted that she sit in front of him. His arms had to be around her to hold onto the reins, which he seemed to think was the most secure way for her to ride. That way, he was personally making sure that she did not fall off the horse. Faye often fell asleep leaning back against him.

It was during one of these naps that Phee crawled his way out of Orrin's shirt and down onto Faye's shoulder. Orrin watched in horror as the little animal sniffed at Faye's hair, her ear, her cheek. If the little beast bit her, Orrin would throw him off the horse and he could walk all the way back home.

But the messy-haired elf needn't have worried. Phee seemed to take an immediate liking to the human girl, curling up in the crook of her neck and falling straight asleep.

"Well, would you look at that!" Alinair said when he noticed. "The little monster took a liking to somebody besides you!"

"If it was not right in front of me, I wouldn't believe it," Orrin agreed.

"Maybe he's attracted to her innocence," Zaara said thoughtfully, gazing at the two sleepers.

"No, I think he likes her youth," Alinair disagreed. "He finally found someone younger than Orrin," he snickered.

"We can be sure that he is not attracted to immaturity," Orrin commented, "for he seems to dislike Alinair the most."

This comment prompted an unladylike snort from Zaara and a stifled bark of laughter from Runehn. Alinair glared at Orrin, who was smiling widely. He had won this round.

Their attention immediately snapped back to girl and animal when the girl stirred. The animal stirred as well and watched the girl warily. He didn't look too happy about being disturbed.

Faye's eyelids fluttered open and she raised her hand to rub the sleep from her eyes. This provoked a growl from the creature on her shoulder.

Orrin tensed, ready to toss the beast away if he even came close to biting the girl.

Faye looked alarmed at first. Her eyes widened considerably and she tilted her head as far away from her shoulder as she could. Then, surprisingly, a huge smile broke across her face and she laughed.

"Well, hello there little one. Did I disturb you? I'm sorry. I wasn't aware that you were taking a nap on my shoulder!"

The creature sniffed disdainfully, but apparently decided that this wasn't a battle he wanted to fight. He circled three times on Faye's shoulder before curling back up and going back to sleep.

"Astonishing..." Orrin muttered.

Faye carefully looked back at the elf. "I didn't know you had a pet. Why have I never met him before?"

"Because he's a nasty little beast," Alinair answered before Orrin could reply. "Orrin is the only one he hasn't bitten. He's gotten me at least ten times!"

"He speaks the truth," said Zaara when Faye looked disbelieving. "The brute has bitten me at least three times."

Faye looked surprised, but not scared of the infamous animal sleeping on her shoulder.

"How strange."

"How strange indeed," Orrin agreed. "I have never known Phee to keep his teeth to himself. He has even bitten me once."

"He doesn't seem like such a monster," Faye commented. "He was just cranky because I disturbed him while he was napping."

"He's cranky all the time," Alinair argued. "I've been trying to convince Orrin to abandon him ever since we picked him up."

"Then it is no small wonder he doesn't like you!" Faye scolded. "Just because he is an animal does not mean he cannot understand what you are saying!"

Alinair laughed heartily at this while Zaara and Orrin just smiled.

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"We should reach the city in two days," Orrin said suddenly.

Faye turned around backwards in her perch behind Zaara to look at the messy-haired elf. "Really?"

"Yes. It is two days' travel through the forest to reach the city."

Faye leaned to look around Zaara, spotting the forest looming ahead of them. They would reach its edge in about an hour.

"It looks foreboding," she commented. And in fact, the forest did have a very sinister appearance to it. Even from this distance, it seemed as if the trees sucked up all the light, leaving none for the travelers.

"But of course it does!" Alinair said merrily. "Our mages have cast a spell that makes it appear very dangerous to humans. The closer we get, the more nervous you will become, until we may have to restrain you just to get you in."

"Alinair!" Zaara scolded.

"What?" the elf asked. "She would have found out sooner or later. Better to know sooner, in my opinion."

"It is also better to fall down stairs rather than walk down them, in your opinion," Orrin said.

"That was only once!" Alinair argued indignantly. "And you shouldn't talk. If I remember correctly, you are the one who shoots arrows at princes!"

"'That was only once'," Orrin mocked. "And Prince Flavian was not angry. He was the one who walked in front of the target just as I shot the arrow."

"Well, it was two hundred years ago that I fell down those steps. I can't believe you've held onto that for so long!"

Zaara rolled her eyes at Faye as the bickering continued. After traveling with them for so long, Faye had found that it was common for the two elves to squabble. It was often a competition of who could best who; usually a battle of wits. Alinair often brought up the fact that Orrin was the youngest in this group of elves, to which Orrin replied that Alinair was the least mature. The disputes usually ended with one elf causing the other to laugh.

"I think you will like the city, Faye," Alinair said once the argument was over. "It is made entirely of trees!"

"In all my travels, I have never seen a place as beautiful," Zaara stated, "and I have traveled many places."

From the corner of her eye, Faye thought she saw Runehn nod, but when she turned to look at him, he was as stone-faced as ever.

"Of course, we will have to take you to the king once we arrive," Zaara said. "He will surely wonder why we have brought a human into our realm."

"Have humans ever gone to the elfin city before?" Faye asked curiously.

"It has been a very long time," Orrin answered. "A few centuries before our king was born, if I remember correctly."

"And that human was the reason for the spell over the forest in the first place," Alinair added.

Faye's eyes grew wide. She sensed a story coming. "Why?"

"Because that human fell in love with one of the elves and eventually gave birth to a child," Alinair answered. "The child was the first half-elf ever born in the city, and the king at the time would have none of it. He banished the mother and child from the city and ordered the mages to put up the spell."

"He gave up our trade and contact with humans for his purist ideals," said Zaara. "Now the spell is kept in place out of tradition."

"We have no need for human contact," Runehn stated. "Such weak, expiring creatures have no use to us."

"Well, I suppose you cannot miss what you have never had," Faye remarked. "But what happened to the mother and child? And what is so bad about half-elves?"

"Our history does not detail what became of the mother and child," Zaara said.

"And really there is nothing wrong with half-elves," Alinair responded. "They are just not pure elves. They don't live as long as pure elves. It's like a half-forest, half-mountain elf child. They belong in neither place and are discriminated against just as much."

"I thought discrimination was a human trait," Faye muttered, remembering that nobody had ever played with or taken a second look at the blacksmith's daughter.

"Discrimination is in every race," Zaara replied. "You will even find intolerance in the most basic of animals, though they are only biased against the weak."

"You said that half-elves do not live as long as pure elves. How long do elves live?"

Orrin finally came into the conversation. He had been strangely silent up until now.

"Thousands of summers," he answered. "Elves take five summers to grow as much as a human does in one. Then, when an elf reaches his prime, he stops aging. About a century before he is to die, he begins to age again. At the time of his death, an elf looks the age that he actually is."

Faye's eyes widened in awe. "Then, how old are you?"

To this, Orrin smiled. "Let us say that compared to me, you are but a toddler, and leave it at that."