The Elven Queen

Jakob’s advice was to grab me roughly by the arm and pull me deeper into the forest after Safyra. I stumbled backwards, my eyes locked on Fynn and Will, who had already assumed defensive crouches while waiting for the attack. The Huryl crept closer, and there seemed to me to be much more than the dozen I had originally estimated. Too quickly, Fynn and Will were lost from view and I managed to turn myself around and follow Jakob into the forest.

“What did you mean, that the elves wouldn’t keep the border open?” I asked our guide.

“Just what I said,” Safyra answered. “What do you think keeps the faerie and the spirits out of our forest, or the Huryl, for that matter? We are not without our resources, Leila.”

I shuddered against the chill of the night and the thought that two of my companions were without escape. A faerie and a Huryl, caught between an army and an un-crossable border. I hoped we had made the right decision in leaving them. Still, perhaps the Elven Queen could be persuaded to lend a hand, if we made it to her in time.

“It’s not far now,” Safyra said, answering my unspoken question.

Jakob’s hand had lowered itself from my forearm and now held my hand tightly. He gave it a gentle squeeze and looked back at me for a moment, a reassuring smile on his face.

“They’ll be fine,” he told me. “Most of the Huryl are superstitious farmers, and they’ll run as soon as they realize they’re fighting the Woodwalker.”

I tried to smile back, but I found Jakob’s attempts to cheer me up only made me worry even more.

Suddenly, Safyra stopped and waited for Jakob and I to catch up to her. She was smiling broadly, her white teeth flashing in the dim light as she pointed down an embankment. I peered over the edge and gasped in amazement at what I saw.

Beneath us was a whole other forest, shimmering in the moonlight. It was not quite as ethereal as Faerie, but had a similar otherworldliness to it that took my breath away. The leaves of the trees were a vivid, healthy green that almost glowed, and in the centre was a large thick tree whose canopy spread over the small forest beneath it, like an umbrella. The leaves of this tree were all the colours of the rainbow at once, and when a light breeze flowed through them, they shimmered like a prism spinning in the light.

“Welcome to my home,” Safyra said, the pride evident in her voice. “Come, the Queen will be waiting for you.”

She led the way on a winding path that criss-crossed across the embankment and brought us steadily closer to the magical forest. As we moved, other elves came down from the trees to watch us. I could hear them whispering to each other, but I could not understand what was being said. I tried to smile at them in a friendly fashion, but received only cool looks in return. Jakob moved steadily after Safyra, his eyes forward and focused on her back. He tightened his grip on my hand.

Safyra brought us to the base of the large central tree, where a door had been carved into the living wood of the trunk. She stopped directly outside it and knocked once. As the door swung open, she stepped back and indicated that we should enter. I peered through the doorway and saw only blackness, and my heart began to flutter in fear. I looked over to where she was waiting with a serious expression on her face.

“Aren’t you coming?” I asked.

She shook her head. “My task was to bring you here, which I have done. Good luck, Leila. I hope we meet again.”

Turning on her heel, she disappeared into the crowd of elves who had gathered at the base of the tree. I looked over at Jakob, and he shrugged. Squaring my shoulders, I stepped over the threshold and into the tree. Jakob followed, and nearly before he was completely inside, the door began to swing closed again, encasing us in total darkness.

I swallowed hard, still clutching Jakob’s hand. He seemed more relaxed than I, holding my hand loosely as we waited in silence for something to happen. I heard a faint tapping, steady and rhythmic, growing closer. Squinting in the gloom, I thought I saw a pinprick of light in the far distance. I shook my head to clear my vision, knowing that the tree was not wide enough to conceal a light so far away. Yet, when I looked again, the light was still there, coming closer. Jakob was still at ease, and I took a deep breath to steady myself as the light drew close enough for me to clearly see what it was.

An old elf, no taller than my waist, had materialized from the shadows, carrying a torch. The tapping had been his gnarled walking stick on the smooth wooden floor of the tree. He had a long white beard that trailed to the floor and no hair on his head, leaving his curved ears visible to the world. He held up the torch so my face was bathed in the warm light and smiled up at me.

“So you’re the one, the girl from the other world,” the old elf said.

I nodded. “My name is Leila, and this is Jakob.”

“I am Xair,” the elf introduced himself. “Come with me. We have much to discuss and not nearly enough time.”

He turned and began to walk back the way he had come, holding the torch high to illuminate the way. As Jakob and I followed him, I could see the smooth, curved walls of the inside of the tree, yet I could not understand how we could walk for so long without reaching the other side. The floor was sloping steadily downwards, barely enough to be noticeable, and I wondered how far beneath the earth our journey would take us. The trip passed in complete silence, and I fell into my own thoughts and lost track of time. Minutes later, our guide stopped walking and turned to face us, holding the torch high.

“Before we proceed and you meet our Queen, I must ask you to keep a secret,” Xair suddenly.

I could see behind him was another door, more intricately carved than the first one. The ground had become hard-packed soil instead of smooth wood, and the ceiling above us was now dripping with roots. We were deep beneath the forest surface, and in spite of the spaciousness, I began to feel a little claustrophobic in the dark underground tunnel.

“I will keep your secret,” I promised him.

The old elf sighed and his small body seemed to deflate. “What I am about to show you, you cannot tell anyone. Not your prince, and especially not the other elves.”

He turned and pushed open the door, revealing a room brightly lit by candles. In the centre of the room was a bed woven from the roots of the great tree and covered in soft cushions and fabrics. Xair led us into the room, which had little other decoration, and stopped at the side of the bed. He reached out with one hand and fondly touched the pale skin of the woman who lay there.

She had long white hair that had a faint tint of rainbow colour in it, and long pointed ears. Her skin was pale, her lips a deep red and pursed together in slumber. On her head she wore a silver circlet and a deep green pendant that hung on her brow. Xair smiled as he stared at her, before looking up at me. In the candlelight, I could see the sorrow echoed in his eyes.

“This is our Queen,” Xair said. “She has been like this since the war began.”

“What’s wrong with her?” I asked gently.

Xair shook his head. “She is weak. Her magic has been taken from her to serve the greed of men. With her last bit of strength, she cursed the thief and fell into the sleep of the dead.”

“And no one knows?” Jakob said.

“I have always acted as her liaison,” Xair said. “The elves see only me, although the Queen does make appearances on certain occasions. She does not rule as your human monarchs do. Her purpose is to keep the elves safe and protected.”

I stared at the unconscious woman, who reminded me of Clothis lying in her crypt in Oponoe. The one who protected the elves and kept them safe, lay dying. I bowed my head and looked to Xair, a fire of determination burning in my eyes. Jakob recognized the look and nodded once to me.

“What must be done to restore your Queen?” I demanded.

“The source of her magic must be returned,” Xair replied calmly. “The silver acorn.”

My eyes widened in shock. The acorn that Ellena had said would stop the war belonged to the Elven Queen! My mind raced as I put together the pieces of the puzzle. The Huryl must have the acorn, since the elves fought with the Dyrel against them, but how had the Huryl managed to steal the most treasured possession of the elves? And why would that frog king Cedrik want it?

“The Huryl stole it, didn’t they?” I asked. “Who took it? Do you know?”

Xair stared at me for a moment, then lowered his eyes to the ground. Jakob released my hand at last and put his hand on my shoulder, gripping it tightly. Xair raised his eyes to meet Jakob’s.

“Leila,” Jakob said softly. “It was Will.”

My jaw dropped and I started to feel a little faint as the full weight of Jakob’s words came crashing down on me. Safyra’s words echoed in my head.

“You truly have no idea who you've befriended, do you? The Human Prince told me that you seek the council of my Queen in search of the silver acorn. You seek the acorn to stop the war, and return to your world. Can you not guess how this creature has caused all our suffering?”

I found myself sitting on a stool at the foot of the Elven Queen’s bed. Jakob stood behind me with both his hands on my shoulders, while Xair watched me with pain filled eyes. Suddenly, I could recall several instances where Will had mentioned an acorn; I understood why he had been so reluctant to visit the elves, why he hated Ellena so much. It all made sense to me, and I feel more betrayed by this simple realization than by anything I had experience so far in my adventure.

“Will,” I whispered. “Will stole the acorn for the Huryl King? Will was cursed by the Elven Queen with her last breath? It was Will, all along?”

Jakob said nothing as I bowed my head and let a few tears fall. I had trusted Will, vouched for him, brought him along with us and the whole time he was the reason I was trapped in this world. His one act had destroyed my life completely, ripped me from my home, and brought me closer to death than I had ever been. The pity I had felt towards him for his madness disappeared, and I nearly thanked the Elven Queen for her punishment, but I could not. In spite of what he had done, he was still Will.

“You must return the silver acorn to us, Leila,” Xair said at last, breaking through my jumbled thoughts. “Without it, our race will fade from this world.”

I raised my tear-stained face to meet his and nodded. Xair looked as if he was about to say something else when he suddenly straightened and raised his head as if he had heard something. A look of concern passed over his face, and he began to move toward the door.

“Come, come,” he said urgently. “There is news! A messenger has come from the Dyrel city.”

Quickly, Jakob and I followed the elderly elf back up the strange passageway and to the door that we had used to enter the tree. Xair tapped the closed door with his walking stick and it swung open easily. He stepped out, Jakob and I close behind him, and we waited as a mob of elves came streaming from the trees towards us. At the head of the mob was an elf supporting a Dyrel soldier. Both looked as if they had had narrow escapes, and as they stopped in front of Xair, I recognized the Dyrel at once.

“Cyrus?” I said.

The young soldier raised his head weakly and smiled when he saw me. His face was covered in blood and dirt, but I could not tell if all the blood belonged to him. He moved his arm from the elf’s shoulders and raised it to salute Jakob and I. Beside him, the elf was addressing Xair.

“I was an archer in the human city,” the elf began. “I am probably all that remains of those who were sent to aid the Human Prince. The Huryl warriors were too strong and attacked us on all sides. They broke down the gate, slaughtered the people, and burned the human city to the ground. No one remains.”

“And the prince?” I found myself saying.

The elf looked at me and shook his head. “I don’t know. Captured, dead, perhaps he escaped. I saw a few humans fleeing into the woods.”

Xair raised his hand and a dozen elves stepped forward. “Search for human refugees and bring them into our protection.”

The elves bowed and disappeared into the forest. Cyrus looked at me, his eyes wide and full of tears at what he heard. He shook his head.

“They attacked the evacuated citizens too, my Lady,” he reported. “The women, the children, and the elderly. I had only a handful of men to guard them, and they killed us all. I don’t know if anyone escaped.”

I felt the world spin again and Jakob held me upright. This was too much bad news for me to handle in one day. Oponoe had fallen, Damaeon might be dead, and all the citizens slaughtered. The Huryl must think they have won the war. I turned to Jakob, and saw the pain he would not express hidden in his eyes. I knew he regarded Oponoe as a second home, a chance at a new life, and that his former countrymen had taken it all from him.

“What do we do now?” I asked, tears streaming down my face.

Jakob shook his head. “If Damaeon escaped, he would head to the northern mountains. The Dyrel have a stronghold there. But we can’t be sure he isn’t buried under the rubble of the city, in which case we should continue our quest to find the silver acorn and save the elves.”

“And what about Fynn and Will?”

“If they’re still in the forest, they’ll find us,” Jakob assured me. “They can take care of themselves, but if it makes you feel better, we can look for them.”

I bit my lip in thought. Go after Damaeon to the Dyrel stronghold, continue to track down the silver acorn, or search for Fynn and Will? Each choice had dire consequences, and I was worried that if I chose the wrong one, my friends would suffer.