I nodded, afraid to open my mouth because I was sure I'd scream, either from the pain in my shoulder or from the inexplicable frustration that was still built up inside me. My thoughts were clearing up now, but my body still had a strange desire to go to the woman who'd beckoned me.
Using the pain in my shoulder as a deterrent, I kept following the elves and started questioning why creatures like that were allowed in the SRU. Then I remembered something I’d read in the manual. This world was just as realistic as our world. That's the reason why sexual crimes were punished so severely, but consensual sex was perfectly fine in this reality. It wasn't like you had to worry about pregnancy or diseases since it wasn't really your body.
Of course, there were laws that were enforced by Aurora. A person had to be sixteen years old to be of legal age in this reality. That's why anyone age ten to fifteen who played this game had to have an avatar that looked like a child. When they reached the age of sixteen their avatar would grow to adulthood, but until then there were places that their avatars weren't allowed to enter. An invisible barrier would prevent them from accessing those areas.
Why? Because those were areas where consensual sex was allowed and areas where players could live out their fantasies, including some of the darker fantasies they might have had in reality.
I now understood that Tetherwood was one of these places. Inside towns, prostitution was legal as long as it took place in a brothel or pay-by-the-hour hotel. There were laws that dictated where you were legally allowed to have intercourse. There were also areas where the monsters, and occasionally the plant-life, would have intercourse with you, some consensual and some forced like how the nymphs had tried to force me. This wasn't considered rape in the SRU as it was the player's choice to enter such places.
It was a matter of hot debate back home. Especially among religious people. They considered it to be an immoral practice and kept petitioning for the sexual aspects to be removed from the SRU, but their efforts were fruitless. The SRU was so real that it was considered by the governments in my world to be a government all its own. It was allowed to determine its own laws as long as those laws didn't put the people, governments, or businesses in the real world at risk.
Allowing prostitution and the adult-only areas in this game may have seemed immoral to many who played the game, but the answer to the argument was simple: if you don't like it don't do it. People weren't being forced to participate in anything they considered immoral and not everyone shared the same values and morality. It wasn't right for the game's creators to force their own views of morality on the players. Let those who wanted to participate do so and those who didn't want to could abstain.
Personally, I considered it to be immoral, but I understood the reasoning behind it. In a world this realistic, there were bound to be people who would want to see how sexual interactions felt. Giving these people a means to legally vent their sexual desires and fantasies helped to prevent them from attempting to act out their sexual desires illegally.
Although I didn't like it, I had to admit it worked. So far, there hadn't been a single sexual assault case that happened in the SRU, while in the real world there was approximately one sexual assault every ninety seconds.
I opened up my stats screen to verify where I was and groaned as I read the warning message I had overlooked previously. It read, “You are about to enter an adult-only area. Our records indicate that you have been invited to Tetherwood Forest by the following non-player characters: Bartholomew, Aden, and Benedict. By continuing, you are consenting to whatever happens to your body. Please turn back if you do not consent.”
Valanesia
I made sure to keep closer to Aden and Benedict the rest of the trip and didn't so much as peek away from the path. I wasn't sure what else I would see in this X-rated forest, but I wasn't taking any chances. I didn't need to worry about protection anyway. Bartholomew had removed his hand and allowed me to heal myself when we were safe from the forest nymph's nests, but he stayed about a foot behind me, his claws at the ready and his head still in dragon form. His tongue kept flitting through his front teeth, tasting the air for dangers that might try to get close to me.
Without warning, not even needing to slow down despite the fast pace we were walking, Aden and Benedict stopped.
“Welcome to Valanesia, Valkyrie,” Benedict announced, holding his arms out. “Can you climb?”
His question rose my eyebrows, then my head. Above us was a large blotted out area on the sky. I could see through the light filtering down the occasional hole near the trunk of the trees that the area was blotted out by a tightly woven floor of tree branches. It didn't look like lumber used to make a tree house. Instead, the branches themselves had grown to create the floor that was the foundation of Valanesia.
It didn't look like much from this angle, but I couldn't wait to see it from above. I wasn't very good at climbing, even with this body, so I activated my wings and flew up to the hole nearest me. The elves ran up the tree and through the hole without using their hands at all. It was like gravity was a meaningless fly buzzing around their heads. They could swat it away at any time they wanted and float like a leaf on the wind.
Bartholomew returned to his mostly human form and dug his claws into the tree, scaling the tree in a few seconds. He stopped just before the hole and ushered me through first.
I stepped through the hole and my breath froze in my lungs. It took a few seconds to remember how to breathe.
The dwarven city had been a beautiful city, but this was the closest thing I could think of to Heaven. It was like I'd stepped into the Garden of Eden. The branches wove together to form the floor we walked on. They had been sanded and polished smooth and flat. From this side it looked like a wooden floor that had been painted the golden hue of the early morning sun. There were shrubberies rising in random parts on the floor, but they weren't shrubberies precisely. They were areas where the branches had stopped weaving in and out of one another and had begun reaching toward the sky.
The entire city was alive. Instead of building from dead stone, the buildings were built from the trees themselves. I could only assume that the buildings were created by some type of magic I'd never heard of. Even though the trees seemed to have been hollowed out, they were healthy and still growing as if oblivious to the giant holes in their trunks. These were ancient trees that were thick enough to be compared to a small cottage on Earth. The homes were built upward, following the flow of the trees with rope ladders trailing down the trees, allowing people to climb up the trees to their bedrooms, kitchens, and other rooms.
The elves were out in full force, some shopping, some heading to their destinations at a busy pace, and others simply strolling around enjoying the day.
From what I could see, the elves on this world were all large. Most ranged from six foot to six foot six inches. The only short elves I saw were children and teenagers. Their hair colors were a range of colors that reminded me of nature. There were elves with green hair the dark color of leaves or pine needles, rose-red, light blue hair the color of the sky on a cloudless day, golden-yellow hair the color of the sun or autumn leaves, hair that matched my snow-white hair, and raven hair dark enough to remind me of an all-encompassing black hole that drew the eyes toward it. I had a hard time looking away from their hair. It felt like small patches of night had refused to retreat from the sun's rays.
Among the elves were an array of creatures. There were squirrels the size of beagles running up and down the trees, some following the elves around like pets. I saw an elven child sitting with a squirrel on her lap petting it behind the ear. The birds flew among the elves without fear. There were birds of normal size and large birds like the falcon I'd seen in Tetherwood. Some landed on the elves shoulders and sang songs for them or landed in their hands to be scratched or fed.
If Tetherwood Forest had been a place of sin, Valanesia was its antonym. The tranqui
lity and radiance was breathtaking. I found myself thinking that if Heaven were like this, I wouldn't mind dying. Of course, I knew that what I was seeing was simply an illusion. Valanesia may be a paradise to the elves who lived here, but the elves were fiercely protective of it and were ruthless in their assaults on trespassers. I was the first and quite possibly the only outsider they would ever allow into their city.
Bartholomew and I followed our elven escorts through the city. I could tell when we reached the center of the city because of the beautiful fountain. Every city in the SRU had a fountain in the center of it. The fountain served as a resurrection point for players and was always lavish in design. Whenever a player died, they were resurrected at the fountain of the last city they'd visited. Then they had to make the trek, sometimes long, to the location they were killed so they could retrieve their body, if they were lucky enough for the body not to be eaten by scavengers or looted and buried by another player or NPC.
I'd never really paid much attention to the fountains inside the dwarven kingdom or Melodia. The fountain in the dwarven kingdom was one I found insulting and avoided going near on principle. It had a dwarf slaying a dragon and water spouted from the dragon at random spots on its body to signify blood pouring from wounds. As for the one in Melodia, I'd never actually gone near enough to see it. I would have to visit it the next time I entered Melodia.
Although I didn't have much to compare it to, I was sure this was the most beautiful fountain in all of Evanasia. The fountain was made entirely of wood and seemed to grow out of the branch flooring. The branches blossomed outward like flower petals at the bottom forming the water basin. The center of the fountain was a wooden sculpture depicting an elf who was stretching backward, arching his back, while drawing the string on his bow. The tip of the arrow on the bow had water flowing from it. Sitting on top of the bow was a small sparrow in intricate detail. Its beak was open in song and water spouted from it. The elf had a serene smile on his face and a steady stream of water dripped from his eyes to signify tears of joy.
It was simple in its design, having only a few areas where water flowed from the statue, but the detailed design and peaceful serenity that emanated from the statue brought tears to my eyes. Bartholomew saw me crying and opened his mouth, but I shook my head to let him know I was alright, wiped my tears, and we continued on.
Aden and Benedict lead us to a large chamber inside one of the largest trees. I could tell it was a meeting hall instead of a home because there was only one hole in the tree and no ladder leading upward. There was a drawn wool curtain over the entryway and I could hear voices speaking from inside.
I found that I could make out some of what they were discussing. I was fluent in a large number of languages, including the Dwarvish I'd just recently learned. From what I could tell, the Elven language used Italian at its root. There were differences in vocabulary and syntax, but it was close enough to Italian that I was able to get the gist of the conversation.
They were discussing what they were going to do to me. I could tell that some of the elves in the meeting were opposed to letting me in Valanesia. Others were curious as to who I was and why I rescued Bartholomew. As we approached, the discussion abruptly stopped.
Benedict announced through the curtain in English, triggering the programming that would make the elves inside the meeting hall switch their language. “Benedict and Aden reporting. We have brought Valkyrie and Bartholomew as you requested.”
“Enter.”
The single word answer weighed like a boulder on my back. I understood now what was going on. This wasn't going to be a friendly chat of, “thank you for saving Bartholomew.” This was going to be a trial and I was the defendant.
We stepped through the curtain and I found myself staring at a half-circle table with elves sitting along the outer side. There were a total of twenty elves seated in front of me. In the epicenter of the table was a single chair. That would be where I would hear the verdict.
The elf directly in front of me, in the middle of the table directly across from the interrogation chair, stood and greeted me. “Welcome to Valanesia, Valkyrie. I am Loradine, head of the Elven Council of Elders. Please have a seat.” He gestured toward the lone seat facing the elders.
I took my seat, the feeling of anxiety flaring, when I felt a hand on each of my shoulders. I looked up and found Bartholomew smiling warmly down at me. The smile told me everything was going to be fine. Bartholomew wouldn't let them hurt me. I felt my nerves calm and looked back at Loradine. He was watching the affectionate exchange with an inquisitive stare. It was clear that he'd never seen a dragon act this way before. Their arrogant natures wouldn't allow them to show affection to any inferior races.
“Do you know why we called you here today, Valkyrie?” Loradine asked.
I knew that if I lied to these people they would slaughter me on the spot, so I answered honestly. “I have a vague idea. At first, I thought you wanted to meet me to thank me for rescuing Bartholomew, but when I heard you talking as I approached, I understood I'd been incorrect in my assumption. Where I'm from, there is a language known as Italian, which is similar to your Elven language. Although I couldn't understand everything you said before I entered the room, I realized that I was here to stand trial.
“Your people are scared of the potential threat I and the rest of my people pose. I am basically here as a representative of my people. Some of you are optimistic and feel that it would be best to take time to learn about me and understand me. Others simply want me dead. Does that about cover it?”
The noise rushed by like a wave as the elders started bickering among themselves in Elven again. The bickering was quickly cut off by Loradine as he spoke. Even though his words were quiet in comparison to the shouts of anger, it cut through the noise and demanded silence and respect.
“I seem to have underestimated your abilities, Valkyrie. Let us not get off on the wrong foot here. There is truth in what you've said. We are worried about the newcomers to our world and want to know more about you, but we have no intention of killing you unless it is in self-defense. We invited you here for discussion only at this time. What happens in the future is yet to be seen.”
“That is understandable,” I interrupted, getting a collective gasp from the elders, “but it doesn't resolve the main issue at hand here. I am telling you now that I cannot be a representative for my people because my people are not unified. The only person I can represent with honesty is myself. I cannot speak for people I do not know.”
Loradine was the only elf present who wasn't upset by my interruption. “Agreed,” he nodded his assent. “At this time, I only have one question for you. Who are you and what do you want?”
I could tell by the vagueness of the question that it wasn't a question answered simply. He already knew my name and had a vague idea of what I wanted from what he'd heard directly from Bartholomew. No, he wanted more than that. This one question was all-encompassing.
And so I told him everything. “You see,” I began. “My people aren't from this universe. Where we come from there is no magic, no elves, dwarves, or any of the like. My people consider themselves to be the only intelligent species in existence with all others being simply dumb animals. Although we don't have magic, we do have advanced technology. We used that technology to travel into your universe. We entered this planet and many other planets in this universe, but the body you see before you isn't mine.
“This body is what we call an avatar, a false body that allows us to experience this world from the safety of our own homes. As this is a false body, we cannot be killed. True, you can stop the life of the body that I'm in right now, but all that will happen is a new body will be built for me to take its place. My real body is currently lying in a bed back in my home.
“The technology that allows us to enter this world was in the final test phase, what we call beta-testing, for the last three months. Du
e to that, only ten thousand of my kind were allowed to enter your universe. Now that the testing is completed, there's no telling how many people from my world will enter into your universe. There could be hundreds of thousands or millions. We won't all end up on Evanasia, but we can travel from one world to another quite easily. Soon, my people will be all over this universe. There isn't any telling what we'll look like either. Since our bodies here are false, we are able to design them to look however we want.
“Now, here is where the trouble starts. My people, because we can't be killed, tend to think of your universe as nothing but a game. Most of us don't realize that when we kill here, we are actually murdering. Many of us think that since we can be resurrected, so can you. Then, of course, there are those who understand but who simply don’t care and will still kill indiscriminately. That being the case, there are some of us who are trying to protect the people of this world from the rest of my kind, like myself, but we are greatly outnumbered.”
One of the council members interrupted me, her voice grating on my ears. “So you are trying to get us to fight your battle for you?”
I looked at her coldly, with my battle stare that freezes people's blood. It worked. Her next sentence froze in her throat and she fell back in her chair like she'd been stunned.
“Of course not.” I continued as if nothing had happened, “I haven't come to recruit you, nor have I come to harm you. I'm simply on a journey to learn everything about this world I can because the more I know about this world and the more I can assimilate myself into it, the easier it will be to protect it.
“You see, when I first came to this world, I thought of it as a simple game just like the rest of my kind. That was until I found one of my people slaughtering a tribe of innocent goblins. Most of our kind came to this world to hunt monsters and earn glory, but when I saw what was happening, I realized that many of those we called monsters weren't at all. I killed the man from my world to stop his immediate assault and warned him never to come back to the goblin lair.
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