by Nicole Sloan
I turn back to Nytril and say, “We would be honored to stay here with you and learn more about your people.”
“Narissa, can you please take them to the guest house and show them where they can put their stuff? After you settle down, will you please meet us for dinner?” Nytril asks while Narissa walks over to us. I watch her every move; she moves quickly and quietly.
“Yes, we would love to,” Alex replies. We follow Narissa up a flight of wooden stairs. When we enter one of the tree homes, it’s a huge room with four beds in it, a table with four chairs, and a couple of dressers and nightstands. It's very basic and plain looking with no decorations on the windows, or even on the walls. Even then, I’m still surprised by all the wood craftsmanship and how the house is made.
“This is where you’ll be staying; you can unpack your bags and settle down. When you're ready, we'll be eating dinner in about an hour. You can meet us down at the fire pit,” Narissa smiles as she tells us, “See you in a little while.” She keeps eye contact with me just a while longer before heading out the door, leaving us to ourselves again since we got ambushed.
“Thank you, Narissa,” I spurt out quicker than I meant to, although the door is already closed, so I’m not sure if she heard me. Alex and Jenn turn to look at me. Alex smirks, and Jenn's giving me a questionable look. I think she actually may be jealous because of Narissa.
“She’s cute, isn’t she, Zac? You should talk to her tonight and get to know her,” Alex says.
“She’s not that cute. She looks really weird with her dark blue hair like that. She also has that huge tattoo. Remember, Zac, they did threaten to kill us earlier today,” Jenn says in an annoyed voice. She puts her bag down on a bed near the window.
I decide to go and lay on the bed furthest away from the bed Jenn has chosen. I lay my green camping bag next to my bed. It will feel good to sleep in an actual bed tonight. My legs are starting to get sore from all of the walking that we've been doing. I kick my shoes off and close my eyes for a few minutes.
As I'm lying down, I can hear Jenn talking to her phone. “Why can’t you work? I just want to talk to Brad and make sure he’s okay. I’m ready to go home already. Why didn’t he come with us?”
I can hear Alex walking around the room, probably checking the windows, knowing that he's watching the elves closely. I can tell that he doesn’t trust them at all and I don’t blame him. My eyes continue to get heavier and I begin to drown out the noise.
Chapter Seven
Next thing I know, Narissa’s standing above me, shaking me to wake up. Am I dreaming or is she really here? She’s just staring at me and not saying a word.
“I guess I fell asleep, sorry. How long was I out for?” I ask her while apologizing to her, “Where did Alex and Jenn go?” They’re nowhere in sight.
“You’ve slept for a couple of hours now. They went down for dinner and if you still want to eat tonight, now would be a good time. Are you ready?” Narissa asks me, watching my every move.
“Yes, of course. I’m starving,” I pause for just a few seconds while looking at her. She smiles just slightly at me. I turn away just a bit and put my shoes back on, “I’m not really good at this, but I do want to tell you that I think you’re very pretty,” I spurt out as I’m trying to finish tying my shoes. I can instantly feel my cheeks turn hot. I don’t even know where that came from. I don’t dare to look up, afraid of her reaction.
“You’re quite handsome yourself. Come now, my father is waiting for you,” she says while moving my hair from my eyes. Her hands feel so soft to the touch, with a sensation of electricity flowing through her fingers.
I stand up and she heads to the door. I follow behind Narissa, down the wooden steps, and notice that there is a huge bonfire in the middle of the village now and Wood Elves everywhere. They have a few tables set up with food to choose from. There is music being played by a few elves, while others dance and sing. Everyone looks to be having a good time. I see Alex and Jenn sitting next to the King and Queen, already done eating.
I grab a plate and begin to look at my choices of food. I’m starving, and I feel like I can eat a few platefuls. There are many types of fruits, vegetables, meats to choose from. I pile the food so high on my plate and then make my way to the King’s area.
Everyone’s sitting in a circle on a big blanket on the grass. The King, Queen, Alex, Jenn, Laderic, Drakoe, Calina, and Narissa are all sitting and chatting. I sit between Jenn and Narissa.
“It’s so nice of you to join us, Zac. You must have been exhausted,” Nytril says to me while wiping his mouth with a napkin, smiling at me.
“I was; thank you. I apologize for being late to dinner. I guess I was exhausted. I didn’t expect to sleep that long. Dinner looks fantastic and I’m hungry,” I say while taking a bite of some poultry. The spices they put on it make it taste delicious.
“There’s plenty of food, Zac. Please eat as much as you want. Tonight’s a feast, as the Unicorn appeared,” Korla says in a kind and cheerful voice. She has already finished her plate and is enjoying the company.
I sit and enjoy my food while watching all of the other elves laugh, play, and have fun. Laderic and Drakoe joke with each other, throwing small bits of bread at each other, one of them hitting Calina.
“We have company. Can’t you two quit acting like kids?” Calina asks while rolling her eyes at them. It seems like she got really mad but the next thing I know, she picks the piece of bread by her side and she hits Laderic in the forehead with it. She smiles mischievously at him.
“Come on, Zac, you and your friends should go for a walk, explore our city,” Narissa says, getting up slowly. I glance at Alex and Jenn to see if they want to go, and they’re already up and standing with Calina.
“Do you mind if I take leave and go for a walk, your grace?” I ask Nytril. I don’t want to be rude since he invited us to dinner.
“Have fun, my boy – tonight’s about enjoying yourself. We’ll talk more tomorrow,” he says while waving me off.
I leave my food sitting on the blanket and begin to head the over toward Calina and Alex. I see some of the other elves heading back up to their homes for the night.
I walk over to one of the wells they have set up to see if I can get something to drink before walking around. I see why my grandpa had liked it here so much; it’s amazing here. Everyone here is so nice once you get to know them and the scenery is beautiful. I see Alex standing by another tree near me, so I decide to make my way over to him.
“So what do you think of the elves now? Do you trust them more?” I ask him while peering around the tree.
“They’re not too bad; I’m starting to like it here. I’m glad that we got to eat a good meal and that we have beds to sleep in tonight,” Alex says.
“I’m glad you’re warming up to them. I really like it here. Do you know where Jenn headed off to?” I ask him Alex. He shakes his head and shrugs and I head back to the well to grab something to drink.
I can see Jenn talking with Drakoe on the other side of the bonfire. She’s giggling and chatting with him. I’m glad she’s enjoying herself. I can also see Narissa standing by them, looking around and glancing left and right. She seems as if she is looking for someone in particular. I continue to watch her from by the well as I’m drinking and washing my face a bit with a bucket. She scans her eyes back and forth again, and then begins to head my direction.
I catch a glimpse of white out of the corner of my eye and notice that the Unicorn is still around, a bit more into the trees. It almost feels like it’s still watching me. I head toward it to check and see if I can look at it closer. As I head out more, I notice that no one else has gone out as far as me. I start to get nervous because the further I go, the darker it gets, but I press on. I stop by some bushes and wait, as I’ve lost sight of it. I try to peek through some of the underbrush, but I do not see anyone anymore.
I start to hear some rustling around in some bushes near me. I wonder what it could
be and I hope it’s not dangerous. As I wait just a little while longer, the rustling noise begins to get louder and closer to me. Should I run?
“ZAC!” Narissa shouts at the top of her lungs while right behind me. She must not have seen me because when I jump, she does the same out of surprise and we land together in a mess. She begins laughing like crazy as I fall down with her and I catch my arm on a shrub. I can’t believe she’s laughing at me! I didn’t even see her coming. She puts her leg over me and holds me down, shushing me to be quiet. I wait for her to get up and let me go but she doesn’t move and instead looks down on me with an intense gaze in her eyes.
She stays there for a while, looking down at me. It’s as if she’s examining me. I can feel my cheeks turning red out of embarrassment. Maybe she has never seen a human before and I interest her. She rubs her finger over my right cheek, rubbing my scar. “Does that hurt?” she asks.
“Not anymore, but it did when it first happened,” I say, being as honest as I can with her.
“How did you get it?” she sits up and waits for my response. Her facial expression looks as if she is worried.
“I got it a long time ago, when I was real little. I was in a bad car accident and some glass from the window cut my cheek open. I had to get stitches to close the wound up,” I say to her while taking her hand and holding it. She is looking at me funny, “A car crash; a high speed collision, in any case. The glass broke and it was sharp … But anyways, do all of the elves have tribal tattoos like you?” I ask her curiously, tracing my finger up her neck to her cheek.
“No, only some of us have them. It’s our marking, our lodestone and our connection with the forest. Mine starts at my feet and goes all the way up to my cheeks,” she says while interlocking her fingers with mine.
I don’t want this moment to end. I’m enjoying being alone with Narissa. I’ve never felt this comfortable with another girl before. Every time I would talk to Jenn, I would get nervous and stutter. Narissa has a weird way that just makes me feel calm.
“We should head back before they start to look for us,” she notices my immediate and apparently obvious disapproval. She smiles as she reassures me, “We’ll talk again soon,” she says, getting up and running away from me back to the party. I slowly get up and walk back. There is loud music being played and I can see that there are a lot of people dancing. Jenn is dancing with Laderic, and Alex is dancing with Calina.
I decide to go back and finish eating my food. I still feel like I haven’t eaten for days, even after that first plate. I know that the food is probably cold by now, but I don’t care. As I make my way back toward the food tables, I take note that the King and the Queen have gone in for the night. A few of the elder Wood Elves have gone in as well so mainly the young elves are still out and having fun. I finish eating and throw my garbage away. I head over to Jenn to see how she’s doing.
“Hey, Jenn, are you having fun? Did you get enough to eat?” I ask her.
“I’m having a blast! Tonight has been a lot of fun. It’s good to take the stress off a bit and not worry about if we’re going to be stuck here or not. I ate so much I can’t eat another bite,” she says. I notice Jenn’s being different toward me. She keeps standing closer to me and she’s touching shoulders and arms a lot while she’s talking.
“I’m glad you’re having fun. I’m also glad that you came along with us on this trip,” I tell her.
“I’m really glad I came here, too. I enjoy spending time with you, Zac,” she says while stumbling a bit to the side. I didn’t see it before but it’s clear now. She’s had something to drink. She stumbles further and lands hard on her left knee. I reach down to help her up and she surprises me with a quick kiss.
I stand back a few steps in shock. I’m not sure why she just did that. She notices my reaction and immediately gets a worried look on her face.
“I’m sorry, Zac, I don’t … I don’t know what came over me. I just felt that I should do that.” She tries to get up and pull me close to her again.
I push her firmly back, “No, Jenn, I’m sorry. I may not like Brad but that doesn’t mean I’ll break his trust. I promised him I would bring you back to him in one piece. That doesn’t mean helping you cheat on him.” I’m confused on why she’s acting this way. To be honest, I think she’s drunk and jealous of Narissa. I suddenly get a bad feeling in my stomach and I look over and around a bit and notice Narissa is indeed watching us from a distance. My stomach ties itself in a hundred knots.
“I’m sorry, Zac, I … I don’t know what came over me.” She continues, sitting down suddenly with her head down.
“You need to go to bed and get some sleep, Jenn. We’ll talk about this some other time,” I tell her while pointing to our tree room.
“I’ll do what I want. I don’t need your self-righteous help,” she tells me firmly as she stands up with some effort. She walks back over to Drakoe and grabs another mug. I turn around and glance back at Narissa but she’s gone. I’m a torrent of anger and frustration. How can this night be so perfect and so terrible all at once?
I need to get my mind off things and I decide to go see what Alex is doing. I look around for a bit before I notice Alex is busy talking with Calina and Laderic near the archery targets. I decide to walk around instead and to try to cool off some. I walk to a quiet section of the forest that has a small open field with nobody around. I lie on my back and look up at the sky. I notice there’s a strange brightness to the sky, almost as if the moon was out but I can’t seem to find it. Are we close to the moon and sun? I don’t remember seeing the sun today, but it was bright like the sun was out. How can I not have noticed that?
I keep looking up at the sky, letting my mind clear out. I notice that it almost looks as if there is something that covers the sky, as there is a hint of heat lightning. It’s really odd looking but it’s hard to see clearly. There are still clouds in the sky, and there’s a breeze that flows through. Maybe I’m just imagining things.
“May I join you?” a quiet, familiar voice whispers. I roll my head up and I see that it’s Narissa.
“Yeah, of course, join me. I just needed to get away for a little bit so I thought I would come here to cool off,” I tell her. She walks over to where I’m laying down and sits down nearby, her arms crossed in front of her knees, and she looks at me with her chin on her knees.
“I saw what happened. I saw the girl you came here with, Jenn, try to kiss you. Is she yours?” Narissa asks.
“No, no, she’s only my friend. One of my best friends, in fact, up until recently. I’ve known her my whole life and I like her a lot, but she is dating someone else and we’ve always just been friends. I have never dated anyone before,” I tell her.
Neither one of us says anything for what seems like fifteen minutes. “What about you? Are you promised to someone, dating someone?” I ask her, trying to get Jenn out of my head.
“No, I get treated as somewhat of an outcast. They avoid me because of my family’s status and because I’m the youngest. I feel like an outcast because of my hair. I’m the only one that I know of that has dark blue hair. I was just born with it and I can’t help it, but it makes me stand out so I stay to myself or with my family. They’re the only ones that know how I feel,” she says with an odd look in her eyes.
“I really like your hair; you’re beautiful. People admire you for who you are,” I say, winking at her. She goes quiet and some time passes before either one of use says anything.
“Narissa, what is that up in the sky? It’s a weird lighting that stretches across the sky,” I ask her.
“That’s the barrier above the clouds. It spans the whole planet. A type of shield to keep everything out. It has different types of lighting to help give our planet light. My dad says that it’s some type of spell that was put on it a long time ago by a powerful traveling mage,” she tells me.
More magic, then. I wonder what kind of spell it was and who put it on there. Do they get a lot of people passing t
hrough? Are there other creatures here from other planets? What is the shield protecting Yazen from?
I roll over on my side so I’m facing Narissa. She’s wearing a brown leather top that comes up to straps on her shoulders and shows off her curves. She has a very slender physique and is wearing green cotton pants, showing hints of her tattoos on her ankles and legs. She has on a small, low pair of brown boots and she’s wiggling her toes in them, without taking notice of it at all. I watch her spin the ring around with her fingers. She does it when she’s nervous it seems; she did it while she was talking to me about my scar earlier. She wears a yellow sunflower in her dark blue hair that seems alive in the night’s light. I really could lie here all night and stare at her.
“Would you like to do something fun?” she asks while sitting up. I look down and notice she’s still tugging at her ring.
“Sure, what’s that?” I reply, watching her stand up. I start to sit up myself.
“Follow me and be as quiet as you can,” Narissa whispers.
I follow her slowly and quietly through the woods, and we come upon a small pond. I grab her hand and spin her around. She giggles and says, “Do you know what this is?”
“It looks like a pond to me,” I tell her while looking at the pond. It is really clear water, and it has a very dim blue glow to it. It looks almost mystical. Maybe a bit more than a pond.