Elf Mastery

by Bryant Reil

  “Now everyone,” Aura began. “Please pay attention.” A few chattering students ignored the request, but a blast of wind from Aura's flowing skirt silenced them. “Thank you. Those of you who can't create your own wind – which appears to be all of you – should have an oscillator. You'll see a knob on the left side. That controls the power settings. It should be set on 'Light Breeze'. If it is not, please adjust it accordingly. When I give the command, you shall switch them on. Find the button on the right side and press it.”

  Kyla felt confident as she had already mastered this part. She clicked it on. One after another the other oscillators came to life, throwing a wind over the ledge which slowly descended to the meadow at the base of the hill. She watched as the grass bent to make way.

  Once all the oscillators were activated Aura spoke again, though louder so she could be heard over the hum of the machines.

  “Now I want you to leap off the ledge and fly down together over the meadow. You should stay close to those next to you but you don't need to be precisely parallel. In fact, the wind is often loveliest when it's staggered. Go ahead and jump. Stay about four or five feet above the ground, keep your oscillators pointed forward, and land just at the tree line at the opposite end. On three – one, two, three!”

  The creatures flew off almost in unison. Kyla waited half a second to stagger herself from the fairy next to her. She gave a leap and felt a fresh exhilaration as she soared over the side of the steep hill. The exhilaration faded as she tumbled head-over-heels to the bottom. She noted with dismay that the oscillator had broken in two during the tumble down.

  Aura flew down. “Are you hurt?”

  Kyla groaned and looked up. She felt something on her upper lip and brushed it away. Blood.

  “Yeah, just cuts and bruises, I think.” She held up a piece of the oscillator. “Your thingy doesn't work.”

  “Clearly not anymore. Kyla, do you know how to fly?”

  “Well – no. I thought that's what this was for.”

  “No. That is only to make wind. You need to be able to fly to take this class.”

  “You never told me that!”

  Aura paused. “I apologize. I am not accustomed to working with groundlings. Sometimes I forget not everyone can do it. Do you need help getting home?”

  Kyla shook her head. Aura nodded and drifted off to the other end of the meadow, where the other students had already landed and were laughing and goofing around. Bruised and bleeding, Kyla lowered her head and trudged back to Haven Hall.

  Chapter Four

  Journey to the Center of the Earth

  Kyla perused the course board, her lips pursed and fingers drumming against the wall. There weren't many options left. There were several seats in a class called History of Bureaucracy and another in The Math of Discourse, but Kyla was pretty sure quitting school and taking up an apprenticeship with her father would be preferable to either. Below these postings were a few work-for-credit programs, which intrigued Kyla as she felt that learning something by doing it was better than sitting in a classroom and listening to someone talk about it. Not all of these suited her either – Basilisk Training, Ecological Reparations, and Desert Warfare were either too scary, unpleasant, or both.

  One notice caught her eye.

  Tucked in a corner, half-hidden under an advertisement for lyre lessons, was a posting for something called Geomobility. She didn't know what it meant, but recognized its similarity to the words geology and geometry. As she couldn't imagine a work program that focused on geometry (or really any practical application for geometry at all), she decided it logically had to relate to rocks. Recent failures notwithstanding Kyla allowed herself a breath of optimism and turned to the woman at the information desk, who was, Kyla thought, the same troll from the student orientation.

  “Where's room zero?” Kyla asked.

  The troll peered down over her glasses. “Center of the earth.”

  “And how does one get there?”

  “Elevator.”

  “Thanks! And, uh, one more...”

  “Down the hall to the left.”

  “Thank you!” Kyla bolted, excited not only for the course but she had never been underground before and was suddenly curious what mysteries she had been walking over her entire life.

  There was only one elevator, but it was so large it couldn't be missed. Seated near the door was an ugly statue which spoke as she examined it.

  “Hi.”

  Its voice was gruff and gravelly, and now Kyla noticed its eyes peering back at her. The creature must be an earth elemental. She had never seen one before, and even stories didn't mention them often. He was smaller than she would have imagined – perhaps only a few inches taller than herself and she was short by elf standards. He was holding a metal box on his lap, colorfully decorated with unicorns. Kyla caught herself gazing at it, and then up at the elemental, and back at the unicorns.

  “You like?” the creature asked, holding up the box.

  “Yeah – it's lovely.” The artwork was lovely, but Kyla was more fascinated by the elemental itself. To begin, it sounded male, but she thought of unicorns as feminine. In the stories they were always associated with nymphs and elf princesses. And though he wore no clothing he had no anatomy that offered any insights. Did elementals have genders? Well, Aura was an air elemental and she was certainly female. Kyla finally decided the creature in front of her was a he because in her mind it better suited his voice.

  Another thing that fascinated Kyla was that he was a talking pile of rocks.

  “You wait for elevator?” he asked.

  Kyla came to herself. “Um, yeah. This goes to the center of the earth?”

  The creature smiled. “Yeah, I go too! Maybe you work with me?”

  “Are you doing the Geomobility thing?”

  The creature looked puzzled. “I push big wheel. Make earth spin.”

  “Huh?”

  “Earth spin. Like top. I push around.”

  “Oh. Is that what Geomobility means?”

  “Maybe just big word with small meaning.” The creature glanced at the elevator door. “Elevator take long time. Long trip.”

  “Oh. Well, I'm Kyla. I'm just starting school and trying to figure out what to take!”

  “Lug. Second year. Work program.”

  “Cool! I might be joining you! Hope I'm not the only girl!” She said this with some hope the elemental would confirm his own gender identity.

  “You are girl?”

  Kyla spent the next few minutes fuming in silence, with Lug apparently unaware he had said something wrong. Likely a male, then.

  There was a ding and the elevator door opened with a grind. They stepped inside and Lug pushed the button. And Kyla learned something new.

  She did not care for enclosed spaces.

  Kyla had grown up in the open fresh forest air. She had a house, and a bedroom, but they had windows and, more importantly, they had the feeling that she could go outside at any time. In here she was trapped until they got to their destination. She took a deep breath. As the elevator went down, the air became staler and hotter, and the rapidly descending box seemed to get smaller and smaller. Lug asked her a few questions about herself, but all she could manage were one-word replies. And the trip was so long. How far down was the center of the earth? Had they gone right out the other end?

  Lug seemed to sense her discomfort. He patted her on the head but his hard, heavy hands did little to soothe her. In fact, they hurt a bit. She curled herself up in the corner of the elevator and closed her eyes, breathing deeply and thinking of home, until finally the door opened and she bolted.

  The elevator opened into a large stone chamber. It was still enclosed, and hot, and stale, and Kyla was still uncomfortable, but at least she had more room. She realized that she did not want to spend her days underground after all, but was not keen on going back in the elevator right away, so she followed Lug down a corridor. The cavernous walls were decked with what appear
ed to be jars full of glowing red soup which cast an eerie light. The corridor led to a room full of metal boxes, each with a name written across the front. Lug went straight to his own box and pulled out a helmet. She wondered why a creature of stone would need a helmet.

  “Is rule,” he explained, and grabbed her a spare helmet that was hanging off a hook on the wall. He put his unicorn box away – which he explained contained his lunch – and led her through yet another door, which led to yet another corridor.

  This corridor was so high and wide she could hardly see one side to the other in the dim light. She considered turning back, but she was afraid to go it alone and so stayed close behind Lug who was doing his best to whistle, and did an impressive job considering he had no lips.

  A few minutes in they passed a door. It was the only door in the corridor and was marked 'Gravity Well'.

  “What's that?” she asked.

  Lug shrugged. “We no go in there, but many gnomes go in and out. Sometimes pixies.”

  The corridor opened up at the end to a pair of giant metal doors. She knew she wouldn't be able to budge them. After all, she could barely push open the doors at Haven Hall, and these were three times larger (or so – she wished she knew geometry). With a loud grind Lug heaved them open, revealing the largest room Kyla had ever seen. It was so cavernous she couldn't see the walls on either side or the ceiling, though like the corridors it was only dimly lit. At the center of the room was a great iron beam that went from the floor into the darkness toward the roof of the cavern, and at the base a dozen more beams extended horizontally from the beam at the center. Each horizontal beam was manned by two large creatures, save one which was now empty. Almost all the creatures resembled Lug in appearance but were much larger, though there was one humongous minotaur at the beam behind the vacant one. The great creatures were pushing so that the center pillar turned with a shuddering creak as their footsteps echoed on the stone floor.

  Lug stepped forward and took a position at the vacant beam. He looked at Kyla as though wondering if she were going to join him, so she jumped in at the next pass. There was a guffaw and a snort from behind, and looking back Kyla could see the minotaur glaring at them. She had seen minotaurs for the first time on campus upon her arrival at Equinox, but he was far larger than any, and his eyes fiercer.

  “Playtime for the children, it seems.” The minotaur's voice boomed throughout the chamber. The elemental next to him chortled. Kyla wasn't sure if this was good-natured teasing or rudeness, but Lug ignored them. She followed suit, not wanting to get herself entangled in an argument.

  Kyla felt no resistance from the wheel at all, not because it was easy, but rather the others were bearing the full load. The elementals huffed and groaned, and even the mighty minotaur breathed heavily. Eventually Kyla lost her footing, unable to keep up with the pace, and no wonder, as most creatures here had legs longer than she was tall. It was clear this was not a career option for her, which relieved her as it looked boring and the environment was insufferable. At least now she could tell her friends she had been to the center of the earth.

  The minotaur laughed when she rolled away to avoid being stepped on. “Your girlfriend wasn't cut out for this type of work! Maybe she could help by fetching me some water, though I doubt she could carry a pail large enough to quench me!”

  That was uncalled for, but Kyla didn't doubt he was right. Lug didn't comment or look back.

  The minotaur's voice rose. “I'm surprised they let you do this job, Lug. You'd be a perfect paperweight for the Foreman's office.”

  Lug furrowed his stone brow, but he refused to comment or look back. This was not good-natured ribbing.

  “Let's see how you do without us doing all the work for you.” The minotaur let go and stepped away from the wheel, beckoning for the elemental next to him to follow. The wheel lurched, and Kyla was sure some of the stone from the floor ran up into Lug's body. He grew slightly larger, and began pushing with renewed vigor. The wheel was back up to full speed in a moment. Kyla did not feel the minotaur should be toying with something so important as the earth's rotation, and some of the other elementals seemed to feel the same, as they were casting uncomfortable glances.

  The minotaur snorted. “Erchagh! Orach! Off!” Two more elementals hesitantly stepped away from the wheel. The minotaur evidently had some command or influence over them. The wheel lurched again; again earth drew up from the ground into Lug's body, making him larger. The elementals laughed and chattered among themselves, which made the minotaur more furious. He ordered more to step away from the wheel. Each time someone abandoned his post, Lug grew larger and stronger. The elementals were soon hollering encouragement, which made the minotaur angrier still. Soon Lug was pushing the wheel by himself, and now he was far larger and stronger than any of the other elementals in the room.

  “I guess we should start looking for new work!” one of the elementals laughed. “The boy's got this handled by himself!”

  So he was a boy. It was nice to have it confirmed.

  “He's a whiny twerp with a few tricks!” the minotaur roared, but his hold over the elementals had weakened. “Come on, back to work!”

  They listened, but whatever respect the minotaur held had fractured, and now there was menace in his eyes as he retook his post behind Lug.

  ***

  Kyla had no need to stay behind until the break, but she wasn't keen on navigating the corridors and elevator on her own. She did sneak out to try and peek into the Gravity Well, but the door was locked and there were no vents or windows. She picked up a rock to remember her trip to the center of the earth, and sat, and wondered at what she was going to try next, when several elementals and a few trolls entered from the opposite end of the chamber and relieved half of the crew. This was Lug's break, and the minotaur's also. Kyla walked next to Lug.

  The minotaur said nothing through the corridor, though he kept staring at them. Yet it wasn't until Lug took out his decorated metal box that the minotaur chose to speak.

  “Ah! Does that belong to your little girlfriend?” the minotaur roared. He grabbed the box and held it up for the others to see. None of them seemed to care. “Unicorns! Perfect for little girls, huh?” He waved the box in front of Kyla. “This belong to you?”

  “No. Is mine.” Lug grabbed the box back.

  The minotaur guffawed. Kyla slunk back against the wall. She hadn't cared for the demoness' bullying at the orientation, and this creature was far more intimidating.

  “You love unicorns?” the minotaur sneered. “Like a little girl, huh? I think it might make a nice present for my calf.”

  “Is mine!” Lug held the box securely as the minotaur swiped at it.

  “Maybe you want to fight me for it!” the minotaur challenged. “I mean, sure, you can push a wheel, but this isn't a place for children and unicorns!”

  “Not for children!” Lug replied. “She like too!” He looked uncomfortable and was trying to draw Kyla in for support, but she was scared and not entirely on Lug's side. It did seem like a childish thing for an adult to carry around.

  “Hey, I...uh...I don't have anything to do with this.” Kyla took a couple steps back. Lug looked hurt.

  “Well, looks like you're the only child here, boy. Maybe tomorrow I can bring you a nipple so you can think about your mommy while you work. You like that?” The minotaur made another swipe for the metal box and this time grabbed it and hurled it against a wall, smashing it open. Out fell Lug's lunch as a pile of crystals cracked and scattered across the floor.

  “No! That was present!” Lug cried. He ran toward the battered box but the minotaur tripped him.

  “It's garbage now,” the minotaur roared, and gave it a stomp and flattened it. Lug looked like he wanted to weep, but his stone eyes had no tears to shed. He turned back to Kyla helplessly, and when she did nothing he looked around the room. The other elementals were watching and chewing on their crystals, but no one bothered to interfere. He looked so alone. Kyla fe
lt sick. She should do something, but she was terrified of the minotaur. She had seen how strong Lug was – why didn't he stand up for himself?

  After the break Lug decided to go home early. The minotaur left him strict instructions to bring something more manly to work tomorrow or there would be trouble. Lug silently walked with Kyla back to the elevator. Her discomfort in the small space was pushed aside to make room for regret and shame. Lug had needed help and she had backed away. Occasionally he looked up at her, but when she looked back his eyes darted down at the floor. Though he couldn't cry, Kyla's eyes were welling up, but it wasn't until they were halfway to the earth's surface that she spoke.

  “Why didn't you fight him?” she sobbed. “I saw you push the wheel by yourself! You're way stronger than he is!”

  Lug took a moment to reply. “I strong, yes. I can hurt others. I no like to hurt them.” He paused another moment. “Why you no help me?”

  “What was I supposed to do? He's ten times bigger than me! He could grind me into mush! At least you can defend yourself!” She needed to convince herself, and for some reason this involved shouting.

  “No need to fight. No. Not hard to stand up to Heff. Only hard to do alone.”

  Kyla did her best not to cry the rest of the ride up, and Lug said nothing more.

  Chapter Five

  Extrospection

  The Dean of Admission's office was still untidy, but all the piles of paper and knickknacks had been moved to different locations within the office. The geode with the ghostly face peering through the crystals was now on a shelf on the opposite side of the room, and the papers that had cluttered the desk were now added to the ones on the floor. This was likely due to the human body, slit open from neck to pelvis, which now lay across the desk. It gave Kyla a frightful start but when the Dean came in and started pulling organs she was relieved to see it was only a model. Then she became fascinated, as she had never seen the inside of a human before and concluded they were a gruesome mess under their skins. She assumed the interior of an elf would be better organized. She had gutted fish and pheasants and thought humans must be from the same class of lesser creatures to have been tossed together so haphazardly.