ELO

by E. A. Cross

  Bree walked up the stairs and looked at the first floor of the library. It was filled with shelves of books, artifacts, and strange-looking statues of elves, dragons, and mythical beast. She saw that from the first floor, there were five more stories upward. Impressed with the size of the gorgeous library, Bree looked over the railing and was flabbergasted. She saw that it also went downward hundreds of feet into an endless spiraling maze. Bree gripped the railing, nervous of falling into the oblivion of books and staircases. Bree rubbed her eyes in disbelief. She stared at an ornate vase that was on a floating shelf. Bree made her way to the plush red couch that Elo sat upon; she was still in her deer form. The deer woman was clearly uncomfortable by all the books, magic, and floating shelves.

  Feeling small, Bree sat down and noticed a stack of books lying on a redwood table before her. As she reached for the first book with a picture of a mountain on it. She heard a hiss above her on a spiraling staircase that lowered itself from another floor. A smooth male voice said to her. "Don't touch that." She saw an elegant elf in red robes; he had blond hair and cold silver eyes that glared at her. He was far taller than the average man, his face narrow, his eyes broad and almond-shaped. Adding to his intimidating height was a pair of white antlers that graced his head. His ears were long and pointed, at least three inches longer than any human ears. Despite his almost human appearance, he did not move like a human at all. His body language was foreign and catlike. He sneered down at her and Elo, making them both uncomfortable. Faelorn was in his human form, and he stood behind Tharin. The elf practically glided down the staircase. He was at least seven feet tall, his face ageless and unblinking.

  He said, "How fascinating, so Faelorn, this is the mortal that has defied death but was not resurrected by the King's Spirit either." Elo barked at the elf, "That close enough pointy ears, haven't you ever heard of personal space." Cael hissed and shrieked at Tharin. Bree had to resist covering her ears as the fae chattered angrily at Tharin. The little fae climbed her head to perch atop. Faelorn bristled in embarrassment, Tharin rolled his eyes at Elo. He said, "well, if it isn't the peasant and the insect. It is wonderful for you to grace my abode with your presence." Elo let out a deer bark, and Tharin disengaged from her. She spat, "You don't scare me, you snobby elf. I haven't forgotten what happened the last time I was here." Faelorn scolded, "Elo, I thought you wanted to come."

  Elo shot him a look and grumbled "I wanted to see the city, not visit this devil. This is between him and me. Or did you forget that he almost let you die." Tharin looked at Bree with mild interest. Bree stared back uncertain, Tharin seemed to be sizing her up. He said, "I don't interfere with the affairs of Man. It is against the law." Elo growled, "Faelorn isn't a man, he's a servant of the King."

  Dismissively, Tharin said, "as you see, he is alive, is he not." Elo flicked her ears back and settled to sit next to Bree. She hissed, "Well, I don't forgive you; you let him become a monster." Tharin ignored Elo's last comment. He was staring at Bree, unblinking his eyes were far from human. Bree stared back, fascinated. He said, "Your spirit is strong for a mortal girl." Faelorn hovered behind Tharin. He asked,"So can I show her around, Tharin?" Tharin did not look away, but his eyes bored into hers. He said, "You must take her to the first, third and fourth floor. Nothing more than the histories and tales section of my library. No artifacts, she is to stay away from my weapon collection." He reached into the sleeve of his red robe. He said, "this is the book you asked for. When you and your little friends are done eating, please leave and be sure to close the door when you do so." With that, the strange slender elf turned and walked fluidly up another staircase that lead to a mysterious set of rooms. He said, "Faelorn, don't forget my warning."

  Faelorn nodded, and Tharin did not even look back at him as he slid away, the door closed itself behind him. Faelorn smiled down at Elo and Bree awkwardly. "I-I-I am sorry if he seemed rude. Elves are like that. Tharin is worst than some, but he has allowed us to stay and visit. I think you will like the glass gardens on the fourth floor." Elo glared. "I didn't know we would be visiting him until we arrived," Faelorn shrugged, "I know you don't understand him, Elo, elves are not like humans. They express their emotions differently."

  Elo snorted, stamping with her hoof her tail flaring up as she hopped up the stairs carefully. She grumbled, "I was fine with his elfish behavior until you almost died."

  Faelorn shook his head and said, "He saved me, and if he had let me die, then it would have been the right thing, Elo," Elo ignored him "you're not going to convince me, Faelorn." Bree looked between the two, and hesitantly followed Elo up the steps. Faelorn observed Bree walking beside her. She glanced up at him full of questions but unable to ask any. Bree wondered why Elo was so angry at the elf. Bree found that Elo was very kind and the least judgmental of any person she had ever meant. To see her acting so cold and furious was shocking.

  Bree walked up the steep staircase slipping underneath a stone arch that opened up into a glass room. The room allowed for sunlight to stream through a thick glass rooftop. If Bree did not know that it was made of glass, she would have thought that she was in a bubble. There was a single massive tree in the center of the room, and the tree was surrounded by floating shelves with exotic plants growing in glass vases. The roots of the tree disappeared into a hole in the floor. Bree stared at the hundreds of fowl that perched on shelves and tree branches.

  Despite all the birds perched inside the dome, none of their mess littered the floor. Parrots, eagles, and owls decorated the room like living statues on wooden perches. Plant's grew in all sorts of brightly colored glass containers. Faelorn gestured, "you can look anywhere you want. Just don't break anything, Tharin would be furious if you did." Bree stared open-mouthed; the room was beautiful. Her eyes didn't' know were to go. Brightly plumage birds chirped and fluttered overhead, bright sunlight filtered in, and exotic plants blossomed in every corner. Elo shifted back to her human form. She said, "well, I don't like Tharin, but he does know how to keep a garden." Cael relaxed and hopped from Bree's head to Elo's neck. Elo glowered at him but tolerated the fairy as he settled onto his new perch. Bree felt tears on her face. She was crying gently with joy. Faelorn looked at her face, surprised by her tears.

  “It's so beautiful," she mouthed. All her life, she had only been a simple peasant, hardly any money and everything she owned she had to craft herself. Here were bright colors she had never seen, fuchsias and purples, bright yellows, and azures. The birds were so bright and happy, their chirps sounded like cheerful music.

  Faelorn produced a handful of seed from a pouch on his belt. He whistled, and an armful of parrots leaped from their perches and onto Faelorn's outstretched arms. Bree stared, Faelorn gestured for her to come closer. She watched him feed the fowl, then she pulled out her scroll and charcoal. Bree wrote, "I've never seen birds that look like this." Faelorn said, "The red one, if you hold your hand out to her she will jump on it. She is the friendliest of Tharin's birds and his favorite."

  Bree did as Faelorn said, the massive phoenix hopped onto her arm. The bird was fearsome looking with a wicked black beak and plumage as red as blood—the tips of her wings were yellow, and her eyes were orange and bright. Bree gingerly petted the large bird who lowered her soft head into Bree's outstretched palm. Faelorn shifted the other birds to the vines on his shoulder. Up close, Bree could see that the vines grew from the base of his skull under his mat of red dreadlocks. Faelorn offered more seeds to the birds. He said, "her name is ‘Feanu’ which means fire in Tharin's people's language." Bree stroked the bird, who hopped from her forearm to her shoulder. Bree swallowed nervously. The bird was even bigger up close. Her deadly black beak chatted happily into Bree's ear, which she began to nibble. The bird dropped a few of her feathers as she fluffed her body out. Bree scrawled onto her scroll, showing Faelorn, "she's beautiful." Faelorn grinned, not flinching as more birds perched onto his vines. "Tharin saves them from poachers, they are his friends. Sometimes he uses them to send
messages." Faelorn placed his feed into a floating bowl and shooed some of his friends from his vines. He asked, "Do you like them?" Bree nodded, still amazed. She sat down on a stone bench, Faelorn sat beside her. "I hope you are comfortable here… being trapped between realms can be hard." Bree scribbled onto her pad. "I am comfortable, I want to stay here." Faelorn seemed troubled and surprised; for a moment, his face was shocked. "You wouldn't want to see if your family is still alive?"

  Bree was caught off guard; she shook her head. An awkward silence hung between them. She petted the magnificent red plumed bird and whispered, barely audible, "I don't have anyone left..."

  Faelorn picked up one of Feanu's red feathers and placed it on Bree's hair. "You are welcome to stay here, then" Bree felt grateful, but she was full of doubt. One moment Faelorn seemed to like her, to want to teach her about his world. The next, he appeared to be brooding and angry, and when he was, he didn't speak much, and his eyes turned a terrible black. Faelorn looked away, embarrassed, "I never met anyone so interested in the fae." Bree brightened up and wrote down. "My grandmother, when she was alive, told me many stories about the fae." She felt her face grow red as she held her emotions back. Just thinking of her grandmother made her heart twinge. Faelorn showed her the book that Tharin had handed him. He said, "since you can not speak freely, Tharin gave this to me. I asked him for a favor..." Faelorn grew nervous "h-h-he gave me this book on elvish sign language. You can learn to sign from it, and then you can talk without hurting your voice."

  Bree took the book. It was purple with a delicate gold inlay. She flipped through the book and could see diagrams of correlating letters and words to hand signs. She felt an involuntary smile escape from her lips. She looked up at Faelorn, then unexpectedly, even to herself, she hugged him tightly. Faelorn startled; he transformed for a moment but then stopped himself. She held him despite him looking demonic with his horns and vines crawling up his skin. She let him go, suddenly embarrassed by what had overtaken her; she had forgotten her senses. She had only seen a few books in her life. The holy book that her grandmother had was what she had been taught to read out of, seeing something so beautiful as the purple book moved her deeply. Faelorn was red-faced, and they sat in silence once more.

  Elo rolled her eyes, she said, "oh please, you two, it's just a book. Did you forget I'm here, or are you two love birds going to ignore me." Cael chattered in agreement with Elo as he played with the deer woman's hair. Bree crossed her arms; it was more than that; it was an answer to her prayers. For many years she had been hardly able to talk. It was humiliating to be reduced to whispers and silence. It had been the worst part of enslavement and the worst part of her last days with her grandmother.

  Elo pulled Bree up. "You don't need to be so fussy today. I may not like the damned elf that runs these gardens, but they are beautiful. Faelorn can make tea; he knows where the kitchens are. Bree, I want to show you this oddity." She shot Faelorn a look, and he hurried to busy himself. Shooing away curious birds, she took Bree's hand. "You can see the entire forest on this here map." Bree followed Elo, where she was guided to a massive table in the center of the room. The tables was placed beneath the trunk of the tree that filled the massive library. Oddly enough, there were no birds perched above the table, it was an eyesore in the room, and Bree wondered how she had not noticed it before. Elo said, "Look, this is the forest we just came from." The table's top was a broad canvas, and she could see that it was moving. It appeared to be a forest painting, animals moved, and at the center of a dark branching forest, Bree saw a figure that looked like Joltrun walking. Bree's eyes followed his paths and saw that it lead to the spring. She then saw a herd of white deer grazing. She even spotted little Eli romping around his mother in circles. Bree stared, amazed. Squirrels ran in real-time up trees, and in the darkest corners, she could see misty looking creatures moving between the trees. She leaned in closer to look at what was lurking in the darkness. Faelorn cursed something awful, startling the young women. The teapot he was carrying fell and rolled down the spiral staircase steps, nearly hitting a pile of books. He said, "gods! Elo, help me clean this up, Tharin will murder me if I ruin his manuscripts." Elo shifting to her deer form bounding from Bree's side, she disappeared up the spiral stairs. "I'll be back, dearie," she called. Bree turned away, looking at the strange shapes on the map. One form, in particular, drew her attention. It was black and moved veiled in a dark mist, it looked tentacle-like floating in the forest. She bent over, peering closer. Something about the shape was familiar." She stared hard at the painting, and then she saw it. Icy eyes stared back at Bree among the trees. The eyes made her veins run cold with fear. She recalled the man that had bought her. She could have fallen in the painting then and there, and she felt that the eyes could see her. He stared back at her; he was a soulless creature. "You should be careful, Bree." Tharin stood beside her, looking at the painting. Bree nearly jumped out her skin, shivering. He had appeared from nothing in her vision. The slender elf met her gaze, his unnatural eyes boring into her; she stared back awkwardly. He was dressed differently in silver, his hair tied up, his silver eyes narrowed. He said, "how long have you had that curse on voice, again?"

  Bree stepped back. She touched her throat self conscious. Tharin said, "It's ancient magic, no doubt from a witch. The curse, it's dark magic. Too long, and the magic will corrode your voice completely."

  Bree was shaken, her skin suddenly drained of all color. The elf bent forward, "I would like to examine your injury, I am a physician." Bree stared up at him. She nodded nervously, Tharin touched her throat gently. She felt warmth leave his hands and seep into her flesh. He muttered something in elfish under his breath. He said, "I doubt it was slavers… a curse like that is personal. Anyways, that book should come in handy for communication, but if you want to fix the problem's root. You should come to see me without Faelorn. He's too volatile around dark magic. That is if you choose to remove it."

  Tharin lifted his arm, and Feanu flew down from her perch to settle on him. Bree was nervous about speaking with the elf. She wasn't sure if she was intimidated or simply terrified of him. Up close, he was rather pretty. He was more like a woman in form; his perky nose, high brow, and graceful manner made him appear more feminine. Something in his eyes, though, was dark and deep. The elf stroked Feanu's crest, she cooed at her master gently. He said, "Well, no matter. Come see me when you are ready someday. I am here most days unless it is a full moon. Then this entire city will be gone."

  Faelorn arrived moments later carrying a new pot of tea. Elo seeing the elf so close to Bree, hurriedly threw her deer body between the elf and the petrified Bree. Cael hissed from his perch on Elo's back.

  Faelorn, surprised by the elf, said," Tharin, I thought you were to busy to join us!" A sly smile spread onto Tharin's face. "I came simply offering some biscuits for the tea" He waved his arm, and a basket of plain biscuits appeared on the table, a blue table cloth spread from nothingness and covered the map. Cael ignoring the current predicament, leaped to the table and began stuffing biscuits into his mouth.

  Tharin said, "I thought I should be more hospitable to my guest, as it is a human tradition to do so. I do apologize for not giving you a tour, I am very busy with research, and you caught me at the wrong time." Elo hissed under her breath, "You're still in trouble with me, elf. Why were you touching Bree?"

  The elf blinked, " she is injured. I was asking her about her voice. I had to lay my hands on her for my magic to identify the problem." Elo switched forms, hiding her frown. Faelorn embarrassed by Elo, pinched her arm in warning. He placed a fresh teakettle on the table.

  He said, "I'm sorry, Tharin, Elo is still sore about the incident."

  Tharin shrugged, "I'm sure in time she will understand. I do not participate in petty squabbles. That is for mortals. I do not take her rudeness personally." Faelorn glared at Elo, whispering angrily, "apologize now." Elo scowled at the elf, "I suppose, I'm sorry. Your garden is lovely." Bree looked from Elo t
o Faelorn. Tharin was staring at her ignoring the others. Elo cleared her throat, pasting a smile on her face. She said, "Well, we should settle in; afternoon tea sounds lovely, I'm sure Tharin would love to join us since he has been such a kind host." Elo wouldn't look at Tharin, who seemed to take no notice of her coldness. He said, "I would stay, but I am needed elsewhere. I simply came to offer nourishment." Faelorn shot Tharin a sideways glance. Tharin smiled thinly to Bree. He said, "It was a pleasure meeting you, Bree..."

  Bree, in a panic, took out her scroll and wrote quickly. She handed it to Tharin. Faelorn moved to glance at it, but Tharin turned it away and read it, and the elf's eyes shone. He said, "Thank you, Bree, I am flattered. Maybe I shall see you sometime." Bree shivered. She had written, "how did you know about my curse?" The elf had played off her message as if she had simply returned his polite tidings. She doubted he would give her an answer. Bree cleared her burning throat. It always burned like fire, and the pain never left. She had gotten so used to the ache that when he mentioned it, it hurt anew. How did this fae know that her curse was dark magic? She had not told anyone the nature of the enchantment. Faelorn cleared his throat awkwardly. "Tharin, are you sure you dont want to have tea with us?" Tharin ran his slender fingers through his golden hair. "No, I have work to attend to. Perhaps we shall sup together some other time"

  Like a shadow, he walked so gracefully that he partially slid out of the room. Elo said, "elves are rude, just showing up and not bothering to stay. It's as if he didn't want us here." Faelorn glared at Elo. "I wouldn't have come if I'd known you to be so rude, Elo. I trust him, he would never harm Bree." Elo turned red at the ears. She hissed, "He hurt you, I don't care if its been years. He needs to apologize for what happened. I told you I wasn't keen on visiting him." Elo cleared her throat, turning to Bree.