ELO

by E. A. Cross

  Bree stared, watching as the sun slowly made it's journey around. Other than attempting to memorize sign language, she hardly made an effort to speak with anyone. Bree did not even engage little Eli, who came to investigate her camp and sniff everything before being chased away by Elo. She thought of the flying sea monsters Bakura had shown her. Their bright colors against a sea of grief. Seeing herself in the mirror, the pain she had endured. The looks slavers had given her, the feeling of being a rabbit caught in a hunters trap. It was enough to make her depressed. Elo noticing Bree's depression offered her tea and sat in silence next to her new friend. Elo said, "It's alright, dearie, your old life is gone if you want it to be." Bree shot Elo a look; how could her new friend even know what suffering as a slave was like? No one understood her, except maybe Bakura. Bakura was aloof and much much older. The leader of the herd seemed infinitely wise. Bree felt like a clumsy fawn compared to her. She felt too intimidated to talk to someone who could read minds. Bree felt her mood darken, and her grief threatened to make her fall asleep. Her thoughts turned to her last day free, the day before her grandmother and everything Bree loved had burned away. She shriveled, and tears threatened to spill. She was a weakling, wasn't she? Her thoughts beat on her. How could she let herself be taken by slavers, to be used and thrown away? Bree wasn't worth anything, not a dam thing. It was a wonder anyone had cared enough to save her. Her thoughts pulled her into deep darkness, and she hid her face in her knees, even in a place of eternal eternity, where death didn't exist as it did on her world. All she could do was pathetically sulk. She was free of her enslavement, so why wasn't she happy? The sound of footsteps made her look up; Joltrun hobbled up the steps, and behind him was Faelorn. He was carrying an animal carcass that had already been smoked and aged. Cael waved, riding on Faelorn’s hair, grinning maddeningly as he nibbled on a jerky piece in his paw.

  Faelorn hung the carcass with a wooden stand that Joltrun and brought with his gear. Joltrun smiled cheerfully at Bree, and she gave a half-hearted wave. He grumbled as he sat down by the fire and helped himself to tea. "I'm too old for this, and this damned weather isn't getting any better." He hacked out his lungs for a moment and, after a hearty sip of hot tea, sank into his seat. Elo continued sewing, offering Bree her shirt. She slipped it back on. Neither Joltrun nor Faelorn seemed to care or notice that she was in her undershirt. It was strange as men in her village would have expected her to cover head to toe. She supposed they could have come from different times or even other worlds. Maybe, females in their world didn't have the same restrictive rules her own did. Remembering her past, Bree sank back into self-loathing and depression.

  "I hear you are interested in the fae," Joltrun said. Bree nodded quietly, stirring the coals. She did not look up but stared into the red hot embers of the fire pit. "Well, I want you to memorize that book, I already know the elfin sign language, and with that, you finally have someone to talk to. Instead of bloody whispering all the time." Bree sighed, discontented, but she supposed it was a relief to know that someone could sign the elven language. "I imagine that Bakura filled you on what is to come. It's my job to help you find your path. We will achieve that by finding your interests. Honing your skills, and hopefully, you'll find your purpose, and then you will find eternal happiness with the King." Joltrun coughed, then continued. "Now thankfully, I am an expert of the fae, so we should teach you everything you need to know about this realm" Bree, annoyed, took out her journal and scrawled a question. "What is the point of that? Aren't I supposed to die or join the herd and go to heaven." Joltrun looked at the question and laughed, "Well, you see, it's not that simple. If you were truly dead, then this would be easy, it usually is." He continued, "But you're not and your in this realm..." he took a deep breath rubbing his forehead. He said, "those that die are in a different state of mind; they are either lost and ready to join the herd. They have as much time as they need to process their lives. Most eventually find peace, but a few become consumed by the evil in their hearts. Those are the ones that turn into bereaved. After they become bereaved, they turn into monsters that haunt the forest and other realms. It's Faelorn’s job to kill the bereaved."

  Joltrun took a sip of tea wetting his throat before continuing his lecture. "You are a special case. In fact, you are the first true human to step into this realm of the fae in over a hundred years. When Faelorn saved you, you were still alive. You passed through the veil and into our realm. That's not supposed to happen. When you did die, Faelorn placed you into the spring. Your spirit was revived on its own. I'm not sure why, but the King must have a plan. It is the King that controls the spring. His will be done." Bree scrawled on to her scroll, "Why did I get brought back to life? I haven't even met the King." Joltrun shrugged "I don't know, I just know it my job to help you." Bree looked away, uncomfortable; she was neither dead nor alive. Overwhelmed, she turned away from Joltrun. She watched Elo and Faelorn work. Faelorn whittled at the tough meat with a dagger. Elo began wrapping the dried beef with a thin cloth and hanging it on hooks that Faelorn installed with a hammer. Joltrun brought all the supplies, but it was the youth who were put to work immediately. Joltrun cleared his throat impatiently, drawing Bree's attention back to him. Upset with shaking hands, she wrote down onto her scroll.

  "How can I be different from you? You look just as human as me." Joltrun frowned and shook his head. "Most of us have shed our humanity and accepted this realm as our home. I used to be the Lord of the Forest, and the Lord of the Forest is not human. Elo, though she is like you and still has fragments of her humanity, she is a changeling. Faelorn is the current Lord of the Forest, his job is to gather and guard the lost souls and bring them to the spring." Bree swallowed, hugging herself nervously. "We must find a path for you before you become the bereaved." Bree sulked, hiding her terror. She wrote, "Why would you teach me of the fae?"

  Joltrun said, "For one, you can see the fae and believe in them. That is something in itself; it is a rare human that can see the fae. Already you possess a gift that so few do, also, unlike life in your world. In this realm, you must find your calling and make peace with it. Your spirit may not choose to rest if it is restless; if you live an unfulfilled life. When someone dies, and their souls wander into this realm, they run the risk of becoming a monster like the bereaved. Some souls can even get stuck wandering their own world for all eternity. All that hate, regret, anger it transforms them and twists them into an inhuman shape. It is impossible to return after that. The bereaved are predatory. They prey on the weak, transforming them into monsters just as themselves." Bree's eyes were filled with doubt; she wrote carefully. "When I was alive or at least completely alive. My family said that telling stories and learning about the fae was a useless skill to have. If it couldn't put food on the table, why learn about it?" Joltrun stared into the hot coals and simply said, "well, that's a shame, and that I think, that is why they lived as peasants and died as peasants. When you only believe in what's in front of your eyes. You miss out on the magic of the world. You end up living a boring life, feeling sorry for yourself."

  Bree hid her shock; Elo glared at Joltrun. She exclaimed, "that's insensitive!. Her parents were killed by slavers." Joltrun snapped. "I won't curb my tongue, not for your feelings or Bree’s. I've lived hundreds of years, and I survived this before. If you keep living as you did on earth. Just surviving, then you will become bereaved. You must learn, adapt, and embrace your true calling. I'd hate for Faelorn to have to kill you. I say what I say out of love. You need a reality check. All I've seen you do is cry. You need to buck up, wipe off that teary face and shove it back at the slavers. Show those monsters that you can move on." Elo growled, leaving her station to hover over Bree. "Joltrun, how can you say that? She just arrived. She still misses her family. You can't expect her to do all this studying and work."

  Bree wrote in her scroll and shoved it in Elo's face. Bree was trembling; Elo pushed the scroll away gently. "I can't read darling." Joltrun took the scroll and gruffly
read, "He's right, Elo. I loved my parents, but they were cruel. I don't miss them." Elo covered her face in horror. "You don't miss your family?" Bree wiped her face and wrote with shaking hands. Joltrun read Bree's message to Elo, "just my grandmother and her forest. I don't miss the abuse my village put me through." Elo shook her head. "Its a dam shame. Well, Bree, your path is yours." She pinched Bree's face. "Your family didn't know what a gem you are." Embarrassed, Bree smiled, hiding it behind her hand as Joltrun served her more tea. He said, "See the girls smart, with an attitude like that you won't turn easily. It will be work. You must find peace with yourself. Then you can pass on." Bree stared into the fire. She didn't want to pass on. Bree wasn't even sure what passing on in this realm looked like. She asked one last question. Joltrun read it aloud. "What does passing on look like? Would I just die." Faelorn looked up from where he was working. He answered quietly. "No, not unless something kills your body. If you were to leave, you would travel to the heavens. The gates of the King's Land would open to receive you. " Bree had a headache. This was all too much for her. Joltrun took a slab of meat from Faelorn’s work (much to Faelorn’s annoyance). The old man took a bite and spoke with his mouth full. "Are you not here? Didn't your belief, your will, your desire for answers. Isn't that real? Is that not why you are here? Child, true reality is often deceiving. Now enough talking, let's get to work. Your journey is long. Before you know it, you will know why you are alive. Why you are here, and then you will find the will to make the journey. Instead of doing this, feeling sorry for yourself and weeping over a past that you could not control." He wiped his mouth on his sleeve, and Elo cringed. She said, "You old man are as ill-mannered as Cael." Cael, hearing his name, leaped up from where he was feasting and clamored up Bree's shirt and perched on her shoulder. This made her smile, and she covered her mouth.

  Cael mischievously grinned and began doing a rancorous little jig, making silly faces. Bee snorted with laughter. Joltrun was annoyed by the debacle. He said, "Cael is not the typical fairy; if you ask me, he is simply too fond of humans for what is appropriate" Cael stuck out his tongue and leaped back into Faelorn’s hair, sulking. Joltrun said, "Now, if you're done feeling sorry for yourself, and you've had a good cry, I want to take you to the grove of the fairies." Elo chirped, "oh, can we take baskets to fill with fruits from the fairy grove?" Joltrun snorted, "only if you participate in the lessons, I will have no laziness and tomfoolery when giving a lesson." Elo pouted. "I'm not lazy, I've been working hard since Bree got here. Well, I am fond of a good nap, oh, and there some lovely places to nap in the fairy grove."

  Joltrun stood stretching his old bones. "Come on then, young spud. While we walk to the grove, I will teach you to sign in the elven language. We'll be using that to chat until your voice heals or gets better. There's no sense in straining" From his many thick packs, he handed her another journal that was bigger and a new charcoal pencil. Faelorn stood up, Bree's sling on his back. He said, "I'll be going, I've already packed for all of us." Joltrun looked as if he would argue but then thought better of it. "Alright, you can join, it would probably be of use for you to review your lessons." The group headed out, and Elo was annoyed to travel on two legs instead of four. She carried her empty baskets on her back, straining with the effort. Faelorn lead the group, and Joltrun walked behind; he would stop periodically to sign the names of flowers, insects, and trees. Bree struggled to keep up, referencing her signing book and following along. Elo made an effort but struggled to remember every sign. Bree adsorbed every word, every syllable, every character her fingers could make. Even after a single night, she could sign all of the most essential letters of the language without making many mistakes.

  As they walked deep into the forest, sunlight shone through the thick canopy. Insects droned, and animals skittered through the bushes and trees. The smell of fresh grass and dew lingered in the air. Bree found herself pepping up as the lush green beauty of the forest sank into her.

  Faelorn stopped and signed, "Look a squirrel!" Bree followed his hand's movements, then recalling her well-practiced actions from last night, she signed, "It's running up the tree."

  Joltrun was impressed. "Amazing, only after a day your remembering phrases, now that's initiative. It took Faelorn weeks before he could sign his first sentence." Bree flustered, and Elo practiced annoyed. She made Bree show her again, and the changeling tripped over a rock from staring so hard at her fingers and ignoring where she was walking. Bree asked, jotting her thoughts down.

  "Joltrun, why do you know the sign language of the elves?" He replied, leaning on his walking stick. "The elves believe that they must speak to all elves, even those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Not only that, but it is also no secret that elves are known for stealth. Why wouldn't they use sign language to communicate with each other? Their vision is better than ours; they easily see in the dark, so they use it to communicate." Faelorn butted in walking beside Bree, "Tharin says it is a requirement to anyone wanting to learn the spoken elfish language that they must also learn elfish sign language."

  They walked farther and farther into the forest, all the while Bree was taught to sign. She learned the words for insects, birds, and the names of many many trees. By the time they made their way to a massive grove. Elo was agitated. "Alright, alright, get your hands out of my face, old man. I'm done learning. It's making my head hurt." Bree stepped into the grove. The trees here were different, not at all like the forest. They were tall, and their leaves were fat. They also where nearly twice the size of other trees in the woods. Hummingbirds were everywhere, and the air was thick with the smell of honeysuckle. Bree stopped and pointed at many bright fuchsia flowers and signed "flowers," and then the word "different" Faelorn understood her enough to stoop down and sniff the flowers.

  He said, "these are beautiful, as you can tell the forest is changing. This is the outer territory, we share this part of the forest with another realm." He plucked another flower and offered it to her. Bree took it, threading it behind her ear. He smiled at Bree, his eyes bright with excitement. "I told you when we met, this forest, it crosses many realms and worlds. We are in the old realm of the fae. I haven't even explored that much of it, but you should see everything." He transformed into a half stag prancing excitedly. "I am friends with the fairy queen, and I haven't been here for a while," Joltrun, amused by Faelorn's excitement. "It the honeysuckle smell, boy, gets in your head. Since your more fae then human now, it can make you silly." Bree sneezed, come to think of it, she did feel light-headed. Elo looked worried; she plucked flowers, placing them in her basket. Elo said, "once you and Joltrun are done with your business, I would like to talk to the queen myself." Before Bree had time to ask Elo why she looked worried. Joltrun shoved a flower into Bree's hand. "Place this in your bag, take a good look at it, study it, smell it. It's the most important plant here. It's from a fae tree, and that flower crushed is good for healing." Joltrun gestured to the thick perfume mist around the tree. "It's harmless to breathe in, it's made by the nectar of the fairy flowers. That's potent magic, used mostly in healing. In fact, this whole place is used for healing, particularly the queen's pool." He cleared his throat.

  "This place is the fairy realm, and we must enter with respect least we lose an ally." They traveled deep into the fairy grove. It was humid, and Bree felt soaked with sweat. Elo found it unbearable. She placed her baskets under a tree marking it carefully with a rock. She then shook her body and transformed into her deer form. She said, "there, that's better." She trotted up to Bree and Joltrun. Faelorn traveled behind everyone, half transformed giddy from the mist of the fairy trees. The forest opened up into a clearing with a pool, massive willows towered above the water. Lilly pads and plant matter floated on the surface. Cattails surrounded the pond, and coy fish swam beneath—dragonflies were everywhere fluttering lazily over the water and over flowering bushes. A massive cluster of flowers grew oddly in the center of the pound. They were white with purple veins, and the very tips where y
ellow. Bree felt dwarfed by the vegetation; if the forest Faelorn lived in was mysterious, this place felt alien. The plant life was vibrant and overwhelming to look at.

  Joltrun, with the help of Faelorn's thick vines, fished out a carefully hidden boat. Cael, who had been hiding in Faelorn's hair, poked his head out curiously. He landed on Bree's shoulder, and she tried to ignore him. Joltrun signaled for Bree to climb into the boat. Elo sat at the waters edge, she said. "I'm staying here until it's my turn; I don't need a boat; I'll just swim."

  Faelorn shifted back into a man, his vines clutching a large paddle. Bree stared all this magic was something to get used to. She sat in the boat, and Faelorn stood behind her. Joltrun mounted in front by the bow. Faelorn gave a massive push, and the ship slid into the water. The boat floated gently, breaking the still pond with ripples. Vines swayed overhead in the warm breeze, birds chirped, and dragonflies buzzed lazily over the surface. Bree peered over the edge staring at the murky water. Fish could be seen through the thick algae. The pond was so deep that she could not see the bottom, and she daren't let her fingers touch the water. Though this place looked beautiful. The air was filled with power. As they approached the center of the pond, Bree felt something in the air. It was an electric feeling. Joltrun taking his staff, tapped on the sizable pod-like group of flowers. "Wake up, Si-ago. I have work to get on with. I have a guest, and I bring you an offering of bread." From his thick bearskin robes, he pulled out a loaf of bread. Cael, upon seeing the food, pouted and wined in chirps at Faelorn. Faelorn, as if embarrassed, hushed him, "you ate this morning, you pig. This is the queen; you should have some respect." Cael hissed and burrowed into Faelorn's thick nest of hair. Faelorn rolled his eyes at Bree, saying. "He's had some ridiculous rivalry with these fairy's, he says they stole his horde of nuts once, and he never forgave them. The things a forest fae cares about are frivolous and silly," he said the last part loudly to Cael. Cael sulked, pulling Faelorn dreadlocks hard. Bree hid her smile, and Faelorn sat beside her, letting the little boat anchor drop. Faelorn signed the words for flowers and then their types. Bree copied, and then slowly, he asked. "Are you okay out here?" Bree referenced her book, then signed, "yes, it's wonderful."