by Elle Casey
“Liiiike, in what way?”
“Well, our work focuses on hunting, tracking, and fighting with bow and arrow. We do all of our work in the forest ... and your power is focused in the forest. So maybe there’s a way to perhaps enhance our skills through your connection to The Green.”
I wasn’t really sure what he was getting at, but I felt like I needed to clarify a couple things. “Just so you know, my power isn’t necessarily focused in the Green Forest. I draw power from the trees and so on, but the connection is with everything, everywhere. The greenery, the creatures, the spirits, the memories – here and everywhere. I think it’s more attached to the Earth as a whole system, rather than just the forest.”
Robin and many of the others were nodding as they considered this. Falco spoke up, “That’s a lot bigger than I thought. How can you handle that much power? Seems like you’d explode or be absorbed into it.”
Both his friend and Finn dropped their heads, shaking them slowly from side to side. Apparently, Falco was a lost cause.
I smiled at him. “It is big, and I’m not sure how I handle it. I’m not sure that I’ve ever handled more than just a little bit of it. I pull in what I need. Honestly, I don’t know how I do it or how I regulate the amount. It just sort of happens.” I shrugged, a little embarrassed. “I’m sorry I can’t describe it any better than that. I’m new at this.”
That earned me a few smiles from the elves, especially Falco. He probably felt better knowing he wasn’t the only dumbass in the place.
I looked out over the sea of eager faces in front of me. “I worked with Céline once, and I was able to isolate her energy in the mix. Would you like to try something like that?” I asked.
“What do you think we could achieve with isolating energy?” asked Robin.
“I don’t know. Maybe if I can find you in the links, I could channel some of my power into you?” It was an idea anyway.
Robin shrugged. “I am willing to try. But I do not know that it is wise to involve the entire group. Just in case something goes ... not as planned.”
“Wrong, you mean.”
Robin tipped his head to me, saying nothing. He was nothing if not polite.
“Okay, so who’s going to be the guinea pig?”
“Pardon me?” asked Robin, confused. “You want someone to be a pig?”
“No, it’s just an expression. Not a pig. Who is the elf who’s going to try this with me?”
Falco took three giant steps forward so he was standing in front of Robin. “Robin, I would like the honor.”
Falco’s friend came pushing through the elves to grab him by the shoulder and pull him back. “My apologies, Mother, he does not know his place.”
I reached out and grabbed Falco’s hand, pulling him back towards me, temporarily engaging in a tug-of-war with the elf. “First of all, don’t call me that, or I’ll have to slap you silly. And second of all, Falco can do it just as well as anyone else, unless Robin has a problem with it.”
Robin raised his eyebrows, but stepped back, nodding his head at me. The other elves took his cue and also moved back a few paces.
I could tell Falco was totally psyched. He was practically bouncing with enthusiasm.
“Just let me zap him once, Jayne,” said Tim. “Just one little pixying ... ”
I turned my back on Falco for a second to whisper-yell at Tim, “Pixie anyone in this group and you’ll get a one-way ticket to the pixie colony that is farthest away from me!”
“Okay, okay, geez, lighten up there, dragon slayer.”
I turned back around to face Falco again, clearing my throat. “A-hem ... how about if we start with you holding my hands? Maybe ... I don’t know ... it’ll be easier for me to find your energy source that way.”
Falco looked happily terrified at the idea. “Oh ... uh ... okay.” He reached his hands out in front of him and I saw immediately that they were shaking.
I stepped forward and took his hands in mine. They were soft in places and hard in others. He had callouses in a couple spots corresponding to the weapon he used every day. They were clammy too. I looked up and noticed a sheen of sweat on his forehead.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I know,” he said softly, with barely contained excitement, “it’s just that this is the single most exciting moment of my life!” His voice raised up to a squeak at the end, which he tried to recover from by coughing lightly. Poor kid looked like he was about to have a heart attack.
I tried not to be too flattered by his compliment, otherwise the universe would surely cause me to lose control and send him to la-la land as punishment for me getting too cocky. I pulled some of The Green into me and sent it through my hands to Falco, just enough to help him calm down. I could see the effect immediately, as his eyes first widened and then his lids dropped down, his face now looking much more relaxed and mellow.
“Wow. That’s ... nice.”
“Yes,” I smiled back at him, “it is, isn’t it?” So far so good. I took a deep breath, preparing myself for the next experiment. “Now, I’m going to open up this field of energy to include everyone here. I just want to get a feel for all of you, to see if I can pick Falco out of the group.”
Robin and the others nodded their acquiescence.
I reached out through The Green, bringing the elves into the fold and then searching through our connection to find their energy signatures. During my work with Céline, I learned that every creature has a unique presence – and once I knew that creature’s signature inside the connection, I could find it again. Now, I could sense the group of elves with me, all of them linked up to every other thing here and beyond.
If I were to put into a visual image everything I felt whenever I touched The Green, it would be like a picture of a tangled ball of string that has no beginning and no end, turned around and in on itself, sometimes touching, sometimes just passing by another piece of itself. And all of the living things on this planet are a part of that string. We are the string. I could never understand ‘string theory’ in physics class, it was beyond my mental capabilities – but my own string theory? The Green String Theory? Now, that was easy. It’s based on one simple premise: we are all part of the same thing. We are all part of the One – a giant ball of cosmic, tangled up string.
I heard a little noise by my ear, a tiny squeak – then Tim saying, “Ooopsy, ‘scuse me. I think it’s the grapes from lunch.”
Nothing like a pixie fart to bring a girl’s head out of the ether. I reached up to flick him, but he moved nimbly to the back of my head, grabbing onto and swinging from my ponytail as he giggled maniacally. I gave up on my retribution and got back to the task at hand. “Okay, can everyone feel the connection?”
I saw smiling elf faces and nods all around.
“Okay. Now, Falco, I want you to push back on the connection.”
“Push back?” he asked, a bemused expression on his face.
“Yes. You’re holding my hands right now. If you have to, use my physical connection to help you get the feel for it. Push on me.”
He shrugged his shoulders, “Okay, you’re the boss.” He pushed on my hands, but I felt no difference in the connection.
“You have to push mentally, not just physically.”
Falco’s eyes rolled up into his head a little as he chanted quietly to himself, “Mentally not physically, mentally not physically, mentally not physically...”
I felt the gentlest push against our connection.
“Good! Keep doing it. I can feel you now.”
His chanting continued as I felt his energy’s presence grow, “Mentally, mentally, mentally not physically, mentally, mentally, mentally...”
I dropped his hands, and he didn’t even notice. There was no glitch in the link – he just continued to push on our connection, his signature now coming through loud and clear.
“Okay, now, stop pushing back. Just relax for a minute.”
He complied and I
closed my eyes so I could concentrate better. I could feel all the elves near me, their energies melding into the mass of others that were here with us in the forest – but now I could also specifically feel Falco’s signature. It was so easy now that he’d temporarily separated himself out for me with that mental pushing. His pulsating energy reminded me of a bouncing puppy, eager to go outside and play. My lightheartedness got the better of me and I accidentally let a little of it slip into The Green. I heard a few gasps of surprise from the guys in front of me.
“Whoopsy, sorry about that. Just a little happy is all.” I opened my eyes and noticed many sets of closed eyes and a few slack jaws. “Oh shit, you guys aren’t going into comas, are you?” Motherfucker, I was going to get an F on the gray elf report card if I kept doing this shit. For the first time in my life, I cared about grades – of course it was when there were no grades actually being given out.
Robin opened his eyes and spoke. “I’m still here.”
Other eyes around the circle opened up and chimed in. The last was Falco who finally closed his mouth and opened his eyes, saying, “Whoa, am I here! Yes, I am still here! Whoot!” His joy was palpable. I could feel the waves of it coming through The Green, multiplying and spreading out like the ripples on a lake after a stone is dropped in. The smiles of his cohorts told me that they could feel it too. Maybe this is what they used for their telepathy – The Green. I wondered if they even knew.
“Wow, this kid is really excited. Better step back. I see a green elf make-out session on the horizon,” said Tim.
I ignored him, knowing that Falco and probably all the rest of them were too damn intimidated by my weirdness to want to kiss me. It might have bothered me if I hadn’t already decided that all the green elves I’d met so far weren’t my type. Too nice, too serious, and too damn polite.
“So, what does this mean?” asked Falco, breathlessly. He took a respectful step back and stood next to his friend.
“Well, I guess it means that at least I can identify you, no matter where you are out here.” I looked around at their faces, hoping someone would jump in with suggestions or something. “I don’t know if that’s helpful or not ... ”
“Do you think, once you have identified one of us, that you could send power just to that individual?” asked Robin, a thoughtful frown on his face.
“Maybe. What did you have in mind?”
“I would like to try ... an experiment.”
“Sure. What is it?”
“He wants to be Super Elf!” yelled Tim.
“Shut up.”
“Excuse me?” asked Robin, confused.
“Ignore that. Just tell me your idea.”
Robin frowned for a second and then continued. “I would like you to identify my signature, and then when I am ready to take my shot from my bow, you send me a boost of the power. I have some theories about what might happen, but I will wait to share them with you – I fear that your knowledge of my hypothesis might affect the integrity of the outcome.”
“Geez, Robin, are you totally channeling my biology teacher right now or what?”
“I am sorry, but I do not follow you ... ”
“Never mind. Let’s just do this. Just give me a second to find you in the energy mix.”
I reached out through the low-level hum that surrounded all of us and felt for something that reminded me of Robin – serious, stalwart, intelligent, dedicated – everything that was this noble green elf warrior.
“Gotcha. Can you feel me?” I sent him a small up-charge of The Green and he nodded.
“Yes. I felt that.”
“Okay. Go ahead then, and tell me when you want the power boost.”
Robin turned, and in one smooth, well-coordinated motion, slipped the bow off his back and pulled out an arrow from its quiver, notching it in the bow’s string. He drew back the arrow, and from my position beside him, I could see that he was squinting at some far off target through the trees.
“Please send me the force now.”
I reached into the power base and pulled some into me and then sent it out to Robin, filling his connection with the essence of it.
Robin released the arrow, sending it whistling through the forest. I lost sight of it immediately, but the gasps of the other elves had me searching their faces for clues of the outcome.
“What happened?” I asked in a hushed voice.
“Looks like you surprised the potatoes out of ‘em,” suggested Tim.
Robin’s bow arm lowered and he turned to me, smiling. This time, it wasn’t my green energy release that caused it, either.
“Did it work?”
“Yes, I would call the experiment a success and my hypothesis proven.”
“What happened?”
“Come and see for yourself,” he said, turning and walking in the direction of the arrow’s flight.
I followed along, looking down most of the time, trying not to trip on the fallen branches and tangled vines on the forest floor. I’d hate to have my awesome reputation as this kickass elemental suffer from the realities of my klutziness in front of all these green elves who were a hell of a lot more skilled in this forest than I was.
After a minute or so of walking, we reached a tree. I noticed a green elf mark on it, one of the types that we had learned about earlier when they were teaching Tim and me. There was an arrow sticking out of the center of that mark.
I looked back from where we had come. I couldn’t even see that spot from here.
“Holy shit, that arrow went a long way.”
“Yes, it did,” he agreed, smiling down at me and then at the arrow.
I got the distinct impression he was waiting for something – for me to say something else. I looked back up at the tree and at the mark that was still visible under the arrowhead.
“Isn’t that the symbol for safe passage?” We had learned before that there were symbols representing safe passage and various other things, including danger ahead, areas to avoid, food storage nearby, etcetera. I’d only learned a few of them. This particular symbol had seemed important, though, so I definitely remembered it.
“Yes, exactly.” He beamed at me, in a very un-Robinlike way. It really lit up his face, and I couldn’t help smiling back.
“So you put an arrow through a ‘safe passage’ symbol. What does that mean?”
“What do you think it means?” he asked, his face going all serious on me now.
I grimaced a little, afraid of sounding stupid, “That it’s not a safe passage anymore?”
Robin nodded. “Exactly. Very good, changeling. You are making excellent progress.”
Relief washed through me. I don’t know why it was so important to me that he felt that way, but it was. I really, really didn’t want to screw this up and make any of them hate me. “So what exactly did that extra boost of power do for you?” I had never really watched them fire their arrows at things so far away, so I didn’t know how out of normal this was.
“It enabled me to shoot farther and with greater accuracy.”
I nodded, thinking about the ramifications. “That could come in handy.”
“In many ways,” agreed Robin. “I would like to know if you could do this for more than one green elf at a time. Would you be willing to try?”
I shrugged. “Sure. Why not?” I looked around the immediate area. “Where? Here?”
“No, let’s move to our shooting range.”
Tim and I followed the group of elves to a large, grassy meadow, filled with large tree stumps set out at various distances from the tree line surrounding it. A gentle, late afternoon breeze set the grasses swaying and brushed past the flushed skin of my face. It felt nice to be out in the sun again, feeling the movement of the air around us. The forest blocked many of these sensations, even though some part of me knew they were still out there somewhere.
“Normally, when we stand at this distance, we can hit the targets in the second row of tree trunks with great accuracy.” He pointed to
targets out in the distance that showed heavy use with chips taken out of the front and lots of arrow holes. “As we move out to the targets farther away, our accuracy suffers. Obviously, it is safer for us to hit our intended target from a greater distance.”
Tim took this moment to add to the commentary, “What he’s saying is, that unlike pixies, the green elves need to hit the enemy from as far away as possible because they’re the biggest wimps in the forest.”
He squeaked when I was finally able to land a finger flick on his tiny butt. It wasn’t an easy target to reach either, so I was pretty proud of myself. The green elves’ve got nothin’ on me. Accuracy my ass. I’d bet they couldn’t flick a pixie butt without even being able to see the target. But to be fair, I’d had lots of practice.
Robin could see that he’d lost me, so he stopped talking for a moment. I realized it was quiet and my face turned red as I noticed him standing there patiently waiting for me to catch up.
“Oops. Sorry. Lost me for a second there.” I pointed absently to my head. “...Tired.”
He nodded. “This will be the last exercise, I promise.” He turned to his group, signaling to them with some sort of wave that apparently meant spread out and take aim. It reminded me a little unpleasantly of the day he’d ordered his friends to shoot me, so I looked at him suspiciously, but he seemed oblivious to my fear and kept talking.
“We will aim for the farthest targets. I would like you to try and tap into all of our connections and send each of us the extra power – everyone but one elf. You choose the one who you do not give the power to, and do not tell us which one that is.” He leaned in and whispered in my ear, “But do not select your friend Finn, because I fear then that this test will be of no value. He can hit the farthest target without your ... shall we say ... help.” He nodded, staring me intently in the eye.
I nodded back, trying like hell not to look at Finn and give the secret away. He’d been hanging in the back of the group the whole time, never letting on that we were friends. I didn’t want to blow it for him and screw up his rep as a sharp shooter, so I vowed to myself to make sure he wasn’t the one singled out to miss.