Having satisfied his curiosity regarding his surroundings, Ahren glanced surreptitiously over at Falk. His master trotted, head hanging, behind the guards with Selsena close beside him. He seemed to have recovered some of his composure, but anguish could still be seen clearly on his face. The apprentice absently tickled Culhen behind the ears. The reformed Blood Wolf seemed to be in top form. Once they had entered the forest, he had been jumping with delight around the trees only to return every so often to be close to Ahren before running off again after a few heartbeats. The animal’s joie de vivre was infectious and the peacefulness that Ahren had felt when they had all first entered the forest began to return.
The sun was a soft disc through the canopy of leaves and as the travel party moved silently on, it continued its upward journey in the sky. It was already almost midday when the scenery changed. Broad ribbons of woven cloth were stretched tautly under the tree tops between the branches and in this way created trails on which a few dozen elves went about their business. Ahren looked on in amazement as even elf children leapt fearlessly from material to material at heights of thirty paces in order to take shortcuts or to change their altitude. He could see little dwellings on almost every tree, made completely from the same woven material, slung artfully around the available branches. Intricate knots and designs transformed fabric into cheerful peaked roofs or round houses that resembled birds’ nests, depending on the number and position of the supporting branches and the knots and folding techniques used.
Ahren took in the beauty of the Elfish settlement with wide-eyed astonishment. Not a single branch seemed to have been pruned, everything fitted harmoniously into the natural structures of the forest. The apprentice kept staring upwards and in the meantime more and more elves appeared, looking down on the new arrivals, mostly with curiosity, some grumpily. Only very few of the very young Elf children seemed afraid, all of the others reacted astonishingly calmly to the figure of Uldini, who was still spraying sparks around him as he floated.
Magic seemed to be nothing unusual here and soon Culhen was arousing more curiosity than the Arch Magus. The elves, all of them white-haired and silver-eyed, were pointing down at Culhen and whispering excitedly to each other as the wolf rambled around the trees. Ahren gave a quiet whistle and Culhen trotted over to him before sitting beside him. The young man tickled Culhen’s furry head in a deliberately exaggerated and intensive way to forestall any misunderstanding regarding his friend’s nature and Culhen began to grumble with pleasure. Then he squatted down and let the wolf lick his face with his slobbery tongue. Giggling broke out from the surrounding treetops and the children hopped and climbed down the branches at lightning speed. Within ten heartbeats Culhen was surrounded by his new playfellows who were calling, teasing, feeding and romping with him. The young Blood Wolf was overjoyed and soon he was buried under a pile of giggling and laughing Elf children. Ahren felt a calloused hand on his shoulder as he watched the fun and games, and he heard the voice of his master. ‘Very good work, boy. Elves are very closely connected to nature and her creatures. You have brought a Blood Wolf into their presence, but one who is a friend and has been wrested from the influence of the Adversary. That will bring us further than all the magic Uldini can invoke’.
Ahren looked at Falk, who smiled weakly. The pain was still visible in the old man’s eyes, but his normal stoic composure had returned, and that was a step in the right direction.
One of the elf guards disappeared while the other one indicated with a hand gesture that they should wait. The apprentice compared their attitude with that of the other elves and he could hardly believe that their ice-cold escorts were also part of this community. All hostility had vanished from the faces of the inhabitants once Culhen had been accepted. Many greeted Ahren with a friendly nod or waved at him. Some performed a strange formal gesture in front of Falk which he reciprocated, beaming with joy. The tumult gradually died away, and those whose curiosity had been satisfied went off about their business. It was striking, however, that none of the adult elves came down to them.
When he mentioned this to Falk, the old man responded. ‘The forest floor is not part of the settlement. It’s as if we were outside the city walls. We are only inside once we have been invited up’.
‘What sort of a gesture was it that the elves made to you?’ asked Ahren, inquiring further. Now that his master was open to questions he wanted to make use of the opportunity while they were waiting.
‘It’s a welcome greeting. They’re expressing their friendship in spite of the fact that I’m not supposed to be here’. Falk’s voice wavered.
‘Why did the guards turn you away? I thought you had already paid for your crime’. Ahren aimed for as gentle a tone as possible in order not to push his master too far.
But he responded in a surprisingly calm voice. ‘It’s nothing personal. Elfish laws permit visitors only a limited time under the trees of Eathinian. When this time has run out, you cannot return for a year. When I was serving my sentence in the forest, I exceeded the time span a hundredfold. So, when I left, I was told that I could only return after 237 years’. Ahren looked at him in amazement but Falk merely shrugged his shoulders. ‘Elves have a different concept of time to humans’.
Before the apprentice could ask any more questions, the second guard was back, accompanied by an elf.
The female elves Ahren had seen in the trees may have resembled those in the stories – tall, slim, white-haired with finely drawn features – but the elf he was looking at now definitely stood out from the crowd.
The first thing that struck Ahren was her red hair, which framed a friendly face. Intensive green eyes looked curiously up at him in a friendly manner. The elf was on the short side and rounder without being any less dainty. When she saw Falk she smiled and Ahren’s heart missed a beat. The goodness and warmth of her smile overwhelmed him and within a heartbeat he knew that he would defend this elf with his life.
Dazzled by her radiance, he watched Falk kneel in front of her with a serious face and murmur something in Elfish. She merely smiled in return, patted him behind the ears and pulled him to his feet.
‘Speak so that all of us can understand you. Where are your manners?’ Then she gave his master a hearty embrace and said, ‘I was never angry with your decision, only with the way you treated Selsena. She’s on your side again so I bear no grudges’.
Ahren thought the little elf sounded like a mother but the tone of her voice and her self-confidence suggested that her short statement could also have been a knight’s dictum. He realized that this thought may not have been so far off the mark when he saw that the two guards had relaxed at last and were now grinning at Falk. The elf let go of Falk, who quietly wiped a tear from his eye, and she turned to Uldini, kneeling before him and stretching her arms out.
‘Aunt Jelninolan!’, screamed Uldini and jumped at her like a little boy. Ahren looked on open-mouthed as the elf lifted up the Arch Magus and spun him around like a little child while he giggled uncontrollably. Her radiance had just as powerful an effect on his companions as on himself. But who was this woman?
Falk turned to him and gave a hearty laugh when he saw the young man’s face.
He said in a cheerful voice, ‘Ahren, chosen to be the thirteenth Paladin, allow me to introduce you to the Arch Wizardess Jelnilolan, high priestess of Her, who feels’. The elf gave a little curtsy that seemed more playful than formal and smiled at him. The full impact of her radiance overwhelmed him as her green eyes bore into his, and he felt the full extent of her goodness and friendliness.
A feeling of security began to spread within him as she spoke. ‘The blessings of Her, who feels be upon you always. May all creatures under Her control recognize your heart and behave accordingly’.
And she placed a soft hand on his cheek. Ahren closed his eyes and enjoyed the comfortable feeling, above all else of being protected, and a small part of his heart wondered if that was how it felt when you had a mother. As far as Ahren
was concerned, he could have remained standing there for hours, but suddenly he felt a push between his legs and heard an excited whimper. Culhen had freed himself from the mass of elf children and now pushed Ahren roughly aside so that he could push himself forward on his stomach towards Jelninolan, whimpering and wagging his tail and looking for her hand with his head. The elf priestess looked thoughtfully for a moment at the Blood Wolf, then smiled again and repeated her words, while she placed a hand on Culhen’s head, between his ears. The animal was now completely silent and at the end of the blessing he tilted his head and looked up at Jelninolan with curious eyes. Everything was still for two heartbeats. Only the gentle rustle of the trees could be heard. It was only now that Ahren noticed that all the elves were watching them spellbound, without making a sound. Then Culhen sat up on his hind legs, tilted back his head, and uttered a long howl that reverberated loudly through the forest. Ahren flinched, but he was the only one to do so. All the others smiled and ruffled his fur or patted his head. He jumped away and into a crowd of squealing elf children who welcomed him even more enthusiastically than they had the first time. It seemed his friend had passed some sort of test without even knowing about it.
The high priestess turned and waved at them to follow her. Ahren trotted after the others wearily. The roller coaster of emotions he had experienced in such a short time were taking their toll.
Culhen stayed behind and didn’t react to his commands, but Falk simply said, ‘Leave him be. It’s better if the children keep him occupied than you have to control him. When animals receive the blessing of the goddess, they’re full of beans for a few days’.
‘It felt really lovely’, whispered Ahren quietly as the latest experiences overwhelmed him again. Falk nodded and said, ‘the blessing is reserved only for elves and a select few other creatures, or to be more precise, for highly valued animals and a handful of esteemed outsiders. It’s only bestowed once, so treasure this in your memory’.
As they were speaking they went around a massive tree trunk and began climbing one of the cloth paths which resembled a ramp and rose gently into the branches. Ahren was surprised at how securely his feet held their grip and how little give there was in the cloth under their steps.
His mastered continued, ‘you and Culhen are part of a community that is respected by all natural living beings. Every animal, every plant will recognize this blessing and as long as you remain in harmony with them, they will always consider themselves your allies’.
It all sounded very vague and Ahren was too exhausted to think about it so he just nodded.
Satisfied, Falk continued, ‘one of the reasons we came here was so that you would receive this blessing. I actually thought Jelninolan would wait until the ritual itself, but elves are very spontaneous and sensitive to feelings by nature. It seems I drummed enough respect for nature into you to make them satisfied with what they saw in you’. He leaned forwards, ‘and between you and me, rescuing Culhen from the claws of the Adversary has made you a lot of friends here in no time at all. I underestimated that reaction completely’.
They walked on in silence and finally reached the first level, which had a few dwellings. Ahren looked at one of them curiously from up close. Intertwined lengths of cloth were artfully arranged in patterns and shapes, creating here a wall, there a window, not to mention gables. He pressed his finger against one of the cloth walls but it only gave way half a finger length. He tried to follow the direction of one of the lengths of cloth, but failed. The patterns were so complex that his head hurt if he concentrated on them too much. His eyes began to water at the effort so he shook his head and gave up. Uldini popped up beside him and laughed.
‘Leave it be. The human brain isn’t cut out for this art. It took me three years before I understood the basics that time’.
Ahren remembered the emotional reaction when the Arch Magician greeted the elf.
‘She’s not really your aunt, is she?’ he asked quietly.
Uldini laughed again. ‘No, of course not. When I discovered the secret of eternal life, I was a nine year old slave boy in the clutches of a below average magician. I didn’t know what sort of a formula I had deciphered and were it not for Jelninolan, I wouldn’t have survived the following day. Had I told my owner, it would have been all up with me. But luckily all Arch Wizards can sense when a new member has joined their ranks. She was outside my sleeping place when day broke the following morning and she bought me. I spent the following decades here and received a proper education in the magic arts’. The little figure sighed. ‘Those were happy times’.
The news that Jelninolan was older than Uldini didn’t surprise Ahren. He had expected elves to be age-old and wise, and it was comforting to him that at least one of his assumptions had been proven correct. Falk and Jelninolan were whispering to each other like old friends.
Ahren racked his brains trying to remember, and then asked Uldini quietly, ‘wasn’t Falk afraid of meeting her?’
The Arch Wizard chuckled gleefully. ‘Before Falk came to Eathinian that time, he had decided not to work with me again. Selsena didn’t agree with his decision and was angry with him. It all became loud and horrible and finally she galloped off in a rage and Falk had to make his own way through the world. When in the end he was in a degenerate state and running riot around Eathinian, Jelninolan intervened. She wasn’t happy at his behaviour and let him know that in no uncertain terms when he was doing his compulsory labour in the forest. Ever since his exile Falk has always feared another confrontation. Believe me, if he hadn’t made it up to Selsena, the reunion would have been twice as loud and half as harmonious’. Uldini grimaced and placed a hand on Ahren’s arm so that he stood still and looked the sorcerer in the eye.
‘You’ve noticed this peaceful feeling when she looks at you, haven’t you?’
The young man nodded and found himself smiling automatically at the memory. So everyone had the same feeling in her presence, he thought.
‘And now imagine her angry and shouting at you’.
Ahren shrank back and looked doubtfully at the red-haired, roundish elf walking in front of them. Somehow he couldn’t imagine this personification of peacefulness and goodness becoming enraged. But he wouldn’t give her any reason to reprimand him, just to be on the safe side.
Falk and the high priestess had stopped outside a large, angular dwelling which could almost pass for a human tree house.
She turned around and said, ‘this is one of our guest chambers. The first few days under the trees are always very disturbing for people. Rest yourselves and have something to eat. We’ll talk again early tomorrow. In the meantime I’ll speak to the forest and listen to what he has to say’. Then she turned on her heels and left without waiting for a response.
Ahren looked after her and Uldini chuckled quietly.
‘Like a strange mixture of motherly sternness and kingly authority, don’t you think? I’ve learnt to contradict her only when it’s absolutely necessary’.
Falk mumbled something to himself and took a fresh fruit from the bowl that was standing there ready. Ahren took one too and looked around him.
The dwelling consisted of a large room that, with the help of loosely hanging lengths of material was divided into three sleeping areas and one main room. Plump cushions for sitting on were scattered around the floor and naturally grown branches which never seemed to get in the way served as storage places for bowls, jugs and glasses. The three ate in silence and found themselves being enveloped by the same peaceful mood that they had experienced when they first entered the elf forest. Nobody wanted much to talk, each person dwelling on their own thoughts. Falk seemed more relaxed than he had been in weeks and Uldini less serious. Ahren enjoyed the feeling of contentment and safety that radiated from everything around him. He closed his eyes, gave a contented sigh and fell asleep on the spot.
Chapter 19
Ahren woke up, fresh as a daisy. He lay there with his eyes closed and enjoyed the peace of the mo
ment. The greenish light of Eathinian warmed his face and the rustling of the trees soothed his spirit. The silence around him could only mean that the others had got up before him and the fact that Culhen hadn’t licked his face suggested that his four-legged friend was playing with the tireless elf children. After a while his curiosity concerning the Elfish settlement won out over the peace of his sleeping space.
He opened his eyes and stretched himself and noticed that somebody, in all likelihood Falk, had carried him to one of the separate sleeping areas and peeled him out of his leather clothing. Ahren smiled in gratitude, rotated his shoulders and stretched his back in order to loosen himself.
He pulled the length of cloth aside and stepped into the main space. As he had suspected, none of the others were there. Fresh fruit was laid out in the bowl that they had already eaten out of the previous day, and Ahren dived right in. He almost emptied the bowl, and as he was eating he kept glancing outside curiously. It only dawned on him then that there were no doors to be seen. The entrance to their dwelling wasn’t even hung with cloth and when he looked around he could see that the same was true for the other cloth constructions in the vicinity. He only saw a few elves and very little new. It seemed as though the guest quarters were chosen so that they were somewhat separate from the rest of the community. Ahren did have a fine view of the forest, but if he wanted to see anything else he had to crane his neck or leave the house.
Ahren- the 13th Paladin Page 29