The Elf Girl (23 page)

“Yes, there are dragons. However, they are usually found only at the capital, Tarlore, where Queen Taryn can protect them. Dragons, like us, are very scarce these days. In the Human Realm, they were hunted and killed. Only a few hundred managed to escape with our help. For that reason, dragons live here in our Realm. You can find dragons in the Fairy Realms occasionally, but most choose to stay with us.”

I didn’t ask any more questions. I decided I’d had my fill for the day, and even though Aaliyah said she didn’t mind, I didn’t want to bother her
too
much. After a while, we separated. She needed to find the elves she hired to manage the orchard and pay them for the month, which left me to explore on my own.

I had meant what I said earlier. The orchard
was
like a fairyland. The sun shone through the trees and made small patches of sparkling light on the grass. The leaves were healthy and green and swayed lightly in the afternoon breeze. I picked fruit after fruit until my shoulder bag was too heavy. I felt like my arms would fall off from the weight. Occasionally, as I explored, I sat beneath a tree and admired the beauty of the orchard, resting my shoulders.

I soon realized it wasn’t as bright out as before, and my internal clock told me it was getting late into the afternoon. I decided to go and find Aaliyah. I didn’t want to be here alone after dark.

Finding my way back proved to be difficult. Everything in the orchard looked the same. After taking a wrong turn countless times, I sat down to rest. I needed a breather before trying again. Just as I found a comfortable spot beneath a Macintosh apple tree, I felt something hard hit my head. The object made a
clunk
that sent waves of pain through my body. My hand flew up to feel a small bump forming on the back of my skull.

“What in the...?” I trailed off. I got up to look around.

Could an apple have fallen from the tree? Was it just a coincidence that the apple fell on my head just when I sat down? I didn’t think so.

I got my answer when I spotted a small man, only about two feet tall, sitting in the tree, his tiny legs swinging in the air.

“Did you just throw an apple at me?” I asked.

“Of course not! Why would I do that?” the little man cried.

“I’m pretty sure you’re not telling me the truth.”

“Alrighty then, ya caught me,” he said, jumping down from the apple tree. “I just wanted to get your attention.”

“A simple hello would have sufficed,” I told him.

“It wouldn’t have been as much fun, though!” he replied, smirking at me.

I looked down at him and shook my head. I had never seen such a small person before. Then the realization struck me. He must be a gnome.

It was plain to see, with his short body, long white beard, and funny, cone-shaped hat. Almost like a dwarf, but not as hefty. He wore a red shirt and jean overalls. Small brown leather boots covered his feet, and he held a wooden staff in one hand. He was just like out of a storybook.

“You’re just like the stories,” I whispered aloud, not really meaning to.

“What? What did you just say to me?
I’m from a story?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude. I’m just surprised that the Human Realm could describe you so well in their books,” I explained.

“Yeah, well, I was once part of that Realm myself,” he told me, pulling at his overall straps.

“You were?”

“Aye. About two hundred years ago, I lived there among the human folk. We gnomes used to be plentiful there until we found the other Realms. We don’t go back to the Human Realm much nowadays. The people there aren’t always that friendly to our kind.”

“I can understand that,” I told him.

“You can? How so?” he wondered.

“I grew up in the Human Realm. I just came back home a few days ago. It was hard to live there. Different isn’t always accepted.”

“You must be Ramsey!” he realized.

“Yeah, how did you know?” I asked.

“Word travels fast underground among the gnomes and the dwarves. We are always ‘in the know.’ You may not see us, but we know about you.”

“That’s a little unsettling,” I told him.

He shrugged and then shook his head. “I’m sorry, I haven’t even introduced myself. How rude of me. The name’s Mac.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Mac. Do you live in the orchard?” I asked.

“Live? Ramsey, I don’t live anywhere,” Mac explained, pulling at the straps on his overalls. “Like them other gnomes and dwarves, I’m a nomad, so everywhere is my home. I’ve just come here from the Element Fairy Realm. ’Tis a strange place, that Realm. Lots of fightin’ and crazy things. I was sick of runnin’ around, so I came here for some peace.”

“The war’s pretty big, isn’t it?”

“Big? Elfen, you ain’t never seen a bigger war than this one. I don’t understand why your kind and the Element fairies just can’t get along,” he said with a sigh.

“Don’t ask me; I don’t even know how it started,” I admitted to him.

“You don’t? Well then, I had better tell you about it, you being an elfen and all. You should know what kinds of things your folk are involved in.”

I remembered Addison saying that Queen Taryn should explain the war, but if I didn’t take my chance now, I may not know for some time. I was very curious, and my impatience got the better of me.

“Go ahead, please,” I urged. I hoped I wouldn’t regret my decision later.

“Alrighty then.” He leaned back against the apple tree, readying himself to tell the tale.

“It all started about thirty years ago,” he began. “All the creatures could go to and from each Magical Realm as they pleased, no trouble at all. One day everything went and changed. An elfen, a fairy, and a fairy child caused the whole war. That’s all! You see, there was this Woodland fairy babe, just born ’bout a year or so before the war started up. The mother of the babe had died durin’ the childbirth and the babe was left alone with its daddy. Unfortunately, the daddy didn’t know how to raise a child and didn’t know what to do. The father knew an elfen girl who was a friend of the mother and asked for some help around the house. She gladly accepted and left the Elf Realm to start caring for the fairy child as if it was her own. She even named the child, for the father was still grieving for his deceased love. She named her Elvina, which translates into ‘friend of elves.’ Funny, eh?” he asked, but didn’t wait for me to respond before continuing.

“She cared for Elvina for a whole year, and they formed an unbreakable bond until one sad day. The daddy didn’t want the elfen to stay anymore. He had found a new mate to take care of Elvina. He told her to say her goodbyes and return to her own Realm.”

“That’s terrible,” I muttered, and then urged him to continue. I had to stop interrupting people. Unfortunately, it had always been a bad habit of mine.

Mac gave me a look and then nodded. “So after a tearful goodbye, the elfen left. However, she couldn’t go far without feeling the pain of her loss. She felt robbed of someone she loved dearly. She had become like a mother to the child when the father wouldn’t be a father. She decided to do something…well, something quite drastic.”

“What?” I asked.

“She stole Elvina that very night and took her back to her Realm. Her ability was to make protective shields around herself and others. She shielded them both and ran to the safety of the King.”

“Did the King help her?” I asked, astonished.

“He was her father!”

My jaw dropped.

“Yes, and that means the Princess of the Elf Realm stole a fairy child, and the King stood by her. What else could he do but stand by his daughter’s side? He kept the child hidden for a while, but it was no use. The Element fairies soon found out about it and declared war over their stolen child,” he told me in a serious tone.

“But I thought Elvina was a Woodland fairy?”

“Yes, her mother was and she had passed on the gene to Elvina, but the father was a fire fairy and lived in the Element Fairy Realm. His gene wasn’t passed on to her, but she was still considered part of their Realm after the mother died. Anyway, the King accepted the declaration and the war started and hasn’t ended since. All because of one little babe.”

“Sounds like a dumb reason to go off killing each other,” I said, disturbed by what I had just learned. “Why doesn’t Queen Taryn end it?” I asked.

“She won’t because those two are sisters. When their father died, Queen Taryn promised to take care of her sister and continue with the war. She would never go and break that promise. And she loves Lady Cora – which is the name of her sister – too much to even consider betraying her.”

“What about Elvina?” I asked.

“She lives there with them.”

“Why doesn’t she leave and go back to her father?”

“She loves Lady Cora far too much to leave her. The Elf Realm is her home now.”

“Do the Woodland fairies have a problem with Elvina being taken?” I wondered.

“Nope, no problem at all. They think war is wrong. They would never take it that far. They forgot the whole thing almost as soon as it happened. However, the Element fairies have always been very prideful. They won’t give up on something so easily. That is what war is, Ramsey. It’s all about the pride,” Mac explained.

I thought about what he said and decided Mac was right. War was just pride covered with a huge mass of fighting and death. Even in a beautiful place such as this, I realized there was just as much terror, fear, and hate as the Human Realm.

Why had I thought it would be any different?

~9~
Diamonds

“So what is your part in all of this?” I asked Mac after he finished telling his tale.

He raised a bushy eyebrow. “What is my
part
?”

“Whose side are you on?” I wondered.

“I’m not on anyone’s side! We gnomes and dwarves are neutral in this sort of thing. We have our own lives underground. Think of us like that country in the Human Realm…um, oh yeah, Switzerland! Yes, we are like Switzerland.”

“That sounds like the best side,” I said, suppressing a sigh, “and the easiest.”

“You better not go around sayin’ that to your kind, Ramsey. You could get in some mighty big trouble,” Mac advised.

“I guess I could. I keep forgetting I’m actually an elfen.”

“Hey, before I finally left the Human Realm I thought I was a human kid with a beard,” he said with a hearty chuckle. “You will get to know who you really are. Trust me, I did.”

“Thanks, Mac. You’ve sure cleared a lot of things up for me,” I told him.

“Don’t mention it. We small folk like to help others who need it. I’m just doin’ what I do best.”

“So where are you headed now?” I asked.

“I thought I’d spend some time here and then go over to the Flower Fairy Realm. It’s all peace and quiet there, no war. And it’s easier being around other small folk.”

I nodded. “Well, I have to get back to my friend, but I hope I see you again some time,” I said, sad to be leaving my new friend.

“You will, young elfen. I travel around a lot, and maybe I’ll take a peek around your city sometime soon,” he assured me.

“If you ever do come to Birchwood, look me up,” I told him. I had always wanted to use the “look me up” line from the movies. It was a geeky thing to say, but I trusted he didn’t know much about human movies, so I was probably safe.

“Will do,” he replied.

“Hey, do you by any chance know the way to the center of the orchard? That’s where I’m meeting my friend. I’m completely lost,” I admitted.

“Sure I do. Just go straight ahead. You’ll find her easily that way. Just don’t change direction!” he instructed.

“Thanks, Mac.”

“Bye for now, Ramsey!” he said, and then the little gnome turned around and climbed back into the tree.

“Bye!” I called.

I heard Mac start to hum a little tune as I walked away. I was very glad that I had met him. Now I finally understood more about the war. I hoped Addison wouldn’t be too upset.

Thinking about the war made another question pop in my mind. What did the war have to do with me? In her journal, Zora said that the Element fairies knew about my secret but didn’t know exactly what it was. What kind of secret could I have that would make the Element fairies kidnap my sister, especially when the war was nothing but extreme overreaction and misplaced pride?

I succumbed to worrying once more. My meeting with Mac had preoccupied me for only a short time. What else could ease this?
Nothing
, I decided. Until I found Zora and figured out this “secret,” my mind would not rest. I would have to put up with it.

I was lost in my thoughts as I walked back to where Aaliyah was waiting for me. I knew I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings, which was never a good idea. But I couldn’t keep a clear head. As I headed to the center of the orchard, my mind a jumbled mess, I heard a weird fluttering noise every couple of seconds. I shrugged it off at first as nothing more than a harmless bird, returning to my thoughts, and then the noise became clearer and closer to me. I clenched my fists and quickened my pace from a walk to a slow jog. I didn’t understand why I was so frightened, but something about the sound made me shiver with fear.

Something red passed near me. I whipped my head around to…nothing. I wearily surveyed the area. When I found nothing out of the ordinary, I continued walking back to Aaliyah. Was I just being paranoid?

I noticed another flash of movement. I turned and looked around again. This time, I didn’t like what I saw.

It was barely recognizable behind a pear tree, but I knew what I was looking at. I could see the tips of the shining red wings. I was looking at a fairy. I wasn’t too keen on fairies myself, but I guessed this fairy was an Element fairy by the color of its wings. The element was most likely fire.

I didn’t stay long enough to observe the fairy any more. I fought the urge to scream, turned back around, and ran. I didn’t know where I was running; I had lost my sense of direction after spotting the fairy. All I knew was that I had to get away from there, and fast.