Grace for The Fallen

Lefal

Theron Kynig

I watched them from where I stood beside Lefal on the top of the hill, laughing and playing as if they had no cares in the world. A sneer found its way onto my lips.

The nerve of that girl. As if the humans were the ones who had suffered, who had bled.

My frown grew deeper as she grew closer, and I started to see her features. Even among Elves, she was beautiful. Even I could not deny that. Even her human friend was good-looking. He could pass for an Elf, with his looks. But the fact simply made me dislike the more. I bet they had had everything laid out before them. Friends, popularity, a loving family, coddling elders. All because of something that was only skin-deep. Because, from what I had seen, nobody would like them simply for their personalities.

As the human came up the hill and saw me, I could feel his happiness being punctured by the pity and sympathy that he felt for me. I growled softly. Pity? Really? What had I ever done to be an object of his disgusting pity?

It was both a blessing and a curse, bring able to feel other's emotions. A blessing, because you could tell a lot by somebody's emotions. How they really felt towards you, when they were lying, if they were a traitor. A curse, because I could feel things like this; the pity, the fragile happiness, and, worst of all, the supposed love.

I could feel its fragility, its mortality, the false feeling of wholeness it gave to a person. As if you needed anybody but yourself to be whole.

The crunch of grass underfoot alerted me to the pair's presence, and I snapped back into reality again, purposefully not reading the human's emotions. Blocking them out as I had been taught to do by my father. Instead, I focused on Daetheia. She was still feeling slight fury, which made me a bit happier, as well as trepidation. I smirked. She was afraid of the Elf Leader.

"Welcome," Lefal spread her arms, "To The Valley. The only safe place for Elves. I am Lefal, but you may call me Elf Leader. Now, I understand that you have some questions?"

"Why did you kidnap us?" Daetheia questioned. I snorted. Lefal looked sideways at me and then turned back to Daetheia.

"You are aware of the Elf-killers, yes?" Daetheia nodded, "Well, in order to keep Elves safe from them, we have to get them back here as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, that does mean sedating them so that we can leave with no questions and no struggling. If Theron had not gotten you out when he did, I am almost certain that the Elf-killers would have come or you that very night,"

"What of our families?" Daetheia questioned quietly, "What will they think?"

"What we want them to think," Lefal shrugged, "That you went out late at night and were murdered by human drunks. We have done this before. We even have witnesses, video evidence, anything the police may ask for," Daetheia seemed to be struggling to think of the words to say. She looked pale.

"How?" She asked at last.

"Shapeshifting Elves and good acting," Lefal shrugged again, "As for your parents, boy," she turned to the human with a slight frown, "Well, we did not anticipate you, so you would have just... disappeared. They will not know what happened to you."

"My parents won't miss me," he replied quickly, "Probably won't even realise that I'm gone," I grinned nastily.

"Aw," I pouted mockingly, "Is somebody not mommy's favourite boy?" I would have kept teasing, but I suddenly felt a stinging slap connect with my cheek. I glanced around in surprise to see Daetheia with her teeth clenched, her golden eyes almost glowing with fury, rage pouring off of her in waves. Even when I had insulted him earlier, she hadn't been this mad. I balled my hands into fists and growled. To my surprise, she didn't back down as any other Elf would. Instead, she kept glaring at me and growled right back, the sound almost as animal and dominating as my own.

"Theron," Lefal suddenly snapped, "Stop this right now," I didn't want to, but she was my Leader. To disobey her was to face serious consequences. I reluctantly dragged my gaze away from hers, not looking Lefal in the eye.

"I apologize, but my third needs to learn to keep his tongue," I bristled slightly at her comment, and at the condescending way in which she said it. But, as she had so clearly hinted, I held my tongue.

"Good. Now" she continued, "Anymore questions?"

"Um," the human cleared his throat, "Third?"

"Yes," Lefal nodded, "My third in command," Daetheia choked slightly, and I couldn't hold back my grin at her shock.

"Him?" She squeaked. Lefal's mouth twitched up into a grin as well at her tone.

"Yes. Believe it or not, Theron is normally quite agreeable with the other Elves." That comment sent Daetheia into a fit of coughing, and I grinned wider at the disbelief yet, hidden deep underneath, the slight bit of respect that she felt at the news. I turned to the human to find him grinning widely at her, as if also amused by her actions.

"Now, if there are no more immediate questions, I need to take Daetheia to see the Skrul. He will answer the rest of your questions. And activate your... gifts,"

"Uh..." the human slowly raised his hand, like a little child in class, "Skrul? Gifts?" Lefal grinned a bit meanly, glancing at me. Oh no. No no no. I shot a pleading glance at her, but she simply turned back to the human.

"And all of your questions will be answered by Theron," I grumbled, glaring at her. She simply smiled sweetly, "He will give you a tour of The Valley as well," her voice made it clear that it wasn't up to debate, but I couldn't help shooting her an incredulous look. A human? We're going to show a human around The Valley? Lefal ignored my look and turned to Daetheia, motioning for her to follow her before she walked off down the hill. I grunted and walked off, not even turning to look and see if the human was following before walking down the opposite side of the hill.

Let's just get this over with. 

-Rebecca Underwood