Elves Invasion

57

The clearing shifted to invite the sparkling moonlight in the dark forest. There was some rustling, and gigantie oaks and cedars and others appeared in the clearing, mouths hanging open, unable to believe.

"Ava?" an old voice wheezed.

"Is that you, Windyard?"

"Yes, my child. You have come back!"

Ava ran blindly through the trees and the ents, who moved away to let her pass, and hugged the great tree guardian. Tears flowed freely from her eyes as her other friends from childhood formed a circle around her, looking happier than they must have been in decades.

"Oh, how we have missed you, dear Ava!" one of them cried.

"We thought we'd lost you," sniffed an older one.

Ava looked all around her, smiling through her tears. All of her childhood friends were there, Ashshell and Brick and Borassus. They looked weak, and old, and diseased- but they were there. "I missed you all, as well, my dear friends," she said. "What, pray, has happened to you? Tell me everything!"

"We have been cursed! The human civilization has cursed us out of our immortality," Windyard boomed, "The tree guardians are sick. Death is finally upon us."

"When did it start?" Erye asks.

"A few years ago," one of the younger ones replied, "ever since the human created factories and destroyed the environment. But the nightmare didn't show itself until a few months back, when our barks came loose on our bodies, and our limbs began to blister."

Erye squinted in the dark. The pustules were there alright, angry, black swellings on the branches. The leaves had turned grayish brown, and falling down in heaps.

"Can you heal them, Erye?" Ava asked.

Erye shook her head, "I don't retain my druid magic with me anymore. It vanished a few years back."

"Perhaps you would gain them again, even if a little bit, since we are back to the eternal worlds," Ava suggested. "Perhaps, but I am skeptical whether any of the druids would be able to help them. This is no ordinary infestation. There is something sinister at play," Erye prophesized, with cold horror in her voice.

A chill swept over the group as they tried to make sense of the ominous pronouncement. Windyard shook his head.

"There is nothing more sinister than greed and l**t, and the humans seem to have forgotten all that in their quest to conquer the world. Wealth, and luxury, and immortality, this is what they run after now. Not caring about what, or who comes after them."

"True, but the growth of the civilization itself is not harmful, since there is so much a mortal body can endure," Erye offers.

"Yes. Sometimes, I do wonder when we die," Ava said. would happen

"Why would you think of death, Princess?" the younger ent queried, "You belong to an immortal race."

"Not anymore, Brick. When we got banished to the mortal lands, we lost our immortality. We would age, but slower than the humans."

"What!" Windyard thundered, "How could the realm stand by this decision? Banishing his own daughter and succumb her to mortality! What kind of father does that?"

The ents around them seemed like they were starting to swell, in their anger they seemed to fill up the whole of the Emerald Forests.

One of them shouted, "We should make our voices sound! Bring our own army to The Eternal Utopia, make them hold responsible for their decision, and ask them to return the Princess her immortality, and her status as an elf."

Ava gave a sad chuckle, and said, "Immortality is not something you can just give back, young Borassus. And I don't want you in rivalry with them either. Something tells me there is going to be a time soon when the different races would have to have each other's backs."

"Not to mention that our strength is not what it used to be. We can barely move now, and the little energy we might use to leave our station might make us vulnerable to Death," one of the older guardians said.

"We should leave now, Guardians. Queen Gaelemar is aching, presumably because of the same source of discomfort that you are, and we need to reach the palace soon," Erye urged. "Oh, we have heard of her plight, but we were too agonized in our own sufferings that none of us volunteered to go to the palace. Nevertheless, we bid you farewell. May you find your way guided by the spirits of the emerald light. Gods protect you," Windyard said.

"Farewel, friends. May our paths cross soon."

The Female leapt on their horses and resumed their journey, which would now take less than half a day. They rode in silence, still troubled at their conversation with the ents. They finally reached the cloud gates of The Eternal Utopia. Two guards stood there with their spears drawn, looking bored. Ava and Erye approached them.

"Halt! State your names and purpose," the guards growled.

"It is I, Princess Aclanor of the House of Zauarn, and cousin, Erye Saeltheriel of House Franirinth," came the declaration.

"Some Princess!" one of them sniggered behind his hand, "Heard you are now a mortal. What are you now, some mortal Princess in the Scottish Highlands?"

There was a cold silence laced with fire. "Yes, because now, he has time to perform his fatherly duties, spend time with his children, hasn't he?" Ava tried, and failed to control her anger.

"Yes, I certainly do, for the children who are not disobedient," the King smiled, "and I'd have done that for you if you were anything like her. Instead, you chose to defy your status and name just to run around like the common townsfolk, mingle with the subjects of the empire, and sneak into the Emerald Forests at every chance you got."

"My King, if I may, it should be our duty to know the plight and lifestyle..." Erye started.

"You may not, cousin, er, Erye, is it?" Moraen interrupted, "This is a discussion for the royal family. You are a member of the royal Duchy, and we would like you to remember your position, if you will."

"Now, listen here, you little..." Aclanor burst out.