An Elf's Tale

"Ready your bows!" Ella shouted from the end of the line as she faced her quintet of trainees. The five elves raised their recurves. They drew back the bowstrings creating tension in them. "And...fire!"

Four arrows whisked through the wind and lodged into tree trunks sending wood chips flying. The fifth arrow landed in parts unknown and Ella trotted to console its sender.

"Damn, if I was trying to hit air, I'd be a pro!" Robyn griped with a breath of frustration and a foot stamp as Ella entered her space.

Smiles and giddiness usually consumed Ella in the presence of her bosom buddy. Their parents were always close and Ella and Robyn would play together from the time they were pint size until now. They were still close to pint size but a little bigger than before!

Robyn was the one to coat her teachers' wooden chairs with tree sap and made it a point to do the opposite of what authority asked of her. Ella's attempts to sit in the branches and read paperbacks over the top of her tiny specs usually ended with Robyn goading her into joining in her antics. Both became familiar with lying bottoms up over the laps of nearly every parent and leader in the forest but neither would trade their moments of mischief for all the gold coins in the land.

As the years passed, Ella's intellect began to take over and she grounded her friend to the point she saw the value in learning more than new practical jokes.

Ella's prowess firing a bow and arrow and the fact she won every race through the trees and on the earth made it easy for her people to select her to train the other elves. In a world of humans, orcs, dragons, succubae, trolls, werewolves, were-tigers, Cyclopes, and every other monster imaginable, elves sat near the bottom of the food chain. This made Ella's job one where she lamented how little time she had to herself. Despite the importance of her title, she dreamed of the day she could call her own.

Being in Robyn's presence lifted Ella to a high and finding ways to include her in her day made things almost like old times.

"When you hold your bow, you might want to focus on your target not the poor fairies in the sky." Ella fought against grinning at how Robyn had a better chance at hitting a cloud than the tree ten yards away.

"Ugh!" Robyn slammed her bow to the grass. "Maybe I should do something else like...knife fighting? Pretty sure I can cut someone better than I can shoot an arrow!"

Ella waved a finger back and forth. "No, no, and no! I remember when you grabbed a dagger by the blade. You'd cut yourself before a seven foot troll right in front of you!"

"I was distracted that time. There was a hot elf that caught my eye. You can't blame me for that!" Robyn's lip curled towards the ground and her chin fell beneath the horizon. "I want to get good at something besides entertaining people. I don't want to run and hide if someone attacks us..."

Ella swiped Robyn's bow from the ground and grabbed a trio of arrows from the tree stump next to them. "Watch me."

Ella stood with her side aimed at the target and imagined herself nailing it. She notched an arrow, lifted the bow, and drew the bowstring back. An inhale and exhale later, she fired and pierced the tree in its center.

"You make it look easy," Robyn said, dejected in tone.

The sorrow in Robyn's speech colored Ella blue as well but what kind of person would she be to leave her like that?

Ella bumped hips with Robyn making her stumble. "Come on! Cheer up! Turn that frown around! I'm here for you. Try again."

"Okay..."

Ella swiped another arrow from the stump and handed it and the arrow to her friend.

Robyn brought the bow into position again with the arrow cocked at the ready. Her fingers vibrated and her breaths shuddered.

"Relax and slow your breathing. Focus on the target and let it fly." Ella wanted nothing more than for that arrow to hit the bark.

Robyn's chest puffed, deflated, and away the shot flew. She sealed her eyes and turned away.

"I can't look! Did I hit it?" Robyn asked.

Ella's lips stretched from ear to ear when she spotted the arrowhead jammed into the tree. At an angle towards the bottom of it. Near the ground. Still, it counted.

"You did!" Ella said with glee.

Robyn peeked through the hands plastered against her face and gleamed all her teeth at her discovery.

She leapt into the sky and ensnared Ella in an embrace that consumed the smaller friend in her elation. "Thank you, thank you!"

Ella caught her balance and squeezed her back as her joy became her own. "I only showed you what to do! You did it!"

"I couldn't have done it without you! We can celebrate tonight!" Robyn leaned away but stayed tight to her favorite person in the world. She rolled her shoulders and hips, snapped her fingers, and shimmied left and right while tapping her toes. Ella wished she had half of her friend's aptitude for rhythm and dance. Robyn waved Ella to join. "Come, do what I do like this..."

Ella watched Robyn's feet and attempted to mimic her. She made a gallant effort. If she could turn tripping and stumbling into a dance, she could woo crowds.

At least Ella got a couple of chuckles out of it as she wound down her lesson. "Hehe, okay, that's the best I have right now!"

Robyn was all grins, too. "Oh, this isn't over! You don't get that lucky. I saw you holding back laughing at me earlier and now it's my turn. It's my chance to teach you something but if I get a little revenge along the way, you can deal with it."

"Oh, whatever! I didn't actually laugh at you because the birds squawked away in terror during your archery class!"

"It's on now you meanie! I'll see you tonight!" Robyn's momentum took her out of Ella's aura prompting her friend to question her destination.

"Hey, wait," Ella said as she held her wrist causing her to halt her exit and look at her, "where are you going? Class just started!"

"It just ended for me. I want to go out on top! Besides, I'm going to the lake to bathe. I'm helping to prepare for this evening's festivities and no, you can't come. I don't swing your way."

"Aww, you don't want to try something different?" Ella teased with her jade irises off-center and winked.

"Eew! You know that I only date elves that have penises!"

"Are you so certain I don't have one? Do you want to check?"

Robyn tapped her shoulder, flipped, and walked away. "I'll pass! I'll see you tonight! Get ready to dance your butt off!"

Ella enjoyed their banter and wouldn't risk their friendship or sisterhood to go for more. That didn't change how much of a looker her friend was.

Ella sighed as she watched the brownish blonde mat of tresses that laid against Robyn's back vanish as she swayed like waves out of sight. Ella admired Robyn's ocean blue eyes and pink blush with matching lips. Ella had to lift her ogles a bit to meet her irises, which was uncommon when it came to most of their brethren. Her ears were longer and pointier than Ella's as they could almost be hidden when her emerald locks hung freely. Ella skin's tone was a few shades darker than Robyn's, which wasn't a surprise since her friend could probably blend into a snowstorm.

Some of Ella's hair dangled in front of her right eye and that addition to her allure was worth the minor annoyance. Her naturally gifted assets that caused her tube-like cloth top and skirt to struggle to contain them were especially something she was willing to deal with.

Not that it was all peaches and cream. A "special someone" or simply a fun time was absent from her life.

A couple hours later, the sun's imminent departure created an orange glow at the horizon as the dark blues and purples overhead represented the transition to night. Ella scanned every cranny of the forest settlement for Robyn but when she was not found, trickles of worry rippled into her soul. Bursting into Robyn's hut and inquiring around concerning her whereabouts proved equally fruitless.

Ella stood at the village outskirts, wringing her hands as rumbles settled in her gut, her thoughts churning. Stars were peeking into view and elders were lighting lanterns centered in the community. The brightness of the green tinge of their lights on the dirt prompted Ella to make a decision with haste. She glanced at the path through the ferns and cedars behind her and back at the village. She opted to find her rock, the one who was closer than a sister, too distraught to tell a soul her intent to leave.

Ella scampered the trail as the dirt crunched beneath her shoes. Pale blue moonlight lit her steps. Crickets chirped from the greens and owls hooted from the treetops. All the while, a thunderous roar emanated from her chest.

Ten minutes into her trek, she spotted a lake glimmering in the moonlight from upon a hill. The spectacle would have been the most beautiful she'd seen if she could have donated an ounce of attention to it. The waters provided a calming contrast to the chaos across the Earth.

Ella intensified her focus as she scurried down the slope, her brakes only hitting upon arrival at the lakeshore.

She jogged in one direction along the coast and the other but not a peep from Robyn.

"She has to be here somewhere. Think, Ella. Put those brains to use." She bent at the waist and darted from grass to mud patch along the water on all sides looking for clues but found nothing. As a last resort, she disturbed the forest with her call. "Robyn! Please find me if you can hear me!"

She called again and again until her strength stripped away. She collapsed to her knees and tears fell down her cheeks but she drew a breath to silence the onset of full-blown wailing.

Something shining through her blurred vision snared her attention. Her hand's back cleared the view of a heart-shaped locket hiding in the grasses. She snatched the jewelry and held it, along with its chain, towards the moon. The silver gleamed in the shine. Her heart jumpstarted at its familiarity but concern accompanied the discovery.

Robyn vowed to never be separated by that symbol of their friendship—a symbol Ella was able to buy using a small fortune gifted to her by her parents. How selling apples, oranges, and nuts loaded their pockets like that was a mystery Ella never questioned.

Robyn's promise held true for the last three years until that moment though it didn't appear the detachment from the keepsake was by choice.

"She would never leave this unless something was wrong..." Ella leapt to her shoes and retraced her steps back to her village. "I'll find you, Robyn. I promise."

After setting foot across the village threshold, a pair of elves ambushed Ella.

The violet-haired one wearing a similarly colored dress with hands flying around in a frenzy was mom and she spoke first.

"Ella, honey, where have you been? We were worried! The party will be starting soon." Momma Fiona laid a hand on each shoulder. A flicker of her warmth and the tunes flowing from the lutes and bongos nearby quelled her turmoil for a second but the gravity of the circumstances drowned their effects.

Ella slid to the edge of her touch range. "Mom, Robyn is missing! She said she was going to the lake this afternoon and she never came back. I just got back from where she bathes and I found no Robyn but only the locket I gave her! I have to go find her!"

Ella's blood pressure was about to make her brain pop.

Papa elf, the one on her right with the silver hair and chiseled like a rock troll but far more handsome, risked his wellbeing to barricade her path.

"Stop! Wait until morning so we can help you. It's too dangerous to go anywhere in the dark much less by yourself," Papa Humeral said like a command under the guise of a suggestion.

"If it's dangerous, why would we leave Robyn out there?" Ella watched her parents' faces wash into blankness. "I'm going!"

Ella bulled by her father who jerked her back into his presence by the hand. Her tugs and grunts at his clutches did nothing but frustrate herself.

"Do what I say, Ella! I care about Robyn, too, but it wouldn't make sense to lose you both!" Humeral seared her with his glare but Ella steeled herself and broke from his grasp.

"I'm sorry but I can take care of myself! Maybe she's not your daughter but she is still my sister!"

Ella's agitation with dad's lack of urgency fueled her blowing past him and running to her home to gather necessities for her search.

"We care about her, too!" Humeral spoke but his voice faded in the distance.

Ella understood papa was looking out for the elves. Being at the mercy of every other race and beast out there, leaving the confines of the forest could be life-threatening, but Ella was a little more equipped than most to handle the perils.

After stuffing a knapsack with apples, grapes, bananas, grabbing her serrated knife and its sheath, and her bow with a quiver of arrows, she blasted out of her hut.

The tunes from the village center lulled her into a state of false ease but her only escape from her mental distress was to find Robyn in great health.

Ella took a last look at the elves gathering to shake their hips and stuff their mouths to bursting with candied apples and cider. The shine of the lanterns displayed faces of joy without regard to the daily hardships of elven life. Ella sighed. She and Robyn wouldn't be getting down with them.

Ella steeled her resolve and turned away with a sniff when her mom's shouts halted her progress mid-step.

"Honey, wait! Please!" Fiona pleaded. Though loaded with apprehension, Ella waited for the voice and its owner to enter her proximity. Mom maneuvered in front of her daughter, turned her palms face-up, and took Ella's hands into her own. Ella was tempted to melt from the warmth. "Sweetheart, I know how much Robyn means to you. To us. I want to see her dance again and smile as she eats my blueberry pies. She makes you happy and that's important to all of us here."

"Hey, Fiona! Come on! She's made up her mind!" Humeral yelled from the shadows at her back. "Hurry up! It's starting!"

Fiona pressed her lips to Ella's forehead and pulled away until their fingers broke their connection. "Be careful and both of you return to us, please! Goodbye..."

"I'll bring her back, mom. I promise!" Ella headed out in search of her friend.

She returned to the place she found the locket and followed the path beyond. Looking for evidence in the dark may have worked for a cat meaning her father was right about one thing but Ella couldn't think about anything except Robyn. The nearest town was a two-hour trek away and with little interest in becoming a snack for the wolves howling from the mountains, finding shelter until the next day's first light was the prudent option.

Every flutter through the trees and rustle in the bushes along her walk chilled Ella to the spine. Her feet carried her near a trail off the road through some vegetation but a glimpse of a pair of yellow objects in the weeds aimed at her accelerated her heart and seized her steps. She lowered herself into some shrubs. She swallowed hard and armed herself with her bow and notched an arrow. Perspiration had every inch of her skin glowing moments later.

Ella hoped Robyn didn't become cougar food because the predator in front of her may have had that in mind for her. She readied her weapon but needed to control her breaths and nerves to keep her hands steady. Her heart's hyperactivity seemed to vibrate through the rest of her body. She stayed low and tried to blend with the shadows as she landed on her heels with each step while she tried to get a better shot. The cougar's stare never averted from the elf for a moment. A miss could mean a brutal end for Ella.

By the time she reached the detour, Ella was crumbling to pieces. An alcove that had formed within the base of a rock wall stood a few rabbit strides away. The animal growled and stirred in the grass when Ella moved past. The elf squealed as she became encased in ice. Her eyes shot forth, mouth dropped open, and her heart threated to tear through her chest. At the abandonment of logic, she gasped and made a sprint for safety. The cat sprang into the air with a ferocious roar and swiped at the elf in a single motion. His strike struck the wind but it strode after Ella as tears flew while she blazed towards her safe haven. Sensing the predator closing in, she spun with her bow and fired a shot where she thought the cat to be. The cougar growled but continued its pursuit and transitioned into a pounce that sent Ella tumbling into a dizzying amount of rotations across the ground. She hissed at a stinging sensation on her shoulder but the slobbering canines hovering above was the primary concern.

Ella patted her hip for her leather sheath, fumbled for the knife, whisked it free, and slashed at the assailant. It winced and despite the strike and arrow lodged in its neck, the cat stood its ground. Ella sliced its neck and she scooted backwards and leapt backwards to her feet while the cougar reeled from the attack. She managed to get to the cave and launched herself into it beyond the snap of jaws. Ella pressed herself flat to the side. The cat's head doubled the width of the opening but it stuck its paw in to feel around for his snack. When the cat came up empty, it aborted its pursuit, and the elf's adrenaline gradually returned to normal, but her cries and pants took longer to subside.

Ella fell to her back and stretched out to catch some rest. She gritted and hissed again at the pulsing on her arm. Upon examination, she realized her pursuer left a trio of claw marks. Regardless of its glancing cut, its pain was hellacious.

It would all be worth it if she could find the object of her journey...

Sometime later, the sun's rays streaming into the cave called the elf from her slumber. She didn't know when she entered the slumber land but rejuvenation had flooded her body and her claw tattoos were mere scars.

Ella sat up and fumbled through her bag for nourishment and pulled out a grape bunch. The fruit was mashed from her spill the previous night but it was still food and she popped grapes into her gullet as fast as she could get them there.

While munching, the light revealed blood drips on the cave's bottom. Ella contributed her share but this fluid appeared to have been there before. This secret hideaway was Ella and Robyn's since they were kids and the elf's thoughts went to the darkest of areas. She couldn't have imagined anyone else being there.

"She was here but where could she have gone?" Ella cycled through the possibilities and a finger snap soon followed. "The town...she must have gone into the next town to fix herself up. I hope she's okay. She always was a troublemaker."

Ella eased back into the forest and peeked around for the cougar pursuer from the previous night but her greeters wound up being singing magpies and cockatoos. The scents of honeysuckles and jasmines spiced the wind. Passing clouds acted as a filter for the sun and the temps resembled a spring-like clime. It was like nature welcomed her back with opened arms. As long as nature didn't bring teeth and claws this time, Ella was more than happy to emerge from her hollow.

Ella reached for the sky to stretch out her stiffness. She conjured the confidence to return to the road leading to the next town. She peeked into the brush where her attacker once laid to find that it moved on to an easier victim. Ella opted to run to town with all her might.

Less than an hour later, Ella arrived in a place resembling a medieval town. The buildings were rock or stone framed by wood. Centered in the square facing the entrance sat a fountain with coins and leaves at the bottom. Ella watched the water pour from its top and pool at its base. The sound of the rushing liquid provided a semblance of relief from her plight.