The Bitter Elf

Imagine a forest, older than any other, and filled with deep magic. In the heart of the forest there is a village, built in the tallest branches of the oldest trees. The elves that live in the village are the only creatures on two legs capable of navigating through the magic forest. All others who enter become lost almost immediately, never to find the way out. The trees seemed to change every time they turn around and the canopy is so thick they cannot see the stars unless they climb to the very top of the branches. The very air seems thick as if they are in a small room with several candles burning. The elves loved the forest, it provided them with food, and water. It was their protection from the rest of the world.

Outside the forest in every city and towns you would hear rumors about the Elves and their treasure. Some believed the rumors, but most did not. Every now and then some brave warrior would lead a group of men into the forest in search of the hidden elven city, promising the people of their town that they would raid the elves and return with the treasure. But this never came to pass, and the brave men would never be seen again. All became lost in the forest.

The King of the elves was called the Elėyan. An elf known as Ivälorn had served as Elėyan for over a thousand years. None of the other elves knew exactly how long Ivälorn had been Elėyan because they kept no history records of any kind.

The elves lived peaceful, relaxed lives. They were all vegetarian, and the forest provided them with plenty of fuit to eat so they had no reason for farming. They would pass the time by singing to the birds or telling each other stories from the Old Time when they lived outside the magic forest. 

The years spent in the safety of the forest had made the elves more simple-minded and childlike than they were in the Old Time. Ivalorn knew this, but it did not concern him much. He knew that they had no need for the complicated politics and battle strategies that had so occupied the minds of his forefathers. His people were happy and safe. That was all that mattered. 

Ivalorn’ son, Parin, was young for an elf, somewhere between four and five hundred years old. He loved to listen to the stories the older elves would tell. He, like many of the elves, had never known any world other than the forest. Many of the elves who were old enough to have lived outside the forest had long forgotten what it was like. Parin would often climb the highest tree he could find and stare out at the horizon over the canopy, dreaming about the world beyond the forest. One day when Parin was doing just that, he heard a voice call out from somewhere below him. He climbed part way down the tree and saw a woman on horseback who seemed to be lost. Parin stared at the woman for a while. He had never seen a human before and she seemed very strange to him. The woman was very beautiful by human standards but to Parin she seemed rough. Her voice sounded harsh to him and her movements looked clumsy. 

After a watching the woman for a while Parin, knowing that it was impossible for her to find her way on her own, took pity on her and decided to guide her out of the forest. He came down from his tree and called out to the woman. She turned and froze when she saw Parin standing before her. The woman, had never seen anything nearly as beautiful as an elf. The moment she saw Parin she fell in love with him. In her eyes he was more captivating than any sunset or sunrise, both stronger and gentler than any man she had ever known. 

Parin tried to ask her what she was doing in the forest, but the woman did not speak elvish and Parin knew no English. Parin called the horse and it came to him bringing the woman with it. He guided both of them to the edge of the forest. The woman remained silent for the entire trip, as she watched the beautiful elf guide her horse. They reached the edge of the forest, she thanked him and tried once more to communicate with him but Parin simply turned and walked back into the forest. 

Once he was out of her sight Parin climbed up a tree and made his way back to where he could watch the woman. She was the most interesting thing Parin had ever encountered and he wasn’t just going to just walk away. The woman was pacing back and forth at the edge of the forest. She didn’t seem to know where else to go. Eventually she moved a little ways into the forest to a spot where she could still see where the trees ended so she would not get lost again and set up camp. Parin picked some fruit from a nearby tree and settled into one of its branches. He continued to watch the woman with keen instrest as the ate the fruit and eventually drifted off to sleep.

Parin awoke the next day and saw the woman still at her campsite. She was skinning a rabbit she apparently had shot with a bow just before Parin awoke. When he saw the dead rabbit Parin was horrified. The elves lived in peace with all the creatures of the forest and harming one was as serious as harming another elf. He immediately rushed down from is tree and snatched the rabbit out of the woman’s hands. She jumped back surprised and began to apologize, Parin simply glared at her, not understanding what she was saying. He took the rabbit out into the woods and buried it. He was angry with the woman for killing the rabbit but he understood that she did not know any better and that she needed something to eat. He picked some more fruit and brought it to the woman. When she was eating the fruit, he took her bow and arrows and broke them in half. The woman opened her mouth to protest but knowing that it would do no good decided to remain silent. 

Parin kept bringing the woman food. He was intrigued by her and wanted to learn more about her. They started eating together most days and eventually Parin learned that the woman’s name was Elyse. Elyse was still madly in love with Parin and looked forward to seeing him every day. As the days and weeks past Parin was able to learn some of her language. Elyse tried to learn some elvish but was only able to say a few badly mispronounced words. The more they were able to communicate the more Parin began to grow fond of the strange rough woman who had appeared in his forest. He learned that she had escaped from a kingdom not very far away where her people were enslaved. Parin did not understand what she meant by “slave”. It took a while for Elyse to explain, but once he understood Parin was enraged by the idea. He insisted that they go at once and free her people from their captures. Elyse told him that the kingdom was much to strong for the two of them to attack alone.

That night Parin went to Ivalorn and told him about the woman at the edge of the forest and the struggle of her people. He pleaded with his father to send the elves out to fight and free Elyse’s people, but Ivalorn was not willing to risk the safety and happiness of his people for some humans who’s lives would be over in seemingly the blink of an eye compared to the long lives of the elves. Parin tried to argue with his father saying that it would be easy for elves to kill the slave driver king and all of his men. It was well known that the elves speed and strength far surpassed that of humans. But Ivalorn knew that the elves had not fought anything in a long time. They had no weapons and no desire for battle and he doubted that many of them would even be able to kill an ant, much less a man. It was simply not worth the risk. Ivalorn sent Parin away and told him to stop visiting the woman at the edge of the forest. 

For reasons he did not understand Parin chose to ignore his father’s command and continued to visit Elyse. Over the next few weeks Parin found himself spending more and more time with Elyse and he realized that he was falling in love with her. At first he was disgusted with himself for being weak and empathetic toward a human, but the more he thought about her the more Parin was drawn to Elyse. He knew that his people would not approve. Humans held short miserable lives in the eyes of elves. To be with one romantically was unheard of and Parin knew he would surely be banished from the village, but after hearing her story and learning more about Elyse, Parin felt sure that he could never send her away. 

Parin, still bitter from his father’s refusal to fight, decided that he would rather have Elyse than the approval of his people and he would teach Elyse how to navigate through the forest they could build a home together in some secluded area far away from the elven village.  Elyse was thrilled when Parin asked her to come into the forest with him, but she had a brother named Albert who was still enslaved by the king. She told Parin that she could not start a life with him until she had freed her brother from slavery. Parin understood Elyse’s concern for her family and was eager for a chance to right some of the wrong done by the human king and his army so he agreed to help Elyse secure her brothers freedom.

The two of them set out toward the kingdom. It took them two days to reach the kingdom on horseback. Once they arrived they left the horses in a small grove of trees at the edge of a beautiful garden where Elyse said that the slaves were taken each day to tend to the flowers. Her plan was to wait until she saw Albert and then sneak back in among the slaves and lead him to the edge of the garden where Parin would be waiting with the horses. Elsys assured Parin that because there were so many slaves the guards would not recognize her when she snuck back in. They knew that they would be pursued, but Parin knew how to disappear and was sure that he could outwit a few human soldiers.

The next day when her brother appeared in the garden with the other slaves Elyse made her way out of the trees and joined a nearby group of slaves. She began move closer to her brother, acting like she was simply working by pulling weeds from among the king’s flowers. When Albert saw Elyse standing in the garden he froze and stared at her for a moment before a grin broke out across his face. Elyse tried to motion to him to keep working but it was to late. One of the nearby guards noticed the smiling slave and followed his line of sight to where Elyse was working. He glared at Elyse for a moment before he recognized her as the escaped slave. The guard immediatly sounded the alarm and aimed his bow at Elyse’s chest. At the same time Albert, Parin, and several guards began to sprint toward Elyse. The guard released his arrow and Albert reached her just as the arrow hit its mark. He grabbed Elyse and held her in his arms as her tunic began to turn a dark shade of crimson. The guards reached the spot where Elyse was dying and with a roar of anger Albert turned to face them. He was weak from years of forced labor but his pain and anger made him strong. He tried to fight the guards and nearly killed two of them before they cut him down. Parin reached the scene just as Albert fell to the ground and killed three guards before they even realized someone else was attacking them.  Parin Fought like the wind, moving around the guards faster than any man could. Then suddenly his leg gave out and Parin dropped down on one knee. One of the guards that stood on the castle wall overlooking the garden had shot him in the thigh with an arrow. He grabbed the arrow as close to his leg as he could and broke it off, but before he could stand up several guards jumped on top of him and began beating him. one of the guards hit him in the head with the pommel a sword and Parin blacked out.

When Parin awoke he was on his knees before a very small elderly man whose greasy hair that stuck to his forehead underneath a solid gold crown that looked much to heavy for the man’s small neck to hold up. The king was studying him intently. When he realized that Parin was awake he began to ask him questions. The king wanted to know if Parin really was an elf like his men were saying and if there were any more of his kind. Parin was so heartbroken he barely even realized he was being spoken to. When Parin refused to answer his questions, the King had him beaten and thrown in the dungeon. 

Parin lay againt the iron bars in the solid darkness of his cell. He felt sure that heart had been torn in half and his stomach was full of bricks he tried to cry out but the words got caught in his throat. He did not eat or drink anything for three days. Slowly, as the days passed, his grief left and in it’s place came a burning hatred for all those who had taken Elyse from him. Parin began to dream about ways of killing the king an all of his men. one night as he lay in his cold damp cell, Parin had an idea. He knew that the elves were stronger than the disgusting human who had taken his love from him. His father was unwilling to lead the elves to battle but if the men were to try and attack the elven village the elves would be forced to fight, and the men would surely be slaughtered.

Parin sat up, suddenly very calm, and told a guard he was willing to talk to the king. Soon he was on his knees before the greasy old man telling him about the elven village in the forest. As soon as he heard about the elves the king ordered his men to get ready for battle. He had seen how strong Parin was and the idea of an entire village of elves so close to his kingdom scared him. He knew that if the elves were to attack his kingdom he would surely be defeated. He needed to attack them when they were not expecting it. It took three days for the King and his army to reach the edge of the forest. Parin was brought to the front of the army and chained to the king’s horse. The king told him that if he tried to run or lead the army anywhere but to the village, he would be shot full of arrows. Parin smiled to himself thinking of the king and his men being slaughtered by the elves and began to lead them through the forest.

Parin was able to see the village long before the humans could. He was shocked to see that the elves had not even noticed the massive army marching through the forest. They were simply singing and dancing and going about their carefree lives as usual. For a moment Parin became worried that he had made a terrible mistake, then, to his relief one of the elves noticed the army coming toward them and pointed it out to the others. Parin thought that now they would surely go and tell his father and prepare for battle. Much to his dismay however, the elves simply stared unblinking at the army. Most of them had never seen humans before, much less fought in anything resembling a battle. Parin began to panic and called out to them to get ready to fight. As soon as he did so the king realized that they must be near the village and ordered the army to charge. As he spurred his horse foreword the king cut the chain that was attached to Parin and then stabbed downward through Parins shoulder as he passed by. Parin felt the cold steel pass through his shoulder and deep into his chest, he fell to the ground just hoping to live long enough to see the king and his men get killed.

As the army charged into the village some of the elves finally realized what was happening. The elves were stonger than the men but living in peace for so long had made them soft creatures. They no longer knew how to fight and they felt nothing but fear at the realization that their home was being attacked. Most of the elves tried to run and hide but the Kings archers picked them out of the trees. Ivalorn was able to rally some of the elves together. They did not have any weapons so they fought back using branches and rocks from the forest. Each one of the elves that fought back was able to kill several of the kings men, but they were heavily outnumbered and eventually even Ivalorn lay dying with all the other elves. All Parin he could do was watch the death that he had brought upon his people. 

Eventually the elves all lay dead or dying. The King gave orders to set up camp and gather the fallen soldiers together to bring back to the kingdom the next day. He sent several riders out to patrol the forest around the village in case there were more elves hiding in the trees. The men made themselves comfortable and slept for the night. 

The next day they packed up and prepared to leave. The men were growing anxious because none of the patrols that were sent out the previous day had returned. The King had also grown uncomfortable in the forest. There seemed to be something unsettling about it. He gave the order to leave the lost men and head back to the kingdom, but was surprised to find that no one could remember the way back.