The Third; The Liar

Cel

Cel woke up in comfort, not wanting to leave the heavenly bed. For most of his life, Cel would wake up cold, hungry, and stiff. The last three weeks flashed through Cel’s brain as he struggled to over come his hebetude. He was left devastated after Eliot left, but became emotionally sound with some advice from Elizebeth. Things have really changed around the orphanage, it's much more jovial and loud now. Especially since everyone got their own beds, the first level floor was replaced with polished wood, and food was easily accessible, they were living the dream. That snake Verline had convinced the mayor to give an annual sum towards the orphanage. Before, Verline would take most of it for himself. Now, it all went towards quality of life. Cel often found himself wondering if he was dreaming the last few weeks of his life and any moment he would wake up to the cold, harsh reality of life. He didn’t let that dampen his mood, though, in fact it reminded him to cherish everything he had.

Cel dragged himself out of the paradise that was his bed and got ready for the day. With the funds from the town, Cel didn’t have to work or complete jobs like he did with Eliot, leaving him with more free time than he knew what to do with. He usually spent most of his time with his family, the other orphans, and he would occasionally drop by Eliot’s house. Lately, Cel spent some of his free time just exploring the wilderness around the town, especially the forest. Eliot always disliked the forest, so they would never go there. Cel thought the forest was a nice place to explore, he saw some breathtaking scenes and experienced more than a few surprises. The other day, he accidentally stumbled upon an elf city; Cel had no idea that he lived so close to such a big gathering of elves, and neither did anyone else in the Town of Flora. Even more surprising is that that wasn’t the best discover Cel had made, either. He found it just two days ago as he was wandering through the forest, his memories vivid.

Cel did his best to stay quiet as the heard of deer made their way through the forest. When he found the elf city, they were uncharacteristically nice, at least from what he heard, elves looked down on humans and were uncooperative. The elves Cel met were the complete opposite, maybe these elves just like humans more than the ordinary elf, their city is at the border of a human empire, was the only thing he could come up with to explain it. They welcomed him with open arms, fed him, talked about their culture, showed him around the city, and even taught him how to hunt. The elves made him promise to never teach another soul their hunting techniques, though. Cel found hunting slightly repulsive at first, the animals are beautiful creatures, why would I kill them for sport? were originol thoughts. Eventually, he learned that hunting, at least the type of hunting elves practiced, was the opposite. They only kill enough to feed themselves or their families and never let any part of the animal go to waste, whether that be making moccasins out of their hide or using their eyes in medical elixir. The last part cel found gross, he wouldn’t want to eat a deer’s eye, but had to admit that the elixir worked well when he saw it used. The practice of using every part and only killing what he needed helped Cel shake off the repulsion, he even grew to enjoy it. Cel focused on his target, a deer farther away from the heard than the rest. Cel didn’t have a use for most things on or near the deer’s head, so that’s usually where he aimed since it’s also a vital area. Cel counted to three in his head and let the arrow fly. It directly pierced through the deer’s eye, ending its life in an instant. The rest of the deer scattered as they saw one of their own collapse out of nowhere. Cel jumped down from his tree and removed the arrow from the deer’s face, careful to not damage the arrow. Then, he grabbed a peculiar item from his bag. It was two sturdy, but flexible, animal hides sewn together, connected to four separate lines of rope at the top that converged into one with the top tied into a ball so Cel could grip it easier. It also had rope that spanned across it, allowing Cel to fasten whatever he needed to transport. Cel made sure the deer was secure and started dragging the deer back home. Cel froze in his tracks as he heard the rustling of bushes to his right.

It was a pack of raptors, “They must have picked up on the blood,” thought Cel as he started running. The elves use various herbs and specific ways to kill their prey that lessons the smell. Cell tried his best when hunting, but he couldn’t match up to the elves that were doing it their whole life, so he failed at masking the scent. The raptors gave chase. Cel knew that he couldn’t outrun them, they would catch up in a matter of moments, but he really didn’t want to give up the deer and desperately tried to think of a way to escape the raptors with the deer still in his possession. In the middle of running, possibly for his life, Cel was assaulted with a pleasant feeling, similar to the one he got when around Eliot, but different in a way he couldn’t place. Cel veered left, the direction he felt the weird feeling. The feeling got stronger by the second, encouraging Cel to move faster than he thought he was able. When the feeling reached its apex, Cel’s foot missed the ground and he fell. Cel rolled down the the hidden incline, his side impacted a particularly sharp rock on the way before he splashed into a river. Thankfully, Cel was able to hold on to the deer the whole way. Disoriented, injured, and panicked, Cel lifted himself out of the river before hauling the deer out as well. Cel hurriedly wiped the water out of his eyes while grimacing and surveyed his surroundings. He was in a large clearing with lush, blue grass that was separated by a wide river. The raptors were there too, only they were struggling not to drown in the river, apparently they didn’t know how to swim and were swept downstream. Cel gaped in amazement at the beauty of the clearing, as well as indulging in the strong feeling of comfort. Cel actually knew what the bluegrass was, it was sighing grass, and it was one of the key ingredients in many elixirs that the elves used. The problem was that sighing grass was rare and hard to grow, Cell guessed that the elves would only grow this much in a year, maybe even longer. Suddenly, Cel abruptly sat up in worry before lifting himself up and conscientiously examining the flora. He sighed in relief when he confirmed that this wasn’t marked as a sacred elven location. Only the elders of whatever elven establishment owned the sacred ground could traverse these types of location as they pleased, any other elf would have to get permission and be accompanied by an elder. Cel didn’t know the exact punishment for a human trespassing on sacred ground, but he did know that it wouldn’t be anything light. Cel spent the rest of the day in the mystical clearing while drying the deer. He thought about sharing the location of the clearing with the elves, but ultimately decided against it. It would probably be marked as an important location, if not a sacred one, and he would be prohibited from visiting it, Cel didn’t want to chance that. He resolved to picking a portion of the sighing grass and saving it as a gift to the elves, a large portion compared to the amount usually found, but not enough that it harms the beauty of the clearing.

While reminiscing about the happenings of two days ago, Cel giddily ate his breakfast and hurried to visit the clearing once more today. Cel made his way near the clearing twenty minutes later. The excitement coursing through his veins almost made him miss the signs of another person, almost. The excitement in his veins was immediately replaced with ice as he thought about what might happen if someone else found this place. Cel stealthily made his way to the edge of the clearing at the bottom of the incline. He poked his head above the cover of the bush and he forgot how to breath as his heart skipped a beat.

“She’s beautiful,” thought Cel when he caught sight of the girl in the clearing. She had brown hair with auburn eyes and looked slightly younger than Cel. She wore a white jacket with golden buttons, a skirt of the same color with a golden hem, and matching boots that almost reached her knees.

“She is obviously nobility, so what’s she doing all the way out here?” pondered Cel as he took in the girl’s radiance. She was sitting on a rock near the river and was holding a wooden stick with one end of a barely noticeable line attached to the top, the other end was in the river.

“What is she doing, why is she holding a stick?” Cel watched in confusion. Suddenly, the stick bent in her hands and she struggled to keep hold of it. When he saw this, Cel had the urge to go help her, thinking she would be sad if she couldn’t hold on to the stick. After a small battle of wills, the girl gave one last pull and a fish was yanked out of the river on the end of the thin line.

Cel was amazed when he saw that, “How did she get a fish attached to that line? Is it some sort of technique that the elves don’t know?” When the elves taught him how to catch fish, they used spears and did their best to skewer any fish following the current.

“Yes!” cheered the girl, “I caught thirteen today, that breaks my record!” She unhooked the fish from her line after admiring its size and threw it back into the river. She grabbed a nearby stick and stabbed it into the ground, a method that some people used to tell time by using the shadow of the stick, the gap in the canopy allowed the sun to shine uninhibited.

The girl had a cute frown as she said, “I have to go home now, any longer and they’ll worry.” She picked up her fishing rod and stepped away from the bank of the river before launching into a sprint and jumping the river easier than Cel was able to. Cel started panicking because the girl was walking directly towards him, if he didn’t move then she would bump into him, but if he did move than she would know that he was watching her. Cel did the first thing he thought might work and rolled out of the bush, pretending he fell from the incline. The girl yelped as Cel rolled up to her feet, pretending to be hurt and disoriented.

“Are you ok?” asked the girl while she knelt down.

“What? Where did you come from?” asked Cel as he sat up and looked around.

The girl giggled and said, “I think I should be asking that question, you’re the one who suddenly rolled out of the bushes.” Cel almost exposed his lie as the cuteness of the giggle overloaded his senses.

“I uh…… um..… I came from up there” Cel’s lips quivered as he struggled to get the words out and pointed to the top of the incline. “I didn’t see the drop.”

“Are you hurt?” the girl asked.

Cel made a show of patting himself for injuries before saying, “No, I think I’m fine. What is this place? Why is the grass blue?” he was trying to keep the girl talking.

“This is a special clearing. The blue grass is called sighing grass. I don’t really know more than that,” said the girl.

“Who are you? I haven’t seen anyone like you around here before, are you a traveling noble?” asked Cel.

“I am a noble, but I’m not traveling. I live around here.”

“Where do you live? With the elves?”

The girl hesitated before shaking her head and saying, “I’m not allowed to tell you.” Cel suddenly had a thought.

“Are you... apart of the nobles that live south of the Town of Flora? The ones that are in line for the throne?” asked Cel.

The girl sighed in defeat, “Yeah… Please don’t tell anyone. I’m not supposed to be seen by anyone.” Cel froze and inwardly crumbled from the girl’s puppy dog eyes.

“I-I won’t tell another soul, promise,” stammered Cel. Cel felt as if his head was covered in fog and he couldn’t think coherently. The girl rewarded him with an angel’s smile that melted his beating heart.

“Thank you, but I have to leave now,” said the girl as she walked away.

“Wait!” exclaimed Cel, slightly louder than he meant to. The girl looked back.

“What’s your name?” asked Cel.

“Oh, I completely forgot, I’m Camie, nice to meet you,” she introduced herself as she curtsied.

“I’m Cel, nice to meet you too.” Camie turned around to leave again.

“Ah, wait, I have one more question.” Camie turned around once more.

“Do you come here often?” asked Cel with hope in his eyes.

“Yes, I come here almost every day,” said the girl, her patience unwavering.

“Oh, well, I also come here almost everyday, at least since two days ago, when I found it. I took a different route today, though, so I didn’t know an incline would be there,” said Cel, trying and failing not to sound like he was rambling, the lie getting harder to keep together.

Camie smiled again, making Cel’s head go blank, and she said, “That’s great! I was getting lonely, to be honest. Do you want to be my first friend?” while stepping closer and grabbing Cel’s hand, a shine in her eyes. Cel was snapped out of his blankness, the line struck a chord within his heart and made him think of Eliot, his first friend.

Cel smiled and said, “It would be an honor.” Camie squealed in excitement and hugged Cel, making him go rigid. Camie flushed after a moment and distanced herself.

“Sorry, we did just meet,” she apologized.

Cel was quick to say, “No, it’s no problem, I was just surprised.” Camie regained her chipper attitude.

“I really have to go now, but I’ll see you tomorrow,” Camie bade goodbye before running off. Cel stood staring in the direction she left, not knowing what to think of the recent events. Cel slowly raised a hand to his chest and felt his racing heart while a beaming smile grew on his face.

“What is this feeling? My heart is hammering in my chest, I feel elated, and my body feels like it’s on fire, especially my face,” thought Cel. Cel spent the rest of the day lying in the clearing with a tornado of thoughts, all featuring Camie, storming in his head.

Camie was slowly traversing through the forest while her hand rested on the beating in her chest.

She smirked and said, “You’re such a liar, Cel.”

They met again for the next few days, quickly becoming close friends as they spent more time together.

“Hey, what is that stick with a line attached to it? How did you use it to catch a fish?” queried Cel a couple days later.

“It’s a fishing rod, I made this one myself. If you look closely, you can see a hook at the end of the line, I put some bait on it and the fish are tricked into biting the hook when they go for the bait,” explained Camie. “I can teach you." Cel accepted her tutelage.

“Ok, first thing is first, you need to gather some materials. Get a good sized, sturdy, and straight stick. Second, get two meters of fiber. Lastly, you need to look for a sharp, small bone from an animal’s remains,” listed Camie on her fingers as she spoke.

Cel had a sheepish smile on his face as he admitted, “I don’t know how long a meters is, or what fiber is.”

“That’s ok, I’ll show you,” smiled Camie, as if she knew Cel would respond that way. After a couple hours of walking through the forest and Camie telling Cel about a lot of the natural flora, they collected all of the needed material and returned to the clearing.

“The making of it is simple.” started Camie. “You just need to tie the fiber around the top of the stick and whittle a hole in the bone hook before tying your fiber through it.” Cel spent nearly an hour to whittle a hole through the hook shaped bone with a sharp rock and failed to tie the fiber around the stick. Camie giggled as the fiber fell from the stick for the third time, its leasure movent seemed mocking.

“You don’t know how to tie a knot, do you?” asked Camie. Cel shook his head, his cheeks hotter than usual. Camie sat next to Cel and put her hands over his. Cel went rigid for a couple of seconds and did his best to calm his beating heart. She led his hands to tie a clove hitch with the fiber around the sticl.

“Perfect!” Celebreated Camie, “Next is the hardest part." Camie got Cel to stand at the edge of the river with his fishing rod in his hand and wrapped around him from behind, her hands on top of Cel’s. Cel tried not to think about the amazing sensation his back felt as he tried not to shake from the nervousness. Camie led his hands to yank the fishing rod over his head then down again to cast the rod. Camie knew this was completely unneeded and only used for modern fishing rods, however, she smiled as she watched Cel fail to try not to show his nervousness and felt her own heart hammering in her chest from being so close to Cel.

The next week, they were sitting close to each other with both of their lines cast.

“Hey, Cel” Camie broke the silence. Cel prompted her to continue.

Camie looked down with a depressed expression before saying,“I can’t come tomorrow...my parents are getting suspicious. I’m afraid that they’ll separate us if they found out.” Cel’s mood visibly dropped, the time he spent with Camie was magical and he never really thought about how hard it was for Camie to sneak away every day.

“That’s ok, you can not come for more than tomorrow, if you need,” said Cel.

“what am I supposed to do with myself during that time?” asked Camie, avoiding eye contact.

Cel looked at her with confusion and asked her,“What do you mean?"

“Before I met you, I was just floating through life, not doing anything I really wanted. You were the only decision in my life where I was in control, not only that but you are the first person that I’ve grown this close to,” admitted Camie as she scooted closer to Cel. Cel’s cheeks grew hot and he looked away. Camie stopped scooting closer when their elbows were touching and turned to face him. Camie gently lead Cel's face toward her and they bore into each other’s eyes.

Camie took a deep breath and said,“I guess...what I’m trying to say is… this.” Camie leaned in an kissed Cel. The kiss lasted for several seconds before Camie slowly pulled away, as red as a tomato. Cel dropped his fishing rod and shifted to face Camie before closing in for another kiss. This kiss was much more intense as they were locked in each other’s burning embrace and went long enough that Camie bit Cel’s lip so that she could come up for air before diving back in again. They continued and their lungs danced as they spent longer and longer times without air. Eventually, they stopped kissing and laid as close to each other as possible while staring up at the stars.

“I think I ……. I love you.” started Cel. “My friend once told me love at first sight only existed in books. I believed his, at first.... but now I'm not so sure . And...I won't lie, I think I was in love with your body before I was in love with you as a person, like I am now.”

Camie squeezed Cel’s hand and said, “I love you too, everything about you. I wouldn’t care if you were only in love with my body, just knowing that you love something about me and have a reason to be close to me would be enough.” After some time, they tore themselves apart and Camie said goodbye.

The next day, Cel still ventured to the clearing. Cel couldn't think about the day before without burning up, meaning he radiated heat like a furnace because he couldn't get the memory off of his mind. Cel wondered where he even found the strength to say all of that.

“I’ll wait, Camie. Come back to me soon,” whispered Cel. Suddenly, a familiar voice shouted his name and Cel looked up from the river to see Eliot running towards him.

Meanwhile, Camie was hiding in a tree while glaring at Eliot.

“If only you didn’t come back today, I would have had more time with Cel. I wish I never made you right now,” pouted Camie.

Camie sighed and said,“Oh well, it’s not like he’s interupting intentionally, besides Kelly would would be devastated if something happened to him.” Before she got up and left.

“Wait, wait, wait, you share a room with THE Crown Prince?” asked Cel in disbelief.

“I know, I was just as shocked when I found out. Actually, I didn’t even know he was the Crown Prince at first,” laughed Eliot. They were still catching up in Cel’s room, sitting at the table and drinking tea.

“I kind of challenged him to a duel before I knew he was the prince; a duel is a sparring match but with magic, it was a big scene,” admitted Eliot.

Cel laughed and said, “Only you would be short sighted enough to do that." Eliot just shrugged, not denying what Cel said. Eliot showed Cel his broken arm when they first reached the orphanage and Cel gave him an elixir the elves had taught him how to make. It didn’t completely heal the broken bone, but it did enough that it stopped sending pulses of pain every time a breeze hit it, and, because of the elixir, his arm only has to be in a cast for a week instead of multiple months. Eliot paused in trepidation after sharing his experiences about him waking up in the infirmary, and decided to omit some specific events.

“Classes continued for the next few days, and I learned that I have what they call an animus for attack spells. That means that the time it takes me to learn and master attack spells is longer, a lot longer than most everyone else. Then, Henry did me a favor by letting me take what’s called an aptitude test to see which weapon I would do well with. It turns out I’m not good with any weapons either. I got really mad and decided to visit to clear my head,” summarized Eliot.

“Woah, sorry to hear that,” consoled Cel, still slightly on the edge about how Eliot adressed him Henry instead of prince Henry.

“Enough about that”-Eliot waved his hand dismissivly-"What happened to you? you seem different, in a better way, and I’m still stuck on how you own the orphanage now, when did that happen?” Cel grinned with pride as he filled Eliot in on the story of how he got to own the orphanage.

“It is not as eventful as your story,” Cel added at the end.

“What are you saying? That’s huge! The mayor’s wife actually had an affair with Verline, and had his kid?” exaggerated Eliot. Suddenly, before Cel could continue telling his story, rapid rapps assaulted the door of Cel’s room.

“Cel! Come quick there’s trouble!” yelled Silica. Cel shot out of his seat and threw open the door, Eliot right behind him. He querried the situation.

“It’s Travis. He took Mable, Delroy, and Roland into the forest. Delroy just collapsed in front of the orphanage, the only thing he said was Travis, Mable, and Roland were in trouble,” debriefed Silica. Cel and Eliot shared a glance and they both nodded.

“Don’t worry, we’ll fix everything,” assured Cel as he jumped down the whole staircase and ran out the door. Eliot took the stairs three at a time while supporting his casted arm, hot on Cel’s heels.

“Portals” ordered Cel when Eliot caught up. Eliot was so startled that he almost tripped, Cel had never been this assertive before, but Eliot took it in stride and they jumped into a portal. Six portal jumps later, and they heard the scream of a child. They changed their pathing towards it. Eliot was already used to the fatigue that came with using the portals in rapid succession, but still had flagging foot steps. Eliot watched in awe as Cel nimbly climed to the top of a tree, even faster than he could with the use of his portals, and traversed the forset like a fish in water. They finally reached the voices after what felt like years and saw Travis, Roland, and Mable surrounded by raptors. Travis was bleeding and scraped all over from trying to protect the kids.

“Cel! You came!” breathed travis like his savior arrived. Cel tensed, ready to fight the raptors completely bare handed, when Eliot halted him.

“I was supposed to give you these later, but I think I should give them to you now,” explained Eliot as he pulled a pair of daggers from a portal. The daggers caught the shine of the sun through the canopy and gleamed in Cel’s eyes. Cel hesitated as he reached for the pristine daggers and gripped them in his hands. They fit perfectly, like his hands were molded just for them. Cel willed his family to hold on as he flashed forward and directly cut a raptor in half.

“Holy shit!” whispered Eliot as he saw the amazing display. He knew how tough raptors were, what Cel just did was something unheard of. The raptors immediately changed their target to Cel, somehow able to sense a predator.

“Watch out! they jump and like group attacks,” warned Eliot from the side as the rune for the portal spell appeared translucent in front of him.

“Thanks for the heads up,” muttered Cel before plunging in the midst of the pack of sixteen raptors. Cel cut down the raptors with ease, ducking and weaving through the tornado of serrated teeth and sharp talons. Each time a dagger glinted in the sun, another raptor corpse fell to the floor, brutally mutilated. Eliot had to hold his head in support as he experienced major deja vu.

“That girl…. It’s almost like I’m back in the alley. Maybe…. Just maybe Cel is related to her, no one knows who his parents are or where he came from, he was just always there. I can see a little resemblance, could Cel be a noble?” Eliot thought in disbelief, trying to fight a major headache. In less than three minutes, every single one of the raptors were scattered in pieces on the forest floor. Cel did his best not to throw up the contents of his stomach as he stepped back and took in his handy work. Instead, he turned to Eliot and smiled an akward and forced smile.

“Thanks for the gift,” he said while slightly raising the daggers.

“This is different,” Cel told himself. “They are threatening something I love, they had to die, this isn't the same as killing for no reason.”

“Y-yeah, it's nothing,” stammered a blushing Eliot, secretly thinking of how badass that looked, he knew just how dangerous raptors could be. Cel turned his attention to his family.

“Are you guys alright?”

“I think so,” Travis flashed a smile as a show of strength, doing his best not to collapse then and there. Cel’s eyes quickly flit across Roland and Mable before settling on Travis. He was much worse than they first thought, many gashes and cuts looked life threatening.

“You need to get treated, now,” observed Cel while putting his arm around him. Eliot ran up and joined the group.

“I don’t think the town has anyone skilled enough to help him,” provided Eliot with a frown.

“Don’t worry,” said Cel, “I know where to take him, just make sure Roland and Mable get back to the orphanage.'' Eliot nodded and made a portal leading inside the orphanage.

“Where are we going?” asked Eliot as he put Travis’ other arm over his shoulder.

“The elves” Cel said matter of factly.

Eliot was dumbfounded,“The elves?”

“The elves." Cel nodded. "They aren't too far from here." They ran a four legged race south west in longing for the elven settlement, Travis had passed out from the blood loss minutes ago.

Close to forty elves appeared from seemingly nowhere, the only thing signaling their arrival was a small amount slight rustling and the drawing of bow strings. Cel let out a breath he had been holding, relief flooding through him. Eliot frowned in consternation, the uncomfortable feeling he had when in the forest just skyrocketed to an almost unbearable level.

"Thank the Gods, Cassie, I need help,” called Cel. The elf at the front of the group, Cassie, glared at them and drew her own bow string.

“Cel, step away from the forsaken one!” commanded Cassie. That was when Cel realized that the elves had hatred filled glares directed at Eliot.

“Wh-what are you talking about? Eliot is-” started Cel.

Cassie interupted him,“Cel, I will not say it again." Cel was at a loss for words, he only heard the term forsaken used once, when he was being told some of the elven culture. The forsaken were the incaration of everything evil and sinful that ever existed. Some elven myths say that the only reason the elves were created, their heavenly truth, was to hunt down and massacre the forsaken.

“B-but,” stammered Cel.

“It’s fine,” Eliot passed through gnashed teeth. “just make sure Travis gets the help he needs.” After saying that, Eliot dropped Travis' arm and jumped through a portal. The elves instantly relaxed and lowered their bow strings. Three elves nabbed Travis and carried him into the elven settlement, most of the elves retreated back into the plant life. Cassie deposited her bow on her back and walked up to Cel.

“We need to talk,” she said with her hand resting on the hilt of her knife. Cel was unfazed and calmed his hands that were twitching for the daggers in their sheathes. As much as he hated it, the feeling he had when holding the daggers, as if everything was right in the world and he was complete, was addicting.

Cel simply responded, “I think so too.” and followed her into the settlement. The elven village seamlessly and harmoniously blended into the forest, their homes in trees and their pathways were made from walking on the ground enough that it naturally became even. The single thing that separated the elven village from the rest of the forest was most of the plant life was cleared, only leaving the trees and vines, and the hundreds of elves milling about. The regular elves wore cotton clothing and hide shoes; the rangers, which is what the elves call their law enforcement and village protectors, their own version of a guard, all wore armor fashioned from animal hides and had the same set of equipment, a bow, a bone hunting knife, and what the elves call an aufc(aw-fk). An aufc is just a belt that can be worn anywhere on the body and has a variety of compartments, elves higher up the hierarchy, like Cassie, the captain of the rangers, even have engraved ones that provide more room than the small pockets physically allow.

Cassie led Cel through the elven village and to a massive tree that was in the center of the settlement. Cel surveyed the area with keen determination, for some reason they branded Eliot a forsaken, and Cel was going to do whatever it takes to prove them wrong. Cel was already caught off guard and did a double take when Cassie ran right into the tree without slowing down. Except, instead of colliding with the tree, she phased right through it and disappeared from Cel’s sight.

“C’mon, the tree’s engraved,” sounded Cassie from inside the tree. Cel slowly pressed his hand to thee tree and felt the very physical bark.

“I can’t, it feels solid to me,” Cel studied the tree with furrowed brows.

“Oh, I forgot” remembered Cassie, “You have to believe that you’ll go through it, else the engraving doesn’t work. It’s good for keepin’ out things we don’t want in.”

“How am I supposed to do that? It feels like a regular tree,” complained Cel. Cassie’s head popped out of the tree, making Cel jump backwards.

“Convinced yet?” Cel shrugged and tried again, this time his hand passed right through the previously solid bark. The inside of the tree was a long staircase that wound up the inner working of the tree like a corkscrew.

“I saw you go through the tree in the beginning, how come it only worked after you showed off your disembodied head?” asked Cel.

Cassie shrugged,“Dunno." A door shaped opening was at the top of the stairs, giving passage for blinding sunlight to streak inside the dimm tree. Cel shielded his eyes as Cassie led him through the opening and on to a balcony. Cel’s eyes widened as he took in the reality defying sight waiting for him on the horizon. There was a whole other level to the elven settlement that consisted of hundreds of connecting pathways between huge trees.

“Welcome to the actual Hidden City of Eden,” announced Cassie with a grandiose wave of her hands. Cel walked to the edge and looked down to see the ground with elves milling about as usual.

“But… how… why could we not see this from the ground?” Cel was speachless.

“It’s all magic,” Cassie not really explained. “I know It’s a lot but the elders’re expecting you,” reminded Cassie. Cel nodded and resumed following Cassie, this time they traveled tree to tree across long wooden bridges, none of them even creaking under their weight. Cel didn’t know much, or anything about architecture for that matter, but he knew that the bridges were gravity defying and shouldn’t be able to stay up, let alone support any weight.

Cassie only stopped when they reached a tree with three older looking elves sitting in a half circle and burning incense. Cassie fell to one knee and lowered her head with one of her hands clenched into a fist and touching the floor as if she were punching it. Cel copied Cassie.

“Ufhues(oo-fu-s) O teusuqc(te-suk) Cel Verrus pein The Town of Flora” announced Cassie in elven.

Cel had no idea what she said, but the elders all nodded and the one on the right said, “For the sake of the guest, we will speak in human tongue.” Cassie elbowed Cel.

“Ah, Thank you,” added Cel. The elders nodded in unison.

“Elders, we have found a forsaken,” reported Cassie grimly.

The elders audibly gasped in surprise and they whispered to each other in elven for a couple of minutes before one of them turned and asked, “Why is the human here?”

“The forsaken is a human and has close ties with Cel. You honorable elders have already gave him the title of half-elf, so I thought twas important for you to know his relation with the forsaken. I also think that Cel wants to try and argue for the forsaken’s case,” explained Cassie.

“Plead for a forsaken?” haruhped the elder on the right, “I told you that you were going senile, making a random human a half-elf so soon. Now that half elf is going to try and fight against the very foundations of our customs.”

“Now, now, Trugen, we can at least hear him out,” placated the elder on the left. They looked to the elder in the middle, seemingly the one with the most authority.

“Speak, honorary half-elf, Cel Verrus,” the elder in the middle gestured toward Cel with his chin. Cel clenched his jaw, overclocking his brain to try and come up with just the right words to say in this situation.

“Thank you for listening to my argument. I will not try and tell you honorable elders that your traditions are wrong, I just ask that you don’t be too hasty. Before you send out rangers to hunt down the forsaken, confirm that he is indeed a forsaken. I have known the one xvoup(vou-p) Cassie calls a forsaken for the majority of my life. I assure you that he is not a forsaken, there must be some mistake.” Cel sighed after getting it all out, happy with his words and hoping he would get some bonus points for what Cassie told him was a perfect pronunciation of Cassie’s title in elven.

“A mistake? How dare you say that xvoup Cassie had made a mistake?” exclaimed Trugen in anger.

“Calm yourself, Trugen” said the elder in the middle, “Half elf Cel Verrus’s argument has some backing. A forsaken is something that could send tremors through the peace in the city, so we should handle this matter with extreme caution, and a forsaken hasn’t appeared in well over three hundred years, none of the younger generation such as xvoup Cassie had ever been in the presence of a forsaken. It is possible that she could have made a mistake.”

“What do you think we should do, Grand Elder Mile,” asked the elder on the left.

“We ask the Great Goddess for guidance” decided Grand Elder Kile. Every elf in the room tensed when he said that.

“Grand Elder, is that really necessary?” the elder on the left asked in distress.

“Yes,” nodded Grande Elder Kile, “And you should be the one to do the ceremony, Followel”. Followel, the elder on the left, sprang from his crossed legged position to kowtowing to the Grand Elder and giving his thanks for the great opportunity. Cel didn’t know if this was going to end with good news, but at least it’s a step.

“Half-elf Cel, xvoup Cassie, leave us, we will tell you the result after the ritual is complete,” ordered Grand Elder Kile. Cassie stood up and put the thumb side of her fist against her chest while having the other arm straight at her side, her hand still a fist, and her posture was rigid. She did the elven version of a salute. Cel copied her and exited the room. Great Elder kile stood up and waved his arm, making a leaf draping cover the door shaped hole in the tree, then he sat down at the back of the room with Trugen following him. Followel was a flurry of movement setting up various incenses and spices, burning some, drawing diagrams with others. When he was done, he had a green lines over his face and down his arms in a traditional pattern. He was adorned with all kinds of jewelry and wore a leaf necklace with twelve different colors of leaves. The bark serving as the ground had a picture of a tree sprouting out in different directions, leading to and circling the six sacred artifacts that the Hidden city of Eden had the pleasure of protecting. Followel walked to the bough of the tree and kneeled before it, his arms extended at his sides as if he were mimicing wings, his head facing the heavens with his eyes closed, and mumbling prayers in elven tongue. If Penelope were to see this specetacle she would roll her eyes in mockery. One of the reasons she worshiped Gaia instead of the Goddess of Life was: anything that even alludes to the Goddess of Life is over the top, unneded, and extravagant, like the diving Followel organized.

After ten minutes of Followel mumbling prayers, the Goddess of Life finally acknowledged their plea for knowledge. Followel was lifted up with green mana, as if he was being crucified in the air.

A voice of pure bliss entered Followel’s mind, “Eliot Relius is-" Then, the green mana disappeared, leaving Followel floating with, visually, no aid.

A different voice, one of serenity and calming, entered Followel’s mind, “Not a forsaken.” Followel was dropped to his knees with a violent gust of wind that blew away all the preparation he had made for the diving, even the jewelry and green chalk he wore was shoved off, everything with the exception of the six artifacts were nowhere to be seen, the Goddess had removed them. Trugen was watching the proceedings in a cold sweat, extremely uncomfortable, but hid it as if his life depended on it, which it did. Great Elder Kile noticed the small traces but didn’t comment, instead he focused his attention on Followel, his brow shifted from furrowed to drooped. Followel felt energized beyond his years, however, he was extremely calm despite the amazing amount of energy he felt in his old, even compared to other elves, muscles.

He slowly opened his eyes and turned to Great Elder Kile, “Eliot Relius is not a forsaken,” he shared in elven tongue.

Great Elder Kile sighed in relief, “Trugen, go summon Cel Verrus and xvoup Cassie” he commanded while waving his arm, causing the leaf draping to shrivel up and disappear. Trugen sat up and left, slightly faster than he meant to, sighing in relief once he was out of the room. Cel and Cassie were waiting in anticipation just outside on the wide wooden bridge. Trugen nodded to them before walking back into the room. Cel and Cassie dropped to one knee in the same position as before, once they were in front of the elders again.

“Eliot Relius is not a forsaken; However, I trust xvoup Cassie’s judgment. Eliot Relius is to be avoided by all elves,” decreed Great Elder Kile. Cel felt like a weight settled on his chest melted off.

“Thank you honorable Elders,” sighed Cel.

“No, we do not deserve your thanks,” refused Great Elder Kile, “infact, we should be thanking you. If we mistakenly labeled something a forsaken, the consequences would have been immeasurable.”

Cel shook his head, “I am unworthy of your praise, I’m sure that elves as wise as you honorable Elders would not have made such a decision without being certain.”

“Well said,” commented Followel.

“Xvoup Cassie, half-elf Cel, are there any other matters you wish to bring to our attention?” quired Great Elder Kile. Cel and Cassie shook their heads in unison.

“Very well, you are dismissed.”

After they left the room and on the way down the engraved tree, Cassie turned to Cel and said, “Good job, you just saved your friend from a painful death.” Cel couldn't stop a laugh bubble out of his throat, the intensity of the recent events finally off his shoulders and thanked her for the praise.

“I have to go now, your other friend is in the infirmary, on the south side of the city.” Cassie waved goodbye as she lept and swung from branch to branch, to resume her ranger duties. Cel waved goodbye and ran to the southern part of the city. The infirmary was the inside of a short but extremely wide tree. Travis was the only one taking up a spot on a pile of leaves sewn together with fiber. Most of his body was wrapped with blue colored leaves.

“Cel,” Travis greeted weakly.

“Travis, how are you feeling?” asked Cel as he sat down next to him, concern painting his visage.

“Better than before. The physician said I had to stay here for at least three days, so they can watch me. I still can’t believe this is an elven city, I couldn’t stop myself from staring at the physician’s ears,” chuckled Travis. Cel spent some time sharing Travis’ wonder, telling him about the first time he had stumbled in the city, he only left after Travis fell asleep. When he walked out of the city, Eliot was waiting for him with an elf visibly watching him at the ready, as if he would pounce and snap Eliot's neck any moment. Eliot grinned and waved with his good arm.

“I heard from your friend that you just negotiated for my life,” said Eliot.

“I didn’t do exactly that much, it was their Great Goddess that answered the question,” laughed Cel humbly.

“You still stuck out your neck for me, I’ll never forget this."

“It's what friends are for,” acknowledged Cel. “Now, let’s get out of here."