Guardians: The Last Elder

Chapter 19: The Elfin Kingdom

"The way to Elfin is found on the path
That weaves through the Misty Forest
That lives between the Mountain of Vision
And the River of Reality"
~ The Silver Elves

                                                                            _________________ 

I stood in front of the tunnel, cautiously touching the damp ivy hanging like a curtain. Josh, Kace and Vanessa were standing just a few feet away from me, trying to drag out an age-old boat hidden under piles of weeds and plants. I strode towards them and wordlessly, started helping them. A silence settled between us as we worked to remove the weeds and drag the boat towards the stream. For the first time, I felt like we were genuinely working as a team – aware of each other's moves and actions without having to say it out loud or just quietly looking out for each other.

We climbed inside the boat made of wood and barely held together with rusted nails. I was quite apprehensive it would break under the weight of four of us. But thankfully, it kept together. Josh took one oar while Kace took hold of another. Slowly, they started rowing the boat towards the cave entrance. A soft wind started blowing, making the boat glide even more smoothly. Vanessa and I got up to hold up the curtain of ivy as we neared the entrance. But we didn't need too. The ivy parted on its own. I took in a breath as we entered inside the tunnel.

Moist stone walls enveloped us along with the frothy mist churning around. A heavy silence filled us, except for the lulling sound of water flowing. Braziers hung on the walls, alight and giving off smoke. I sat at the very edge of the boat, looking down at the water. It was shallow and clear with tiny fishes flitting around. Suddenly, a glow caught my eye.

Josh nudged me with his arm and whispered, "Look at the fish."

I did and gasped. The tiny fishes occasionally gave out a golden light that appeared as quickly as it vanished – like a blink. I was so busy watching them that I almost didn't notice that we had reached the end of the tunnel.

"Oh!" Vanessa whispered as she looked forward. I turned around to see what she was looking at. A bright light caught my eye, not enough to leave me blinded. But I still had to squint, after all the darkness in the forest and the tunnel. The tunnel gave away to a dark sky just lightening up. A few stars still remained, twinkling cheerfully.

The stream widened to a long river with white sandy shore, like a carpet of white silk. Giant, exotic trees sprouted from the ground, like tall skyscrapers, almost touching the sky. I spotted houses far up in the thick branches of the foreign trees with different coloured leaves – emerald green, deep red, bright yellow, sunset orange, even teal and other colours.

Our boat lightly touched the shore but before we could so much as get up, two tall elves appeared before us. Vanessa was right. They indeed had an ethereal beauty in them with their flowing silky hair, fair skin, arched eyebrows, pointed ears and long legs and arms. The two of them were, however, dressed in simple jeans and shirts with jackets. It did make them look a little more human. I would've almost drooled over their beauty if they weren't carrying long bows and quivers with arrows notched and pointed at us.

Josh shot Kace a look. Kace immediately nodded and got up with his hands raised. He spoke something rapidly in a language I didn't understand but assumed was the dialect of the elves. The language was fast and rapid with a lot of breathy vowels and changing tunes. It almost sounded like music. I would've been content in hearing them speak all day long. The two guards nodded at Kace, lowered their weapons and shook hands with him. Finally, they turned to face the rest of us.

"Come, young Guardians, Lady Melissa requests your presence," one of the elves said with a strange lilt to his voice. Kace looked at us, shot a quick thumbs-up and followed the elves. The three of us scrambled out of the boat and rushed to follow the guards.