LongestRoad Ellowyn: Greywood

I did gloss over that part a bit, didn't I? Twelve whole years is quite a long time to some people, myself included. Of course, to most inhabitants of this serene village, it is little more than a moment. Tandrien would tell you I was barely there, and gone again. But he was not the only influence Greywood had on me -- there were a few other children near my age, each of whom had their own effects on me. At first, I had little eye for the differences between the elven and half-elven children, though after a few years I did notice that Raine and I tended to "catch up" to Azathael and Lorindael.

When I was brought to the wood by a hunting group, I was just shy of ten years old. Most people are familiar with ages of humans and half-elves as they grow up, but Pevishan have an even shorter lifespan that a human. Most of my kind are settled into a career and a marriage by the age of fifteen or sixteen, and bear their last child in their late twenties. So, I was still a child at ten, but little more childish than Raine was at thirteen, or Lorindael at fourteen. Azathael was old enough to be the obvious leader of the group, as he was almost seventeen years old. He had real tasks and duties, learning to become one of the hunters. But still, of course, he found plenty of time for mischief.

At first, though, I only spoke to Tandrien. I was still quite frail, even after my sickness had been cured. I was not so skilled at finding myself enough food and water in the wilderness, and needed more time to recover. It was a few weeks before I was allowed to come down from the room Tandrien had made for me. And once that happened, the rest is quite a myriad of little stories.

Raine

The first person I met, when I finally crawled out of Tandrien's tree, was an entrancing half-elven girl. She was curled up at the foot of another tree nearby, idly plucking at the strings of a small harp. When I reached the ground and looked over at her, she smiled. She didn't look up at me, just smiled to herself. I still don't know exactly what that smile meant. I think it may have been her way of laughing at me for being so awkward and clumsy. Elves just instinctively know how to climb around that place. It's a little ridiculous.

She was a pretty girl, and played the harp rather well already, even when she wasn't really trying. Her smile was kind, and it dimpled her cheeks a little, transforming her whole face into a warm and friendly expression. It would be classic to say I fell in love at first sight, but that's not really what happened. She had sparkling blue eyes and wavy auburn hair, that looked a little more red that usual against her pale skin and the gray bark behind her head. I was just a little bit jealous. Jealous of her simple attractiveness, her peaceful smile, her calm and collected attitude. I recognized in myself that I was so jumpy and gawky and confused, and I saw none of that in her.

I took a short walk, not straying too far from the tree. When I was tired, I dragged my feet back towards the sound of the harp again. I sat down at the foot of my own tree, and listened for a little while. After a few minutes, a soft voice joined the harp. I looked, startled, not quite believing that voice was really her. But there was no one else nearby -- it was her, singing. It was a gentle, simple song, but she made it haunting. I closed my eyes and listened for a while.

I woke up with Tandrien sitting nearby. The girl was gone, and Tandrien was smiling at me, but looked concerned.

"Just sleeping, little Lakash?" he asked me.

I nodded. "There was a girl with a harp. I took a little walk...and then I sat to listen. She was singing--"

"Ah." Tandrien interrupted me, and chuckled. "So you've met Raine then?"

I could already feel my eyelids drooping again. "Is that her name?" I asked.

"Yes," Tandrien said, helping me stand up and reach the ladder. He shooed me up, and climbed up behind me.

"I hope she will like me. I miss people my age." I was already crawling back into the bed, half asleep again.

The Brothers

When I was strong enough to do chores again, Tandrien developed a habit of always choosing for me the tasks that would push me the most. I was out fetching fresh water from the stream, and while carrying it back, heard a footfall behind me and to one side. I spun around and stepped back, sloshing a little bit of water onto the ground. As I was looking around, a young man stepped out sheepishly from behind a tree.

"Guess I'm still a little sloppy," he said. I wasn't sure what to say, so I just sort of stood there. Come to think of it, I was probably staring like an idiot. I was young -- it's my only excuse.

"They say your name is Lakash...you looked so sick, when we found you. I hope you're feeling better now." He looked like he was trying to figure out whether to smile or not. I nodded.

"You found me? I don't remember very much of it."

He nodded. "It was my first time out with a real hunting party. I helped them carry you home. My mother is a healer...we brought you to her. By the way, my name is Azatha." He moved to help carry the water, but stopped when I made a face.

"Tandrien will scold me, if I don't do my chores myself. Apparently, even carrying water is an important part of my training." I didn't really understand that part, yet, so I probably said that rather disdainfully. But I had definitely learned not to circumvent anything I was told to do.

"So you are studying with him. Raine said you were staying there. Mom says it's been a long time since Tandrien taught anyone. He must have really taken a liking to you."

"You know Raine?" I asked.

"Of course. There aren't many people our age. Me, Raine, and my little brother Lorin. I think the next closest are all in their fifties or something. They stop counting when you come of age here. Which I won't for a while. So, we kids have to stick together." He winked. I grinned. He looked up. "Hey, we're just about back, and I need to run -- but come find me later, when Taskmaster Tandrien gives you a few minutes off. I'll introduce you to my kid brother."

"I usually get some free time on Saturdays..."

"Oof. He really is tough on you. Okay, Saturday it is. West edge." He stepped off between a few trees, and when I looked away for a moment, he was gone.

At the end of that week, when Tandrien set me loose, I roamed around the western edge of the village. After an hour or so, I paused to lean against a tree. I glanced back over my shoulder, and when I turned to look forwards again, Azatha was standing about three inches in front of me. "Gotcha! Tee hee."

I learned to hate that gleeful giggle, just a little tiny bit. Needless to say, I jumped back. A lot. Azatha was still busy giggling to himself when I heard someone walk up beside me, and turned. He looked a lot like Azatha, but younger.

"Lorin." He bowed slightly.

"L...Lakash." I probably looked confused. I spent most of that first year in Greywood looking confused. I'm surprised I don't have a permanent little wrinkle between my brows that makes me look confused all the time.

Lorin nudged his chin towards Azatha. "My brother thinks he's brilliant. Don't mind him." I could tell from the sly smile that Lorin was the smarter of the two. He carried an oak staff, wore plain clothes and a leather vest, and had a symbol I didn't recognize on a pendant around his neck. When I looked again, I noticed Azatha had his bow. And, finally, his composure, what little of it there ever was.

"Come on, let's go." He slunk off. I shot Lorin a questioning look as we followed him.

"He says he found something interesting. That's all I know."

After a while, we came up to the stream. Much further up the stream than I had been before, though. There was a small clearing near it, and a great structure blocking the water.

"Lakash doesn't know how high the stream used to run," Azatha said. "But maybe now you can guess. This is why we have less and less water!"

Lorin stepped close, examining a few stumps and the felled trees across the stream. He looked back up at his brother. "Beavers? That's what beavers do, Az."

Azatha's grin widened. "Just one, Lor. All this, just from one. You know why? Ooh wait, here he comes." We all ducked behind trees and froze, as the most gigantic beaver I have ever seen waddled up out of the water. Lorin's eyes grew large.

"Tell me, Lorin," Azatha whispered, "why there should be a dire beaver damming our stream? That's not really right, is it?"

Lorin seemed to be thinking for a moment, and then shook his head. "No, it's not. This is no place for him."

Azatha's face took on a rare look of concentration as he quietly nocked an arrow. Suddenly, the arrow was singing through the air, then caught in the beaver's fur, and then the beaver was charging across the dam towards us. Hardly thinking about it, I ducked away from his charge and flung out one hand. A brilliant light flashed in front of the beaver as it charged Azatha, dazzling it for a moment. The charge missed -- but only just barely. Lorin took a swing with his staff, hitting it in the hind leg, but didn't seem to bother it. The creature shook the arrow out of its fur and leaped at Lorin. Azatha nocked another arrow, but couldn't shoot without risk of hitting his brother. My head was spinning. I am no fighter, but wanted desperately to help these new friends of mine. I reached out to grab Lorin's sleeve, maybe to pull him or push him away from the thing, trying to protect him somehow. But instead of pushing with my hand, I was pushing with my mind. When my hand brushed his arm, there was a little flood of energy, and his skin began to sparkle. The beaver came after him twice more, Azatha and I staring, but couldn't get his teeth into Lorin. He turned to charge Azatha again, but he loosed his arrow and caught the beaver's right shoulder. This one did dig in a little, and the beaver turned on me.

Now, I can already hear you laughing, but stop a moment and think. I was ten, a child, who had made my way through the woods by sleeping under shrubs and in trees, cowering when I heard the howl of a wolf. This was a foaming, frothing, dire, wild beast with huge teeth and claws. I was desperate.

When he leapt at me, I stepped backwards and partly fell, crossing my arms in front of my face. A shining, glowing missile shot from each hand, tracing a fine arc towards the beaver. All I saw were the glowing spots flying through the air, then the beaver landed on me, gashing my shoulder with his teeth. An instant later, the glowing spots were glowing spikes, stabbing into his back and then disappearing. The beaver slumped down, and rolled off my shoulder. Azatha was instantly at my side, viciously kicking the creature's body out of the way, and looking at my shoulder. He looked up, and Lorin came over as well.

"Can you help him?" Azatha asked. Lorin placed his hand on my shoulder, holding his pendant in the other, and said a few words. The pain faded slightly, and the bleeding slowed, then stopped. Lorin concentrated for a moment, spoke the same words again, and the wound closed slightly, but it still looked bad. I waved them back and stood up, slowly.

"That was incredible, Lakash. I don't know what you did, but wow." I looked from Azatha to Lorin, just as the sparkling across Lorin's skin died down. I shook my head a little.

"I don't know either, but this still hurts. Can we go back?" Okay, so I was a whiny little kid. I bet you would've been too. Azatha and Lorin fell in step on either side of me as we walked back, silently. Somehow, they both knew we'd go straight back to Tandrien. Unsurprisingly, he was not pleased. There was a lot of scolding, and he sent for Arryn. It was the first time I actually got to meet her. I wish the circumstances had been a little better.

"Oh my. This is your doing, isn't it." She eyed Azatha. He knew he'd been caught, and spilled the whole story. She and Tandrien both listened, then spoke to each other for a moment. Then Arryn explained, "You boys have indirectly helped the village, in that we can clear this dam and restore the stream. However, you should have consulted someone before rushing off, and have now gotten Lakash injured."

She paused, and looked at each of us. "Azatha, you will be escorted up tomorrow to clear the dam. You will do all the work yourself. Lorin, you will return tomorrow to finish healing Lakash's shoulder. And the next day, if needed, until he is better. And neither of you will go anywhere else for the next week."

Tandrien just looked at me. I could tell I wasn't going to have a free Saturday again for quite some time.

Tutoring

"Lakash?" I jerked and spun around. Why did all my childhood friends have to be sneaky? At least I'd learned not to fall on my butt by now.

"Hi, Raine." She was standing on the other side of the tree, where I couldn't see her. But I knew the voice, of course.

"I, uhm...need some help. With...my homework." I was slowly learning that Raine's expressive voice was not always under her control. She could use it, when she sang, but often when she spoke I think she revealed more of her feelings that she meant to. She sounded so defeated when she said that. I slunk around to her side of the tree. She was rather pointedly not looking at me, and her cheeks were a little pink.

"Let's take a walk and you can tell me what's got you stuck." She still wasn't looking at me. I decided I didn't like that very much. She was quiet for the first few minutes, and when we got a little further out of the village, she started complaining about the funny bit of magic theory Tandrien wanted her to learn.

"It's second nature for him, he's been a living spark of magic for the last couple hundred years. Of course it makes sense to him. But I can't see it like he does, so every new way he comes up with to explain it just makes me more confused! Does he make you learn all this weird, complicated stuff too? You don't even need it, you just cast spells out of nowhere." I snorted a little, when she said that. She glanced at me, quickly, and then back to some distant tree again and sighed. "It's easy for you."

"It's not as easy as it looks?" The minute I said it, I didn't think that was going to help.

"That doesn't help."

Sure enough. I bit my lip a little. "Okay, let's try something different. He made me read the same book I think you're talking about, and I didn't get it at first either, and it's really hard to watch him do anything. But maybe there's a way to make this a little less complicated..."

I took her hand and sat her down on a fallen log. Somehow, I don't think the abstruse details of magic-flow diagrams or modeling of multi-dimensional power shapes add much to a good story, so I'll leave out the technical parts. But I cleared away the carpet of leaves and spent most of my one free day drawing diagrams and explaining the practical side of the theories Tandrien wanted us to learn.

When I finished all the scribbling, Raine looked at it, looked again, looked a little harder. I started trying to explain again, another way, but she just raised a hand, so I waited. After a few minutes of thought, she looked up at me, finally.

"Can you show me?" I've never heard her voice so quiet.

"I can try." I waited while she cast her Detect Magic spell, so she could watch with her magical sight. I pictured the flow in my head, and then cast an extended Alter Self spell. I tried to do it slowly and deliberately, as much as I can. Which, mind you, isn't usually much. My eyes faded to green, and Raine sat for a moment.

"Oh. It's a lot easier to see when you do it." She was blushing again.

"So...did that help then?" I went to sit next to her. She looked up at me and did a little double-take.

"Yeah." She smiled a little. "You look weird with green eyes. I was paying so much attention to the magic, I didn't notice."

Now it was my turn to look away. "I look weird with red eyes. They're supposed to be green."

"I wanted pretty brown eyes but I got stuck with elfy blue." I couldn't help noticing that her pout was pretty darn cute. She stood up and tugged at my hand. "I'm hungry and it's dinner time, let's go back." Suddenly, she was all smiles again, as we walked back to the village.

Teenage Crush

I'm sure there were numerous little sounds of crunching leaves, twigs snapping behind me, footfalls...probably even a few made loudly, and on purpose. But, being absorbed in a book, I didn't notice Raine until she grumped right up to the foot of my tree and kicked my leg. I freaked out, and had a spell half-cast before I realized it was her. When it registered, I froze for a moment.

"Oh sure, you hate me too." She was about to turn and leave, I think, as I was shaking my head to get my thoughts back in order.

"No, wait! Sorry...I didn't hear you, I'm jumpy out in the woods." I was actually a bit frightened that I'd been so completely oblivious out here. If that had been some kind of bandit or predator I might've been in pretty big trouble. "What..." I paused for a brief moment, but she hadn't turned back yet. No toss of the hair, no smile, no giggle. She hadn't even brought an instrument. "What's wrong, Raine?" The pause was enough time for me to switch to a softer voice.

"Everything!" She flopped down in the middle of the tiny clearing, and almost immediately hopped back up and began pacing. "He hates me. Everything I do is wrong. Everything I read, I don't understand. Everything I write is totally off topic or misses the point. Everything I try to explain in a way that makes sense to me is no longer the lesson he's trying to teach. It's infuriating!"

She was striding around the little space, gesturing wildly, her eyes darting back and forth. Of course, I knew immediately who she was talking about -- and he was an unbelievably difficult teacher. We'd been together for a few years, and I knew I studied a little better than Raine, and that I definitely had more innate magical talent. So anything that was frustrating for me was nearly insufferable for her. She was continuing to jab at the air as she exploded about her lessons.

"It's like he keeps expecting me to be some brilliant theorist. I'll theorize about chord progressions all you want but this crazy words-without-words and movement-without-movement stuff is nuts! I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen him use it! And he expects I can read one chapter of a book, and then just do these things. Practice for a week and BAM! Little Lakash could do it just fine. His Dalara that he trained a hundred years ago could do it. Okay, I get the picture. Everyone's better than me. Everyone else is up to the task, and I'm just not good enough."

I think she started to forget I was there. I was feeling a desperate need to intervene, before she got too worked up. And I absolutely did not enjoy being called in as another comparison, to make her feel worse about herself. "Did he really say those things?" I asked.

She whipped around. "Of course he did! Haven't you heard him scold me before? He never yells at you like that. He loves you. He asked to teach you. He didn't ask for me, my dad begged him to. And because we all live here and work together, or something, he agreed, but he doesn't have to like it. And he doesn't have to like me."

I could see tears starting to well up in her eyes. I remembered when I met Raine, but didn't know her name yet, and Tandrien chuckling at me. I remembered the little smile on his face and the soft look in his eyes. "He likes you." I made a face. "He's just big on tough love."

She stamped her foot and turned to punch one of the trees. "Well he wants me to be perfect and I'm not. And I keep trying and trying, spending extra time, getting help from you, and I still can't do everything he wants me to do. He doesn't realize I'll just never be a brilliant wizard like him!"

It was obvious to me that she was angry, but looking closer, I didn't think she was really angry at him. "You said 'everything'...it's more than just the magic lessons?"

She balled up her fists and took another swing at a tree. "My dad's going away again. He doesn't know how long. Or at least, he told me he doesn't know how long. When my mom went away, she said a year, but then she never came back. Now my dad is leaving me too. He says Tandrien will watch me, until I come of age this summer. So not only am I losing my dad but now Mister You-should-be-perfect is all I have. For the short while until I'm totally on my own."

I had known her mother was missing, but she'd never told me her father was the adventuring type as well. Choosing to have no parents was difficult enough. I couldn't imagine what it must be like, seeing them choose to leave their child behind. Raine looked so painfully alone, and I wanted so desperately to make her understand that she wasn't.

"Raine, you -- "

"What does he even expect me to do in a few months? Seriously, am I supposed to hang around here hoping people will take care of me while I slave over magic books for years more, until Taskmaster thinks I'm ready for the world?" Punch.

"I'm sure -- "

"He's not even teaching me things that would keep me alive out there. If my whole little family is going out for adventures, why shouldn't I? His little errands are nice, but could I really survive out in the woods? I wouldn't stand a chance." Punch.

"Actually, it's not -- "

"Maybe I should just leave. My dad obviously doesn't need me. All his retired friends pat me on the head like I'm still a toddler. And Tandrien has made it quite clear that he doesn't need my presence in his tree either. No one needs me here."

I caught her arm before she could punch the tree again. Her knuckles were already skinned and starting to bleed. She jerked her head up when I touched her elbow. It felt like all the time in the world was going by as I reached out to wipe a tear off her cheek, took her chin in my hand, and kissed her right on the lips. She was so stunned, she even stopped crying. I was afraid to look her in the eye right then, half thinking she might be about to punch me instead of the tree. But no, she just stood quietly while I put my arms around her shoulders and my cheek against hers and whispered, "I need you here."

Partings

The four of us wound our way between the trees, enjoying the muffled feeling that comes with a fresh snowfall. Of course, I blundered along a little, while the rest of the team slid easily across the slick patches. It was already late afternoon, but we had decided that if we pushed on a little past nightfall, we could make it back to Greywood and have a real dinner, around a real fire, for the first time in a couple weeks, and it was worth it. We had talked, on and off, but always seemed to lapse into a bit of a tired silence, especially when the snow began to fall again.

The trees thinned every so slightly, as we picked up one of the faint paths that runs through the wood. Azatha and Lorin took the lead, while Raine and I brought up the rear. I was mostly just enjoying feeling the snow fall when I noticed Lorin and Azatha giving each other little sidelong glances, and looking back at Raine. She just held Lorin's stare until he looked back to the path.

"Okay, spill it." I was tired, and not in the mood for a fancy conversation.

"You're going to leave soon, aren't you El?" Lorin was the one to say it. I bit my lip. How do you answer that kind of question, when you're talking to your only three friends for the last twelve years?

"What makes you ask?" We were almost whispering, not because anyone was around, but perhaps because the snow was so quiet.

Raine laced her fingers through mine. "Tandrien mentioned something about how you'd learned all you could for now. Which is a frightening idea in and of itself. He didn't exactly say you were leaving, but something about how he talked about you made it sound like you were already sort of gone. It was a little creepy, actually."

I squeezed her hand. "I'm not gone yet. And I promise, I will come back. And if you aren't here, if any of you aren't here, I will find you anyway some day. You'd better all be out having incredible adventures."

Azatha sighed. "Adventures would be nice. You always get the biggest adventures. No chance we could come with you, huh?"

I shook my head slowly. "Have you ever heard of a Spell Siphon? It's an ability only my kind can learn. I don't think there would be much for you to do, while I spend a few more years studying, day in and day out."

Azatha was busy shuddering at the thought, while Raine started asking more questions about how soon I was planning to leave.

"I've heard of a village I want to go to, but it will take me quite a few weeks to get there. Probably five at least. I don't want to make that kind of trek in the winter. Beyond that..." I shrugged, honestly at a loss.

"Were you planning to tell us? Were you going to say good-bye?"

I sighed and squeezed her hand. "Yes, I was planning to tell you. I'm not going to be one more person who just vanishes. But do you really want a big good-bye? When I left...it's a lot harder to go when you have that final feeling...I don't want that. I want to feel like it's another trip. Last time I left my home, home was gone. This time, Greywood is still home. Too many good-byes would take that away."

Everyone was quiet for a few minutes, and then Lorin said, "You're right, El. If we're here when you get back, we'll welcome you home again." We continued walking quietly, until we got home.