Shia, ava é honja, nun travé, shia. Shlla nun travé...Shlla nun travé....

    The chanting came about me from every possible direction. The sound of the voice was liquid and ever moving, like water down a mountain. It flooded everything from with warmth and the sensation of oblivion, like I was sinking to the bottom of a sea of thick honey. It became clear, as the indecipherable language rose and fell under the current of the wind...I was dead.

    No other possibility could have plausibly explained my genuine feelings of happiness and safety. Nothing else mattered, in fact, nothing else existed. The true meaning of happiness was in fact meaningless in itself. Existence that lacked all sorrow, what could be left but jollity and glee?

    Yet there was something wrong with that reasoning. There was a hole missing where a reality should have been, a peace of logic that came with all life, yet had no allusions in death. It was a form of unpleasantness, of the reciprocal of every morality that death had to offer. I frowned to myself. I was missing something...a feeling, or a face.

    I started to sift through my memories, only to find a wall in the place of my prior existence. It was like a structure built by the gods, tall, massive, and  indestructible. The walls that guarded my mind had the potential to be a wonder of the world if the world had existed singularly in my head. Despite my overwhelming bliss, I started to gather together shreds of malcontent. I kicked at the wall with the sole of my boot then stumbled back with a gasp as I caught sight of a familiar face struggling from just beyond the bricks.

    I kicked the wall again and the illusion shimmered into a translucent mirror.  Aldyth was slumped down on her knees on the other side. Her dark hair spilled over her face and shoulders; her head was dropped low in her chest. She has no happiness, I realized with a start. She had lost her brother. She had no home.

    "Aldyth!" I called in the hope that she would hear me through the walls. My childhood friend remained still, giving little to no inclination that she heard me. Her shoulders rose and fell with her uneasy breathing. She appeared spent, and more lonely than I had ever seen her. "Aldyth! Aldyth!" I called and continued to kick at the wall that separated us. Maybe if I could bring the two of us together, then maybe some of my boundless joy could rub a bit of her sadness away. She was brighter than any one of her history would ever had been. She never deserved her sadness, not then and not now.

    She lifted her head slowly to reveal a pair of once lively brown eyes, now dry with tears. "I have no one," her voice came out hollow with an echo that halted every motion from light to thought. "I deserve no one. No one needs me. So I shall be no one." Her lips quivered and her head tilted downwards. I followed her gaze down her arms where she slowly revealed a small vial she had cupped between her hands.

    "Aldyth!" I screamed as loud as I could; I pounded on the wall and tried to break it down, yet no matter how hard I yelled, the words failed the moment they flew from my mouth. She drew in a deep breath in as she uncorked the vial.

    You're too good for this Aldyth. You know better, and you deserve  better. Hear my words. I love you. I care for you. Even if a thousand moons pass us by --

    Yet the wall refused to crumble.

[[]]

I awoke with a start to find myself under a blanket in front of a roaring fire. My head spun violently as I sat up, but to my utter relief, Aldyth was sleeping peacefully several paces away. The blood had been hastily washed from her face, but if one looked closely, one would still be able to make out faint shadows of red, ringing her ears.

    Everything was quite than it should have been. I felt blinded in a way that was previously unbeknownst to me. I could feel the chill of the autumn brushing up against my face, but now, no matter how hard I listened, the wind had no secrets to share.

    My ears echoed with the screech of the wagon guards. I sound was loudly irritating, and made my stomach turn over on itself. Maybe it was the memory more than the scream, but either way I wanted it gone so I started pressing my hands into the base of my ears. Suddenly a voice rang out from the dark. "Don't touch your ears child, or you'll tamper with the magic that is mending them. You have been badly injured, the both of you."

    I instinctively reached for my bow only to find my hand grasping at bare dirt. It laid several paces away, in a pile with the rest of our stuff. I crawled back a step or two as a tall man in a dark forest colored cloak walked out from the woods, holding a bushel of kindling in his arms. He was tall and lightly built, with the kind of longer, dark hair one would normally associate with a member of the royal family of Alyvanter. He had a bow and leather quiver strapped to his back, as well as several knives and a thin, curved sword belted to his waist.

    As the man set the wood down by the fire, his hair shifted and I caught sight of a pair of long pointed ears that jutted almost a hand's length out from his head. Under the light of the fire, I saw that his pupils were vertical slits, reptilian almost, and his eyes reflected even the smallest hints of light, making them seem as if they glowed. "An elf. . ." I breathed.

    "Ah...humans are such fun." The man sighed before sitting down in front of the fire so he could start rummaging through his pack. "Do you have qualms against elves, kid?"

    "None at all," I said quickly. Elves were known for many things, and among them, was their arrogance, easy irritability, and tendencies to bite chunks out of those who gave them trouble.

    The elf scoffed, then pulled his lips back in what was probably a smile. The motion revealed a neat row of sharp teeth. I sucked in a breath nervously. Never before had I seen an elf up close, but it terrified me to know that the legends were true. It looked as if someone had taken a Wolf's jaw and morphed it to fit a human mouth. The elf appeared amused by my expression. "At ease, child. Not every story you hear is real."

    "So you don't eat your enemies in their sleep?" I blurted without thinking.

    He narrowed his cat-like eyes slightly. "I still cannot fathom how that myth ever started. Of course not. We're not barbarians." He paused then nodded at Aldyth. "Is this girl called Aldyth?"

    I nodded uneasily.

   "Does she know you love her?"

    I straightened with a start. "What!? How did you -- I don't --" I could feel the blood burning in my face.

    The elf laughed easily. It was a gentle sound that didn't accompany his dark demeanour and sharp teeth. "You talk in your sleep, child. It may have just been a side effect of the healing magic, but talk you did, nonetheless."

    "I don't love her....Not like that, anyway..." I paused, then added indignantly. "What was I supposed to say? I thought we were dead!"

    The elf cracked a playful grin. "Don't worry, I won't tell the girl. Your secret is safe with me."

A/n

*waves* anybody shipping our main characters yet? Does Eli actually love Aldyth or are they just friends? And we have an elf, a carnivorous elf. What are your impressions of Elfy (his official pet name of the fandom)?

Edited 7.15.16