WWHoo! Tis done! I hope you like it! What do you think of Darille? Hmmm? Ch. 3


It turned out that the largest Elvin city, the home of his empress, was in the opposite direction we'd been heading all this time, so the full day's walk had been pointless. When he told me this, I could only grimace and hide my glare. Darille didn't seem to be as wary of me as he'd been at first, but I didn't want to do anything that might put me on his bad side. My life depended on his trust.

"We will begin tomorrow. I'm not so cruel as to make you cross the same land twice in one day." Darille said, seeming to read my mind. I sighed, muscles I hadn't realized were tensed relaxing in relief, and all but collapsed onto the trunk of a tree that had fallen long so long ago it was almost buried entirely under thick, snaking vines. Darille watched me for a moment with a glint of amusement in his ever changing eyes, then stooped and threw me over his shoulder in one smooth moment, knocking the breath out of me. Before I could even let out a gasp he was climbing the nearest tree, not even holding onto me as he did so.

Clinging to his waist for dear life, I pressed my cheek to his lower back and squeezed my eyes closed against the ever growing distance between us and the floor. My thoughts were running rapid fire, trying to figure out what on earth Darille was doing and fight my own rising fear at the same time. My aversion to heights had always been one of the few things my mother and I never shared. When I thought I couldn't stand the constant swaying and bumping another moment, he stopped and pried my hands from their death grip on his tunic. Did I mention that he was dressed like every Elf you've ever heard or read about? Apparently, the imagination of our writers had been right on the money. His clothing was even a green that matched that of the surrounding foliage.

"Here, you're quite alright, Julianna." Darille cooed at me as one would speak to a spooked horse as he pulled me off his shoulder and sat me down at the base of the huge branch we were on. "You'll be safe from most predators here, and it's much warmer than down there. Look up!"

Glad for an excuse not to look down, I did as I was told and nearly lost my balance with surprise. This of course tore my attention away for a moment while I clutched at the wood beneath me until I was steady again. Heaving a sigh, I returned my gaze to the wonder above me. We were on a branch only feet below the canopy, but it wasn't as tightly knit as I had thought. Sunlight sparkled through the spider web of tiny, leaf covered branches like a million diamonds in every shade of green I'd ever seen and some I hadn't. It was simply breath-taking.

"You're crying again." Darille commented before catching a tear on his index finger and holding it up for my inspection.

"Hmm…yes, Watson, I believe you're correct!" I laughed at my own lame joke but quickly fell silent again at Darille's confused expression.

"Have you forgotten my name..?" He inquired, seeming oddly put out.

"Of course I haven't! It was a joke referring to a character in a story from home. I forgot for a moment that you couldn't have read it…" I answered, trying to apologize with my eyes. That's harder than authors make it sound, you know.

"Oh." He said, then abruptly turned and dived off the branch. Surprised, I cried out his name and dove onto my stomach after him, just missing his foot. At a loss, I lay there and watched in awe as he nimbly twisted in midair, caught a branch close to the ground, effectively stopping his downward plunge, and gracefully landed on his feet.

"You'll be fine!" He called up to me, misinterpreting my fear for his life for fear of being left alone. If I was being honest with myself, I was afraid of both. I managed a nod, which he was somehow able to see, and followed his retreat until he was out of sight. I could only pray that he would return.

I spent the first hour staring at the jewels of green above me, the second trying to braid my hair and having little success, and the third trying to find other things I could do to ignore the hundred foot drop below me. By the time the fifth hour came around I was curled into a ball, my mind locked around one phrase. He hasn't left you to die. He hasn't left you to die. Halfway through the sixth hour, my phone died, leaving me without the ability to even gauge the time passed. It was useless anyway since there wasn't a single phone tower on this planet. At least, I was pretty sure there wasn't.

The light had left the sky around the fourth hour, plunging my tree into darkness, so I was pretty sure it was late when I finally drifted off to sleep halfway through the eighth. Of course, I could only guess at what hour it actually was at that point.

I dreamt I was running.

Thorny bushes snagged at my clothes and cut into my arms and face, but I didn't stop, couldn't stop. My lungs screamed for rest, my sides creaking as if they'd soon break in half, but still I kept moving. I knew that if I quit even for a moment my life would be forfeit.

Undergrowth snapped and broke behind me, the ground shaking with the force of the footsteps hunting me down. They were getting closer.

A giant tree suddenly loomed before me, so big it blocked out my field of vision. I panicked and slowed down, just a tiny bit. Where could I go from here? Where could I hide? As if it were waiting for my frenzied question, a small hole under a particularly large root popped into view. Without pausing for thought I plunged into it, scooting as far back as the small haven would allow, and struggled to control my breathing.

The footsteps stopped, moved to the right then back to the left. My pursuer was confused. I used this as a calming gel, letting the knowledge that I'd hidden successfully slow my breathing and heart.

"Found you." A soft, cruel voice spoke from just outside the opening and a hand shot inside and caught my wrist. I had forgotten that there were two.

"Julianna! Julianna! You're alright, it's me!"

The nightmare still lingering on my mind, I fought the hand closed around my forearm, certain it was Elliot after my life. A slap to the face brought me around. It wasn't hard enough to hurt, but it was enough to snap me out of it. I blinked, squinting in the faint light of dawn at the face of the man in front of me. Darille.

"Sorry…bad dream…" I mumbled, blushing beet red. He nodded, gentle understanding in his currently magenta eyes. This was a particularly inhuman color, driving it home that I didn't belong here, but I pushed that away. After all, it could turn out that I would have to belong. I had to face the fact that I might never see my brother again, my mother's picture.

"I have brought food and warmth." He offered after a moment's silence. Seeing the bowl of strange looking fruit, vegetables, and what I hoped were roots, I grinned. Food was food, even if that one in the corner looked like it had teeth. I would let Darille peel that one.

Half an hour later I was full and feeling mostly free of the shadow my nightmare had left on my thoughts. Darille was mostly the reason behind that latter, though. He described every fruit, vegetable, and root in meticulous detail, showing me the proper way to peel and eat each one. This was an obvious and much appreciated gesture designed to distract me. In the end, my favorite was a small, unassuming fruit called Dorgs that were little more than a bulb with two stiff leaves at the top, but were packed with such sweet flavor that I ate all five he'd brought me.

"I'll be sure to get more for lunch." Darille promised, earning my first smile of the new day, but its life was short because after only a tiny pause he continued, "We have to get to the ground first, however." All this time I had successfully ignored the fact that we would have to descend at some point, but now there was no way to avoid it.

"Ok." I said finally, my voice cracking in fear. This was not going to be fun. This time he offered to let me ride on his back, his lips twitching in amusement at my relief.

"You have nothing to fear from me, Julianna. Until the empress declares your fate, I will keep you from harm. I promise this on my honor." Darille swore in sudden solemnity, his eyes pouring into mine sincerely. Something about those eyes melted away my misgivings, bringing calm in its stead. It wasn't until we were on the ground and walking in silence that it hit me.

Until the empress declares your fate… Darille would protect me now, but would he do the same if I was banished or worse, sentenced to death..? I shook my head hard, trying to dispel the morbid thought and earning a questioning glance from the man in question. I shrugged, not willing to voice it aloud just yet. There was a time for everything.

Lunch was a mammal that resembled a hare, but about twice the size and with two bony horns peeping out of the fur between its floppy ears. It was called a Hopper, I was told, by humans. Darille snorted and shoot his head at the unimaginative name. To elves, he added, it was called a Bormik.

"How can I understand you?" I asked while we waited for the meat to cool. Darille blinked, the idea never seeming to have occurred to him. For a long moment he sat unmoving, staring thoughtfully into the fire.

"I'm not sure. Perhaps it was part of the enchantment that brought you here, or maybe you have your own kind of magic. I will tell you this. To my ears, you are speaking my language with perfect fluency. I assume, since you look surprised now, that to yours I am speaking whatever language you spoke where you came from. This is another question we will present to my empress." Apparently finished speaking, he brooded into the flames. I noticed that his eyes were a troubled grey. Maybe his eye color wasn't only governed by the moods of the jungle surrounding us, an idea I still had trouble wrapping my mind around. That a tree, a flower, had a life of its own was simple. To try and imagine every single piece of green and brown in this place was connected into one massive whole, on the other hand, was quite a lot to take in.

"Yeah…your empress…I've no doubt that she'll be able to give me at least one answer to my many questions, but will she give the answer I need most? Will she really hear me out before she punishes me? What if she does and decides I'm lying? Will I be put to death? Would I be stoned, tarred and feathered, hung, cast down by magic?" Unable to care about how pathetic I sounded, I faced him, begging him with my eyes to tell me the truth.

Darille regarded me for a long time with an expression I couldn't read. It was as if he were looking at me with new eyes.

"I don't know. I truly don't. The empress is like this jungle; strong, willful, full of firm beliefs and unwavering ideas. She is also bendable, like the trees. She can be made to see reason if it is given to her honestly. She can be kinder than anyone you know and crueler than your worst enemy. Always treat her with respect, for insulting her would also be to insult the very trees, the animals that call them home. You could never travel through the jungle and expect to survive." Darille said. His expression never changed, but his voice was soft, almost gentle. Faced with the details of this woman's demeanor, I was only made more certain that I would not like the results of meeting her. Still, Darille trusted her and was convinced that I would have a fighting chance. Somewhere in the day we'd been together, he had become my friend, much as Jamie had. He was here for me. I only hoped that this would still be the same if things took a wrong turn.

"Alright, don't insult her, be honest and frank. I think I can do that." I said firmly, more to myself than to him, ending the conversation. By then the meat was done, so we both tore off a hind leg and dug in. When we were finished, Darille cut what was left into long strips, covered them in salt from the bag on his hip, and laid them in the sun to dry. I asked for a pinch of the salt once I'd tasted it, glad to know that this world had at least one thing in common with mine, and folded a leaf around it before putting it in my jacket pocket. It had proven sweltering after the first hour of walking the day before, but I couldn't bear to take it off yet. Darille had refused to comment, seeming to understand my reluctance.

Once the meat was dried, we buried the bones and cleaned up our mess before setting out. We had a long day ahead of us.


And yes, I know this elf ate meat, but I think it's silly for them not to. Really! They're part of the forest! They should understand better than anyone else that it's how things are! Animals eat and are eaten! Period! PWEEEAASE REVIEEEWWW!