4

"Dr. Cullen's calling it a medical miracle," Jenna said as she flew through Kevin's window, dropping in on him, Shane, and Seth, "I call it a job well done." She frowned, "No, wait, that's way too cliche. What about...oh, never mind!"

"Wow! You guys weren't lying!" Seth exclaimed to Shane and Kevin. He turned to Jenna, "You really are a human-Fairy-Elf?"

"No. I don't have a drop of human blood in my body, and I never will. I'm just a Fairy-Elf," Jenna responded, "Wanna go for a pegasus ride? I know a really nice clearing." She had been meaning to go back for years now. She couldn't put it off any longer, the trip back to Haven. But she needed support from her friends.

"Count me in!" Shane, Kevin, and Seth said in unison.

"I'll meet you outside in a few minutes." She said as she disappeared out the window.

Jenna flew home as fast as her wings would carry her. She grabbed some snacks and drinks and flew back. She picked up a very confused Leah on the way and put her atop Rain. Jenna called for three other pegasi; Fleury, Melinda, and Autumn. They would carry Seth, Kevin, and Shane. She herself would fly under her own power.

Jenna explained everything that happened to Leah on the way to Kevin's. Including the part about her not being human.

"Jenna," Leah said, "You never answered one of my questions. You were adopted?"

"Yes. The Langleys are not my birth parents. My mother is an Elf. Her name is Matilda Greenleaf. Imagine the worst person you've ever met, and then imagine them forty times worse. My father, a Fairy named Harrison Cullen, left my mother before I was born. Mother never wanted me. She used to hit me every day. I hated coming home. I ran away when I was nine, and lived on the street for six months. She hunted me like I was small game, and not her child. She still hunts me. Then I found Connie."

"Jenna, I-"

"You want to know what the worst part is, Leah? The worst part is knowing that even though I am safe here, she's still out there looking for me. If she ever finds me, she will do everything in her power to kill me. I live in fear of her every day."

Under the cover of Jenna's protection spell, the five musicians took to the sky. Jenna led the way. The pegasi formed an arrowhead beside her. She kept her light, bleached-wood Elven bow in her hands. It was the same bow that her grandfather, Legolas Greenleaf of Northern Mirkwood Forest, had received from the Lady of Light, the Lady Galadriel.

Jenna was over the moon to be able to fly out in the open again and not put on her human disguise. She was back in her full glory. The others could see a new gleam in her eyes, brighter than the one that had appeared when she had sang with Shane. Brighter than when she had started dating Shane. But most of all, Jenna relished in the fact that she could now put her magic back into her singing. Before she ran away, her mother had never allowed her to sing. But Jenna found ways to sing without her mother ever knowing. It was her most precious talent, the one that helped her forge out a sisterhood with the Earth.

"Seth, you okay over there?" Jenna called. She had noticed Seth turning green and had felt his nausea.

"I'm fine." He yelled back.

"No, you're not. You're making me nauseous."

"How?"

"I feel people's pain and illnesses, Seth. You can't hide any sickness from me."

"Okay, I get airsick."

"Airsick and carsick? Wow." Kevin whispered to Shane.

Jenna held up a hand, "I can get Melinda to gallop on the ground if you'd like."

"No, I'm really fine."

"Seth," Jenna said.

"Alright," He agreed.

"I'm sorry, Seth, but I can't function with a sick person so close at hand." Jenna muttered words to Melinda and in a flash she was galloping on the ground. The rest of the group flew on. Then Jenna began to sing. When she sang, the whole world was brighter. Birds joined her chorus. Deer dodged in the woods under them. None of them had ever heard words like that before, but they were stunned at their beauty. It was unparalleled to anything heard by anyone in decades.

When she finished, everyone stared at her in awe. "What?" Jenna asked. She met each of their gazes with her brown eyes that were gradually turning back to their natural colour, a brilliant violet.

"That was way better than anything you did at camp," Shane said, "Why-"

"-did I not sing like that at camp?" Jenna interjected, "Simple. I didn't want everyone to find out the truth. You must realize this. I'm not human. You had to have heard the magic in the melody. It means so much more than you could ever know. More even than I can realize," She snapped her fingers. Leah shot her a questioning glance, "That was just do Seth can join the conversation. Sure enough, they heard Seth's voice loud an clear. "Come on," Jenna called, already a fading black dot, "We're almost there." The others urged their mounts forward.

A couple of minutes later, they came to a circular clearing. It was in the middle of an old forest. When they landed, Leah began to set up a picnic blanket. Jenna excused herself to visit the bathroom and walked into the trees.

"This forest used to be called Mirkwood." Jenna said as she returned to the others. She was rubbing her forearm, near her wrist, but no one took any notice of it. To her, though, it was burning like crazy from a bite she'd surprisingly gotten from a passing animal. She was dousing it with magic, but nothing was working. Her magic was weak, and she was running out, so that was probably why. She needed to complete the power-restoring Ritual, but Jenna figured that she probably had a week or so or more, "Has anyone ever read the Lord of the Rings?" They nodded, "Well, every word in those books are true, even though the hobbit species has now died out about five generations ago, by human reckoning. In fact, my grandfather went on that quest."

The others looked confused.

"My grandfather is Prince Legolas Greenleaf of Mirkwood forest. Of Haven village. Of this village." she gestured to the ruins around her. A tear was glistening on her cheek, "This was the village where I was born." The tears flew freely now. Jenna sat on a log and wept.

Shane joined her. "What happened here?" He asked gently.

"The time of the Elves is over. The village was abandoned three years after I ran away because of an event I don't know about. This was our paradise. Men have taken over and polluted the air. Nature spirits have died because there is nothing left for them. There wasn't anything left for me until I met you, Shane. I'm exactly the same thing as a nature spirit, I'm just not immortal. I know it sounds corny, but I am the essence of the spirit of the pegasi. I am the spirit of the Wild."

Shane was speechless. He didn't know he had such an affect on Jenna.

"You guys gave me something to live for. I owe you big time. I owe you my life."

The rest joined Shane's speechlessness.

"I have always been an outcast, even among Elves and Fairies. I was the only one with an ounce of Fairy blood in the village. My birth parents never cared for me, even though they knew they would produce a Fairy-Elf. I ran away from Haven six years ago and came to live with Connie. Fairies and Elves both don't accept mixed-bloods."

"Well, you don't have to be accepted here. Just be yourself. If people don't like you for who you really are, then they aren't worth your time," Seth said, "Like that thing with that girl at camp."

Leah balled her fists and clenched her teeth at the mention of the girl. Seth took her away to cool down, knowing what would happen if she got too angry.

Shane looked back to Jenna, but she was as still as a stone. "What is it?" He asked.

"I don't know. Something big. Stay here." Before she took a step, a giant lion crashed through the trees and into the clearing. Leah screamed from the other side of the clearing.

"That's something you don't see everyday." Jenna said, her voice steady and clam. That was another thing Shane didn't know. Jenna was brave.

Seth and I should phase, Leah though.

"Everyone, stay back!" Jenna called to her friends. Her arm was a blur. It grabbed one of the green-fletched arrows from the quiver strapped to her back and notched the bleach-wood bow. She let it fly. It hit the beast between its shining eyes, embedding itself in flesh, cartilage, and bone. The lion locked it's eyes on Jenna, following her every move.

Pushing her skill to the limit, Jenna nocked another five arrows at the same time and fired. The beast howled in pain as all the arrows found their mark. Jenna took to the sky, landing like a cat on the lion's head. She shot three arrows into its skull, shouting an Elfish spell to propel them through the soft tissue of the adolescent Neman's cranium. The beast disintegrated in a shower of green and gold sparks. Jenna collapsed onto the ground.

Shane was the first at her side. Jenna did not stir.

"Child doesn't know her own strength." An unfamiliar voice said behind them. They turned. Standing behind them was an older Elf. Not older in face, but in age. His bright blue eyes showed a wisdom of many ages. It was timeless. The Elf had long, cream hair that was braided down his back. His voice was soft as he studied Jenna. He scooped her into his arms. The Elf beckoned for them to follow and took off into the woods. They followed, flying low over the trees on Jenna's pegasi.

After about five miles, the Elf took a sharp turn off the path and stopped at a small cottage. Shane, Kevin, Seth, and Leah followed the Elf into the cottage after landing their pegasi.

The Elf bent and laid Jenna on the couch. "Livra" he said. Shane recognized that as the word Jenna had used to heal Kevin. The Elf's hand were red. The light they gave off danced around the room like it was reflecting off a disco ball, but it wasn't as impressive as when Jenna had used the spell. Still Jenna slept on.

"Why isn't she waking up?" Shane demanded, "She used the same word-spell-thingy on Kevin and he woke up right away."

"She is not fully healed. She needs time to build her strength." The Elf said, "She is worse off than Kevin was, and I don't have her gift. I'm not a healer, like she just happens to be."

"Who are you?" Leah asked, "And why did you want to help her? She said your kind didn't accept her."

"I am Legolas Greenleaf. Jenna is my granddaughter."