A/N I'd like to thank Gage the Hedgehog for reviewing last chapter! ^^ Please enjoy reading this chapter! I had a hard time wording and editing it.. and I'm still not completely satisfied with it.. *shrugs* Please leave some feedback! I love those! ^w^ Have a wonderful day everyone!
I struggled to breathe past the lump that formed in my throat after he finished speaking. Wiping yet more tears from my cheeks, I took a shuddering breath in an effort to calm myself. Why does this story resonate with me so deeply? This happened to people I will never know over a decade before my own birth, so why does this affect me so much?
Finally getting a handle on my own emotions, I settled for leaning against Naideth's thumb as he stepped through the destroyed landscape. He seemed content enough to let the silence stretch between us as we both mused over what had been said.
I thought back over what the Ent had told me of his part in the final battle and the origins of the capital's name. Though I am angry at the Ent, rightfully so as he said, I can't help but get the feeling that even if he had stayed it wouldn't have made a huge difference in the grand scheme of things. Perhaps, in a twisted way, this was fated to happen; his sudden lack of courage that was characteristic to his race. If he had stayed, I would be out a guide and informant. At the distance he has taken me, it probably would've taken me weeks to traverse this massive forest to my final destination. Though he may have abandoned my people when they needed him the most, I can't blame him so much.
The story of how the princess died for no reason also speaks to me on a deep level. I feel as if that story has something to do with me somehow. It's impossible though… it took place a decade before my birth. I can't imagine the grief the king and queen had been in to lose their first born child right as one of your allies turned on you. It was no wonder my kin fought so hard in the beginning.
From my textbooks, it was because of the humans' superior technology and greater numbers that they won the war and hunted us to extinction. However, it may differ with this side of the story, seeing how the winners always exclude the dirty things they did in written history.
I shuddered at the thought, wondering exactly how many facts and records were written with that bias. I wonder how many stories were silenced in favour of the winner's stories.
I started at the jolt that ran through me from the hand carrying me. I glanced up at Naideth and found him looking somewhere in the distance. Dreading what I would find, I sat up and looked around, noting the vast expanse of something shimmering on the horizon.
"There lies the Brisingata, young Eva," Naideth stated, lifting his other gnarled hand to point at the shimmering expanse of water to the west, "On its nearest shore lies Dautrblödh, where the King and Queen resides."
I followed his finger and spied various somethings standing out of the blackened and charred ground. I followed the vague pattern of what seemed to be elvish buildings across the edge of the charred area, into what looked like newer growth and disappearing into the older forest.
The older part seemed to have survived the flames, though it was obvious even from here that it took some massive damage. Most of the trees still had blackened bark and the newer growth seemed to grow right out of the husks of the ones that died. As I continued to examine the landscape, a small smile tugged my lips as I spied a few small saplings poke defiantly out of the rubble.
I yelped and grabbed onto Naideth's thumb tightly as the hand cradling me tilted towards his trunk body. The feeling of being lowered followed shortly, making me tighten my hold. After a few seconds of this along with creaking of his wooden limbs stretching out made me realize that he wasn't putting me down. Rather, he seemed to be bending over to observe the earth directly below us. The sounds of shifting dirt and debris reached my ears, along with indiscernible grumbling from my self-appointed guide as he dug around for something.
This continued for a bit, though for how long I cannot say, before he harrumphed in satisfaction and started to straighten up. As the hand holding me leveled out to where it was before, I cautiously let go of his thumb, though I remained poised to grab on again at the slightest provocation. I yelped yet again at the sight of his other gigantic hand drifted towards me, holding something gently in between his mossy fingertips.
"This," he intoned solemnly, "is a testament to how life persists no matter the circumstances."
It stopped above me and I had to stand on the uneven wooden surface to take whatever it was from him. As the hand drifted away again, I opened up my own palm and gasped lightly to what was sitting in it.
There were a couple small acorns sitting innocently on my pale palm, intermixed with the darkened soil they had been laying in.
"The soil is newly fertilized from the fire," Naideth continued, beginning to walk like he had never stopped, "Soon there will be hundreds of new saplings, like the ones you see ahead."
I smiled and nodded to his words, closing my fist protectively around that very evidence. Hope swelled within me as I gently tucked them into my pack, opting to sit and watch our slow progression to the place of my birth.
"Life finds a way," I whispered to myself, grinning up at the sun slowly making its descent, "No matter what."
As the sun sank with the passing of time, it became very obvious why the lake is called the Brisingata. Instead of looking like a normal lake, the reflection of the sun on the water's surface made it look like a wide path made of fire. The sight both took my breath away and made me shield my sensitive eyes from how intense the glare was.
Glancing around, I noted how Naideth cut a wide berth around the sprouting saplings and was heading towards the ruins of Dautrblödh. As I watched the city steadily approach, I tensed as a sudden wave of anxiety made my insides flutter.
What if I am a disappointment to the King and Queen? Are they expecting someone wiser and stronger than me? It would be fitting for the last of the elves to be much wiser and more experienced than I.
Grunting, I held my stomach and took measured breaths, trying vainly to move the sudden weight compressing my lungs. Naideth must have noticed my sudden case of nerves and began humming the lullaby from earlier. The song helped calm my anxious mind a bit, but the doubts were still bouncing around in my mind.
After what seemed like both an eternity and a split second, Naideth reached a massive wooden arch that stretched over a vast amount of ground and reached higher than even the massive Ent. The arch was split, cracked, and charred in places and obviously worn by the elements, but it still stood strong. There were glyphs etched into its surface, some in recognizable Ancient Language and some that either escaped my comprehension or so charred that they were unintelligible.
A sudden jolt brought me out of my careful examination as Naideth stopped before the arch, craning his head back to examine the rows of glyphs scrawled across the top. With a gusty sigh, he slowly turned his attention on me, both sadness and victory reflecting in his grass eyes.
"Here is where I leave you, last of the elves," he rumbled, making me jolt in a sudden panic, "I have completed my last task. I cannot go any farther than this."
"B-but," I stammered, standing and clutching my pack as anxiety washed over my being once again, "I still don't know everything! I still need you to show me around!"
I wobbled as a tremor shook through his hand from his chuckling. Pursing my lips, I glared up at him as his mirth subsided, silently demanding answers.
"I will still be around, young Eva," he reassured me, beginning to bend to set me down, "I simply cannot enter the city. I was tasked to guard it from the outside and guard it I shall still."
I huffed, suddenly irritated at his logic. Before I could come up with a good retort, I was knocked off balance as his hand tilted, gently depositing me on the soft soil.
"There are things you must discover for yourself here," he told my sprawled form, starting to slowly straighten up, "I cannot hold your hand forever, child. I will be around whenever you have need of me. You need only to call out my name and I will heed your call. Good luck and farewell, Eva, last of the elves."
