Chapter Ten: Cheater
"You didn't have to make the Fades attack them, you know. You could have caused a tree to fall on them when they were walking near the forest or something like that."
"Ah yes, but you see if I had done that, then the dwarf wouldn't think it was his fault that his friend and the Scout are dying. He needs to learn the effects of his secrets and prejudices."
"I see. Is that why you meddled when the Fades attacked?" Austus leaned back in his chair, idly eating grapes while studying a large map with various pieces spread about.
Shkena placed a hand to her heart. "I? I meddle?" She shot her husband a sultry smile.
"Yes, you. You know perfectly well that they wouldn't have been able to resist taking all three of them at once, especially the dwarf, because they have an affinity for the little trolls," Austus said sourly. He had wanted to use the Fades to scare a particularly stubborn band of explorers away from a treasure hoard. "If you were going to dabble with them, why didn't you keep the Fades away from that bunch of travelers the night before?"
She shrugged her slim shoulders. "They are not as easy to control as you think. Ravenous creatures, very dangerous when handled improperly. And we are not all-powerful, you know."
Austus took a sip from a goblet before bending back over the map. "Too true. He didn't trust us that much. So you've effectively killed the Warrior and Scout, and death is something we cannot interfere with. What do you propose to do?" He looked at Shkena's knowing face. She was daring him to guess. Suddenly it dawned upon him. "Unless you remove them all from the sphere of that realm and send them…"
She swooped down and grabbed three silver figures from off the board and set them on a completely different world. "Precisely."
His keen ears picked up the sound of sobbing. A heart-rending sound seldom heard anywhere on these shores. His light step quickened as he darted through the misty trees, seeking the source of the crying. He stopped suddenly, as a hunched figure came into view. What sort of creature was it? The elf had never seen anything so short and compact.
The being was kneeling over a prone body, uttering words in a tongue he did not understand. As he drew nearer, he saw a third person also stretched out upon the ground, a crude bandage upon his chest.
"Halt! Who are you and why do you enter the land of Medeba?"
The short stranger shot to his feet, hand going to a primitive form of weapon. It answered back in its strange tongue, trying to keep him away from the two beings.
He spread his hands, for he had no weapons. "I will not harm you. That is not our way. But I will help you."
The creature faltered, the knowledge that it could do nothing clearly written on its face. After a moment's hesitation, it put its blade away.
The elf, Nadoram, drew near, setting his hand to the brow of the youngest being, whose race was not in kinship with the short creature. He drew back from the coldness, as much as from the fading light within. "She dies," he said simply, understanding death, but not its means. His kind did not perish as these so obviously did. It was the same for the other person, whom Nadoram discerned to be of the same people as the female.
The short one looked at him with agony in its eyes, and then said something that the elf did not understand.
Nadoram set two fingers to his lips and whistled long and low. Three fellow elves materialized from amidst the swirling fog. They did not ask any questions, for they had seen and heard all for themselves.
"Let us take them to Lady Avilah. She will know what they are. Be wary of the small one, for I fear he may give us trouble," Nadoram cautioned. Carefully he gathered the female into his arms, noting how heavy she was when compared to elves. The weight was not unbearable, however, and when everything had been gathered up, the elves set out through the wood.
The short being, who had made little protest over the elves, seemed to be beyond despair as it carried the injured male over its shoulder, showing remarkable strength.
Nadoram knew they were approaching the heart of the misty forest when the trees began to grow bigger and thicker around. He stopped at the base of one and let out a trilling call. Immediately, a wooden lift was lowered on strong vines. The elf beckoned the short one to come with him, and swiftly the two of them and their burdens were hoisted into the treetops.
The small creature cried out something as the ground dropped away, unconsciously backing to the center of the gently rocking platform. Nadoram tried to reassure it, to no avail.
When at last they came to a halt, Nadoram called to several of his kinsmen. "These three were found in the wood. The short one does not speak our language, and the other two need healing. I know not where they came from, but I would speak with Lady Avilah to discern her wisdom on this matter."
"We will take the wounded ones to quarters and fetch a healer for them," a group of four offered, moving to take the limp form from Nadoram.
"And I shall bring you and the small one to Lady Avilah," another, one of the Lady's handmaidens, said.
Nadoram cut short his reply as he moved to restrain the short creature, who looked like he was about to fight the other elves over his companions. He looked intently into its eyes, speaking slowly. "They will be all right. Trust me. Come, we go to see Lady Avilah, who can help you." The small one made a growling noise low in its throat, but followed the elf anyway.
She opened her eyes, and they immediately focused upon the blue star with an orange center that she'd stuck to her ceiling so long ago. Kaylee sat up, pushing her heavy comforter aside. Her feet struck the floor, and she instantly tripped over a pair of sandals she'd left there. She rubbed her bleary eyes, a wild grin growing on her face. It had all been a dream! Mychal, Firar, all of it! She was home, and she was safe.
"Mom?" Kaylee called, entering the hallway outside her bedroom. She heard pans clattering in the kitchen downstairs, and she grabbed her pink and white blanket from her bed, wrapping it around her shoulders. Her bare feet padded noisily on the stairs as she descended. The smell of waffles nearly made her faint as she ran to the kitchen.
Kaylee's mother stood with her back turned, busily stirring the batter before pouring it on the griddle. "Good morning, Kaylee. Did you sleep well?"
She gave her mom a hug from behind, inhaling the heavenly scent of the fresh waffles. "Yup! You wouldn't believe the dream I had…"
Her mother put two waffles on a plate, before turning around to hand them to her daughter. "Why don't you sit down and tell me all about it?"
Kaylee accepted the breakfast, but the dish shattered as it slipped from nerveless fingers. Icy terror gripped her heart, and her eyes widened. She stumbled back a step, her blanket falling from around her.
"Kaylee?" asked the thing that looked like her mother. But no human had a face like that. It was a mottled shade of green, with yellowed teeth and empty sockets where the eyes should have been. Its nose was a malformed nub of flesh with only one nostril. "Kaylee, are you all right?"
She turned to run, but a vise-like hand grabbed her shoulder, squeezing tightly. Kaylee was screaming in fear. This couldn't be happening… Two worlds had collided. Where was she? What was real?
"No! Let me go! Noooooooo…"
Kaylee's eyes snapped open mid-shriek. A pair of intense gray eyes bored into hers, and she renewed her struggles. The man was holding her down by one shoulder, his other hand drawn back as if to strike. "Who are you? What do you want?" she asked, calming marginally as she realized that she had little strength with which to fight him.
"You speak our tongue? But your companions do not," he replied in fascination.
The necklace Shkena had given her grew warm against her neck. "You didn't answer my questions. Who are you?" Kaylee's heart raced as she took in her strange surroundings. She was in an open room that seemed to be some sort of tree house. The graceful columns were leafy boughs that intertwined to form a dense dome above her, and a warm night breeze blew, but the pale lights that illuminated the room did not flicker.
"You have nothing to be frightened of, little one. My name is Araphel, and I am a healer." He moved away, pouring something from a pitcher into a carved cup and handing it to her and settling in a nearby chair. "You were lucky the small one brought you here, or you might have died. Elves are good healers, but even you and your companion gave us a challenge. Yet—"
Kaylee accepted the drink suspiciously, sitting up slowly. Then she bolted upright in a flash, interrupting and causing Araphel to sit back in surprise. "What did you say?"
Araphel opened his mouth in order to repeat himself but Kaylee didn't give him the opportunity.
"Elves? Good heavens, elves exist too?" Kaylee leaned forward, and the healer gave her an odd glance before turning his head. Pointed ears! Just like in the storybooks she'd read so long ago as a child. But Firar and Mychal had said that they'd never heard of elves before…
"Why would we not exist? It is you that is a mystery to us. What sort of race are you, that you are so heavy and clumsy? Though you resemble elves in many respects, you do not possess the immortal aura, nor the grace and agility of us."
Kaylee was now even more confused than before. "Hold it a minute! Let's go back to the beginning. You are Araphel, a healer who happens to be an elf. Right?"
Araphel nodded once, eyeing his patient like she had lost her mind.
"Firar and Mychal said they did not know what elves were. And that they didn't understand your language. Right." Kaylee spoke rapidly, more to herself than to the elf seated near her bed. "So we must be on another world, and I bet it is all Shkena's doing. Figures," the girl muttered darkly.
"So now you should answer my questions, little one. What sort of being are you?" Araphel raised a dark eyebrow at her. "And what is your name, so that I shall not be forced to call you 'little one' while you remain here to finish regaining your strength?"
Kaylee studied the elf, remembering all she had heard in her world of their nobility and goodness. Surely it would be all right to trust them. "My name is Kaylee, and I'm a human. And elves do not exist in my world."
Both the healer's eyebrows shot up at that statement. "In your world? There is no other world besides this one. I do not understand."
She could have laughed aloud at the perplexing look on the elf's fair face. "You'd be surprised," she muttered, absently sipping the drink he'd given her. The first mouthful spread like the warming glow of a fire through her body, and Kaylee nearly choked on the next sip. "What is this? Tastes like some kind of tea."
Araphel, still puzzled, replied, "It is alesae, an elvish brew that gives warmth and strength." After a moment's pause, he asked, "How can there be other worlds beside our own? There is no proof, nothing to say that there is. The very thought is unfathomable."
The girl shrugged. "No it isn't. Look, I'll show you." Kaylee threw back the light blanket, revealing a plain gown, and attempted to rise, but her legs wouldn't obey her. A great weariness settled upon her, and Araphel rose.
"You do not have strength yet to get up. Simply tell me what you mean," the elf said, gray eyes filled with concern.
"No. I want to show you," Kaylee insisted. She did not like feeling so helpless. To not be able to move of her own free will was frustrating and unsettling.
Araphel eyed her for a moment, then approached and carefully lifted Kaylee into his arms. "You must promise me that you will take some rest after this. I would not have you endanger yourself merely to prove a point."
"Promise." Kaylee crossed her heart with one hand. "Is there a place where we can see the stars?"
"Yes, but it is a little far from here. Are you sure you wish to go?"
She nodded emphatically. "There are some things that need visual explanations." Kaylee didn't tell the elf that she also wanted to know more about where she was, and if she could find Firar and Mychal in the process, she'd be that much closer to getting out of here. Araphel seemed nice enough, but stories were still fictional. Despite her earlier thoughts, a small seed of doubt began to grow. The elf carried her from the open bedroom, onto a staircase of interwoven limbs that led upwards. The trees were a silvery-green in the opalescent light emanating from some flower-like growths on their trunks. Kaylee glanced down, just to see how high they were. The thick trunks were lost in a gray mist, but even the height that she could see caused her to tighten her arms around Araphel's neck.
The healer spared her a concerned glance, but he was sure-footed and swift. The staircase led to another platform, this one completely enclosed, almost like some kind of meeting hall. Araphel did not pause, merely continued through and on to another set of steps. It appeared to her as if the entire city or settlement or whatever the elves might call this place was entirely in the treetops, made of an intricate network of elegant tree houses and pathways. Kaylee had been sure that she had seen enough strange things to last her for the rest of her life, but Shkena or whoever was doing this seemed to have an odd sense of humor.
"We are here," Araphel interrupted her thoughts softly, his focus already on the clear sky that glittered with a million stars. They were on an open platform, where there were many carved benches and chairs arranged, as if the spot was specifically meant for stargazers alone.
"It's beautiful," she breathed, eyes alight with awe. The elf set her on a bench, then stood simply gazing at the sky. It was one of those moments you learn to treasure, where time has not spoiled anything yet with the evolution of society. Peace and serenity were unequaled, and countless minutes, perhaps hours even, passed as the heavens worked their subtle magic on the two tiny beings so far below.
"Do you see that blue star there?" Araphel sat beside Kaylee and pointed. "That is Shteroth. It rises and falls swifter than the other stars."
Kaylee mentally pulled herself back to the present. "You asked how there could be other worlds. You see all those stars up there, and you don't know. Some of those stars have planets, other worlds orbit—um, spinning around them. Some of them have moons, some may have two. And a very small amount of those planets have the right conditions to support life. Shteroth is a perfect example of a planet. You said it does not rise with the other stars, and that is probably because it is another planet moving around your sun, which is also a star." The Scout paused to take a breath, feeling tired.
Araphel listened attentively, his mind trying to sort things out. "You say there are all these other 'planets' out there, then why do none of the peoples of them come to our world, such as you have?" He arched a dark eyebrow at her, a light gust of wind sending his long brown hair waving.
"I don't know. There are greater powers at work here. It is as if someone is playing a game, controlling us. I don't like it." Kaylee was interrupted by a yawn that threatened to split her face in half.
"Come, you must get some sleep. Your short friend will be most pleased to know that you have awakened and faired well. Perhaps I will allow him to visit tomorrow, if I think you are suitably improved." Araphel picked her up gently once more, but Kaylee did not even notice when they began their descent back into the heart of the tree-town.
"His name is Firar, and he's a Dwarf," she told the elf sleepily. "And a Keeper too, although I don't think you know what that is."
"Hush, Little One. That is enough from you."
Her mouth twitched at the gentle reprimand, but her mind was already sinking towards sleep. The last thing she was aware of was a sweet melody that lulled her into dreamland.
[A/N: Yeah, this chapter has taken me a long time, and I was holding out until I got 5 reviews to post it, but nobody's actually reading this anyway (and if you are, you haven't been reviewing!) except my good buddy Drake and Tigerlily. Thanks you both! P.S. This chapter's dedicated to Drake Silverclaw, because he's a pain in the butt and a really persuasive nudger. LOL, you know I love you, Drake. *weg*]
"You didn't have to make the Fades attack them, you know. You could have caused a tree to fall on them when they were walking near the forest or something like that."
"Ah yes, but you see if I had done that, then the dwarf wouldn't think it was his fault that his friend and the Scout are dying. He needs to learn the effects of his secrets and prejudices."
"I see. Is that why you meddled when the Fades attacked?" Austus leaned back in his chair, idly eating grapes while studying a large map with various pieces spread about.
Shkena placed a hand to her heart. "I? I meddle?" She shot her husband a sultry smile.
"Yes, you. You know perfectly well that they wouldn't have been able to resist taking all three of them at once, especially the dwarf, because they have an affinity for the little trolls," Austus said sourly. He had wanted to use the Fades to scare a particularly stubborn band of explorers away from a treasure hoard. "If you were going to dabble with them, why didn't you keep the Fades away from that bunch of travelers the night before?"
She shrugged her slim shoulders. "They are not as easy to control as you think. Ravenous creatures, very dangerous when handled improperly. And we are not all-powerful, you know."
Austus took a sip from a goblet before bending back over the map. "Too true. He didn't trust us that much. So you've effectively killed the Warrior and Scout, and death is something we cannot interfere with. What do you propose to do?" He looked at Shkena's knowing face. She was daring him to guess. Suddenly it dawned upon him. "Unless you remove them all from the sphere of that realm and send them…"
She swooped down and grabbed three silver figures from off the board and set them on a completely different world. "Precisely."
His keen ears picked up the sound of sobbing. A heart-rending sound seldom heard anywhere on these shores. His light step quickened as he darted through the misty trees, seeking the source of the crying. He stopped suddenly, as a hunched figure came into view. What sort of creature was it? The elf had never seen anything so short and compact.
The being was kneeling over a prone body, uttering words in a tongue he did not understand. As he drew nearer, he saw a third person also stretched out upon the ground, a crude bandage upon his chest.
"Halt! Who are you and why do you enter the land of Medeba?"
The short stranger shot to his feet, hand going to a primitive form of weapon. It answered back in its strange tongue, trying to keep him away from the two beings.
He spread his hands, for he had no weapons. "I will not harm you. That is not our way. But I will help you."
The creature faltered, the knowledge that it could do nothing clearly written on its face. After a moment's hesitation, it put its blade away.
The elf, Nadoram, drew near, setting his hand to the brow of the youngest being, whose race was not in kinship with the short creature. He drew back from the coldness, as much as from the fading light within. "She dies," he said simply, understanding death, but not its means. His kind did not perish as these so obviously did. It was the same for the other person, whom Nadoram discerned to be of the same people as the female.
The short one looked at him with agony in its eyes, and then said something that the elf did not understand.
Nadoram set two fingers to his lips and whistled long and low. Three fellow elves materialized from amidst the swirling fog. They did not ask any questions, for they had seen and heard all for themselves.
"Let us take them to Lady Avilah. She will know what they are. Be wary of the small one, for I fear he may give us trouble," Nadoram cautioned. Carefully he gathered the female into his arms, noting how heavy she was when compared to elves. The weight was not unbearable, however, and when everything had been gathered up, the elves set out through the wood.
The short being, who had made little protest over the elves, seemed to be beyond despair as it carried the injured male over its shoulder, showing remarkable strength.
Nadoram knew they were approaching the heart of the misty forest when the trees began to grow bigger and thicker around. He stopped at the base of one and let out a trilling call. Immediately, a wooden lift was lowered on strong vines. The elf beckoned the short one to come with him, and swiftly the two of them and their burdens were hoisted into the treetops.
The small creature cried out something as the ground dropped away, unconsciously backing to the center of the gently rocking platform. Nadoram tried to reassure it, to no avail.
When at last they came to a halt, Nadoram called to several of his kinsmen. "These three were found in the wood. The short one does not speak our language, and the other two need healing. I know not where they came from, but I would speak with Lady Avilah to discern her wisdom on this matter."
"We will take the wounded ones to quarters and fetch a healer for them," a group of four offered, moving to take the limp form from Nadoram.
"And I shall bring you and the small one to Lady Avilah," another, one of the Lady's handmaidens, said.
Nadoram cut short his reply as he moved to restrain the short creature, who looked like he was about to fight the other elves over his companions. He looked intently into its eyes, speaking slowly. "They will be all right. Trust me. Come, we go to see Lady Avilah, who can help you." The small one made a growling noise low in its throat, but followed the elf anyway.
She opened her eyes, and they immediately focused upon the blue star with an orange center that she'd stuck to her ceiling so long ago. Kaylee sat up, pushing her heavy comforter aside. Her feet struck the floor, and she instantly tripped over a pair of sandals she'd left there. She rubbed her bleary eyes, a wild grin growing on her face. It had all been a dream! Mychal, Firar, all of it! She was home, and she was safe.
"Mom?" Kaylee called, entering the hallway outside her bedroom. She heard pans clattering in the kitchen downstairs, and she grabbed her pink and white blanket from her bed, wrapping it around her shoulders. Her bare feet padded noisily on the stairs as she descended. The smell of waffles nearly made her faint as she ran to the kitchen.
Kaylee's mother stood with her back turned, busily stirring the batter before pouring it on the griddle. "Good morning, Kaylee. Did you sleep well?"
She gave her mom a hug from behind, inhaling the heavenly scent of the fresh waffles. "Yup! You wouldn't believe the dream I had…"
Her mother put two waffles on a plate, before turning around to hand them to her daughter. "Why don't you sit down and tell me all about it?"
Kaylee accepted the breakfast, but the dish shattered as it slipped from nerveless fingers. Icy terror gripped her heart, and her eyes widened. She stumbled back a step, her blanket falling from around her.
"Kaylee?" asked the thing that looked like her mother. But no human had a face like that. It was a mottled shade of green, with yellowed teeth and empty sockets where the eyes should have been. Its nose was a malformed nub of flesh with only one nostril. "Kaylee, are you all right?"
She turned to run, but a vise-like hand grabbed her shoulder, squeezing tightly. Kaylee was screaming in fear. This couldn't be happening… Two worlds had collided. Where was she? What was real?
"No! Let me go! Noooooooo…"
Kaylee's eyes snapped open mid-shriek. A pair of intense gray eyes bored into hers, and she renewed her struggles. The man was holding her down by one shoulder, his other hand drawn back as if to strike. "Who are you? What do you want?" she asked, calming marginally as she realized that she had little strength with which to fight him.
"You speak our tongue? But your companions do not," he replied in fascination.
The necklace Shkena had given her grew warm against her neck. "You didn't answer my questions. Who are you?" Kaylee's heart raced as she took in her strange surroundings. She was in an open room that seemed to be some sort of tree house. The graceful columns were leafy boughs that intertwined to form a dense dome above her, and a warm night breeze blew, but the pale lights that illuminated the room did not flicker.
"You have nothing to be frightened of, little one. My name is Araphel, and I am a healer." He moved away, pouring something from a pitcher into a carved cup and handing it to her and settling in a nearby chair. "You were lucky the small one brought you here, or you might have died. Elves are good healers, but even you and your companion gave us a challenge. Yet—"
Kaylee accepted the drink suspiciously, sitting up slowly. Then she bolted upright in a flash, interrupting and causing Araphel to sit back in surprise. "What did you say?"
Araphel opened his mouth in order to repeat himself but Kaylee didn't give him the opportunity.
"Elves? Good heavens, elves exist too?" Kaylee leaned forward, and the healer gave her an odd glance before turning his head. Pointed ears! Just like in the storybooks she'd read so long ago as a child. But Firar and Mychal had said that they'd never heard of elves before…
"Why would we not exist? It is you that is a mystery to us. What sort of race are you, that you are so heavy and clumsy? Though you resemble elves in many respects, you do not possess the immortal aura, nor the grace and agility of us."
Kaylee was now even more confused than before. "Hold it a minute! Let's go back to the beginning. You are Araphel, a healer who happens to be an elf. Right?"
Araphel nodded once, eyeing his patient like she had lost her mind.
"Firar and Mychal said they did not know what elves were. And that they didn't understand your language. Right." Kaylee spoke rapidly, more to herself than to the elf seated near her bed. "So we must be on another world, and I bet it is all Shkena's doing. Figures," the girl muttered darkly.
"So now you should answer my questions, little one. What sort of being are you?" Araphel raised a dark eyebrow at her. "And what is your name, so that I shall not be forced to call you 'little one' while you remain here to finish regaining your strength?"
Kaylee studied the elf, remembering all she had heard in her world of their nobility and goodness. Surely it would be all right to trust them. "My name is Kaylee, and I'm a human. And elves do not exist in my world."
Both the healer's eyebrows shot up at that statement. "In your world? There is no other world besides this one. I do not understand."
She could have laughed aloud at the perplexing look on the elf's fair face. "You'd be surprised," she muttered, absently sipping the drink he'd given her. The first mouthful spread like the warming glow of a fire through her body, and Kaylee nearly choked on the next sip. "What is this? Tastes like some kind of tea."
Araphel, still puzzled, replied, "It is alesae, an elvish brew that gives warmth and strength." After a moment's pause, he asked, "How can there be other worlds beside our own? There is no proof, nothing to say that there is. The very thought is unfathomable."
The girl shrugged. "No it isn't. Look, I'll show you." Kaylee threw back the light blanket, revealing a plain gown, and attempted to rise, but her legs wouldn't obey her. A great weariness settled upon her, and Araphel rose.
"You do not have strength yet to get up. Simply tell me what you mean," the elf said, gray eyes filled with concern.
"No. I want to show you," Kaylee insisted. She did not like feeling so helpless. To not be able to move of her own free will was frustrating and unsettling.
Araphel eyed her for a moment, then approached and carefully lifted Kaylee into his arms. "You must promise me that you will take some rest after this. I would not have you endanger yourself merely to prove a point."
"Promise." Kaylee crossed her heart with one hand. "Is there a place where we can see the stars?"
"Yes, but it is a little far from here. Are you sure you wish to go?"
She nodded emphatically. "There are some things that need visual explanations." Kaylee didn't tell the elf that she also wanted to know more about where she was, and if she could find Firar and Mychal in the process, she'd be that much closer to getting out of here. Araphel seemed nice enough, but stories were still fictional. Despite her earlier thoughts, a small seed of doubt began to grow. The elf carried her from the open bedroom, onto a staircase of interwoven limbs that led upwards. The trees were a silvery-green in the opalescent light emanating from some flower-like growths on their trunks. Kaylee glanced down, just to see how high they were. The thick trunks were lost in a gray mist, but even the height that she could see caused her to tighten her arms around Araphel's neck.
The healer spared her a concerned glance, but he was sure-footed and swift. The staircase led to another platform, this one completely enclosed, almost like some kind of meeting hall. Araphel did not pause, merely continued through and on to another set of steps. It appeared to her as if the entire city or settlement or whatever the elves might call this place was entirely in the treetops, made of an intricate network of elegant tree houses and pathways. Kaylee had been sure that she had seen enough strange things to last her for the rest of her life, but Shkena or whoever was doing this seemed to have an odd sense of humor.
"We are here," Araphel interrupted her thoughts softly, his focus already on the clear sky that glittered with a million stars. They were on an open platform, where there were many carved benches and chairs arranged, as if the spot was specifically meant for stargazers alone.
"It's beautiful," she breathed, eyes alight with awe. The elf set her on a bench, then stood simply gazing at the sky. It was one of those moments you learn to treasure, where time has not spoiled anything yet with the evolution of society. Peace and serenity were unequaled, and countless minutes, perhaps hours even, passed as the heavens worked their subtle magic on the two tiny beings so far below.
"Do you see that blue star there?" Araphel sat beside Kaylee and pointed. "That is Shteroth. It rises and falls swifter than the other stars."
Kaylee mentally pulled herself back to the present. "You asked how there could be other worlds. You see all those stars up there, and you don't know. Some of those stars have planets, other worlds orbit—um, spinning around them. Some of them have moons, some may have two. And a very small amount of those planets have the right conditions to support life. Shteroth is a perfect example of a planet. You said it does not rise with the other stars, and that is probably because it is another planet moving around your sun, which is also a star." The Scout paused to take a breath, feeling tired.
Araphel listened attentively, his mind trying to sort things out. "You say there are all these other 'planets' out there, then why do none of the peoples of them come to our world, such as you have?" He arched a dark eyebrow at her, a light gust of wind sending his long brown hair waving.
"I don't know. There are greater powers at work here. It is as if someone is playing a game, controlling us. I don't like it." Kaylee was interrupted by a yawn that threatened to split her face in half.
"Come, you must get some sleep. Your short friend will be most pleased to know that you have awakened and faired well. Perhaps I will allow him to visit tomorrow, if I think you are suitably improved." Araphel picked her up gently once more, but Kaylee did not even notice when they began their descent back into the heart of the tree-town.
"His name is Firar, and he's a Dwarf," she told the elf sleepily. "And a Keeper too, although I don't think you know what that is."
"Hush, Little One. That is enough from you."
Her mouth twitched at the gentle reprimand, but her mind was already sinking towards sleep. The last thing she was aware of was a sweet melody that lulled her into dreamland.
[A/N: Yeah, this chapter has taken me a long time, and I was holding out until I got 5 reviews to post it, but nobody's actually reading this anyway (and if you are, you haven't been reviewing!) except my good buddy Drake and Tigerlily. Thanks you both! P.S. This chapter's dedicated to Drake Silverclaw, because he's a pain in the butt and a really persuasive nudger. LOL, you know I love you, Drake. *weg*]