"Admit it, you're lost." Sighed Craw as he sat under a tall shady tree in the forest. He and his companion had only been traveling for a few days, and so far they hadn't met a single man or woman of the forest. Plenty of interesting plant life anyway. He thought to himself sarcastically.
Smyth had thrown off his mask in frustration by now. The path that they had been following had ended abruptly just a few kilometres ago, and now he didn't know which was back and which was forward. "Look, how could I have known that there would be so many damn trees?! It's not like you thought of a map either!"
"Well I wasn't the one who exactly, oh, spoke to the people!" He tore off his mask in anger. "What were you thinking anyway? Thought there'd be nice little maps posted on every tree?!"
"Alright, fine! I screwed up okay?! But you don't have to rub it in my face all the time you stupid son of a--" Just as Smyth was about to begin a string of curses, a loud rustling in the tree tops interrupted him. He looked up, with his eyes wide.
Craw had heard it too, and he looked up at the same place. "W-Who's there?" He called out nervously.
A woman's voice issued from the tree. "Who are you?" The tree had stopped rustling, but there were faint sounds of footsteps in other directions.
Smyth stammered. "W-We're the men from the I-Imperium." He quickly raised both index fingers into an X, and Craw quickly does the same.
The sounds of footsteps stopped for a moment, then a woman showed herself from the tree top, along with three others. The woman was quite beautiful, with long brown hair and bright green eyes, which they had later found out were one of the signs of an elf. Her ears were long and pointed, poking out from under her hair, and each had a gold ring pierced through. Her skin was a light brown, and her arms were decorated with black tattoos, giving her a mystical look.
She wore a dark green tunic, which covered, from her neck down to just above her knees, along with short sleeves. She looked down at them with a look of impatience. "Ah, you are the ones who contacted me. Well," She jumped down from the tree, landing softly on the forest floor. "I am Huryta Malathyt." She looked at Craw with interest. "But I do not recall speaking to this one..."
Craw flushed nervously, obviously attracted but afraid of the woman. "I--uh-- I'm a friend of Johnny. My name's Brandon C-Craw." His violet eyes were still wide from the unexpected visit.
Malathyt smirked and looked Craw up and down. "You're a bit young to be over in such a place." She glanced at Smyth. "Especially without a talented guide."
"Wha-- Hey! You never gave me a map!" Smyth whined. "How did you expect me to find my way??"
Malathyt laughed. "We couldn't give you a map because you might have given it to those monstrous soldiers of yours!" She looked at the two with amusement, then motioned to the other three that had been in the tree with her. "Take them to Trythia."
Craw kept looking at the elf for a moment, but two others then ushered him off. Smyth followed willingly behind Craw, down a hidden path in the thick bushes. While they walked towards Trythia, the ground under them was soft and seemed full of insect life. This was a shock for a boy who had never seen animals or bugs outside a cage.
In fact, he had never seen much plant life either. The Imperium was just one large city, and had very few trees. It was only when they passed a flower that they were forced to stop. Craw looked at a wild flower, which had been growing in the ground. It was one of the most beautiful things that he had ever seen in his entire life, and the Elvin guards allowed Craw and Smyth to gawk at it for a few minutes, then they started moving again.
After another half hour of walking they reached a particularly large tree, a redwood that was at least 300 feet tall.
Craw looked at the guard behind him. "...This is it? A tree?"
The guard smirked and pulled out a sword, raising it above his head as if to strike down Craw, then he lightly tapped the tree with its hilt and a long ladder lowered down, which he climbed quickly. The other two guards followed him, leaving Smyth (and especially Craw) speechless.
"A city in the trees?!" Cried Smyth. "But how..."
Craw winced at the cry. "Quiet down. Just... Let's follow 'em." He climbed up the latter, followed closely by Smyth. When they reached the top of the ladder, Smyth let out a low whistle. "Mundagus..."
The tree top city was beautifully built, using the finest woods in the entire forest. The houses shone with sunlight reflected off some of the polished wood, and the radiant smiles of the elfin children all around brought a small smile to Craw's face.
"I was wondering when you two would get here." Malathyt spoke from behind them, making Smyth jump and Craw turn. Malathyt smiled curiously. "What was the big delay?"
One of the guards walked up beside Johnny and said in a beautiful tenor voice. "It seems these lads haven't seen a flower before." The guard had a fairly strong Jullim accent (Irish to us), and it gave him an air of kindness.
Malathyt looked at the guard and smiled. "Why Adrio, I didn't see you there. You seem to get better at sneaking each day."
The man laughed and stroked his small beard. His calm brown eyes shined with merriment. "That is why I practise Malathyt. And I must be getting good if I can even sneak up behind our beloved leader." He laughed good-naturedly and patted her on the back, then wandered off to do take care of business.
"Leader?" Gasped Craw in amazement. "I--uh-- I've never met a...A leader of anything before." He bowed nervously in a confused gesture. "Your- -uh--majesty..."
Smyth smirked at Craw, eyes glittering again. "My my Mrs. Elf, it seems that you have an admirer." He makes kissing sounds and was rewarded with a blushing glare from Craw.
If Malathyt had noticed, she didn't show it. She just looked over her shoulder, then back at the two. "Come on. We have a meeting to attend." She smiled at Craw briefly, then walked off towards one of the largest buildings.
Craw's blush only deepened at the smile, but Smyth frowned. "A meeting... I never heard of any of this..." He followed the elf woman suspiciously, soon followed by Craw. Some of the elves on the way greeted the two warmly (more than a few catching Smyth's eye), until they reached the large meeting hall.
Inside were dozens of elves, men and women, all sitting in a circular fashion around the centre of the room. Craw looked around for a place for them to sit, while Smyth's frown deepened. "What's this?"
An elderly elf limped out from the circle and smiled. "Brandon Craw and Johnny Smyth I presume?" The man's face was heavy with wrinkles, with a prominent hooked nose and slightly sunken cheeks. He was stooped over, as if he had the world on his shoulders ,but his eyes differed from the rest of his body, glittering a joyful and energetic green, slightly tinted with white.
Craw looked at the old man silently, while Smyth nodded. "Yeah we're them. What's all this about anyway?" His eyes narrowed slightly with suspicion. Craw noticed uncomfortably that Smyth had slowly been moving his hand towards his knife.
The old elf looked at Smyth's hand and shook his head. "That will not be necessary friend... This is simply a welcome." He smiled again, hobbling over to the two again. He extended his old, bony hand, which was plagued with arthritis.
Craw looked at his hand, then took it slowly and shook three times, while Smyth did the same soon after, with less enthusiasm than his partner.
The old man nodded and straightened his back somewhat. "My name is Olthonias. Welcome, to the tree city of Trythia." His smile returned and he backed back into the circle. "Please, step into the centre of the room."
Craw was the first to step forward, into the middle. The room's floor was marked with intricate patterns of red circles and sometimes a green rune. Smyth studied the floor suspiciously for a few seconds, then reluctantly stepped into the middle with Craw.
Why, thought Craw to himself, is he the suspicious one? He arranged this... Didn't he? The thought is ended when the voice of a younger elf begins to speak. "Xal l' har'dro cleanse dosst vesdrac, lu' dormagyn dos dal l' uoi'nota vel'bolen dos h'uena ul'kas delmah. Xal l' har'dro commend dos, whol dosst honglath, lu' cunning, pholor traveling ghil." The runes around the circles began to glow a dull green.
Smyth blinked, and whispered to Craw. "You know what they're saying?"
Craw shook his head, bewildered. "It sounds like Drow or something." He looked down at the runes anxiously. "I hope this won't hurt..."
The elf continued to speak. "Nin xun l' wlalth, lu' morfeth nindolen draa, lodias d' faer!" The runes glowed brighter, then beams of light lanced out from them, entwining the two in a warm magic. After a few minutes, the light retreated back to the runes, and the elves smiled at Craw and Smyth. "You two are now rid of the poisons of technology."
Craw looked at himself with wonder. His skin was no longer pale and dirty, but a light brown, like the other elves, along with longer fingers and a more delicate look. He slowly raised his hands up to his ears and felt them. They were pointy now, and much more sensitive. He looked at Smyth with a grin plastered on his face, but was given an unpleasant surprise.
Smyth's face was quite pale, even with the new brown skin. His hair had changed from a light brown to jet black, and his eyes were no longer pure black, but a light green. His ears were elfin as well, but they were back against his head in a way that suggested discomfort. "W-What?! What did you do to me?!"
Olthonias stared at Smyth with bewilderment. "Why, we've cleansed you of that which you ran from..." He took a step towards him.
"This... This wasn't part of our deal damn it!" He growled and snapped out his knife from its sheathe. "Change me back! Now!"