My Unexpected Elven Ally
An Elven Heritage Story
By Chrissy Wissler
Copyright © 2012 Chrissy Wissler
Published by Blue Cedar Publishing.
Cover Illustration by Carlo Dapino/Dreamstime
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As far as Kate was concerned every rock, pine tree, and mound of dirt looked the same. As in, they passed that tree with the moss shaped like a bulldog an hour ago and here it came again, only this time Grandma veered to the right and not to the left.
And after three days of seeing the exact same bulldog-moss covered tree, Kate was ready for a change of scenery - or more importantly, clean underwear and a flushing toilet. But no matter how much she wished, dreamed, or fantasized, her companions kept trudging onwards.
Both Aila and James, her two other elven-descendant companions on this journey, had gone on ahead, leaving Grandma to babysit Kate. Grandma with her short, white hair tied back in a bandana that frighteningly matched her fuchsia shawl, had to wait every few minutes for Kate to catch up. She didn't say anything, but then she really didn't need to. It was pretty obvious the way her mouth pinched or the loud sighs she let lose as if even this Kate was a disgrace to all things elven.
"You can go on ahead, you know."
Kate scooted her backpack higher up on her shoulders - shoulders she'd lost feeling in three days ago. "I don't need you to hold my hand. It's not like the magi are going to appear out of thin air or anything."
Grandma didn't miss a step as she shrugged. "My old body is feeling tuckered out. I like taking my time and walking in pairs. Not to mention it's just good hiking sense."
Bullshit. They both knew Grandma could run circles around Kate.
Still, this at least allowed Kate to actually enjoy the scenery instead of keeping her head bowed and her thoughts focused on one foot in front of the other. Or on the upcoming doom of standing in front of the Gathering - a bunch of local elf descendants who would probably disliked Kate on principle.
She shook her head, knocking those thoughts away. Worry later, enjoy the scenery now. In case, of course, she didn't get a chance to because she'd be dead or something.
Actually, when she did open her eyes and see, when she paid attention to where she was going...Alfeim Forest truly was beautiful.
They reached a small rise and the valley stretched out below them. Tall crags poked through clouds, and snow clung to the dark, rocky surface. Grandma pointed out the direction of Glacier National Park, which she said was actually part of Alfeim Forest, though the government didn't know any better.
All this was in one ear and out the other as Kate took in the vast wilderness below her. She swallowed, overcome with a sudden longing, an ache that swept straight to her heart and made her stumble. She didn't know if it was her feeling this way, or the long dead elven soul inside her.
Kátheryn Silvermoon.
The very name caused Kate's breath to hitch, to pause in her throat. Fear and excitement mingled, intertwined.
Kátheryn. Her elven ancestor, an elf who'd died hundreds of years ago but who loved this world so much, who loved so deeply, she'd chosen to remain. She hadn't vanished like the other elves had, or the light ones as they were some times called by the Forest's inhabitants. Instead of disappearing, part of herself had remained.
Or more specifically, her soul.
Kate's soul.
Her hand crept up to her chest. She felt the steady, thrumming beat of her heart. The beat told her she was alive. Not Kátheryn. Kate. No matter what happened, no matter what anyone said, she was still and always would be Kate.
Grandma shrugged out of her backpack and her tin pot clanked against the granite rocks as she set it down, then helped Kate out of hers.
Kate sighed with a deep, all-consuming relief. "Ohhh, that feels so much better."
Grandma grinned. "We're almost there. Then the hard part begins."
And that, Kate decided, was one of the reasons she hated her grandmother. It had nothing to do with having only met the woman for the first time a month ago and everything to do with her cryptic, otherworldly comments.
Which Kate hated.
Whatever happened to straight answers? You know, the kind that actually answered her questions about being related to an elf instead of answers that simply raised more questions on principle?
"Whatever. Nothing can be worse than surviving your idea of camping." Kate slumped onto the nearest (and biggest) rock, leaving the small, pointy one for Grandma. "And, by the way, this is not camping. Camping at least involves small bathrooms or heck, even outhouses."
Grandma settled on the pointy rock as if she were some faery princess who didn't mind the uneven, uncomfortable surface she now placed her bum on.
Kate huffed. Must be another special elven trait that had conveniently skipped her. Like her sense of direction. Or balance. Or love of camping and all things forest.
"I thought for sure your genes would have kicked in by now. And if not those, than Kátheryn might have helped you out a bit."
"I do not want Kátheryn's help," Kate growled. "I am doing just fine without her."
"You sure about that?"
"Yes."
She crossed her arms and scowled at the no longer enjoyable view. Yet another gift of her Grandma's - the ability to ruin even Kate's best of moods by reminding her, once again, just how much danger she was in.
And right on cue...
Grandma leaned towards her, the shawl tied around her waist dipping towards the ground, as she squeezed Kate's knee (which happened to be poking out from the rip she'd put in her jeans yesterday). "This is serious, Kate. If you're not focused, if you can't prove yourself to the Gathering -"
"Prove myself? Gee, I thought telling my asshole of a dad to get lost or finding my shadow was proof enough? Oh! Or how about me crossing that stupid veil you're all so freaked out about?"
The veil, the separation between the two worlds, hers and the spiritual one. The magical one, the one where the elves came from. The very last thing she wanted was some kind of special Gift that let her touch another world. Nothing good could come from something like that.
And so far, nothing good had happened.
Kate jumped to her feet. "And the only reason I'm on this stupid trip was because you told me it was necessary. Well getting eaten by mosquitoes, nearly falling into a ravine, and then having a bunch of uppity, half-elven descendants like you judge me - was not what I'd signed up for this summer."
She swerved away, fully intending to go stomping off into some random direction (away from the cliff), when she nearly collided with a tall and very powerful Aila. An Aila, who once again, wasn't happy with Kate.
Not like Aila was very open about it, but Kate knew damn well what that narrowed, pinched mouth meant. She could also feel Aila's annoyance with her as her gaze swept over Kate, taking in her ripped jeans, her pink sweater not littered with small holes and snags from branches.
Everything about Aila radiated displeasure. Disappointment.
As usual, Kate hadn't heard Aila return. Nor had she heard James either, who lingered just behind his mom. Their eyes met briefly and Kate glimpsed his elven soul, half-hidden under the boyish, teenage face she'd become so familiar with. The same gray eyes stared back at her, weighing her. Judging her, just as Aila had done.
Kate tried not to fidget under his gaze, under the same disappointment she felt from him. Then the look passed and he changed back to the boy who'd been avoiding her for two days.
Kate refused to feel guilty when he dropped his gaze, as if the very sight of her hurt him. She lifted her chin, daring him to say anything. He didn't. He hadn't, not since she admitted she might actually like him.
Rejection wasn't easy to hear, not that Kate had much experience with that, but she was pretty sure she'd done the right thing. She didn't know if she liked him or if it was Kátheryn - who, by the way, was also still conveniently in love with James's long-dead elven soul.
So, she'd asked James for time. And space.
You know, to figure things out.
She wasn't about to fall head over heels in love with him only to realize she wasn't the one in love with him.
He'd given her both. As in, he hadn't said three words that didn't involve: watch your step.
She looked away. She'd had enough of people judging her.
"Your grandmother is concerned," Aila spoke, breaking through Kate's thoughts of James. "As she has a right to be. As do we all since the fates seem to have brought us the one person who can cross the veil into the spirit world. Of course, she also happens to be the one person completely inept at all our gifts."
"Hey! That's not my fault."
And it wasn't. It had been her mother's decision to run from the Montana crazies and never inform her daughter she was also related to a long-vanished race of elves. Not that Kate could technically blame her for keeping that a secret.
It did sound crazy.
"Your fault or not, if you're allowed to continue as you are, you'll injure not only yourself and us, but Alfeim as well." Aila swept past Kate. Not even her khaki pants made a brushing noise as she moved and her hiking boots were silent on the gravel.