Everglade: The Underaged

Chapter 34

Ailwin's eyes widened. Luke was sure he'd never seen that expression on Ailwin's face before. He stopped a giggle.

"What... how? You're an Elf?" Ailwin said.

"Apparently." Luke said. The expression didn't go away. This time Luke couldn't suppress the giggle. Then he remembered that he was immortal and when his friends died he'd be alone. He put his head back under Eclipse's wing. She looked at him.

What wrong? She asked.

I'm immortal, my friends are not. They'll die. I won't. I'll be alone. Luke told her. I don't want to be alone. Luke sighed unhappily. Being immortal is a curse.

Tell Elves.

Why?

They have answer. Was all he got for a reply. Luke got out from underneath Eclipse'swing and headed towards the former Crow base.

"Where are you going?" Ailwin asked.

"I'll be back." Luke told him. He went into the base and found Slade's father.

"Your ears are pointed. See? You are an Elf." He said when Luke had his attention.

"Yeah about that. Since I befriended some humans," Luke inwardly cringed after he called his friends humans. "I'm immortal, they're not. When they die, I'm not sure I can cope with it. I don't want to live on while my friends are dead."

"Of course. That is to be expected since you were raised around humans. If you truly want, we have a solution for that."

"What is it?"

"Come with me." Luke followed Slade's father to a store room. He was handed a pouch.

"What is it?"

"It's an Elf Blessing. The Crows stole it from us so they could use it to force bonds and make themselves immortal. You sprinkle this over your friends' heads while they sleep."

"Okay."

"You say these words: I give you a blessing. You will never die. You will have the immortality of an Elf."

"Okay." Slade's father had Luke repeat the words several times until he had them memorized. Luke went back to his friends.

"Where did you go?" Ailwin asked.

"To get this." Luke showed them the pouch with the Elf blessing in it. "It would make you guys immortal, if you want it. I got it because I don't want to be alone when you guys die, but it's not up to me, it's up to you."

"I'll do it! Being immortal is cool! Can we make my parents immortal if they want it?" Korman said.

"Maybe. I don't know how much I have." Luke replied. "I sprinkle it on you while you sleep." Isabella looked at him.

"I'm in." She said. One by one his friends agreed. Ailwin seemed to think it over before he agreed. Luke put the pouch in his bags until tonight. Then he went to find Slade. His friends weren't allowed around him, but Luke was curious as to whether or not Slade's ears had pointed out. He found him inside the same room he'd changed in when he was a spy for his friends.

"Hey." Luke said.

"Hello. Your ears pointed out. You are an Elf. I told you." Slade replied. Luke looked at Slade's ears. They still looked the way they had yesterday.

"So, did your father lock you in here?" he asked.

"Yeah. He did it so I wouldn't go near your human friends. My father lost all trust in humans after they almost killed me. He would only agree to Damianus going near them if Damainus checked in regularly, learned to fight, and carried an anti human weapon."

"What kind of weapon would Elves have to ward off humans?"

"I don't know what it looks like, Damianus refused to show me. I won't be able to convince Father anyway. I can't learn to fight since I'm missing a leg. It limits what I can do physically."

"Oh."

"The replacement looks weird. It looks like a leg, but it's not. It drives me crazy. They decided not to grow it back for some reason." He rolled up his right pant leg to reveal a fake leg. Slade's leg had been cut off below the knee. The rest of the leg was a piece of metal molded to look like a leg with a molded ankle joint. Luke couldn't see the fake foot because of Slade's boot. Slade pulled his pant leg back down.

"To be honest, it looks a little freaky." Luke said.

"I know. It creeps me out too. I'm the only Elf with a fake leg. I'm also the only one with brown hair." Slade replied.

"I have black."

"True."

"We can be oddballs together." Slade smiled.

"Deal." He said. They shook on it. Slade's father came in.

"Slade, come and eat. Luke, you can come too. It's about time you're introduced to Elven food." He said. Luke went with Slade and his father to a room he'd never been in before. A table had been set up in the middle. There were dishes of fruit, roots, and ducks. Luke had never seen the fruit before. He suspected it was Elven fruit. There were cakes and bowls of fizznut soup. He sat down in a spot and they ate. Luke had never tasted fruit like the Elven fruit. It was sweeter and juicier than human fruit. The cakes were different from human cakes too. They were fluffier on Luke's tongue. The Fizznut soup tasted just like the way his mother had made it. The ducks tasted different than the way humans cooked them. He could taste different spices than the human ducks were cooked with. The roots tasted like almond cakes. He suspected they were supposed to taste like one of your favorite foods.

When the meal was over Luke had a content feeling in his stomach. He went back to his friends. They were asleep. He got out his pouch and sprinkled it on them. He said the words and the powder glowed then went into their skin. He knew it was done. He went to bed himself.