Otherworld

The Great Duel, and The Great Betrayal

I was kind of freaked out that she pulled me into the tree so suddenly. I'd been expecting a hard faceplant into the tree, but I slipped in easily. It was bigger than it let on; twice the size of my room. The uneven walls were crawling with bugs and mossed over, and the floor was smooth wood. There was a couch with leaves coming out of it, and a loveseat Identical to it. I saw a TV. I looked at her. 

"What? I know it's bad, but it's kind of addicting." She motioned for me to have a seat on the couch and she curled up on the loveseat. Tiny litte figures with lopsided movements went around , sweeping, cleaning, and clearing certain bugs. One of them held a beaten up silver tray with two ceramic cups on them. It wobbled over to me, and I took a cup, hoping the green contents were somehow tea. It wobbled over to the Dyad, and she took the cup and sipped. "My name's Stella. Ironic, of course, since I'm kind of rooted."

I realized I hadn't yet introduced myself to her. I straightened and stiffened awkwardly. "I'm, um, Ray." Strangely enough, I avoided telling her my real name.

She hmphed. "Smart. You don't tell me your real name. That can't just be insinct. Well, I suppose I never really met a Blade Elf before, but I've heard rumors of their feats and tales of their strength and wit."

"What's a Blade Elf?"

The Dryad smiled. "Blade Elves are a type of Elf that have not existed for what feels like a millenia. They're nearly whiped out of folklore completely. Created by both the Gods Athena and Ares, Blade Elves are a deadly combination of intelligence and strength. They're tragic flaw is simple; pride. Which is what caused they're downfall, obviously. Long ago, there was a Blade Elf-handsome, heroic-and you must know that there were... few heroic Blade Elves. But above all else, prideful. Striking resemblance to Hercules."

"You mean... You've met Hercules?"

"No, but a friend of mine would always tell me stories about him." Stella's eyes twinkled. "Anyway, he belonged to the Summer Court, which is even more rare since crowds repel Blade Elves; they were like the asassins of Otherworld."

"Otherworld?" I tried to keep up, but admitedly I was doing what my dad would call drinking two glasses at the same time.

"You're in Otherworld right now. Otherworld consists of different planes of existence to Faeries, but basically it's the hallway of doors to the different dimensions. If you're in Otherworld, you can reach any other dimension pertaining the Faerie world, and if you try hard enough, the human world."

"Oh." That made sense. Kind of.

"So, anyway." Stella adjusted herself on the loveseat and continued. "So, long ago there was a Blade Elf, blah, blah, blah, and he was very prideful. The king of the Summer Fey became annoyed with him. He was a bit of a, um, show off. It didn't sit well with a lot of Fey, but it especially annoyed the king. So, one day the king got fed up. He challenged the Blade Elf to a duel, confident in his own sword skills. The Blade Elf accepted the challenge, fully aware of his opponents skills. Now, keep in mind before the king made such a rash decision, he had sent nine hundred ninety nine of his strongest Fey to duel him. The Blade Elf's reputation was the only one on par to the king of the Summer Court. So, in other words, They were on equal grounds when it came to reputation."

"When the day of the Great Duel came, the Blade Elf violated one of the rules-that is, to use no magic-and won. On top of that, he refused the thrown."

"Refused the thrown?"

"If a king or queen is defeated, or killed, they are to step down from the thrown and the victor of such a feat will take the thrown. The Blade Elf rejected the thrown, which is a huge insult. The king should have been exiled regardless, but later on it was found out that the Blade Elf had used magic. Not only had the Blade Elf defeated, insulted, and driven the king out of his own kingdom, but it was done by trickery."

"Well?" I hadn't realized how into the story I was, but I was really comfy. I took a sip of the contents of the cup absently, surprised at how good it tasted. Like candy if it was a tea that didn't taste like water. "What happened next?"

"The king was outrage. He fought his way back to the thrown, and ordered the death of every Blood Elf there was, except one. The Blood Elf that made a mockery of him-he wanted to kill him himself. But, he was never found and a vast majority of the Blade Elves disappeared. It was said that the very Blade elf that made a mockery of the king of the Sumer Court lead his people to a new plane of existence; one that he created. No one has ever seen a Blade Elf since. Well, except for now. Though she may not be very... polite."

I blushed. "Right," I said. "Sorry about the bumping into you thing. Normally my dad doesn't up and disappear without a trace. And my mom doesn't throw fits like the one she just pulled." I yawned, suddenly totally exhausted. My eyelids were heavy.

"It's okay," Stella said. "I'll get mine and you'll get yours." She smiled, beige teeth glimmering.

I felt only slightly panicked because I was so tired. I tried to get up, stay awake, something. "Why," I managed.

"That order is still in place," she said. "Be it a neutral plane or no, king Oberon offers quite a price."

Then I blacked out.