After I told a couple horse drivers where the large tree was, I desired to go visit my mother at work, possibly help. My mother was the best blacksmith in the village. I passed several trees with ladders running up the trunks, leading to some houses. The village made the move from the ground several years back, deciding that it was safer, and it was harder to detect.
I came up to a large grand oak tree. I looked up at the village that was housed in its giant branches. The shops were buzzing, elven children were running across the branches, and outdoor stands were in business. I saw my mothers blacksmith sign and smiled. Her shop was on the back side of the village, on its own branch. The ladder that lead to the village was on the other side of the tree and I didn't want to walk all the way around the tree, just to have to walk back through the village. I started to climb the rough bark of the trunk. Climbing this tree was very similar to climbing a cliff. The bark was rough and sturdy enough to hold a fully grown elf.
Elves don't fully mature until they are twenty. When we turn twenty, the Keeper sends us out on a mission, and we have to complete it. The mission depends on how we were portrayed by the head scout. If you were weak, you got an easy mission; if you were strong, you got a hard mission. After the stunt I pulled today, I knew I was going to get an extremely hard mission on the weeks end.
I reached the branch I was aiming for in no time at all. I pulled myself up onto the branch, startling a couple of elves, and started towards the shop. It was a small little shack that had a grinding wheel outside, along with a stretcher. The wood was painted like a bunch of leaves and the roof was painted like the branch.
I entered the small shack and entered the forge. Two anvils stood side by side. A barrel filled with a liquid subsence stood at the end of each anvil. A roaring fire was on the opposite side of the room. My mother was leaning against the wall that held every weapon she made, that wasn't sold yet, and he had was dangerously close to grabbing one. She was in the middle of a heated conversation with an elfe. I quickly walked over and grabbed a sword off the wall, my back towards my mother.
"I'll be with you in a minute sir," she said. "Alena I need that iron bark for my shop. How am I suppose to make weapons, armor, and repair them without my share?" Her voice began to rise.
"I'm sorry, but the keeper said-"
I knew what was going to happen before the poor elfe did. I spun around, pulled the her back, and intercepted the side swipe of a sword with the one I was holding. The anger quickly subsided in my mother as she made eye contact with me, her personality changing even quicker.
"Hi sweetie, what are you doing home so early?" she asked. She replaced the sword on the wall and took a step away. She was the only person who could best me at everything. She was wearing her apron over her green shirt, and brown pants. Her long oak hair was braided down her back and wrapped around her waist, so that it wouldn't get in the way of her work.
"We ended early," I said, turning towards the other elfe. "I'm sorry if I hurt you."
"Oh it's okay. I was just dropping off her iron bark," Alena smiled.
"And it's not enough for the month," my mother chimed in, keeping her smile.
"Well the Keeper said that there isn't enough for everyone and everyone was cut short this month," Alena said.
"Yeah, I doubt that they all have half of an inventory this month," my mother said, walking into the other room.
"Umm, where is the Keeper right now?" I asked.
"I believe she's at home," said Alena, turning towards the door.
"Thanks, I'll go talk to her in a few minutes, after I calm mother," I whispered.
