Crowns and Guns.

Promise (part 2)

"Twenty years ago, humans created a portal to our universe, and used it to attack us." Star starts.

"Wait," I say, tilting my head. "I thought the elves created the portal."

"The humans did," Star says while letting his arm rest on the ground. "Nevertheless, we have the tradition that every battle, before and after, we would talk, and make deals. Compromises. Make promises. Concessions. Ways to reduce bloodshed. We call it parley."

I nod. "Sounds plausible."

"We fought many battles, and the humans humoured us, gladly partaking in the parleys. By the time we realised humans were not bound to uphold their half of deals, it was too late. They betrayed us and conquered most of the planet. The queen had no choice, but to surrender."

I cross my arms. "That makes no sense."

Star raises an eyebrow. "You don't think humans can conquer elves with ease?"

"O no, that I believe," I answer. "But why would be hide that? If humans got one over on the elves, they would celebrate that."

Star laughs. "I do not understand why humans lie and hide things. After the humans conquered us, they wanted to humiliate us. They offered to give us part of our land back. And spare the queen. In exchange, they only wanted us to sign the pact of flesh."

He continues. "The pact contained three amendments. You already know we were not allowed to eat animal meat. But what you don't know is, that we also weren't allowed to attack humans unless they attacked us first. In addition, we were forced to give the humans our royal crown."

"That sounds harsh."

Star leans back. "Oh, it gets worse. We elves need to eat flesh to sustain our magic. We realised fast that the only way to stay healthy and keep our magic is to hunt humans, as this was the only kind of flesh, besides Elven flesh, not forbidden by the contract. And with hunt I mean, provoke them into attacking us, and then kill them."

I startle when I see another person pop into the void. Katie is standing next to me, holding my arm, looking around. She seems just as startled as me, looking around with wide eyes.

"What the ---" she exclaims, before popping out just as fast as she popped in.

I look at the black void where Katie used to be. How did she join our little get-together?

Katie pops in again, in the same spot she was before. "Wow, this is so cool. I think I got the hang of it."

I look at her. "Katie, why are you here? How are you here? What is going on?"

"I saw you sitting on your bed, talking to yourself, staring into nothingness. So I was worried. The moment I touched your arm, I was transported into this black void."

"Wait, people can hear me talk?" I ask. "They can listen in to the conversation I am having."

Katie shrugs. "Don't worry, the barracks are empty except for us. Most people are out in the woods to exterminate that Elven tribe, remember? And most people who stayed are at work or filling in for someone else. No one else heard you."

"Oh, okay."

"So, what is this?" Katie asks. "Some kind of conference call. I thought the internet collapsed when I was a kid."

I gesture at the elf, that Katie somehow seems to have missed the whole time. "Katie, this is Star. Star, this is Katie."

Katie looks at the elf with wide eyes, and takes a step back, popping out of the void again. Just as fast as she left, she pops back in.

She whispers. "Have you been secretly talking to an elf? Are you a spy?"

I shake my head. "No, I am not a spy. This is the first time I talk to him."

I look back at Star. "So, what was that thing about keeping your magic."

Star crosses his arms. "Was the only reason you contacted me to distract me while you move the army to exterminate us." He shakes his head. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted a human. But don't worry human, we will be ready for them."

And with those words, he pops out of the void.

I drop the whispering stone, and the barrack forms again around me. I see that Katie is sitting next to me on my bed.

"Shit," I say. "The elves know. We have to contact the Commander. Tell him to stop."

Katie shrugs. "Contact? How?"

I dunno. If we leave now, we may catch up with them before they reach the tribe.

"Okay, I get my gun."

Wait, I look around. "Where is June?"

Katie looks left and right. "After her dress dried, I helped her change and walked her to school. The teachers decided not to join the army."

"Oh, yes, that makes sense."

"Okay, yes, if she is safe, that we better leave as soon as possible."

I walk to my locker and open it. I try to grab my shoes but realise they are not there. Hell. Where the hell are my boots?

I look at the bottom of the locker. There is a small paper note lying on the metal floor. I pick it up and read it.

"Dear L. Riley.

As you are unwilling to join our militia operation, I decided to revoke your boot privileges. I found someone with the same size as you so I gave the boots to him. I know you love your boots, and I hope that this action will make you realise that questioning my decisions has consequences.

Kind regards, your commander."

I check the top drawer. At least he left both my guns.

I put on my jacket, and strap my gun to my belt. Katie's locker is quite far from mine, and she takes a while to get changed. When she finally catches up, I can see her leather jacket is covered in green stains. I decide not to lecture her on the lack of care she takes in keeping her clothes clean, and just hand her my spare gun.

"Here. In case you need it. But remember this. Don't attack an elf unless you absolutely need to. They are unable to strike first, as long as you don't swing or shoot at them, they can't attack you."

Katie raises an eyebrow. "That would have been useful to know, like, earlier. Why did you always teach us to shoot first if you see an elf."

"I didn't know either, until today. We have been fighting elves the wrong way."

Katie smiles. "What happened to 'shoot first ask questions later-Skye'"

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. "She realised her indiscriminate hate for elves is what gets people killed. Now, let's go warn the others."