They Do Exist

They Do Exist (13)

Chapter Thirteen: Summertime—The Click Five

You could just tell once we got off the boat that this was Gabe’s home.  It screamed of summer.  The warm weather, the abundance of flowers in all sorts of colors, the sound of running water in the distance, the smell of honey and earth, all of it seemed like a taste of summer, flowing through all of my senses.  You couldn’t help but feel happier here.  It was much different from the frozen Iceland we had first stepped in to.  Back then I had already come to loathe this new world, but as warmth tickled my skin and the sunshine heated my face, I was starting to think more positively about the whole situation.  Now I knew why my grandma must have liked it so much here.

I could see from in between the vast amount of plush green trees, shadows emerging from the woods.  Animals and creatures alike appeared from the shadows of the trees.  Tigers, Leopards, Centaurs, deer, bears, unicorns, and all sorts of animals seemed to recognize Gabe.  Their Prince.  I thought to myself.  And as we passed, each bowed their head towards the immature boy in front of me, who I was now beginning to think of as a stranger.  He was no longer the annoying new guy who seemed to follow me everywhere and act bipolar towards me…no.  He was a hugely respected prince of a secret realm that humans could only fathom in their wildest of dreams.  I felt suddenly inferior to him. Just for the simple cause that he was a prince.  I followed silently behind, eyeing the creatures with slight fear, and awe.­­­

Trumpets sounded from nearby and I peered around Gabe to take in the sight before me. A huge grey castle appeared before us.  Vines running the lengths of the walls and towers, so much so it looked like the ground was almost swallowing it.  The windows all seemed glass-less and open as the wind whistled when it blew into them.  Tall trees almost reached the top of the castle, making it look like it was cradled by the roots, and entangled in their branches.  Taller trees than I had ever seen before.  All sorts of beds of flowers decorated the front yard of the castle.  I could see them from far away.  They were beautifully designed to complement the great stone building.  Men—no eleves on horses came galloping from the shaded entrance of the castle, encased in armor with a bright sunshine symbol on the front of the chest crest.

I took a deep gulp as they closed in on us, forming two lines from the entrance all the way to where we were standing—a good two or three miles away.  I tried to stay silent, a quite object behind Gabe blending into the background, when the sad truth was… I probably stuck out like a sore thumb.

At the sound of the trumpets, the surrounding forest came alive.  Not only animals, but other beings—elves it looked like—were appearing around tree trunks, but only barely.  I could only clearly make out their faces, for it seemed like their bodies were molded into the surrounding vegetation.  I couldn’t tell the difference between arms and branches, and feet and roots.  I guess I was ogling fairly obnoxiously, because Gabe elbowed me in the side.

“Ouch.” I mumbled as the trumpets stopped and the grounds grew quiet.  Two centaurs clad in iron with the sunshine symbol came galloping up.  One had medium length black hair, with dark eyes, and a dark coat.  The other had long blonde hair pulled back into a pony tail with a creamy brown coat.

“Your Highness.”  They acknowledged Gabe and bowed.  Gabe nodded in return, “Alven, Calmire.”  He started walking with the two of them on each side.  I held back, still completely overwhelmed and shy out of my wits.  As we walked through the tunnel of soldiers, I couldn’t help but glance up at them.  Their eyes were set straight ahead, very military-like.  They looked no different from humans, except for their long pointed ears…which is one thing I didn’t mind.  I was always made fun of for my long ears, and here I was surrounded by people with longer ears than me! I felt oddly…at place amongst these strange beings.