Orchid

Nira, Maeve, and Kaylen

I wake in a small cave. This alarms me because I remember falling asleep in a patch of grass, hugging a tree stump. I grow frightened as I prepare to hurl Fire at any potential enemy. I find that I'm not that tired anymore. Sleep has replenished my energy.

 "Nira, get yourself over here! The girl's awake." A playful voice filled with humor comes from my right side. I hold off Fire for a second. This voice is unfamiliar, but it's friendly. 

 A small figure lumbers from my left side. I squirm, but Nira, this girl, I assume, has a bowl in her hands, and from it, I smell a wonderful aroma. As she draws closer, I see that it's saffron-gold soup with vegetables finely chopped in it. "Drink," she says. As I squint to see her face, I see that she's very pretty. She has white-golden braids hanging past her neck and luminous blue eyes like sapphires, which matches her beautiful blue dress, which is pretty but wouldn't get tangled up in her way if she had to fight. Her ears are abnormal: pointed and very delicate. A small silver knife is strapped to her waist and her rose-red cloak with a silver brooch flows below her feet. A quiver of silver arrows and gold bow is slung over her back.  I remember last time I was offered a drink from an unfamiliar person and lost an element, so I jerk my head away and stick my tongue out at her. The owner of the playful voice, a younger girl with dark brown hair also in braids, laughs.

 "Oh, Nira, she does not trust you. That's not a surprise. When Fatespeaker and Farseer was out hunting, they saw her hugging the Tree of Protection and weeping as she slept."

 Nira looks offended as she sweeps herself back to her side. "What tragedy could've caused her to take to the Tree of Protection, Maeve?" She speaks with a naturally melodic voice.

 "I have seen it before. It is always the loss of an element--the reset back to human." Maeve tries what Nira failed at and picks up the bowl lying in front of me and offers it to me. "Please try it. It's our recipe of potatoes and carrots."

 I still refuse. I don't know these strangers. They might be holding me prisoner. But I speak for the first time I've been in here. My throat is hoarse as I croak, "Who are you?"

 Maeve winks at Nira. "See? I told you I could do it!"

 Nira scoffs at her as she comes to her side. "You're only twelve. I mean, would you trust a fourteen-year-old over an innocent little girl that's not even in her young teens yet?"

 Maeve ignores her and answers my question. "I'm Maeve and she's Nira. Though she's way crankier than me, she's still my friend." 

 "No, no, I mean, what are you? Your ears...." I trail off.

 Maeve laughs. I love the sound. It's like a waterfall bubbling in happiness. "Oh, we're elves! You know, the tales of magical creatures?" She waves her hands down. "Fairies, pixies, giants, elves, dwarves, goblins, trolls, and dragons?" She studies me intensely. "She's a noob." She looks back to Nira. "Where the heck is Kaylen? My sister promised to be here along with Fatespeaker and Farseer."

 Nira shrugs. "Dunno." She fixes her pretty blue eyes on me. "You must be thirsty. Drink."

 This time, I call on Spirit to inspect the soup to make sure it isn't poisoned. It isn't, so I lift the bowl to my lips and drink, exhausted and hungry. It's delicious and it tastes like the best meal I'd ever had.

 Nira looks shocked as the tendril of Spirit draws back to me. "What are you?" she asks, her voice hushed in awe.

 Maeve didn't notice and her soft brown eyes are turned toward the cave entrance. "They're coming."

 I lift my head to see the "they." Two girls and a boy are striding in. All wear ripped camouflage pants and a tattered bronze, silver, and gold shirts with weapons. All have soot on their face and burnt clothes.

 A girl that looks like Maeve but has dark hair down to her neck with a gold shirt and a spear stumbles over to her sister. "Maeve!" she says. "We found Zhinagara, and she wasn't very friendly. She ran us all over. Unfortunately, Fatespeaker's arrow only hit muscle in its chest and not a fatal part." She goes over to the small trickle of water in the cave and washes herself, her bobbed hair bobbing up and down. As she returns, she says, "I'm spent. I'm going to appeal to Kc that I'm not fit to be a Hunter. Maybe I'll be a Medic, like you." She finally sees me and looks at me in undeniable scorn. "Who are you? You're no elf. I'll bet that she sent you as a spy."

 My fist tightens. This girl, Kaylen, views me as nothing but prey or a harmless predator that prey could kill easily. 

 Maeve sees what I intend to do. "Don't you dare," she hisses at me. "She's my twin, and you better be grateful for her. If not for her, Fatespeaker, and Farseer, you probably would've been picked up by Lycaeon and then having to serve her for millenia."

 I force my anger down. "Which one of you is Fatespeaker and Farseer?" I run an eye critically down the boy and the girl. The girl has raven-black hair locks with dark violet purple swept in them and the boy has dark skin and spiky black hair.

 "I'm Fatespeaker," the girl says simply. She has the silver shirt on. "And that's my friend, Farseer."

 By her protective and aggressive voice when she says Farseer, I can tell that Farseer is way more than just her friend. 

 Kaylen still glares at me. "Who are you?" Actually, for a minute, I admire her strength and bravery in her words, the sharpness of her gaze. According to Maeve, I'm four years older than her, and she acts like it's the other way around.

 I don't know these people. It's clear they hate Lycaeon, but I still can't trust them with my name. Nira knows who I am, but the others don't. I meet Nira's solemn blue eyes and she gives an imperceptible shake of her head. No. 

 "My name's Jade. Jade Santos," I lie, meeting everyone's eyes. I know how people detect how people are lying. I listened to Ross a whole session about how to know if someone's lying. They mostly stare at the floor. You know why? Because when you lie, your pupils dilate and your breathing rate increases. Only the real clever, cunning, smart, and sly can make those signs useless. One trick is that when they actually tell the truth and everyone knows the truth already, they make their breathing faster. When they actually lie, though, it's the same speed, so it's harder to tell. I'm not saying I'm very sly, but I'm smarter than a lot of kids in my class.

 Maeve smiles widely, which is genuine because a girl, or elf girl(whatever, it must be the same), that happy always smiles in joy, and I realize it's a sign of approval. 

 "Welcome to the elves, Jade Santos! May you be blessed by the stars!"