The Dragonwalk Highway: The Fellowship of Thirteen

9 - The Wood Elves

The angry elves marched Melthiar, Zelda, Oron, Mo, and the two Red Shirts into the center of their village where the elvish lumber mills were located. They were huge structures (wooden...obviously) where the elves transformed the Giant Niagola Trees into hundreds of different items and then shipped them throughout the kingdom. The factories hummed and buzzed with the sounds of saws and hammers and other tiny tools even as the sun prepared to set. The Wood Elves were renowned for their near obsessive work ethic and could go days without sleep so the mills hummed with activity day and night.

All was not well in the Wood Elves' realm, however. In the semicircle of factories, one factory lay in ruins, a pile of burnt wood and ash. Nothing but a charred framework remained. Behind that a gash in the forest sliced through the immaculate forest where a fire had swallowed kilodongs and kilodongs of trees. It was the best possible explanation for the Wood Elves' agitation and confrontational greeting to a member of the royal family.

Although Zelda tried her hardest to look calm and regal, inside chinchillas wrestled in her stomach. They were at the mercy of their hosts/captors. She assumed being a member of the royal family would demand respect, but it was clear that was not the case. This was not Dragonwalk Castle. She was in their realm now and each race tended to play by their own rules on their home turf. She glanced around at her fellow party members for reassurance. Melthiar wore his usual stone look of indifference. She was surprised, however, to find Oron's lower face hidden beneath a hooded scarf he had dug up somewhere. She was even more surprised to find Mo wearing one, too.

The guards marched Zelda and her crew to the heart of the factory district where Q'Paxus and his advisers awaited the arrival of their guests. Q'Paxus, High Chancellor and CEO of the elves, stood nearly six inches taller than most of his underlings and wore a shimmering silver wooden hat and finely carved wooden armor that detailed the history of his ancestral line.

The guards marched the outsiders in front of Q'Paxus and his council and then boxed them in on all sides. There was no doubt they were prisoners. Q'Paxus studied Melthiar and gave a passing glance to the others. Then his eyes fell on the princess.

"Ah, Princess Zelda," the elvish lord said in his tiny voice, "we have heard rumors of your quest, but I would not believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. A Dragonwalk venturing out beyond the borders of The Marble Heartbeat." He pounded his tiny fist on his armor, creating a heartbeat rhythm. "I would say my people welcome you to this realm—but we do not. Our borders are now closed to all outsiders—even those belonging to the royal family. Still, I do not dismiss my loyalty to my sovereign so please state your business so we can send you on your way on polite terms."

Melthiar stepped forward. "High Chancellor, we humbly request accommodations for our party in the name of King Dragonwalk, your king and royal sovereign."

Q'Paxus tittered a high-pitched cackle that sounded like a rusted wheel on a wagon going around and around and around. "Is the princess so coddled she cannot use her own tongue, Lord Melthiar?"

Zelda felt her face flush. She stepped forward and cleared her throat. "High Chancellor, I would like to humbly request accommodations for our Fellowship in the name of King Dragonwalk, your king and royal sovereign."

"No," Q'Paxus answered immediately. He took great pride in saying it, savoring the harshness and the brevity of the response.

Melthiar began to speak again, but Zelda stepped in front of him and cut him off. "My Lord Elf, in spite of the rumors you may have heard we are on a mission to do nothing short of saving the King's very life. Surely longtime allies such as the Wood Elves would gratefully play their part in restoring my father's health."