Elven Love (SAA Book 1) ✔

Part Twenty-Nine

The following morning, Oren woke up nestled against Clayton's chest. The elf pushed himself away from it weakly, still processing his surroundings as he stirred. He shifted on his hipbone and propped himself up with his elbow. His eyes were unfocused and it took a while for his brain to register.

Clayton was still sleeping by the looks of it. His elbow was behind his head as he slept, and his other arm was draped over Oren's side as a sign of protection. The elf looked down to the hand that rested on his hip, fingers gently closed around the hem of his shirt.

He glanced back up at the human and felt his heart swell. He liked the warmth they shared, but he had to get up some time. He sat up and gingerly removed the hand from his waist and crawled out of bed, having to avoid Clayton's legs as he did so. It only took him one glance at his new phone to shiver and feel his pulse jump. He felt there was suddenly a disturbance inside the house, and stiffened quickly upon the thought.

'Who cares about the online world anyway..? If anything, I can just text Heath or Ethan from Clayton's phone, which doesn't have some kind of spirit haunting it.' Oren thought silently. He silently fetched a notebook and pencil from the nightstand and opened to a new page, placing the tip of the pencil to the paper. He didn't know how Clayton could do this with such elegance. He was nervous just placing the lead to the paper.

The lines were sloppy; they weren't perfect like Clayton's, not even close. The finished drawing looked like a toddler's work. Oren took a deep breath and slacked to the side, hands moving adeptly as he took the black bag of sand out from under the bed. He was careful to not wake the human above the mattress.

He opened the bag and sniffed experimentally, only to reel back at the smell of pure steel. For whatever reason, there was something very off with this sand, and the elf was uncertain he should even touch it. But, he did anyway, dipping two fingers into the substance and gently lathering it over the paper as he's watched Clayton do it many times.

He was doubtful that it'd even work, and he hoped to whoever listened that it would.

»»--------««

Clayton woke a short while later, and boy did he sense something off. He involuntarily reached over onto the other side of the bed to feel a cold spot where Oren was laying last night. He pried open his eyes with all his might and scanned the room, shocked to see a portal sitting in the dead center of his bedroom.

He shot up quickly and slipped out of bed, checking for any signs of the elf. The portal was a flickering basil green. The outer frame was made of wriggling vines that seemed to be stuck woven together. Clayton could just barely manage the sight of a forest; vibrant and splotched with saturated colors to make a tropical impression. Past the rippling reflection of himself and the green film, he could also see a driven dirt path that branches off into the split of trees and brush.

Mindlessly, he entered the portal in search for the elf.

Soft, fuzzy grass. The next thing Clayton was welcomed to; a bright blue moth. It circled him curiously before more colorful insects came to investigate. Splashes of orange and purple, followed by the small aborted whistles emitting from them. Clayton pulled himself up from the ground and looked around, mentally scanning his surroundings.

Nothing but endless trees, bulky and thin. There was a canopy above, only letting in speckles of sunlight shine through. Birds raced through the trees and tiny creatures with coral swinging tails hung onto tree branches. There was a calm thrum lingering in the air, soon overlapped by clickering songs and squeals of wondrous animals.

Three patches of lilac luna moths flew over the human's head, papery wings fanning out beautifully as each came to a nearly perfect ball at the rear tip. Clayton craned his head upwards to the lingering scent of autumn and olive. The environment was too serene and too quiet, welcoming his comfort.

He finally snapped out of his daze to take a step forward, but even that didn't pull his eyes from the extraterrestrial species surrounding him. Some he recognized from Earth; like birds and butterflies and moths. The others were undefinable, yet equally as breathtaking. He slowly walked forward and soon his bare feet were pressing against soil. The driven dirt path split in a way that seemed natural.

He wondered if this was what it'd be like if humans never came to exist.

The human wandered along the left path of the split only to find a thin metal plate at the center of the path. The plating was loose and looked unsafe, but despite that it was very out of place for such a nature-driven, green conquered world. He brought himself to a kneel and lifted the plating to reveal a clean gap in the ground that was perfectly drilled downwards. It was like a piece was missing of the world.

'Like an under-developed video game.' Clayton thought moronically. "What the..?"

"I wouldn't be touching that if I were you." a female voice rang from behind him. He whirled around in shock, startled eyes falling upon a narrow-eyed woman. Her bright hair was pulled up into a bun, wrapped tightly as a few strands fell in front of her ears. Her eyes were golden, like a sea of diamonds shining in sunlight.

Her long, silky dress fanned out onto the ground like an upside-down bell. The shimmering dress hugged her adequate body to every crevice and curve. She was glowing. A subtle marigold light rimmed her, as if she were a Goddess.

"This world was unforeseen, you see. I never expected the elf to be so hasty, for I've not finished in time for his arrival... or yours, I'm afraid." She waved a hand towards the dirt path behind Clayton. The blond turned to find the perfectly carved hole filling with dirt. The metal plating melted and smoldered in bright orange rings, the frail edges peeling to nothing. Clayton whipped his head back to the woman, baffled.

"Who are you?" he asked, his tone kept relatively calm. Her eyes flicked to the side and she swept herself up into a minute bulb of light and darted away. The human stood in confusion and turned to the full path that continued onward.

"What.. the actual fuck was that.." he muttered to himself in disbelief. He shook his head and ventured forth, continuing his search for Oren. "Oren's gotta be here somewhere." he concluded, driving his mind away from the woman he just saw. He just had to- the plants.

The plants began to sway without a breeze. He stepped back as each individual leaf, blade and flower angled themselves in the Eastern direction. Clayton looked East as the plants directed to see light emitting from a few meters away. There was a form hunched over, but Clayton couldn't make out who or what it was, even if he squinted to focus his horrible eyes.

The whole environment seemed to respond to the mention of Oren's name.

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Thanks for reading Part Twenty-Nine!

Hm... Any guesses on who the mysterious woman is? For those of you who've read the older version, I think you might remember her name. ;)