Passion (Book 1 of "The Fantasy of Life" Series)

Chapter 2

Ashanaya

"This way!" Cullen called out to us, behind him. He was jogging ahead of us leading us to the spring he had told us about.

We walked through a very dense part of the forest that I'd never been in. The trees were frighteningly large, and there was hardly anywhere to walk, save for a thin path apparently leading us right to the spring.

"What if he is lying?" Mother asked.

"We'll deal with it then. We can't assume he'll lie just because he's a human." I replied.

It was quiet for a moment, then my mother spoke again. "I'm proud of you, Ashanaya. You acted like a real matriarch. The clan will be just fine when I die."

I was quiet, not wanting to think of my mother dying, but I quietly added. "Thank you, mother."

It was very quiet after that again. But then Marhara broke the silence. "The baby, that Ceylorn bore a few hours ago. It was a girl but... It was stillborn. I only offered to go because I needed to get away. To hit something, anything."

I put my hand on his shoulder. "I am sorry, Marhara."

"She is with the goddess now." Mother said solemnly.

We came into a wide opening, a waterfall on the opposit end of us, falling down about 75 feet, into a small pool of water. The water was crystal blue and the rest of the opening was bright green. Lush grass and shrubs sorrounding us in a wide cicle with a wall of mossy trees.

"Do you see Wilhelm, Cullen?" I asked.

"No, I... I don't understand. Could they have took him?" He looked around anxiously.

"What exactly happened when you were here?" Mother asked sounding very annoyed.

"Well, we admired the beauty, then we went to drink, but just before we could the... rogue elves showed up." He said.

"How many were there?" Marhara asked.

"6 I think. Plus their leader." Cullen was obviously having a lot of trouble remembering.

"Let's bring them back. We could take care of six people. For them to be so twisted they have to be weak." Valen said looking at an unfamiliar plant.

"You could have a point. Let's just mimick what happened last time." Mother said. She sounded cold, like she wanted this to end already.

"Alright them, who wants to drink?" I asked.

"Well, I didn't actually get to when I was here." Cullen answered.

"I will." Valen stepped up toward me. "Couldn't hurt."

"Alright. Go ahead." I looked around cautiously as they stepped toward the water. Marhara was little bit behind me but to my side, and mother was near the opening, obviously ready to leave.

Cullen and Valen stepped up to the water slowly, and fell to their knees. They cupped their hands together, scooped up some water, and raised their hands up to their mouths. They drunk in peace. Once they took a sip, the water gained a pink tint, and mist from the ground rose around them, wrapping around them and exploding just as the Shaman's magic had.

They looked at me questioningly. No twisted elves had shown up.

I saw their eyes widen then I heard a short gasp. I spun around to see mother, with a man behind her covering her mouth, and a long dagger protruding from her stomach. He slid the dagger back out and she slid to the ground completely limp.

I was able to see his face now, he had red eyes, very sharp teeth, shark-like, his features were pointy, even for an elf, his hair was black and he was unnaturally pale, once again, even for an elf. He leapt unnaturally high and disappeared into the trees.

I stared at my mother's limp body in shock. "Mother?"

"Naya.." I heard Valen behind me, but he sounded muffled, far away.

"Mother!" I screamed. I ran toward her body on the ground. I fell to my knees next to her, I pulled her into my lap and held her. But she wasn't breathing, and her heart had already stopped. "Mother. Mother, please." A tear rolled down my cheek. I lifted my hand, and just over her forehead, and with my hand I drew the rune the Shaman had drawn earlier. Blue particles formed, wrapped around her head and exploded. Nothing changed.

"How sad." A women's voice called behind me.

I turned around. She had long black hair, very light skin, red eyes, and pointed ears. She was about 5'10, with the figure of a human woman. Based on her voice and looks I could tell she used seduction to get whatever she wanted. She didn't look twisted like the man did. Valen and Cullen were a little bit ahead of me, away from the water where she was now standing.

"Who are you? Why are you even here? Are you just thieves?" I asked.

She laughed. "What a simple way of thinking. If that's the best you can come up with then you'll never be able to comprehend what's really going on. My master has been waiting for you, though it seems like he'll be most disappointed."

"Where's Wilhelm?" Cullen asked, his voice shaking.

"Who? Oh, the other human? I let my pets have a snack." She grew a very wide evil grin.

"Your... pets?" Valen's voice cracked.

The twisted elves fell behind her, the stood in a line on either side of her, facing us. The kneeled beside her, and she petted the two closest to her. There were in fact about 6 of them.

"I hate to end the fun, but my master has specifically instructed me not to kill you." She turned around.

Quickly, an arrow pierced through her neck.

I didn't even know I was doing it, but I was standing, and I had let the arrow fly.

She turned around, the arrow sticking out of her neck. Instead of blood, a black liquid was forming around it.

She smiled. "I'd love to indulge you on that, but as I said, I can't kill you. Goodbye now."

Her and all the twisted elves began to jump away but as she was she pulled the arrow out her neck.

One elf was falling behind, so I took the opprotunity to shoot it in the back of the head. It was conveniently enough the same one that had killed mother. Maybe. They all looked kinda similar.

"Take it to camp with us. We need to find these... things. Surely it has something on it to help us find her." I said, and I spun on my heel and began to leave.