Another world, Celeste

Chapter One, pt 2

I fall on my feet. Suddenly, three elves wearing form-fitting outdoor attires barge in, holding what looks to be unmistakably swords. Bane put himself in between me and the battle-ready elves.

"Calm down every one of you. She simply exhausted her strength," Maya intervenes.

I, for one, am lost for words. The screen disappears before I have the time to react to what just happened. Maya pulls me to my feet and guides me to a chair on the patio. Bane trails his eyes after me and the three elves, seeing the Great Wolf has lost interest in baring his fangs onto them loosen their stance and sheath their swords.

"Now that you've shown yourselves, why don't you stay for tea?"

Maya speaks to the three elves after sitting me down.

The other two elves excuse themselves and resume guarding outside the house. The first elf who barged in allocate himself to stand near the door. From my observation, his movement is precise like a soldier and his expression is sharp and stern, although he looks about ten years older than my current appearance. Maya prepares two cups on the table and pours the hot tea.

"This tea is my special blend. It's effective in restoring stamina," Maya says, urging me to take a sip.

The tea smells of citrus and something else. I carefully take a drink and already I could feel some of my strength regaining. My eyes dart back and forth between Maya and the male elf who moves to stand near the table where we're sitting.

"Stefan, you're making her uncomfortable," Maya scolds him while casually sipping her cup.

"My apologies," the male elf bows his head apologetically. "I do not wish to bother the healer and her guest but this is an order from Lorelai."

Maya dismissively waves her hand. "I am only a simple healer. There is no need to be courteous. Why don't you introduce yourself to her?"

The male elf wryly smiles at her words. He moves his right hand to his left chest and slightly bows his head down in a precise manner.

He greets me, "My name is Stefan. I am an elf ranger."

I'm mesmerised by his simple yet courteous movement.

Right, it's my turn. When Maya was braiding my hair earlier, I had the idea to change my name while living in this world. Selene already gives me a complete makeover so I thought it's befitting that I go by a different name as well. It doesn't take me long in deciding which name to give myself.

I bow down my head and officially introduce myself to the elves, to this world.

"My name is Iris."

Iris is my grandmother's favourite flower.

Nothing else is being said. I look around the garden. There are numerous kinds of flowers and plants and several more I have never seen before. Those are probably unique to this world. Then, I study the house overlooking the area. It's entirely covered in white. Maybe it's made of some kind of stone. The house is two-storied, wide in width than length and the garden is formed into a semi-circle. I can't see anything else past this point. Everything is completely blocked off from the outside. Bane, the Great Wolf stays close to me. I occasionally pet his fur. Stefan who has been observing with keen eyes is flustered, though that goes unseen by me. The changes in his facial expression are noticeable only to Maya. She let out a chuckle. I look at her to see what's funny and she only shakes her head.

"Now Iris, can you tell us how you ended up in the forest?" Maya finally asks.

I come up with multiple answers that might work but then I would need to keep up with the ruse and that sounds tiring. In the end, I thought its best to be as truthful as I can be.