Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
From: mar@physics.su.OZ.AU (David Mar)
Subject: Del Micek's story: Meeting an Elf
Message-ID: <1992May18.005637.14291@ucc.su.OZ.AU>
Date: Mon, 18 May 1992 00:56:37 GMT

Del Micek calls to Littlefair for a refill of his mug with Mary's famous
herbal tea. "And is your boy around?" he asks as Littlefair brings the
steaming mug over, "For I am ready to tell a story."

"Just let me fetch him," answers Littlefair, "I am sure he would not want
to miss out on a story!"

A minute later, young Bob Littlefair has seated himself by the fire, on the
floor in front of Del. Del takes a sip of his warm drink and settles into
position to tell his tale. Those in the inn who wish to listen pay their
attention to Micek as he speaks.

"As I promised earlier," he begins softly, "this will be a tale of elves
and, in particular, the first time I ever met one of their kind. Needless
to say, it was many years ago, before I was full grown and had travelled
the world to any degree. In fact, I had never been more than a few hour's
walk from my home city of Taljenik."

***

It was the middle of high summer, the eleventh summer of my life. I had
grown up within Taljenik, under the watchful eyes of my parents, but had
been on many short treks outside the city walls to see the surrounding
countryside. Most prominent was the great Sjavin River, on whose banks and
waters I played with many of the other merchant's children. But there was
also the forbidding immensity of the Gralvich Forest, which stretched all
the way to the ocean. City folk would enter the forest to hunt game and to
collect mushrooms. Every so often, someone would fail to return and, when
this happened, blame was laid squarely upon the elves rumoured to inhabit
the forest.

It was in this intolerant atmosphere that I grew and learnt of the ways of
the world. True elves were all but unknown in Taljenik, and what I had
learnt of them and their ways was based upon hearsay and rumour, distorted
past fact and twisted by unfamiliarity into a grotesque caricature of their
true nature. We children were warned to keep clear of the forest, or else
the wicked elves would capture us in their clever net traps and take us
away for magical experiments. You could recognise an elf, we were told, by
their pointed ears, evil looking eyes, and green clothes, which they always
wore. They carried bows and used poison-tipped arrows to keep humans out of
their domain. There are many other specific tales, but I shall pass them
over, since they are naught but falsities, spread to keep children scared
and abed at night.

Now children the world over are known for their curiosity and daring. Many
of my friends had boasted of their journeys into the forest, defying the
authority of their parents for the excitement and wonderment that can be
found in any forest full of nature's marvels. One of them had shown me a
piece of amber he had found there, an acorn sized, transparent gold lump
with an insect inside it. Another had a bird's nest, made of small sticks
and intricately woven. I also had made a few expeditions into the outskirts
of the woods, mostly with small groups of other children, and being careful
never to let our parents realise where we had been.

But I coveted the treasures held by some of the others, and decided that I
must have something equally as impressive, if not more so. So one day
during that summer I slipped away from my play group and braved the forest
alone.

At first I held to the paths used by the game hunters of Taljenik, but I
soon diverged from these, as I knew that treasures such as those held by my
friends would not be found where many others had trodden. Keeping my eyes
open for any such finds, I made my way slowly further and further from the
paths used by the city folk. I was confident that I would not get lost,
since I had trekked perpendicular to a well-worn path, following the sun.
It peeped through small gaps in the foliage overhead, dappling the forest
floor, and with it I knew I could trace my way back to the track.

I don't know how far I had walked from the path when I finally decided to
give up and return. Not even a quarter mile, I imagine, since I was not so
adventurous at that age that I wanted to stay away for too long or wander
too far. But give up I did, cursing my luck and vowing to return each day
until I found something worthy of my attention, and consequently something
to make my friends envious.

As I turned to make my way away from the sun, a movement in the trees
caught my eye. At first I thought it was some sort of animal, and I
approached carefully in the hope of catching a glimpse of whatever it was.
Imagine my surprise when a girl's voice rang out from behind the tree
towards which I was moving!

"Stop there, or I will hurt you!" cried the voice. I was so stunned that
I did so before I could even think to do otherwise. Then from behind the
tree stepped a girl, about my own age, with long, honey-gold hair, delicate
features, and a loaded sling.

Making the only reasonable conclusion that I could, I said in a calm
voice, "Please, don't shoot. I'm not supposed to be here either."

"What is your name?" she demanded, not loosening her grip on the leather
straps of the sling.

"Del Micek," I answered, "May I please know your name?"

She thought for a second. "That is a strange name. From where do you come?"

"From Taljenik," I said, slightly puzzled. At this, she tightened her
fingers around her sling and half raised it, ready to fire. Her eyes opened
wide at the same time, revealing their deep emerald green colour.

"You are from the city?" she hissed in a low, almost whispering, voice.

"Why yes, of course," I replied, now thoroughly mystified, "Aren't you?"

"No," she said slowly, "I live with my family in the forest."

"You do?" my childish wonderment surfaced at this revelation, "I didn't
know that any people lived in the forest."

She must have judged me harmless at this point, for she finally lowered her
sling and let the stone in it drop to the ground. "No, it seems that you
did not. Tell me, are you permitted to venture this far into the forest
alone?"

I squirmed a little at this question. "Um... no, not really. You won't tell
your family, will you?"

"No, I most certainly will not do that."

"Ah, good," I breathed a sigh of relief. There was no danger that word of
my mischief would get back to my parents. "I have just come here to look
for interesting objects to show my friends. I was about to return when I
saw you move amongst the trees."

"Yes," she screwed up her little nose slightly, "I need more practice." She
stepped forward, packing her sling into a little pouch at the belt of her
light brown tunic.

I did not understand this comment, so I decided to ask her name again,
smiling as I did so, to show that I was friendly.

"My name is Bethadriel Silvaralith," she smiled back, "But you may call me
Beth. What sort of interesting objects are you looking for?"

"One of my friends has a piece of amber with an insect in it," I began with
some enthusiasm, "and another has a bird's nest. If I could find something
like that..."

"A bird's nest?" Beth interrupted, "But what about the birds whose nest it
was? Where will they lay their eggs?"

I stared at her, dumbstruck for an instant, then, "Garyn told me that it
had an egg in it when he found it, hidden amongst the branches of a bush,
but that it fell and broke when he pulled the nest free."

"No!" Beth shrieked, a shocked expression on her face, "That is horrible!!
And you want to do something like this too! Can you not see the beauty of
nature without destroying it?! My family were right; you are nothing but..."

"Wait!" I said firmly, "I never said I wanted to get a nest! I just want
something pretty to show to my friends. I would not steal a nest from birds
who are using it."

"But your friend did," Beth pointed out, staring at me in judgement.

"Yes," I admitted slowly, thinking Garyn's actions through carefully for
the first time, "But Garyn is not me. What Garyn did was not good, but I
would not do something like that. I just want to take something to show my
friends what I have found in the forest."

"But that is the same thing," said Beth, "Whatever you take from the forest
is a part of the forest. And you would deny it to be a part of the forest
forevermore. It loses all of its beauty when taken from the place it should
be. Can you not see that a bird's nest is a part of the forest, because the
birds built it there, and need it there, and that it is beautiful only as
long as it is there and the birds are able to use it? If you take it away,
it becomes just a pile of sticks, with no purpose, and speaks of the
emptiness left behind for the birds, a thing of ugliness. Can you not see
that a piece of amber is a part of the forest, because it is made by the
trees, and that it belongs where it falls because that is nature's way? If
you take it away, it becomes just a piece of rock, crying out for the trees
that gave it existence, a natural object taken by a person from the place
where it was formed, a place of beauty, and carted about as some minor
trinket which speaks only a pitiful whisper of the true beauty that should
surround it. Why do you want to take a small piece of this wonder that
surrounds us and pretend that it is as good as the whole?"

I was well and truly stunned at this speech. I tried to formulate a
response, but each time I opened my mouth to speak I halted, thinking again
on what she had said. Finally, at my third attempt, I managed to say, "Yes,
you are right." I looked down at the soft deerskin boots which enclosed
her small feet and admitted my shame. "I can see that it is wrong to take
things from the forest merely for showing off to others. It would be better
to bring others here to see it all for themselves."

"That is right," agreed Beth in a soft voice, "And that that would be
better is perhaps something that my family needs to learn also." I looked
up into her eyes and she smiled at me. "Come, let us sit down and talk some
more."

It took me a second to break my gaze, but I finally realised that I could
not stay, "I am sorry, but I shall be missed soon if I am not back at the
river. Will you be here tomorrow?"

"Here?" Beth looked around at the trees, "Yes, I shall be here."

"Good. I will come back at the same time. Although," I glanced around the
immediate area as well, "I may have some trouble finding this spot."

"Do not worry," Beth gave another of her pretty smiles, "I shall find you."

I made my way back without incident and returned the next day as I had
promised. Beth was there and we walked a little way through the woods, she
alternately asking me questions about Taljenik and showing me various
beautiful and interesting natural objects amongst the trees.

Over the next three days I gradually increased the amount of time I dared
to spend away from the river, meeting Beth in the forest each day and
talking about all sorts of topics as we wandered together. But when I
returned to the river on the fifth day, my parents were waiting for me.
Someone had noticed my absence from the play group and informed them. They
saw me approach from the forest and instantly judged me guilty.

My father punished me that night, and I was unable to sit down the next
day. I said that I had met a girl who lived in the forest, but my parents
dismissed the notion as childish imagination, claiming that only the
'wicked elves' lived in the forest. And so for the first time I knew the
truth about Bethadriel Silvaralith. I kept quiet about that.

The children supervisors at the river were warned about me, and I was
unable to escape their attention and go to the forest. For seven weeks I
was frustrated in my attempts to visit Beth again. But finally, one day
towards the end of the summer, I managed to slip through their lines and
reach the forest.

I ran down the path and crashed through the trees to the place where we
had met on the subsequent days - a place Beth found that was easy for me
to find by myself. I called her name, but there was no answer. With tears
running from my eyes I stood there for several minutes, calling plaintively
and wishing that she would appear.

Then I noticed that one of the rocks had been moved. I knew that clearing
intimately, and a moss covered rock the size of a plump chicken had been
carried from one side to the other. Focussing my thoughts, I decided to
move it back, because Beth had taught me that nature is beautiful only when
it is in its pristine state. If someone had moved that rock where nature
had not intended it to be, then I would right the wrong by putting it back.

I lifted the rock. Underneath was a small deerskin pouch. When I had moved
the rock back to its original place, I picked up the pouch. In it was a
note, written on a small scrap of vellum. Part of my father's training for
me to be a merchant allowed me to read the words:

"I waited every day, for three weeks. Now my family have decided to move
further from Taljenik, and I must go with them. I am afraid that I will
never see you again. Remember what I have taught you about nature. I shall
remember what you taught me about different people.  - Bethadriel."

There was something else in the pouch too. A leather sling.

***

Del Micek pauses in the telling of his story and takes a long draught from
his mug of warm tea. The flickering sparks of red and orange light from the
fireplace are reflected in his dark eyes, the clarity of the reflections
betraying the glistening surfaces of eyes that stare into the fire.

"I returned to the Gralvich Forest each summer until I left Taljenik, and
have returned there a few times since. Each time, the message I have left
under that rock, now moved to a third position, was still there." Del draws
a deep breath and lets it out slowly.

"I surmise that, because of the differences in aging between elves and
humans, Bethadriel is now a young woman, perhaps about to be released from
the care of her family. I wish that I could meet her now, and assure her
that, indeed, I have not forgotten."

Del finishes his tea with a final sip and places the mug on the table
beside him. He shivers slightly, and readjusts his cloak, moving to better
catch the warmth of the fire.

- Del Micek.