Yazen (Ponith) (8 page)

“Wow, could you imagine having these tree forts back home?”
Alex asks while hitting me in the arm.

“That’s high up there. I wonder if anyone has ever fallen from up there. If so, that has to hurt,” Jenn rambles, as I think her nerves are kicking in. She’s afraid of heights
and has been since she was little.

As we’re waiting,
some of the Wood Elves form in a large circle around us. They are all whispering and pointing at us. I feel like we’re animals at the zoo, like we’re being singled out. The oddest part of all is that the Unicorn’s still with us; it has not left my side since the raid.

A few moments later, Laderic comes down the stairs, and there are five other Wood Elves following him – three female elves and two male elves. I wonder if they're his family or if they're in charge of the forest.

“Zac, this is my family. This is my father, Nytril; he’s our King of the Wood Elves. This is my mother, Korla; she’s our Queen of the Wood Elves. Drakoe is my twin brother, and these are my younger sisters, Calina and Narissa. I told them you were bound to the Unicorn. I knew they would want to meet you and see the Unicorn with their own eyes,” Laderic tells us.

They don't seem like they’re interested in meeting us
; they're more interested in observing the Unicorn. I wonder if it's the first time they’ve seen one.

Nytril looks to be the age that my father would be if he were still alive. He has long hair like Laderic, but it’s braided in the back and is more of a dirty blonde color. He’s wearing a unique necklace that looks like it’s made of long bones – possibly teeth – hanging from his neck. He doesn’t look like a
king to me. He doesn’t have on a crown or wear any special attire.

Korla
looks to be about the same age as Nytril, and she seems to have a motherly instinct to her. Her hair is long, straight, and brown, and it goes down her back. She wears a brown headband with a green emerald in the front of it. It makes her look more like a queen.

Drakoe looks identical to Laderic except he doesn’t have the braids in his hair and he
has a bluish-green colored bird on his shoulder; he has the same tattoo Laderic has. Calina looks similar to her mother and has long, straight, brown hair. She wears leaves in her hair for design.

Narissa is beautiful. I think she’s even cuter than Jenn. She’s
different from the other elves. She’s the only elf I’ve seen so far that has dark blue hair, plus her tattoo covers her whole body. It looks like a large tree climbing up her body, branches going everywhere. Her eyes are a dark green color, and she has a smaller, pointy noise. Her lips are tiny but look soft and her bangs hang down and slightly cover her eyes, similar to my bangs. I find myself having a hard time not staring at her. She has the cutest freckles that cover her nose and cheeks, as well as her shoulders.

“Hello
, Zac, my name is Nytril. I’m the King of the Wood Elves here. It’s a pleasure to meet you," he says finally, after taking his eyes off of the Unicorn. "Who are the others that travel with you?” Nytril asks politely.

“These are my two best friends,
Alex and Jenn. They came here with me to travel to your planet to learn about it. My grandpa George has asked us to come here to Yazen,” I tell him, while Alex and Jenn shake his hand.

“It’s our pleasure to have you stay here with us. We would like to get to know you. I see that you have been chosen by our legendary
Unicorn. This is a huge honor," he says to me. I can feel my cheeks beginning to turn red, as I notice everyone staring at me.

"I really don't know why this animal tried to protect me in the woods. I'm not special
; I'm just an ordinary kid. I don't understand why everyone is telling me I'm bound to this animal, no offense," I explain to him.

"Will you consider staying here with us for a few days and let us show you around? I would like to teach you
about the Unicorn, Yazen, and tell you about some of our history. If you’ll let us," Nytril asks.

“Can you please give me a moment to talk it over with my friends?” I ask him
as politely as I can.

“Take all of the time you need
,” he says while examining the Unicorn some more.

Alex
, Jenn, and I form a circle, “What would you like to do?”

“I still don’t trust them. We can stay, but I don’t want to count on them saving our lives
after them threatening us. I’ll be sleeping with my rifle next to me,” Alex says while glancing at his rifle.

“
I think we’ll be fine, Alex. I think we should stay and learn more about Yazen, help us get more information about what we’re up against, and maybe they can help us get the Yazen gem back so we can go home,” Jenn says in a cheerful mood.

“I agree with Jenn. I think we should stay and learn more about this planet before we venture further into more dangerous scenarios,” I tell
Alex. He doesn’t look too happy, but he agrees to go along with us.

I turn back to Nytril and say, “We would be honored to stay here with you and learn more about your
people.”

“Narissa, can you please take them to the guest house and show them where they can put their stuff? After you settle down, will you please meet us for dinner?” Nytril asks while Narissa walks over to us. I watch her every move
; she moves quickly and quietly.

“Ye
s, we would love to,” Alex replies. We follow Narissa up a flight of wooden stairs. When we enter one of the tree homes, it’s a huge room with four beds in it, a table with four chairs, and a couple of dressers and nightstands. It's very basic and plain looking with no decorations on the windows, or even on the walls. Even then, I’m still surprised by all the wood craftsmanship and how the house is made.

“This
is where you’ll be staying; you can unpack your bags and settle down. When you're ready, we'll be eating dinner in about an hour. You can meet us down at the fire pit,” Narissa smiles as she tells us, “See you in a little while.” She keeps eye contact with me just a while longer before heading out the door, leaving us to ourselves again since we got ambushed.

“Thank you, Narissa,” I spurt out
quicker than I meant to, although the door is already closed, so I’m not sure if she heard me. Alex and Jenn turn to look at me. Alex smirks, and Jenn's giving me a questionable look. I think she actually may be jealous because of Narissa.

“She’s cute, isn’t she, Zac? You should talk to her tonight and get to know her,”
Alex says.

“She’s not
that cute. She looks really weird with her dark blue hair like that. She also has that huge tattoo. Remember, Zac, they did threaten to kill us earlier today,” Jenn says in an annoyed voice. She puts her bag down on a bed near the window.

I decide to go and lay on the bed furthest away from the bed Jenn has chosen. I lay my green camping bag next to my bed.
It will feel good to sleep in an actual bed tonight. My legs are starting to get sore from all of the walking that we've been doing. I kick my shoes off and close my eyes for a few minutes.

As I'm
lying down, I can hear Jenn talking to her phone. “Why can’t you work? I just want to talk to Brad and make sure he’s okay. I’m ready to go home already. Why didn’t he come with us?”

I can hear
Alex walking around the room, probably checking the windows, knowing that he's watching the elves closely. I can tell that he doesn’t trust them at all and I don’t blame him. My eyes continue to get heavier and I begin to drown out the noise.

Next thing I know, Narissa’s standing above me, shaking me to wake up. Am I dreaming or is she really here? She’s just staring at me and not saying a word.

“I guess I fell asleep, sorry. How long was I out for?” I ask her while apologizing to her, “Where did Alex and Jenn go?” They’re nowhere in sight.

“You’ve
slept for a couple of hours now. They went down for dinner and if you still want to eat tonight, now would be a good time. Are you ready?” Narissa asks me, watching my every move.

“Yes,
of course. I’m starving,” I pause for just a few seconds while looking at her. She smiles just slightly at me. I turn away just a bit and put my shoes back on, “I’m not really good at this, but I do want to tell you that I think you’re very pretty,” I spurt out as I’m trying to finish tying my shoes. I can instantly feel my cheeks turn hot. I don’t even know where that came from. I don’t dare to look up, afraid of her reaction.

“You’re quite handsome yourself. Come now, my father is waiting for you,” she says while moving my hair from my eyes. Her hands feel so soft to the
touch, with a sensation of electricity flowing through her fingers.

I stand up and she heads to the door.
I follow behind Narissa, down the wooden steps, and notice that there is a huge bonfire in the middle of the village now and Wood Elves everywhere. They have a few tables set up with food to choose from. There is music being played by a few elves, while others dance and sing. Everyone looks to be having a good time. I see Alex and Jenn sitting next to the King and Queen, already done eating.

I grab a plate and begin to look at my choices of food. I’m starving, and I feel like I can eat a
few platefuls. There are many types of fruits, vegetables, meats to choose from. I pile the food so high on my plate and then make my way to the King’s area.

Everyone’s sitting in a circle on a big blanket on the grass. The King, Queen,
Alex, Jenn, Laderic, Drakoe, Calina, and Narissa are all sitting and chatting. I sit between Jenn and Narissa.

“It’s so nice of you to join us, Zac.
You must have been exhausted,” Nytril says to me while wiping his mouth with a napkin, smiling at me.

“I
was; thank you. I apologize for being late to dinner. I guess I was exhausted. I didn’t expect to sleep that long. Dinner looks fantastic and I’m hungry,” I say while taking a bite of some poultry. The spices they put on it make it taste delicious.

“There’s plenty of food,
Zac. Please eat as much as you want. Tonight’s a feast, as the Unicorn appeared,” Korla says in a kind and cheerful voice. She has already finished her plate and is enjoying the company.

I sit and enjoy my food while watching all of the other elves laugh, play, and have fun. Laderic and Drakoe
joke with each other, throwing small bits of bread at each other, one of them hitting Calina.

“We have company. Can’t you two quit acting like kids?” Calina asks while rolling her eyes at them. I
t seems like she got really mad but the next thing I know, she picks the piece of bread by her side and she hits Laderic in the forehead with it. She smiles mischievously at him.

“Come on, Zac, you and your friends
should go for a walk, explore our city,” Narissa says, getting up slowly. I glance at Alex and Jenn to see if they want to go, and they’re already up and standing with Calina.

“Do you mind if I
take leave and go for a walk, your grace?” I ask Nytril. I don’t want to be rude since he invited us to dinner.

“Have fun, my boy – tonight’s about enjoying you
rself. We’ll talk more tomorrow,” he says while waving me off.

I leave my food sitting on the blanket and begin to head the
over toward Calina and Alex. I see some of the other elves heading back up to their homes for the night.

I
walk over to one of the wells they have set up to see if I can get something to drink before walking around. I see why my grandpa had liked it here so much; it’s amazing here. Everyone here is so nice once you get to know them and the scenery is beautiful. I see Alex standing by another tree near me, so I decide to make my way over to him.

“So what do you think of the elves now? Do you trust them more?” I ask him while peering around the tree.

“They’re not too bad; I’m starting to like it here. I’m glad that we got to eat a good meal and that we have beds to sleep in tonight,” Alex says.

“I’m glad you’re warming up
to them. I really like it here. Do you know where Jenn headed off to?” I ask him Alex. He shakes his head and shrugs and I head back to the well to grab something to drink.

I can see Jenn
talking with Drakoe on the other side of the bonfire. She’s giggling and chatting with him. I’m glad she’s enjoying herself. I can also see Narissa standing by them, looking around and glancing left and right. She seems as if she is looking for someone in particular. I continue to watch her from by the well as I’m drinking and washing my face a bit with a bucket. She scans her eyes back and forth again, and then begins to head my direction.

I
catch a glimpse of white out of the corner of my eye and notice that the Unicorn is still around, a bit more into the trees. It almost feels like it’s still watching me. I head toward it to check and see if I can look at it closer. As I head out more, I notice that no one else has gone out as far as me. I start to get nervous because the further I go, the darker it gets, but I press on. I stop by some bushes and wait, as I’ve lost sight of it. I try to peek through some of the underbrush, but I do not see anyone anymore.

I start to hear some rustling around in some bushes nea
r me. I wonder what it could be and I hope it’s not dangerous. As I wait just a little while longer, the rustling noise begins to get louder and closer to me. Should I run?

“
ZAC!” Narissa shouts at the top of her lungs while right behind me. She must not have seen me because when I jump, she does the same out of surprise and we land together in a mess. She begins laughing like crazy as I fall down with her and I catch my arm on a shrub. I can’t believe she’s laughing at me! I didn’t even see her coming. She puts her leg over me and holds me down, shushing me to be quiet. I wait for her to get up and let me go but she doesn’t move and instead looks down on me with an intense gaze in her eyes.

She
stays there for a while, looking down at me. It’s as if she’s examining me. I can feel my cheeks turning red out of embarrassment. Maybe she has never seen a human before and I interest her. She rubs her finger over my right cheek, rubbing my scar. “Does that hurt?” she asks.

“Not anymore, but it did when it first happened,” I say, being as honest as I can with her.

“How did you get it?” she sits up and waits for my response. Her facial expression looks as if she is worried.

“I got it a long time ago, when I was real little. I was in a bad car accident and some glass from the window cut my cheek open. I had to get stitches to close the wound up,” I say to her while taking her
hand and holding it. She is looking at me funny, “A car crash; a high speed collision, in any case. The glass broke and it was sharp … But anyways, do all of the elves have tribal tattoos like you?” I ask her curiously, tracing my finger up her neck to her cheek.

“No, only some of us have them. It’s our marking, our lodestone
and our connection with the forest. Mine starts at my feet and goes all the way up to my cheeks,” she says while interlocking her fingers with mine.

I don’t want this moment to end
. I’m enjoying being alone with Narissa. I’ve never felt this comfortable with another girl before. Every time I would talk to Jenn, I would get nervous and stutter. Narissa has a weird way that just makes me feel calm.

“We should head back b
efore they start to look for us,” she notices my immediate and apparently obvious disapproval. She smiles as she reassures me, “We’ll talk again soon,” she says, getting up and running away from me back to the party. I slowly get up and walk back. There is loud music being played and I can see that there are a lot of people dancing. Jenn is dancing with Laderic, and Alex is dancing with Calina.

I decide to go back and finish eating my food
. I still feel like I haven’t eaten for days, even after that first plate. I know that the food is probably cold by now, but I don’t care. As I make my way back toward the food tables, I take note that the King and the Queen have gone in for the night. A few of the elder Wood Elves have gone in as well so mainly the young elves are still out and having fun. I finish eating and throw my garbage away. I head over to Jenn to see how she’s doing.

“Hey, Jenn, are you having fun? Did you
get enough to eat?” I ask her.

“I’m having a blast
! Tonight has been a lot of fun. It’s good to take the stress off a bit and not worry about if we’re going to be stuck here or not. I ate so much I can’t eat another bite,” she says. I notice Jenn’s being different toward me. She keeps standing closer to me and she’s touching shoulders and arms a lot while she’s talking.

“I’m glad you’re having fun. I’m also glad that you came along with us on this trip,” I tell her.

“I’m really glad I came here, too. I enjoy spending time with you, Zac,” she says while stumbling a bit to the side. I didn’t see it before but it’s clear now. She’s had something to drink. She stumbles further and lands hard on her left knee. I reach down to help her up and she surprises me with a quick kiss.

I stand back a few steps in shock. I’m not sure why she just did that. She notices my reaction and immediately gets a worried look on her face.

“
I’m sorry, Zac, I don’t … I don’t know what came over me. I just felt that I should do that.” She tries to get up and pull me close to her again.

I push her
firmly back, “No, Jenn, I’m sorry. I may not like Brad but that doesn’t mean I’ll break his trust. I promised him I would bring you back to him in one piece. That doesn’t mean helping you cheat on him.” I’m confused on why she’s acting this way. To be honest, I think she’s drunk and jealous of Narissa. I suddenly get a bad feeling in my stomach and I look over and around a bit and notice Narissa is indeed watching us from a distance. My stomach ties itself in a hundred knots.

“
I’m sorry, Zac, I … I don’t know what came over me.” She continues, sitting down suddenly with her head down.

“You need to go to bed and get some sleep
, Jenn. We’ll talk about this some other time,” I tell her while pointing to our tree room.

“
I’ll do what I want. I don’t need your self-righteous help,” she tells me firmly as she stands up with some effort. She walks back over to Drakoe and grabs another mug. I turn around and glance back at Narissa but she’s gone. I’m a torrent of anger and frustration. How can this night be so perfect and so terrible all at once?

I need to get my mind off things and I decide to go see what Alex is doing. I look around for a bit before I notice
Alex is busy talking with Calina and Laderic near the archery targets. I decide to walk around instead and to try to cool off some. I walk to a quiet section of the forest that has a small open field with nobody around. I lie on my back and look up at the sky. I notice there’s a strange brightness to the sky, almost as if the moon was out but I can’t seem to find it. Are we close to the moon and sun? I don’t remember seeing the sun today, but it was bright like the sun was out. How can I not have noticed that?

I
keep looking up at the sky, letting my mind clear out. I notice that it almost looks as if there is something that covers the sky, as there is a hint of heat lightning. It’s really odd looking but it’s hard to see clearly. There are still clouds in the sky, and there’s a breeze that flows through. Maybe I’m just imagining things.

“May I join you?” a quiet
, familiar voice whispers. I roll my head up and I see that it’s Narissa.

“Yeah
, of course, join me. I just needed to get away for a little bit so I thought I would come here to cool off,” I tell her. She walks over to where I’m laying down and sits down nearby, her arms crossed in front of her knees, and she looks at me with her chin on her knees.

“I saw
what happened. I saw the girl you came here with, Jenn, try to kiss you. Is she yours?” Narissa asks.

“No
, no, she’s only my friend. One of my best friends, in fact, up until recently. I’ve known her my whole life and I like her a lot, but she is dating someone else and we’ve always just been friends. I have never dated anyone before,” I tell her.

Neither one of us says anything for what seems like fifteen minutes.
“What about you? Are you promised to someone, dating someone?” I ask her, trying to get Jenn out of my head.

“No
, I get treated as somewhat of an outcast. They avoid me because of my family’s status and because I’m the youngest. I feel like an outcast because of my hair. I’m the only one that I know of that has dark blue hair. I was just born with it and I can’t help it, but it makes me stand out so I stay to myself or with my family. They’re the only ones that know how I feel,” she says with an odd look in her eyes.