"Pieces of Ella: Part One" by Steven Lee Mull

The creaking sound of a cart on the hard packed road above gave little pause to Ella as she picked her way through tall grass that covered this part of the lake shore. There was no way a human farmer could pick her out in this thick foliage. She ran a delicate looking finger around the edge of her dark green hood just to be sure. There was no need. Ella had tucked her silvery white hair in very effectively. The midnight black skin of her face and hands wouldn’t stand out against the rich soil here. Still a bit paranoid, she checked her belt for her favorite flute and a map case, making sure nothing important had worked its way loose. Ella had worked too hard to acquire each to have them fall out on her trek home.

As she continued to slink toward heavier foliage between shore and the town of Looking Glass, Ella heard children’s laughter echoing from further up shore. Briefly, she peeked to see who they were. Most were from town, half-elven children from families who didn’t quite fit in other places in this human dominated kingdom. If they saw her, some would be curious, especially since Looking Glass provided a home for a many kinds of misfits. Others might throw rocks or worse, a legacy of the violence perpetrated by her own people. This was still not the best place for a dark elf child. Dappled sunlight shining through thinner places in the over hanging ferns stung her skin, a painful reminder of this fact. She moved on.

Quiet as a stalking cat, she entered the woods bordering the western wall. Ella crept low and slow, the way she had been taught. Among these trees the air was cooler. It smelled sweetly of decaying leaves, late spring flowers and sparsely scattered mushrooms. She spied one of these pushing its way up between fallen limbs. Ella plucked it, adding the delicacy to the bag of nuts and berries she had collected earlier. Almost too late, she detected movement on the trail between Looking Glass lake and it’s namesake village. Someone was bent over collecting wood from a felled tree.

Just beyond was an entrance to a multilevel basement of an ancient keep on which the town was built. This was her private playground as well as her second best refuge ever since she had been orphaned. Ella nearly sighed out loud. She was so close to home, yet so far. This was no great problem for her though. Truth be told, she enjoyed a good game of evasion. The little dark elf backtracked a dozen steps then altered her direction, taking a more indirect route.

Halfway across the trail, the man gathering wood suddenly stood. She instantly recognized him as Quin Greyhorn, chief ranger of this territory. He was also known as a talented wood carver. Sure enough, he had a small travois filled with pieces of hard wood of various types. Sneaking by him was more of a challenge than Ella had counted on. She was about to crawl back into the underbrush when she noticed something else. Being a rather warm day, Quin had hung his hat on a low branch. It was a beautiful cap of green felt with a rich brown leather band. Best of all, it had a raven feather tucked into the band. Ella had to have it!

The breeze wafting through brush and brier made more sound than Ella’s moccasin boots as she tip toed with serious care behind Quin. He was half sylvan elf so had much keener senses than a pure blood human. Ella had her hand extended, fingertips touching soft felt and leather when she noticed a subtle change in her surroundings. Leaves began to stir making a rustling noise. Tree branches above creaked and groaned. Quin?s hat began bobbing out of her reach. The wind had changed direction, picking up strength as it rotated from east to south.

Ella was too stubborn to give up and too young to be properly fearful of what would happen to a child of a hostile race for theft. Leaping as high as her short legs would push her, she managed to latch onto the brim. Ella landed harder than she intended to. She froze in place, hoping beyond hope that the ranger had not heard her. Stealing a quick look in his direction, her heart sank as she realized he was no longer by the travois.

Suddenly hoisted into mid-air, Ella squealed like a cornered rodent. She was swinging by the collar of her bore’s hide vest while being spun about to face her tormenter. Despite her squirming and kicking wildly, Quin lifted the dark elf girl to his eye level. Ella glared into his cool green eyes for a moment before giving up her show of attitude. She still had his hat firmly in her grasp, but he had her.

“Ellaurain Greyhorn, what do you think you are doing?” Quin gave Ella a good natured little shake.

Ella grinned mischievously. “Snatching your hat, Tree Man.”

“I don’t think it will fit you, Kitten.?”

“I will grow into it“, Ella retorted with such resolution that Quin had to chuckle.

“You won’t if you keep missing dinner. You can see the sun is almost at its highpoint. Marian will have a hot bowl of venison stew waiting on you.” The ranger swung his adopted daughter around, eliciting a stream of giggles from the child his family had grown to love as their own. Then he pulled her close for a hug. He never admitted it, but he enjoyed these games almost as much as she did.

It had taken Ella only a short time after she came here to appreciate the way people of sylvan blood showed affection so physically. This was a comfort she had never received from her birth parents. Eventually the dark elf girl even became used to her half elven family’s musky smell they had inherited from their human side. Ella buried her face in the soft collar of Quin?s homespun shirt.

Quin set her back on the ground and retrieved his hat. Then he gave Ella a pat on her now exposed white locks. As he did, a thought struck him like a bird landing on a bare branch. “Where have you been this morning?”

“Oh, I visited North Bend river crossing below the lake. A couple of wagon trains and a few barges came in with passengers. I played my flute for them.”

“I take it they were friendly then?” Quin was always concerned how strangers may regard Ella. She had made rounds to nearby inns with a pair of bards who were friends of the family. This had won the dark elf girl some measure of acceptance, perhaps more than she had in their home town. There were still many people who would judge her for her race before they knew her. Then there was her adventurous nature that often led Ella in and out of scrapes on a regular basis.

Ella let slip a sly expression. “I made sure they heard me playing before they saw me. That helps their mood.”

“Good girl.” Quin nodded his head in affirmation. He was terribly proud of Ella. She was barely fifteen winters old and was already an accomplished musician having mastered half a dozen instruments. Less well known was that she could cast spells through her music as a bard many times her age. “Did you earn enough coins to make the trip worth it?”

The little dark elf shrugged. “A few people tossed me coins. Bergan slipped me a silver piece because most people ordered drinks when I played. Some ate at his inn too. I spent most of the coins with a peddler soon after. He had some old scrolls I liked.”

“And were they worth the trip?” Quin suppressed a grin, knowing his daughter was also quite a budding scholar. She had already collected several shelves full of books, scrolls and sheets of music.

Ella shot him an incredulous look. “They are about the history of Dread Keep where our town now sits. That makes them very rare.”

“Alright, run home for dinner now. Then when you go below, remember what I’ve taught you.”

“I know, I know. Take someone with me and leave a marked trail.” Ella sounded exasperated that Quin would question her about this. Suddenly her frown deepened. “How did you know I was going below?”

Quin couldn’t hide his mirth at Ella’s game any longer. He laughed out loud at his girl. “Scrolls don’t come in a map case, only maps do. And if you have a map you’ll never be satisfied with only reading it. Don’t forget a torch either. You may find something you want to read down there.”

Ella glanced at the map case tucked in her belt. She couldn’t help but return her father’s bemused expression. “I will, tree man. Will you come to dinner?”

Quin assured her that he would be along shortly and watched as she disappeared into the forest. He had never dreamed that he would enjoy being a father so much. He had certainly never thought he would grow to love such a challenging child so deeply. She had stretched his heart as well as his patients. Ella continued to do so as she helped care for her younger siblings and taught Quin to read. He took hold of the travois, taking a longer path home. As he did, Quin wondered what other mysteries he would learn raising his little dark elf girl.