"Elven Secrets - Chapter 1" by Nancy Kelaria Chamberlain

As dawn rose over the horizon, a girl came over the hill. A basket swung on her arm and she hummed to herself. Her curly, chestnut colored hair was kept away from her face with a thin gauzy veil. The girl walked into a barn that was sitting on the hill a little ways from a small house. The morning chill had colored the girl’s pale, smooth cheeks a rosy tinge. Her chin was decidedly stubborn and her small, but full, rosy lips were curved into a tiny smile. As she entered the barn, a cat jumped down from a ledge near the door and mewed at her, rubbing the girl’s legs.

“Is that you Ceria?” a voice asked from inside the cow’s stall.

“Yes mother,” replied the girl, leaning over and scratching the cat’s head.

“Come help me with Karaar,” the woman said, “her tail keeps getting in the milk.” The girl walked over to the stall and opened the door. Her mother, a thin woman with curly dark-brown hair and light tan skin, sat on a stool next to the cow. Ceria put her basket of berries down and grabbed hold of the cow’s tail.

“Are you being bad today, Karaar?” she asked the cow. Karaar mooed in response. Ceria laughed, a musical sound that was nearly too beautiful to be human. Her mother looked up and smiled at her daughter. Her eyes were brown, not like Ceria’s. Ceria had blue eyes, the color of the sky on a beautiful sunny day.

“Thank you, sweet,” Ceria’s mother said. Ceria returned her mother’s smile with one of her own. As the two were finishing up the milking, a voice called,

“Liona!”

“That will be Ariana with the money for the quilt I sewed,” Ceria’s mother said, “In the barn Ariana!” she then shouted to the caller. A woman walked into the barn.

“There you are Liona,” Ariana said to Ceria’s mother, “I have the payment from my husband.”

“Thank you, Ariana,” Liona said, with a smile. She then turned to her daughter, “Ceria, could you finish milking Karaar? And when you’re done, don’t forget to do your other chores.” Ceria nodded. Her mother kissed her daughter on the cheek and walked out of the barn with Ariana.

When her chores were finished, Ceria went outside to go for a walk in the woods. She loved to walk in the woods more than anything else. Today, Ceria was thinking about her life. She remembered that, ever since she was a young child, the other children would tease her. They would laugh at her strangely shaped ears, and they would tease her for not knowing who her father was. Ceria sighed and reached up to touch one of her ever-so-slightly pointed ears. As she walked, thinking about why she was different, Ceria noticed a sparkle at the corner of her eye. She went to go find out what it was. When she got to what the sparkle was, she saw that it was a lovely clear pond secluded in a group of trees. The little waterfall, which fell from the rocks, did not disturb the almost completely still face of the water. Ceria went over to the pond and looked into its mirroring surface. As she sat there, an old song from her past came back to her.

‘E’a i’ alu amin maa
Milya ten’ rangwa.
Cora amin eller, poika liptar
Cora amin n'alaquel a’ amin eska-ndor! ’

It was a lovely melody that seemed to resonate with purity. Now, Ceria repeated it aloud, to remind her of where she heard the song. As she finished the last ringing note, a remarkable thing happened; the water she stared into rippled and flowed unnaturally. Suddenly, a wall of the water surged straight up, forming a glowing door of water. Astonished, but curious, Ceria reached out a hand and touched the knob on the door. To her surprise, it felt solid! Ceria slowly opened the water door. Cautiously, she walked through it. On the other side was the most beautiful forest Ceria had ever seen. The trees seemed to shimmer shades of olive-green, spring-green, and forest-green. Lovely magenta, white, and lavender flowers grew at the foot of almost every tree. Dazed by the beauty around her, Ceria walked foreword, looking around so as not to miss anything. When she saw another sparkle of water, she walked over to this new small pond. The water was a beautiful sea-green color that rippled with glitters of blue. As she was walking, a tall figure stepped out in front of her. He had long blonde hair, pale skin, and clear blue eyes.

“Amin -ra lle! ” he said, “Mani lle essa? ”

“What?” Ceria replied, confused.

“Ah, a common speaker,” he said, reverting to the language called common. “What is your name?”

“I am Ceria,” She said.

“Greetings Ceria,” he said, “My name is Calen.” He bowed slightly.

“Hello Calen,” Ceria said.

“Are you an Elf?” Calen asked.

“No,” Ceria replied, puzzled, "Are," she paused for a moment, "are you?"

“Yes, I am, welcome to the Elvish realm. If I may ask, how did you get here?” He wanted to know.

“I was sitting by a pond and I started to sing and when I finished, the water made a door,” She explained.

“What song?” he wondered.

“Where did you learn that?” Calen asked her, surprise in his voice.

“My mother used to sing it to me when I was a child,” she said.

“Well, it certainly explains how you got here,” Calen told her, “That is our entrance song. Those who leave this world for the human one, use that song to get back,” Calen paused, “Well, since you’re here, I might as well take you to see Elmare.”

“Elmare?” Ceria repeated.

“Our Queen,” Calen explained. He led Ceria deeper into the forest of the Elves.

A few hours after they had been traveling, Ceria saw a flash of dark-blue. She turned to look, but could see nothing.

“What was that?” she asked Calen, who walked a little ways in front of her. He stopped and turned around to look in her direction. There was a serious look on his face as he looked around the forest and then spoke,

“There are some things that are not good that live here in our forests.”

“Like what?” Ceria wondered.

“The Ulundo. Foul creatures, born from an Elf turned evil, and his mate.” Calen told her.

“What do they look like?” Ceria wanted to know.

“They are blue and deformed looking, which is where they get their name. Ulundo means deformed in Elvish.” Calen explained.

“I think that’s what I saw!” Ceria said, excitedly.

“Hmm,” Calen said, thoughtfully, “lets keep moving.”

When night fell, Calen and Ceria made a small camp in the trees. Calen turned to Ceria and said,

“I will hunt now, for our supper.” Calen looked back one more time and walked off into the woods. Ceria thought she heard a mutter, it sounded like: ‘Naa varna vanima inya.’ but she listened harder and, hearing nothing else, dismissed it as a figment of her imagination. As she sat, waiting, she hummed the tune of the entrance song to herself. Soon, she fell asleep.

Ceria woke to growl-like muttering. She opened her eyes and saw a frightful creature perched above her. The entire creature, from its head to its toes, was a deep-blue color, with pointed Elf-like ears, and pure black eyes. It wore nothing but a tattered dirty cloth tied around its waist. With a choked cry, Ceria tried to crawl backwards, away from the Ulundo. It grabbed her arm and pulled her back towards him, sinking razor sharp claws into Ceria’s skin. Now, Ceria really did scream, in pain this time, tears pouring from her eyes as blood spilled from her wounds. The Ulundo growled again, a pleased sound now. But his growl was interrupted by another cry, this one of anger. Calen raced into the camp and raised his bow, pointing it at the Ulundo. Before he could let an arrow fly, however, the creature had scampered off into the woods. Calen, with an angry sigh, lowered his bow. Now, he focused his attention on Ceria, running over to her and kneeling down at her side. Ceria looked at him, incredible pain in her eyes. Then, her eyes closed and she lay, unconscious. With a worried sigh, Calen brushed her curly brown hair away from her face. He brushed some behind one ear then stopped.

“What’s this?” he murmured, looking at Ceria’s ear, “Aiya! A half-blood!” He whispered, in shock. Then, remembering her answer about being an Elf, he muttered, “She must not know.”