✧The Earthe of the Elves✧

51

"Okay, okay, slow down," I say, laughing and wiping my tears away when I pull away.

"You guys started the party without us?"

Yet again I turn to new voices, and yet again, I'm met with more hugs. Flint and Halion, Knox's childhood friends and now mine, both give me tight hugs, which I return, giving in to the comfort until there are no hugs left to give.

-

"Okay," Flint speaks up from his spot on my small couch, "you have to tell us where the hell you were."

Nodding, I finish chewing the bread I had stuffed into my mouth.

Once all the hugging- and a bit of dancing- was done, Knox had someone bring trays and trays of food into my room- loafs of baked bread, pitchers of water and lemonade, strawberry salad, blueberry muffins, chocolate croissant-looking breads, rice, and probably more.

While all that was being brought up I locked the bathroom door and took a much needed shower. As I showered, I tried not to make any noise that would indicate pain. My cuts still hurt, especially when water is blasting into them. I'll get them checked later. Then, as I grabbed my soft, white towel from the glass wall of the shower, I got a brief flashback- this was the shower that I hid in when Elmer first tried to kidnap me. That seems like years ago, not months.

Of course, once I showered and got ready, I changed from the scruffy, blood-splattered cotton dress Vyn gave me into a long sleeved shirt, with a cream bodice decorated with flowers to fit over it along with a simple, warm brown skirt and some pants underneath for extra warmth.

Now, I lay on my bed with Elanil next to me, Flint and Hal on the small couch, and Knox on a cushioned chair by the two boys. Most of the food is gone, and now that I've eaten enough to satisfy that whole week of mush, I feel much more energized, physically and emotionally.

"I was brought to the Cin's forest." I answer Flint's question fully, explaining the shrouded forest, the shadows and darkness, the haggard people, the Citadel and the cells.

"Underground?" El says incredulously, shuddering. I suppose as a people who live in trees, being stuck underground would be like torture, more so for full blooded elves.

"Yeah. It was pretty dark. And cold." Even talking about it sets me on edge, but the edge feels dull now that I'm surrounded by my best friends, by support. I can feel Knox's eyes on me, but I look down and pick through the tray of food in between me and El as I continue.

"Elmer kept asking me where the stone was, but I didn't tell him. You can't use magic in the Citadel either, so I wouldn't have been able to get it anyway."

Asked is a nice way of saying tortured, but I decide to leave that part out. My fingers subconsciously trace the path of the cut Andor made on Earth, sliding into the one Elmer made earlier in the week. Then I notice Knox, his eyes tracking the movement, and place my hands back in my lap, fiddling with the soft fabric of my skirt.

"So you have the stone?" Hal asks from his spot lounging on the couch. I nod, feeling a faint smile touch my lips as I say the word and watch the green stone appear in a blink. The other gape at me and the beautiful, small stone in my hand.

"That's it?" Asks Flint.

"Yep," Knox says, speaking for the first time in a while. This time when he looks at me, he has a small smile on his face.

"Do you know how to use its power?" Elanil pipes up, moving a plate of food and scooching closer to me to peer at it.

I stare at her for a moment. I hadn't really given that thought.