The Elves of Trelis

Yasmin

Cynthia wasn't real was she? Phadia thought to herself. And even if she was real no one could sneak up on the Empress. She was too powerful to let anything swallow her.

Empress Destiny was the ruler of Trelis and her palace was the largest tree. It was guarded by a fierce unicorn that looked harmless from a distance but enemies who were fooled by her pretty appearance soon discovered that she was possibly the most dangerous creature in the forest. She had often used her elegant, long horn to impale demons and evil creatures who threatened the Empress.

Before the unicorn, the palace was guarded by a group of noble beasts called The Brothers. They were formidable opponents who defended the entire kingdom. Until two years ago when they disappeared and no one had seen them since.

When Phadia reached her tree that morning, she saw something glinting beside the entrance. As she got closer, she could make out a golden curved object with a thick piece of string tied to both ends.

"Is that a... bow?"

She picked it up gently and surveyed it.

"It is a bow. But there's no arrows for it. Geneviève, let me in so I can put it on the table."

Once she was inside she didn't think about getting an outfit ready for the dance. There were bigger thoughts in her head. Like what to do with such a beautiful bow.

"I could possibly use it to teach that harpy a lesson..."

"PHADIA!"

Phadia jumped a foot in the air. And there was only one person who could make her do that. "Coming Yasmin!" She answered.

Yasmin was a tall elven girl who was also half dryad. She could speak to plants and animals and make plants grow faster. She had light brown hair and mossy green eyes and she stood at the entrance of the treehouse looking more uptight than ever.

"Phadia, why didn't Geneviève let me in?" She said in a soft voice.

Phadia could hear the aggression behind it but she answered her calmly. "Because I told her not to if you were mad."

Yasmin groaned. "Normally I'd say something about that, but I need your help. Could you tell me where I can find an acacia root?"

"I'll do more than tell you; I'll show you. You can find them near the waterfall and I'd love to go there." Phadia said with a smile. The memory of the dance came flooding back to her but she shook it off. It's no matter, she thought, I'll find something to wear later.

Yasmin was ahead of her in a blink of an eye, "come on Phadia, let's go."

"But Yasmin!"

"Come on, I don't have all day."

"But Yasmin!"

"What is it?"

"You're going the wrong way."

"Oh."

So they went in the opposite direction.

*** ***

The two elven girls arrived at a stream where a gorgeous waterfall was flowing in. Fairies and sprites hovered over it along with the dragonflies.

"You can find what you're looking for at the bottom of the stream," Phadia explained to Yasmin. The girl looked anxious, a little disgusted even.

"Do I have to?" She whined.

"You do if you want the acacia root."

So Yasmin approached the edge of the water timidly, when she got there she dipped a toe in the water and yelped. "It's freezing!"

"Well of course it is. Haven't you ever been in the water?"

Yasmin shook her head.

Phadia heaved a sigh. "I'll get it for you."

"Thank you, Phadia."

As the ginger elf neared the water, she saw something flicker and wiggle on the other side of the stream. It looked like a tail. Yes, that's what it was. The grey tail of a beast she'd never seen before.

"Hey!" Phadia called out to it. "Yasmin come see." Yasmin ran up to Phadia to stand beside her but by the time she did, the tail had stopped wiggling and hid behind the tree.

"What is it?" Yasmin said, confused.

"I don't know. But it's hiding now. Do you want to look for it?"

"No, I don't. I just want my acacia root. Now hurry up, Phadia!"

But Phadia ignored her. "Could you please help me?" She called out to the fairies. Three little fairies with butterfly wings stopped what they were doing and flew over to her. They were all bare foot but wore dresses made out of autumn leaves. "Could you carry me across the stream with your magic?"

"Sure," the fairies said with a smile. The trio raised their arms and a bridge made of water was formed. Specks of water flew around it but other than that it was pretty stable. "You can walk across now."

Phadia ran on the watery path to the other side. She asked the fairies to do this for fun many times before. She was safe as long as they didn't lose concentration.

"Oh, Phadia..." Yasmin whined but she followed her anyway, walking clumsily on the wet path. She wouldn't admit it but she too was curious about the thing Phadia saw.

When the two elven girls got closer to the tree, they saw the tail of the creature again. Then came a grey body with tough skin, lanky limbs, pointy black claws, cat-like yellow eyes and large pointed ears. On its right ear there hung a round, gold ring.

Yasmin gasped.

Phadia just smiled.

"Hello my name's Phadia and this is Yasmin. We are the bandershee."