Boys of Freedom

[1] 𝕰𝖑𝖛𝖊𝖘 𝕬𝖓𝖉 𝕽𝖊𝖇𝖊𝖑𝖘

(Elves And Rebels)
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Hey, this is not real. I hope someone's reading, though.

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"Elasha, focus."
shook my hair out of my face, and pulled the arrow back once again.
"It's Elion, mum."

I let go of the arrow, and watched it fly through the amber sky with incredible speed. I was actually getting quite good at this.

"Good one."

I placed my bow and arrows down, and rubbed my hands together. I could see my breath in the freezing cold morning air, and I shivered slightly.

"That's enough for today, you did great, Elasha."

I shook my head again. "Elion, mum. It's Elion," I hissed.

"We've talked about this," replied my mum, trying to sound as calm as possible, though her voice was shaking.

"It is strictly forbidden to change your name, given to you by your parents, if you are born into an elf family."
She squeezed my shoulder. "It has a special connection with you and your parents, which means, that it can protect you from harm and suffering."

"I don't want protection," I said.
"And I'm a half-elf, so I don't care about your stupid elf-rules."
I picked up my bow, and broke it in half.

"My name's Elion, and I'm a boy."

I hurried back to our camp, cutting down any plants or overgrown grass in my way with my small silver dagger. What was her problem? I didn't choose this?

A cold breeze on my face made me snap out of my thoughts.
I wiped tears on my cheeks away with the back of my hand. I hadn't even noticed, that I had been crying. My body was shaking uncontrollably by the time I reached camp.

"Elion, dear! Come join us for some soup," shouted one of the elders with her croaky voice. She was one of the very few people in camp, who actually used my preferred name and pronouns. She was like a grandma to me, and always made sure that I ate well. She was stirring in a big cauldron, and signaled me to come and sit down.

"Not hungry, sorry."
I walked past her, but felt a stab of guilt, as I noticed her dark eyes burning with worry on my back.

"Actually, it is pretty cold outside, let me just get a small portion."

I sat down on one of the many tree stump chairs, and warmed my hands on the gentle fire in front of me.

"Here you go, love."
She had given me a much larger portion, than what I had asked for, but I ate all of it anyway.

"Is your mum still out?" questioned one of my friends, who was sitting next to me. He had finished his soup, and was apparently now looking for someone to chat with. His name was Goren, and he had long, almost white hair, beautiful tanned skin and sparkling dark blue eyes. I had fancied him when I was younger, but never told him.

I really wasn't in the mood to talk about the argument with my mum, so I figured it would be best to lie.
"Yeah, she needed to take care of something, not sure what," I shrugged, tapping my foot nervously.
I wondered why she hadn't tried to follow me, but I was glad that I didn't need to talk to her. I ate a small spoonful of the soup and felt myself starting to warm up again.

"Oh. Okay...are you alright, though?" Goren was watching me closely, and placed his hand on my shoulder.
"You're tapping your foot."

I placed my bowl of soup down.
"I'm fine, just cold," I answered, trying my best to sound convincing.

"Don't lie to me, you always tap your foot when you're nervous." He took his hand off of my shoulder and ran it through his thick, braided hair. "Is there something bothering you?"

I wasn't sure what to say, so I stayed quiet for a bit.
"I broke my bow," I finally said, staring into the fire.

"What happened?"
Goren kicked a small rock, and watched it roll away.
"Did an animal or creature step on it? That happened to me some time ago."

"No, I broke it."
I kept tapping my foot, tears forming in my eyes.

"Hey, don't worry! No one's mad at you."
He took my hand and squeezed it. "I'm sure you had a good reason for doing so."

I shook my head, biting my lip to try and stop myself from crying. "No, it was pathetic."

My lip was bleeding now, and the taste of metal filled my mouth. Goren squeezed my hand again. "Do you want to tell me, why you think it's pathetic?"

The sound of his voice was calming, but I had no idea, what to reply.

"No." I sobbed and placed my head in my hands. He stood up, and signaled me to follow.

"Where are we going?"
We had been walking for a bit of time now, and I had stopped crying.
"White Falcon Woods," replied Goren, dragging me by my sleeve.
"But that's-"
He covered my mouth, and dragged me further. "Quite some time away from camp, yes."

We were walking on beautiful soft moss, and the sun shined through the leaves of the gigantic birch trees, making their shadows seem even bigger. Goren suddenly stopped, and was now looking around for something.

"We're here," he announced, pointing at an old treehouse, his pointed ears raising themselves as he smiled.

"I don't understand..." I fiddled with the straps on my green fabric bag. "Why would you bring me here?"

He walked closer to the treehouse, admiring every inch of it.
"You'll see."

He climbed up the almost broken ladder and shouted; "Come on! You're not afraid of heights, are you?"
I climbed up after him, trying not to look down. "I'm not."

We reached the end of the ladder, puffing and gasping for air. "Now look at this veiw!"
Goren was smiling all over, and I felt like he could explode with energy every minute now.
"Isn't it just amazing?"

He grabbed my shoulders, and twirled me around, so I could see it too. And it was indeed amazing. The sky, the trees, the creatures... everything was more interesting and beautiful from up here.

"Wow, that's...amazing."

Every bad thought and feeling dissappeared, and it felt like I wasn't going to worry about anything in my life anymore.

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