Linked

Chapter XI

"That was..." He couldn't even finish his sentence. Asmara chuckled.

"Did it succeed in calming your thoughts?"

"Yes, it did." Loci spoke the truth. Even though the dream was still in his mind, it caused him a considerably smaller amount of stress than before. Asmara stood, content.

"Come on, you should sleep now. You still have about," She looked up at the sky for a moment. "three hours of night left."

"How do you know that?" asked Loci, bewildered

"After a couple centuries, you memorize the stars."

"Centuries?" Loci stopped. "How old are you, exactly? You look like you're in your twenties!"

Asmara laughed. "Twenty? That's a child, a toddler even!" She looked at Loci. "I am five hundred and twenty-one years old."

Loci was bewildered. "So elves age incredibly slowly."

"Yes. When we get to the capital, you'll see that most elves still look like they are in their youth, much like me. But very few of them are below a century old. Our queen is almost six centuries old."

"Am I going to live that long?" asked Loci, looking at the stars.

"Yes. When you link, you gain the lifespan of your partner. You won't live forever, but unless sickness or injury befalls you, your life with be an extremely long one." Asmara could tell this bothered Loci somewhat. "Come, it doesn't do to dwell on these thoughts. You need your sleep."

They walked back to the camp, and Loci laid underneath Terakial's wing, quickly falling asleep. He felt a sense of reassurance coming from Terakial before his mind drifted off.

The group walked for a couple days more, learning more about the forest as they went. Finally, they arrived at the capital. The dragons had decided to stay in the air. Even though the elves revered dragons, they didn't want to startle them. So, Asmara led Loci and Roben into the elven city. The gates of the city looked like two bent trees, and the branches mingle met at the top of the gate in a beautifully intricate way. At the gate stood a single elf. No other guards were in sight. Loci wondered how the city stayed secure if only one person was guarding its entrance. They approached the man, but he raised his hand and yelled a word in elvish. Loci stopped dead in his tracks, almost against his will. Asmara spoke quickly in elvish. The language was enchanting to hear, every sentence almost like a song. After Asmara was done speaking, Loci felt a pressure release from his body, and they were allowed passage. The group entered the city and were met with the eyes of dozens of elves. Some had blank stares on their faces, but most looked at them with wide eyes and looked somewhat apprehensive.

"Are they scared of us?" whispered Loci. Roben looked at him as if to say he felt the same way.

"You musn't mistake it as fear when it is in reality reverence," said Asmara in a calm way.

They had walked only a couple feet when a raven-haired elf blocked their path. His face was neither blank, afraid, or amazed. It was angry. He shot quick looks at Loci and Roben, then fixed his eyes on Asmara. He spoke to her in Elvish, but his words seemed less musical than Asmara's.

"You dare bring humans into our realm?"

"You should learn to watch your tone, yungï." Asmara's voice was calm, but her face was annoyed.

"Call me that again, and you'll be sorry. I know to whom I speak, and I will not change my statement."

Asmara raised her eyebrow, showing he had crossed the line.

"No human has ever stepped into the borders of Tolurra, and you have just broken that sacred rule." continued the elven man.

"I have never done such a thing. And you,  yungï," she put as much vitriol into that word as she could. "are blind. Many humans have stepped in here, their motives and intent analyzed and accepted by the guardian. My friends here are Linked Ones. They are Süren." When Asmara spoke those words, the elves gasped. The one in front of her faltered for a moment.

"You think you're entitled because you're an elder, don't you? Just because you're the only teacher in this city! You left us without warning for years! You have no idea what hardships you've thrown upon us. These worthless humans are no more Links than I am a waterlily, and I should just kill them on the spot for transgression!"

Before the elf man could raise his voice further, Terakial stormed through the trees and landed in front of the elf. He roared at him, scaring the elf and all the others around them. In his fear, the elf loosed a bolt of energy straight towards Terakial. Loci ran to protect him, but a shield stopped the spell right in front of him. The bolt disintegrated and fell to the ground like sparks.

"Enough!" said an elf woman in Loci's language. She repeated herself in elvish. Loci assumed she was the queen. Her clothes were simple: a brown leather tunic with intricate embroidery and black fabric bottoms. She was wearing some sort of sandals with a leather band around the foot. Resting on her head was an intricate crown. It looked like metal branches, and a clear gem rested in the middle of her forehead. She walked towards the group and snapped her fingers. Two men took the elf away, who let himself get taken without a fight. She then turned to Asmara, smiled once, then motioned them to join her inside a large tree that was carved into some sort of palace. Once they were inside, what had seemed like a poised and powerful queen became a relaxed woman, who hugged Asmara like an old friend.

"Welcome back, Asmara," she said, giving her a side hug. "and welcome, young ones, to our capital. I hope your studies will flourish during your time spent here, and you'll be true Süren when you are done."