Guardian Spirit

Chapter 2

Nala arrived at the clearing that housed her home right behind her father and Skander. A small spring and a brook that flowed deep into the woods offered a fresh water supply for the family. A large tree grew at the centre of the clearing, rising several hundred feet above the ground and it’s trunk nearing the size of an fairly large house. The huge branches and thick foliage created a green roof over the clearing centre and cast a large shadow over parts of the clearing. The trees trunk had a door in it and several windows. As Nala looked up towards the foliage, she could see several more windows up the tree. For an Elf Tree, the tree was fairly small, but it could offer a comfortable living space to Nala and her family.

Elf Trees were grown and moulded by magic to provide homes for the elves. The size of Elf Trees varied greatly, but the largest competed with even the forts built by the dwarves. Nala's mother and father had grown their own tree when they arrived in the forest of Cerena. After many years of patient magic use and caring, the tree had grown big enough to live in. The seed of each new tree came from the Mother Tree that was located at the centre of the Great Forest, at the heart of the Elven kingdom.

According to a thousands of years old elven legend, the seed of the Mother Tree was given to the first elven king, Aren Tenera, by the goddess Loriel. The elves had held Loriel close to their hearts ever since and worshipped her as the goddess of nature. Due to the magical nature of the trees, there were many legends associated with them and they were used for many things. Though rare, even swords were known to be made from Elf Trees, as the tree could be moulded to be as hard as steel, but much lighter.

Nala hurried forward and entered the tree right after Ameter and Skander. The large room behind the door was bright and it filled almost the whole tree trunks width. A round table, that seemed to appear straight from the tree itself, dominated the centre of the room. The table's surface was smooth and shined as if it had been polished for years. The circle shaped bench surrounding the table seemed to appear straight from the tree, much like the table. On the left side of the door, a staircase started. It circled the whole room, slowly leading upwards. The engravings decorating the staircase gave it an elegant look and made the room seem much more alive. On the right, beneath the staircase, there was a fireplace with a small fire burning in it. Even though the fireplace was made out of wood, like everything else in the house, the flames didn’t even create a black stain on the surface beneath it. In front of the fireplace, there was a small table and some comfortable looking chairs in a circle.

Opposite to the door from which Nala had entered there was another door. A flickering light shone from there and a sound of kettles clattering could be heard. Nala's mother appeared from the door with a steaming pot in her hands, which she set down on the large table.

“Skander. How long has it been since we last saw each other?” said Kyla without looking too surprised at the guests arrival. She was rarely surprised or caught off guard. Nala had inherited the colour of her hair from Kyla, among many other things. Kylas eyes were green-blue and she was a bit taller than Nala. Her body build was different from Nalas. She wasn’t as muscular and she looked to be more used to holding books in her hands rather than a sword.

“Must be closer to ten years,” smiled Skander, “been busy, you see.”

“Too busy. You’ve lost weight and you look tired. I’m going to have to fatten you up again.” Kyla walked around the large table to give Skander a friendly hug. “Welcome, old friend.”

She broke the hug and took a closer look at her old friend. The man had grown older and there were new wrinkles on his face and there was something in his eyes that had not been there before. Still, she could see the same old and familiar inner flame in them.

“Fatten me up?” asked Skander jokingly. “Surely there is not enough food in this entire forest to accomplish that!”

Kyla let out a laugh and was soon joined in it by Nala and Ameter. “Come. Sit down. The food is ready,” she said and walked back into the kitchen to fetch more steaming and good smelling pots and pans.