"You know her?" I muttered under my breath to Nick.

I brushed hair that wasn't there off of my shoulders. It was weird having about eight inches of hair chopped off.

Nick nodded, "Do you know Natalie? I used to hang out with her at lunch, you may have seen her around the halls." She whispered back.

I vaguely remembered a girl who looked like this walking through the halls at my school, except that girl did not have pointed ears, and I'd never seen her in a lilac dress.

"May I explain, mother?" Natalie asked the Queen.

Nick's mouth fell open. "Wait, Natalie, you're an elf?! What?! I thought you were moving to Gomoria..."

Natalie looked to Queen Aster for permission to speak.

The Queen nodded.

"My name is Aspen, actually," she said.

"Yes, I would like us all to introduce ourselves," Queen Aster said, "I take it that some of us haven't been properly acquainted. I am Queen Aster of the Elves and these are my children, Aspen and Oak," she pointed at the boy on her right and the girl on her left.

"I'm Hazel," Hazel said, "And this is Remi and Nicholina."

The Queen looked a little surprised at our names, but she recovered quickly. "Well," she said, "we're glad that we can help you, but I must say that you are lucky we let you in. We have a treaty with the Zorg, we do not normally allow humans or dragons into Dorian."

"Who's side are the Elves really on?" I demanded.

The Queen looked truly confused at the question. "Side?" She asked, "If you mean between the Dragons and Zorg, then I must remind you that we are neutral, we have a treaty with the Zorg that dictates peace."

"Are you kidding?!" I burst out, "The Dragons could have won the war a long time ago if the Elves had bothered to help! Also, you haven't kicked us out yet."

"Rem," Hazel warned, "This is a Queen we're talking to."

"No, It's alright," Queen Aster said, "She has a right to ask. We do not believe in the Zorg's way of ruling, but we will not oppose them. We think that humans should be neutral as well, it would be better for them, but no, they are stubborn and cant see the greater picture."

"But you speak human," I said, confused.

"Indeed," said the Queen, "We learned the human tongue in the war and the Zorg and Dwarves did as well. I suppose it is useful, but when talking to one another, we normally use Elfieish. Your human language is crude and confusing in many ways."

"But I still don't get it!" I said, "You could have helped the Dragons and won! You could still help the Dragons and win! There would be peace then!"

"No," said the Queen, her voice rising, "Ruin and carnage would be all that would be left of Eisildor. Too many innocents would die, too much collateral damage would be done. There wouldn't be a place to bring peace to."

"So you let the dragons be hunted and killed? You let the Zorg destroy families and homes while you sit here in peace and harmony, forging treaties with murderers?"

"No," The Queen said, as serene as ever, "It is too dangerous and we don't have enough of our race as it is. In the last battle, we lost our King. We would lose too many. It is better to stay safe, hidden, and not be involved."

"The King?" Hazel asked, "What- what happened?"

The Queen fidgeted with one of her rings, losing her regal stance entirely. Her son, Oak, who had been still until then went white as a sheet.

"King Pine was taken by the Zorg in the war," Queen Aster said stiffly.

I took that as an opportunity to strike. "So they took one of your own and yet you still made peace with them?"

Oak flinched so hard I was afraid he would knock himself over. He stepped out from behind his mothers throne and walked quickly past us, keeping his head down.

Nick reached out, as if to stop him, but drew her hand back.

"Wait, Oak-" Aspen said and started to follow, but the Queen held out an arm to stop her. "Don't," she said, "Let him be."

Hazel looks mortified, "I-I'm sorry, I'm sure Remi didn't mean-"

My heart seized with guilt at the look she gave me. Why can't I keep my damn mouth shut?

"It's alright dear." The Queen said, "Oak has taken his father's disappearance.... quite badly. We tried to talk to him but it doesn't work."

"One of us could try talking to him," Nick blurted.

"Maybe," the Queen sighed, "But that isn't why you are here is it? Tell me your story."

I glanced at Nick and Hazel. We had a silent conversation and came to a sort of agreement.

"Our friend was scratched by a Dragon," Hazel said, keeping it simple.

"Yes, I know that," Queen Aster said, "Rowan informed me that it was Remi who did it. Am I correct?"

I flinched, the weight of what I did suddenly getting heavier. Even if Gen was healed, it didn't change what I did.

I nodded and muttered, "I didn't mean to."

"Of course you didn't mean to," the Queen said, "You can't have meant to. Don't bully yourself over this Remi, it will just destroy you."

That made me feel slightly better. I felt Hazel's hand on my shoulder, making me stand up straighter and feel more alive. I don't deserve a person like her.

"Your friend will recover soon, our healers think that she will wake up sometime tomorrow."

"We really can't thank you enough," Nick said.

"No need to thank us," Queen Aster said, "It was a simple thing. We always keep the Anora root in store just in case."

"Don't the Elves have Dragons too?" I asked. They must.

"What do you mean?" The Queen said, "We never had Dragons."

That confused me. "Didn't you have Dragons who had Elf bodies as a second form in the war?" I asked.

Queen Aster smiled, "You don't get it," she said, "Dragons are a race entirely on their own. If a Dragon looks like an elf in their second form, that does not mean they are an elf. When a Dragon is born, they will have another shape. Normally, the Dragon child will have the shape their parents have. So if a Dragon's parents had Elves as their second shape, then the Dragon child, too, would have an elf shape. Or they could be a dwarf or a human. No one has ever been able to figure out why this is, but we do know that. Does that make any sense at all?"

We nodded.

"I never knew that before," Nick said, "I just assumed that all of the races had Dragons."

"Well they don't," the Queen said, "Now you know."

"How are you the only reason we're alive?" I asked, directing the question at Aspen.

The Queen laughed, "My daughter is very impressive when it comes to stealth and infiltration."

"I am Natalie, in a way," Aspen said, "I was in Pira for a month or two, Elf business. I pretended I was named Natalie, and my parents moved every couple months to a new place. Soon I noticed that Remi and Hazel would disappear every two weeks or so, so I followed the day this all started. I saw the whole thing. When you all went back into Pira, I came with to stop you. I ran into Nick. And by the way, Nick, you are a terrible liar."

"Sorry, If I had known who you were, this might have been easier," Nick growled.

"Your anger is understandable," the Queen said calmly as Nick proceeded to simmer. "But Aspen saved your life twice."

"She saved us? Twice?" Hazel asked.

Aspen nodded, "When the Zorg, Maum, found you and attacked you, I pulled in a favor from an old friend. She saved you."

"The assassin lady?" I said.

"Yes. Do you know what happened to her? I never heard back from her," Aspen said curiously.

"Maum got her," Nick said, glaring at the floor.

Aspen sighed, "I didn't think she would get captured!" She muttered something like: "Father going to be furious."

"We couldn't have saved her," I explained, "One second, Maum was there, the next, he and the assassin were gone."

"Well, I think she will be alright. If there's one thing I know about her, it's that she's got a heart of steel." Aspen decided.

"What was the second time you saved us?" Hazel asks.

"I was the one who killed the Rhiniken and I was among the number who captured you."

"Thanks for that," Nick muttered.

Hazel and I elbowed her at the same time. She winced.

"Thank you, again," Hazel amended.

"No need," Queen Aster said, waving a hand, "You should all go see your friend, see if my healers did the job to your liking. If you do, Rowan can show you the way if he isn't busy. Rowan, do you need to be home for any reason?"

Rowan shook his head and bowed slightly, "No, my wife is cleaning the tree and wants me and the kids out. I can take them."

"Thank you," The Queen said, "You may go now, it was nice to meet you all, but I have a meeting with some advisors now."

"It was nice to meet you as well," Hazel said.

"Thank you for telling us this," I added.

As we turned to leave, the Queen called, "Where will you all go once your friend is recovered?"

We stopped and glanced at each other. None of us really knew.

I shrugged, "Maybe back to Pira, we've got no clue. But we'll figure it out."

And then we turned and Rowan led us back down the ladder, the terrible, dizzying ladder, and back onto solid ground.

"Should I take you to the healers now?" Rowan asked.

I nodded, "That would be great."

***

We arrived at another giant, raised pavilion. Luckily, there wasn't a ladder this time. It made sense, for it probably wasn't wise to for sick or injured patients to climb a ladder.

Rowan led us up a ramp to a door with hanging vines over the entrance, red and pink flowers growing on it.

Hazel leaned over to inspect it. "Funny," she said, "I've never seen that plant."

"Really?" I said as we stepped inside, "You've read all those botany books and you don't recognise it?"

She shook her head, "It's different than anything i've ever seen."

I shrugged, "I suppose mystical beings have mystical plants."

We emerged into a jungle-like room with plants everywhere. There were more of the vines that were on the door, shrubs growing in the floor, although there wasn't any dirt as far as I could tell. Flowers growing through the many, many windows that gave the room a sunny, airy feel. There were flowers everywhere. Altogether too many flowers.

On every wall were lines of beds. Around each bed was a little cubicle made of (you guessed it) plants, that gave the patients privacy.

Almost no one was there. Just a small, sleeping child and a tall, skinny elf with dark black hair who was holding what must have been an ice pack on his head.

At the far end of the room, the shutters of one cubicle were drawn closed.

Nick gave Rowan a pointed look and he nodded, "Your friend is down there. Go see for yourself."

We hesitantly went over to the shuttered cubicle and immediately, the shutters flew open.

"Hello!" A flamboyant elf said as she tripped over her own shoes and went sprawling forward.

She picked herself up and bounced on the tips of her toes, not phased at all by her tumble. Her hair was frizzy and bright pink, (which I found eyesore) with just the pointed tips of her ears sticking out. She wore a bright green uniform that had loops so it could be belted at the waist but hers wasn't. She was short, maybe a little less than five feet tall, and I couldn't guess her age, though she was obviously very old.

The elf examined each of us closely, still bouncing and fidgeting and smiling like she just found the sun.

"You are all so cute!" She said, standing on her tiptoes to try and bop Nick's nose.

Nick dodged quickly, "Who are you?"

The elf woman cackled with laughter as she successfully leapt into the air and tapped Hazel on the nose. I got a dreadful feeling that I would be next.

"I'm Bacopa!" She said, and grinned again, showing off perfect white teeth that were just as eyesore as her hair.

"Ok," Hazel said, rubbing her nose where Bacopa hit it, "Bacopa, can you settle down a bit? We want to see a girl named Gen. Is she in there?"

Bacopa nodded, "She is. May I ask, what can I call you three, other than cuties?"

I winced, I did not like being called cute.

We gave our names, for the two hundredth time, and then she finally settled down a little.

"The girl named Gen is here!" Bacopa said, opening the cubicle shutters again.

We followed her warily inside and my chest immediately filled with happiness.

Gen lay on a soft mattress in the middle of the cubicle. Her narrow face was almost back to its normal color, just paler than normal. Her shoulder was freshly bandaged and her breathing was even and slow. Her expression was almost peaceful.

Nick went to Gen's side but Hazel stayed next to me at the door.

"You ok?" Hazel asked.

I considered that. "Yes," I said, "I'm great."

"Alright," Hazel said with a smile, "I didn't know if this would be upsetting or not.

Bacopa shoved past us and went over to Gen's other side. "Alright, you've seen her, now out!" She said, waving her hand at the door, "I have work to do and I don't want a bunch of Miyflies buzzing around my head."

She shoved us out the door and then slid the shutters closed. I decided not to be insulted by that. I didn't think she meant to be rude.

Nick shook her head, "What's a Miyfly?"

Hazel and I shrugged, "Who knows," Hazel said.

"Hey," a new voice said to my left.

I tensed, almost ready for Bacopa to come running over and try to bop us on the nose again, but it wasn't Bacopa. It was the male elf I noticed when we first came in, the one holding the ice pack on his head.

"Nice seeing you again," he said with a pained smile.

"Seeing us again?" I asked, certain I had never seen the elf before.

"Don't you remember hitting me over the head with a branch?" He asked, gesturing to his ice pack.

"You're Fern?" Hazel asked.

"Yep, that's me, the poor elf who got brained with a branch," he said with an exaggerated wince.

"How do you know his name?" I muttered to Hazel.

"Rowan told me earlier," she explained.

"Sorry," I said hesitantly to Fern, not sure if he wanted an apology or not

"No, it's ok," he said sarcastically, "Don't mind me."

"I thought we were being attacked." I mumbled.

He smiles, "Well you did good. You got me pretty hard, I was out almost as long as you all were."

"Thanks? I think?" I said.

He laughed then stopped himself abruptly. "Oww! Don't make me laugh. Please, go, leave me in peace."

"Of course," I said and we turned to leave.

Rowan came up to us, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

"How did you like Bacopa?" He asked.

We were all silent.

Rowan burst out laughing and after a second, so did Hazel and Nick.

I grinned, feeling lighter than I had in a while.

Rowan led us back out of the healing pavilion and back into the courtyard, still chuckling.

He turned around, "What do you all want to do until dinner? I can take you back to your room in the tree you woke up in, I can imagine you have a lot to talk about."

Dinner. Just then, I realized that the stomachache I'd had since getting kicked was completely gone; I also realized how hungry I was.

I nodded and Hazel did too.

"I'd like to go back to our room, please," Hazel said.

"Can I explore?" Nick asked. Her eyes were on the eastern forest. She looked like she had seen something.

Rowan nodded, "You can, just stay out of the forest and don't go too far south, the Rhiniki like to hang out there."

"Ok," Nick said and walked off, obviously trying to act casual.

"Do you two know how to get back to your room?" Rowan said.

I nodded, "Yes, thank you for your help."

"Good," he said, "I'll come and get you when it's time for dinner."

He jogged away.

I glanced at Hazel and she nodded. She knew exactly what I was thinking.

We started off in the direction Nick went.

She was easy to track, we kept her just at the edge of our sight as she jogged through the elf city. It was bigger than I originally thought, probably extending for miles through the forest.

And then, Nick disappeared into smaller, thicker trees, where the lush green light lessened.

"She's gone into the forest," Hazel said.

I nodded, "I wonder who or what she's following." I said as we started after her again.

"I think I have a good idea," Hazel said and we broke into a jog.

We didn't have to go far before I heard voices, or rather, one voice up ahead.

"No, Oak, wait!" Nicholina's voice called.

I heard a scuffle, and then silence.

Hazel ducked and hid behind a large bush. She moved some foliage away from her face to try and see.

I crouched next to her but I couldn't see anything.

"What can you see?" I whispered to her.

"Not much," she whispered back, "I think Nick is standing in front of some trees but I can see the other person."

"Oak," I said, remembering that Nick had shouted that name.

"Oooh!" Hazel said, turning to me with a mischievous grin, "The handsome traumatized prince?! Do you think-"

"Ugh," I groaned before she could finish. "Not now, Hazel."

"Oak," Nick's voice said, "You can't just run."

There was a pause, like she was waiting for him to answer but he didn't.

"Oak," she said again, "Will you please talk to me? I know what you've been feeling, about your father."

Oh, I realized. Nick must have been paying more attention to him than I thought.

"No you don't," Another voice said. It was hoarse and quiet, like the owner didn't use it much.

"I do, actually," Nick said. "I lost my parents when I was only five. One night at dinner they got a call sending them on a mission. They didn't come back."

Hazel looked at me with an expression I couldn't quite read. I knew what she meant though. Nick never liked to talk about her past, especially not her Dragon parents.

"So yes," Nick said, "I do know exactly how you feel. You don't have to talk about it, but you should. Sometimes, there are days when I almost can't get out of bed because the loss feels so new and heavy, but I do it anyway because I still have people I care about. Things can get better, I know for a fact. Friends make it better as well. Without my friends, I would be completely and utterly lost right now. So you could start by making some friends."

There was a long pause, I didn't dare say anything to Hazel.

The reply finally came, "I can't," Oak said.

"Why?" Nick asked, "Just talk to someone. Find something in common. For starters, I want to be your friend. My friends, Remi and Hazel, are also amazing people, I'm sure they would talk with you. Their parents aren't around either, you know."

"Why?" Oak said, and for a moment, I was confused as to what he meant. He could have been asking why Nick would want to be his friend, or, he could have been asking why Hazel and I don't have parents, or, he could have been asking why Nick was even talking to him at all.

Nick answered the first question.

"I want to be your friend because I believe in you," She said, "I believe that you can be happy and I want to help."

He sighed, long and slow.

"You're kind of scary Nicholina,"

She laughed, "Why thank you, Remi is scarier though."

I turned to Hazel and mouthed, is that true?

She shrugged.

I had to admit, I wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"So, Oak, what i'm trying to say is that you don't have to talk to anyone, but i'm here if you want to and so are Remi and Hazel. You aren't alone."

And with that, Nick turned and jogged back into the forest.

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Written by justasnarky_sandwing on WATTPAD