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Big Clean Up
The next morning, instead of waking up due to sunlight or Leah suffocating me again, a loud sound woke me up. I nearly threw Leah, who had reverted to her child form and grumbled, onto the ground. Leah rolled over to a side of the bed and continued sleeping. I scrubbed my hair. The sun had yet to rise all the way up; it still wasn’t time to wake up yet. I covered Leah with the blanket then grabbed my cane and left the room. When I arrived outside, I saw Veirya also standing in the corridor with her long sword in hand.
“What’s the matter?”
Veirya shook her head: “I don’t. Know, either. The sound. Came from the elves. Maybe something. Happened inside.”
I pushed the door open to see the elven bodyguard crawling on the ground, trying to reach her Queen. I sped over to her side and helped her up. She was weak, but she put up a desperate struggle, nonetheless. I put my back into it to put her on the bed. I seriously said, “Calm down. What are you doing? Don’t worry. Don’t worry. She’ll be fine. She’ll be fine.”
She continued to desperately struggle. She wouldn’t stop jumping up and down in my arms. She tried to push me away, but she was too weak: there was no way she could muscle me off in spite of her best efforts.
“Let… let… let me go to her… Human… Human… let me… go… go… to my Queen.”
She barely uttered a few words, not to mention that it was as if she was coughing blood with each word.
“Don’t rush; don’t rush. Your Queen will be fine. She’ll be fine. We’ll take care of her; we’ll take care of her.”
I pushed the elf down on the bed. She wouldn’t quit struggling and loudly coughing. Veirya came up to her and gently pressed a hand on her chest. Veirya said, “I know. What you’re thinking. But right now. You’re hurt. You can’t protect her. So. Rest up for now.”
“You… you…”
The elven bodyguard was surprised to see Veirya. She must’ve recognised Veirya, not that it should’ve been surprising, as Veirya was humanity and elves’ hero, the one who slew the Demon King. Veirya placed her long sword on the bodyguard’s chest: “You’re an. Excellent bodyguard. So, don’t worry. Your Queen. Will be fine. This. Is for you. After you recover. Protect her.”
I didn’t understand what the sword represented in her situation, but the bodyguard glanced at Veirya. A smile slowly surfaced on the bodyguard’s face. She tightly clutched the long sword. The sword was far more important than what she could handle at the moment. She still continued to desperately grab the sword, as it was the symbol of a guard’s dignity.
Unsure of what Veirya would use instead: “Your sw-.”
Veirya shook her head without concern, “I. Don’t have a specific sword. That I use. The sword. That Her Majesty. Gave me. Has snapped. I lost it. I don’t use. A specific sword. That’s why. It doesn’t matter.”
“I see…”
While Veirya said that, I had a feeling that Veirya wasn’t too happy. After all, a bodyguard must’ve felt very honoured to have their own sword. Though Veirya wasn’t a bodyguard by definition, she probably hoped to have a sword that another gifted her, as well.
I didn’t think I’d be able to get my hands on a sword, but I should be able to purchase one for Veirya. I needed to ask the dwarves for one, though. Supposedly, dwarves were experts in creating such weapons. I planned to contact them to buy the best sword they had for her.
The bodyguard appeared as though she had recovered, judging from the fact she could speak and move. The medicine the elf prescribed was very effective as I thought. In just mere hours, the elf had recovered a lot. I looked over to the diplomat. She silently lied on the bed. Tears silently coursed down the corner of her shut eyes. In my opinion, she was the most pitiful among them, for the issue most likely had nothing to do with her. She was only a diplomat, yet she was exiled from her homeland. She didn’t do anything wrong, yet had to go through all of that suffering.
I went over to the diplomat with light steps and gently took hold of her hand. In a gentle voice, I told her, “It’s fine; it’s fine. Don’t be heartbroken. It’s all in the past now. It’s safe here with us. This may not be your homeland, but homes are always changing.”
Veirya, curious, asked, “Is your home. Always changing?”
I gently nodded: “Uhm. I don’t have a homeland so as to speak. I have no idea where my homeland is. From a young age, I continuously migrated from one place to the next. I met different people in different cities, and travelled different paths. I never had a home I could settle down in.”
Veirya replied, “You do. Now. Where family is. Is home. Now. You have Leah. So, you have a home.”
I smiled helplessly. I was very happy to have Leah, true, but the answer that I wanted to hear was Veirya to tell me that she was my family. She didn’t seem as though she understood what I was thinking, sadly. The elf opened her eyes to look at me with a heartbroken gaze. She gently grabbed my clothes. Her lips gently trembled as tears coursed down. After a while, she gradually made out two heartbreaking words: “It hurts…”
I was speechless. All I could do was hold her hand. She tightly shut her eyes as her tears of sorrow rolled down her face. I wasn’t sure if the pain she referred to was physically or mentally. She suffered too much for a girl. I had nothing I could say, and no words of comfort to share. I could only touch her head as a sign of sympathy.
Finally, I looked over to the Elven Queen. Compared to the two I just checked on, the Queen hadn’t made a sound or given any reaction. In fact, she hadn’t changed her posture. I was quite worried. While the two elves had recovered, the Queen had yet to make a peep. She was as silent as the dead. I walked over and touched her arm. Fortunately, her arm was still soft; it wasn’t stiff. Furthermore, I could feel the warmth of life on my finger tip, albeit faintly.
I gently placed my hand on her cheek. I guess the Queen was feeling relatively blissful. After all, she had yet to realise that she couldn’t see anymore. Everything was dark to her. When she regained her conscious, she’d realise her predicament. She’d feel blissful if didn’t realise that she’d be living in darkness forever. If she did realise it, though, she’d be drowned in infinite suffering. Eyes were important for any race.
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Current time in the elven forest.
Whoosh!
The handsome young man set down his bow. He then squinted as his eyes chased the end of his arrow, which shot through the air and curved before piercing the throat of an elf tied to a timber pillar. The elf struggled with pain as enormous amounts of blood spilt from his throat.
“Geez, Brother!”
Lucia, who was off to the side, jumped to her feet and fired an arrow. Her arrow pierced the fruit that rolled off the previously shot elf’s head and pinned the berry to his throat. Lucia put her bow down and grumpily folded her arms. She said to her older brother, “The arrow should’ve pierced the fruit, not the elf’s throat, Brother. It’s such an embarrassment for our clan’s successor to have such poor archery skills.”
“My dear sister, how can you be sure that my target was the fruit and not the elf’s throat?” Lucia’s brother laughed as he picked up a fruit from a plate by the side. When he bit into it, the juice resembling blood covered his teeth. He looked at the elf’s corpse that eventually stopped budging. Satisfied, he said, “That traitorous Elven Queen has been exiled, but by the looks of things, there are lots of traitors among us elves. Elves can live perfectly well in our own forest. Before humans were around, elves were free. Since humans set foot in our forests, however, they’ve only slain our kindness with blades. We did our best in the last war for our homeland, not them. Now that it’s settled, humanity has laid their ambitious gazes on our forest. That’s why we can’t interact with humans. That woman is dragging elves to hell.”
“Absolutely. Besides our friend, humans can’t be trusted.”
Lucia emphasised the word “friend.” Her brother nodded, and then wrapped his arm around her shoulder: “Dear Sister, the elves’ internal structure has yet to settle down. It’s pointless for us to shoot the fruits on their plates. The turmoil brought on by political changes is very difficult to settle. There are bound to be lots of elves secretly plotting against us, but if we aim straight for their throats as I did just now. If we twang one arrow straight through their throat, then elves will find peace and stability.”
Lucia earnestly nodded: “I understand. I can give up everything for elves even in spite of my reluctance to kill fellow elves.”
“No, my dear Lucia; you are wrong.” Lucia’s brother shook his head then bent down to kiss his sister on her lips, transferring the strong scent of blood to his sister’s lips. He softly chuckled: “Those elves, who betrayed us, are no longer elves but beasts. My sister, there’s no need to be concerned or hurt. You’re not killing elves; you’re merely killing wild beasts that want to kill us. From the moment they chose to turn their backs on us, they were no longer our friends. My dear sister, it’s time for a big clean up. There is too much trash among us elves at current.”
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