“But then Rome fell. And after that?” I winced, anticipating what was coming.
“There were some early Christian missionaries, at least according to our histories, who embraced our people. They saw a lot in common between our beliefs and theirs. They thought we could learn from one another. But then others came who feared us, who believed our reverence for the Earth made us idolaters.”
“And they persecuted you,” I said.
Layla nodded. “In those days, the Earth’s ley lines intersected all over Albion. At such places, we erected stone circles.”
“Like Stonehenge?” I asked.
“That’s one example. Certain stones naturally draw on the Earth’s energy. They absorb it. Our ancestors used stones to help channel it. That’s how they created portals to the planet I grew up on.”
“New Albion,” I said.
Layla nodded.
“So, the druids were elves?”
Layla shook her head. “Albion was inhabited in those days by humans and giants. The magic on New Albion, the climate and conditions, caused both of our peoples to evolve differently than we might have on Earth. Humans and giants became elves and orcs.”
“So, you used to be human, or at least, your ancestors were.”
Layla shrugged. “The word ‘elf’ comes from our ancestors’ language. Elfydd. It means Earth. We were the people of the Earth. The elves. Druids, if you will.”
“And the orcs were giants?”
“The word orc comes from ogre. It’s a derogatory term, to be honest.”
“Then why do you use it?”
“Your armies often do the same. Your soldiers used to refer to the enemies in Vietnam as gooks and Iraqis as hajji.”
I shook my head. “Yeah, and it was racist to do that.”
“Our soldiers use the word orc for much the same reason. It allows us to imagine they are something other, something less than we are.”
“Elves are racist, too?”
Layla shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t even know if the orcs themselves find the word offensive. That’s not the point. If we call them eleven giants, well, that’s too close to calling them elves.”
“Is that what they call themselves? Elven giants?” I asked.
Layla nodded. “Literally, the larger people of the Earth. But as long as they remain the sworn enemies of the elven kingdom on New Albion, I imagine the term orc will be hard to shake.”
“So the orcs, or the elven giants, aren’t really bad people?”
Layla shrugged. “I grew up a daughter of a king who inherited a legacy of war. All I can say is that the war on New Albion has practically exhausted our new world’s supply of magic. The particular orc—”
“Elven giant, you mean?”
“Right. B’iff is not the largest of his kind. That’s probably why he was sent here. Larger than most humans, for sure, but not so large that he couldn’t pass.”
“And this blade he has, the one I got stabbed with.”
Layla sighed. “The Blade of Echoes. It was forged by an ancient druid before we fled. No one knows how he did it, but it’s how we brought some of Earth’s magic with us to New Albion. Originally, I mean. According to legend, the Blade could absorb untold quantities of Earth’s magic and then release it like an echo, into new channels. New ley lines, if you will. Our ancestors used it to infuse New Albion with Earth’s magic so our people could continue to live as we had, as children of the Earth, even in our new world.”
“And this giant, this Biff guy, he got a hold of it somehow?”
“B’iff,” Layla corrected.
“That’s what I said.” I stared at Layla.
“No, you didn’t. It’s B’iff.”
“I still can’t hear the difference. B’iff?”
“Yes, you got it!” Layla was smiling wide.
I chuckled. “I have no clue what I did differently just now.”
“Never mind. For centuries, the Blade was considered a myth. It was hidden somewhere by the druid who’d forged it before coming to New Albion. But the orcs—the elven giants, rather—found it. And with our magic depleted on New Albion from years of war between our peoples, we believe they sent B’iff to Earth to extract a new dose of Earth’s magic. Only this time, they intend to hoard the magic for themselves.”
“To hoard it?” I laughed.
“What’s so funny about that?”
“Nothing,” I shook my head. “Just in a game I play, Word of Warcraft, the kingdom of orcs is referred to as ‘the Horde.’”
Layla nodded. “It is not surprising that a semblance of our world has survived in yours through myths and legends. From time to time, our people have traversed between worlds. In small numbers, and only when your Earth has a full moon.”
“Which is why you’re here now.”
“It’s not the first time I’ve come,” Layla said. “It’s why I know so much. The elves have always appointed travelers, people who might gain intelligence about your world. Just in case we’re ever forced to return.”
“So that cult, the Cult of the Elven Gate. They aren’t entirely wrong. You do have designs to come to Earth?”
“Yes and no. Call it our Plan B. The magic of Earth, the Awen, that the Blade of Echoes originally brought to our planet is what makes New Albion inhabitable. It infused what was once a barren planet with the mana of life. As our magic wanes, our planet becomes increasingly hostile.”
“And now the orcs have come to claim more magic for themselves. So they can wipe the elves out and live on New Albion by themselves?”
Layla nodded. “We have to recover the Blade to prevent that. Eventually, we may need to use the Blade ourselves to save our planet. But it should not be for one side or the other, as if the Awen of life was an instrument of war.”
I nodded. “I agree. I mean, insofar as I can accept all this stuff you’re telling me. It’s a bit much if I’m honest.”
“Understandable,” Layla said. “I mean, it’s ironic, isn’t it? That a human, and a member of the clergy at that, might be the one chosen by the Blade of Echoes? The one the druid of old declared might one day save our people? Ironic because it was in part the clergy whose condemnations eventually led to our expulsion from this planet.”
I shook my head. “I know that sort. I’ve dealt with them. But that’s not me. It’s certainly not what our Bible teaches. It’s not what Jesus taught. It’s not why I became a minister.”
“My father thinks it’s preposterous. Blasphemous, even.”
“That a human might be the chosen one?” I asked.
Layla nodded. “The whole notion took me by surprise, too. I mean, I was raised under the elven dogma. My father, like most of our kind, has extremely specific ideas about what the chosen one will be.”
“An elf, I presume?”
“Of course,” Layla said. “Certainly not a human born on Earth. But I can’t deny the signs—that you could survive a cut by the Blade, that you seem to have acquired a familiar.”
“That seems like a stretch. I mean, you said that your kind can talk to mammals.”
“On Earth, yes. But we don’t have nearly so many animals on New Albion. Only those native to our planet’s environment and they do not speak to us. Only travelers, like me, have ever experienced speaking to animals.”
“So, that I should acquire that ability, that I’d have a familiar, is still not a sure proof that I’m this chosen one. I mean, you can talk to Agnus, too.”
Layla cocked her head. “I’ve only been considering the implications of what it might mean that a human would be the chosen one for about two days, so bear with me. But it makes sense if you think about it. It would be a human, someone on Earth, who was attuned to the magic of Awen coming through the Blade of Echoes who would acquire an animal companion, a familiar. Perhaps the prophecy isn’t a random sign to identify the chosen one but a description of what would happen after surviving the Blade’s cut.”
"But you still think I'm part of
some prophecy?"
Layla nodded. "So far, you've checked the boxes. Not all of them, not yet. I suppose we’ll see if my theory is correct as events unfold."
"What other boxes are left to check?"
"I'm not telling you."
"Why not?"
"Because then you'll avoid them, putting them off as long as you can, in which case, destiny will raise its head and make your life a living hell until you do what has to be done to see the prophecy through. Or, supposing you decide you want to be the one, you'll make things happen on your own. If that's the case, I'll never be able to convince my father that you've fulfilled the prophecy. He'll think you just made it happen to get into my pants...or whatever."
I chuckled nervously. It had been a while since I’d flirted with anyone, and she’d set that one up for me, practically begging me to spike it over the net. A witty response, something! But I had nothing. I felt like an anxious teenager trying to work up the courage to hold a girl’s hand in a movie theater for the first time. “No, I’m not doing that.”
Layla smirked and locked her eyes onto mine. “Ever?”
My fingers were fidgeting now, nervously toying with the bunched-up fabric on the knee-fold of my jeans. “I don’t mean that you’re not attractive. I’m just saying, I wouldn’t lie about being some kind of elven messiah just to sleep with you.”
“You’d be surprised by the lies men will tell if they think they will work.”
I shook my head. “No, I wouldn’t. I believe you. I’ve met a few human men. I am one.”
“No, you don’t say!”
I chuckled. “It’s true. Sorry to break the news to you. But my point is, even if I was like that, and I’m not, I couldn’t make up this stuff that’s happening. And to do that to get into your pants? No. Not that I wouldn’t like…ugh. Never mind.”
Layla laughed. It was like I’d dug myself into a hole and couldn’t stop digging, and she was getting a kick out of it all. She was toying with me. Why couldn’t I be more suave? More debonair? Reciprocate her flirtations with something of my own, something alluring, something…manly. Whatever the hell that meant. At the very least, something non-buffoonish would be good.
“So, you’re in?”
“In on what?” I asked.
“Coming with me. To try to track down B’iff and get the blade before he manages to use it to acquire more magic?”
I sighed. “I want to help. Don’t get me wrong. But I’m not an action hero or anything. And what I’m doing, I can’t control it. I’d probably just slow you down.”
“That’s the thing,” Layla said. “I lost B’iff’s trail when I stopped to help you, to heal you. I can’t find him without you.”
“So, how am I going to be able to help you with that?”
Layla rested her hand on my knee. I glanced down. She even had pretty fingers. “I think, if I’m right about what happened, the Blade infused you with some of its magic. How much of it you can use is hard to say. I’m not sure if it opened you up to the Earth forever and you’ll always be able to use magic, or if it just charged you up temporarily like some kind of battery. Either way, I believe you’re attuned to the Blade. If you can access that magic, get yourself aligned with it, you should be able to help me find him.”
“And the fate of your people, all the elves, depends on it?” I asked.
Layla nodded and squeezed my knee a little. “We have until the next full moon. B’iff will try to charge the Blade from a source somewhere. That’s why he came to Missouri.”
“Missouri?” I furrowed my lip. “What’s so magical about this place?”
“There are still ley lines that course through Albion, what you know as Britain. Where our people were from. But the ley lines that intersect here are even stronger. With all the limestone deposits in this region, it doesn’t even take stone circles to tap into it. Did you know that your state has more caves than any other state in this country?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I grew up here. I’ve been to a lot of cave tours in the Ozarks.”
Layla nodded. “According to Google, there are six thousand four hundred known caves in Missouri. Mostly in the Ozarks.”
“You Google?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.
Layla reached into her pocket and retrieved an iPhone. “Father doesn’t know I have one. He thinks these things are evil.”
“Of the devil!” I exclaimed.
Layla giggled. “If we believed in a devil, yes. Though, perhaps he has a point. You humans, you can’t seem to take your eyes off these damned things.”
“Then why’d you get one?”
“As a traveler sent to study the Earth, I have to admit that this little device is quite useful. Hard to study and understand human culture without a smartphone.”
I nodded, reached into my pocket, and grabbed my phone.
“Very true,” I said. “What’s your number?”
Layla smirked, and much to my dismay, removed her hand from my leg. “You’re already asking for my digits?”
I grinned a little. “Yes. I’m going to text you an invitation to this app I have that lets you form circles with your friends. That way, we can always find each other. We’ll be able to see each other on a map.”
“That’s brilliant,” Layla said. “Can you use it to find B’iff?”
I shrugged. “Not unless you have his phone number and he’s dumb enough to accept our invitation.”
Layla chuckled. “I doubt he has one. Giant orc fingers on a touch screen? I have a hard enough time getting it to type what I want as it is. And this is, so far as I know, the first time an orc has come to Earth in centuries. I’m sure he’s seen these phones, but he probably has no clue what they are. And he’s not all that interested in learning about human culture. He’s here for one reason only.”
“To take our magic and give his armies an advantage against the elves in your world?” I asked.
Layla nodded. “And there’s no telling how close he is to the source. We need to find him sooner rather than later.”
I took a deep breath. “Okay. But not if there’s any more fighting. I barely survived my encounter with that guy once before. I presume you have a plan?”
“Leave the fighting to me,” Layla said. “I can take him.”
“Really?” I asked. “Because it looked like you were struggling to hold your own against him the other night.”
“That’s only because he had me cornered. He has brute strength. I have agility. If I’m careful, if I come after him from a distance, I might be able to take him out with an arrow.”
“An arrow? Are you serious?”
Layla shrugged. “What, you think I should get a gun? First, I don’t have the paperwork to even get a permit. Second, I’ve trained with a bow since I was just a little elf. Guns are loud. If we find B’iff anywhere near a city, near other people, well, we won’t want to draw any attention.”
“Good point,” I said. “So, where do we start?”
“We need a grove. Ideally, a clearing somewhere surrounded by trees.”
“Why trees?” I asked.
“Trees are the ancient guardians of Earth’s magic. If we’re going to gain any control over the magic inside you, if we’re ever going to get a handle on the magic you’ve been granted by the Blade of Echoes, we need to ask the trees for help.”
I rolled my eyes. “We’re going to go talk to trees?”
Layla grinned as she looked at Agnus, who had long since polished off his can of tuna but was desperately licking it for any molecule of residual goodness that might remain. “Until recently, you’d never have thought that cats could talk, either. Perhaps the situation we’re in calls for an open mind.”
“Point taken,” I said. “There are plenty of trees in Forest Park. We should be able to find some kind of grove there like what you’re talking about.”
“Perfect,” Layla said. “You coming along, Agnus?”
“Does it involve another car ride?” My cat replied.<
br />
“Yes,” I added.
“Then, no. You two have fun. But behave, Casp. I call dibs on the elf. Remember, bros before—”
“Got it,” I said, cutting him off. I knew where he was going with that, and evoking a man code that refers to women as “hos” wasn’t the way to curry favor with Layla. Even if it was only Agnus who said it. “We’ll be back soon.”
Chapter Twelve
In addition to being the state with the most caves, Missouri also boasts the second-largest urban park in the United States. Forest Park is second in size only to New York’s Central Park. See, there I go bragging about the secret virtues of my state again.
We Missourians like to boast of whatever statistics we can find that set us apart as something other than fly-over country. For instance, while we don’t have any oceans in Missouri, the Lake of the Ozarks has more shoreline than the state of California. It’s the largest man-made lake in the United States. Take that, Pacific Ocean.
While it might be common to say that we live in a state of misery (playing on the sound of the name of the state), there are quite a few cool things to do here. And St. Louis’ Forest Park is worth a visit if you ever have reason to stop. Forest Park has a zoo, golf courses, a museum, and trails that go on for miles.
It’s also a peaceful spot in the middle of an otherwise chaotic city.
Provided, of course, you don’t spend too much time there after dark. Absent a death wish, that’s not something I’d recommend.
If it were early spring or even summer, the place would have been buzzing with people. Even then, though, if you knew where to go, you could find a few secluded spots.
I’d been there enough times that I had a good idea of where we could go. We’d just have to do a little walking to get there.
“You realize,” I said as we walked down one of the park’s trails, “we’re standing over the place where they buried the Ferris wheel from the World’s Fair.”
Layla laughed. “I may be better versed in Earth culture than the rest of my people, but I’m sorry to say I don’t understand the significance of that.”
Who Let the Dogma Out (The Elven Prophecy Book 1) Page 7
