The Elven Elders

They all went in and sat at the table. Tasha brought them all a glass of ice water then went back and got Ivy's ice cream. So what are we having today? asked Ktara. Alieta told me that you make just one type of food per day. Yes that is sort of true but breakfast is always eggs or pancakes and lunch is always sandwiches. Only us elves here to feed, said Tasha. Now dinner is not made yet but some of yesterday's dinner is left over for you two to try. Today's dinner is made up of three different types of meat that you would not normally cook together, plus mushrooms and kidney beans with some other veggies and then lightly seasoned. It takes a while to prepare and even longer to cook but is well worth the wait. I will heat up the other stew now. Ivy finished her ice cream and Tasha asked if she wanted more. Want yes but need no, said Ivy. Viridian told me not to over eat with ice cream. It is fattening and can give me a sore tummy. Yes it is but you don't have to worry about getting fat dear. If you want you can go outside and talk to a few more trees then go to the next house that has Tess in it that will be waiting for you, said Tasha. She is our reader and seer here. Okay, said Ivy but I only have to talk to a couple of trees. Then they communicate under ground but they are so very pretty, said Ivy. How much for the ice cream? asked Ivy. Oh I got it, said Alexa. Okay, then Ivy left. Forest sprites, they are so nice and funny to talk to when they are not hiding in the shadows of the trees, said Tasha. Such a pleasure having her here. Ivy is very special I can tell. She has strong energy inside and blocks anyone trying to read her with out even trying, said Tasha. Ya she is the best, said Ktara, but she doesn't read anyone unless they say it is okay. Even then she really doesn't do it unless she feels you are bad in some way. Very nice of her, such control is hard to come by, said Tasha. Now let me get your bowls of stew.

Ivy walked around a bit and talked to a few more trees and starting touching them too. They like it when you do that said a voice from behind her. Yes I know. They seem to really like my touch, said Ivy. Yes Ivy, you are a tree's best friend, even more so than the tree growing beside it. I can tell the trees everywhere here are so happy you are here. So you must be Tess then, said Ivy. Well yes, can't you read that in me. Well I could but I don't do that unless asked to. Not very mannerly, said Ivy. Tess smiled. Well today me and you are going to have some fun, said Tess. Oh I like fun, said Ivy. Now come into my home and we will talk some first. Okay, said Ivy and followed Tess into her home. They both sat down and Tess asked Ivy why she kept her insides all closed up. You mean why I don't let anyone read me? asked Ivy. Yes that is what I mean sort of. Oh well it is automatic. I found that if someone reads me and found out that I was very young and much better at reading than them, then they might get mad or not like me, said Ivy. I see, said Tess. I understand why you might not want anyone to read you, nobody likes someone snooping around inside seeing what they have no business knowing about, said Tess. Yep but I have no secrets and don't care but when someone reads me, I can see in them and much faster and deeper so I just keep the door closed sort of. I see, that is very interesting, said Tess. Now you and I are going to exercise our reading talents. It is very healthy and should be done from time to time, just like physical exercise. Okay, said Ivy. Now first you read me deeply as long as you wish. I don't mind at all. Okay, said Ivy. Tess put out her hand. Oh I don't need to touch you, said Ivy. Oh really said, Tess. Ivy started looking at Tess for a few seconds. Wow there is a lot in you she said as she continued to read her a bit more. I think I should stop now. You are very deep and have done a lot, said Ivy and she stopped reading Tess. So what did you see, asked Tess. Lots and lots of stuff, said Ivy. Many people you have met and places you have been, twelve children wow and I saw Alieta and two other sprites living here. Lots more stuff to including Ginger lately but you go back a very long ways before there was a Fae Land and when you lived somewhere else very far away with dwarfs and other elves. Well that is remarkable, said Tess, and with out touching is also extraordinary. You saw most of my past in just a few seconds. Now my turn but I have to touch you and you have to let me in okay. Yep, fair is fair, said Ivy. Tess smiled. Ivy gave Tess her hand but she stopped and saw the bracelet on her arm. You have one of my bracelets, said Tess. I sold that to Cindy the jewelry story owner that Sable enchanted. She had to promise to only sell it to someone worthy to wear it. Well Alexa bought it for me and said it was a friendship bracelet and it can make me translucent like her ring. I love it and rarely go translucent but I never take it off, said Ivy. Well it actually did end up on the correct person's wrist, said Tess. Funny how this happen like that. Now where were we, oh yes, reading you. Lets try that again. Tess took Ivy's hand and started to read her as best as she could. After about a minute she stopped. Wow Ivy, how do you contain so much inner energy. What I saw was first very happy little girl then very sad that turned to anger. Your parents died when you were not to much younger than you are now. You became a loner for a while then a trickster I think you called it. You can disappear at will also. Yes but don't tell anyone. They all think I can't do that anymore, said Ivy. Okay I won't, said Tess. You ended up in Fae Land and that is when your anger turned back to sadness then you started to become happy again with the help of Gabriel and Alieta and a the pixie named Pippa. Yep, Pippa is my best friend, said Ivy. She is the only one that knows I can still disappear. You have a great responsibility now and for such a young girl but you handle it perfectly. Ya well God gave me a helper. Sara is a best friend of mine too, well more like my sister, said Ivy. So how many best friends do you have? asked Tess. Just Viridian, she loves me too, almost like her daughter plus Sara and I live with her in the house Alieta had built for us. So the thing called the cove, I saw that you have full control over it's magic. Yep, the magic in the pool comes from the magic in Eden and that is where Gods love is strongest. What do you mean God's love is strongest in Eden? asked Tess. You know, Gods love is the magic and it is everywhere but it is strongest in Eden and he lets me touch and feel his magic and move it around to help other places in Fae Land. You are a remarkable girl Ivy, said Tess. You understand more about God than anyone I have ever known. Now lastly your turning twenty soon and at first it made you a bit sad but now you are looking forward to it. Why? The presents Tess, all those presents. Alexa was the only one that every gave me a gift now everyone is getting me gifts. Tess started to laugh. Yes we all love presents and you are one girl that deserves them. Alieta is throwing me a party but don't let her know that I know, said Ivy. I kinda saw that in her by mistake. Besides she loves throwing parties. Yes she does, said Tess, Yes she does.

Tasha gave Alexa and Ktara their bowl of stew and a spoon. Okay have a taste, said Tasha. It smells great, said Ktara. They both gave it a taste and found it to be extremely tasty. This is amazing said Ktara. The flavor of the pork and beef seems to be enhanced with some spice. Yes Ktara I see you know a lot about cooking. There are a few added herbs and spices that bring out the flavor in both beef and pork. A bit of garlic is good for both meats and of coarse some salt and pepper. But rosemary and thyme plus some parsley helps with the over all flavor, combined with the vegetables in the correct portions makes it something special, said Tasha. So how do you like the stew? asked Tasha to Alexa. I don't know how you make it but it is fantastic. Ivy really missed out with this, said Alexa then kept on eating. Tasha smiled then went back behind the counter. They both finished their stew and used the bread that Tasha b bought over to wipe up every last bit of the gravy. That was fantastic Tasha. Thanks a lot, said Alexa. Glad you liked it said Tasha. Now Ktara, you can stay and help me get today's meal ready for dinner time. I know that is what you are most interested in. I was told by Alieta that you are a great cook too so maybe we can swap some recipies and I am especially interested in your sauces that you add to your dishes. Okay that would be great, said Ktara. Now Alexa, I know you are mostly interest in the armor and weapons. That is both Tess's and Sable's area of work. Tess makes the garment portion of the armor and Sable enchants both the completed armor and the weapons plus other unique items like the ring you are wearing, said Tasha. Yes that would be great to find out how that all works, said Alexa. Now Ivy is probably still at Tess's place. Ivy is one strong and complexed sprite. She may be busy with her for a bit longer yet, said Tasha. So go see Sable next. She would love to see you and answer any of your questions. She can be a bit of a busy buddy though. Alexa smiled. Yes Alieta said that and said if I had any questions about her that Sable was the one to talk to. Oh yes, Alieta is a very interesting girl. An amazing past so far, said Tasha. Okay off you go, she is in the last house up the road before you get to the inn. Okay thanks Tasha and Alexa paid her for everones food then left.

Alexa walked up the road and saw that there were a few elves walking around and doing some work together. Very quiet and peaceful here she thought to herself. She saw a wagon pulled up and stop then a dwarf got down and started to talk to one of the elves. My that looks like Garth, thought Alexa. She walked over to him and he looked very happy to see her again. Hi Garth, I see you are still working hard in the mountain. Oh yes Alexa, a dwarf's work is never done and he smiled. So these are already to be enchanted I suppose, said Alexa. Yes they are but only a few items are special orders and will be enchanted first. The rest goes into storage for Sable to enchant later when someone comes and wants to buy something from the elves here. They have a very good business going on in this small village, said Garth. Must be, that is a full wagon of weapons and armor, said Alexa. Yes, it is, said Garth, Queen Cleopatra from the elf kingdom is refitting all of her army with new armor and weapons. She has a big army so we can only give her a bit at a time, said Garth. Yes I know her well, said Alexa. She actually came to see Alieta once when they were about to be attacked. It took my team there and took care of the problem, said Alexa. Garth smiled. You and your team must be something, said Garth. I have only met a few of them but very talented girls. Yep, we know how to get the job done, said Alexa. So all good at the mountain now? Yep no problems, said Garth but Sable did give us a bunch of enchanted bows and arrows in trade once for a delivery. Good for just in case plus we really don't need anymore money as you know, said Garth. Okay off to work. So what are you doing here, he asked. Oh I came to see Sable and talk to her and see how she enchants stuff, said Alexa. Oh yes, the magic of enchanting has always puzzled me. I just leave that stuff to the pros, said Garth then he walked over to help the elves unload the wagon.

Alexa went to Sable's house and saw the door was swung open. She went in and saw her sitting staring at her coffee mug on her desk. Oh hi Alexa, I was expecting you, said Sable. So what is wrong with that mug? asked Alexa. It is empty that is what is wrong with it, said Sable. So why don't you fill it up? asked Alexa. Sable smiled. Yes that I can do but I want something very special in this mug and just can't seem to get it right. Oh like a magic potion, said Alexa. Nope coffee, said Sable. Alexa smiled. Really just coffee? asked Alexa. No not just coffee but the perfect mug of coffee that I like to drink. I have only drank it once a long time ago in a far away town and now I have been trying to recreate it here in this mug. I think I am close but still not perfect yet. Well try again and let me watch, said Alexa. Sometimes a second point of view can be helpful. Okay, said Sable, it won't hurt anyways. She looked at the mug and said some words in old elven then coffee appeared in the mug. I can tell from here that it is not right, said Sable. Wrong smell and colour. So what is it actually suppose to smell and taste like? asked Alexa. Oh it should have a nice creamy foam on top and the french vanilla taste, said Sable. Hmm. Well I am not a coffee expert but you must be saying the wrong thing to the mug. Maybe try a different language, said Alexa. Do you know french. Yes of coarse, I know many languages, said Sable. I don't think that would matter though. Try it, said Alexa. Ktara told me that if she is missing just one ingredient in what she wants to cook, it won't taste right. Maybe that is the missing ingredient. Okay, why not. I have tried everything else. Sable looked at the mug and said the same enchantment but in french this time. The mug slowly filled leaving a nice foam on the top and Alexa could smell the vanilla from where she sat. Hmm, looks and smells right, said Sable. She tasted it and her yes opened wide. My goodness, that is it. Perfect, said Sable. That was so simple. You definitely have a good head on your shoulders dear. You got any idea how long I have been trying to do this, never mind, I am too embarrassed to say. Alexa smiled. Glad I could help, she said. Pull up a chair and lets talk, said Sable.

So Alexa. I heard that you were interested in the process of making enchanted items, said Sable. Yes it is something I have always wondered about. Just wearing the armor or using my sword would be better if I knew how the magic got there, said Alexa. Awe an inquisitive mind you have. That is very useful in expanding your knowledge of the world, said Sable. Okay then first of all we don't make the armor or weapons here, though Tess adds fabric and lining to the armor to make them look nice and more comfortable. She is the best with a needle and thread and the loom. Now armor takes a bit longer than weapons and items. The armor's fabric has to hang for at least two to three days to make sure any wrinkles are gone and every day the fabric must be pulled and stretched a bit until the proper texture and length is achieved . Then Tess has an elf bring me the armor and depending what the person that ordered it wants it to protect them from and how strong it will be then I get to work on it. The more features the armor has the longer it takes and the more expensive it is. You see only one enchanted feature can be added per day. Making it stronger to protect one from swords and arrows, is done first. Then the armor can be made lighter. Once again the lighter it is the stronger the spell and more expensive it will be. That is the limit of both enchantments. Other things like repelling arrows or breaking a sword when it hits the armor can be added also one at a time. That makes for a very expensive item. The one that Alieta ordered for you was a special custom armor and took a very long time to finish. Your small stature and your ability to run fast and jump high plus flexibility was hard to achieve but between Tess and I we got it done because Alieta is our girl and she gets what every she asks for no matter how difficult it is to make. Wow so my armor is very expensive then? asked Alexa. Oh yes dear, the most expensive and hardest armor we have ever made here, said Sable. I have worn it several times now and it is so light and easy to move around in, said Alexa. Oh yes dear plus it repels arrows and shatters enchanted swords, said Sable, Alieta wasn't satisfied with it just breaking a sword or spear. Wow, I didn't know that. Lately we haven't had many hand to hand battles with Viridian and Zatsuky on the team with their amazing weapons, said Alexa. Yes I enchanted the spear but got an extra boost from the heavens I heard and Merlin added his magic to the Crimson Sword that I originally enchanted. It can not be made any stronger than it is now, said Sable. Now the last thing Alieta needed was very hard to do. What was that, asked Alexa. Well she said that you were quite pretty and wanted the armor to make you look pretty also, said Sable. Now we did that but when Alieta saw it she loved the design but also saw that the chest and neck area was bare and unprotected. So she wasn't happy enough with it yet and left. You know she came several times to check out this armor for you. I really had no idea what she went through to get this armor ready for me, said Alexa. Well she wasn't doing the work so she didn't go through much. Just flying back and forth that was nothing to her, said Sable. Now finally after many attempts both Tess and I came up with an invisible fabric that also could not be felt at all by the wearer. I then had to enchant it like the rest of the armor that took another week to make it ready. It was like an invisible shield that protected your neck and open front and back areas. The armor now was protecting you from neck to toe. Your head is the only part of you that is unprotected. Only a helmet can do that but Alieta said you probably would never wear it unless one was really need. She has tons of helmets in her armory anyways. When Alieta came back for the last time she finally approved the armor after testing the open chest part with a knife. We gave her the bill and she didn't even question it one bit. Just said okay and thanked us and left looking very happy. My goodness, she went through all of that and so did you two just for me? asked Alexa. Yes we all did. Alieta wanted her number one warrior and friend protected with the best and that is what we gave her. You are very special to her and all of Fae Land you know, said Sable.

 Now I think that covers, everything that you wanted to know, said Sable. Yes that covers it all. I was thinking about asking you some questions about Alieta that she said she wouldn't mind but I know enough about her as is and that is good enough for me, said Alexa. Sable smiled. Yes Alieta is a very remarkable sprite and one of the oldest of her breed. While she lived here with her three friends many enhancements happened to her naturally like strength, hearing and other things, said Sable. The one thing that we never gave her or even the magic of our village did was her amazing personality and big heart. That she got form the almighty. That can never be improved on. Yes we all love Alieta, definitely the best person I have ever met, said Alexa. Ivy comes in at a close second though. Now Tess should be done with Ivy by now so go see her for a bit. If anything she would just love to meet you and maybe read you a bit but that will be up to you. Well I know I was adopted by a wealthy family that I first thought were my real parents, but I found out latter that they were not blood parents, said Alexa. I stopped looking for my real parents a long time ago. Well tell Tess that and you helped me with the coffee. She will be glad and likes french vanilla also, said Sable. Alexa met Ivy coming out of Tess's place. Hi Ivy, how was it in there for you? asked Alieta. It was amazing, she is funny and goes back a very long ways. Pretty good reader too, said Ivy. You will like her, said Ivy then walked over to a tree and started talking to it. Alexa smiled then went inside Tess's place. Hello Alexa. Very nice to finally meet you, said Tess. Thank you Tess, nice to meet you too, said Alexa. Now have a seat and lets chat a bit. I know that you were mostly interested in what Sable does, but we can still get to know each other better. Okay and Alexa sat down. Oh Sable asked me to tell you that I helped her get that coffee the way she loved it, said Alexa. Oh fantastic. She has been working on that what seems like forever, said Tess. So I already know a lot about you from what Alieta told me, especially while making that special armor for you. So does it fit you good, asked Tess. Oh yes it is perfect, said Alexa. Good, said Tess. So I don't need to read you but is there anything that you would like to know about me? ask Tess. Well Sable pretty much filled me in with what you do and how the two of you both work together, said Alexa. Yes we both have a long history together, said Tess. Now there is something that I am not sure you can do but I am adopted and couldn't find my blood parents. I must of just been a baby because I don't remember being adopted. Oh I see, you don't seem that old so it should not be that hard to look deep enough to find out where you came from, said Tess. Tess took Alexa's hand then started to read her. She saw all the adventures she was on and all of her friends. Then she let go and said, "Oh my". What is it? asked Alexa. Well first of all you have had an extraordinary life so far, said Tess. But most important and what you wanted to know is that you have no blood parents. What, how is that possible? asked Alexa. Well, I saw you as a baby in a very comfortable basket on the doorstep of what I am guessing was the parents that raised you. Okay, said Alexa. I figured I was adopted as a baby. Yes but there was a note attached to the handle of the basket. the wife read it out loud before taking you inside. "This special child is a gift from heaven to parents that are so kind and loving but cannot have their own child. Please love her as your own and teach her well". So what does that all mean? asked Alexa. An undeserving mother had me taken from her then given to them? Actually no, said Tess. You were either created by an angel or God himself. You girl are a blessed girl from heaven. Alexa went silent. You okay Alexa as Tess tapped her on her leg. Yes I am, just trying to wrap my head around this, said Alexa. So I am an angel's child or God's child, asked Alexa. Well it sure seems like that, said Tess. Now more than likely God's child because an angel can't create such a talented baby like you by herself. Okay, said Alexa. Now it would probably be best to keep this to yourself. Most people will just think you went nuts or something, said Tess. Yes of coarse, said Alexa. Now Gabriel probably knows exactly why and when you were created so talk to her. It will relax you and she is really good at comforting people. Okay I will do that when I get back home, said Alexa. So don't let it bother you and now you can stop wondering about where you came from, said Tess. Okay thanks Tess. That was amazing to say the least, said Alexa. Now go get yourself to some treats and ice cream at Tasha's place before you leave. Ivy should be there by now. She got all excited when I told her Tasha had treats too. Alexa smiled. Ya she really loves her sweets, said Alexa then headed out to Tasha's place.