Tiny pressed her lips tightly together and began stomping her feet on the ground. Tokak frowned in confusion. She looked from Mistake to Eltor and back again.
“You are trying to trick Tokak,” the large troll said.
“I am just being friendly,” insisted Mistake. “A friend of a friend is a friend. Now Eltor is your friend, too. How did you cross the sea? And why?”
The troll seemed to accept the argument as she sighed, “Tyriks spread too far in the other jungle. Tiny almost ended up in a web. We could not stay there any more. Tokak built a raft and came here. No tyriks here. Tiny is very happy.”
“Many elf smells here,” Tiny nodded her head enthusiastically. “I like it here.”
“Hunting elves is dangerous,” warned Mistake. “There are thousands of them here. Eating them may cause them to hunt you down. I would not like to see that. I don’t want my friends hurt.”
“Thousands?” Tiny echoed gleefully.
“Elves are a delicacy,” shrugged Tokak. “Too many is not good for trolls, but they are tasty. We will be careful.”
“Right,” Mistake nodded as she swallowed hard. “Well, we need to get going. Maybe I will come back and visit if that is alright with you?”
“Mistake is a friend,” smiled Tokak. “You come back, and we will eat together.”
Mistake pulled Eltor along as she moved cautiously past Tokak.
“Mistake bring elf snack when she returns,” shouted Tiny. “No bring friends.”
Mistake and Eltor moved swiftly along the trail. When they were a decent ways beyond the trolls, and long out of sight, they began running. They ran for half an hour before Eltor stopped to catch his breath.
“So that is where the raft came from,” Mistake said.
“I cannot believe that you talked our way out of that,” Eltor shook his head. “Their teeth would slice right through our bones. Where did you meet them?”
“The first day we were in the Qubari Jungle,” answered Mistake. “Rejji, Bakhai, and I were asleep. Bakhai had set a trip wire around our camp. Tiny stumbled over it. We were trying to revive the little one when the mother showed up. They are really quite nice once you get past their desire to eat you.”
“I think that I will stay away from the jungle from now on,” replied Eltor.
“How much farther to go?” asked Mistake.
“Just a little bit,” answered Eltor. “If I shouted right now, we would have company soon. In a few minutes of walking, the guards will notice us. We might as well get this over with.”
Eltor turned and began walking along the trail. Mistake followed at a distance in case something else jumped out and grabbed Eltor. A few minutes later, Mistake thought she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. When she looked back at the trail, Eltor stood facing two heavily armed elves. She walked forward to stand beside her friend.
“You have long been feared dead,” smiled one of the guards. “You are in trouble, but we welcome you home. Who is the female?”
“She is my friend,” answered Eltor. “Her name is Mistake, and I owe my life to her. She rescued me from the Island of Darkness.”
“Then she is welcome in our village,” nodded the guard. “Come and visit while the elders are informed of your return to Elvangar.”
The guards led Mistake and Eltor out of the jungle and into a glade. The villagers watched with curiosity as the visitors were escorted into the village. Mistake gazed about and wondered where the village was. She saw children running around and playing, and older people walking to and from a well. Eventually she looked up. The homes of the elves were built within the stately trees of the glade. They were hard to notice unless you were looking for them. They seemed to blend into the canopy.
A rope dropped from one of the homes. Two young male elves a little younger than Eltor slid down the ropes and rushed to greet Eltor. He greeted them fondly. Soon, others appeared and a crowd welcoming him home surrounded Eltor.
Chapter 17
Morada
MistyTrail sat on the raft with her legs wrapped around the mast. It was the only dry spot on the entire raft. Caldal did not seem to mind the water washing over his feet as he steered the craft. He had his boots tied around his neck and whistled as the waves constantly shoved the raft.
“Here we go,” Caldal called as he turned the raft towards the coast.
MistyTrail gazed at the coastline and thought that Caldal might have been in the sun too long. The thin strip of beach before the jungle was unbroken, yet Caldal was heading for it. MistyTrail hugged the mast and braced herself for the crash that she knew was to come.
Suddenly, the beach was gone. The jungle was far to each side of her as the raft floated along a wide canal. She stared ahead and saw a cliff in the distance. As they got closer, the cliff towered above them. A narrow passage was cut straight through the rock of the cliff. MistyTrail gazed upward at the tops of the cliff. She could see nothing up there, but she was sure that Caldal had told the truth. There were assuredly elves up there watching the raft approach the narrow channel.
As the raft entered the narrow defile, she felt the wind roar through it. The sail filled and Caldal moved swiftly forward. He adjusted the sail to make it smaller and then returned to the tiller. The raft moved swiftly through the channel, and as Caldal had predicted, two ships were waiting for them.
Each elven ship had a score of archers ready to fire. Caldal came forward again and lowered the sail completely. He had already prepared a line and tied it to the bow of the raft. Now he lifted the coil of rope and held it high so that the elves could see it. One of the elven ships came close, and Caldal tossed the coil of rope to one of the seamen. The seaman secured his end of the line to the stern of his ship. Caldal sat down alongside MistyTrail.
“Soon we will be at the docks,” Caldal sighed as he watched the second elven ship pull in behind the raft. “Do not make any threatening moves. The guards may demand your weapons. If they do, surrender them all. You have broken no laws yet. Do not start now.”
MistyTrail nodded and gazed about the harbor. The harbor was large, and many sailing vessels were anchored in it. The city appeared to wrap completely around the harbor with docks almost everywhere. Beyond the docks she could see portions of tall buildings, but the trees were abundant and blocked the view of most of them.
“It looks larger than I thought it would be,” MistyTrail commented. “What is it called?”
“Morada,” answered Caldal. “It is the capital city of Elvangar. It is the home of the queen and the elders. It is fairly large, comparable to the Khadoran cities that we went through. I have never felt comfortable in it.”
“Why not?” asked MistyTrail.
“I am a village boy,” answered Caldal. “In Etta, we live in the trees and know most of the other people in the village. Here most people are strangers to me, and they live in buildings on the ground. I just prefer the village.”
“I find large cities exciting,” replied MistyTrail, “but I do not think that I would enjoy living in one. I like the open country and living under the stars. StarCity was fine, but that was because I knew everyone there I guess. What will happen to me here?”
“You will probably be taken to see Queen Alycia,” shrugged Caldal. “Remember to tell her what Emperor Marak wants her to know. He is a good man and deserves an answer from the elves.”
The raft bumped against the dock where a squad of elven soldiers waited for them. Caldal and MistyTrail stepped onto the dock, and the soldiers immediately took their swords and Caldal’s bow.
“Who are you, and where are you from?” asked one of the soldiers.
“I am Caldal, and I am from the village of Etta,” answered Caldal. “I violated the law by sailing past the Barrier Islands. I am here to surrender. The woman is not from Elvangar. She saved my life after I was captured on the Island of Darkness. Her name is MistyTrail. She has not violated our laws.”