There were some things we just couldn't teach Andrys or Xiona. When a meaning depends on a specific smell, it just doesn't translate. Tira would tell us the stories that a pack would tell a cub. Most often they were teaching stories even though most were very entertaining. We began to develop an understanding of a wolf's sense of humor. I realized that some of Tira's ideas were for her own amusement.
One evening as I sat beside the lake with her I asked, "The clothing thing, that's not really true is it."
"Of course its true, wolves can not say something that is not true. We don't even have a word to explain what isn't true."
"Yeah, but you can exaggerate."
"If you tell them,"
"Don't worry, sister, your jokes safe with me."
She looked at me with a big wolf grin. "The joke IS always better if it is shared."
The time spent at the lakeside also served to bring us much closer together. We began to think of ourselves as a family. With the wolven language it was hard to think of ourselves as anything else. That's what a pack is, a family.
Amongst our little pack, names started to become unimportant. The rest of us started to see how pup spoke of herself. Wolves didn't have names, not like humans or Elves. They often spoke of themselves as 'this one' and others as their family. There were titles, depending on the standing in the pack. Tira became the Honored Sister, since she was the true wolf among us. Xiona and pup were both called little sister. Andrys became Honored Brother, as a leader among the pack but not the pack leader.
To my amazement I started to become the Honored One.
"It's only natural," pup said. "You are a wolf and are much of the reason we are together. You have provided for us. You have cared for us. You are our pack leader."
"I thought Andrys would be a better choice for leader, he knows more of this world. Either him or Tira. She's the only true wolf among us."
"I can lead the group as an Elf, but there is no way I can truly understand what it is to be a wolf. Without the form I am always missing something. And without knowing what I am missing, I can't be a pack leader."
"We are all wolves," Tira said. "And a pack leader is always male. It is tradition."
That ended that discussion. You don't mess with a wolf tradition.
One morning Andrys and pup went to explore around the lake and spend some time alone. They were happy being among us but, eventually every couple needs some time to themselves. They told us that they planned on exploring around the waterfall at the end of the lake. We had watched it often, glorying in the beauty of it.
When that afternoon arrived and they didn't return, we began to worry. When the evening started to set in we went to look for them.
We followed their scent to the waterfall, Tira leading the way. When we got there we started to notice other scents. Andrys and pup's trail led behind the falls and so did the trails of whatever had been here.
The other scent was an unfamiliar type. It didn't belong to any kind of creature that we had ever come across. It smelled light and fresh, clean and almost flowery. There was a metallic taste to the scent, as if whatever it belonged to had carried a weapon.
We passed behind the water into a cave. The cave went back into the hill under the river that fed the lake. Far in the distance we could hear voices, faintly.
Silently, we crept back through the cave toward the voices. Even though we were now back into the caves we could still smell that fresh, airy scent.
We stopped just before a large cavern and peeked in.
The cavern was lit by a phosphorescent moss. It was round with a small pit in the center. That pit was where Andrys and pup were. All around them were small elven like people. Really small. They were about the size of my forearm, with wings like those of a dragonfly.
One of them was talking to Andrys.
"…have intruded on our most sacred place. We cannot abide this. We were more than happy to leave you alone. Why have you come here?"
"Sir, we did not know that this was one of the fairy folks Places. If we had known we would have left it in peace."
"I almost believe you. These times are troubled though and I cannot take the chance. We cannot have you leaving here and coming back with others. What we are going to do, though, I do not know."
Xiona whispered to me, "Dan, step forward and offer challenge."
"What?"
"It's the only way to stop something we might all regret. The fairy folk guard the Places carefully, but if you offer challenge and win, then they will accept us and let us all leave in peace. Andrys and pup are their captives, only someone free can offer challenge."
"Alright, what do I do?"
"Just step forward."
"What is the challenge?"
"I don't know. It has never been told to any. I think it must remain a secret."
"Thanks."
I stepped forward from behind the rock and announced, "You are holding members of my Pack. I wish them released. For this I offer challenge. It is your choice set them free now or meet my challenge."
"Well said," Tira told me.
The fairy folk all turned to look at us and gasped as we walked, on our own into the cave.
The one who had been talking to Andrys flew up to look me straight in the face.
"You offer challenge? Do you know what the contest, here, is?"
"Yes, I offer challenge and no, I do not know what your contest is. It doesn't matter though. I cannot let members of my Pack be held. They are my responsibility. I will meet whatever must be done."
The fairy sighed. "Very well, once the challenge has been issued it cannot be refused without shame." He motioned Andrys and pup to the side of the cave and flew to a chair near them. "The challenge is this. There in the center of this cavern is a stone. You must sit beside it with your hands on it. The stone does two things. The first is to allow you to see your opponents deepest fears. The second is to bring that fear forward and create it as an illusion. These images will be among both of you. Whosoever releases the stone, giving into their fears, loses. Three contestants from each side are allowed. Choose your three."
I motioned for Andrys and pup to come over to us. As they approached us I told the fairy king. "These two are part of us and until the challenge is won or lost I will have them at my side. My three are these, Andrys, Tira, and Myself."
The assembled fairy folk gasped. I didn't know whether they would be going up against a wolf or that a leader wasn't supposed to be part of the challenge.
After a moment the king said, "Very well, here are my three, Treven, Hirst, and Sliente. The three chosen come forth."
Three of the fairies came to stand before there king. The first two were males and the third was a woman.
"These are my best," The king said. "Be warned, my warriors have never lost a challenge. First, combat."
Treven went to sit before the stone and Andrys sat one the other side. They both placed their hands on the grey stone that rose barely from the floor. Around them images started to form. In front of Andrys was a ghostly image of the keep, burning, as men fought before it. Behind him was a creature I had never seen.
We watched horrified as on one side men fought, died, and committed atrocities against one another, and on the other side, the creature approached the fairy, reaching into his chest to pull out his heart.
Finally, the fairy broke and released the stone. His fear of the creature was too great to bear.
Andrys sat there quietly, his tears flowing freely at the thought of the loss of his home.
"Next challenge," the king said. "Andrys stays at the stone, Hirst meets him.
The fairy, Hirst, sat down across from Andrys and only said, "Time to meet your greatest fear, Elf."
Again, the images formed. For Hirst, the fear became the burning of the surrounding forest, the drying of the river and lake, and finally death of his people. He withstood it, glaring at Andrys.
Andrys again saw the loss of his home but this time pup was part of the battle. He was forced to watch as she fought, in wolf form, those who would kill everything she loved. He saw himself fall in battle, bleeding from a dozen sword thrusts. Then pup ran to be at his side, changing as she came. Before she could reach him, the man who stood over him ran his sword through her chest. She died, her hand only inches from his. Thus was Andrys greatest fear, that he would somehow lose pup, and be the cause of her death.
He pulled his hands back from the stone, tears flowing freely from his face. pup went to his side and held him as he wept. She led him away from the center of the cave and sat with him behind us.
"Next challenge, Hirst stays at the stone, Tira meets him."
Tira trotted to the stone and laid down before it, her head resting on its smooth surface. Hirst put his hands back on the stone and Tira bared her teeth. Hirst started to sweat already, his fingers barely inches from Tira's nose.
The images returned. Hirst saw again the burning and death, only this time he saw the one responsible, it was him and a Elven woman. He sat beside her crying as his home fell to ashes. Her face was a picture of despair. From the closeness of the two it was obvious. They were in love. Hirst had met and fallen in love with an Elf and he feared that his love would somehow cause the destruction of everything he knew.
As for Tira, he couldn't find anything. She just lay there, watching him until he pulled back. Afraid of both the destruction he saw and the reaction of his people to his unknown love.
The king sighed, "Next challenge, Tira stays at the stone, Sliente meets her."
As Hirst returned to the kings side, we heard him say, "I am sorry father."
Sliente sat opposite Tira, he head tilted. "I will be sorry to do this," she said.
Tira just lay there, her head on the stone.
As Sliente touched the stone, the illusions revealed themselves once more. Sliente turned out to be afraid of emptiness, nothingness. Unfortunately, this turned out to be Tira's fear as well. Tira jerked back from the stone, terrified of having nothing to touch, see, or smell. To a wolf, who lived within their senses, nothing could be worse. Sliente sat there sweating but her hands still touched the stone.
"Next challenge, Sliente stays at the stone, the Pack leader meets her."
I walked to the stone, touching Tira's bowed head as we passed. "You did well, little sister."
"I sat down opposite Sliente. "My name is Dan. It is only right that we start on an even field."
Again, she only looked at me.
I touched the stone and realized that I couldn't figure out how to find her fears. I had seen the nothingness but, I didn't know how to form it. I made up my mind then to show the fairies what I wanted to avoid happening to their world.
Sliente showed me what she found. That I would wander forever. Never finding my way home. My wife would eventually give up and live a happy life without me.
On the other hand, I gave her our darkest history. I showed her the hate, fear, greed, and avarice that had caused so many atrocities. I showed her what we had done to another in our reach for greatness.
She only looked at me.
Behind me though, Xiona was crying.
"What is wrong?" Andrys asked, recovered enough that he stood beside my soul twin.
"These are not fears," she said. "These are things that really happened. He gives her truth. And that is worse than a fear that may never happened."
I doubled my efforts as I remembered our past. I gave not only Sliente, but everyone, the worst of our history. Omaha beach, Vietnam, the Trail of Tears, I gave them. I showed them Auschwitz, Wounded Knee, Tianemmen Square, the Oklahoma City bombing, Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Finally, terrified not only of the images but also of the fact that someone actually could do these things, Sliente fell back. I slowly released the stone and went around it to hold her. She crawled up into my lap, ignoring the fact that I had been the one to hurt her, only needing comfort. As I sat there with her my back touching the stone, new images formed.
This time though, the illusion was different. I started to remember the good in our world and everyone was able to witness this as well. I showed them the small things, helping the elderly, sick and wounded. I gave them the love we showed each other.
No one said anything while we sat there. Then the king cleared his throat.
Sliente looked up at me and touched my cheek. She removed herself from my lap and went back to sit beside her king.
I rose and returned to my friends. They all reached out to touch me, Tira nosing my hand. I turned to face the fairy king.
"You have met the challenge," he said. "For that, you are free to go. Please, though, do not reveal what you have learned here. We are a private people, needing that privacy for our protection."
"Thank you, your majesty," I said. "We will leave you in peace and respect your wishes."
Sliente turned to her king, "Lord, may they not stay for a while? The night has fallen and they must be weary."
"We don't wish to intrude," I said.
"You wouldn't be intruding," the fairy king said, "not if you were invited to stay."
We looked at each other.
"What about of supplies back at the camp?" Andrys asked.
"I will send sentries to watch them. They will touch nothing but they will guard your possessions," the king answered.
"Very well," I answered. "We will stay."
My friends all looked a little shocked. I guess they were trying to find a reason to get out of here. On the other hand, I figured the fairies had a reason for us to stay. Sliente had made her request and the king had accepted it rather quickly.
I slipped into wolven to tell them. "There may be more here than it seems. Abide for a while and we may find out what."
The fairy folk served a fine meal, although the portions were small. We ate daintily, so as not to seem like gluttons. After the meal, they showed us to a cavern to use for sleeping.
"What do you think they want, Dan?" Xiona asked.
"I don't know, maybe just to make up for abducting Andrys and pup. How did they catch you guys, anyway? I would have thought you easily a match for someone their size."
pup blushed as Andrys said, "Well, we were kind of distracted. By the time we noticed them they had us surrounded and even with their size, as many as there were, it seemed like a good idea to go with them. I didn't want to risk pup getting hurt."
"It's always the same," Tira said. "Humans and Elves are slaves to their hormones."
We all laughed at that.
Later that night, I went to the edge of the waterfall to watch the stars. Out over the lake, many of the good folk were flying in a complicated pattern. They each held a tiny torch and the sight brought images of fireflies to mind.
After watching them for nearly an hour under a star filled sky, I turned to go back into the caves. Watching me was the fairy king. He sat on a rock just inside the wall of water.
"May I help you, majesty," I asked.
"Maybe," he answered and continued to watch me.
"It might help if you told me what you wanted or needed."
"Tell me, where did the dark skinned elf go."
"She went outside to practice her mage skills. She finally realized that she couldn't deny who or what she was, so she started to practice. She goes out on her own to ensure that she doesn't actually hurt anyone. If we were to distract her, she might accidentally cause us harm."
"Is it safe for her to be alone?"
"Tira is with her. That was a decision we all made together. Tira is the most patient person I have ever seen. She won't disturb Xiona. After a while Xiona even forgets that Tira is there."
"You called the wolf a person?"
"Isn't she," I said, looking back over the lake. "It doesn't matter what anyone looks like. We are all very much the same inside. Tira is part of my pack. She is very special to all of us. Yes, she is a person."
"You actually believe that, don't you?"
"Look, where I come from, people still sometimes judge each other by the color of their skin. Some people set up artificial barriers to separate themselves from others, just so they can say that they are better. We have fought so many wars over that, it is ridiculous. It's getting better, but it will take time. Maybe it's a good thing that humans live such short lives. It allows for change."
"Yet, you travel with three elves, one of whom is very dark skinned and one wolf," he said.
"Yeah, well, Xiona is special to me. Her skin color is unimportant. Heck, I didn't even notice it after I saw the ears."
"What about her ears, they look normal to me?"
"Your majesty, do you remember what we said about where I am from?"
"Yes, of course, I don't see what that other world has to do with it."
"We don't have Elves, there. No Elves, unicorns, or many of the other things that walk this world. After I saw that Xiona was an Elf, I didn't bother with skin color. That was at least familiar. Besides, I have never believed that a persons physical appearance could determine who they were."
"So, why didn't you at least try to find humans? I am sure that you could have traveled to their lands and at least been among people who looked familiar."
"What difference would that have made? If I had done that I probably wouldn't have met Andrys and pup. I value their friendship. I don't care if they are Elven, human, wolf, or some other race that I haven't seen yet."
"I need to think about this. We went into hiding because we could see that something was starting to cause problems amongst the Elves. We didn't want to get caught up in it."
"When was that?"
"We first started to hide over a thousand years ago. Later we saw that things had returned to normal and we came back out. Now, things are getting worse again, so fifty years ago, we removed ourselves from view, again. I am starting to think that maybe it was a bad idea. If there are people out there like your group, maybe we should try to maintain contact with them."
"Majesty, I can't tell you how to live but I know that many of the Elven are concerned with your disappearance."
"I need to think," the king said, standing. "Please, stay for a few days. Let us see who you are." With that the king of the Fairy folk flew back into the caverns.