On the first day out from the cave, the land steadily rose. The trees became denser, and the undergrowth more packed. The land was a wilderness, an old-growth forest which deeply carpeted the northern hills. No sign of human settlements was to be found, and perhaps no human visitors had come up into the wild lands in hundreds of years, if ever. The paths they took showed no signs of being cut or maintained by humans. The elves seemed to know where they were going in this wilderness, following unseen markers and clues, although the humans could not pick out a trail and blindly trusted their guides. Without the elves leading them along this secret path, Euris suspected she would easily have become lost. She was already turned around, and knew only that going downhill would have led her back to the better defined trails below. She wondered how many unseen elves were watching their progress, and whether their guides were giving secret signals to the unseen watchers.

The thought of unseen watchers was reassuring, even if Euris had no real idea whether such watchers were there or not. If the elves had meant them any harm, the two humans would have been harmed a long time ago, and any watchers would have advanced warning if the wight was still following them. During the day, no evidence of the wight was heard or seen, and the humans began to relax their nerves somewhat.

The next night, the elves led them down into a steep dell nestled invisibly among ancient trees. They built a fire, to afford some protection if the wight did find them during the night, and the elves prepared a meal. Gath ate with a gusto which surprised Euris and occasioned a laugh from the friendly, dark-haired elf. Euris taught the dark-haired elf a few words in the human language, for the food, and tried to tell her how good it was. The communication was mostly through laughter and smiles. Even without being able to understand them, Euris quickly saw that the dark-haired elf was easygoing and friendly, and the blonde woman was the opposite, stiff and reserved. The man seemed preoccupied, and Euris never saw him sleep.

The second day, the land rose for most of the morning, sometimes steeply enough to make the going difficult. As the sun rose to its highest point in the sky, the land dropped out from under them in a small valley. The man leading the party let out a few bird calls and other strange sounds, which were answered from below. Soon, a party of elves armed with bows and spears came up the hill to meet them. The man exchanged a burst of talk with the leader of this party, which Gath said was an explanation of the situation. The dark-haired elf said goodbye in the human language to them, and waved as the escort formed around them and led them down into the valley. Euris wished the dark-haired elf would stay with them, since she seemed the friendliest of all the elves.

They descended down an easy trail into the valley known as Arbor-Sanctuary. As the valley flattened out, and they crossed a small stone bridge over a trickling mountain stream, they could see small huts amid the trees. The huts were partially stone, and partially earth, with mossy looking roofs. The effect was natural, as if the huts had been grown out of the ground. Among these huts, some elves were milling around everywhere, some doing domestic chores and cooking, some dancing and singing. Wonderful smells of a vegetable stew filled the air, and baking bread. The elves were diverse, some tall and thin, some more human in proportion. All had either bleached blonde hair or jet black, with no real variation. Most smiled openly at one another, and seemed carefree. Euris found it curious that she saw no children, but then she did not know if elves even had small children.

The density of the huts increased as they came to a clearing. The clearing itself was ringed by larger buildings, and many people were talking in groups. The leader of their escort moved purposefully to a knot of elves standing by the largest hut on a stone porch. The elves were dressed more finely than the others, and wore swords, and Euris imagined they were the leaders of the settlement. Among them was a younger looking elf with long blonde hair tied back in a pony-tail, and she glanced away from the group long enough to see the party approaching. When her eyes fell upon Gath, her face lit up and she ran out to them, and encircled him in a bear hug that belied her slender, fragile form. He returned it with vigor, and Euris saw on his face the widest smile, one she did not think Gath capable of.

“This is Alisiri,” Gath told her, “a great friend of mine!” Immersion in elvish language and culture had apparently gone much farther than what Euris’ imagination had speculated, the dry lessons in elvish language by an ancient, hoary wise old elf tutor, at least from their mutual smiles, and Euris wasn’t too sure how she felt about that.

Alisiri offered a small bow to Euris, and said haltingly, “Welcome to Arbor-Sanctuary.” Apparently the linguistic education had gone in both directions, and Euris felt an unexpected, sharp pang of jealousy at this wispy little creature who had shared so much of Gath’s life and was so familiar with him. Silly, she told herself, since of course Gath would have friends from before they’d ever met one another, just as she herself had. Would Gath be jealous if one of her old friends from school had hugged her like that? She could not think of anyone to introduce Gath to when they got back to the Colleges who would make him equally as jealous, however, which was somewhat to her chagrin. Euris simply smiled and nodded towards the elf-girl. Of course, once she got to know Alisiri, she was sure she’d like the elf, and anyone who was Gath’s friend had to be a fine person, but the fact that she immediately was drawn to like Alisiri, with her wide, welcoming smile didn’t help matters.

The other elves had noticed them, and one in particular came over. Gath talked to him a moment in the elven language, and then told Euris that he was the earlking of the valley, and both humans were more than welcome there. At least they wouldn’t be in a pot anytime soon, Euris was relieved to know.

After a few more minutes, Gath turned to his Protector. “Please let me have a few moments with Alisiri alone. I hate to leave you here on your own, but I would like to talk to her.”

Euris assured him she would be fine, and tried to look pleased at Gath’s desertion of her, but wasn’t sure her face masked how she truly felt. She could certainly have no objection to Gath spending a little time with his friend, she knew, without seeming unbelievably petty: but she felt uneasy in being alone with all the elves who did not even speak her language The dark-haired elf who had been friendly to them was nowhere to be seen. While Gath had spoken to her, Alisiri had pulled another elf over to them, speaking softly to him in the elvish tongue. Then, Alisiri took Gath’s hand and led him off.

Euris looked up at the tall elf, who smiled at her. He looked remarkably like Alisiri, with the same light blonde hair, although his was much shorter. He was also slender, more slender than she thought a male could be and still stand upright without toppling over. He said, “I am Alitarl, Alisiri’s,” he searched for the word with pursed lips, “cousin? My father’s brother’s daughter.” Euris assured him that “cousin” was the proper word. “I get little chance to speak in your tongue, with anyone but my cousin. I would be pleased to show you this place in exchange for having words.” She tried not to laugh, to upset him, and explained with as straight a face as possible that “having words” was an expression that meant having an argument, sending the tall elf himself into peals of laughter. “Remind me not to go among your people without more practice in your speech!” He gestured for her to follow him.

While Euris and her new elf-guide wandered around, attempting to put the sights, sounds, and smells of Arbor-Sanctuary into human language, Gath and Alisiri had gone off to one side of the clearing, where they could be alone. Any elves seemed to give them a wide berth, although Gath did not know if it was to give them privacy or was because he was a strange human. He remembered Alisiri’s piercing blue eyes, but was not quite prepared to see them again. He had half expected he never would, although he had never forgotten her and the summer he had spent in Arbor-Sanctuary. She was constantly surprising him: sometimes older than the oldest, wisest human being with insights and wisdom, and sometimes an adolescent girl full of laughter and life. He could not find anything to say, and let the elf twine her fingers into his hands and lead him into a space between the trees.

They sat alone in a secluded place among the trees. He spoke to her in the elvish language, saying, “I wanted to see you one last time”. He tried to memorize her face.

She looked puzzled, tilting her head. “I am more than happy to see you again, my friend. You are always welcome with me. But why do you say one last time?” She touched his cheek, a curious habit he remembered from before. As if she did not fully believe he was there, and was checking to make sure. Perhaps elves perceived humans, and the world itself, differently than humans did. Gath did not know.

Gath smiled tightly. “This will be the last time I ever come here, or see you. I wanted to remember you, and give you one last memory of me.”

“Human lives are so quickly over,” Alisiri said. “I knew we would be sundered.” She did not look exactly sad. She was curious, and puzzled, and perplexed, but not sad. As if she could not fully understand the gulf that separated elves who lived almost forever, and humans who quickly died. Gath thought again of the huge trees which the elves saw sprout, and which had been alive for generations upon generations of humans. Even Alisiri, one of the youngest elves in Arbor-Sanctuary, had been born before the trees grew.

“But not for a few more hours,” Gath said, taking her hand, pulling her to her feet, and leading her along a walk he still remembered well. They laughed over his early mistakes in speaking elvish, and remembered the long nights they’d spent looking at the stars. All of the long walks under the elvish trees. Gath savored every moment, back in Arbor-Sanctuary with Alisiri. He wanted to, anyway, and tried, but found the harder he tried the more he lost the moment. He had to just let himself go.

Euris distracted herself by entertaining her new elf-friend, who seemed to be a noble and courteous person, or would have been if he had not had such a formidable language barrier. His attempts made Euris remember the first time she tried to buy something in a bazaar on the Three Islands, a multicolored scarf she took a fancy too, and tried to bargain in the Boccha trading language which she barely knew. She had gotten the scarf, in the end, but probably paid ten times what it was worth. She lost track of the time when the elf got her to talking about the ocean where she grew up, and which he had always wanted to visit. Describing the feeling of the undertow pulling at your toes was impossible to someone who had never seen the ocean, or even a seashell, even if they spoke the same language, but she did the best she could. Finally, she saw Gath and his friend returning, coming towards them, still talking and laughing. Gath finally gave her a one-armed hug, and she flitted off.

“So, did you two have a nice afternoon together?” Euris couldn’t quite keep the peevishness out of her voice, although she hated herself for it. Gath looked at her with surprise and hurt. She immediately felt like she should crawl under a rock. She knew her face had turned bright red. “I’m sorry, Gath, I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin your visit here.”

Gath looked at her seriously. “I’m sorry, too, because I should have explained more about why I wanted to come here. Things happened so fast after the wight attacked us that I didn’t really have time.” Gath came very close and whispered in a voice only they could hear, “I told Alisiri that we had to be going this afternoon because we have to report the wight to the College of Sorcery. Seeing her again is both the most wonderful and most painful thing I’ve ever done. We need to leave before I lose my composure. I want her to have only good memories of me. And I want to have only good memories of this visit.”

“I’m sorry,” Euris said again, helplessly. Why did she want to cry? She fought that urge down.

“I promise I’ll explain why I wanted to come later,” Gath said to her softly. He kissed her quickly on the jawline, something he had most definitely not done to the elf-girl.

While they were talking, Alitarl had disappeared. Euris wondered where he had gone, but in a few moments she saw him coming across the clearing, leading their horses. A wave of relief swept over Euris. Some of their gear was missing, but the trip south on their mounts was a cheerful proposition compared to walking the whole distance. Alitarl smiled. “Here are some old friends, and a happy reunion! They had wandered off, but not far.” They thanked him, and said their goodbyes. Alitarl assured them there would be no interference with their trip back to human lands, and pronounced both of them welcome in Arbor-Sanctuary at any time.

They slowly began threading the path upwards out of the valley. Both were silent, lost in their own thoughts. Alisiri reappeared as they were leaving, and walked with them to the lip of Arbor-Sanctuary’s valley. She looked pensive, at least for an elf. At a certain point, as if crossing an invisible boundary, they all stopped, to exchange their goodbyes.

Euris wanted to move off to give them some space, but Alisiri first reached out a hand to her. She took it. Alisiri pulled her into a hug, and she whispered into Euris’ ear: “Take care of Gath, Euris-Protector, please. I’m very fond of that human.” The elf released her, and looked her in the eyes, perhaps to divine if Euris was truthful in what she would promise.

“I will,” Euris said, seeing the haunted look of loss in the elf’s eyes, and feeling even worse for her blind jealousy earlier. Certainly, the gulf between an elf and a human would never be crossed in any meaningful way. Gath would never be more than this elf-girl’s fleeting memory of a friend, as the centuries passed for the elf and Gath was long gone. How could Euris have thought otherwise? “I’ll take care of him.”

Now Euris did lead her horse away, to give Gath room for his goodbye. She moved off down the hill, glancing back once. Gath took Alisiri into his arms for a long hug, and they exchanged a few final words. Then they parted, forever, and Euris saw the wetness in Gath’s eyes as he came down the hill towards her. When there was a clear enough path to ride, Gath got into his horse, and set a hard pace which Euris could barely catch up with.

On to ... Chapter Nine: Peace