“Have you not told her this story yet?” Nym asked Clay, surprised. He shook his head.
She turned her attention back to Lana and continued, “The elves of Eva live in harmony with the land. We don’t cut down any trees and if we use wood, it’s always wood that has already fallen. We don’t divert streams to irrigate our crops, we don’t need to. The water cares for us and we know no droughts. We grow crops but we don’t cut them down, we allow them to die on their own and they continue to nourish the earth. We care for the land and the land cares for us, you see?”
“We cannot eat meat,” Clay added. “Remember when I asked you if you could tolerate meat? We were not made to digest flesh of any sort. It’s not the way of elves.”
Nym nodded at him, “Yes. No meat. In fact, there was a time when elves abhorred all violence. We didn’t kill each other and we didn’t kill any creatures at all. That was until the First War. Humans began to populate the land. We’re not sure exactly how they came to be, but they had short lives and reproduced quickly. Elves, on the other hand, are long lived and have few children. As a half elf, you may live longer than your human peers but not as long as a full blooded elf. We typically live for two to three hundred years.”
Lana shifted on the saddle, unsure of how she felt about this. How long could she expect to live as a halfling? A hundred years? More? It was unsettling.
“So, the humans were reproducing quickly and they were destructive creatures,” Nym continued. “The elves wanted to live in harmony with them as they did with all other things, but the humans cut down the trees the elves loved. They built dams to stop the water from flowing or diverted rivers for their own benefit. They broke rocks to pieces to build their shelters. They were the most disharmonious thing in the land. Despairing, the elves communed with the Great Tree to try to find a solution. One elf in particular was talented in this area and could speak to the trees and understand their words. If you haven’t already noticed, the best we can usually get are feelings, but this elf spoke their language. It’s a skill long since lost.”
Nym went quiet and she seemed to be sad, perhaps thinking about the elves of long ago and how much of their culture they had lost along the way. Clay picked up where she left off.
“According to the legends, the trees told the elf that she must stop the humans at all costs, for they would be the destruction of peace and hope. The Great Tree showed her visions of what would come to pass if she failed in her mission. The land burnt to ashes, no tree left standing. The sky boiling with evil black clouds, no sun to be seen. The water that fell from the sky would burn anything it touched. She felt the most extraordinary terror any elf could know. Weeping at the roots of the Great Tree she begged for aid and the tree complied. It twisted its limbs until it fashioned a staff as tall as an elf imbued with the magic of creation. Wielding this staff, called Ollyth, the elf priestess led the elves against the humans. The staff could do no harm but it could heal any wounds in an elf or in the land. Scorched earth was made new, tree stumps sprouted new growth and if there was a breath left in an elf, they would be revived.”
Nym shifted in her saddle and took the story back up. “Though the elves hated to harm any creature, even the dreadful humans, they fought for the land and for their own lives. They learned the ways of war and even though they were outnumbered, they had the advantage. The elves were naturally more agile than the humans, could see and hear better than them. But the most important advantage was that the land itself was on their side. Humans trying to cross a river were overtaken by a raging flood. The trees fell upon them in the forests, sacrificing themselves to save the elves and slow the humans. The ground itself split under the invader’s feet and swallowed them whole.”
“Then the humans never stood a chance,” Lana remarked, entranced. It was a beautiful tale, but so sad.
“No, they truly didn’t,” Nym responded, smiling at her. “They finally gave up trying to conquer the lands claimed by the elves. The humans sent an ambassador to meet with the elf priestess and an agreement was reached. Eva would belong to the elves and humans would never again try to take it and the elves would never try to encroach on the humans. As her last act of war, the priestess plunged the staff into the exact center of Eva and the land was healed and all humans banished. A wall of pine trees erupted at the border and no humans were allowed to cross without an elf escort. The trees wouldn’t allow it. And so it has been for the many years between then and now.”
“So why are we still at war?” Lana asked, confused. “If there is an agreement, why is there conflict?”
Clay laughed bitterly. “Because humans can never be satisfied, they always want more. They’re like a pig that will never stop eating, gorging itself until it’s too fat to move. The magic that protected the border has weakened over time and the Great Tree is quiet. We have become vulnerable again. The humans will break the treaty.”
They rode together in silence while Lana digested all of that information. She felt somewhat overwhelmed. On the one hand, she felt for the plight of the elves. It sounded as if the humans had tried to destroy their way of life. On the other
