Elena laughed and looked at her pet, dearly. “Are you flirting with me?” She put her hands on Darius’ cheek and caressed it. She looked at his eyes. They had a bluish hue and she wrapped her arms around Darius’ left arm. “Let’s walk together. It’s better to have company.”

Darius could feel her breast pressing his arm. It made his heart beat faster. This is definitely a signal. His mind raced through the many possible interpretations but he narrowed down to the one mainly because it was the one that he most wanted and it was the one he most wanted because it led to the outcome that he most wanted and he also knew what he had to do to make sure that the outcome that he most wanted, would indeed happen. But he did not dare. His upbringing was in the way. She was four hundred years older. She would be a super-elder in his race, one of the most respected persons. He came from a noble family with a high moral standard and he was well educated, a learnt elf almost to the level of a scholar. He was well-mannered and ever since he knew how to crawl, he was taught to respect his senior, the number one tenet of the elf-society. So, he was in a pretty refined dilemma. He mulled over it. Furthermore, he did not want to take advantage of her complicated situation. He kept quiet but he concluded that she had only needed to make the first move, just the first and he would do the rest. And it was the safer decision. She was a magical being, considerably more powerful than him. He did not want her to grow something out of him that did not work.

“Why are you so quiet all of a sudden?”

“Err, am I? … cause I don’t know what to say.”

“Nope. You’re thinking about my breast, aren’t you?”

“Eerrrr, … it … has …. crossed … my mind …” uttered Darius with much difficulty.

And Elena grabbed him even tighter. “I thought you’ve been with many girls. Why are you still so shy?”

“I’m not shy. I’m… Well, … they’re girls, my age girls.”

“So?”

“You’re old. You’re like my grandmother, Thalia. My grandmother’s name is Thalia.”

“Well, I didn’t really know that you’re so respectful. But I’m not your grandmother. And I like you more when you’re flirting with me.”

“Really?”

“It feels more natural. The fish always have this upscale moral that’s quite unbelievable. I don’t think they themselves do them. They just like to taaallllkk about them.” Elena purposely elongated that word just to make a punch at Darius.

“What do you mean?”

“Like they like to talk about being kind, being peaceful, respecting all lives etcetera, but they don’t really mean it, or maybe they mean it but they don’t do it.”

“We mean everything we say, and we do everything we say.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah!”

“Then, why do you still go out to hunt those cattle? Why are you still at war with the lizardmen? Hmm?”

“Alright, apart from the cattle, the lizardmen attack us first. We are just attacking back.”

“You guys and girls have been at war for two-three hundred years. Not big wars, but little wars. Can you still accurately say that they did it first? Even if they did it first, does it matter now?”

“Well, ….,”

“And why do the fish want to keep fighting? Do you want their lands back?”

“Yes, they stole it.”

“It’s not yours from the beginning. The lands do not belong to any particular race. It belongs to all lives, the Kingdom of Lives, not the Kingdom of the Fish. Just look at this vast forest and rivers. They are the home of many different plants, animals, insects, races and beings. They all manage to find their way to live among each other. Why can’t you two?”

Darius did not know how to reply Elena. The enmity was too deep. No one really knew for sure how it came about. How did it evolve out of the wars with the orcs? They just carried on. Darius’ hatred of the lizard-kind was carried forward from his father. But the war with the lizards certainly did not exist in the days of his grandfather. And to think of it, the history books did not say in great accuracy the source of the war. They all were told that the lizardmen took our rightful lands and drove the elves away. And they carried out sporadic attacks at the low elves and plundered their resources. But could they?

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“And, do you think that the lizardmen were so stupid that they want to take on the fish who are a thousand year more advance than them?”

“Yes, they are that stupid.”

“Please. They are not stupid. Academically, they’re far behind but they’re very intelligent everywhere else.”

“That is stupid.”

Elena laughed. “Reading, writing and counting are just part of our cognitive ability. They know more about nature than you my dear pet. The fish has become too far detached from the ways things are.”

“Why do you still call the elf a fish? You clearly know that we’re not. And that old croc also called me a fish. Is this your nickname for us?”

“Kind of.” Elena did not really want to tell him the truth about the fishy business.

“Since you’re so proud of the fish, why do you come here? You said that you live in Everglades. That’s very far from here. Far away from all the troubles. Why come here? You should be in the comfort of your home.”

“I … I want to travel around, you know, see the lands,” Darius lied. And immediately, he felt bad at lying to her, a grandmother-level being. So he continued, “I just … want to escape from my mother.”

Elena laughed her heart out. She could not stop laughing. Darius was dumbfounded. She had never thought the he had such a ridiculous reason to be here. “You ran away from home, because you don’t like your mother.”

“What’s wrong with that. I just don’t want to argue with her. So, I went travelling.”

“You’re so cute, you know that. And talk about all those high morals. Isn’t this disrespectful to the senior?”

And, Darius was wordless again. He did seem to acknowledge now that the elf’s expounded moral values had their moment of weakness. Perhaps, expediency was the more important. There were already ample examples of this expediency in his reading of history. He found it odd, like what they had told the other forest dwellers in order for them to join the alliance to fight the orcs, like what they told to the dwarves so that they would fight on the side of the elves. It can’t be true. In that case, why do we still say these things? Is it all a ruse? The elf was questioning himself.

“This is what I meant. The fish talks about it, but they don’t do it. Yet, they expect others to do it. But they don’t do it.”

“Stop picking on me. It’s not fair to smear the whole elf race because of me.”

“Oouu, touchy.”

“You know, I like you more when you’re a little girl.”

“Is that an honest statement? Or, is that another of your moral-self-exclusion kind of thing.”

Darius was caught again. If he said yes, he would be further in the lie and if he said no, then he would be admitting that he just lied.

“Tell me, honestly, my Nemo. Do you want me?” She wrapped her arms around Darius facing him in close proximity, their noses almost touching. Darius could smell her breath which was fresh like the early morning smell of the forest.

“It’s an honest question. Do you want me?” She asked again softly and in great solemnity.

“What” was Darius response, and it was more of an exclamation than a question.

“Do you want me? You know, stick your little brother into me, like you always do to your girls back home, during the night.”

“Urrrr ….”

“Yes or no, say it.”

It took a lot of effort and Darius finally uttered it. “Yeah.”

She grinned and asked intimidatingly, “How long have you not been with a girl?”

“After I left home, about half a year ago.”

“Hmm. Pretty wanting, huh.”

“How long have you?” Darius regretted in asking that since he had already knew the answer.

“Like a century. But it’s alright. I’m a child most of the time. I don’t feel it. Are you getting a hard on?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Come on. Let’s walk.” She turned and walked away leaving Darius standing there feeling like a dumb boy.

For the rest of the day, Elena teased and taunted Darius relentlessly. His little brother was exploding, being waken up and then put down again, and again, and again. Darius begrudgingly walked on waiting quite impatiently for the sun to sink into the horizon. As he reflected, she had not said yes. Is she waiting for me to initiate?

The forest in this part was dense with trees. They all grew straight up without much branches of leaves along the trunks. They were only present at the top spreading their branches out as wide as they could before entangling themselves with their neighbours’, altogether forming a sea of canopy that extend all the way to the Blue Mountains. They blocked the sun effectively from ever reaching the forest floor. In spite of that, there was still quite a healthy number of undergrowth and aspiring young ones in the light starved layer of the forest. They made their walk slower even though Elena had her Give Way Magic on. They all tried to make way for them by moving away their branches and stems. For those who were really in the way had nothing they could do since they were rooted to the ground and could only bow to show their regret. At times, they would meet the really tall trees. They had thick strong trunks and massive buttress roots that looked like walls on the forest floor. These trees shot through the canopy and their crowns were above the green sea enjoying the full sun but also enduring all the harsh weather.

They walked hand in hand throughout the day talking and giggling. Such intimacy and also her smell was more than he could bear. They talked about everything but mostly it was Darius who did the talking. Being a child for the most part of the century did not really give Elena much to talk about. On top of that, she seemed to refrain from talking about her past. Besides, she was not the talkative type, always quite withdrawn and indifferent. Soon, evening was approaching. The forest floor would get dark very quickly and Darius was on a lookout for a spot to set-up his hummock. It would be difficult here since all the branches were very high up.

“Why are you looking everywhere?”

“I’m trying to find a spot to camp. It’s difficult to set up the hammock here. All the branches are very high up.”

“You want to make the spiderweb this time?” she asked in a teasing way, pressing her breast to his arm lightly.

“Stop teasing me.” He wanted it but still he had not brought himself to do it, to seize her, to tear her clothes apart and do it, right there at that time. No, that would be too beastly. It was not the elf’s way.