After my second bowl of spaghetti, finished off by wiping the dish clean with a slice of bread somebody else had left, I realised just how hungry I had been. It had been a long time since I had eaten properly. I looked along at the bowls of the people closest to me but apart from one stray spaghetti strand that someone had dropped onto the grass, everybody else had cleaned up too.
I looked around at the group of people assembled there. It was difficult to take in that this bunch of ordinary looking people were the Council of the Elder Races of Dunrealm. It looked more like a group of middle-aged old farts out for a camping trip in truth. Various tents had been set up around the clearing and I needed to pitch mine too but for now I was simply fascinated. I had a quick count while I tried to work a stray lump of meat out of my teeth. I only stopped when I realised that Zinrel was watching intently from her place next to me on a downed tree trunk. I can’t honestly say that she looked impressed.
I counted thirteen adults, including me and Zinrel. There were a couple of bored looking early teens and one of the women of the group who looked to be in her thirties nursed a babe-in-arms. Zin and I were the only people there who looked to be in their early twenties. Forties and fifties abounded at a guess. I didn’t count Geoff as he seemed to have disappeared somewhere for the time being, plus he was only a skeleton and he was not real.
I must keep remembering that.
There was a murmur of gentle conversation among the different people that ebbed and flowed naturally as the evening had progressed until Zinfell rose from where he had been sitting and strode into the centre of the clearing. The murmuring lifted to a crescendo then died away to silence, broken only by the sound of the breeze rustling and whispering in the trees surrounding the clearing.
Before her father started to speak I felt Zinrel edge along the trunk so our bodies were side by side, then she fed her arm through mine and rested her hand on my thigh and her head on my shoulder. Normally I would have wondered what she thought she was doing but in the present company I didn’t feel as if I could push her away. In fact, I didn’t want to. I liked the closeness and I also liked the fact that she hadn’t changed out of her ripped top and it was just starting to fall open again. Tingles like you wouldn’t believe. I put my own hands protectively over my crotch, just in case anything showed.
Zinfell raised a hand and everything fell silent, even the rustling in the trees. Impressive.
“Council members, friends, kings and queens, welcome. It gladdens my heart to see all of you again and brings hope to me that we can find a way to overcome our current problems. Now that we have all met here we can begin the final part of our journey to find Vulexon and discover from him what has happened to destroy the humans. While the humans have been the cause of great concerns to the elder races over the last two centuries or more, they have also made remarkable advances that we have benefitted from even in small ways. The fact that they have been so easily destroyed brings fear to my heart that whatever or whoever was the cause of such huge destruction, may have similar plans for the rest of us. I only hope Vulexon knows the cause and will help us in our desire to stop it before it is too late. We start our journey tomorrow so we need now to retire and rest before the exertions we face. Some of us are not getting any younger.” A murmur of amused agreement rose from several people who were listening intently to Zinfell’s speech. He held up his hand again and the murmur subsided. “As you all know, whenever the council meets there is a large celebration but this time, to keep our movements as low-key as possible, there will be no celebration tonight.” He stopped talking for a moment and looked around the crowd. “Tonight, a great boon was given to us in the arrival of another of our number, the half-elf known as The Wanderer. I think we all can see the strength The Wanderer has inside him, even though he clearly knows little of it himself.”
Everybody in the crowd turned to look at me. I blushed and looked at the floor, unable to meet the many gazes turned on me. I looked up again when Zinfell spoke again.
“Further, we the council need to make a decision.” Silence fell complete again. “It is a decision we have delayed for a while as we tried to discover what had happened to the humans and whether there were any left at all. The reports from all of you have finally persuaded me that the humans have been destroyed completely. On our respective journeys here, the only other find was a female half-elf wandering in a state of ignorance and in poor health. She was not well enough to join us tonight.”
I perked up a little at the knowledge that I wasn’t the only person in the same position. Maybe she would know a bit more about what was going on.
“As you know, the orders have gone out for all of our respective peoples to gather in our traditional homes and that process has begun. Soon, all will be as it was before the humans became too numerous for us to maintain our separation from them. The decision we need to take tonight is whether it is time to rescind the decree that keeps us all in our human forms. The last seventy-five years have taken a toll on our peoples. Being forced to act and live within human communities has come at a great cost. None of us here know what it is like to live in our original forms and many of our people have lost many of the magical abilities they may have had though a lack of use. I only hope that situation is one that can be reversed.” The crowd murmured in agreement.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Now is our chance to change all that but we must be as one in this. We should each have a chance to speak on the matter. For the benefit of our new addition though I would ask that you introduce yourselves before you make known your views. I will begin by saying that I, Zinfell, King of the Elves vote that we should rescind and return to our natural forms. I think I speak for my wife, Zindell, Queen of the Elves on this matter.” He held out a hand toward a woman sitting on the floor just to my right who nodded her approval. He nodded back his thanks.
“Very well, the process begins. Each of you should take your place here and declare aye or nay for rescinding but introduce yourself first for the benefit of The Wanderer there.” He pointed at me as if I hadn’t been sitting there all evening and walked back to take his seat again.
A man and woman rose from the other side of the rough circle we were all sitting in and moved slowly to the centre. Both looked entirely ordinary, indistinguishable from a normal human.
The woman spoke. “I thank Zinfell for the opportunity to speak. On behalf of my people I, Beechheart, and my husband, Oakheart, Rulers of the Ents of Dunrealm vote aye to rescind. I ache for the day my people may yet again sink their roots into the earth.”
A round of applause broke out as they headed back to where they had been sitting before. Two other people stopped to hug them as they made their way toward the centre. Nothing remarkable about the new people. The woman carried her baby with her.
This all went on for a while and I was so knackered that I started to zone out. Much as it was incredible that all this was going on in front of me, my eyes were constantly drawn away by Zinrel’s ever more gaping blouse.
From what I can remember of the parade of people—or whatever they were— there were several surprises. First that so many races were represented. I counted five. Elves, Ents, Fae, Dwarves, and Giants. The other big surprise was that the dwarves had two representative families on the council. A couple whose names I can’t remember representing the southern dwarves and Gwilliom who represented the ‘real’—his word not mine—dwarves of Dunrealm, from the north. I recognised his voice as being one of those who pinned me down when I first got to the camp. For a dwarf, he was very heavy.
Zin tried to explain the differences between northern and southern dwarves but by that time I was almost asleep. I decided I could ask again in the morning. After the last council member voted to rescind their human forms, Zinfell took centre stage again.
“My friends,” he said as he held out his hands and turned in a semicircle to everyone present, “our decision today is a momentous one and while I am sure there are those among us who would wish to perform the transition here and now, the hour is late. I propose that we all rest for the night and clear our minds ready for what will be a historic day tomorrow. Does anyone here say nay?”
There were a couple of muted grumbles but no one said nay. I did briefly wonder what would have happened if I had said nay but I didn’t want to embarrass myself in front of all these people.
“In that case my friends and fellow Council Members, I would bid you all get some rest for tomorrow we start our quest to find Vulexon and reforge the age-old partnership between the council and the wizards.” He started to walk away but then stopped, held up one finger, and returned to the centre. “Could I just ask please that Gwilliom and Tore? If you wouldn’t mind keeping the argument about who is the strongest of the dwarves to something below shouting level, I and the rest of the council would be most grateful and of course Nog and Sussin? If you really must copulate every night I’d appreciate it if you could keep the screaming to a minimum? And yes Nogmalog, King of the Giants, I do mean you.”
A small murmur of laughing approval followed the speech from everyone apart from a middle-aged man wearing a pair of walking shorts, his spindly, lily-white legs poking out the bottom and sporting what must have been no bigger than size seven boots. He looked a bit shamefaced although I did notice the satisfied grin on what I assume was his wife’s face. The two teenagers that seemed to be with them just looked mortified.
Once that was over with, the night wound down. The fire that had crackled and hissed all night started to burn down until, after a half-hour it was little more than a pile of blackened and glowing embers that increased in brightness every time a gentle breeze blew through the camp, scattering sparks downwind. I noticed nobody had set up a tent directly downwind and realised why now.
Eventually I managed to disentangle myself from Zin, although I really didn’t want to, grabbed my pack, and went looking for a space to pitch my tent. Within fifteen minutes I was set up. I went into the bushes to relieve the strain on my bladder, climbed into my sleeping bag and shuffled inside. I know you would normally do that the other way around but I wanted one last look at Zinrel before I slept. I watched as she strolled across the grass to where her family was camping out.
My God she is stunning. I thought to myself. Then with a wistful sigh, went inside my patched and almost waterproof tent to get some much-needed sleep.