11
The next morning I arrived in the clearing in the dark. Endar wasn't there yet. Which I found strange since his house was only a few meters away. I waited about ten minutes before deciding to go to his house. I knocked on the door.
" I'm coming! Start running! »
I roll my eyes. But started running. The exercise seemed less difficult to me this time. Maybe because I was wearing boots and an old man wasn't yelling at me.
"What's that snail speed, put some heart into it kid or you'll still be here tonight. »
I spoke too soon.
I hurried on when I see him appear with a crate filled with stones.
“Dodge, kid. Open your senses. »
I would have liked to say that I had managed to avoid more stone than the day before. But the result was the same except for one stone.
" Sit down. he told me after an hour
I obey immediately. I wasn't going to complain when he gave me some rest.
“Do you know why I chose you as a student? »
I was surprised by his question, obviously it had been running through my head.
“Because I managed to fly ? I said, knowing that the answer was not the right one.
"Oh, that was beautiful magic, but that's not just why I chose you. »
" So why ? »
"The first time I saw you I was sitting in that tree," he said, pointing to the tree in the middle of the clearing.
“But…”
"You didn't notice me. At my age, we know how to be discreet. I wondered what a little elf was doing so close to my house. No one ever comes here without a good reason. So you were in front of the tree. The tree under which my wife and daughter are buried. »
I opened my mouth but with a wave of his hand he stopped me.
“They have been dead for a long time. I admit for a moment I was angry. It's a sacred place to me and I was going to chase you away but then you talked to them and gave an offering. By doing this you got their permission and mine to use the clearing, and you did the dumbest thing in the world. You don't know how close you were to the afterlife. So you did the impossible, you gave back to nature what you took from it when you shouldn't be able to do so at your age. I saw this as a sign. »
" A sign ? »
“The sign that I am coming out of my retirement. Little elf do you know why I tell you all this? »
I shook my head in denial.
“Because I was wondering why someone with a deeply elven personality uses their body as if it were human. »
I never thought I was using my body like a human. But that was not surprising. I had spent 17 years of my life as a human and only 6 as an elf. But what did he mean by an elven personality and how had he seen that I behaved like a human at least physically?
"I see you're wondering, but you don't seem as outraged at the idea that you look like a human like another elf would have. Why?" »
Could I really trust this elf. I barely knew him. But it seemed reliable to me. He had no reason to help me and he had. He had his eccentricities but hearing the tragedy he had experienced, he seemed to me to be more of a lonely man who had lost his reason for living and was looking for a new path. Could I take that risk.
“In my previous life, I was a human. »
He looked at me with amazement and something that looked like hope.
“You don't know how relieved what you just said makes me feel. To think that my wife and daughter might be alive right now warms my heart. »
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“I thought elves believed in reincarnation. »
“We believe in it, but very few people come back from death with their memories. We have writings, but they are old even for us elves who are almost immortal and many documents have disappeared. But the lost continent may be the answer to this question. »
“I have read many books but little is said about this continent. »
I had indeed been desperate to find more information on the subject.
“The Lost Continent is said to be the birthplace of all races. It appears that something happened that caused our ancestors to take refuge on Eteryddyn. But we don't know what. the humans who are closest to this continent sometimes send expeditions to reach it, but none of them have ever returned. A man said he survived the sinking of his boat by a miracle. He was talking about the existence of gigantic monsters. We did not have further details as he quickly succumbed to his injuries. But that does not prevent the covetousness of humans. Elves are less inclined to seek this continent, they are happy in their woods, and fear death. Which is somewhat ironic when you consider our longevity. Dwarves prefer to hide in their mountains and dig until nothing of value remains in their mines. »
“I would like to see this continent one day. »
“Maybe you will have this chance. But for now let's try to make you a real elf. »
“And what does it consist of? »
"What do you think an elf is?" »
At first, I only had vague memories of the novels I had read. My image of an elf had changed growing up. But the essential elements remained.
“An elf is an almost immortal being, living in harmony with nature. »
" It's a good start. An elf, and I think even if you know it you need to hear it, an elf is not a human even though we look like them. Of course, there are some aspects that show these differences. Our ears, Our size, Our life expectancy, our beauty. These elements are obvious. But let's stick to the physical part for a moment. An elf is born on average after a 12 month pregnancy. »
What did he just say ?
“Seeing your face it was not the same for you. How many months ? »
"24"
“Ah, your mother must not have felt safe enough to have you before. The duration of pregnancy depends on the mother and only on the mother. When a baby's body has finished developing in its mother's womb, it is put into stasis. It is the mother who decides when this stasis should end. We now have a 10-year-old record of a woman who was captured by pirates while pregnant and refused to give birth while in captivity. This only lasted three days, but she was so traumatized that it took her time to accept that she was safe. A problem that your mother must have encountered. »
I thought of the Duchess again. Did she do something to my mother?
"I didn't read that anywhere."
"You don't read much fiction, I guess."
It is true since I had arrived in this world, I had immersed myself in research and nothing else. What else had I missed.
“In our culture, our immortality is called the spark of immortality, it is believed to be transmitted by the father. An elven woman who leaves her home to marry a human will never have an immortal child, and that child will never be accepted into our community. Conversely, if the father is an elf, the child may have the chance to become immortal and enter our community, but he will live miserably because he will be recognized for what he is, the fruit of a forbidden union. »
I imagined a child facing hatred all his life, why would he stay with the other elves. But as an immortal, he could not form lasting relationships with humans.
"Now let's talk about an elf's hearing, sight and smell. You have certainly seen it but our hearing is very fine. I can very well hear the caterpillar climbing the trunk of the tree in front of us. »
There were so many trees what tree was he talking about? I had seen that I had more developed hearing but not to this extent.
Endar smiled gently.
"Taylor when I tell you to open your senses, I'm not talking about something figurative, but literal. Physically open your hearing. »
" What ? »
“Imagine your ears growing, but you control the size and with it the intensity of your hearing. Try. »
I closed my eyes and imagined my ears gradually growing. But I suddenly opened my eyes. I touched my ears.
“They… they really grew up! »
“Yes, now do you hear that caterpillar?”
Suddenly I was assailed by sounds, a cart rolling towards the castle. An elf was teasing his son because he saw him kissing a girl.
I could hear baby birds in their nest and a caterpillar climbing the same tree that had just been caught by the mother. Oh.
"Well, it was unlucky." said Endar
"I heard her."
"Alright, you're going to do the same with your eyesight now." You can certainly see at night like that but not very far. I want you to imagine wiping your pupil to see better. »
It was very unpleasant, I felt like I was putting sandpaper in my eye. I wiped my eyes and when I opened them I was amazed by the myriads of colors that flashed before my eyes. Everything seemed more lively to me. I saw the grasses as if I was a few centimeters away from them.
“You really have your father's eyes. »
He brought me a mirror and I saw that my hazel eyes had taken on an ice blue tint. The same eyes as my father. The same eyes that had seduced so many women. Should I be worried now or in a few years? I choose to postpone the inevitable for as long as possible.
"All that's left is the sense of smell. I would now like you to visualize a membrane inside your nostrils. Exhale and push her away. »
My nose burned for a moment, then I inhaled and held my nose a few seconds later.
“It can be disorienting the first time”
Yes, especially when you smell the unpleasant smell emanating from your teacher's boots.
"Now that it's done, I want you to run. But this time, don't think about your stride or your breathing. You are not a human, you are an elf and your body only has the limits you impose on it. Run. »
And I ran, it wasn't the same as before, I was with everything around me. What seemed near was far, what seemed far was near. The ground vibrated under my feet, the wind carried a symphony to my ears. I tasted the fruits in the trees just by their smell. I was an elf, a being united with nature and when I looked my hand. A stone was there.