“You need to learn their language,” I said to Princess Kol as we walked with the Oko tribe towards the Imm tribe’s lands.
“But that will take forever!” said the Princess.
“I think once you get going and immerse yourself in the language here, you’ll find it isn’t as difficult to learn as you thought,” I said. I eventually got the princess to agree to attending some language lessons with me whenever we made camp for the night on the journey back to Bek Tepe. The princess had a red gemstone pendant that gave her the ability to understand and communicate with people who spoke different languages. The pendant’s translation ability was not as sophisticated as that of my translation magic, and I had to step in to interpret her words for the tribesmen, even during our nightly meetings and discussions. I’d gotten so used to it that the language barrier barely effected the conversation anymore, but it was still noticeable, and I wanted to fix that. I was looking at the future. The princess would be staying with us for a long time. And whenever she did return, it would help if she had a good relationship and understanding of the human tribes. Especially because she was in line for the throne.
We reunited with the Imm tribe and began walking towards the River Teg. We would be joining the small group the various tribes had left behind at the encampment before heading off to Bek Tepe. The summer solstice was right around the corner, which meant I had been with the humans for almost an entire year. I’d also been separated from Noel for a year, which left a bitter feeling in my mouth.
“A demon, you say,” said Elder Mann Imm.
“There wasn’t a word for their people in your language,” I said, “so I gave them one from my own language.” The word had been slightly altered to fit the phonetics of the human language, but was still recognizably the word demon. “Their own name for their people is very different, but my translation magic has chosen to translate it this way too. For some reason, her red pendant has also done the same.” It didn’t take a genius to see that the red pendant was suspicious, and it already gave me some clues about the Heavenly Eye that the people of her kingdom worshiped.
Elder Mann glanced at the princess, who was walking far in front of us, talking to Elder Konri Oko. Elder Mann observed the demon princess, staring particularly and awkwardly at her black tail. “Are you sure she isn’t a monster?”
“No,” I said, “is anything that isn’t human a monster? What about me and the other elves?”
“Right, my apologies,” said the elder. “But are we sure that it is safe to bring her with us to Bek Tepe?”
“She does not have access to the technology of her people right now, and she doesn’t even know your language. Her people do not possess magic, either, or at least not the kind of powerful and systematized magic that you have all learned from me,” I said. “The real danger that her people could pose is with their superior numbers, but there is no way a large army could cross those mountains. Princess Kol is completely at our mercy, right now.”
The elder stared at her some more. In his eyes, I could see the demon princess’ dark hair, strange clothes and even stranger shoes. When she turned around, I could see her dark eyes, and the mature smile on her face. I’d asked her about her age, but she’d insisted that wasn’t something I should be asking a lady. Even when I insisted because I wanted to know more about demon lifespans and growth rates, she simply told me the oldest demons she knew lived to somewhere around seven hundred years and grew faster when they were young before gradually slowing down, which was similar to the way elves aged in this world.
Just judging by appearances, however, she looked like she was in her thirties. And despite her energetic personality, her royal upbringing had given her a sort of measured maturity that made her seem even older, at least when she wasn’t hiding behind her upbeat smile.
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The humans at the encampment were happy to see us. None of the senior elders had stayed behind here, so the few secondary elders were happy to see me and the two senior elders from the Imm and Oko tribe. One thing that I had realized about the tribesmen was the value they placed on their elders, and how important the elders were to their sense of self and security.
The demon princess was surprised to see the many different colors of humans at the encampment. I’d spent so much time with them that I had gotten used to their strangely varied hair colors, but an outsider like the demon princess couldn’t get enough of it. Apparently, most demons had simple dark hair and eyes. The humans were surprised to hear about that, with some whispers about marriages and children that I didn’t quite catch.
We left the encampment a little earlier than planned, since the demon princess could not travel as fast as the humans could. Many humans had learned motion magic, and the addition of tamed pack animals like Paris—who I was very happy to reunite with—meant we could move our supplies very easily, too. The princess was terrified of Paris, by the way. She couldn’t believe that a monster like that obeyed me, but Paris the Fil Tusker seemed to have missed me too. I ended up riding a makeshift saddle on her back for a good portion of the journey to Bek Tepe.
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When Bek Tepe appeared over the horizon, it cut as impressive a sight as it had last year. A lone hill jutting out of the flat plains, with a temple carved into the side. Even the demon princess’ eyes went wide, despite the more advanced building and construction technologies that she was used to in her homeland. Judging by the stacks of smoke coming from the top of the hill, a few tribes had already arrived. They would have seen us from up there too, which reminded me of Bek Tepe’s amazing defensive location.
We strode up to the stone guardians, which were thronged by a bunch of familiar faces. Kelser rushed up to me and I gave him a big hug. I also greeted Elder Kezler and the other Roja tribesmen. The others seemed to be advanced parties from the Jora and Ibog tribes, who told me their elders would be leading the rest of their tribesmen over soon. We could expect the other tribes to start pouring in over the next few days.
“Princess Kol,” I said, bringing Kelser over to the demon princess, “this is Kelser, the most powerful magician in the entire human race.” Kelser blushed.
Princess Kol gave Kelser a gentle smile, and greeted the other humans, especially Elder Kezler, very politely. She had realized by now that elders were important to the humans, and was trying to treat them with the appropriate respect.
I explained the princess’ circumstances to the newly met tribesmen, and prepared myself to go over the same explanation every time a new tribe came to join us. Surprisingly, none of the humans had ever reacted to the demon princess with the kind of wild, uncontrollable eagerness that they had displayed towards me. They were surprised to see someone who looked so different and who came from the other side of a huge mountain range, but that was it. I suppose it helped that they didn’t really know what a princess was, and just assumed she was something like an elder’s daughter. They even assigned her chores during our journey and would probably do the same here at Bek Tepe. The poor, pampered princess gave them an incredulous look, but I never intervened and so she was hauling water and foraging for food with everybody else. She’d gotten used to it quickly enough, and I was surprised that she never came to me to complain or ask for special treatment.
The other tribes began to arrive as the days grew longer and longer. I had kept up my count of the days since the previous solstice. Combined with my map of the distant surroundings, which I had laid out carefully in my tent, I thought I was starting to get a pretty good idea of this world. Meeting the demon princess had taught me about the demons on the other side of the mountains, and she had proven that there was a way through the mountains, even if she didn’t remember where it was.
The demons were probably my best bet for finding clues about the other elfin tribes, which would help me decipher the riddle of ‘annihilation’ and find a way home. I had to get to the other side of the mountains.
But the demons were numerous and more technologically advanced than the humans. I couldn’t risk opening up a path across the mountains before the humans were able to defend themselves. They already had a magical advantage, but I wanted to give them something more. Something that would make sure that the humans could not be pushed over by waves of iron clad demons.
I picked up the lodestone. I could make do without a compass for a little bit. For now, I needed a magnet.