Chapter Thirty: The Elf Homelands

Freya had been riding her ghostly steed for days. She had ventured far north. She was dressed in her usual armour, her hair bounced with the motion of the horse’s infinite gallop. The ghost horse had gone full speed the whole time, they only stopped so Freya could rest and recover occasionally.

She saw the mountains on the horizon. It was sunrise.

At sunset Freya slowed her horse to a trot as the road led into a lush green forest. The trees had white trunks, and branches dangled like a willow. Lush green canopies contrasted with the dark green shrubbery and the orange and purple ferns on the forest floor.

She started riding faster once she entered the forest.

“Good Job, Belle,” Freya said, patting the horse on the neck, it huffed and shook its head.

The horse was happy to be home.

The Elf rode the horse down the dirt road she had known since she was a child. Her horse picked up even more speed. A cliff appeared in front of her, an ocean stretched out over the horizon. She galloped towards the cliff and the horse jumped.

Freya and the horse sailed in midair. She knew how far she had to jump. The horse and the elf broke through an invisible barrier and the horse’s hooves landed on dirt and solid rock. The elves lived in a magical realm that was hidden from humans. They lived on a landmass that levitated in the air. It was connected to the ground with a few very long tree trunks, and vines. These did not support the weight, they simply connected the two realms. The elven realm had been enchanted thousands of years before with powerful ancient magic. The entire city was raised from the ground to save them from a great flood.

It was full of intricately designed castles. Each house was like an expanding box, bigger on the inside. Some houses had been entirely themed around courtyard statues. These were gold plated wood carvings of the natural wildlife. These carvings were enchanted with protective wards, blessings from earlier generations of the family.

The elves raised magical beasts, birds, foxes, raccoons, deer and house cats. The cats had elongated ears, like the elves. These magical beasts were kept wild, and left to roam the wilderness. They had subconscious magical abilities that kept the island afloat in the sky. So as a result, they were protected fiercely by the elves. Human poachers had been a problem, as well as invasive species of animals like toads and poisonous snakes.

The elves were all supposed to stay here, leaving is seen as a massive disrespect to Elf tradition. Abandoning the realm and not contributing to the protection of these small creatures was a very rude thing to do as an elf.

The elves mostly trained in archery and sword fighting. They had some time in the day for farming, then the elves went into the forest to hunt for predators to the local wildlife. They would eliminate anything that climbed up the tree trunks or the vines, sometimes big lizards, jaguars, anacondas and massive crabs.

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At night the elves would cook and eat as a family, then meet in the town centre for storytelling and singing. They would play instruments until late at night, when the winds got too cold.

They had shops selling goods, some were food shops, others sold insanely powerful enchanted weapons, some sold potions and some sold armour. Other shops included trinket shops for niche magic up-skilling, or some sold furniture, or even travel agents giving tours of the outer world.

Freya’s horse landed on the edge of the island. She rode around the edge of the forest, looking out at the view over the edge. The ocean was still beneath her, the rest of Arcadia waited in the distance, for now, it was distant hills on the horizon.

She felt her homesickness fade away as she came up to a regularly used path. This is where she saw her first elf in two years.

“Freya!” The Elf called out. He was an old man, slightly chubby, he was holding a long sword over his shoulder.

“Hi Thomas!” Freya shouted as she cantered past. “You look fat.” Thomas chuckled and so did Freya.

“Go see your mother!” Thomas called out after her.

“I’m on my way!” She shouted behind her with a big smile.

She rode into the elf town, Freya arrived home and looked at her house. It was a simple cottage, it was quite large, double storied and her father, Anton sat on the front stoop, doing up the shoelaces on his leather boots. He was dressed in a beige hemp shirt, and some brown pants tied by a drawstring. He was not wearing his elegant king armour today. He had short blonde hair cut in a fade and a golden goatee. He was strong and had a wide chest.

“Bout time you came home for a kiss.” Anton said.

He got up, opened his arms and Freya got off her horse, smacked it on the backend and it galloped away. She walked up to her father and hugged him. He kissed her on her hair five times rapidly.

“I am so proud of you, my princess.” He said as he held her tightly and warmly. He was a handsome man, king of the elves. “Your mother’s pretty pissed off though.”

“You greedy little-...” Freya’s mother shouted from the front door.

“Two years away and you only send me four letters. I should have had another child. Mine doesn’t love me. Come, give your mother a hug,” her mother shouted.

A beautiful chubby blonde elf stepped out from the doorway and down the steps. She grabbed her daughter in a big squeeze and held tightly.

She kept holding for another sixty seconds, while Freya tried to worm free from the hug in any way she could. They were both laughing.

“Alright, I’m home, I’m home. I’m home, let’s eat some Tallyroot. I haven’t had it in YEARS.” Freya said as she walked into her house, followed closely by her parents. The bag of holding filled with Jason’s entire stock of enchanted gear dangled by her hip.