“And that’s why the land is free and not restricted,” a young wood elf said to her younger sister. “Elves should live where they please and not be treated badly despite their race,” she said. The young wood elf, Rose, was reading a book called “One Hundred Elf Tales for Young Elves”. Rose believed that the book had true information. Elves in Astellae had varied opinions about the book. Some elves believed in gods and legends, some elves didn’t, and some elves were indifferent, believing whatever parts of the book they wanted.

The two elves were sitting on blades of greenleaf, under an epple tree. The sky was clear and the sun was shining brilliantly. Even though the sky looked delightful, there were high temperatures. The “lower” temperatures were typically 90 degrees or above, and the higher one's 100 degrees or above, rarely hitting 115 degrees. The tree provided a brisk breeze and a nice shade to prevent them from being cooked alive.

“But Rose, I have a question,” the younger elf asked as she tilted her head sideways “did that happen here? In the peaceful world of Astellae?” Astellae was always considered a lovely place to live in. This surprised the young elf. This story, 'The Founding of Astellae', explained how the realms came to be. It was quite violent and featured a vicious ruler.

“Yes, it did,” Rose answered as she bit her lip. Her little sister always had questions, and Rose was happy to answer them. Most of the time, that is.

“But how do you know? What if it’s just a made-up story to scare elves?” The young elf said as she tugged on a loose hair. The young elf felt a bit anxious. Her mother always told stories to get her to sleep or not sneak out at night to eat the fruit she liked. They used to work until she found out that they probably weren’t real.

“If it didn’t happen, we’d still be forced into one realm. The realms themselves still exist, but there are little restrictions on leaving and returning, or permanently living in a different realm. Elves of different races couldn’t be together, either” Rose answered with pride.

“Deities exist?” the whole story confused Rae. She saw no gods or goddesses in the sky. She was a firm believer of the ‘see it to believe it’ theory. If she didn’t see something, it didn’t exist and there were no other thoughts on it.

“Rae, I will not continue this discussion. You should go home. Mom’s waiting for you,” Rose said as she crossed her arms. “It’s clear that you’re not trying to simply listen and get it over it. And I don’t like answering questions,” she teased.

“You should come too!” Rae exclaimed. “It’s boring with you gone!” She jumped back-and-forth in the air to try to convince Rose, but she could not. Disappointed and out of breath, she sat back down. Maybe Rose would visit. Maybe someday, or on Sun’s Day.

“But I’m an adult now, Rae,” Rose said as she got up, “Goodbye, see you soon,” she walked towards the road and waved. Today would be a new day. Perhaps it would be interesting.

Rose Fallenwoods was a wood elf who lived in Woodburg, a city in Eartisae. She had medium brown skin, dark blond hair that stopped at her shoulders, and had green eyes. She wore a tunic-like outfit which revealed her cleavage and complemented her wide ribcage, wide shoulders, smaller waist, and medium-sized hips. She tried to look her best every day and typically wore things that were considered “sultry” by other elves. Rose’s mother criticized her for it.

Today, Rose had to go to work. She left her family decades ago so she could move out. Her siblings annoyed her most of the time and her parent, while caring, could be very strict and controlling. She was glad to be free and live life on her own terms. Having to actually work wasn’t smiles and rainbows, it was definitely hard. However, she needed the money and met plenty of friends, and that allowed her to formed a little friend group of her own.

***

Rose walked to work. As a wood elf, it was second nature to her. She found it extremely calming and it was an effective way for her to de-stress. After walking for thirty minutes, she arrived at the forest she worked at. She was a fruit harvester. Her boss allowed her to bring some fruits home, and it made her happy to know that her hard work would feed hundreds, or even thousands, of hungry elves.

“Hey, Rose!” A water elf greeted. She had light blue skin and white, short, curly hair. Her eyes were a light cyan, her hips were wider than her waist, chest, and shoulders. She was short, no taller than five feet. The water elf had a bright, white smile. This water elf, Salina, was always happy here. No matter how hard to job was, it was extremely hard to get rid of her radiant happiness.

“Hello, Salina,” Rose said, waving. “What are we picking today?”

“Aquafruit! It’s very… wet, so be sure to wear the red robes near the ladder,” Salina put her robe on. Rose followed. Although, she struggled at first. “Put in on via your legs, not head,” Salina said, giggling.

Aquafruit was a clear fruit that consisted of water. It was twice the size of a blueberry and grew on trees, in bundles, like grapes. It had a tart taste and took about ten days to expire. It was in season and its demand was at its highest. Especially with the heat waves nowadays. It was most common in Aquisae, but could grow anywhere.

Spalt! An aquafruit fell off the tree and on the ground. It soaked rose from head to toe. “Such a small fruit yet it has so much water,” Rose said, clenching her teeth in frustration. She climbed down the ladder and changed her robe. The robe was so wet that it no longer absorbed any water whatsoever. “I’m not looking forward to this Aquafruit picking, it seems annoying. These robes are useless,” Rose frowned, “they need to get us better gear,” she said as she crossed her arms.

“Well, they’re not supposed to make you immune to the water, Rose,” Salina commented. “They keep you a little drier. Because the fruit itself is slippery, you’re bound to get soaked, so it’s just an unfortunate thing that happens,” Salina reminded. “And to be honest, I agree about them getting us better gear, but most elves don’t care. Despite giving food to so many elves, elves don’t pay much attention to us unless it directly affects their food storage,” Salina stated.

“But I don’t want to be an unsung hero,” Rose said, jokingly. She then set her mind to fruit-picking. She ignored everything else around her. It was working time.

Rose picked about three-hundred fifty Aquafruit in five hours. Her arms were sore and cramped. She had a moderate headache and was quite tired. “I’m going to leave now, see you Salina,” Rose said as she waved goodbye to Salina and the rest if her co-workers. Tomorrow would be the same. She couldn’t wait until the ice season. Aquafruit couldn’t grow when it was too cold, and just the thought of that lifted Rose’s awful mood.

***

After an hour of walking, Rose finally arrived home. She lived in Woodburg, a city in Eartisae. To her enjoyment, her house was in a more rural area. She did not like interacting with elves outside her social circle. It was exhausting and annoying.

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“Welcome back, Rose!” her pixie companion greeted. The pixie looked rather childlike and had long blonde hair. Her eyes were green, and she was a female. Rose did not yet give her a name. It was a difficult process, but she promised herself to name the pixie soon.

“Hello,” Rose said, her voice dull. “I’m going to check the mailbox,” she said as she walked towards the door.

“Be safe! It can be dangerous at night!” The pixie warned. No recent events have happened, but the pixie took the 'be safe' advice to heart. When she was just a little pixie, her caretakers always warned her of danger. She wanted Rose to stay safe, too.

“I can take care of myself,” Rose said. “Thanks for looking out for me, though,”

She opened the door and closed it quickly. She put her hand inside the wooden mailbox and felt a smooth material. It was a letter, from Salina. Salina always sent Rose silver letters decorated with permafrost and ice colored jewelry. They usually contained highlights and news and were sent to Salina’s friends. Sometimes, the letters were sent to Rose personally and contained more secretive content. Rose took the letter into the house.

“Can I see the letter?” The pixie asked. “She sent this one to you, Rose! I want to see the juicy secrets too!” The pixie then twirled in the air, full of excitement.

“No,” Rose said. “Anyway , we’re getting aquafruit and redleaf with toasted aquafruit seeds. And two ounces of toothbeast meat. Obviously, you’ll get much less. Oh, and honey water. I don’t feel like cooking much,” she began to walk towards the center of her house. It had a very small area that was filled with dirt. Rose used it to cook food.

Redleaf was a red, spicy leaf. It was red and grew on the ground. Toothbeast were animals that looked like green deer with sharp fangs. They looked scary but were harmless and easy to hunt. It rarely used its fangs against elves and cooking it neutralized the poisons inside it. Wood elves were immune to the poisons, and eating raw toothbeast did not affect them. It did affect the taste, though.

Rose set up a fire. She cooked the meat for half an hour, toasted the seeds for fifteen minutes, and heated up the redleaf for five minutes. She already had stocked up on honey water due to the sting insects being active this season. Finally, when everything was finished, Rose served the food on cleaned bark, topped with a few sprinkles of various spices from her spices cabinet. The aroma of the freshly-cooked food filled the air. “Here’s your plate,” she said to her pixie. As she sat down to eat, she noticed that the redleaf was not yet ripe. Instead of being savory, it was very bitter. Rose scratched her head in frustration, “I’m sorry for this,” she said to her pixie. That’s nice, Rose thought to herself. Why wasn’t I paying attention?

Unsurprisingly, the pixie had eaten everything. She didn’t seem to care about the unripe, bitter redleaf. She eat nearly anything if it was edible and never refused any edible food. Rose thought she was just a greedy pixie. At least she’s not wasting anything, I guess? Rose thought.

“Can I read the letter?” Her pixie asked again. She was very interested. Rose only let her read the boring, general letters. Never the personal ones.

“No, sorry. Salina trusts me, if I showed you a letter sent personally, I don’t think she’d like that, ” Rose stared at the pixie, “I’d feel bad, too, I hate feeling guilty.” Rose turned around, took the letter upstairs and walked into the spare room she had. It had a brown table & chair, desk, and a few candles of various scents. Rose had no idea what she’d use the spare room for, so she used it to read letters and write in her journal.

Rose sat on the chair and read the letter in her head. Dear Rose, I’ve been wondering if you wanted to visit my house. It’s been a long time since you last visited. I want to talk to you in person, not via letter or when we talk at work for five minutes, say goodbye, and then leave. I feel you’re ignoring me, Rose. I might not know much about your current situation and what you’re going through, but I want you to visit.

This letter wasn’t a happy heart-filled letter. It was serious and made Rose feel guilty. She hasn’t been visiting Salina as actively as she used to. Rose had found joy in other hobbies and was less worried about visiting Salina. This also affected Salina. Salina herself had other friends, but Rose was her friend for the longest time. When Salina became a fruit harvester, Rose was the first to teach her about certain fruits, and reminded Rose herself about which fruits were which. To Rose, Salina definitely made working as a fruit harvester more lively and interesting. She would explain that to Salina. It would be hard to put that into words and stop Salina from getting upset. Maybe she would understand.

Rose looked at the window to daydream, but instead of staring into blank space, she saw a green object. The green object was nearly transparent, was shapeless, like steam, and disappeared within seconds. She rubbed her eyes. I am tired. I should go to sleep. This is what happens when I stay up for too long. Rose opened the door slowly.

As she walked out of the spare room, she heard her pixie scream. “ROSE!” The pixie sounded like she was in some sort of pain. It was a very unpleasant sound and caused Rose to panic. Maybe her pixie made a silly mistake? Did she break something. It didn’t seem like it. Rose ran downstairs and brought her light green bow and arrows enhanced with nature magic. To her surprise, there it was, the green object. It took the shape of her elf and stared into Rose’s eyes. “Where is she?’ Rose said, aiming her bow and arrow at the object.

“Tell me or I’ll release the arrow!” The object didn’t talk and instead made a grumbled sound, like it was somehow being suffocated. Within a few seconds, it took the shape of an elf. It had Rose’s pixie in its hand and squeezed it tightly. The object smiled. Rose was scared of it, especially its mouth. Its teeth were yellow and blood-stained with many missing, and its gums were pale. Without hesitation, Rose released her arrow, pointed at the object’s neck. She used as much force as possible. She wanted this thing dead, and she wanted her pixie back. Unfortunately, Rose missed. The green object bit her leg and left a deep mark. Rose thought she would cry. It turned back into a shapeless object and aimed at Rose’s head. She dodged it and crouched, allowing the creature to lose it’s sight.

She used her nature magic to camouflage with a potted plant she had. She aimed at the neck again and hit it. It was still alive and pulled the arrow from its neck. No, No, she thought. Her heart began to race even faster. Rose would die here, wouldn’t she? Rose would never see her sister or the rest of her family again. Relax. I need to pay attention. The object tossed a table at Rose, once again, Rose dodged it. Rose released arrows again and again, all of them missed. She wasn’t a precise as she wanted because her hands were shaking. As she went to attack again, she was out of arrows. Maybe this is the end. I’m sorry Salina, I won’t be able to meet you. I’m sorry everyone. I am really sorry. I’m sorry. The object lifted Rose up and began to choke her. Her vision was blurry and it was getting harder and harder to breathe. She had to do something, quickly.

With her last remaining bit of strength, she used her Nature magic to create a redleaf plant and stabbed the object. Rose stabbed it again and again. Maybe the poison would have an effect. The creature made a grumbled sound and let go of Rose. It tossed her against the wall, worsening her leg injury. It opened its mouth the reveal its jaw in all their glory. Within a few seconds, it collapsed and faded to nothingness after making another grumbled sound. It left a bit of blood on the ground, but that also faded. Did the redleaf really have an effect?

Rose cleared away rubbish and ran to the pixie. Rose carefully examined her Pixie’s body. The pixie’s clothing was torn in a few places and her entire body was bruised. “Are you okay?” Rose said dropping a few tears. “You won’t hear me, but I’m glad you aren’t dead. That thing nearly killed me,” Rose said. “Why did this happen? How?” Her pixie was breathing and had a pulse, but was unconscious. Rose herself was moderately injured. Her leg had a deep wound, she had a couple bruises, and scratches, especially on her head. She wrapped her leg with a healing vera plant, a special plant with healing properties. But it was no miracle plant. Rose began to cry and fainted.

What was that thing?