"The way to Elfin is found on the path
That weaves through the Misty Forest
That lives between the Mountain of Vision
And the River of Reality"
~ The Silver Elves

                                                                            _________________ 

I stood in front of the tunnel, cautiously touching the damp ivy hanging like a curtain. Josh, Kace and Vanessa were standing just a few feet away from me, trying to drag out an age-old boat hidden under piles of weeds and plants. I strode towards them and wordlessly, started helping them. A silence settled between us as we worked to remove the weeds and drag the boat towards the stream. For the first time, I felt like we were genuinely working as a team – aware of each other's moves and actions without having to say it out loud or just quietly looking out for each other.

We climbed inside the boat made of wood and barely held together with rusted nails. I was quite apprehensive it would break under the weight of four of us. But thankfully, it kept together. Josh took one oar while Kace took hold of another. Slowly, they started rowing the boat towards the cave entrance. A soft wind started blowing, making the boat glide even more smoothly. Vanessa and I got up to hold up the curtain of ivy as we neared the entrance. But we didn't need too. The ivy parted on its own. I took in a breath as we entered inside the tunnel.

Moist stone walls enveloped us along with the frothy mist churning around. A heavy silence filled us, except for the lulling sound of water flowing. Braziers hung on the walls, alight and giving off smoke. I sat at the very edge of the boat, looking down at the water. It was shallow and clear with tiny fishes flitting around. Suddenly, a glow caught my eye.

Josh nudged me with his arm and whispered, "Look at the fish."

I did and gasped. The tiny fishes occasionally gave out a golden light that appeared as quickly as it vanished – like a blink. I was so busy watching them that I almost didn't notice that we had reached the end of the tunnel.

"Oh!" Vanessa whispered as she looked forward. I turned around to see what she was looking at. A bright light caught my eye, not enough to leave me blinded. But I still had to squint, after all the darkness in the forest and the tunnel. The tunnel gave away to a dark sky just lightening up. A few stars still remained, twinkling cheerfully.

The stream widened to a long river with white sandy shore, like a carpet of white silk. Giant, exotic trees sprouted from the ground, like tall skyscrapers, almost touching the sky. I spotted houses far up in the thick branches of the foreign trees with different coloured leaves – emerald green, deep red, bright yellow, sunset orange, even teal and other colours.

Our boat lightly touched the shore but before we could so much as get up, two tall elves appeared before us. Vanessa was right. They indeed had an ethereal beauty in them with their flowing silky hair, fair skin, arched eyebrows, pointed ears and long legs and arms. The two of them were, however, dressed in simple jeans and shirts with jackets. It did make them look a little more human. I would've almost drooled over their beauty if they weren't carrying long bows and quivers with arrows notched and pointed at us.

Josh shot Kace a look. Kace immediately nodded and got up with his hands raised. He spoke something rapidly in a language I didn't understand but assumed was the dialect of the elves. The language was fast and rapid with a lot of breathy vowels and changing tunes. It almost sounded like music. I would've been content in hearing them speak all day long. The two guards nodded at Kace, lowered their weapons and shook hands with him. Finally, they turned to face the rest of us.

"Come, young Guardians, Lady Melissa requests your presence," one of the elves said with a strange lilt to his voice. Kace looked at us, shot a quick thumbs-up and followed the elves. The three of us scrambled out of the boat and rushed to follow the guards.

Throughout the entire walk, my jaw was open. I gaped over the tall trees and the houses in them, the crystal clear waters of the stream, the occasional small waterfall, the small round hills and the soft buzzing noise of insects and crickets. It was paradise. Like, for real.

Abruptly, a soft melody tickled my ears. Hearing the sweet-sour notes, so rich and smooth, I was suddenly reminded of simple, happy times, like when Mom and I would go grocery shopping and I would insist on buying one candy of each flavor, or when Mom baked those chocolate cupcakes with hazelnut frosting, or when she would play Bollywood songs from her playlist and would start dancing. 

I even recalled some of my good friends back from school. I hadn't even had a chance to think about them but now that I was, I realised I terribly missed them. Did they miss me? Did they ever wonder where had I disappeared off to? Ella, Julian, Cristina and all of the others, did they remember me? But that wasn't all. My mind even flooded with the images of my new, unexpected friends. Like, Kace pulling my chair for me in the dining hall with an exaggerated curtsy. Or when Josh had saved me from Cade and somehow, we had ended up shaking hands, becoming friends.

I had come a long way, hadn't I?

"We are here," said one of the elves, breaking me from my happy stupor. I released a sigh. I looked at the others and could see a same content expression on their face. I wondered if the music had some sort of magic in it. In fact, it seemed to have grown louder by now.

I looked above at the towering broad tree looming in front of me. It was, by far, one of the largest with branches spreading out so thickly, it almost formed a wooden floor. Huge navy blue and emerald green leaves were rustling in the wind, almost whispering. There was a long ladder going all the way up to the top of the tree. I hope we don't have to climb it...

"Go ahead, climb the ladder. Lady Melissa awaits above," ordered one of the elves.

Oh well.

"I'll go first," Kace suggested. "It will be better if she sees a familiar face first."

Josh nodded. Kace quickly hold of the ladder and started his ascent. Vanessa followed.

"Ava, you go next. I'll follow. You know, to see you don't fall off, being the klutz that you are."

I would've glared at him if his words weren't true. But sadly, I wasn't the most agile being.

I did go next, carefully holding on to the side and making sure of my foothold before actually putting my full weight. Josh, as promised, did look out for me. For instance, despite my attempts at cautiousness, my feet almost slipped once but Josh's hand crept up to my leg instantly, steadying me. Jitters swept up my leg and being me, I almost lost my footing again. 

As we were climbing up, a flock of birds flew past us. This time, I almost did hurtle down from shock. But Josh, my-knight-in-shining-armor, came to the rescue. However, this time I was too busy admiring the birds to register any jitters. The birds were flying around, squeaking, chirping much too quickly. 

But one particular bird landed right at my arm, its head tilting back and forth rapidly as it gazed at me curiously with large beady eyes. I was pleasantly surprised. It was easily one of the most beautiful birds I've ever seen in my life. The crest of its tiny head was glimmering like a sparkling crown of colored light. The shades of vivid orange adorning her breast were equally brilliant. Its long feathery tail was swaying lightly while its bright yellow wings ruffled as well with the wind. But it suddenly flitted out of my arm and flew with the rest of its kin. I sighed and resumed my ascent.

Finally, we reached to the top of the tree. The floor formed by the thick branches was wide and spacious and surprisingly strong. Leaves grew around, forming almost a thin wall all around. Glowing brass pendants were hanging from the branches above, washing the tree in an almost hypnotic light. There were rows of books kept carefully in the holes formed in the tree trunk. Farther, there was a small orchestra sitting and playing that soft melody near the corner. 

There were chairs placed in front of the band, along with one circular table that had varieties of goodies in it. There was a cupcake stand with different flavored cakes sitting in it – chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, blueberry, blackberry and all sorts of other berries with different types of frosting and sprinkled sugar. There were also plates of croissants, pretzels, biscuits, pastries and you know what? I should stop looking at the food before I start salivating. 

On one of the chairs sat a beautiful female elf with flowing dark hair tied in a braid with flowers attached in it. She was wearing a long peach dress with a gold belt tied in the waist with a headdress in her head. She immediately got up from her seat when she spotted the four of us, rising with poise and walking towards us with a cat-like grace. She was smiling widely as she exclaimed, "Kace, is that you?"

"In flesh, Lady Melissa," Kace said with a bow.

"Oh stop with the formalities! How many times must I tell you call me Aunty?"

"Sorry, La- I mean, Aunty," he said sheepishly.

She engulfed Kace in a hug. "Oh, look how you've grown! It's been so long since I saw you, dear child. And your voice, it has gotten deeper too, hasn't it? Oh and is that the start of a moustache I see in your chin?"

"Aunty," Kace said, embarrassed. "It's called puberty. Can you please stop?"

"Of course! Pardon me; I tend to get a little excited. But must you blame me? It has been such a long time since I saw you. And, pray tell, how is your mother? Is my sister still the same old rebellious girl or has she changed? Is she looking after my nephew well?"

"Yes, Aunty. She's looking after me well. And yeah, she hasn't quite lost the rebellious streak yet. Anyways, I wanted you to meet my friends," Kace added quickly before she could start off again.

"This is Vanessa. This dude is my man, Josh--" Kace was saying when Lady Melissa interrupted.

"Oh, you two, I know you! I remember seeing you all during one of the soirees my sister hosted once. You were both so young then. You don't remember me, do you?"

"Yes, ma'am," Vanessa said politely. 

"And, who must you be?" Lady Melissa said turning to look at me with her warm brown eyes. "You do look terribly familiar. Yet my old mind can't seem to recall from where."

"She's Ava. Ava Young. And I don't think you've met her before, Aunty. She's new here."

Lady Melissa tilted her head in confusion at hearing her nephew's words and murmured, "Strange."

"What's strange?" Kace asked.

Lady Melissa blinked as if awakening from a trance. "Oh nothing you need worry about! So, would you like some cookies? Should I ask to bring in some tea maybe?"

"Thank you, Lady Melissa but there's no need to trouble yourself," Josh said. Damn you, Josh! "We are in a hurry actually. We actually came here to ask for a small favor, if you wouldn't mind?"

"I would be pleased to help. But first let us all sit ourselves and be comfortable, no?"

We all obliged. The four of us took hold of one chair and sat ourselves down, facing towards the orchestra which seemed unbothered by our presence.

"So what is it that brings you here in these early hours?" Lady Melissa asked.

"Oh you see, the four of us were doing an assignment...about, you know, demonic languages. Like, we were asked to pick one and carefully analyze it and make some...observations, right?" Vanessa looked at the rest of us. We all bobbed our heads.

"How strange. I did not realise they asked students to read demonic languages. I thought you all liked to shun anything demonic?"

Vanessa faltered for a second but Josh quickly interjected, "Well, I understand it might seem strange but it is actually of great importance. You see, we need to know their language for, um, strategic purposes. It obviously isn't possible to learn all of them of course but we could try to learn a few. I mean, it is important to know your enemy, right? Plus, we would be lying if we didn't say we were just a little bit curious about their languages and way of communication."

Lady Melissa was still looking at us, just a bit of suspicion in her eyes before she sighed and said, "Well, I suppose, one should always be curious. It is a good thing but maybe not all times. However, if you insist and that warlock, Patrick Blackwell, approves then I shall help you. What language would you like to learn? I recommend Sakr, it is the easiest and-"

"Oh, um, actually, we have already chosen one. We, uh, found some symbols in the archives but there wasn't much about it. But we wanted to know what it was about. So, maybe you could look at it and tell us a little something?" Kace asked.

"Sure," Lady Melissa said, although she sounded hesitant. I wondered how much of our bullshit did she actually believe.

Vanessa took out a folded piece of paper from her pocket and handed it over to the outstretched hand of Lady Melissa. She quietly unfolded it and looked at it for a long time. Her brows were furrowed and lips tilted down. "It does seem a bit familiar but I'm afraid, I have forgotten it over the years," she said quietly. "It must be ancient indeed for my mind to have forgotten it. I do specialize in languages, apart from music of course. But..."

"So you won't be able to help us?" I asked, disappointed.

She smiled. "I never said that. I have hundreds of books of demonic languages. I'm sure if I find the right one, I'll be able to translate these words. Maybe I can even hand in the book to you so you can learn some more."

Vanessa beamed. "That'd be great!"

Lady Melissa rose from her chair and made way over to the rows of books kept on the holes. She skimmed her hands through the books carefully, her eyes concentrated. She took one out and then put it back. She kept on doing that for a few more books, before finally sighing in defeat. With pursed lips, she took out an ancient looking key from her belt and walked towards the opposite side from which we were standing. The four of us followed curiously.

We reached a section of the tree we hadn't seen before. Even more piles of hefty books with heavy velvet covers lined the shelves that formed a sort of cage around the books. I could only guess this section wasn't open to all.

A small lock was hanging in the center in which Lady Melissa inserted the key. Slowly and quietly, the cage of branches and brambles around the books started to recede. After a few more minutes of searching, Lady Melissa finally brought out a large book with a title I couldn't read. However, the letters did seem familiar.

"This must be it," Lady Melissa said, her eyes looking even more confused. "I remember now. This is one of the oldest recorded demonic languages. Ozra, it was called," she said, the 'r' in it rolling and the word ending with a slight 'h' sound. "Why would you want to learn this language?"

"Why not?" Josh challenged.

"It is considered cursed, that is why. Do you not know?"

"Know what?" Kace asked.

Lady Melissa turned to look at him, her brown eyes no longer warm, but grim and remote. "It was the language of the Dead Devil, Ozoman."