Excerpt from
Elffolk and the Crystal Caves of Atlantis
Chapter One -
An Imaginary Line
It was the very
last place you'd expect to find a village. There were no roads leading
to it and no dot marking its place on a map. But that was precisely the
way the elves wanted it. Tucked away in a valley, under the shadows of
ancient pines, the village had remained a secret on the island of Atlantis
for over 200 years.
Around the village,
an imaginary line had been drawn. The line was an unofficial border of
sorts meant to keep the elves from wandering too far. Besides, there was
no particular reason to leave Elffolk. Everything an honest elf should
ever need or want could be found within the village. More than that, the
line had always been there, and everyone respected it.
Still, there was
no accounting for the rebellious streaks of young elves.
Part-way up the
mountain, Enna, a young elf, stood at the line. Being an imaginary line,
there was nothing to see. So, after a lot of careful thought, she picked
a spot in the forest and declared it the border.
"You had better
not cross it," Nissa warned. Nissa was Enna’s older sister. She stood with
her arms folded across her chest, staring at Enna.
"What if I do?"
Enna shrugged. "What’s the worst that could happen?"
Nissa stared at
her blankly. That was just it. They didn’t know. Since their earliest days,
they’d heard tales of the dreaded big people who lived somewhere beyond
the imaginary line.
A full-grown elf
reached a proud height of three feet. The big people, it was rumoured,
were twice that height, and their weight was several times that of an elf.
But far more frightening than their hulking size, the big people of Atlantis
were said to be cold-hearted and cruel.
The truth of the
matter was no elf alive in Elffolk had ever actually seen a big person.
And at times, Enna half suspected that the older elves had made the whole
thing up.
Enna took one giant
step forward - an obvious breach of the border.
"Don’t!" Nissa sucked
in her breath sharply.
Enna turned and
grinned. "It’s an imaginary line, Nissa. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s
just a step."
"Get back!" Nissa’s
hands were on her hips now, her mouth an angry thin line.
Enna glanced around,
her feet planted firmly on the ground. "Seems fine, Nissa. Actually, it
feels nicer over here. You should join me."
Nissa rolled her
eyes and started in on a familiar lecture about rules and responsibility.
As the older sister, Nissa seemed to consider it her job to keep Enna in
line.
Enna turned away
as her sister droned on. There was no use covering her ears. The elves
didn't speak aloud to one another. They used mental telepathy to communicate
- meaning they had only to think a thought and direct it at another
elf. The other elf read the thought and responded with his or her own thought.
They were able to communicate with animals this way as well.
Mica trotted past
them both. A tall brown cat, Mica pressed on further up the mountain, well
past the imaginary line. He flopped on to his side and glanced over at
the elves casually. They, in turn, were gaping at him.
"What?" he asked.
"You just crossed
the line!" Nissa thought. Her mouth was open and her hands were turned
up in a gesture of disbelief.
"So what? I come
here all the time."
"See Nissa!" Enna
thought triumphantly. "It must be fine if Mica can do it…."
"I like to get away
from the hustle and bustle of the village," Mica explained with a long
drawn-out cat yawn.
Enna and Nissa exchanged
amused glances. There was no hustle - and definitely no bustle - in Elffolk.
Things moved along at a snail’s pace. The elves walked slowly, strolling
and sauntering from one place to the next. They took their time to eat
as well, and often breakfast turned into lunch before anyone had left the
table.
Mica ignored the
elves' smirks. Instead, he turned his attention to his right paw, licked
it a few times, and then pressed it against his ear.
Suddenly, he glanced
up, his eyes wide, ears back, the fur on his head standing on end. "What
was that?" He scrambled to his feet and crouched low to the ground.
Enna and Nissa froze
in place instantly.
"I just heard something,"
Mica added.
Enna looked around
through the surrounding woods. The tall evergreens cast shadows across
the forest floor - shadows that now seemed very ominous. Anywhere, something
- or someone - could be lurking.
"Where did the noise
come from?" Nissa asked.
Mica appeared deep
in thought. "You know what, on second thought, never mind. It was something
else."
"What do you mean
- something else?"
"It was nothing."
Mica glanced away. But the elves were waiting for an explanation. "It was
just my stomach growling," he added sheepishly, turning his attention to
a beetle on a nearby tree. "That reminds me, I haven’t had a bite to eat
since breakfast."
"Mica, it was breakfast
half an hour ago," Nissa retorted with a loud sigh. "Don’t scare us like
that."
They turned back
toward the valley, winding their way through the trees. A cloud passed
over the sun, and a great shadow settled over the forest like a heavy blanket.
"Wait," Mica thought.
"There it is again." He stopped dead in his tracks this time. He sniffed
the air and glanced up through the trees suspiciously.
"Stop it, Mica!"
Nissa stomped her foot. "It’s not funny."
Just then, a handful
of brown birds fluttered from the tree branches. A squirrel raced down
the trunk of a nearby tree and scurried past them. And a soft rustling
underfoot marked the flight of mice, snakes and other small creatures tearing
through the undergrowth.
Enna glanced to
the sky just as a flock of yellow canaries flew past. A moment later, a
second flock sailed by. They were all headed in the same direction - due
south.
"Something is happening,"
Nissa thought worriedly.
"What is it?"
"Run!" Mica's thoughts
screamed out. "To the meadow!"
They sprinted through
the trees at top speed, the slope of the mountain carrying them ever faster.
Soon they were flying down the mountain so fast, it seemed their legs were
moving on automatic, and the rest of their bodies were just trying to keep
up.
Enna caught her
shoulder on a rough tree trunk. She felt the sting of the scrape but pressed
on. A few seconds later, she stubbed her toe on a rock. Then she heard
a yelp from behind. Glancing over her shoulder, she spotted her sister.
Nissa was lying
face-down on the ground.
Enna tried skidding
to a halt, but she couldn't slow down. Thinking fast, she wrapped her arms
around a tree trunk and hung on for dear life. Her legs swung out from
under her. She spun halfway around the tree. Next, she was soaring through
the air. Finally, smashing into some prickly bushes, she came to a full
and final stop.
Groping tree roots
and branches, she clambered back up the steep slope. Nissa had rolled on
to her side.
"You OK?" Enna asked,
helping Nissa to her feet.
"I tripped on a
tree root," she grumbled.
Mud was smeared
across Nissa's cheeks. Old leaves and twigs were tangled in her blond hair.
Enna could hardly believe her sister had just taken a harmless tumble.
By looking at her, it would seem she had skidded halfway down the mountain
on her head.
They tore off again,
back down the mountain, back toward the meadow.
"Come on already!"
Mica thought from somewhere ahead.
They could see the
grassy meadow through the trees now. Another few seconds and they had slipped
out of the forest.
Hunched over, hands
on knees, they stopped to catch their breath.
"Keep running!"
Mica directed. He was bounding toward the centre of the meadow. The top
of his head was just barely visible above the tall grass.
They raced to the
flat black boulder in the middle of the meadow, wondering whether they
were being chased. When they arrived at the boulder, Mica was already standing
on top. He was looking north toward the tree line, waiting, waiting for
something.
"What is it?" Enna
asked. She glanced around and realized they weren’t alone in the meadow.
A small herd of deer was resting nearby. To the west, a fox lay low in
the grass and, throughout the meadow, rabbits crowded together in clusters.
Suddenly, a wild
screeching sound filled the air. A black cloud erupted from the cliffs
at the top of the mountain. The cloud shrank and grew and shifted shape
as it approached. Enna watched with a mixture of curiosity and fear. It
was like nothing she’d ever seen before. The cloud moved quickly in their
direction. As it passed by overhead, she realized it was just a large group
of bats.
Just then, the ground
shifted under Enna's feet. She reached out, hoping to grasp something solid,
but everything around her was shaking, too. The sound of crashing trees
echoed through the valley. Then came the sound of tumbling rocks, smashing
through the forest. The elves and animals watched, silent and still.
A few seconds passed
and the shaking stopped. Enna and Nissa stood in place, wondering whether
they'd felt the last of it.
"An earthquake,"
Nissa thought at last.
"Not like the usual
little earth tremors."
"We should get back
and make sure everything is all right at home."
Enna nodded, gazing
into the forest. "I hope no one was hurt by all those falling rocks."
*
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