Roving in the Lost World
---- A tale of a Roving Cat
When I am dead, my dearest,
Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress tree:
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet:
And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.
I shall not see the shadows,
I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on as if in pain:
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget.
-----------Christina Georgina Rossetti
Preface
Life meant a mystery to most of people who always fell in melancholy to the unknown future, or imagined for something which never came true. But to those who had limited time on earth, there would be another story. To those who counted each day as the last one before doomsday, the energy used on solving riddle seemed to be a genuine waste. I was living on a land of this sort. Here prevailed war and fear; here stuffed with dead bodies; here spread ill news. However, I was touched by nothing because, to most of people, I had been vanished long before on this continent. While I could see everything, no one could see me. Precisely speaking, no one cared to see me. When I strolled before them, or when I stopped to listen to them all my ears, when I observed them as they were alone, they never cared to notice my existence. I roved on the land with my free will. What I needed was their absent-mindedly hurt.
This was a land of wonder with a long history, around by the oceans. She had breed all creatures here. The vast woods spread from the time unknown, the plain stretched to the places without names, the creeks flowed in the, mountains with their wild or peaceful will, roaring river consisted of her veins from south to north. Here lived the human race as well as the others. In the golden era, diverse creatures were quite busy with their own business in every corner of the continent. In the dense woods, wise elves flourished. On the plain dwarves enjoyed their diligent labor and fruitful harvest. But, humans were the true master race on the continent. They lived in their respective city state like stars spread on heaven, enjoying the absolute power related to the whole continent. There once even humans living in the continent’s north pole where filled with thorns and swamps. Later, a Dark Lord emerged which caused humans went south gradually. The north pole was left to the Dark Lord and his subjects—the hybrid beasts, half human half beast. There became the cradle of all miseries on the vast land.
When I was roving around the continent as a cat, long gone her golden days. What I had seen was the war among different races. They were alien to each other and did not trust everyone else. The humans’ city-state had long been sundered apart. Sometimes they may united together for the fear of the Dark Lord, but in most of time they would fight each other for the dominant power over the continent. The situations in royal families were even worse. Love or hatred always went with the throne fight. At this time, as the shadows from the north were unprecedented near, what they could do was only fight in broken alliance, which consumed their power and fortune, whereas, the Dark Lord had been expanding his will and domains. More and more people devoted to his rule, even some people living in the utmost south. That had forced the races kept migrating. Some had to face the danger of extinction. Dwarves were the first victims. Finally, the last dwarf vanished and the land permanently lost her most hospital watchers.
During the long journey of my roving life, I had been to the peaceful towns of the dwarves, the murderous as well as worrying human kingdoms. I was a lodger in the glorious territories held by elves, and a pass-by through the horrible swamp in north. I loved the dwarves’ home most, for there had prevailed a sense of nature and plainness. Most dwarves live on cultivating the land. They were mild and optimistic. They treated the other creatures kindly as their friends. My heart would be forever bleeding for the creature and their towns. Elven lands were amazingly beautiful, but they could only be viewed as a hostel in one’s life journey. One could not linger there too long for the elves’own sake. They were truly fair and lovely as well as extravagantly sentimental. They loved singing, but never to the future; they love composing poetry, but never with positive verses. According to their own tale, the elven ancestors were all from the western ocean. They trudged across the water to help humans fight against the evils. As it was an ancient story, nobody really knew if it was a genuine one. However, the ballads related to the saga became the main spiritual support for the elves today. They loved the ballads with a pride of the wonders and glories their ancestors created with humans. It was just for this case, the elves insisted that they did not belong to the continent at all. They even proclaimed that their souls would back to the spiritual homeland across the ocean. No one ever proved this faith. From other races’ view, it was only an subterfuge imagined by the elves alone. Elves had once lived quite happy with the other continental races. They had even married humans. But with time passing by, the conflicts between them and the other races escalated. They turned to be liens eventually. Perhaps it was due to the obvious sense of superiority held by the elves. As the time came, when the continent finally lost her peace and prosperity, it was no longer an amiable place to them. Therefore, they were longing for leaving the continent, but did not know where to go. As a result, they had to confine themselves in the dense woods either in the north pole or in the south pole. They lived far away the others, always complaining and always in sole fight against the Dark Lord. Due to this, their territories were always surrounded by a strong sense of sadness. Except that, they were quite nice to be with. They particularly loved weak animals. When they were seeking inspirations, or their emotions flooded, they would hold me with extreme tenderness, which enabled me to share the exquisite creature’s sweetness and superiority for a moment
Swamps in north pole were extremely horrible. Time did not exist there. Such kind of place could satisfy the dark needs in human’s heart, but no one really loved going there. The land I fear most as well as longing for most is human’s land. It had been long in shadows from the north. Sometimes I could enjoy the most gentle touch from humans, sometime I had to evade the most fierce attack from the same ones. Life and death, love and hatred, knowledge and desire, peace and war were woven into a great picture there. In human’s land, my small cat’s heart turned to be unsteady all the time, swinging between joy and sorrow, love and hatred. Humans loved singing and beriming. When they were in such mood, there would look greater than deities, nicer than evles. At this moment, I would have the illusion of eternity and forget that they were merely mortal, with short time on earth. I still remembered one day I saw a seemingly arrogant warrior, he played his harp after a fierce fight with the monsters. I could make no sense of what he was singing, only the melancholy melodies around me so long. At last he noticed me. He smile at me and spoke slowly, “My dear little thing, do you love the song? Isn’t it charming? Ach, how are you supposed to know this. It tells a very old tale. Music and poetry are the two most beautiful things in the world. All of our masks will drop in front of them.” Then, he smiled bitterly. At that moment, he was no longer an arrogant emperor or ambitious prince. He was only a big boy loaded with heavy burden from his life. He left me fast, leaving me in a daze.
For a moment, what I heard most was talking about “time”. What was the time to harvest corns? What was the time in war again? What was the time in hope of reinforcement? What was the time leaving the continent. But what time meant to me? Nothing. I heard an elf once asked me gently, “Where are you from, my dear little thing?” He was so fair, and I really wanted to give him an answer. But I had lost my memory. Lost all of my past. Who was I and where I was going. I lowered my head to see my hands. But they could not be called hands. They were just paws with yellow and white hairs. At this moment, I realized that I was only a cat, but not merely a cat. I was able to hear the whispers from all creatures, and sense the joy and sorrow of the plants. No matter where I was wandering, it seems I was always seeking for wastelands. In every full moon night, I would find out, I was in a wasteland. I would feel my body’s expansion, expansion with agony. I would find myself lying deadly on the land motionless. The hairs on my paws vanished, while I turned to be blunt. I would read the flying bird’s thought no more and catch the whispers from the little grass no more. I laid still like a discarded rag, waiting for dawn in a dead silence. When sun rose, I would be a tiny but free cat again. So when the elf asked me this question, I could only stared at him, soundlessly. I was trying to find out a reasonable answer, but in vain.
Chapter one Mounst
Mounst was fortunate enough to get the sun’s favor on such a winter’s day. I strolled faintly around Mounst as usual. I said “faintly” because the monotone scenery in the city could not satisfy a cat’s curious heart. Mounst was a city-state having occupied the most crucial strategic point on the whole continent since a very old time. It was the traffic axis for many races. The mother river of the whole continent split the land into two parts. To east was her great neighbor Tara; while to her west laid a wizard city----Longburg. A hidden world controlled by the northern-land Elves silently concealing itself in unpredictable woods, which seemed to have been forgot by generations of other creatures. This area enjoyed the highest geographic advantage on the entire continent, so the kingdoms here were called high-land kingdoms. It was not uncommon to see warfare in this vast land, as it was unfortunately the nearest area to the center of the Dark Lord’s power.
The Mounsters were the immigrants from the Swamp Zone. Their ancestors had fought the Dark Lord bravely for centuries, but finally they had to quit to evade His growing power. The first problem they had to face was how to handle the relationship with the king of Tara. High-land kingdoms elected their High-King every five years. However during the 500-year period, there were only two High-Kings elected from the city-states other than Tara’s. Tara was both ancient and powerful. The power of the Tara king in the high-land area was like the brilliant sun in its midday. He realized the value of the gallant Mounsters the moment they came. Without any doubt, he immediately took great favor with the Mounsters and courted them as one of his closest allies. Mounsters were brave in battles but simple in politics. They accepted it with a grateful heart.
Then, the Mounsters settled their kingdom in the center of a vast moor, not very far from Tara. By and by the new kingdom became a garrison which was the first, as well as the last line, defending Tara’s frontier. With their primitive heritage, the Mounsters turned their territory into a great farmland rather than a city-state. Their routine life represented the exact model of a primitive human society. Half of the people devoted themselves to handiwork while the other half were responsible for pasturage in order to sustain the basic needs of survival. The Mounsters did not care about their personal appearance, but placed great value on high quality of their crafts. They depicted and overall appearance of poverty, but in fact they were very rich. Only these people mastered the secrets of iron melting. Therefore, the weapons made in Mounster were considered priceless treasures in many kingdoms’ arsenals, particularly in the time of wars. The Mounsters kept themselves busy all year around, merrily making money from this trade, which ensured the city’s lasting prosperity. If it was not for the war, they would have had nothing to complain about.
The royalties were living in the acropolis. They looked much more decent than most of the citizens. Mounst was not a hierarchy society but rather a democratic one. It superficially mirrored Tara’s management as the form for her ruling model, but people here still lived with free spirits. The royalties were true warriors who lead their peoples to battles whenever necessary. Each time they came back after a fight, the poor images that came back with them were beyond any words a cat could figure out. Sometimes I would slip into the acropolis just to have a peek. Compared with the acropolis in Tara, this one could only be called a dune. But I liked the people here better than those living in Tara. An old city-state as Tara was, the corruption had penetrated to each part of her body, whereas Mounst was still young and energetic. The youth here were bolder and stronger. I was content with merely looking at them when they changed their uniforms into soft robes, which meant a short peaceful time. They would take advantage of the luxury to sing with their harps. It was true that they were not good singers, but I loved seeing their long fair hair floating in the wind, slender figures swaying with melody, all of which reminded me of the Elves I once played with long ago.
To some extent, idleness was a real cat-killer, so I got the impulse to move myself to the acropolis. I had not seen the royalties ride out up to this moment; therefore, there might be a romantic picture waiting for me there. I felt refreshed by this idea and trotted immediately to the dune. The gate was open as usual, but the guards today seemed to be a bit absent-minded. They did not smirk at me as they did whenever I approached them. All heads were turning to the same direction---the palace hall. A sense of tension prevailed in the air. Nobody was singing, only human voices murmuring and weapons clashing, composing a strange melody on the other side of gate. A cat’s heart always went with stubborn curiosity. I slipped around the corner into the hall.
Everybody here was wrapped in his most courteous dress and the warriors were in their finest armors. Metals were glittering against the sunrays. It was a picturesque moment. The swords reflected the sunshine with dazzling sparks, as if they were ready to ignite a splendid hunting game. A gentleman with a foreign accent was making a speech, but he was interrupted by the king of Mounst who was obviously troubled by something else.
“Envoy from Tara, be silent with your courteous compliment. What we need is only a commitment. Can we count on Tara when Mounst is in danger? ”
A tide of uneasiness came to me. As far as I knew, though Mounsters had been regarded as a most gallant people in this part of the continent, and even invaded their neighbors often in the past decades, they had never challenged the authority of the Tara sovereign. In the disguise of a primitive appearance, every king in Mounst’s history had inherited a crystal heart, which told him never questioned the strategic role of Tara royalty in high land. It was the first time that a Mounst king had broken the unwritten rule as to raise demand to the Tara king in such a tone. It was really unbelievable.
The envoy from Tara looked awkward and unprepared, “Your Majesty, the high days of Tara are gone. Dark clouds from the north are overshadowing Tara’s frontier. All of our forces are put on the defense. I cannot make such a commitment on behalf of my King. On the contrary, I come to seek your help. You know, my King, in the past, when and where there was a crisis, we showed our brethren that there was love between Mounst and Tara. Your majesty, would you be my king’s brother once again,? ”
The King kept silent. Everybody in the hall was looking at him cautiously. His mighty figure appeared somewhat aged, but the sense of his strong mind still prevailed and permeated the hall..
Suddenly, a young voice broke the silence, “We will come to you when we are needed.”
I heard steady footsteps moving towards the throne. I knew the voice. It was the crown price Lude. He and his little sister were the only people who could be counted upon as bearable singers to a picky cat’s ears. He was dear to me, gentle and tender, but today I saw a mask of slaughter on his fair face.
“We will come to you when you need us,” he deliberately protracted the announcement as to catch somebody’s attention. “Tara and Mounst are links on the same chain. How can we ignore and turn a cheek when our brethren are in danger? Envoy from Tara, we are not in our high days either, but if you come to a moment of life and death, no one can stop us from riding to your aid.” I was marveled by his courage, but this courage could not deceive a cat’s ears and make me fail to pick up the sound of the timidity inside. The king remained speechless, while a man in black robes who sat beside him seemed annoyed.
“Your Highness. How can take the liberty you speak on behalf your father? Be aware. The Dark Lord delays His attack just because Mounst still holds the power controlling his frontier. If we had ignored the situation in the past, we would have been smashed into pieces long ago.”
“Then what are your wizards doing in Longburg?” the prince grumbled in a voice only a cat could catch.
Obviously, the wizard in black heard the prince’s minor complaint. He stepped forward a bit, “You Highness, the wizard council has appointed me here to help you in a common sense that both of us have no longer sustained the ability to send troops to each other. The iron defense triangle among Tara, Mounst and Longburg has been working beneath the unwritten rule. That is not to do anything in a rush. In fact all of us are short handed. Thanks to this cautiousness, Longburg has survived the dark days for so long. I do believe the wizard council would let me say that what I believe is right.”
“Of course, you are always talking about what you believe to be right and wise,” Lude did not want to quit so easily. “I wonder if it is really right and wise to make us fight alone respectively in this situation! The council in Longburg also enjoyed a title of procrastination for so many ages. It seems to me, that the wizards do not trust us, and only want to save themselves, so they always send our envoys back with empty hands. Perhaps when your wisdom was more adept, we would have been turned into dust long ago.”
The king shook a bit in his throne. The wizard perceived his change and turned to him, “Your Majesty?”
I did not catch any sound from the aging man, but I knew he was weighing the situation in his experienced heart. The envoy from Tara lost his patience, “What message can I take back to my lord, your Majesty?” Embarrassing silence remained. I knew what would happen next. No envoy from the high-king could bear such humiliation any longer. The envoy bowed and left, leaving a burst of grumbles behind him.
“Tara must be in anger,” the prince spoke out first.
“Why, should we fear Tara’s anger?! My prince, do you still treat yourself as an immigrant submitting to the king of Tara? Is he really better than my king here?” the wizard retorted smartly.
“It is a provocation!” Lude did not want to retreat, but lowered his voice. It was a matter of kings. Even a cat had understood an immortal rule: Be cautious in choosing words, particularly when your father is a king.
“I didn’t mean it,” the wizard tried to mend the slip.
“Silence,” the king bellowed finally. “Let’s wait for the advice from Longburg.”
“Their advice must be staying, waiting and counting the stars!” the prince’s joke aroused a tide of consent in the hall.
“You, are not king now, my son,” the king obviously did not like the response.
“But father, Tara must have been a lone city in a foreseeable future.”
“Where was Tara when we needed her!” the sudden thunder in the king’s voice stopped the murmur around the room. I felt chilly on my back.
“Your Majesty, you mean we just leave Tara to her own fate?” this was a powerful question because everyone knew that no kings in Mounst dared to see Tara die motionlessly. But the king backed into the mediation of his own free will.
I felt I was so stupid as to ignore the bright sunshine outside and linger in such a suffocating room. So I took the privilege as a cat to move outside. It was even much brighter than the time I slipped into the room. What’s more, there was a pretty girl standing in the sunshine. I pricked up my tail running to her.
I loved this girl because she belonged to the sect that could not be simply described pretty or not. Girls in Mounst presented a strong image of their nomadic ancestors. They had to be strong enough to resist the hard wind roaring all year round across the moors. Like boys, the girls must be gifted horse riders and spent two third of their life in the saddle. People in other nations may think they were tough and rude at first sight, however they were tender and delicate like any girls on the continent. The girl in white was the king’s daughter. She was just a little girl the first time I roved to Mounst. She loved pulling hairs from my tail just for fun. When she happened to be in a bad mood, she would use this little trick to torture me for a bit. But generally speaking, she treated me with a loving heart. In some extremely cold days, she would take me into her arms and hold me. It would be the dearest times for me. The warmth passing through us always reminded me of a sense I once had in a forgotten time. Now the little girl had grown into a young lady. She had learnt to be sorry for the world she was living in, as she had seen so many people exit out of the city gate and never return. I saw her lock herself in her chamber, looking much older than she really was. As a cat, I loved seeing humans in this form because humans in misery were more touching than when they were in happy. So were the Elves. I once saw an Elf suffering from his lost love. It made me full of passion to compose a poem. So whenever I saw my young lady bear such a color on her face, I would wonder if she was also aching for something she loved.
But she looked fine today, her head crowned and laden with golden hair. I rubbed her skirt to make her notice my existence. She lifted me up and smiled.
“Why? Do we have a civil war again?” she joked.
“No civil war yet, only a common debate in the royal families,” I did wish I could tell her in human words. However I really could not predicate what her response would be because everybody knew that such a kind of argument usually ended in a civil war. But it was not necessary for me to declare anything, as the young prince rushed out of the hall with his lieutenant chasing behind him.
“What’s wrong with you, my dear brother,” the princess asked her elder brother timidly.
“Our father is no more himself, Lena. He will leave Tara to her destruction but not permit anyone to say a word on her behalf!” he yelled in a twisted voice.
“Our alliance is shaking. No one can read a king’s mind. Perhaps we can…” suddenly a fantastic smile changed the prince’s complexion as if he was thinking something really marvelous. This fantastic sign dissolved like a fleeting mist. He sighed but smiled at Lena. Lena’s eyes beamed. It seems to be a mutual riddle between the brother and sister.
“What are you going to do then?”
“I have got our father’s permission to make a reconnaissance along Tara’s frontier.”
“But his Majesty has promised far fewer hands than we really need,” the lieutenant said faintly.
The merriness disappeared from the princess’ face. My flank tightened.
“When will you leave?”
“In a minute,” Lude softened his voice as he perceived his sister’s worry. “Do not worry for me, my dear sister. We will come back soon.” He noticed me. “This cat again? He is very odd, isn’t he? Anyway I am leaving.”
Like many warriors, his feet were more adroit than his words, so he didn’t hear his sister’s last cry behind him. The sun had reached his zenith in heaven, his strong figure became vague and seemingly so surreal in the sunlight, just like a fantasy desired by so many people. He had left me no chance to ask him why he thought I was odd. “It is the men of war,” I told myself. Their tenderness would extinct in front of a war. Battles and fights were always their first concern, even to sentimental Elves. I once saw an Elven body left by a bloody fight. A poisonous arrow had totally destroyed his fair face. Horror in his wide-open eyes, dirty blood was sucking his once tender hands. If I had never been hugged and kissed by this most wonderful creature in the world, I would have never believed it was this body that once danced so elegantly in his delicate garment, dreamlike melody flowing with his soft lips and his finger enlivening the cold strings with a tune of life. But these seemed having never existed as I was standing in front of the lifeless body. This memory kept haunting me for a long time.
“They leave me alone again,” I heard her murmuring and felt ache on my back, waking me up from my daydream. Lena unconsciously tortured me once more in her anxiety.
“My little friend I am jealous of you.”
“Jealous? Of me?”
“You are free by yourself.”
“Oh, yes, but the price is not unquestionable----- coldness, hunger and you unpredictable humans!” I sneered at her naivety, waiting for another long monologue as she often did. To my surprise, she said nothing but put me down and left. She left so quietly without a sigh behind her. Suddenly I understood why. She had lost the last will to be sorry for herself now.
Being no Elf, she was doomed to be aging; being no warrior, she was doomed to be confined. Her brother enjoyed a vast world far away from her. He may die in battles some day like other young warriors in this dark time, but they were free to die. They may be buried in the enemies’ blood with their broken bodies left, but their glory, their eternal youth would remain alive in people’s memory, while she had to be alive, suffering in her comfortable cage, sucking her aging years, with a half-insane king left in her companion. I wondered which one she could envy more, Elf or man? She had guts, no less than most men, and possessed beauty, no less than that of any Elven girls; however, she had to lock both of them within the palace walls. If they were doomed to be lost some day, why gods favored these to her? Just for a final recall at the end of her prisoner-like journey, or enjoyed seeing her agony as they were fading away? I know her desire from the bottom of my cat’s heart. She was full of wonders to the outside world. But it was a world of wars. She had not known the real taste of war. What she knew was only the injuries back from the slaughter fields. Her bright eyes had never turned bloody from killing. But I knew the real color of war and what would happen to her if involved in it. People would go either addictive to the killing or remorseful in the rest of life for the killing. They may survive the battles, but never survive the hurt. It was a chaotic world. The only way to be free was to kill or to be killed. Lena was still an outsider of the real world. What would be more merciful for her, slaughter or cage? I was so lucky to be a humble cat only.
I could not run after her, as I felt a familiar pain growing inside my body. It was expanding again! I realized that I had to seek for the moors again. I yelled in panic, rushing to the moor out of the city walls.
Lingering in the high land was good to me because no where could be a better place for me when I transfigured myself. Mounst was surrounded by a vast moor dotted with broken relics along the high-land history. A death valley that no man dared to go made it look even more isolated. In bright daylight, the land would show an astonishingly primitive beauty, chaotic mist prevailing, signs of life glimmering. However, it turned to be a Hell in deep night. Even if endeavored as a cat, I would be scared by going there. Although my memories had nearly turned blank, there were still some remnants in my aged brains. I knew it had never been a peaceful land. The moor had witnessed so many wars between humans and monsters, even the homicides among the royal blood. The nights were freezing, even in mid-summer days. Lena told me once that she had heard weird ghost calls from the heart of moor. I thought it was merely her illusion. Besides, I knew how eagerly she was to to leave the land. Perhaps it was only one of her subterfuges. But later, as I was in the moor myself, I heard more mysterious voices than mere ghost calls. Plants are rare here. I thought it was lucky to be so because my ears would not be tortured by so many sighs from the plants as I had heard somewhere else on the miserable continent. I remembered that one day I was stumped to the ground by a root from an aged tree. Trees were the creatures who retained their most tender hearts from primitive times. Usually they would immediately apologize to me for any tiny hurt unless they were no more alive. This time I heard nothing from this tree. So I presumed that he was dead already. I lifted my head only to find out he was just too weak to utter a word.
“Are you all right?” it was I who felt very sorry now..
“I am dying,” he spoke in a sorrowful voice.
“Haven’t you sensed any changes here? It is colder and colder. My companions are diminishing. The dark clouds from north have overshadowed the sun. Humans ignore us. They tend to use us, out of their hatred, to make lethal weapons rather than made tools for living, out of love. Their ancestors had never done this to us. We are only woods in their eyes today. My, I am so old and exhausted.”
“Anyway, they are much better than the monsters,” I tried to console him lest he be killed by his ruefulness. “They will love you as long as they still love their ancestors’ land.”
“Perhaps, yes. Who can tell what will happen if the war goes on endlessly. The land is going to be desolate. When I was young…”
“At least there is an Elven Woods, ”I stopped him before he unfolded his nostalgic mental stream. It was quite common every time when a tree started their talking.
“The Elven Woods! ” he was refreshed by this name, but the moment was too short to make him feel better. “What a familiar name! And what a pity I am so far away from it. I wish gale had not brought me here when I was merely a seed. I wish I could see Elves again before I die. What a fantasy now! The Elves have locked themselves in their woods for so long that no one will see them again. They are killing themselves in this way like dwarves. My dear little cat, the Elven Woods will die some day with the Elves. You know, it is just the race with two legs, not the others, who has given life to the land. If they are gone or changed, everything on the continent will disappear or change. I know in my wooden heart, if the Elves are no more here, there will be no more Elven Woods. Then the human race…”
I was marveled at a tree’s wisdom. Before I heard this, I had never thought that the Elven Woods would die someday. Of course, I would not tell him, the trees in the Elven Woods were as unhappy as he was now. The Elves were no longer a merry race. Since the time needed no artists, they had turned themselves into warriors. Thanks to the arts in their blood, they did not stop singing, but the melodies were either pathetic or furious. They sang for the lost time, lost companions, lost love… All in all, everything they thought they had lost. Thus they had been torturing the trees around them unconsciously. The old tree was right that everything in the world could not get rid of the influence form the two-leg creatures.
Elven Woods! Elven Woods! My little cat’s heart was aching in this more and more sad moor. The old tree inspired my dream of being there again. At least there was still tenderness surrounded. But it was impossible at this moment because my legs were controlling my brains, the burning fire roaring in my body. I knew, my legs would choose a place for me rather than I chose where I could hide myself. According to my past experience, they would take me to a dead place without any single sign of life, only with sand and stones covering my naked body. No one could see my agony, no one could hear my groans.
“Shall I die this time?” That was the question I asked myself every time I was suffering. Fear and longing for death were the only thoughts in my transfiguration. But this time I had a strong desire to live because the old tree enlivened my memory of the Elven Woods. I must go there once again, to see the trees there, to talk with the animals, to touch the Elf who once asked me where I was from. He was so beautiful that I missed him so much…
Darkness came.
My hairs were dropping from my body. I ran like hell. My heart seemed exploding from the heat inside it, an invisible hand blowing my head tearing my soul out of my body. It was darker and darker and I had to leave my fate to my legs. My hairs were dropping. My body was expanding…
I was still able to catch the cries from the living creatures en route, “an Animagus!” a little wild flower screamed.
“A were-wolf!” shouted a tree.
“No, no, it is only a cat…”
Suddenly the gossips stopped. I felt the stigma in air. My destination was here.
My eyes turned blind. The whole world lost its meaning to me. What I could feel was only the tortures inside my little body. I knew nothing around me . Whether I was tearing apart by a monster or I was boiling in an oven from Hell. I could not feel whether I was bleeding or not because I was blind and numb. I began to howl. But I was unable to hear the voice of my own. I wonder if any others could hear it. Perhaps the voice had been immersed into the legends of the vast land.
Suddenly, every painful struggle stopped. My eyes were open again. To me, it was, again, a peaceful and beautiful full-moon night.
I looked around and soon found out it was a place that I had never known. There were no living things, only messy stones around me. I had to wait for the dawn again. “Time means nothing to a cat,” I consoled myself. However, I realized that I could not call myself a cat now. I was a monster instead, a hairless monster with mud and blood without hairs. Although the moon shined brightly on heaven, it was still hard to tell what color my skin was. The only part I could move on my body was my head. What I could see was that I had long black hair dropping from the top of my head. It was greasy and entangled wrapping my dirty body like a blanket. My sense was coming back, “ It could keep me warm.” I encouraged myself. I knew that at this moment I was no longer a cat. But what I was? A human? Because I had two legs like them. Or an Elf? I killed this idea on the instance it appeared. What kind of an Elf could look like this?! Suddenly a weird thought attacked me. A monster?! I felt panic. I often heard that a monster would be changed into something else by the curse of their masters or fellows, as a result of a punishment for their failure or conspiracy. Looking at me, I thought I was more like them in such a situation.
A monster. What a weird idea! But as far as I knew, there was nothing impossible in this world. Hadn’t I seen so many lives die at their flower ages? They should have been surrounded by corolla of life, drinking from the goblet of their eternal youth. Some other turned ugly and evil by the power they once had, reducing themselves to the Dark Lord’s servants. Why should I overestimate myself that I was not a cursed monster? After so many years’ futile seeking, I had abandoned the whim to find out my origin. What I had been dreaming of was someone could ease my pain in this tough moment. Of course, it was impossible. Even if someone happened to drop by, he may either kill me or eat me alive because I could not expect a nicer reaction with such an appearance. “How good to be a cat,” I sighed.
“Another boring night,” I mocked at myself. “ At least no one will annoy me.” I started counting the stars above, making awake dreams in this sleepless night. But I was wrong this time. Some ominous noises had broken the darkness. I got company now.
I heard coarse howls from troop-horses. They struggled, blowing out their nostrils. Heavy metals clashed, smashing the darkness into pieces. My strength came back to instantly. Oh, my dear, how long hadn’t I seen a battle with my cat eyes. Not since the warrior with harp talked to me. My curiosity overcame my fear. I elongated my neck to see what was happening.
Two groups of riders were fighting in the light of moon. It was hard to tell who was who first. A fetid smell mixed with blood and sweat was prevailing in air. It must be from the monsters. Humans gave off this kind of smell too sometimes, but not so strong and disgusting as the monster’s. Even in such a cold winter day, it still could beat down any fragile life. The helmets of the other group shone ghostly in the dark. I heard arrows flying, bowstring whistling, people shrieking. Just within a double distance of an arrow-shooting range I, a motionless monster, laid on a desperate earth.
“Retreat! We cannot hold on!”
“Your highness! Cover him! Ax left! Uhr, be careful! Hammer from the right side!”
“Gods! Where come out so many monsters! Terrific shooting! Who did it?!”
People kept falling from horses. Furious yelling and desperate wailing made the air freezing. The slaughter ground was moving to me inch by inch. The fighting people had abandoned their arches but drew out swords. The monsters were much taller than humans. Their figures were deformed enough to terrify any creature made from blood and fresh to death, even by looking at them. Their merciless giant axes simply split the human bodies into half. What a weak and ephemeral flesh the humans seemed to be at this moment! For them, there was no chance to win the fight, only to survive it. A young warrior had trapped himself into a more dangerous situation than his fellows because the monsters seemed focusing on him much more than others. He was a fearless fighter. Monsters’ corpses had piled up in front of him. But I could see he was fighting with his last strength. Lude! It was the prince of Mounst! “My prince!” I soundlessly cried from my heart. “Watch your back!” It was futile. He dropped. A fatal stroke from his back ended his fighting. I heard everybody’s screaming except mine.
When a moment like this came, what people could do was praying for a miracle. It was rational to be called a miracle because it either came too late or too uncertain. The Mounst riders dropped one by one till the last of them. The dawn was coming soon. But to me, it would be an endless darkness. The monsters’ hails flooded the vacant moor. They were about to cut all heads from the slain people or the-half slain, I was lying near them helplessly. The primitive excitement aroused by the fight submitted to a fatal sick in heart. I closed my eyes and the horrified face of the dead Elf jumped into my mind vision so vividly that I felt panic. The images of the children lying not very far from me now must look like him very much. I would never see them riding on their home land again. Both Elves and humans believed the other world and afterlife, even if no one had ever returned from there to relate the true color there, whether it was merry or sad, bight or dark? Living people mourned for the dead. They mourned because everything disappeared so easily, all of the suffering, struggling, even happiness died with them so rapidly. Who knew the truth of rebirth. Even if the dead could come back in another shape, it would also be another stories. Life, family or love would never be the same. How could an unforeseeable future replace what they had at present?
I was drowned in my messy thoughts, so desperate and lonely that I did not care how the monsters would treat their booties. It was all over now. It was just another bloody memory to me, I told myself, abandoning the idea of so-called miracle while it did happen. The monsters stopped their madness all of a sudden, leaving the whole land a morbid tranquility. No, not totally tranquil. There were subtle sounds stinging everybody’s ears. It was piercing but on one disturbed except the monsters and me. I heard them agitated. The sounds became even more unbearable mixed with the murmurs from the apparently-scared monsters. I began losing my sanity. Suddenly, they were all gone, the sounds, the monsters. My vision recovered. The first daylight awoke me. I was changing to a cat again. Compared with the process of being a monster, it was much more comfortable to back to a cat. I could move freely during the transfiguration. I rolled on the ground, stretched my half renewed body, ready to go the slaughter field, only to find that I was stopped by an unexpected shadow in front of me.
Yes, it was only a shade, mysterious and lonely, glimmering in the half bight morning.
“Where to go, you little monster,” he asked me coldly.
“I am to see the slaughter ground. To see what has left,” I answered unwillingly.
“What I want to see is what is left for you to be a something.”
His words reminded me of my awkward situation. I was still a monster now, half human, half cat, with a bare tail stuck to me.
“It is none of your business. I am a cat in transfiguration.”
“A cat?” the coldness in its voice was replace by curiosity. “were you a cat when you were born?”
“I don’t know. Can you tell me?”
No response.
“Well, if you have nothing more to tell me, let me pass to see the dead,” I became bolder as I saw it was not so dangerous as I had thought.
“Oh, the dead. No, not really,” the shadow lowered his voice in a funny way as if it had known some unknown secrets.
I would not waste my time on the shadow. The first ray from the sun had floated down onto the ill-fortunate earth. It was a quiet morning enlivened by golden lights as if an invisible finger had touched an invisible harp gently and woke up the earth. The mild corona colored the land with a sense of shyness. The rough stones and sands seemed refreshed from the sunlight. I got my illusion again as if the bloody nigh fight merely a nightmare. No, it was a waking dream because only in such a kind of dream I could see the broken limbs and bodies so real. The sunlight could not erase the bloody smell in air. Corpses piled up together that I could not tell the monsters’ from the humans’. It was not the first time I had seen this, but it kept scaring me. I hopped in the dune of deformed flesh, looking for the prince of Moust.
“Are you looking for the heir of Mounst’s throne now?” the shadow floated near chuckling. I felt angry. He must be a victim of a similar fight. Only by this could he be so glad to see the people who suffered the same ending as his. I was just about to show my teeth to him, only to find that he was enthusiastically showing me the way. He led me to a little tower of bodies. Actually it was a tower of headless bodies. The only one with its head left was a half monster, half human form. I was not afraid of the dead, no matter how terrible it may look like. If an Elf could be turned into a monster by the torture of death, what else should surprise me? I stretched my neck to make a clear vision of the head. Suddenly, a bloody and muddy face rose right just in front of my nose, bight eyes staring at me. I cried out and jumped as far as a cat could.
“It is you! I know I will see you again,” he seemed mocking at himself. “When I was born, a fortune teller told my mother that some day I would see a young elder in Mounst, and he would make my life significant. Now I see, you are the young elder. But you can no longer make my life significant because my life is leaving me now.”
“That is why you said I was weird?” I asked in heart.
“Your life is leaving you very quickly,” the shadow interrupted unexpectedly. “No one in this land enjoys long life. You are going to die like your forefathers. One of them is still lying in a cave only a few steps away from here. He is not the first victim in the Death Valley and I swear you are not the last one.”
Now I saw where my legs led me. The Death Valley! I thought Lude must be angry at what the shadow said. I glared at it as hard as cat’s eyes could manage because I knew ghosts had a natural fear of cat. The shadow did floated aback a bit, but Lude started speaking in an unusual steady voice.
“ You are right. I know you are telling me the truth. I have seen the skeleton left in the cave. I am always curious, particularly when I was very young. I saw the bones and talked to its master. He told me, the future of Mounst was upon my father, not on me because I was doomed dying young.”
“No, he is wrong,” the shadow floated forward again. “The future of Mounst lies on nobody but the Dark Lord. I was one of the kings in the land, an enemy of your ancestor at the beginning and an unfaithful ally later. We fought each other for the land that we both loved. It was me who lured your ancestor to explore the cave in the Valley. I knew he would never turn back. What a fatal stroke to his father! My intrigue succeed. The son died and the father heart-broken. But I was no winner. My knights and I died in hands of the Mounsters. I had been paroling here since that time. The hatred between your ancestors and I died with time passing by and with the Dark Lord coming near. I always talked about the future and feared that would be no future. Our greedy has been nurturing the Dark Lord. Death will take the last of u s away. The land will be a pasture of His backyard!”
“You are wrong!” the dying shrieked suddenly. Both the shadow and I were scared. Tears in his eyes, “My father, my father…”head dropped, ending the last cry.
“Poor kid. He gets rest at last,” the shadow sighed.
“Not yet,” a faint voice replied. A surreal hope rose in my heart again.
“Could you, my little cat, do me a favor?”
I stroked his face with my mustache.
“Would you go north, to the Elven Woods? Yes, I knew the hidden land. I met Elves there many years ago. One of them gave me a harp. In return I left him an arc with the strings made from horse bristles. And there was an Elven girl… please tell them, there are a wisp of my hairs mixed in the strings, and I was… ” He was unable to go on. Death was shadowing his face. He was extraordinarily calm and beautiful. It seems that he was backing to something charming in the past, together with expecting the ending of all sufferings. The head dropped again. The words were silently gone.
We waited in silence, waiting for his soul drifting out of his body, but nothing happened. I was wondering the unfinished sentence of the young man. He was what?
“Perhaps he is different from us,” the shadow said faintly. “He seems leaving without any fury. A soul without fury will on longer linger in the cursed land suffering from tortures.”
“Will he can go then?” I said in doubt. “I see no single soul out of any body in the death ground? None of them have any fury? ”
“It is a totally distorted time. Now the earth seems abandoning everything once belonged to her, visible or invisible. I am always feeling an unknown squeeze around me as if I were to be drawn into somewhere horrible or thrown away to a void. I felt that there will be no room for any creatures, alive or dead. I can’t figure out what happened to the souls here.” The shadow’s voice choked. I felt so sympathetic with it. Everything on the continent was too tired to hold on, even the ghosts. I became to wonder if there would be any bright future waiting for the creatures. However, at least there was still daylight around us at this moment and the sands beneath me could still offer me some feelings of warmth. I had to say farewell to the shadow and seek for the hidden world called the Elven Woods.
Chapter Three Elven Woods
It was not easy to find the roads leading to Elven Woods. The Elves had made their realm a labyrinth. I had to trudge across the high-land moors and took risk into the forests and valleys which had not enjoyed any sunshine since their very ancient time. Actually, the first sign I had to seek for was the Great River. Only by her side could I find the right trace to the Elven world. Cats had never been talented seekers in complex landscapes, so I wasted lot of my precious time in wondering and thinking, only to find that I was just running with a very low efficiency. I thought the creatures along the roads must have made a great fun of me because it rarely happened to see such a proud creature-----a cat----- with such a full-question-marked face, blindly turning right and left at every cross roads. It looked like that he was chasing his own tail all the time. Lucky enough, they were not amused by me, but glad to offer me help. The weakest creatures, usually, were the kindest ones. They were very glad to tell me everything they knew. By and by, the mysterious Elven world was crystal in my mind. The animals and plants spread all over the continent simply knew everything in this mundane world, but the humans were just too stupid to understand this. In their flesh-made eyes, the other creatures were only mute, tiny and insignificant dead things.
Several days later, Mounst was a far-away memory for me. So were the wars and warriors. There were no more yelling for killing, screaming and pleading. The mirage of peace came to the land again. I was just to step out of a very primitive vale and the little floras around me greeted me in their sweetest voices. I shook my hairs in relaxation. What a golden mist prevailed in this tranquility! I could smell out that no humans had ever come here. So the land was still in hand of the floras and faunas. Moles and deer kept hopping out in their busy life. Time seemed meaningless here. Nothing was going to happen; only a fair-haired Elf in white robe might jump out of an aged tree, and touch every creature with his bright smile.
“Do you know which road can lead me to the Great River?” I asked a little wide flower who was stretching herself.
“Turn right. That way…” She answered me in a very lazy voice. “You must be heading for the northern Elven woods. There is nothing fun there now.” She lowered her voice mysteriously, “The wind kept carrying messages from our brothers in that Woods. What they can hear is only clashes of weapons from the woods. Most trees have devoted their branches to the making of bows and arrows. And the Elves are just too busy and too exhausted to thank them for that. It is very odd. Something serious can happen in the near future. Perhaps a big fight. I just wish it would not happen in this vale.”
“I thought all of you outsiders are jealous of the fellows in the woods.”
“Of course,” her delicate face shone with a light. “We have been longing for the Elves coming to us for so many years. We have missed them very much, missing their songs, their beauty. The fellows in Elven woods are of most happiness. In our eyes, they are living in a world like our ancestors’. But we know it is merely an illusion now. The world has changed,” her young voice changed in a tone, which reminded me of the aged tree.
“Days ago, a group of fellows came to us. Some of them are human warriors, some Elves. We all cried with ecstasy. But they were running like wild horses. The Elves dressed like the warriors with greasy hair and dust. What on their fair faces? Only pains and worries! They were all exhausted in running, but they could not stop… Hey, these are the friends we had been waiting for so long! ”
I could say nothing but sigh with her.
“But their footsteps stayed unchanged, as light as before in case they might hurt anyone of us. An elf who nearly stepped on me jumped, as carefully as he could, over me. How beautiful that moment was…”she forgot my existence and began savoring the moment so dear to her. I could imagine how touching the scene was, an exhausted but forever tender Elf like a most beautiful fantasy flying by a little wild flower. I thought I’d better give her a minute to enable her review this memory in her fragrant heart, which she may have done numerous times since that moment.
I did wish I could have more time to chat with her because I had a lot to say to her, and I wished I could hear more about their life here. However, my promise to Lude kept dragging forward. I waved my tail to show my gratitude to the little thing, leaving her dreaming alone. The road to the Great River was not as hard as I had imagined. The fellows along the road kept greeted me in their respective ways. The news I was going to the Elven woods spread very fast, so more and more creatures asked me to bring their greetings to their fellows there. I soon lost the memories of whom to whom. What I could do was to comfort them with my commitment that I would try my best to carry their messages and returned safely here as to tell them the news in that Woods.
“You’d better take some Elves back with you. Tell them how much we are missing them now. We need their songs and their gentle touches,” they all ended their messages in this way.
“I wish I could bring back some Elves, the artists, not the Elves, the warriors,” I joked with them.
With my journey went on, something magic happened in my heart. The fear in me vanished little by little, and I could feel the ego inside my little body was crying out a sort of liberty with each step I made. I accepted the feeling with a great rejoicing. It was a sign of the magic from the Great River. Every time I left her, I had no idea whether I could back to her alive. But at this moment, here I was! She had cured me of all my pains simply before I saw her! She remained so grandeur and gentle like the day she was born in an unknown time. Passionate but patient, floating steadily in her own course, she was a mother, a father, a dear friend, and a noble sovereign to all of us. No matter how tiresome the time was, no matter how great we had changed, she was untouched. She tolerated the self-destructive darkness from the monsters, as well as arrogances and stupidity in humans. She accepted every single creature who wished to back to her breasts with open arms. I was standing by her again. At this moment, nothing could worry me, nothing could trouble me, and nothing could defeat me.
My eyes turned misty with the river fog. I might have got some illusions to see a little thing floating down to me from horizon. I shook my hairs to rid the water dropping from my forehead. No, it was not an illusion. I did see something coming to me. It was a little white boat.
“A boat with Elves?” I questioned myself. What could be more precisely if there appeared an Elven boat at this moment?! In the mirage composed of heaven, river and fog, the legendary old days revived. The delicate white boat was floating without oars, like a cradle, shaking tenderly by an invisible hand. There must be a baby as beautiful as an Elf inside.
With some miracle, the boat was floating to me as if the invisible captain wished to greet me before he’d pass by. I stretched out my neck curiously to see who could do the voyage so romantically. An intruding rock delayed the boat’s movement a bit, which enabled me to see her inside. There was no crew indeed, nor Elves, only a warrior sleeping soundly with the waves. He was as peaceful as a god, as beautiful as an Elf, reminding me of the prince of Mounst I had just lost. “Have I seen him before?” I asked myself. “Yes, I have,” I answered myself immediately. “My dear little thing, do you love the song? Isn’t it charming? Hey, how are you supposed to know this. It tells a very old tale. Music and poetry are the two most beautiful things in the world. All of our masks will drop in front of them.” His words echoed in my mind. I was watching another exhausted man returning to his eternal peace. I felt no sorrow in my heart because the Great Mother River never gave us such feeling. I began to imagine when I met him again some day, I would tell him that his voice was not beautiful but very very touching. I watched his passing- by with gratitude. He must have controlled the boat to allow me to say farewell.
“Farewell, my prince. I will see you again,” I said soundlessly.
The boat shook subtly as if replying me, and moved on silently to the end of my vision.
With the guidance of the Great River, I could never be lost again. However, it was still a long way ahead. I kept walking till lame finally. I did wish to stop for a few days and enjoy the sunshine by the river side, but could not. My commitment to Lude and passion to the Elven Woods was burning inside me. The Elves disguised their inhabitation so well that I could only count on my cat’s instinct to identify its existence. It was an exhausting but somehow funny job. I asked and smelt. Suddenly, my mustaches felt a totally different atmosphere. It was a bit mirthless but inspiring, and I saw where my destination was.
Where I had found was merely the border of the Elven Woods. It might be a totally different story to find out its core. With the long-term wars, the elves had concealed their homes deeper and deeper into the place far away from the boundary. The roads leading to the core were full of disguises. Moreover, I soon found out the creatures living here, once so friendly, now turned to be very suspicious, even hostile to the outsiders. It was really astonishing in an Elven world. In the past, only humans’ world could have such a hatred and mistrust. I always thought that I had understood the Woods well, not only because I had many contacts with the Elves, but because I was an old acquaintance of the plants and animals here. They had never tried to hide their true thoughts and emotions from me. They had been pleasant chat mates to me. I’d learned the Wood’s history and legends from them. Of course, they also told me their attitudes toward life. I had been witnessed their changes with the wars went on. The battle fields were no more far away from them, so their miseries were escalating with the days went on. But to my surprise, they had never complained about this. “There is no use of complaints,” they just answered me in this way.
“But the situation is far away from satisfaction,” I always lured them like this.
The answer was clear. No one liked current situation. The biggest ambition of the creatures here now was a bit more care from the Elves. It had been so natural in the past, but only a luxury at present. They told me flatly that the whole life of the Elves now was occupied either by battles or by the whims to the unknown homeland across the ocean. They had no passion to sing. Even if they sang, they would only sing laments to the dead or odes to the no-body-ever-seen homeland, as if the continent were a strange place to them, but not a land they had lived for thousands of years, the Elven Woods no longer their home, the creatures living here no longer their friends.
“We are the ones who accompany the lonely creatures since they came here,” that was the only complaint I had lured out from the poor things here.
That was what prevailed in the Woods last time I left. This time, the atmosphere remained unchanged, only a slight discontent and hostility mixed inside. The aged tree and little wild flower’s words kept echoing in my mind. I was eager to know what had caused the change, Elves or enemies.
The creatures here had known me well, so they still greeted me with kind manner and asked me whether I came from Mounst again this time and what was new outside. I picked my words with great care in the hope that they might feel better with my information. I hope they could know that there was still something bright apart from the war outside. I told them, their brothers were fine, even those in the utmost north. They had managed to survive, even though the war was going on. The princess in Mounst was a beautiful grown-up now, etc. Unfortunately, they were no longer the easy-to-be-wooed creatures. As I was telling my stories, they shook their heads form time to time. They were quite patient to finish hearing what I tried to say. Finally, an aged tree sighed, “My little friend, I don’t think the outside world is as optimistic as what you have described. What we can see here is only the traces of battles and fights. Even the elves here are always in their armors. They went out for fight and came back to prepare next fight. Some of them were taken back half-dead or dead, and some of them were never back. We have heard that our high-land brothers are in most dangerous situation. I can tell you, my little friend, we are very afraid of the outside world. It is the source of all evils. The humans should be to blame. The elves are in awful situation too. They do not care for us. We wish the outside world did not exist at all! ”
Fear bred the anger, and anxiety raised the hostility. I saw how awful the situation was. They started complaining the Elves, for their carelessness and they hated the dangers from outside world. They preferred to live in a world they constructed in their mind, at which point, they and the Elves were quite alike. However, reality is reality, and what bygones were only bygones. I dropped my head flatly. They felt pity on me, so changed the topic by talking about the princess of Mounst. Plants and animals were fond of beautiful young girls as humans did. They were quite familiar with the Mounsters because the nomadic people once hanging around nearby. When they were chatting and guessing by themselves, I drew myself in the memory of the Elves. The one once asked me who I was came into my mind.
“Oh,” the aged tree interrupted my mediation suddenly. “I remembered, long ago, there was a handsome Mounst boy rushed into the Wood. He kicked me naughtily. Is he fine now? He got along well with some Elves. I nearly misjudged him as an boy Elf. I wonder how he looks like now?”
I realized instantly that he was talking about Lude. I didn’t think it was a good idea to tell the already-furious aged heart that the kid had grown up but died tragically in a battle. Why add more sorrow and fury here?
“Er…he is…”I stammered.
“What?” he asked sensitively. I knew he was on alert.
“He is called Lude, the king’s only son. I think you’ve known it,” I procrastinated the key point with this.
“Of course, I have. Didn’t we talk about his beautiful sister moment ago? What I want to know is…”he suddenly stopped as if seeking for something in his full-loaded database. “Now I remember that he seemed falling love with an Elven girl. But the girl only treated him as a little boy.” The tone of the tree became relaxed as the beautiful memory came into his mind. “Now they must be quite matched to each other because he is a young man now. Has he gone to fights? He must be a brave warrior by nature.”
“Sure, he is,” I put myself together hastily. “He is both brave and smart. He is the first knight in Mounst now, very much like his father’s youth time. When I left there, he was paroled along Tara border.”
“Well, I am happy to know he is still safe,” the tree breathed with relief and began dreaming a bright young warrior in his imaginatively old mind.
I’d better go on with his story, “I came here to find some Elves. In fact, they are Lude’s friends. He told me he had been missing his Elven friends very much as to implore me to be here from him. Have you ever seen then afterwards. Last time Lude was here, he was merely a kid, but they were in form of youths. I know the Elves remain the same in these days as ten years ago. Do you know the Elven girl? What is her name?”
The tree frowned, and then shook his branches. “With life like this, it seems to be an ancient memory. Rarely have any men or Elves played so merrily here since that fleeting happy moment. The Elves are always so busy with battles that I can hardly see their faces clearly any more. They only left the views of their backs to me. I have to be accustomed to the sorrow now, but I had never expected that my last time in the world could be so lonely. What I could do is drowning myself in memories. I am even merely half awake when other trees are chatting. Let me ask my brothers here. ” He wailed his branches to a younger tree near him. Obviously, all plants and animals around us had been listening to our conversation with great care, but to my disappointment, all of them shook a bit as an answer to the question.
“In this case, you’d better to the Core. Here is merely the border, with a few Elves rangers passing by occasionally. Most Elves have settled their homes in the Core. All fighting regiments set out from there. You will definitely find Lude’s friends there, if they have not been killed in battles. You won’t get lost,” the aged tree suggested amiably.
“Garr, you can go with Mr. cat,” he talked to my feet.
I saw a little mole grinning at me.
The aged tree was right that I really should not worry about the route any more. The mole was a living map. I allowed him to ride on my back. He must feel extremely proud. Just like the creatures outside the Woods, the fellows here also greeted me with their sincerity. My mood was lifted up by seeing them, except for some moments I thought of Lude.
The mole was a good guide, but a terrible companion. He kept torturing my nerve with his endless questions and complaints. I felt it must have been a miracle for him to keep silent for so long to allow the tree and me finish our conversation. Finally, I decided to find a topic to stop his garrulity.
“Pal,” I hiccoughed to make my voice sound as natural as possible. “You know you are much luckier than the trees, in spite of you are much younger than them. You can walk everywhere you like.” I saw his lips up to his nose. “Thus, you must have seen more than them. Have you ever seen an Elf who carries a bow with horse- bristle-made bowstrings?”
My trick worked. I felt content to see his little head stopped turning around.
“ A bow with horse bristles?...En…not exactly.”
That was the answer I expected. How could a mole know what bristles looked like?
I thought he would start his imagination. But he went on seriously,“Yes, there was one. To be exactly, I overheard what he said when he was talking to his comrades. ”
It might be true, I thought.
“Two years ago, or maybe one … it doesn’t matter. A group of rangers came when I was looking for nuts. They played with me for a while and then, started chatting about their weapons with each other. One of them said his bow was very special because it was a gift from humans, with horse bristles as bowstrings.”
A scalding flow rushed through my body. “Really?! What does he look like?! Did he appear again?! Where is he now?!” I roared to the poor mole. He shivered. A cat’s sudden burst must be very frightening, especially for rodent animals.
“Why! Behave yourself, Mr. cat. Why are you so eager to know him?”
“Excuse me.”
“That’s all right. I forgive you in the name of Elves,” the creatures in the Elven Woods were famous for their generosity.
“I beg you to say something more about the Elf.”
“Actually, I only saw him once. He was definitely very handsome, even among the Elves. You see, the Elves are different from each other. He must be very outstanding because I can see his comrades respected him and liked him very much. The called him…Bryan…Yeah, it is, ” Garr stopped a bit, and then went on. “I felt he was a proud fellow, but dear to me. They must have fought with enemies whom I didn’t know and didn’t care to know. But it must have been a good fight because they were all very excited by the result. I jumped to one’s head and they teased me with great joy. Hahaha…”
Before he detoured to something irrelevant, I stopped him with the sign of checking my paws. He noticed immediately and ended his speech with, “I still remember his face. Let’s go to the Core. I can find him out for you.”
Nothing could be happier to hear this.
However, the mole questioned me with his skeptical eyes. Totally unexpected bombardment exploded from his little head, “Why are you so interested in him?! Why did the prince of Mounst suddenly mention this story to you?! Why doesn’t he come in person but send you?! Why did you feel so difficult when the old tree was asking you about Lude?!”
How stupid I was by trying to hide truth in front of the Woods’ creatures. I did underestimate the wisdom of the Elven Wood’s children.
I couldn’t stand facing his eyes directly. My tail was lowering down. I expected another turn of emotional burst, but nothing happened. The naughty little thing was as solemn as a king. His body stretched like a tree trunk. Horror, empty and pity were all mixed in his little eyes. He jumped onto my back again, scratching me genteelly, said, “Let’s go to the Elves.”
Our sorrow was soon replaced by the tricky roads leading to the Core and the dizzy scenery along the traces. We became to see the sign of Elves and met some rangers. The ecstasy overwhelmed me as I saw the first Elves after so many hard long years. They remained the same as those in my memory, the most beautiful and delicate creature in the world. They were the sunshine of the dark time, the inspiration of Mother Earth. They were not immortal, but their life span was long enough to make people wonder if they could be live forever. They enjoyed a very long youth time, but if a trace of aging appeared in an Elf, that meant death was near. Most Elves in this generation had lived very long, but death was still far away from them. In human children’s eyes, they were young elders, while to the elders, they were most formidably wise young people. They were tender by nature, even so exaggerative as to be sentimental. They had imaginative mind represented in forms of the ballads and legends they created. They loved singing and enjoying their own beauty. It was a creature full of arts and romance, but, to me, they might go too far sometimes. They were easy to immerse themselves in a mood and finally turned to be a self-torture. Many Elves wasted their lives on such a character, particularly in peace time. In view of this, sometimes I thought it was lucky for them to live in such a war time because, the p