Humans and Demons and Elves Read online

  “Where is your little brother?”

  Kryvek was older than Christine, but developmentally he was about five human years behind, with the age lag becoming more and more noticeable over time.

  Standing outside of Christine’s door, Edofine hadn’t felt so clean since his adulthood ceremony. He was used to swimming in streams once or twice a week rather than this daily steamy, soapy ritual. He wondered if he might be reflecting light. Though he complied with most of Kryvek’s instructions, he refused to borrow new clothes just yet, clinging onto his old apparel as if it was a security blanket. Kryvek had picked the debris out of his cloak.

  “Tell me more about your sister,” he said. She would be the first human he would meet, and he was nervous. Only humans violently fought amongst themselves, and only humans killed for pleasure. Sure, Eudemons took pleasure in killing, but all their slaughter stemmed from need. They never shot cougars just so they could have the cougars’ heads on their walls. Would this woman be bloodthirsty? Elves either feared or patronized humanity, depending on the individual. Edofine had always leaned towards fear of the unknown.

  “There’s not just Christine that you’re meeting. She lives with Lira, who isn’t human.” Kryvek could ‘hear’ Edofine’s anxious thought-music and put an arm around his shoulders. “It’s okay, Cos. Nobody’s going to hurt you. Christine’s the kindest individual I’ve ever known.”

  “Fierce tears?” Edofine asked. “What manner of name is that? Is Lira an Elf?”

  “Half. Don’t jump to conclusions when I tell you what the other half is. She left the Arrows Clan because the other Elves wouldn’t accept her, but she is a noble, honest person. She can be a little cold at first. She’s had a rough life. Be kind to her, all right?”

  “What is the other half?”

  Kryvek cleared his throat. “Eudemon.”

  Edofine squawked. “Are you serious? You trust her? You are friends with her? A half-Eudemon?”

  “See, I knew you’d act this way. I felt the same when I first met her. She can’t help her parentage, and she was raised by her Elf mother and never met her father. She has little to no Eudemon training or values.” The sentences rushed out of Kryvek’s mouth as he held onto Edofine’s upper arms, keeping him from running away.

  “This is too much for me to comprehend,” Edofine sighed. “Why must things be so complicated?”

  “At your age everything is complicated. Do you think you can hang on through a meal?” Kryvek gazed into Edofine’s hazel eyes, streaked with gold where Kryvek’s were laced with silver.

  Edofine inhaled a few shuddery breaths. “I am Edofine, which means ‘Courageous’. I shall survive.”

  “Good. Meeting new people is always difficult.” Kryvek let go of his cousin and opened the door. “Christine! I have someone for you to meet!”

  Edofine shyly stepped in.

  Christine took one look at Edofine and squealed, hugging him tightly. “You’re so adorable! Aww! Where did you come from?”

  Opening his mouth a few times without any sound coming out, Edofine saw purple spots hovering in front of his eyes. The world wavered, and all went dark. He softly thumped to the floor.

  “Oh, gosh,” Christine said. “I—I made him pass out. I’m sorry! What did I do?”

  Kryvek bent down and picked up the thin youth. “Let’s put him on the couch.”

  “I told you not to be so enthusiastic to everyone,” Lira said, slightly amused despite the situation. “Especially to young Elves, who are very emotional creatures. You eat, Kryvek. I’ll take care of him. Is he related to you? There’s a slight resemblance.”

  “My cousin,” Kryvek said, laying Edofine down and sitting at the kitchen/dining table. “The Dance Clan has been destroyed, with him as the only survivor. Don’t blame yourself, Chris; he hasn’t eaten anything for a while, and he walked very far to reach me.”

  Christine’s eyes widened and she brought her hand to her mouth. She worshipped Elves, often wishing that she were one herself, enchanted and sylph-like. The wars between the Elves and the demons were a subject of constant worry to her. “Good glory. I need to call the OMHI—I don’t think they know. All the departments need to work on this. Gone? Completely?”

  “According to him. Is oatmeal the only thing that you have? Anyway, the Archaedemons caused a lava burst that obliterated the village.”

  Lira clicked her tongue, rinsing a washcloth in hot water from the kitchen sink. “I’ll see what the Arrows Clan knows about this, and what funeral rites they require. They may begin a vendetta, though, which would risk more bloodshed. It’s a tricky problem.”

  “Yes, the only thing we have is oatmeal. Lira made some pancake attempts, but it didn’t pan out.” Christine smiled. “Get it? Pan?” Then she resumed seriousness. “This is horrible. We need to get the news out to everyone.” She ran over to the telephone and dialed her office.

  “Scoop out a bowl for your cousin, will you?” Lira asked. “What’s his name?”

  “Edofine. Ironic, isn’t it?” Kryvek handed Lira the food.

  “A little bit, but I’m sure he’s very courageous when in his element. I’ll make some eggs.”

  Kryvek stopped her. “No, you will not. I cook better than you do.”

  “Fine. I’m a better nurse than you, though.” That wasn’t saying much. Lira was impersonal, but at least she was competent. She wiped the washcloth on Edofine’s face, placing the bowl of oatmeal on the floor next to the couch. “He looks very tired. See all those eye lines? Just a little effusive greeting and wham, there he goes.”

  Christine slammed the phone down, squashing her own fingers. “Ouch. I completely forgot! The Tufts are coming over any moment now, and we have a very obvious Elf. How are we going to explain this?”

  Kryvek turned white while Lira remained calm. “Let’s put Edofine in my room,” Lira suggested.

  The doorbell rang, and everyone froze. “Good morning!” John called out.

  Chapter Three

  Secrets and Skeptics and Agents

  After waiting for someone to respond to her ringing the doorbell, Sara Tuft opened the door, balancing a fruit basket atop her pregnant tummy.

  “Hello—oh, is this a bad time?” She looked back and forth from the burned mess of pancake attempts on the stove, Kryvek with a spoonful of oatmeal paused on the way to his mouth, Christine petrified with the telephone in her hand, and Lira frozen next to an unconscious young man in fantasy garb.

  “What’s going on?” John asked in the silence.

  “Hypoglycemia, I think,” Lira said, quickly. “Ed—ward, yes, Edward, just came back from LARPing and his blood sugar is too low. He will be fine. Don’t worry about it.”

  “And who is Edward?” John asked.

  “My cousin,” Kryvek said.

  Christine tried to say something, but all that came out was, “Agtfulp,” so she went back to her phone call. Let Lira straighten this out.

  “We’re missing something here. Everyone’s tense enough to be used as a guitar string. Own up, please,” John said.

  Sara nudged him. “We shouldn’t intrude on their business.”

  Edofine bolted up. “I was not sleeping on guard duty! I will not allow the Eudemons to destroy us. Help! Help! The lava comes!” The tricky part was that only the words “sleeping”, “Eudemons”, “help”, and “lava” were in English.

  Lira pressed him down onto his back. “Lie there for now, and don’t become over-stimulated.”

  “But there’s humans everywhere,” he groaned in English.

  Putting the fruit basket down on the table, Sara said, “Then what are you?”

  “He’s been practicing Welsh,” Christine said experimentally.

  “I am an mmm,” Edofine said, Lira covering his mouth with her hand before he could say the vital word.

  John folded his arms. “Please explain this to us honestly.”

  Kryvek took a deep breath and pulled up two chairs. “If we’re going to have you
as neighbors, there’s something you need to know.”

  “Kevin, no!” Lira hissed, slicing her throat with her hand.

  “You call him Kevin?” Edofine asked.

  “You need to eat,” Lira said, spooning the oatmeal into Edofine’s mouth.

  Edofine thought about resisting, but he knew that this female would get her way in any case, so he obediently partook of the strange food.

  Thoughts whirled in his young head. Should he be afraid? A half-Eudemon could do anything. He found this experience strangely pleasant despite the humiliation. Her skin was smooth and brown, her hair the color of ripe plums, and her fierce, independent lips would be stunning if she smiled. There was a lack of laugh lines that cried out for cheer and music and poetry. This confused Edofine. Shouldn’t someone with her heritage be frightening, ugly with a deathly white color, and scars all over her face?

  Wait! This was a betrayal of Faeriva, who never had a chance to tell him how she felt before the Archaedemons killed her. How could he have such thoughts about a half-breed, one with polluted blood? Hmm.

  This ‘oatmeal’ was indeed nourishing. He wouldn’t mind eating it again. Oh, spirits, could she hear the thought-music as well as a full Elf? She was not projecting disgust or romantic interest—more of a sisterly concern. He did not know whether to be glad or sorry.

  Lira’s thoughts were balanced between frustration with unfamiliar people showing up at such an inconvenient time and clear-minded practicality of how to deal with this weak, somewhat pretty Elf boy. He was practically fading in and out of visibility; he was so skinny and hollow.

  “They’re not going to use this information against us,” Kryvek said. “I can hear their character.”

  “You lost me,” John said.

  “Sit down, please. Sorry that we’re puzzling you.” Kryvek slid Sara’s chair for her in the classic gentlemanly way. When the Tufts were seated, Kryvek clasped his hands. His only thought was to handle this the way he (tactfully) informed parents that little Timmy had the musical talent of an aardvark. “How fond of fantasy are you two?”

  “I love it,” Sara said.

  “It’s all right. I prefer mysteries,” John said.

  “There’s no way to say this without your being shocked, so I’ll just plunge in: there are sentient beings besides humans walking this earth.”

  Sara laughed. “Was that all? I already believe in aliens.”

  “She’s always like this,” John said. “Please excuse her.”

  “That’s excellent,” Kryvek said, “but that’s not what I’m talking about.” He tucked his hair behind his ears and leaned forward. “These aren’t prosthetics.”

  Lira said, “Neither are mine—Kevin, are you sure this is a good idea?”

  “My name is Kryvek, and I am an Elf, adopted by the Fletchers when—” He saw that the Tufts’ mouths were open and John’s glasses had fallen off. It was almost cartoonish. Kryvek took Sara’s hand. “I understand if this is difficult for you to deal with.”

  Sara whispered, “Thank you.” She stood up, lit from within by some cosmic, stellar force. “Magic is real.”

  “You could say it that way,” Lira said. “Edofine, keep eating. C’mon.”

  “Magic is real! Ahhhh!” Sara shrieked.

  “Calm down, calm down,” John said.

  “This is the best thing I’ve heard in years. Are all of you Elves?” Sara darted around the room, smiling so hard that her face might crack open. Even with the pregnancy, she looked like a teenager who just found out that she was to arrive at the senior prom with the cutest boy in town. “Oh, sorry,” she said when she realized Christine was talking on the phone.

  “Nice joke, guys,” John said.

  Sara glared at him, pointing a finger towards her husband. “Skeptic! You’re a skeptic!”

  John raised an eyebrow. “I mean, you are kidding, right? Right?”

  Kryvek sang a four-line snippet of song in Elvish, translating roughly: “Color of sky, color so bright, hear the calls of the rainbow, and your blue be white.”

  Sara’s dress turned white, and she clapped her hands. “Do it again, do it again!”

  “Um. Huh. Wow. I, um, I remember I left something in the oven, and I better check on it. Thanks for inviting us. Bye.” John was gone, almost slamming the door behind him.

  Sara, deflated, sat down. “Forgive him. He’s a wonderful man, but he needs to digest information slowly. Tell me more, please.”

  “The OMHI is going to check out the site of the Dance Clan’s disappearance,” Christine said, hanging up. “Hello, Sara. I am human, I promise. No Elves or demons get this fat.”

  “Oh, please, no self-deprecation, or we’ll be here all day.” She sat down at the kitchen table, automatically clearing space for her pregnant zone. “There are demons, too? Are they evil? And what’s the ‘Oh My’?”

  “I would also like to know about the Official Magics-Human Institute,” Edofine said. “Lady Lira, please let me sit up.”

  “Nothing doing,” Lira said, adding a translation after his blank look. “I mean, no, you may not.”

  “Demon,” Edofine murmured, frowning. Spirits, she was beautiful. She was also harsh. She could have been carved from brown granite.

  “Lawyer,” Lira corrected, mouth an even line.

  “Would you like me to return your dress to its original color?” Kryvek asked. “It’s just an illusion. If you took a photograph it would be blue.”

  “I like it this way,” Sara said, smoothing the cloth.

  Christine dished up oatmeal for Sara and herself, with apologies for the lack of fancy fare.

  Edofine absorbed information and provender like an uncertain sponge—the kind at the bottom of the sea, not the plastic foam ones.

  “Mister Fletcher, my father, was once an FBI agent. He was also a devoted fan of everything written by J.R.R. Tolkien, and the day he learned Elves were real and they lived lives of constant danger and warfare from the Eudemons, he knew he wanted to help the Elves. Logically, Kryvek wasn’t the only Elf seeking a new life in human society. Would not others seek a modern lifestyle, and a relatively secure one?”

  “Like tribes in New Guinea coming to the city,” Sara said.

  “I dislike that comparison,” Edofine objected.

  Christine shrugged and continued. “He was high up in the Bureau’s hierarchy and lived in this safe, small town for his family’s sake, with a two-hour each way commute to work. Because of his position, he managed to pull strings to form his own government agency with help from a few Elves in disguise, Elves that came from the clans around Laconia and had left home to seek their fortune.

  “They named it the OMHI because it could also stand for Official Mental Health Institute, the name printed on their business cards. This meant if they found anyone trying to expose the Elves and demons they could whisk him or her away for a mixture of bribery, threats, and tolerance education, telling everyone else they were curing patients of their delusions.”

  Lira added, “Elves? Ha! Right, tell us another one.”

  Sara giggled, but said, “I don’t understand why Elves didn’t want the mainstream human population to know of their existence and refused to let anyone know where their specific villages were.”

  Lira explained, “Had history been different, they may have been open and friendly, for during pre-Columbian times the Elves and the Native Americans coexisted peacefully and occasionally intermarried. This was where the Native American legends of Star People and the like originated. However, as soon as Europeans began to conquer the Americas, the Elves were disgusted and terrified by their cruelty to foreign members of their own species.

  “The Elves did their best to hide and shelter Native Americans, but it was to no avail. The massacres, diseases, and enslavement that Europeans brought with them made the Elves swear to have nothing to do with these new kinds of humans. They were naturally nonviolent, so they did not attack the Caucasians, but they retreated and adapted their
time-and-space magics in such a way that they could be almost completely hidden from white society. The majority of Elves still remembered—some of the older ones literally did remember—the atrocities committed by the white settlers, and did not believe that modern society was any different. The Elves that did come live as humans eventually became convinced that humans had changed since then, but out of respect to their people’s wishes hid their identity from the world.”

  “What about the demons?” Sara asked.

  “According to what we know,” Christine said, “Eudemons believe if the current civilization found out about them they would try to either take their land or eliminate the Eudemons and war would result. No one knows who would win. The Eudemons can cause natural disasters with the same ease as humans could use disease, chemicals, and nukes. The Archaedemons never have a chance to meet with humans at all, because human technology can still not enable them to survive the conditions of Archaedemon habitat and multi-hundred-degree Fahrenheit temperatures.

  “The Official Magics-Human Institute’s mission is to keep non-humans and humans safe from one another, and to assist non-humans who desired assimilation to find their place in human society. This mostly concerned our friends/enemies in the genus Homo, but there is a National Human Offshoot Office, quietly keeping track of vampire, werewolf, and shape-shifter sightings. Unless the human offshoots were causing damage that ordinary law enforcement couldn’t deal with, the OMHI leaves them alone. That wasn’t too difficult, but the occasional vamp-Elf or demon-wolf causes plenty of headaches.”

  “Scary mental image,” Sara murmured.

  Christine made little fangs with her fingers. “Grr. Argh. Terribly sorry but you must die now to ensure my survival.”

  Lira got water up her nose.

  Christine pounded her on the back before continuing. “Apparently Laconia—I mean, this one, not the one in New Hampshire—is one of the few towns in all of the US that has large communities of all non-human species less than five miles away from its suburbs. The proximity of Elves and their subtle influence on the human population made for a high proportion of mystics, mediums, Wicca, and other magically oriented individuals; Laconia College has some unorthodox classes. Thanks to this, recruitment of appropriate workers for the OMHI is slow but steady. Most of the OMHI staff is humans who are delighted to learn that beings out of fantasy exist.”