Creak.
Creak.
Rattle. Rattle.
In Aeloria.
The village tribe of a large population of elves reside.
It was like any ordinary village, stores, houses, blacksmith forge, buildings like inn's and even a winery.
There were also roads obviously, and sky bridges. Lots of sky bridges, infact.
Why is that?
That was because, many of the tribal elves live high above the trees, they connect a vast majority of houses and people.
One village can take up two trees and build over three hundred houses.
Aeloria was one of the kinds of tribal towns or villages that have royalty, kings and queens, prince's and princesses.
They occupied three trees and house atleast six hundred houses, hundreds of thousands of elves lived in Aeloria. However they couldn't be called an elven kingdom yet.
They do not have enough power, they weren't resourceful enough to be of use to the other residing kingdoms.
What's worse is that they reside near literal death zones, north of where their town is and so was the northwestern part had death zones that was classed C.
For the south and southeastern part, it was classified as D. It is a pretty weak death zone, however the class was only for each individual monster.
The northern death zone had strong monsters, stronger than the southeastern one. But it loses in number, it was home to rapidly reproducing monsters. The people of Aeloria had to set fire to its den ten times every month, it was a hassle.
However every elven citizen of this tribal town had their attention elsewhere.
It was a beautiful princess, their princess, the daughter of the king and queen.
Beside her was their most loyal guard...
"What is that?"
"Another elf?"
"He looks different though!"
"The boy doesn't have pointed ears!"
Their gazes were on the young boy slung over the guards shoulder.
A human boy.
***
Yoru slowly blinked open his eyes, looking around and noticing the unfamiliar sight.
It was dark, little to no light. The walls and the ceiling were made out of stone, he could hear faint whispers coming from beside him.
'What the hell...'
He tried to sit up but failed, his entire body was hurting, it ached, it was sore. His entire body felt weak and he could not do anything at all, all he could do was move his eyes around and look up at the ceiling.
Hyup!
He tried to sit up again, only to fail once more.
"Please refrain from moving so much."
A voice, like a lullaby, caught his attention. If only he could turn his head and look which he can't, so all he could do was respond.
"Ugh... Where am I?"
He asked, his voice sounded dehydrated and hoarse.
How long has it been?
Sounds of sighing and footsteps resounded from where the lulling voice was from, and he heard something creaking open.
Twinkle.
Twinkle.
Something warm suddenly enveloped his tiny body, the ache and the soreness of his body was disappearing.
His body felt rejuvenated, healed. He felt so light and calm, relaxed even.
"Rude little one aren't you?"
The voice said, flicking Yoru's forehead suddenly making him wince. He no longer felt weak so he sat up, stretching his arms out before turning to look at where the voice came from.
His breath was almost stolen away.
It was the same elven girl he saw that was dancing so beautifully and elegantly.
"You shouldn't be asking questions, you are the first human guest up here in Aeloria. The first in five centuries."
'Aeloria?'
" Where's that...?"
He asked, looking at the stunning elven girl.
She frowned slightly and reached towards his forehead, giving it a flick with her finger.
" I told you, not to ask questions just yet."
Yoru rubbed his forehead, wincing at the stinging pain.
The delicate young woman was actually very strong.
...
I was then eventually brought out my cell, though they tied my hands and feet with stretchy kind of vines.
The princess led me to a room filled with many other elves, they all looked at me with intrigue and curiosity, some suspicious and warry of me.
She left my side and walked towards the far end of the table,while I was apparently standing on a stage.
There was a short moment of silence, everyone giving each other silent looks, wondering who will go first. But in the end, the village elder, the one that looked to be the oldest in the room, spoke first.
"Let's get it started then shall we?" He asked, facing me and then towards the others, "What is your name young one?"
The question was surprisingly easy to answer, not straightforward and getting to the point just yet.
I appreciated these kinds of warm up questions, even when the questions that were about to be asked next were less friendly.
"Yoru, just Yoru."
I replied, my eyes locked onto the elder, my voice was calm and composed.
The elder nodded, writing it down on a weird paper like surface.
Then, a different person spoke, her voice was laced with authority but currently had patience in it.
"Yoru huh? From where?"
'Where?'
I blinked for a bit, confused.
"I am from the West, ma'am."
I responded, everyone in the room turned dead quiet, whispers being passed around instead.
The princess who's been quiet this whole time spoke:
"You may ask a question."
I scratched the back of my head, I've been given permission to ask a question now... Such weird customs.
"Where exactly am I?" I asked, looking at the faced of everyone here, "Where is Aeloria?"
The elder chuckled and drank something from a goblet, giving me a crooked and old smile of his.
"This is Aeloria, up North, the Northernmost forest." He said, my heart sank suddenly, how did I even end up here?
The princess let out an amused hum, catching the attention of the others around the table.
"Welcome, Yoru, up North. It seems to me you don't know how you got here yourself."
What a perfect guess...