The door creaked open, revealing a small figure with piercing brown eyes.
They were a boy, with short hair of the color of the trees, eyes as brown as the soil and skin white as the clouds on a nice day. He was shorter than me and had a warm smile on his face.
After a few moments the silence is broken by his soft and happy voice, "You look lost," The short boy stated. "Aren't you going to come in? It's dark outside, perfect time for the creatures of the night to hunt for prey." He beamed, moving aside to let me in.
"Thank you." I croaked, my throat dry after not drinking a drop of water the entire day, and walked inside his lively home.
He closed the door behind and welcomed me in, took my bag and hung it.
I noticed something strange right then- nevermind, everything is strange ever since I awoke here. But the strangely nice short boy, aside from having a strange hair color, also had pointy ears. And that only meant one thing- if my memory served me right. He's an elf.
And an earth elf I will bet, since his features match this earth. And he is literally living in the middle of a forest (no offense). It is not strange though, after spending a day here.
In fact, I was impressed. My life was now similar to that of a fairytale. And I was quite content.
He lead me to a chair and rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry about the cottage not being in the best shape, I was quite busy and I don't usually get visitors."
"It is alright. I am already grateful that you had let me in, and with such nice hospitality."
He smiled, the skin around his brown eyes crinkled. "Would you like a cup of Kamsara Tea?"
"Sure," I nodded. "But if you do not mind me asking, what is Kasera tea?"
"It's Kam-sara tea. And its the most delicious tea in the entire forest! I'll go prepare some right away." He runs excitedly to one of the few rooms in the cottage.
My head turns sideways to examine the place, he owned such a beautiful home, there were cobalt blue vines adorned by blooming flowers hanging around the walls, and the flames dancing in harmony around the fireplace were filling me with warmth and a nice sense of security.
I giggled, trying to not laugh. There was a medium- sized carpet with the word 'Plants' embroidered in blue cursive letters in the middle. I found that pretty cute. Very fit for an earth elf, I assumed. After all, I never asked. I should. Later.
A couple of books hung from a bookself. Glancing over them, I spot a book with 'History' on it, one with 'Brewing Potions for experts' another with 'Ard Magic' what?? On a closer look, it said 'Earth Magic'. "So my theory was correct," I say in my head and my mouth formes a small smile.
"Here's your tea." He smiled warmly and offered me a cup filled with warm pink liquid that I guessed was the tea. It smelled very nice. "Enjoy!" He took a seat on the table, legs on the chair, and took a sip of his cup.
"Thank you," I mutter, loudly enough for him to hear and smile softly for the hundredth time at me.
The tea wafted a sweet, floral aroma that filled the room. I blowed gently on the cup and took a sip. The liquid went down my throat, warming me perfectly from the inside. Leaving a delicious taste on my tounge. It was officially the best thing I have probably ever tasted.
"This is amazing. It tastes so good." I smile softly.
"Of course it does," he slightly tilts his head to the left. "You know what tastes even better? The fruit itself."
"Really?"
"I would have loved to let you try some...but unfortunately I ran out." He rubbed the back of his blue head.
"That is okay. The tea itself is amazing. And I'm very grateful for your kind hospitality. Thank you...umm...I never got your name."
"Oliver."
What a nice name.
"Thank you, Oliver."
"You're welcome. What about you?" He took another sip of tea.
"I'm Adrienne." At least I thought so. That is the name embroidered on the inside of my bag.
"Trees to meet you, Adrienne." He holds out his hand.
I stare at him blankly, then start laughing. My brain finally processing the joke.
"Trees to meet you too, Oliver." I shake his hand in a friendly manner and we both laugh, our laughs echoing through the cottage that is in the middle of the alluring forest.
"There has been something I have been meaning to ask." I crossed my legs, "Where are we?"
"We're in the Moonshade Woods." Oliver answered.
"Moonshade?" That was quite the unique name.
"Yeah, its named that since the moon was needed for the Treetop Pathways legend." Oliver explained that a very long time ago there existed magical pathways on the treetops, and these pathways led to another realm. In order to get to the pathways, you had to do it on a full moon. That realm contained The Trails Of Death. Whoever completed these trails would get items of great power or books of powerful spells or master advanced magic in mere seconds rather than decades.
"It was already hard to find them. And even harder to use them. I'm not sure of the details but I heard you have to walk on the tree trunk horizontally. Defying the laws of gravity. Crazy right? But that didn't stop those who has great ambition for power to help the people against monsters that attacked or wars between nations, it also didn't stop the evil ones from getting too powerful and wrecking havoc among the nations." He continued and I listened intently. The pathways have been sealed with very powerful magic, since it helped cause a disturbance in the balance of magic and created unwanted wars. It has been sealed and carefully hidden for three centuries now.
"How can anyone find them?" I was brimming with curiosity.
"They don't. All records and details written have been destroyed." He placed his cup besides him on the table. "There is no known way to find them now. And its impossible to use them even if you luckily come across them. All that is left of it is the legends that the old folks weave together for the future generations." He refused to tell me more saying its a forbidden topic and that was all he knew.
He got off the table and accidentally knocked down his cup, before it crashed to peices on the ground, vines emerged from the cracks of the ground and tangled itself around it mid-air.
I wondered how he could do that.
He grabs the cup and the vines slither back through the ground. "It's getting late, we should sleep. I'll go get you a pillow and a blanket."
"Wait, you are letting me stay for the night?" It was astonishing to see someone so kind.
"Yeah of course. You're not from here, that's obvious. And you don't seem like you have a place to sleep in for the night." He grabs the sleeping arrangements, a pyjama and hands them to me. "Need anything else?"
"No. Good night, Oliver." I smile.
"Good night, Adrienne." He returns my smile.