Roe waited at the usual place. She loved early summer mornings and the sensation when the rising sun started to warm her skin.


When she saw Thorundur her heart started beating faster and all colours became brighter. She loved how the sunlight made his blond hair shine. Everything was so much more fun when she shared it with Thorundur.


“I’ve never seen you use any magic,” Roe said. “Don’t all elves have magic powers?”

“It’s mostly the oldest elves and sometimes their children. I don’t have much power but there’s something that I can do. Look!”

Thorundur closed his eyes and concentrated. He reached out his fingers and started to say some strange words that he repeated many times under deep concentration. After a long while Roe could see a small flame of fire coming from his fingertips. With a last effort he lighted a fire.


“That’s fantastic Thorundur. You’re so skilled.”

Thorundur had to sit down to rest. The spell had drained him of energy but he looked very content. Roe didn’t have the heart to tell him that she could have lit the fire much quicker and with less effort without magic.


It was getting colder each day. Roe took a deep breath letting her lungs fill with the fresh autumn air. She took a new breath but this time only with her nose.

“I can smell the boar here. It must be in this direction,” she said. She could feel the adrenaline running through her veins, sharpening her senses and making her feel really good.

“You’re right. Here’s the track. It looks fresh,” Thorundur whispered.


“Are you ready?” Roe nodded in the direction of the wild boar that was drinking from the lake.

Thorundur raised his bow and aimed. Just as he was about to fire the arrow the boar looked up and ran away. The arrow went through the air and hit the ground where the boar had been half a second before.

“I can’t believe it! I had him! Something scared him.”



There was a movement in the bushes by the lake and a dirty skinny figure appeared. He looked ragged and his eyes bewildered. When he saw Roe and Thorundur there was a look of total terror in his face before he turned away and ran through the forest in an amazing speed as if something horrible was hunting him. Soon he was out of sight.




“What was that? Surely that was an elf but he looked as if he had no sense at all,” Roe said.

“He was a Dark elf so of course he wouldn’t have any sense. He made us loose the boar.”

Despite the harsh words from her friend Roe could see that the strange behaviour of the boy had disturbed Thorundur as well.

“If he acts like that he will get himself killed really soon.” Roe shuddered at the thought of the boy who had seemed so lost in the forest. There had clearly been something terribly wrong with him.



“Next summer I will go to a Forest people meeting,” Roe said.

“Can I come with you?”

Roe hesitated, not knowing how to tell Thorundur that only Forest people could go.



Thorundur laughed. “I was joking. I know that your people would be shocked to se an elf at their secret meeting. Besides I’m going to visit the King’s and the Queen’s palace with Toraldor and his wife. It’ll probably be about the same time as your meeting. As I told you before, my brother Toraldor’s wife, Liandra is a very distant relative to Queen Eliene. We’ll have so much to tell each other when we meet again after I have been at the palace and you at the big secret Forest people meeting.”