“One of the songs I heard yesterday seemed to be about life after death” Alexander said to Aliendre. “Do elves go to the same place as humans?”

“No, of course not, only immortals can go to our place. We cannot die by age, but yet many of us have already left this world. I don’t know what happens to mortals. It seems so sad to have such a short life,” she said thoughtfully.

Alexander thought that maybe this last part had been a bit tactless of Aliendre but he didn’t say so. He wouldn’t have minded to live forever like the elves did.


“Humans who are brave and give proper sacrifices will go to a place where there are no sorrows,” Alexander said. “There will be joyful games and banquets all the time. All wounds from the fighting games will heal before the night falls. We will meet our beloved that went before us and we will be together with them forever.”

“And humans who are not brave?” Aliendre asked.

“Humans better be brave,” Alexander said.

“My parents had a son, my brother, who died hundreds of years before I was born. He was killed by the Dark elves during the war. Don’t think too badly about us because of what you have witnessed here. There are reasons for our actions”

Alexander didn’t know if he agreed that a war hundreds of years ago really could be a good reason to take away the memory from a teenage boy and let him perish in the wilderness, but said nothing about it. After all, what did he know about Elven politics? "I would have had two brothers and three sisters if they hadn't all died as infants before I was born," he said. "Probably that's why my mother is extremely overprotecting."


There were always visitors that came and went in the Elven palace. One day a teenage boy arrived. He was only the third elf that Alexander had seen who was not an adult. There was something about the boy, except his age, that made him differ from all other elves that Alexander had seen.


Somehow the young boy made a more human impression than other elves but at first Alexander couldn’t figure out why. Then he realised! Elves usually moved very smoothly and never did these small and unnecessary movements with their hands that humans usually do. They even blinked much less often than humans. But this boy seemed to talk constantly and lively, underlining his words with gestures. Alexander had never seen such a lively elf before.


Thorundur heard the rhythm of a heart beat. The sound was load. No, it was not a heart beat ..... it was drums. Who could be playing drums in the middle of the night? The rhythm was primitive and suggestive, and there was a fire. He saw the flames dancing around him but they didn’t burn him because he was one of them and he couldn’t resist moving with the rhythm. Soon he was dancing wildly together with the flames of the fire with his heart beating with the same rhythm as the drums.


Sweat covered Thorundur’s body when he woke up from a disturbing and strange dream. He remembered that there had been a child in it. Something had been strange with the child but he couldn’t remember what it was. The room was really warm; no wonder that he had dreamt about fire. He needed fresh air.



The summer night was peaceful and refreshing and the moon was full. He wondered if Roe was looking at the same moon as him. She would be at the Forest people’s meeting by now but she was probably sleeping at this time of the night. Thorundur had arrived to the palace two days ago and liked it. Everything was beautiful here. Most beautiful of all was the Princess. He hoped that he would have the chance to get to know Princess Aliendre better.