It would be a full month before Lord Aden sent his orders to the Elves regarding the human children. It was not entirely surprising that he had not made their dilemma a priority but, for most of the Elven Rangers, the wait was deeply annoying. Many an argument had been raged over that month. Some Rangers suggested taking the children to the outskirts of a human village, or one of the free towns, and leaving them to the mercy of their own kind, but others argued that they had already seen and heard too much. They were now a serious threat. Many were in favor of simply doing away with the little ones, as they should have from the start. Only a deep respect for their leader, Alayna, restrained them, as she had formed an unexpectedly strong bond with the boys and refused to consider any option other than to protect them and wait for Lord Aden’s orders.
During their long wait, the boys slowly regained their strength and natural curiosity, as only children can, even in the face of great tragedy. None of the boys would ever be the same. A seriousness had replaced their youthful playfulness of the past, and a few remained quiet and withdrawn. But the spirit of youth was on their side and they were soon exploring and helping with the daily running of the camp, eager to learn the ways of the Wood Elves.
Alayna had become very fond of the children, especially Donovan. He was a quick thinker and a fast learner, very much like her youngest son whom she had recently lost in a minor border skirmish. She was a mother of nine children—four boys and five girls. Three of them were dead. The loss of each one had been a crushing blow, but her youngest had been the hardest to come to terms with. They had been very close; he had reminded her strongly of her bonded mate, who had died defending the Wood Elven capital city from foreign invasion. He was a great man and she missed him, and her son, terribly.
Alayna was about five hundred years old, give or take a hundred years. None of her fellow Rangers could ever pinpoint her exact age, and Alayna wasn’t planning to tell them anytime soon. All of her surviving children were grown and had bonded mates and children of their own. Having these boys around her made her realize how much she missed the young ones and how she wished she could have had more of her own. She was a fierce warrior and a highly respected Ranger, but her heart was that of a mother.
As she watched the boys, one afternoon, struggle to solve the problem of building shelter as efficiently as they had seen the Rangers do it, she sighed, not for the first time, as she remembered her son’s first attempts at the skill.
Hearing her sigh, Donovan looked up to see a sad, wistful expression cross her face and he looked at her, quizzically, until she laughed and said, “No need to look so serious, young Donovan. I was just thinking about how much you remind me of my youngest son. He was quick to laugh, just like you, and he was intelligent—a skilled problem solver. When he died, he was on his way to becoming a great warrior. I believe, given enough time, he would have become one of the elite guards of the high lord. But, it was not to be.”
“Elves can die?” Donovan questioned. He, like most humans, thought that the Wood Elves were immortal, with some kind of magic that prevented them from being killed, or a magic that brought them back to life if they were fatally wounded.
Alayna looked puzzled, and then her face cleared with understanding. “We were once immortal,” she explained. “In the times of the Elders, before the source stone exploded. Those powers died during the Time of Darkness. Although we do live very long lives, we can, alas, be killed.” A shadow of pain crossed her face as she spoke these final words and Donovan was surprised to learn that Elves also loved and missed their families, just as humans did. Before he had met Alayna, he had never imagined them as anything but fierce creatures to be feared.
His sharp, adventure-loving mind was buzzing with questions about the Elders and the source stone and the Time of Darkness, but for now, as he looked into her sad, turquoise eyes, he held his questions and said, “I’m sorry I upset you, Lady Alayna. You’ve been so kind to us. I didn’t know you had lost family, too. Is there any way I can make it better?”
Alayna laughed and replied, “I am not a lady. That title is reserved for the nobility, and no, child, there is nothing you can do. I will carry this pain, as you will yours, for all of my life. We simply need to find ways to live as best we can and accept what life gives us to bear.”
“That seems very hard,” answered Donovan thoughtfully. “When I think of the look in my mother’s eyes, and hear the screams in my sleep…”
“It will get easier,” promised Alayna.
The orders, when they came, were far from satisfying. The Rangers had been expecting an order to leave the children and return to their usual duties, but instead, they were instructed to move the children to the Ranger’s base of operations, Weeping Tree Outpost, and await further orders there. They were pleased to be leaving this temporary camp, and looking forward to refreshing their supplies at the outpost, but most were disgruntled about having the burden of young children—and human children at that—slowing them down.
It took over a month to reach the outpost, traveling northwest through the forest. The boys were quiet as they moved farther and farther from human settlements and from the life they had known. The days were long, and the nights less than comfortable as they made quick, rough camps to allow the children to rest. The youngest boys needed to stop far more often than the Rangers would have liked, but Alayna was insistent that the children’s needs be met.
When they finally arrived, Donovan and the others were taken by surprise. They had been walking straight toward the outpost all day, but somehow hadn’t seen it until they were almost at the gates. The encampment was well camouflaged in the dense forest and surrounded on three sides by high wooden walls. Guards opened the gates for them, and Alayna led them past storage buildings and training yards where Elves were practicing with bows and arrows, to a large building at the center of the camp. Elves stopped their activities to stare at the strange procession as they made their way to the large building and the boys huddled nervously, staying as close to Alayna as they could.
They stopped outside the building and Alayna turned to them with a smile. “This is the officer’s quarters and this is where you will stay until we have word from high Lord Aden. I know you will quickly learn the ways of the Elves and show respect to those who are providing for you during your stay. I will help you, of course, and you will help each other.”
She addressed the Rangers. “I thank you, my friends, for your assistance with this most unusual situation. I will require only a few of you to remain to help with the daily care of our charges. The rest will be free to return to your usual duties until we hear from the high lord. For tonight, though, I order you to rest, relax, and enjoy your first day back at the outpost!”
A small cheer arose from the group of Rangers and they had soon dispersed, more than happy to follow those orders. Alayna soon had the boys fed and settled and when, at last, she retired to her own quarters, she was deeply grateful for her bunk and the small moments of privacy that she hadn’t enjoyed for quite some time.
Three months later, Alayna watched as the gates to the outpost were swung open to allow a large procession through. She was surprised to see the high lord’s standard flying above the heads of the guards. It could only mean that Lord Aden was amongst them, which would be a rare event indeed. As she made her way toward the procession, she saw the central guards part, and Lord Aden step forward, demanding to speak with the commander.
Alayna walked up to him, gave the traditional salute and asked, “How may I serve you, high Lord?”
Lord Aden studied her coldly for a long moment before speaking. “You are the commander of the Wood Elven Rangers?” he finally asked.
“Yes, my Lord,” she replied. “I am Alayna, of the House of Dorandal.”
“I wish to speak with you in private,” he said, and his tone made it clear that this was an order and not a polite request.
Alayna led the way to her command office and invited Lord Aden inside. “We are not to be disturbed for any reason!” she instructed the guards.
There was a tense silence for a moment as Alayna waited to see if Lord Aden would speak first. He did not, but stood staring at her as if she were something most unpleasant. Finally, she offered, “Would you like any refreshments, my Lord?”
“I highly doubt that you would have anything to my liking out here in this godforsaken wilderness,” he replied.
Alayna took a deep breath and asked, “Well, my Lord, may I be so bold as to ask why you have made the journey so far from the capital?”
The high lord’s eyes narrowed with anger as he answered, “It was not my wish to come this far out. But you have put me in a very difficult situation and since you do not seem capable of solving this problem in an appropriate manner, as I was hoping you would, my personal attention is now required. Where are these human children that you have allowed to live amongst us all these past months?”
“Some are currently in the barracks, sir, and a few are playing in the woods nearby. Some are fishing at the pond and…”
“Yes, I’m sure they’re roaming all over the place as animals tend to do,” spat the high lord in a scathing tone. “Please explain to me why you did not simply leave these children where you found them, or disposed of them in the first place, as was your duty. It was not your responsibility to see to their care or their needs. You have created an enormous problem!”
“High Lord, with all due respect, sir, if I had left them there, they would have died.”
“Human children are not our responsibility or our concern,” growled Lord Aden. “You don’t take baby animals home with you after killing their mother, do you?”
“We did not kill their mothers, sir,” explained Alayna, barely concealing her impatience. “They were murdered and the children were in great distress…”
“You will return these children to their village and leave them there. This cannot be recorded, which is why I speak to you in private, Commander, but this is a direct order and you will obey it! I will not spend viable Elven resources on such useless life forms. It was a mistake for you to assist them in the first place. For all we know they could be spies sent by our enemies.”
“These children are not spies, my Lord. They are innocent victims of a horrible massacre. If we take them back and just leave them to their fate, we will be sentencing them to die a slow and painful death.”
“That is not our concern. If you had done your duty and killed them when you first found them trespassing, this wouldn’t be a problem now, would it? Besides, for every one that dies, a hundred more will take their place. The human population grows ever stronger.”
Alayna was not ready to give up. In a determined voice, she said, “Sir, if I may offer an alternative solution that does not involve the murder of innocents.”
“I don’t care for your insolent tone, but make your suggestion,” allowed Lord Aden.
Alayna spoke carefully and with absolute respect. “My Lord, if your primary concern is the expense of raising these children to adulthood, then it might please you to know that they are about half grown already. As you likely know, humans reach maturity much faster than Elves—in less than twenty years, in fact. And, if you are correct in thinking they may be spies, then would it not be to our benefit to keep them close at hand and out of contact of the humans? Would it not be better to train them and use them as scouts for our own purposes? We could set up an outpost even further south than any we’ve had so far.”
“Now you’re asking me to raise and train these children,” shouted the high lord, his face darkening with angry red splotches.
Alayna went on quickly, before he could become too infuriated to listen. “Yes. Once they’re trained, they could prove very useful in areas where manpower is needed greatly, and if they die in battle, what’s the difference? No one will miss them and they would then be out of your hair.”
Alayna paused, letting the idea sink in for a moment. She could see he was uncertain, that he might go either way, and this was her only shot. She needed another angle and quickly. Suddenly, she had an idea. “With all due respect, my Lord, this may also be a chance for you to silence some of your more vocal critics who say you lack compassion. What could be more compassionate than showing mercy to children? It would be certain to put you in a favorable light in the eyes of the Wood Elven people.”
Lord Aden smiled slightly and said, “You are clever. I like the way your mind works, but who would we get to train them? I don’t want to spare precious Elven resources on something I consider to be a pointless endeavor.”
“High Lord, if I may volunteer my services. I am a skilled trainer in both archery and the Elven sword tactics. I could teach them and form them into a fit command that any Elven commander would be proud of.”
“I doubt that,” Lord Aden scoffed, “but I will grant your wish on the condition that you, and you alone, will perform this task. I will provide you with food, weapons, and supplies for thirty days and no longer. You will be responsible for building the outpost, and after the thirty days are up, you will be responsible for providing their food and training. Are these terms acceptable to you?”
Alayna saluted and replied, “Yes, my Lord, I accept your terms most gratefully.”
Lord Aden and his procession, eager to return to the capital, departed the very next day. Alayna spent most of that day composing a letter to her family, telling them she would be away for a few years fulfilling a task for the high lord. She could not offer them any more details than that, but she promised to return safely when the task was completed and told them she would carry them in her heart until she could see them all again. Although she was excited for the task ahead, she sealed the letter with a heavy heart.
She spent several hours writing an inventory of all the supplies they would need, and then gave orders to several of her Rangers to organize the items for their journey.
That evening, she gathered the children together. “You must rest well tonight,” she told them. “Tomorrow we will travel south once more—much farther south than before. We will be setting up a new outpost there, just for you.”
“Are you going to leave us there?” asked one boy, his voice high and anxious.
“I am going to stay there with you,” Alayna explained, and smiled as she watched relief wash over the boy’s face. “There will be much work for us to do, but I will teach you how to hunt and build and provide for yourselves, and later, I will train you in the fighting arts.”
The boys all began to speak at once, excited by the prospect of being taught the Elven arts. Alayna raised her hand to quiet them and continued. “The high lord has decided that he could use your services when you are grown and trained. You should be honored and strive to become great soldiers. He has given you a chance to survive and go on to great things. I will do all I can to help you reach this goal.”
Most of the boys were thrilled at the prospect of becoming warriors and good-natured arguments soon began breaking out about which boys would be the greatest warriors. Alayna laughed at their exuberance, knowing that reality would set in soon enough. “I am sure that all of you will be very proficient scouts at the very least,” she assured them, “but to become a warrior is not an easy path. You must learn patience, concentration, and diligence. This will not come overnight and it will not be easy, but with my help, you will be as strong and skilled as you are able to be.”
The boys were rounded up once more the next morning and, after a hearty breakfast, they split the load of goods amongst them and turned to the south. As Alayna said her goodbyes to the other Elves, she was questioned over and over about the wisdom of this task. Were a bunch of human boys worth being exiled to the far south? Why was she offering years of her life for these worthless children? Many wondered if she had lost her senses. One look at the group of youngsters, though, with their tousled hair, dirty faces and haunted eyes, and she knew she was not wasting her time. They needed her. They needed a chance, and she would give it to them.