Naila approached me as Kael moved among them, welcomed like one of their own. I braced myself, unsure of what she might say.
“Kael’s return could not have come at a better hour,” she said at last. “He can help us rebuild the sofament here.” She gestured for me to follow. “Come, walk with me.”
I nodded and obeyed.
The cave opened into a vast cavern, half wild and half wrought by hand. Wooden scaffolds cradled the rock, forming terraces andalcoves where homes took shape. Fires burned in the central hollow, their glow painting the walls in shades of amber and shadow. Elves crossed paths with measured grace, carrying timber or baskets. Children darted between them, laughter echoing faintly off the stone.
I walked among them, lips parted, unable to hide my wonder.
Questions pressed at my tongue, but I didn’t know where to begin.
“In other years,” Naila said, her voice soft amid the crackle of the fires, “we return here in the fall and build with care. This time, we fled Vallûne with little more than what we could carry.”
So Vallûne was the village.
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” I murmured, finding no better words.
She pressed her lips thin, eyes lowering briefly before lifting again to meet mine. In the firelight, her green irises glimmered like moss after rain. “They walk with the spirits now. We must honor them by enduring.”
“What is this place?” I asked quietly.
“We call it Stenhalla, the Halls of Stone. We are nomads, wandering the mountains where the wind allows. But when the leaves begin to turn, we always return here for warmth and rest.”
Naila spoke with an elf woman who handed her a wooden bowl brimming with green paste. She took a small spoonful, pressed it between her fingers, and stepped close. I flinched at first but allowed her to smooth the mixture across my forehead.
“This ishelmossa,” she said softly. “A shaman’s remedy. It will heal your wound within moments.”
She tended next to the burn circling my neck where the vine blight had struck. I let her work in silence, my gaze drifting toward the wavering light of the lake.
“What ishelmossa?” I asked.
“It is a paste made of blessed moss,” she replied. “We craft it here, in Stenhalla, from the moss that grows thick around the water’s edge.”
“Oh… Thank you.”
The paste cooled against my skin, leaving a faint tingle as the ache began to fade. I breathed out, lighter somehow, and let my eyes wander.
Across the cavern, I glimpsed Kael, cloak discarded, sleeves rolled, helping another elf lift a heavy beam of wood. The sight spurred the question that had gnawed at me since our encounter.
“So… You are Kael’s sister?”
Naila’s laugh was soft and wistful. “Sister by choice. Kael lived among us long ago. He was of the tribe once.”
She spoke of their people, weaving memories of Kael as a boy wandering these stones and these woods, a bow and arrow in his hands and mischief in his eyes. She told me of the Forest Fae, the wood elves who graced Vanhaui freely, living in harmony with humans. But that harmony had frayed since the plague. Now they preferred to keep to their groves and green halls, choosing seclusion over fellowship.
Footsteps eventually echoed behind us. A man approached, tall and lean, his leather tunic embroidered with silver thread and forest motifs. His face bore the calm of great age, golden skin lined by the years. His hair, dark streaked with silver, was braided with leaves and small branches. When he smiled, it was solemn yet kind, as though centuries of joy and sorrow had passed through him and left their trace.
Naila stepped aside and bowed her head. “Hövding,” she murmured. “This is Arvyn, our chieftain.”
Unsure what to do, I imitated her, dipping my head in awkward reverence. The gesture earned a deep, rumbling laugh from Arvyn that echoed through the cave. Then he quieted, speaking to Naila in Elvish, words I did not understand, though the warmth in his tone told me I was being welcomed, if cautiously so.
She nodded once, meeting my gaze a final time. “I will return to the work. It was good to meet you,Evangelina.”
I managed an awkward smile. “Likewise.”
Then she turned and walked away toward where I had last seen Kael.
Arvyn regarded me for a moment before speaking. “Humans seldom cross to this side of the mountain,” he said, voice deep as stone. “It is good to see you again, my friend.”
