Abuse of Magic

Chapter 109: Elves For Dinner

Joseph was eating supper with his parents and Stella, when Stella suddenly turned towards the door.

"Master William, we have guests."

Joseph could sense three people on the other side of the door. "Three guests, and none of them are human."

"They're elves," said Stella.

His mother straightened in her chair.

"Oh! I need to examine one of them." Joseph's eyes widened in excitement.

His mom turned to look at him, with a warning in her eyes.

"Not like that, ma'am," added Stella quickly, sticking up for him. "Joseph is too young to think like that."

William calmly said, "Stella, let them in."

Stella pulled open the door, with a smile, right as the lead elf went to knock. All three of the elves paused, as they stared at Stella. Stella switched to a full grin.

"Welcome. Please come in. What brings you to these lands?" asked William, standing to greet them properly.

"We came to investigate a very powerful magic we detected in this area," said the elven leader.

Joseph studied him, curiously. "That was over a week ago."

The elf that was talking, seemed unfazed by his words, but the elf on his left gave a small start.

"It took us a while to travel. There is a war going on after all."

William nodded. "Yes, I've heard about that."

"We are surprised to find you here, William. Do you happen to know what the magic was? Were there any witnesses?"

"It was moving day," he said, sitting back down and motioning for them to join them at the table.

"Excuse me?" asked the lead elf, sitting.

"We came from the north. My son can tell you more. He is the one who cast it."

"Your son had that much magical power?" The elf seemed unsure how to handle that information

Joseph laughed. "It wasn't just me. It took a thousand people to make a GATE that big."

The elf leader paused, but the other two both twitched. "Does your son have powers like you do?"

"Not the same, but yes."

"Can you say something in Elven?" asked Joseph.

"Niashalom," the elf said, hesitantly.

Joseph turned to Stella. "That's six!" he crowed happily. "What did he say?"

"He literally said the elven word for 'something'."

All the elves gave a start at that.

"You speak elven?!"

"Of course, I speak Elven. I also speak the language of my people."

The elf on the left couldn't seem to help himself, "How did you learn to speak ancient fey?"

"Gentlemen, it's not nice to pry into a lady's secrets," said Joseph, and they nodded in a hurry.

Joseph's mom was completely silent, with a wonderful poker face smile that guaranteed there would be a long discussion after their guests left.

"We thought all the ancient fey were gone."

"Don't worry, she can control her charm," Joseph said, trying to reassure them, but for some reason that only seemed to make them more disturbed.

William stepped in, "My apologies. Would you like to have some supper while we discuss? You must be tired from your travels. How many more have come with you?"

"We brought an entire battalion in order to be sure we were well prepared for any threats, so there are 2000 of us."

William merely nodded and called for some servants. He gave orders for food to be taken to the 2000 elves outside and for the current guests. They bowed and left.

"So, how would I request to visit the royal Elven library? It has runes I haven't learned yet," asked Joseph as he went back to eating.

The leader twitched, but the elf on the right would have spit out his drink, if he had one.

"Even elves are not normally allowed into the royal library. Only the king would know what you would need to do in order to get into the library."

"Could I trade knowledge of runes?"

"Only the king could decide, but our records are far more extensive than the humans. It is doubtful you know any runes which we do not."

"I know how to create GATES." Joseph didn't believe they knew more than him in everything. They didn't have access to the system.

Joseph watched as the elf on the left twitched again. He was so very useful.

"I am relatively certain you have lost that rune, or you would have been here faster. What about enchantments? Do you still make magic items?"

Twitch.

"I am afraid I cannot answer that question. That is not something that we wish humans to know."

"Do you have spirit mages?"

"Yes."

"Mages that use circles?"

"Yes."

"Mages that use magic formulas?"

Another twitch.

"Yes."

"Have you formalized your study of magic into thaumatology?"

"I do not believe it is called that."

"Did you bring a mage with you I can talk to?"

"You will likely not be able to speak with our mage."

William seemed to be enjoying letting Joseph barrage them with questions. It also helped to fill the silence until their food could arrive.

Once it did, they ate very slowly, watching Joseph as if he was dangerous.

"Do you know if the wasteland is related to the poisoning of the world tree, or merely coincidental?"

The elf on the left dropped his fork, but caught it before it could fall to the floor.

The leader was stunned. "How do you know about the world tree?"

"Well, the ancient fey guarded it before their elders were tempted by demons," stated Stella.

Again, a twitch.

"We just don't know if the demon blood that was sent to be poured on the world tree actually made it." Joseph chewed his food as he watched them.

The elf on the right went pale, but the elf on the left twitched so hard, he had to set his fork down.

"Judging from his reaction, I would say they were stopped, or we wouldn't be having this conversation. Also, the avatar of a dark god that was sealed in the north, was released a few months ago."

The left elf swallowed.

"So, I have an idea, but wasn't sure. Don't worry. It's gone now."

"There was a prophecy about such," whispered the leader.

"Prophecies," said Joseph and Stella, at the same time, looking at each other.

"You know of the prophecy?"

"Yeah, there are tons of prophecies. Stop the ice monster, befriend a dragon, and..."

"Wait," interrupted the elf on the left, "all the dragons are dead!"

"How do you know?"

"We haven't seen them in elven generations."

"Well, obviously, at least one is still alive or I wouldn't be able to befriend it like the prophecy says."

Twitch.

"Do you have a child of prophecy in your prophecies?"

"No."

Twitch.

"None of us are gifted in prophecy so we do not study it extensively."

The lead elf turned to William. "Perhaps your son might come with us to the elven lands to meet the king and ask?"

"He is currently helping to rescue my people who were trapped by this war. It may be a while before he can go to the forest."

"We will send the others back to guard the forest and leave a few here to escort him."

"Only if Stella can come with me," Joseph exclaimed.

"Of course," the elf answered. "Even if you can do everything your father claims, you would not be allowed to speak to our king if we didn't bring Stella."

"Ok then."

William scratched his chin. "Your queen does not like humans. Are you sure he would be safe?"

Joseph looked at his dad curiously.

"A prince was killed by humans three centuries ago. The queen hates humans now."

"Yes, your father being granted his special status, was decided entirely by the king and against the queen's wishes."

"Do elves eat people too?" asked Joseph.

The elves look shocked. Stella looked at him.

"No, Master Joseph. Only my people ate humans."

William looked incredibly amused at the elven leader's reaction. His mother was still very, very quiet.

"The elven forest does not have a lot of magic, so it is difficult for elves to have children. The queen is still angry by the loss of her only son."

Stella looked at him. "So, there is a princess."

"Yes."

"Why is the forest low in mana? That doesn't make any sense. Even though the wasteland doesn't create mana because everything is dead, doesn't mean mana doesn't flow above it."

Twitch.

"It's not like it repels magic."

"It is not my area of expertise."

Stella looked at Joseph. "Perhaps the ones who released the monster in the north also did something to prevent the mana from entering the forest?"

"Maybe."

"Currently, in order to have children, the elven women must go to specially prepared areas where the mana is artificially elevated to levels outside the forest."

"Would you happen to know which runes you still have? So, I know which ones I can trade before I come visit?"

"I am afraid I cannot show you all of the runes we know and then ask if you don't know any."

Joseph nodded. That made sense.

"Why do you allow your son so much freedom with his questions? You must be aware that you are giving away a lot of information that you won't be able to trade later."

"Yes, but the guy on the left twitches whenever I say something that surprises you so it gives me a good idea of what you know and what you didn't know we would know."

The elf on the left turned red, said something in elven, then stood up to leave.

"What was that?"

"He said he's an idiot."

The leader opened his mouth, and then said, "Never mind, close enough."