Under the Crab-Apple Trees

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” - Confucius

They woke under Arletem’s wings to the sound of the bitter howling wind, yelling the sorrows of sickness and death. They were slow to come out from under the wings of the large phoenix, but when they did, they moved more quickly than the wind. The Lady did not bother to conjure up a fire. Saving her energy to warm the horses was more important. The twins rode on Sky Full of Stars, for the sled was brittle with cold. The sled dragged behind the horses like an old dog eager for rest.

Sky Full of Stars’ white mane flew through the falling snow and wind, faster than any ordinary horse could. The Lady rode ahead on her horse, and all the twins had for a guide was its white tail swishing back and forth in the white flurry. The phoenixes could not be seen through the white that fogged everything, though the tips of their wings occasionally came into sight.

They did not stop for lunch, for it was too cold to sit for long. The snow persisted throughout the day of riding, and when they reached the end of the day, hunger was gnawing at Erin’s stomach, and cold was freezing his toes. The snow finally let up to reveal a sunset like a fallen tear. They ate their small rations of meat, and the Lady melted the snow for water.

“Why can’t you duplicate food?” asked Erin grumpily. He was in a bad mood.

“It’s one of the five exceptions to magic’s Laws of Duplication. You can’t duplicate large things like houses, weapons, food, live things, or sensations,” Aria said. They went to bed early, and Erin’s stomach still growled at him like a pack of dogs.

The next day was even colder. It had not snowed in the night, but the quiet of the morning seemed like the quiet before the worst of the storm. No one in the silent camp smiled much anymore, and the last time they had laughed was days ago. Erin was beginning to dread waking up under Arletem’s wingsto the cold days. That day passed much like the last, yet the snow held its breath and did not show the flurries that it had threatened them with the day before.

Though the weather was a trifle better, the cold rose and bit them like it hadn’t before. The silence seemed deadly cold, yet the hunger Erin was feeling was worse. So it was that the second and third days of the cold trudge passed.

When Erin woke up on the fourth day, he felt strange, like he was underground. He tried to peek his head out from under the phoenix’s wing, he was met by a cold barrier.

Arletem? Are you awake? Erin asked.

Now I am, young one, Arletem said, somewhat grumpily.

Would you mind shaking the wing that I am under? Erin asked. Arletem shook his wing, and a huge drift of snow came loose. Erin found himself crawling out of a shallow impression in the soil, about a foot deep.

The whole world was snowy, but today the cold had ceased and the snow was perfect for sledding. Erin let out a whoop of joy and smiled for the first time in days. Soon he and Aria were riding on the sled cutting its way through the snow. Their cheeks were pink with the thrill of being alive and happy.

They stopped for lunch, and they could see a forest in the distance. Erin got on Sky Full of Stars, and gracefully jumped the horse over some brambles. Sky kicked up the soft snow as she cantered over the plains with Erin on her back. He looped back around to the Lady and Aria, smiling with joy at the fresh day. Sky reminded Erin of his horse back at the Manor, Spring Dew, whom he had ridden every day after school. The memory warmed his heart, if not his freezing toes.

The caravan rode along through the snow, spraying the white flakes behind them as they went in joyful jubilee. The Lady made a fire that night, and Erin watched it’s flickering flame sing in a crackling voice to the world around it. He tucked himself under Arletem’s wing and fell fast asleep.

In the morning it snowed lightly. The little flakes tickled Erin’s nose like a calm welcome. They could now see the forest clearly, the trees as tall as small mountains. When they first saw them, Erin smiled at the thought of the food that would await them under the greenery of the trees. They started off on the elvish horses, the sled pulled in their wake, faster than any day before. By lunch, they reached a small stream, clogged with a glittering layer of ice. They did not have anything for lunch, the food had run out. The Lady managed to dig some roots by the stream, they tasted sour and unfriendly.

The Lady seemed tenser than Erin had ever seen her before, constantly looking around, as if something was about to sneak up on her. Erin’s stomach was a growling beast, begging for a meal that was not there. But Erin was happy, and for the first time, he felt life at its fullest, bringing hope to him and the world, spreading warmth through the world, and making the very ground sing with joy. Erin sniffed the air like a dog, happy to be home at last.

The horse drawn sled came into the forest at sunset, and the horses trotted into the wood of ancient trees with glee. There seemed an enchanted beauty about this place. The golden light coming down through the canopy of needles. They saw their first deer by the campfire as they were eating the mushrooms that the Lady had found. These mushrooms were more plentiful and larger than the ones that they had found many days ago in the previous forest. Here the birds sang enchanted songs, and Erin was frozen by their beauty. He walked up to the deer and patted its head. It nuzzled him as Erin stroked its beautiful golden pelt. Joy flooded through him, the pelt sparked memories of galloping through the moss and underbrush of the forest, eating dew covered grass, now Erin could feel it all. He smiled with jubilation at the recollections of going to bed under the sky of stars. The moon sang to him, and the stars brushed his eyelids, and he felt the deer’s deep comforted sleep. It was rich with the songs of owls and the elves of the forest.

The Lady and Aria were smiling at him as he came out of his recollections. He looked up at the beautiful spiraling trees of redwood, a cathedral of nature in its finest glory. Their happy faces were lit by the flickering green enchanted fire of the elves. The phoenixes spiraled in circles above them, calling to the birds in the language of old. Suddenly a strange flute like a bugle burst through the forest breaking the silence. Quickly Aria mounted Arletem, and the Lady took a ready position. Erin fit an arrow onto his bow, waiting for the attacker to arrive. The forest silenced. Then through the bushes, an elf emerged, with a phoenix like a hawk perched on his shoulder, and a golden horn in his right hand, and a small knife in his left. His hair was the color of starlight, and he wore a tunic as green as the forest. The Lady dropped her concentration and rushed forward, greeting the elf with glee.

“Elestella! Yenell du eldest!” he said, greeting the Lady in an Elvish dialect Erin did not know. The spoke rapidly for a few minutes, so that Erin had trouble understanding, even though he knew a bit of elvish instinctively.

“Who are you?” the elf asked in the common elven tongue, glancing at the twins.

Is he trustworthy? Erin asked Aria.

I think so. If the Lady thinks he is of a true kind, than we must trust her, answered Aria.

“I am Erindel,” said Erin.

“And I am Aria-Evest,” said Aria.

“They are our sister’s offspring,” the Lady said to the elf. A look of anguish came over the elf’s face.

“She’s dead, isn’t she?” he asked the Lady. “They wear a look of sorrow like their mother did when our father left.” The Lady did not answer. She looked shaken at him mentioning their father.

The last of the sun had set, and Erin could see the crescent moon rising in the sky.

“I am your mother’s brother, Inyelen,” the elf said. “Who’s phoenix is the great one?” he asked.

“Mine,” Aria said. “Erin has yet to receive his.”

“Well, that’s a great coincidence!” Inyelen said. “We are having our Of Age Ceremony in a few days. I’m sure if we all worked together, we could use Teleport.” The Lady shot him a look.

“You know that’s dangerous!” she said.

“Well, since there is an army of Un Dalen approaching, and I just escaped from a pack of Giants who are probably looking for me, I think its best,” Inyelen said.

They closed their eyes, the Lady holding onto the horses, Aria touching the phoenixes, and they all held hands. A white fog surrounded them, and when it was gone, they were standing in the same clearing that Erin had seen in the memory, except now a whole city of trees ringed around them. A group of elves surrounded them, singing songs like Erin had never heard before. Songs of hope and sorrow, life and death, spiraling like the stars and the moon, climbing forever upward into echoes.

Two elves came and escorted the Lady, Inyelen, the horses, and the phoenixes away, and Aria and Erin were inundated by the music of the elves, singing of glories and wonders long past. And suddenly, from each elf, a magical golden spiraling vine came from each mouth, carrying their music into the night sky, forming a twist around the circle. Then from above, a phoenix like a dragon spiraled down and landed in front of Erin. Its presence dazzled him, and it sang with the elves, of rain and sun, sister moon and her star brothers, and Erin mounted it, for it called to him in the language of the elves to come. Its fiery golden feathers dazzled in the star light.

What is your name? Erin asked touching its mind.

My name is Elaminila. I am your phoenix, said the phoenix. Elaminila’s voice was like a song, golden and pure racing through his mind.

They soared through the trees, gliding around and around the largest tree that would take at least a day to walk around. Elaminla landed on a small platform her exact size, and Erin slid off onto the hard sturdy wood. An elf of upmost splendor was waiting at the end of the platform. She was wearing a dress of silvery cloth like Erin had never seen before, twirling down to where it rested like a silvery pool on the wood. Her hair was silver like the moon, and it was braided with many little white flowers in it. On her head sat a simple silver circlet with one diamond in its center.

“I am princess Tyrannel-Astra,” the elf said in a beautiful voice like a star’s song, walking forward to Erin. “You must be Erindel. I see your phoenix has found you.”

“I thought the queen had no children!” Erin exclaimed. Tyrannel put a finger to her silvery lips. “I am a secret that the queen has kept for thirteen years. I, like you, am half human. But on the day I receive my phoenix I am free to go where I please,” she said, her voice as light and lofty as ever. “But enough about me, Erindel, Do you know what your name’s meaning is?” she asked.

“No, I was never told,” Erin said.

“Well, it is time you know, for your magic is woven through your name, as well as your phoenix,” said Tyrannel.

“Come here again on the night of phoenixes, I will be waiting.” And with that, the princess of the elves walked away from Erin, and he climbed up onto Elaminila, and soared into the night sky. As he reflected on their conversation, he could tell that there was much more to Tyrannel than met the eye.

Ela left him at the clearing where she had come to him.

I’ll come to you in the morning, little one, she said in her song like tone. Erin turned to Aria.

Now we’re equal! he said triumphantly.

You still have the sword of destiny! Aria retorted, in a teasing-like fashion.

Yes, and you can do magic. Erin said.

You will be able to soon. Aria retorted.

Two elves walked toward them and wordlessly escorted them to a large tree. They motioned at the gigantic ladder, and left them, their long hair swishing like a breeze behind them.

Aria and Erin climbed up the vine ladder which was large enough so that at least four people could climb side by side up or down it. They rested at the first level, which looked like a row of shops, and then continued upwards again. They passed workshops and schools, two theaters, and even a museum before they reached the seventh level, on which houses spiraled around the large tree. Erin and Aria took an empty house of vines that had a good view of the clearing below.

They ducked under a curtain of reeds and then found themselves standing in a small hollow with one curtain to the right, and one to the left. The main room, which they had stepped into could only contain about four people. A small table was in the center of the room, around which was spread a lavish quantity of cushions on a soft leaf floor. Erin took off his leather boots and put them outside. The leaves felt like the softest skin and soothed the pads of his worn feet.

Erin ducked into the left hallway and found himself standing in a small bedroom. A hammock with a blanket placed beside it was the only piece of furniture. The hammock was of an exotic green fabric, and it was soft to the touch. Aria had gone into the room on the right and was now lying in her comfortable silver hammock. They went to bed in the forest of singing trees, without a care in the world.