Dear Readers,
Here is the second chapter. I really appreciated the support and encouragement you gave chapter 1. I hope this lives up to your expectations for chapter 2. If you guys still love this story when it concludes, I could keep it going into a true series, instead of just chapters of a more novel length story. I could combine them all, but I'm writing in Google Docs and the works get too long for it to handle, plus you get to frequent updates this way.
I hope you enjoy it.
~NaughtyPaladin
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Chapter 2
It was a surreal feeling. Walking out of the Council of Elders, a recognized hero, and being led to my home by my two beautiful matrons, one already deflowered, the other still a virgin, and four more virgins waiting for me at my home.
It was amazing, the feeling of love, adoration and support I felt. I'd never felt like this after finishing a mission. I mean, my commanding officers would congratulate me and my team on a mission successfully completed, but walking through the streets every elf I saw looked at me like I was Jesus Christ reborn, or whatever this world's equivalent would be. This was more than just an occasional patriot thanking me for my service. It almost bordered on reverent worship.
Tavorwen and Creadean strode at side, proud matrons of the new hero of the wood elves. Their thin fingers intertwined with mine, fitting like they were made for me.
We walked into the hanging walkways of the Gold Leaf district, and I realized some of the subtleties of the design of this elven city. I had assumed that the elves simply built their homes into the trees, but I realized that the trees were too coordinated and intentional in everything from leaf size, color, and shape, to the bark type, texture and color for this to be a natural occurrence. These trees must have taken hundreds or thousands of years to grow, but I realized that would actually be possible with the lifespans of the elves involved. The trees were hundreds of feet tall and thick as redwoods, but I began to wonder if they weren't originally just... normal trees, grown to immense size and grown into the shapes the elves would use for their homes through magical means, or perhaps incredible alchemical aid.
Taking a closer look, I realized each tree in the district was unique. I wasn't a botanist by any means, but part of my survival and stealth training included what to look for in different types of plants. I could tell, for instance, that two adjacent tree homes were types of oak trees, but the leaves identified them as different species. Looking around I found meandering lanes of oaks, maples, cedars, willows, and sycamores, like coordinated streets of a well planned neighborhood. Each tree had hanging bridges, connecting the walkways built in and among the branches and around their trunks with those of their neighbor trees. Periodically, among the trees were large wooden platforms, anchored to between four and six neighboring trees.
I remembered my house was a maple, and looking down the lane of maples, and realizing what I was looking for, I could pick out the tree I now called home. It reminded me of a sugar maple that had been growing in the yard of the house I grew up in on earth. The leaves and bark were almost identical, only the size was different.
The foot traffic on the bridges in the Gold Leaf district was far less than that through the other districts through which we had walked. Soon enough we were actually alone on the bridges and hanging walkways.
I tried to remember what Audriul had said about where I was to live. I couldn't recall exactly what had been said, but I was struggling to remember anything other than the district being named.
"Tavorwen, when the council told us to live in the Gold Leaf district, how did you know which home would be ours?" I asked.
Tavorwen looked at me a little nervous, "Well, the entire district is empty, so we could have whatever house we wanted. So I picked my favorite one. I hope that wasn't an overstep on my part."
I looked at all the trees we were walking past, "All of these are empty?"
Tavorwen's grip on my hand tightened, "It wasn't always so, but most of these homes are indeed empty. The Gold Leaf district is one of the most prestigious places to live. With the amount of death we've had in the past a hundred and fifty years, almost this entire district has been depopulated. It will take us lifetimes to recover enough for these houses to be filled again."
I looked over the houses and began to wonder if my sperm, currently residing in Tavorwen's reproductive tract, would create a child that would help the wood elves recover from all this death. I looked at the large district full of empty houses. Suddenly, the desire to have me impregnate as many elves as possible to repopulate the entire districts of empty homes. I could tell Tavorwen was thinking the same thing because her open hand subconsciously moved to her lower stomach, and I could feel her hope through our bond.
One thing that was strange was the number of birds flying overhead. Sparrows, bluejays, falcons, hawks, owls and even eagles all intermixed in the air over the walkways between the trees. It bothered me because those species should never peacefully coexist. Falcons ate other birds. Owls and hawks hated each other. Then I noticed something. The birds had small scrolls either clutched in their talons, or tied to their legs. Smaller birds like sparrows, bluejays, finches and falcons had small enough feet to actually hold the scrolls, the larger birds had the scrolls tied to their legs.
"Messengers." Tavorwen informed me, squeezing my hand. "This is how most communication happens here in Ealphamir. You must have given the entire city much to discuss."
"How do you train these birds?" I marveled.
"Oh, they aren't trained. Either they are compelled by magic to bear their message, or they may be familiars of spellcasters, in which case they are beings formed of magic, and are not even true animals." Tavorwen explained.
I marveled at the flurry of wings over our heads.
As we continued to walk, I could feel the proximity to my other matrons strengthening the sensation of emotions through our bond. Their relief and excitement at my return was a warm and happy pulse in my head.
We approached the door, and opening it, I was shocked. Where before it had been wooden walls and emptiness, filled with nothing but silence, disrupted by nothing except Tavorwen and myself, now it felt like a home. The fireplace had a warm glowing flame, I could see that the furniture had been moved, and a few small decorations sat on the walls. A painting of what appeared to be a phoenix, or flaming eagle, sat on one wall. A wood carving of some sort of feline with three ridges of fur on its back sat on a shelf that I did not remember existing. Flowers in clay pots accentuated several locations.
As the door opened, I felt my Matron's excitement spike and I felt them come to greet me.
