Tiafell The Femboy Elf Ch 18

Chapter 18: Growing Pains

Tiafell found himself inside a void, a place he had become familiar with in recent months. It was in this place where he first saw an image of Dred taunting him, but in this dream, Alto and Vasati were with him instead.

"Alto! Vasati!" Tiafell called out, reaching for them.

"You abandoned us..." Alto leered at him.

"How could you...? You know you can never see us again..." Vasati sadly looked away.

"I didn't want to tear you away from your lives, but I had no idea I would be unable to return! But maybe after Dred has been killed, there will no longer be a need for the barrier and I can see you both again!! Please give me some time!!" The elf pleaded.

"Keep telling yourself that, but it would be better if you admitted that you hated us just as much as you hate the other elves. You abandoned us, just like how you are going to abandon them." Alto pointed to Nadia, Cirris, Mirya, Samora, Brion, and Kanah, who were standing together. "Look at how powerful you have become, and how much stronger you can still get. You will leave them in the dust like you left us, and you'll be all alone."

"No! I don't hate you or any of my friends! I will never abandon them, and I'll never leave you two behind again!! I'll find a way for all of us to be together!!!" Tiafell reached for the group. However, a chasm formed between them, growing wider and separating them further. The elf screamed for them until he could no longer see them.

"You are going to be all alone, Tiafell..." Vasati said coldly as a similar chasm separated her and Alto from him. He watched helplessly as they faded from view.

"No, please..." he sobbed, dropping to his knees and burying his face in his hands. "I don't want to be alone.. I love all of you so much.. please don't leave me..."

"You won't be alone for long, Tiafell..." said a familar, menacing voice. Dred appeared in front of him, grabbing his shoulders and laughing wildly. "You and I will be together forever!!!"

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Tiafell sat up in his bed screaming. It took him a few moments to calm down and realize where he was, in a bedroom at Marlon's tower.

"That nightmare again..." tears and sweat streamed down his face. "Why do I keep having it...?" He plopped back down onto the pillow, folding his arm over his eyes. "I have to be up in 45 minutes. I don't think I can sleep anymore, I'm not sure I want to..." Deciding to stay up, he stood, put his clothes on, and left the bedroom. He made his way down the winding stairs of the tower's keep and was going to go outside to visit his mother's grave when he heard voices coming from the dining room. He crept to the open door and peeked inside.

Samora was sitting at the table with Marlon, laughing. "I do apologize for being such a pain as a child, but looking back on it now, you cannot deny that potion incident was funny! You should have seen the look on your face when I turned our hair blue!" She laughed so hard she held her sides.

"Yes, you were quite the little rascal." Marlon chuckled. "You were very much like how I was at that age, always getting into some sort of trouble. I believe you inherited it from me."

Samora laughed a bit more before noticing their guest. "Tiafell? What's wrong honey? You seem to be upset." Marlon turned to look at him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I was going to go outside but heard someone in here. I-I don't want to keep you two from catching up." The elf was awkwardly trying to excuse himself.

"It's alright, lad." Marlon assured him. "You do seemed distressed. Come, sit with us."

Tiafell took the offer and sat across from Samora. He held one of his hands in the other on the table, twiddling his thumbs anxiously. "There is a recurring dream that has been plaguing me lately, and I just had it again. I see all of my friends, but there is a great distance between us that grows wider the more I try to reach them. Two of my friends that I left behind in Elfandall are also there, telling me that I abandoned them and will do the same to the rest of you. At the end of every dream, Dred appears and says that he and I will 'always be together'. While we were training in Steelweld, I became physically stronger than everyone. I try my best to hide the full extent of my abilities because I don't want anyone to feel that I left them behind. I love all of you so much, I don't want to abandon you the way that I.. I.." The elf's voice broke, he wiped his eyes.

"Oh Tiafell..." Samora spoke softly.

"Do not feel guilty about your strength, lad. How strong you become will never break the bonds you've formed. I am more concerned with Dred appearing in your dreams. He could simply be a figment of your imagination, but tell me more about it." Marlon leaned toward him.

Tiafell sniffled and composed himself, then continued. "Dred first appeared in my dreams the night before I left Elfandall. He spoke to me in some kind of language I had never heard of before, and yet I clearly understood every word. I have found myself speaking it in some of my other dreams that he has appeared in. We have even had entire conversations using only that tongue."

"It is as I thought.." Marlon's brow forrowed. He then began speaking in the language Tiafell was talking about. "Was it something like this? Do you understand what I am saying at all?"

Tiafell's eyes widened. "Yes!!! That's it!! I understood every word! So it's real...?"

"It is. That is the language of the Underworld, its name cannot be said in our tongue. All demons are born with the ability to speak it fluently. Others are able to learn it too, but most die before they can. It took me more than a hundred years to be able to speak it fluently."

"Oh..." Tiafell listened, learning that the strange language was not just his imagination did nothing to ease his mind.

"I have another question for you. Do you know if you ever saw Dred when you were a baby? I know it's a stretch, but do you remember anything?"

"I... have glimpses of him looking down at me while I was inside my crib. He reached in to pick me up, I remember feeling his long fingers wrap around my body. He stopped when a woman screamed that he couldn't have me. I'm positive that was my mother."

"Oh Erafell..." Samora said quietly to herself.

Marlon put his hand on Tiafell's shoulder. "Young lad, I am not going to hide the truth from you. Dred left a very small fragment of his essence inside your soul that day."

"He... what...?'

"It's not an immediate threat, but it will make fully controlling your demonic nature extraordinarily difficult if not impossible, that was his intention all along. You see, the more you succumb to that side of yourself, the easier it will be for Dred to possess you. Think of it as a window into your body that opens wider the more you lose control. When you see him in your dreams, you are seeing that part he left behind."

TIafell was silent for a few moments. "Can it be removed?"

"I'm afraid not, it has ingrained itself into your soul. There are only two ways to remove it now. Dred must either remove it himself, or he has to be killed."

"So, I'll never be able to control it...?"

"Maybe not fully, but I can teach you how to control it well enough for it to benefit you in battle. However, you must be careful not to let your emotions get the better of you, as that will cause you to lose control. Keep a clear head, especially when the day inevitably comes when you face Dred in battle once again. That small bit of his essence will try to create an opening for him to possess you. It is for this reason that controlling your emotions is paramount."

"I understand." Tiafell said, unable to ignore the feeling of his heart sinking into his stomach.

"I know it's disheartening, but you're a brave young lad. I have faith in you." Marlon patted his shoulder. "It seems that one of the others cannot sleep either. She is outside and is quite troubled herself."

"You're right, it feels like Nadia. Let me go and talk to her." Tiafell stood, pushing the chair under the table. "Thank you, Marlon." He attempted to smile as he turned and left the room.

"Father, shouldn't we keep him away from Dred at all costs?" Samora asked.

"You're not wrong, that would normally be the most reasonable course of action." Marlon answered. "However, I fear that no matter what we do, those two are destined to clash. In fact, I believe theirs will be the battle to decide the outcome of the coming war. All we can do is teach him how to keep his energy in check."

"Poor thing, this has to be so hard on him.. Not only this, but finding out about Trista and Cardexx too."

"It most assuredly is, my dear. I cannot imagine the burden he must be feeling. All of you must stay by his side and keep his spirits high."

"We will, Father, we all will!"

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Nadia was alone outside, performing aerobics while also punching and kicking the air. She kicked a tree, snapping it off at the trunk and causing it to tumble down with a loud crash. Her training in her human form made her much more formidable as a vampire.

"Oh my! You've gotten so strong, Nadia!" Tiafell approached from behind her. Nadia was silent for a moment.

"I've barely slept, all I can think about is Mamá, and what Dred and Esteban did to her. I want to kill them, I want to kill them so badly I can't fucking stand it!!" The vampire wept, Tiafell pulled her into an embrace, she cried into his shoulder while he stroked her hair.

"We will, I have faith in us. It's kind of funny, since the night we met, I've always felt that you and I have much in common, and I was right. I love all of you, but you're special to me. You were the first friend I made out here, you taught me so much and you were always there when I needed you. And now, I'm going to do the same for you. I'm here for you, Nadia." Tiafell smiled at the Latina vampire, moving some of her black hair out of her face."

She smiled tenderly back at him, showing her teeth and fangs. "Thanks, you're cool when you want to be, you know that?"

"Huh? I am?" the confused elf cocked his head, making Nadia laugh.

"You're just as cute as ever! But thank you, I needed this." She gave him an affectionate kiss on his cheek and hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck for a bit before pulling away. "Let's go back inside, Dickhead and Mirya should be waking up any time now."

"Right." TIafell nodded and went back to the tower with Nadia.

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A few minutes later, after Tiafell and Nadia had joined Marlon and Samora in the dining room, Cirris and Mirya came in.

"Morning!" Mirya happily greeted everyone.

"Good morning. I trust you both slept well?" Marlon asked his grandchildren.

"Like a baby! The beds here beat the hell out of the cots in Steelweld!" Cirris stretched as he and his sister took their seats.

"The amazons are harsh, but it has served them well for centuries. Now that we have all gathered, let us enjoy breakfast before we begin your training." Marlon raised his hand, holding his index and middle fingers together, which caused a smorgasbord of breakfast items to cover much of the table. Eggs of various styles, bacon, sausages, pancakes, strawberries and blueberries were piled onto plates with glass jars full of syrup and others with gravy. Sliver-ware and empty plates appeared in front of everyone present along with empty glasses.

"Woah!! Grandpa!! Did you manifest all of this??" Cirris was bewildered.

The old wizard laughed. "No son, the golems have been hard at work cooking this for the last two hours. I merely transported it all in here. Speak the name of the beverage you want to drink and it will appear in front of you, if we have it."

"Wow... orange juice?" Tiafell was the first to say something. He watched in amazement as the glass in front of him filled with the orange beverage. Everyone spoke their drinks of choice and watched as their glasses were filled. In Cirris' case, a steaming cup of coffee appeared.

"You don't need coffee, you're hyper enough as it is!" Nadia chided Cirris.

"Coffee wakes my brain up, I'm going to need it. All of you are gonna need yours too!" Cirris fired back.

"You can't wake up what isn't there to begin with." Nadia shrugged. Cirris had a retort ready but he was interrupted by his mother.

"That's enough, you two!!" Samora scolded, causing both of them to fall silent. With that, everyone enjoyed the hefty breakfast that was prepared for them.

Marlon spoke once everyone was finished. "I am pleased that everyone enjoyed the meal. I shall keep you all well fed with healthy food while you are here. Proper nourishment is not only important for the body, but the mind as well. On that note, let us begin." He raised his fingers again, the plates and empty glasses vanished, being replaced by thick books, notebooks, and long thin wooden sticks with black tips and red rubber ends.

"What.. are these..?" Mirya asked, holding up one of the wooden objects.

"Those are called 'pencils'." Marlon began. "They are a recent invention that have revolutionized the way we write. No more having to dip quill pins in ink. You write by moving the black tip across the paper. The red end, called an 'eraser', can erase any mistakes you make."

"Most fascinating!" Tiafell had seen many new things since leaving the Endless Forest, but this was his first time seeing something new that his friends didn't already know about. He was able to share in their learning experience for once.

Nadia was examining the thick book in front of her. "And what is this? 'All-gee-bra'?"

"Algebra." Marlon corrected her. "It is a branch of mathematics much different than what all of you already know of. For the first two hours every morning, you will study various styles of math some mornings, and reading and grammar on others. This will serve to broaden your minds and allow them to be more receptive to the lessons later on. Remember, a studious mage is a powerful one!"

"UUUUUGH! I was never good with math!" Nadia groaned, tilting her head over the back of her chair.

"The books have guides to teach you, but feel free to ask either of us should you need assistance." Marlon assured them.

Tiafell opened his math book, skimming over the pages. "Why are there so many x's and y's mixed in with the numbers?"

"The objective of Algebra is to discover what those letters represent in each equation so that both sets of numbers equal each other. You do this by manipulating and moving numbers on either side. In simple cases, simple arithmetic will suffice. But with harder problems, you will need to think outside the box at times."

"Man, looks like a lot of work..." Cirris scratched his head.

"Was your training in Steelweld not 'a lot of work'?" Marlon asked. "It is up to you to solve the problems using the pencils and notebooks I've provided, how else do you expect to learn? Now begin, time is of the essence!"

The four students did as instructed. Though it was tough for all of them at first, Tiafell and Mirya eventually got the hang of it, Nadia and Cirris.. not so much. After two hours had passed, everyone's books closed on their own.

"That will be all of that for today. I am not expecting you to master this any time soon. The point is for you to study and learn, to grow and build your minds." Marlon stated.

"Thank the gods! I thought my brain was going to explode!" Nadia's head hit the table. "Ow..."

"This is a fascinating subject!" Tiafell mused. "So, what comes next?"

"The sun is up now, and it is nice outside, let us go out for the next phase. Come." A golem took the handles of the wizard's chair and pushed him outside, followed by the others. "For the next half hour, you will sit on the ground and meditate. Cirris and Mirya should be able to do this easily, but your next task is to concentrate on the magical energy you already have within you. Focus on being able to pull it up as high as you can, then push it back down as low as you can, and repeat. This is an exercise in controlling your energy. Samora, while they are doing that, I need to speak to you in private."

"Of course" the witch answered. Everyone sat on the ground and closed their eyes. Samora walked with her father as they moved away from the others.

"The training that I need you to do requires you to teach yourself. As my health declines, I will reach a point where I will no longer be able to join you. Therefore, while they are working on controlling their energy, I must telepathically transfer the knowledge you require into your mind."

"I understand..." Samora swallowed the lump of sadness in her throat. Every mention of his failing health and eventual death cut into her like a knife.

"I cannot do this in one session, forcing it into you all at once will destroy your mind. I am not only giving you the knowledge of how to train yourself, you are getting all my secrets. Where I keep all of my tomes, how to read them, everything. Now, please sit."

"Yes, Father." Samora sat on the grass in front of Marlon's wheelchair. The wizard held his hands close to the sides of his daughter's head.

"Close your eyes and relax, clear your mind..." the wizard spoke gently. Samora closed her eyes, but then opened them back while gasping loudly moments later. "It's alright, relax..." Images of texts, spells, incantations, and other kinds of information flooded her mind. She closed her eyes again, taking deep breaths to calm down and take it all in. The knowledge she was getting was truly amazing. Some of it, she already knew, but the majority was new to her. Marlon pulled his hands away a few minutes later. "That's enough for today."

Samora breathed heavily as she processed the information that was deposited into her mind. "Father... this is... you really trust me with this...?"

"Yes, my dear. You need all of my knowledge if you are going to lead them. It will take ten days, perhaps two week at the most, for me to give you everything. And besides, I owe it to you." The wizard looked toward the others, "Come, I sense a disturbance within Tiafell!"

As the two of them approached the group, Tiafell was in distress. Inside his mind, green and red energy had begun fighting against each other during the exercise, with the red taking over. On the outside, a red aura was dancing around him like flames.

"Tiafell stop!!" Marlon shouted. "Your demonic energy is surging!" The other three snapped out of their meditative states to observe with concern. Tiafell was whimpering and shivering, fighting a futile battle against his demonic energy. "Focus your thoughts on the things that bring you joy. Your friends, the time you have spent with them. Focus ONLY on positive thoughts!!!"

It was difficult, but Tiafell did as the wizard suggested. He thought of Alto and Vasati, as well as the friends he had made since leaving the forest. Images of amusing situations, wonderful meals, heartfelt conversations, and wild sex with his friends passed through his mind. His blazing aura calmed down until it disappeared entirely.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't know what happened..." Tiafell apologized, coming close to crying. His irises were red briefly before turning to their usual brown.

"It's not your fault, my boy. You have only recently become aware of your demonic heritage, and you have not had a chance to learn how to control it. It is clear that your magic training needs to be put on hold, we must show you how to reign your energy in first." Marlon told him.

"I understand..." the elf looked down, hanging his head low.

"Samora, can you work with these three? You should be able to teach them some of the spells that I just passed onto you. Cirris and Mirya must begin learning holy magic right away, and you should also have something that Nadia can learn. I will work with Tiafell."