Dark Elves and Dark-Elves
Dark Elves and Dark-Elves
“Sigh…” No one looked… “Siiiigh…” And again… no one looked at her… “HELP!!!” The whole group turned around! Callo drew out his weapon, Yuna summoned dark energy and Ledah prepared to shoot fireballs on anyone who dared hopping out of the bushes. Ifrit lay on the ground… the scream had caught him off guard and he had slipped over the wet ground with one of his famous ‘Ifrit-steps’.
“What is wrong!? Where is the enemy!?” Callo whispered, his eyes scanning all over the terrain, spotting every movement of the trees, leafs, branches and grass.
“You didn’t listen!” Ary stated and took a deep breath. “Why didn’t you turn around on my sighes!? Usually you ALWAYS react on them… I’m hungry! I need a break!” The group looked at their youngest member with an expression somewhere between anger, fury, surprise, laughter and agreement.
Callo sighed… the girl was about to drive him into madness one day… his heart nearly stopped beating when he heard the scream just a few seconds ago… “Stop acting like a little kid! This is no field-trip!” He relaxed and put the rapiers back into their hilts. “But I have to agree… we walked a lot today… maybe a break is the right thing.” ‘You killed my nerves… Now I need a break as well…’ Callo mentally giggled at the thought and looked around. “This is a nice place by the way… I think we won’t find a better spot for a rest soon anyway, so let us stay right here…”
Callo was right… it was an open clearing and the bushes were rather small so no larger monster was able to hide him- or herself there… The trees were high enough to spot any kind of movement around them and in the middle of the clearing were a few stones, perfectly to sit on.
“Hey, Ledah. Why don’t you use that fireball and set up our camp?” Callo barked at Ledah. The confused Enwa looked at his hand and the fire playing around between his fingers...
“Oh, right… I totally forgot about the fireball…” He shot them on a branch lying on the ground and set it on fire.
The group settled down and everyone searched through their packs for something to eat. Yuna and Ary shared a sandwich the demoness made during the morning-break, Ifrit offered Ledah some of his pancakes, but he rejected. Callo mumbled on something that looked like a piece of stew… but no one dared asking what it was in fact… How did the tan elf survive that long with this kind of food anyway!?
Ledah nodded his head aside, musing the older man… How little he knew about him…
“Say, Callo…” Ledah received one of Callo’s death glares… well, his fault if he interrupted him while eating… “Sorry... uhm… I just wondered… what… are you anyway?” He rubbed his arm, a little ashamed of the stupid question…
“What do you mean with ‘what’ I am?” Callo’s ears twitched back, making his eyes turning to small slits.
“Uh, well… You… seem to be an elf… but you have tan skin! I never head of elves with tan skin!” Ledah looked aside nervously… ‘Why did I ask anyway!? Stupid, stupid half-breed!’ He mentally slapped himself.
“…” Callo relaxed again… Ary patted Ledah’s shoulder and comforted him a little. Her face showed an expression of deep amusement… She knew way to well what kind of conversation was about to come. “I’m a dark elf. We are not really different than the elves living in the forests… we just prefer dark- and steel-magic over nature- and earth-spells…” A small smile appeared on his lips for a hint of a second.
“Dark-elves? But… aren’t that mixtures of elves and demons? They have white or black skin and silver hair... not gold!” Ledah looked at Callo in disbelief. Ary and Yuna, for some odd reason, started whispering and giggling with each other.
“Not Dark-Elf! Dark Elf!”
“What is the difference!? Dark-Elf and Dark-Elf!? That is the very same!!”
“It is not.”
“It is.”
“It is NOT!”
“But there is no difference!” Ledah tried to dodge a flying dagger but he was pinned to the ground by a second and third one. “NO FAIR!” He tried to free himself to escape from the ‘Dark-Elf’s’ wrath.
“No listen, Half-breed!” Callo stood right in front of his face now. His death glares sent a chill down the young man’s back. “I am a dark elf… dark elf, NOT dark-elf! There is a difference! The dark elves are tan! We have all kinds of hair-colors!” His eyes pierced into Ledah’s eyes with a promise of painful death if he dared calling him dark-elf again… though he still didn’t quite get his problem… Dark-Elf, Dark Elf… he had no clue… Callo sat back on his stone and turned towards the girls who were now laughing out loud leaning on each other. Ifrit laughed with them, even though he had no clue why they were laughing… He was just happy they were happy.
“But that’s just totally un-logical! It is the same name for two totally different races!” Ledah slapped himself mentally again… why did he care anyway!? He shook his head. “Sorry, don’t mind it!” Too late… Callo turned around with lightning speed. His face was now right in front of Ledah’s. He knelt in front of the young man and grabbed the enwa’s shirt.
“For the last time… there is a difference… it is dark elves and it is dark-elves!”
“But-“
“No buts!!”
“May I interrupt you two sweethearts?” Ary managed to speak in between her laughter… she went through this conversation multiple times by now…
Callo turned towards Ary shooting her a death-glare. “S…sweethearts!?” He sounded pained in a weird way. Ledah only looked at the young summoner, thankful… He knew Callo wouldn’t have reacted if Ary wasn’t teasing him.
“Ledah, a different name for dark elves, the kind Callo is, are desert elves. Most of them live in the desert, that is the reason they are called this way… but Callo prefers the Dark Elf variation!” She grinned and patted both men’s shoulders. “Now stop fighting, I need a nap and I can’t sleep with you two guys yelling at each other.”
“… but why don’t you call yourself a desert-elf!? It would be so much easier to understand!” Ledah closed his eyes… what was wrong with him today!? This conversation was going to be suicide if he continued like that!
To everyone’s surprise, Callo let go of Ledah and sat down in front of him. “I left the desert ages ago! I do not intend to ever go back to the colonies and I am one of the only ones living outside… I don’t like the name desert elf cause it remembers me of where I come from. You prefer the name Enwa over the name Half-God as well. It shows you that you are different, but it does not discriminate you in what you are.” Callo nodded his head aside, smiling a little before he stood up again walking towards the trees. “Let us stay here for tonight… I’m kinda beaten. I will hunt us something for dinner.” And before awaiting an answer he went off.
“Wh…what was THAT!? Why didn’t he cook him alive!?” Yuna stared at Ledah in disbelief.
“They are sooooo cute!!” Ary laughed and hold her belly as if it was going to burst. She loved teasing the two boys so much…
“Wow… I never thought of it this way…” Ledah sighed and tried to get up from the ground just to notice he was still pinned to the ground by the daggers. “Uhm… mind anyone helping me?” Ary and Yuna only laughed and turned back to their little game they were playing and Ifrit… well… “Hey bro! Come on! Free me already!?”
“Sorry, Led.” He smiled and joined the girls. “But the girls enjoy seeing you pinned on the ground. I don’t want to make them sad!”
Ledah chuckled… he knew he had lost… but why did he ask anyway…? Maybe he saw Callo much more as a friend than he expected…
