Shadows of the Redwood - By Gillian Summers Page 0,17
elven village.
“Don’t dawdle.” Grandmother hopped out and quickly walked to the dilapidated door. As her grandmother disappeared into the cabin, resolve steeled Keelie’s spine. No way would she use dark magic. She’d felt its presence strongly tonight, even if Grandmother thought she was exaggerating. She had to set boundaries, or else she’d turn into some kind of magical ATM, dispensing energy upon demand. She could relate to the missing tree shepherd and why he might want to ditch his job. Trees, elves, need, need, need. It never stopped.
Keelie stomped across the path and entered the cabin, pushing the door open with a dramatic shove. “We need to talk—”
She stopped.
A tall, silver-haired elf turned to her. He was standing close to Grandmother, holding her hand. He wore robes like Lord Elianard’s, but there the resemblance to the stuck-up Lore Master ended. Elianard never smiled. It was disconcerting to see this elegant look-alike beam at her. The silver-haired elf bowed his head toward Keelie.
She managed to slightly tilt hers. Grandmother dropped his hand and stepped away.
This elf’s eyes were an icy blue, not woodland green. Keelie had never met an elf with Siberian Husky eyes.
Grandmother cleared her throat. “Keelie, this is Norzan. He is Tree Shepherd of the Northwoods.”
“Tree Shepherd of the Northwoods? You’re far from your home.” Keelie sat down on a dusty, plump-cushioned sofa.
Norzan raised his eyebrows and looked at Grandmother, asking a silent question.
“What’s going on?” Keelie looked to Norzan for the answer. Grandmother was dropping tiny clues like crumbs in a forest. Aggravating.
Norzan sat down on the sofa next to Keelie. “This must be overwhelming for you, especially coming into this without any knowledge of the situation.”
Keelie was warming to him. “You’ve got that right.” He was talking to her like Sir Davey would. She hoped Grandmother would catch on and treat her like an adult, and with a little kindness. Grandmother would do great in the Northwoods. She was the original Ice Queen.
“The redwood elves summoned help a week ago. Their Council leader, Kalix, sent a request to our leader. As you know, Keelie, things are not well with the Earth. So far, the Redwood Forest has been immune to the changes. Frankly, the fact that the trees themselves cannot find the shepherd tells me that things are more serious than anyone thought. The boundaries between the magical worlds are breaking, and there are those on the dark side wishing to grab power for themselves.”
“You think someone took the Redwood Tree Shepherd?”
“We don’t know.” Grandmother interjected. “The redwoods do not know where he is.”
“We can only hope that no dark force is at hand,” Norzan said. “Even in the Northwoods, where the boundaries are strongly and magically protected, there is a break between worlds—human, elf, and fairy. But we have always met peacefully, every year, at the Quicksilver Faire. I want to work quickly here and return to my forest before the Faire begins.”
“I think you’re right, and whatever’s out there is very strong,” Keelie said. Her head still throbbed from the aftershocks of that psychic attack, whatever it had been. “So what are you guys planning to do about it?”
Silence.
She didn’t like the way they were watching her. “Wait a minute. If some dark magical force is kidnapping tree shepherds, why are you here? Aren’t you in danger?” Panic rushed through her. “Are we in danger?”
“We don’t know,” Norzan said. “That is why we must work together, forming a strong bond of magic to protect ourselves.”
“We elves can no longer live apart, isolated from one another,” Grandmother added. “To my deep regret, I am guilty of separating the Dread Forest from the other clans. We must join forces for all of our sakes.”
“And Keelie will be protected at all times,” a very deep and beautiful male voice said. A tall elven man walked into the room. His long hair flowed free and loose, which looked odd with the park ranger uniform that he wore. He was followed by Tavyn, the handsome young elf who had been at the ranger booth earlier. Keelie sensed a grounding about these elves, a feeling that was familiar about them, but she couldn’t tell what it was.
There sure were a lot of good-looking elves around here. She wondered if they were any different from the Dread Forest elves. She noticed one difference already—at least these guys wanted to protect her.
Grandmother bowed her head, even though Keelie noticed that she pursed her lips. Uh-oh. Granny elf didn’t like this tall ranger elf.