The Peace of the Elven God

The blizzard raged on, and perhaps, here in the village, the blizzard never stopped altogether. I went back to the ranger’s headquarters, my mind still rummaging over what I just witnessed. A few colleagues may have said hello as I passed, but I didn’t return the greeting. My head was spinning, but I felt like I was slowly coming back to my senses.

“Did you find that traveler,” Boss asked as I was putting the supplies back in their drawers. “Also, are you alright? You seem a little pale.”

“I… I did find him”, I replied hesitantly. “I just gave him some mead, he seemed fine.”

“Isn’t he coming back to the village?” Boss wandered, scratching his mustache contemplatively. “There’s no other village in that direction for miles, he’s not gonna make it by night.”

“He… he said he’ll be fine. He kind of… never needed my help in the first place anyways”

“I see. He must be some hardened traveller. I could see the confidence in his footsteps as he left the inn. But I thought he was just drunk or mad or something.”

“He… he certainly wasn’t drunk”

“Well, it’s good that we could confirm he’s alright. The innkeeper was concerned about him leaving without anything but that white robe. Maybe he was wrong and the guy did take some supplies in the end.” Boss paused for a second there. “Now that I think about it, the innkeeper also mentioned something bizarre. He claimed that during the night, he could see light at the traveler’s window, but there was no lamp in that room to begin with.”

“That would be… that wouldn’t be possible, right”, I mumbled, looking away, but then I blinked in surprise as I noticed Boss quickly putting a hand to cover his mouth, his face suddenly growing pale. We stood there in silence for almost half a minute. His face was growing whiter by the second.

“Darn,” Boss whispered, now visibly concerned. “Darn. Let’s just… let’s just forget about it. Don’t tell anyone!” then switching to his usual loud, cheerful voice. “Let’s rally up the team and go for a drink at the inn. Everyone! First round’s on me.”

For a moment, I could see fear, utter fear in his eyes. But he went back to his cheerful self within seconds, like it was nothing. To my surprise, I did the same. As the sun was setting, we took the entire ranger squad and went for a drink, never planning to mention this topic again.

***

The next morning I went to the ranger headquarters only to ask Boss if he could allow me to take the morning off. Boss looked deeply into my eyes with a curious face, but eventually he just patted my shoulder and said “Sure, see you later!”.

Then I went towards the village Church.

I’ve never been particularly religious, but the entire village had a lot of faith in the Elven God that we all worshipped. We would have communal service once per week and Father would preach to us about the wonders of the Elven God, a divine being of peace that has sworn to protect this forest and its inhabitants. We were told that we, as a village, whether we stayed in the forest or went outside, we belonged to the Elven God and he would take care of us.

Back at home, Grandma used to tell us similar stories. She said that before the Elven God’s faith had started spreading around these places, the Lords would often come to us, demanding a percentage of our resources as taxes, promising to make us part of their bigger kingdoms and domains. But in the end they never contributed anything of value to our village. Instead they take advantage of us, by forcing our people to join their armies and to risk their lives fighting battles across distant lands. I would ask her “Why?” and Grandma would always answer: “Because the Lords are weaklings and use people to become stronger, but the Elven God is strong and uses his power to protect the weak.”

Once I was of age and joined as a junior ranger, I had to travel a few times to the edge of the forest, where the lands of the Lords were. It was about one week’s worth of travel West or North, through the forest, until the open grasslands where the lands of Lords were. I’ve been told that the people there would always belong to one Lord or another, Lords, Human or Beastfolk alike, that would wage wars against each other using their subjects as weapons. Lords that would dictate to their subjects what to do in their daily life, on a whim. It felt so cruel, so unorderly. Their cities were big, but most people inside were poor and hungry. Their walls seemed strong, yet once in a while an enemy army would come and still manage to escalate those fortifications and take the city by force.

Life in our community was so much simpler. Even though we were not the only village of the forest, we all shared the faith of the Elven God, so our villages got along pretty well. We didn’t have any sort of central leadership. The elders and the priest would make decisions about crops and hunting schedules, settle disputes and teach the younger generations. The rangers would explore the forest, collecting herbs and mushrooms, guiding travellers and occasionally fighting off a wild boar that got too close. It was a good life and in a sense, it was much better than what I’ve seen in the Lords' cities, and certainly much better than what Grandma used to tell us about the days of old.

So I came to the conclusion that if believing in the Elven God was the reason we, villages of the forest, could live a peaceful life, then yes, I’d also believe and pray to the Elven God.

These thoughts were going through my mind as I realised I was already in front of the village Church, a wide wooden hall large enough for all the villagers to gather. Not very majestic in itself, and not very tall, but still the largest building in the community.

I entered the place and saw a peaceful old human standing in a wooden chair to the right, the priest of our village. His long garments looked flimsy, yet he still kept an overall touch of elegance. Grandma would often say that I should marry a man as handsome as he was when I grow older, and to be frank, Father was indeed a charming fellow, and must’ve been even more so when he was young. We all called him Father not just because he was a cleric, but because he really was a father figure to all of us in the village.

“Irele, darling, may the Elven God bless you wholeheartedly,” exclaimed the old man, rising slowly from his seat. I came closer and he patted me briefly on the head. “My my, I’ve heard you’ve done some excellent work ever since you joined the rangers, everyone says you’re the rising star of the team.”

“Thanks, Father… I’m just doing my job”, I replied, taken aback by the compliments.

“Well, that’s what people say, but from where I stand I can smell a bit too much indulgence from you, young lady. Last night's drinking party must have been tough on you.”

“I… I didn’t drink that much,” I stuttered, feeling my cheeks going red. No wonder, people claim he’s made of good vibes and teases rather than flesh and bones.

“Haha, you take after your Grandma. She could drink a dozen bottles of my strongest wine and you still couldn’t tell, if not for the heavy breath. I was never much of a drinker myself, but for more than 50 years I’ve been making the best wine in the village. Did you know the premium wine they serve at the tavern comes from my own barrels?” he added proudly.

“With such charm and wine, no wonder every old widow in this village invites you to their home for late night blessings.” I replied with a grin.

“What a teaser you are, my darling Irele,” Father laughed heartily, somewhat satisfied, as if taking this as a compliment. “Don’t make fun of an old man like this. For all we know, I might actually be your biological grandfather.”

I smiled. He’s a fun guy. No wonder Grandma loved him.

“Irele, what’s on your mind?” Father suddenly asked, looking me straight in the eyes. His laughter gone, his voice somewhat concerned. I sighed, not knowing how to start.

“I… I have been to a place where I shouldn’t have been” I started, still not certain how much I wanted to say. “I think I am impure… I…”

Father led me to the nearest chair and invited me to sit, as I was still trying to put order in my own thoughts. Then he took a chair himself, and stood barely a meter away from me. His gaze was concerned, but nodded, as if encouraging me to go on.

“I might have been in contact with a dead body…”

“Yes, yes, according to our faith,” he replied in serious voice. “We become impure when we touch a dead body. But do not worry, there is no sin in touching the dead body of an animal accidentally. We’ll just have to do some prayers together as per the ritual, and the blessing of the Elven God will have you become pure once again in no time. ”

“I see…” I whispered. Why did he assume it was a dead animal? Should I tell him? He placed a hand on my head and started reading some prayers from an old book.

“Elven God, lover of life, hater of death,” recited the priest in a low, solemn voice. “Bless this child who has touched death to regain life once more. For death is all around us, but will never get to us. For you are the one source of life and freedom, and your presence shall be forever among us.”

He proceeded with more prayers until eventually he reached the end. My mind was going places, but by the end I was able to relax and focus a bit better on the prayers.

“Are you feeling better now?” Father asked, smiling, but still somewhat concerned.

“I… I do” I replied, but I knew that wasn’t really true. I wanted to say more.

“Death is everywhere, it can’t be escaped. But we need to distance ourselves from it as much as possible. For the Lords and their people, killing animals and people alike is part of their day to day lives. But for us, who believe in the Elven Lord, death that doesn’t come from old age is unnatural and cruel. The elves never kill, not even small animals. They never eat meat. Just like us.”

“Yes…”

“Did you bury it?”

“Bury it?” I asked, as the question took me by surprise.

“Well, you know what the Elven God expects from us, and especially the rangers. That our number one commandment is that we preserve life. And that we should honor the dead, by burying them with honor, so they can have rest.”

“I… yes, they were buried,” I blurted out.

“They? Multiple animals? That must have been a shocking sight for you, my dear! I’m sorry. Nevertheless, you did the right thing by burying them, even animals deserve a bit of dignity.”

“Y-yes, that’s true.”

Father stepped out of his chair and gave me a firm but warm hug.

“You did your duty as a ranger and as a believer in the Elven God. And you came here to get purified as the Elven God requires for those entering contact with a dead body. You did well. You are a very good girl, Irele”

Father released me from his bear hug and offered to lead me to the door. On the way he went to the bookshelf and opened a small drawer, picking a pocket prayer book from inside. He wrote something on a note, then placed the note inside the book and handed it to me.

“Here’s a prayer booklet, I wrote on the note a few recommendations for you, please say those prayers every evening for the next 40 days, every single day. It will help with… what you are dealing with now. My oh my, being a ranger sure is tough, but know that everyone in the village is deeply grateful for your efforts. Oh and one more thing” he blinked, a note from his voice shaking for the first time. “You did well by telling me and the Chief Ranger, but don’t tell anyone else about where you were yesterday. I believe that would be for the best.”

I thanked Father and went back to work, still deep in thought. He mentioned the Chief Ranger, but my mind was too scattered to realise. The day went by smoothly and I almost forgot about everything.

Later in the evening, I was at home, wondering what prayers Father asked me to read. I opened the booklet, and read the note. It simply named a certain page, and that I should read the prayer from there for the next 40 days. I opened the booklet to that page and read with shock:

“Dear Elven God, protect us from magic and wizards….”