Vanmoriel looks at me and quickly calms her rapid breathing. She looks slightly pale and wordlessly goes over to the table. She eats a small piece of strange looking dried fruit and looks immediately more like her semi-evil self. She cocks her head to one side and asks, “Well?”

Well, WHAT? I can’t help myself; I say, “I don’t get it! What was that for? Why did you attack me? I thought you were supposed to be helping me…” She laughs—at least I think that is what it is; it is sort of a combination of a cackle, giggle, and crowing. She sits down like nothing just happened and says, “I had to test you; see what your instincts are. I needed you off-guard; not thinking about it. They are not too bad; something we can work with. You have rudimentary skills at defensive wards and charms. The ones your mother cast on you won’t go far in Drakyre’s world, however. You are going to have to learn more—stronger ones. Those take a lot of energy.”

She nibbles on a piece of bacon and says, “It has taken me a long time to be able to eat just this bit of bacon without my body revolting. We will talk about energies later, though. There is still a price you owe me for crossing the brook that day…regardless of what your Aunt says.”

She nibbles on a bit more bacon and says, “Your elf half allows to you to produce effective defensive charms and wards. Your elf half, however, relies on physical offensive skills. I understand you are decent with a bow and arrow.” I nod and she continues, “Well, those will be ineffective against Drakyre and many of his minions. That is where offensive spells come in. You get that ability from your human side. That is what makes us formidable as Halflings, being capable of both. Of course, you more so, given your heritage on both sides. The royal elf family is very strong in Earth magic and produces very strong wards and charms. Your father’s family line is strong at tapping into many sources of energy and has produced many powerful witches and wizards. I have been looking forward to meeting you for a long time…to see what the result of that union is.”

I give her a side-long look and ask, “Why? So you can somehow pervert me? Test your own skills? Why should I trust you at all?” She laughs in her strange way and taps her long nails on the table in thought. She absently draws circles with them for a bit, then says, “You shouldn’t. It is good that you don’t. However, we need each other…and so we are going to have to learn to trust one another—like your mother and I did…”

I look at her in shock and ask the obvious, “Mother? What has she got to do with anything?” Vanmoriel smiles that crooked smile of hers and says, “Well, if she had not trusted me, then you wouldn’t be here. And I don’t mean just here in my cottage, right now. I mean, not even born. Your mother brought your father to me to be tested for the Dark Taint. I am the only person that can reliably test a human for the Taint. Once she was sure that he was free, then she committed the crime against her own law to conceive you through a union with him…”

I gasp. Can this be true? Somehow, I know it is…I have her to thank for my very existence—as much as the Sequoia, my Mother, and my Father… My fate is intertwined with hers…

“Do you know how much energy it costs me NOT to blow you to bits? Concentrate!” She is pelting me with blue lightning and seems to be in more pain than I am. I retort, “What do you mean?” She sighs as we take a break. She says, “Spells take a lot of energy. Combine spells with wards and the energy consumption is near catastrophic—that is why we have to eat so much. The dried Moon Fruit is an excellent source of energy, but very hard to come by. I have to set up a ward to filter my spell so that I don’t kill you. It is draining me way too fast.” She eats a bit of the dried fruit and looks better. I ask, “Why don’t you just use a lighter spell?” She mimics me in a mocking voice, “Why don’t you just use a lighter spell? Oh, so you are the expert, now?! Well, Your Highness, it is not that easy. I am so powerful that I can’t just send a trickle at you. That would be like the Mighty Water Falls trying to just spit on you… Now, concentrate and put that ward I taught you in place…”

I concentrate and put the ward in place—I feel the energy drain. She moves about a hundred paces away and plies me with blue lightning. I feel a slight tingle, but nothing else—except more energy drain. The intensity of the blue increases, and so does the tingle, but not bad—the energy starts going down faster, though. Then there is a furnace blast of blue that comes at me. The tingle turns into a sting, but the ward holds…and I run out of energy. I black out…

I come to in the bed again…I feel weak. She gives me some bacon and tells me to take small nibbles. I feel my face turn green, but do as told. I take very small nibbles and feel my stomach rumble and start to revolt. She quickly hands me some melon and a beancake and I hurriedly eat them. My stomach settles and I start to feel better.

She looks at me with a grin and says, “Well, the good news is that your ward held—even up to the full level of my attack. The bad news is, if I was a Drakyre minion, you would be dead, since you shorted out right after my attack. You would have been easy pickings… You will have to learn energy conservation… So much to learn and so little time…” I groan—a massive headache coming on—and ask, “Why can’t I have some of your Moon Fruit, if it is so good?” She eyes me wickedly and says, “It takes a long journey through the elf realm to the borderlands of the dwarves to find the bushes that grow the fruit. It is the price a human has to pay for me to allow them into the realm—they have to go and get a large bag of the fruit for me. The dwarves don’t really use the fruit—but they don’t want anyone else using it, either. It is a rather dangerous endeavor to get any. The last vestiges I have were the payment your mother gave me when I scanned your father. I am nearly out. You will, of course, refill my supply as payment for crossing my river…”

I shake my head and say, “Aunt Lothi explained that the tariff does not apply to me…” She gives me a wicked grin and say, “Maybe so…but when we start combining wards and spells, you are going to quickly burn out without the fruit… As an elf, you can quickly cross the realm, get the fruit, and return. It would not take you more than a couple of days… I can also show you an invisibility ward that will keep you hidden as you pick the fruit…”

I near the border between the Elven and the dwarf realms. It had only taken me a little less than a day to cut across a small triangular wedge of Elven territory that cuts in between the Human and dwarf realms. I still come out at a spot that is pretty deep into the foothills of the dwarf realm, from a Human geographical perspective. I look through the golden shimmer of the Elven Realm’s veil and see the bushes about halfway up a small mountain. They are only about a quarter mile away, but they may as well be 25 miles…

I sigh…and concentrate on the invisibility ward. It won’t last long; it drains huge amounts of energy. But, if I can make it to the bushes before it gives out, then I can sustain it with the energy from the bushes’ fruit. I run…fast… I feel the tingle of the veil as I pass through it… I start to feel weak…black spots start to form in front of my eyes. I concentrate to maintain the ward, knowing that I am almost out of energy and will pass out. I make it to the first of the bushes and dive into them, effectively hiding myself, just as I can’t maintain the ward anymore. I greedily eat a couple of the fruit. They have a bitter-sweet flavor, but I can feel my energy levels rising almost instantly. It is hard to believe how quickly my levels rejuvenate—and Vanmoriel says the dried fruit is even more potent…

I quickly fill my sacks with the fruit, eat two more, and concentrate on setting up my invisibility ward. I am just about to say the enchantment, when I hear a noise. I peer through the bushes and see a band of…what must be dwarves. Having never seen any, I am not sure. What else can they be? They are interesting looking creatures—small, but tough. They are carrying various lethal-looking weapons—battle axes, maces, things like that. And…they are getting much too close for comfort.

I quickly finish the ward and check to ensure that I am invisible-then quietly move to a different spot. I groan inwardly when I notice the small pile of pits I had spit out from the fruit I had consumed. I also have to continue eating the fruit to maintain the ward as I quietly sit waiting for the dwarves to pass. Unfortunately, they notice the pile of pits as they are walking by…

I barely am able to slip by them as they start yelling and screaming and swinging their axes through the bushes in angry swipes. My heart is beating so fast and hard when I slip the golden veil and back into the Elven Realm that I think it is going to pound right out my mouth. I let the ward drop and quickly make my way back towards the brook and Vanmoriel’s cottage. Of course, it takes a little longer this time, since I am weighed down with several sacks of Moon Fruit…

I come up on the brook the next day and decide to have some fun. I eat one of the fruits and enchant myself with the invisibility ward. I step across the brook on the stepping stones and see Vanmoriel ahead. I just want to sneak up on her to show her how good I have gotten with the ward. I am still about fifty paces away when I am hit with a semi-strong bolt of blue lightening that completely paralyzes me…not to mention makes me feel like I am melting in one of the dwarves furnaces…and my ward disintegrates.

I hear Vanmoriel’s laugh. She turns and says, “Never rely on a camouflage charm alone to protect you, Princess. First, no one crosses the brook without me knowing. Second, that ward does not work on individuals who have touched the Darkness. I could see you plain as day.” She takes the bags from my still frozen fingers and says, “Good girl! This is a nice haul… You will help me dry them for our little journey…”

And suddenly I can move again. I yell at her, “You could have told me the ward does not work on everyone! What if those dwarves had Darkness in them?” She looks at me and asks, “What dwarves?” I tell her about the party of dwarves that had almost found me. She looks slightly…concerned. She says, “But they did not seem to see you, right?” I shake my head and say, “No, they seemed to just be swinging blindly…” She smiles and says, “Good! I was not sure that I had adjusted that ward properly for you. It is not as if I can test it, you know—being as how I can see you even when you are using it properly…” I groan and decide that when this is all over, I am going to kill her…

The next morning, I wake up in tremendous pain. I double over and feel like the cramps in my abdomen are going to kill me. I moan and Vanmoriel comes over to see what is wrong. She asks, “How many of the Moon Fruit did you eat yesterday?” I shrug and moan at the same time, “I don’t know ten…fifteen…” She looks at me in thought and asks, “Is it time for your menstruation?” I am hit by another cramp and gasp, “What are you talking about?” She looks at me, “Your menstruation, your monthly visitor, your period?” I give her a blank look and wince at another nasty cramp. She sighs and says, “This is your first cycle…? Of course it is… So, I can’t say if this normal for you…or whether the Moon Fruit enhanced the cramps…something it is known to do if too much is consumed…”

Then I feel wet and sticky between my legs and scream… Vanmoriel gives me a harsh look and says, “Get over it! It is just a little blood—you are a girl now! This will happen every month…our monthly curse… I will fix you something that will ease the pain… I will also give you a pad…you will need to wash your sheets, though—I don’t want my sheets stained.”

She hands me a pad and shows me what to do, with a sour look on her face, when I give her another blank stare. She fixes up some potion and has me drink it. She says, “These are things your mother should be handling, Princess. I am not here to explain the birds and the bees to you…” After a few minutes, the potion seems to kick in and I feel a lot better. I get up and am surprised at the amount of blood in my bed. Vanmoriel says, “The Moon Fruit can cause heavy bleeding and cramps. Keep that in mind, girl.”

I spend the rest of the day washing and drying my sheets—something that I have never done—and helping Vanmoriel dry the Moon Fruit…

The next day, I am feeling better, but still take some of the potion, just in case. After breakfast, Vanmoriel says, “OK, today we are going to start practicing spells. This is completely different than charms and wards. They feed off of completely different energy—but can drain you just the same as wards… Wards are usually more a trickle drain, since they have to be maintained for periods of time; spells are usually more a sudden drain, since they normally are like shooting an arrow...quick and they are over…”

She demonstrates a spell by shooting a bolt of blue lightning straight at me. I am caught off guard, but have learned to maintain a small protective ward at all times; it strengthens itself when I am attacked. The blue lightning bounces off of me harmlessly…but I feel the drain. She smiles and then explains how to do the simple attack spell…

After a couple of failed attempts, she starts getting frustrated. She almost shouts at me, “You need to find your human side—that is the only way to tap into the proper energies. Elves can’t do it—you have become too focused on you elven side.” I concentrate really hard and finally ‘see’ where I need to focus internally…I get a small fizzle of a bolt to shoot from my fingers. I jump in surprise when it actually works…I am also surprised that my bolt was green After several more attempts, I get a stronger, but still very small bolt to appear. An hour later, I get a bolt to reach Vanmorien at twenty paces.

After that, we quit and go to prepare dinner. I ask about my green lightning. Vanmorien says, “The color of the person’s lightning is dependent on many things. Mine is blue because I am neither good, nor bad—light, nor dark. Why that translates to blue, I have no idea—but I am the only person that I have ever known to have that color. People on the Dark spectrum, usually have red or black lightning. Drakyre, for example has lightning that is blood red, but so dark that it is nearly black—you will never meet any deadlier than his. Most humans on the Light side, have either white or greyish lightning. Green is unusual, but I think it reflects your Elven half…and your ties to the Earth energies through that half. You should have some unique capabilities once you practice enough to actually carry out a meaningful spell…”

After we eat, she says, “Go to bed and rest, Princess. Tomorrow, I will take you to your father’s castle…”