The Elves of Trelis

A Creature From the North

Far away in the North, lies the great and terrible kingdom of witches and demons. Every corner of this God-forsaken city is overrun with evil spirits and beasts. They were a destructive menace so the Black witches decided to use their powers to tame them and turn them into servants. That way they got something out of their city being ravaged by demons. These 'servants' are called familiars and they took the form of small animals such as cats, dogs, rats and lizards. But some witches' servants were imps. Which is just what the two elven girls were looking at.

"Don't say hi to it, Phadia. It's an imp. A witches' pet."

"What's it doing here?"

"I don't know, but it can't be anything good."

The imp crept up to Yasmin. For a split second a thin black claw touched her arm. Yasmin screamed and jumped backward. The imp looked startled too.

"What's your name?"

"Don't talk to it, Phadia. It can't even understand you. Only witches can talk to imps."

The imp glared at Yasmin and hissed.

"I don't know Yasmin," Phadia giggled. "I think he understands just fine. We can't understand him that's for sure. Still, I wonder what his name is."

"Why would you want to know a demon's name?"

The imp hissed in Yasmin's direction once more. Yasmin squealed. Phadia laughed.

"If only he could tell us what his name is. What should we do about him?"

"I'm not sure but I have a few ideas that involve a spear," Yasmin muttered, holding her fingers together.

Phadia ignored her. "You can come with us little fella." Then to Yasmin, "we should take him to Empress Destiny. She can look inside his heart and find out why he's here."

"That's–" Yasmin raised her voice but then she softened, "actually a good idea.

Phadia smiled. She finally had her beat.

"But we can't walk around with an imp," Yasmin argued, "You know how everyone will react. They'll know that he's from the North and they'll freak out."

Phadia knew Yasmin was right but she still wanted to help the creature. She didn't think he was evil but she needed Destiny to prove that.

Then something miraculous happened. The imp vanished completely. One minute he was there and the next minute he was gone. After a few seconds of bewilderment, he reappeared beside Yasmin.

She screamed again.

"Oh, isn't this great," Phadia cheered, "he can turn himself invisible now no one has to know he's around."

But as soon as she was finished talking, the eyes of the water fairies turned and faced the imp. Their hearts all stopped and in a split second they were gone.

Phadia looked down at her new little friend. "You better stay invisible for the rest of the trip."

*** ***

Empress Destiny was the most beautiful fairy in Trelis, perhaps the whole world. She was more beautiful than Aphrodite, more elegant than a rose, purer than then the elements and finer than silk and much more powerful than her unicorn.

Legends say that she once stopped an entire army by trapping them in a barrier made of their own vengeance. Her wings were like that of a butterfly. Huge and silver ovals that came to a point at each end. Because she was so powerful her wings couldn't be broken. Her eyes were deep brown and her lips were the colour of peaches. She had the power to see into people's hearts and minds so she always knew who she could trust. And everyone who served her returned that trust, ever since she began her rule over 100 years ago.

The whole kingdom trusted Destiny but definitely not as much as Phadia did when she travelled with an invisible imp by her side so the Empress could see him.

"This is crazy."

"Oh, calm down, Yasmin," Phadia answered with a sigh. "It's the only way we can learn about him."

"What is there to learn? He's an imp! He's a servant to witches. If we take him to the palace, he'll probably steal something important and take it back to the North. And we wouldn't even know because he'll be invisible."

"What's wrong with you? You were just saying that my plan was a good."

"That's because I thought no one could get past the Empress, but obviously he can."

"Oh, relax, Yasmin, he's right in front of me. I'm holding his tail right–"

Phadia wasn't holding anything. She turned around and saw Yasmin smiling.

"He's gone," Phadia whispered in shock.

"I knew it!"

"You were right," Phadia said solemnly, "he was here for trouble and now that he's invisible we'll never find him."

"And he'll probably hurt someone too."

"Come back little imp!" Phadia screamed into the woods.

"Don't call him! That'll just make him run further away."

Phadia held her tongue and they searched in silence until they found some footprints, a snapped twig, squashed plants and the smell of an imp until they were standing in front of him. It took them almost an hour.

He wasn't invisible anymore and he looked... surprised. As if he had a lot of questions on his mind. In his hands he held a golden bow.

"That's my bow!" Phadia exclaimed. "How did he get that?"

"That's your bow?" Yasmin inquired. "Where did you get a bow?"

"I found it beside Geneviève this morning," Phadia explained, "but I was sure I put it on my table. The only way he could've gotten it is if Geneviève trusted him enough to let him in. That proves he's not evil. I knew it, I knew it!"

"I'm still not convinced," Yasmin huffed, "I don't think Geneviève would let an imp inside. He must have used dark magic to open her door."

Phadia shook her head. "Geneviève is a very old and strong tree and only trustworthy people get to be a part of her. If he used dark magic to open the door, he would have poisoned Geneviève. The dryads would have punished him and you know how powerful they are. I'll prove he's good when we get to the palace."

The imp smiled. Which may sound nice but it was such an awkward toothy smile that Yasmin cringed.

The dryad looked to the direction of the palace and sighed, "it's a long journey."

"I know," Phadia sounded grave.

"And we might get ambushed by the butcher birds."

Phadia looked at the golden bow in the imp's hands. "Well then I'm going to need some arrows."