The Elves of Trelis

Carlo's Trap

The dance was only a few days away now and Carlo was lamenting to his twin how he had no one to go with.

Tarli didn't like listening to his Carlo but he couldn't think of what to do next if he should walk away.

Not too far off, two dryads were relaxing on top of a tree and eating its fruit. Then all of a sudden, the branch they were sitting on began to shake.

Their first thought was that they were experiencing an earthquake. But earthquakes were just things they'd heard from travelling elves like Francis. They never happened in Trelis.

The rumbling in the ground got louder and stronger.

The dryads dropped their fruit.

Carlo and Tarli could smell something foul in the air. Something awful was coming their way. They started running.

But the dryads stayed. And then they saw what was making the earthquake.

There were twelve of them. All huge, hulking pieces of flesh with tails like whips and claws like tiger teeth. They had the ears of bats, the sharp eyes of eagles and the teeth of piranhas that could shred practically anything.

Two of them clawed their way up the tree the girls were sitting on and grabbed one of them by the hem of her dress.

The second dryad cried out. "Eliza!"

But in the time it took for her to say it, the beast already opened its jaws wide and consumed the fairy. 

The second beast reached a clawed hand for the next girl. She kicked him in the snout.

It wasn't a very powerful kick but it managed to make him let go of the tree and plumet on the ground.

The dryad ran along the branch and jumped from one tree to another. She had heard the twins talking a little way ahead and decided the next best move was to run with them.

The twins were still running when she found them. They slowed down when they heard the dryad talking.

"They already know about the danger, I guess," the dryad muttered. The elves directed their sharp pointed ears to the sky. They could hear everything. "What were those monsters? Why did they... why?" She whimpered.

She closed her eyes and saw Eliza disappear in the beast's mouth for a second time.

Carlo and Tarli looked at eachother nervously. There were dangerous monsters in Trelis and judging by the dryads tears they had just done something very despicable.

Carlo took a deep breath. His mind was racing. If there were monsters in Trelis then there was only one thing to do.

Get rid of them.

And he knew just how to do it too.

"Tarli, go to the stream and demand that the water fairies pull the water with them. They can use their powers to bring the stream to us."

"What are you saying? What are you planning?" Tarli said.

"You'll understand soon. But we need the water fairies to carry the stream water inside a deep hole."

Tarli smiled. He had a good idea of what Carlo was planning now.

He ran to the stream.

Carlo stayed and used elven magic to churn the earth beneath him. The same strange invisible energy that Francis used. He made a hole in a clearing where the creatures could easily pass. The hole kept shifting and changing thanks to his power. The earth broke away around Carlo's feet until he was standing in front of a deep pit.