The Masked Elves

Yasmin

A tall dryad stood outside her treehome and planted rows of vegetables. Her eyes were mossy green and her hair was light brown and she wore a light blue dress with tassels on the arms and waist. If you looked closely you could see the heart shaped marks of linden leaves that decorated her face. She lived among the group of dryads who worked at producing all the food that the creatures needed in Timber. She had a river of vegetables outside her house that she was forever replacing after they were harvested. If she planted a row of beans in one area they would soon be picked and sold and rows of potatoes would come in their place. Today, there was a long line of tomatoes she had laying on the side of her field in brown bags filled with dirt ready to plant.

Before she picked up the first tomato vine, someone familiar came into view. She called out, "good morning, Phadia. Shouldn't you still be working?"

"I know I should, but something terrible has happened. They're going to kill an innocent beast and it's going to happen tomorrow so–"

"Wait what are you saying? What beast?"

"They captured an imp today and we've got to save him."

"Huh, how come?" Yasmin raised an eyebrow.

"Because he saved my life. I wanted to talk to them about it but the Lord sent me away."

Yasmin was confused – an imp saved her life! But how and when? Phadia could see her confusion and explained to her what had happened that night. Yasmin was glad at the end of the story when she realised that Phadia had gotten out of that ordeal with barely a scratch. "But what about the harpy? Why didn't they capture him instead?"

"They didn't even know he was in Timber. And now they're executing the wrong person. That harpy was so dangerous and he's escaped to another district. One of the councilmembers said they'd do something about him but I'm not sure if he took me seriously."

"Are you saying we should rescue the imp and capture a harpy?"

"Woah, slow down. We should worry about the imp first. They said the imp's cage was made with dryad magic so you could make it weaker with yours."

Yasmin played with her hair nervously. "I could do that. But what would we do with him afterwards? Where would he go?"

"I'm glad you asked. I thought about it while I was coming here. I think we should take him to the queen so he can serve her." Yasmin's mouth twitched in disgust. Phadia noticed the inflection and crossed her arms. "Listen Minny, I saw the imp myself and the poor thing didn't even look dangerous. And if he acts a little wild, the queen could easily tame him and the Master would regret his decision when he sees the imp working so hard. Don't you think so?"

Phadia wasn't expecting Yasmin to be easily convinced. Most elves and dryads were afraid of everything outside of Trelis. They did the work they needed to do and they never left the forest. But they confronted harpies and many other monsters from the outside world and that was enough for them to know the world out there wasn't worth seeing. But now after seeing that imp, Phadia couldn't help but wonder. And all her fear turned into curiosity.

"If you saw the imp yourself, that might help. He's so tiny and he's scared to death. If we could convince Destiny to take him, she'll pardon him once and for all and the Master won't be able to sentence him again. The queen's word is final."

Yasmin frowned. She made it sound so simple, but maybe it was. Destiny's palace was in the district of Shimmer and it would only take a few days to get there. If the imp truly wasn't hostile and they stayed on the path, it would be a simple trip. "If you help me finish planting these," Yasmin said, "I'll help you sneak him away tonight."