"Mm, that feels gorgeous," purred Michelle as she was woken by Marie's caress. "What's made you feel so affectionate?" she asked blissfully.
"Oh I don't know, just love. That and the fact that we are expected for dinner very soon and I want to make love again before we go," said Marie, surprising herself with her boldness.
"How lovely," sighed Michelle, rolling over.
The moonrise was spectacular that night, she appeared in front of them like an enormous UFO looking for somewhere to land. None of them had spoken much since leaving the house and Marie was now beside herself with excitement. They reached the cottage in no time, to find Celine waiting for them at the front gate.
"Pascal has gone on to prepare things," was all she said, before joining their group and clicking the gate lightly shut behind her. Celine smiled at them all and then linked arms with Gemma, before striding off down the path into the dense woodland that surrounded the cottage. The huge trees were very close together and it would have been impenetrably dark without the light from such a strong moon.
"It's not too much further," whispered Gemma, over her shoulder.
"Are you okay?" asked Michelle, squeezing Marie's hand.
"I think I may have just peed my pants, but yes I'm okay," answered Marie giggling nervously.
"You'll be fine, they're beautiful beings and they will feel the same about you as I do," she said tenderly.
"Thanks," said Marie, quietly.
There was a bonfire somewhere up ahead, Marie could smell it, but before she could ask anything, she could begin to see it as well. It looked to be about a hundred metres away, and as they gradually approached it, Marie could tell that it was not small. In fact, it was huge and had long, wild flames that licked up into the air at least twenty or thirty feet. As they got nearer, she could see it was in a clearing that was a perfect circle. The huge trees that surrounded it shone with the fire's bright orange light and had graciously kept their foliage away from covering the circle. To the side of the fire sat a lone figure who had his back to them, but it was clearly Pascal. Well before they reached the clearing, he turned around and greeted them with a wave of his hand. As they entered, Pascal gestured for them all to sit beside him. He then stood up and walked around the other side of the fire. Marie leaned slightly to one side to see where he was going and nearly fell over completely with surprise when she saw the figure of someone greeting him. They hugged in an intimate way and Marie somehow thought it must be a friend of theirs who had mistakenly stumbled into their gathering. Then, Gemma rose to her feet and approached the figure as well and received the same welcome as Pascal had, only they remained embraced for a lot longer. Then they released each other and turned in her direction. Her heart was in her mouth as they approached her with Gemma just in front.
"Marie, I would like you to meet Arkantash, the chief of the elfin community here," said Gemma, simply, before moving aside. There, in front of her, was an elf and Marie gasped slightly from sheer nerves as he came into the light. He looked exactly like a human, maybe slightly smaller in bone structure and definitely more beautiful. His face shone with life and his eyes sparkled with a sort of mischievous wisdom that spoke volumes about his age, but which had lost none of their childlike joy. You couldn't see his wings, as they were folded neatly along his spine, but you could tell that they were there by the way he stood in an extremely upright fashion to counter-balance their weight on his back.
"Hello there, I'm Arkantash. But you can call me Ark, like my friends," he said, extending both of his hands forward to take hers.
"He. llo. I'm Marie, and I am lost for words I'm so nervous," she replied.
"From what I am told, that is quite unusual," said Ark smiling broadly at her. "But don't worry, beautiful one, it is quite a night and a few nerves are to be expected. Come now, put them aside and let me introduce you to my friends. Then maybe we can dance together, if you would like," he said, holding her hands.
"Yes, I would," said Marie, bathing in the beauty of his ancient face. As he glanced away from her to see what was going with the others, she caught sight of his wings and it made her gasp with delight.
"Your wings, they're beautiful," she sighed.
"Thank you, maybe they remind you of a time when you had them," he said, before releasing one of her hands.
"I. I. " she mumbled, but it was no good, she had no answer to such a question. Her feet felt like lead for the first few steps, but the hand that led her was so comforting, she knew she was going to enjoy what she found on the far side of the blazing fire. There, to her utter amazement, was a group of about twenty elves of various ages. When they spotted her and Gemma arriving, they began to hoot and sing with delight. Gemma changed before Marie's eyes, the old lady seemed to become an elf. She leapt across to the group of her old friends, like a teenager jumping into the mosh pit at a rock concert.
"Waahoo," she shouted, embracing as many of them as she could.
"Felina Felina, wea wea, Felina Felina, wea wea," they all sang as they surrounded her, jumping up and down with their arms linked together. In a moment, Gemma disappeared into the middle of them, only to emerge on the shoulders of one of the young male elves. There she sat, quite comfortably, laughing and cheering along with them all as she swirled around to an increasingly wild rhythm that was being created by four elves on large wooden drums. Marie watched in amazement at the sheer passion of it all. The drumming got faster and faster, but they managed to keep perfect time with each other without seeming to try.
"As you can tell, we have missed our Felina a great deal," said Ark, who was still standing beside Marie.
"What does Felina mean?" asked Marie.
"Felina is the name of a flower that is only in the elfin valley and although it is only fairly small in stature, it blooms for longer than any other flower in our world. In Winter, its fragrance is at its strongest when it is most needed and in Summer, when so many others are blooming it stays quietly in the background."
"Mm, that sounds like Gemma," said Marie, smiling at him.
"Exactly," replied the elf, squeezing her hand tightly.
For a moment, he went quiet, but then he turned towards her with a considered look on his face.
"Thank you for coming and trusting and caring," he said, suddenly looking at her in the eyes. "I know that you've been through a lot and yet, your heart is still so open. We love and respect you deeply for that," he continued.
"I hope I don't let you down," said Marie, timidly.
"You can't Marie, we expect nothing of you. We are all part of an incredible process, just choose with your heart as you do so naturally and you'll always be okay. Now come, enough talking, I want to dance with you, are you game?"
"I sure am, let's go," said Marie, glancing across at Michelle, who was already dancing with half a dozen elves. Ark grabbed her hand and they jumped over to where Gemma was still riding high above the crowd of dancing elves. Within moments, she was among them, swirling around with angelic faces beaming at her with delight and love in their eyes. Marie thought her heart would burst with happiness. It went on and on and on, a relentless rhythm of drumming that brought them all to a frenzy of excitement in a way that she had never felt before.
"I feel like could fly," she screamed at Ark, as they swirled around together.
"Would you like to?" he said, smiling broadly.
"Yes," said Marie, still not quite understanding.
"Well, let's go then," he said grabbing her by the hand again. He raised his wings so that they now splayed out proudly from his shoulders and before she knew it, he had wrapped his arms around her waist.
"WHOOSH," went his wings, propelling them up into the air.
"Yeah," yelped Marie, as her stomach rose into her chest. They quickly soared up into the treetops, and within moments, they were standing on the very highest branches of an ancient beech tree. The forest stretched out in front of them like nature's rooftops and the moon covered them with her silver spell.
"Are you okay?" whispered Ark, as they settled on the branch and found their balance. "I can't carry you very far, but I thought you might enjoy the view from up here," he continued tenderly.
"I'm fine, you make me feel very safe," answered Marie. "God, it's beautiful up here when you get used to it," she said, after a while.
"Yep, we have a lot of trouble getting our children down from here once they discover it. Fortunately, they don't grow wings for a few years, but as soon as they do, they practically live up here."
"I can understand why," said Marie giggling. "Do you know if Charlie is okay?" she asked.
"Yes I do. He's very well and much loved by my people, I believe," answered Ark, quietly.
"Do you think he'll come back? I mean, the valley sounds so incredible, maybe he'll want to stay."
"Oh, Marie, there isn't a man alive who wouldn't come back to receive your love, if he was fortunate enough to be graced with it," said Ark, gently. "His destiny isn't to stay there. The time is coming when he will wish to leave. It just isn't yet, so you must be patient and enjoy your path wherever it takes you within yourself."
"You sound like Gemma."
"Oh no, do I?" laughed Ark.
"I'm afraid so, it's a most contagious condition. One that I am noticing worrying signs of developing myself," she said, before kissing him lightly on the cheek. "Thank you for bringing me here and allowing me to meet all of you," she said, sincerely.
"You're very welcome, and may it be the first of many such times we spend together," he said, quietly.
"Do you really mean that?"
"Certainly, I do. More than that, I hope to, some day, be your guide when you are introduced to the valley world. First, we must focus on the present and the safe return of your dear friend. So, let's return to the party, shall we? I've hardly said hello to Felina," he continued.
"Yes, yes to everything, I want it all," squeaked Marie.
"Good, you deserve it," said Ark, raising his wings into the air so that they shone in the moonlight. He launched upwards so that they soared even higher above the trees, but then he lowered his wings slightly, so that they began to gently glide downwards in a perfectly controlled fashion. Down through the branches they sailed, and this time Marie's stomach stayed where it was supposed to while she looked down at the revellers below. By the time they landed, the dancing had finished and they were all sitting around the fire talking.
"Hello there," said Gemma, as Marie landed just beside her. "How was that?"
"Incredible," said Marie, reacquainting herself with being on the ground.
"Here, have some Elfwater, it will stabilise you a bit more," said Gemma, passing her a cup. As Marie sipped the water, she could feel it travelling down through her body, making it tingle with life.
"What is this stuff? It's not normal water, that's for sure," she said, before draining her cup.
"Ah yes, that's Elfwater, which they make by adding the dew from wildflowers to rainwater. I make it myself at the nursery, but it's not as good as the real thing from the valley. It's more like a natural potion than a drink, and not to be underestimated for its importance in maintaining good health. There's a lot more power in a wildflower than you'd imagine," replied Gemma, smiling.
"Wah, it feels lovely in my body, like it's revitalising it all. But is the stuff I've just had really from the valley?" she asked, as her toes felt like they were turning upwards.
"Indeed, it is, a group of travellers brought it out with them a few days ago when they left the valley to serve out here. They left it for Ark and he brought it along tonight, knowing how much it would mean to me' " said Gemma, wistfully.
Marie sat down next door to her on the floor and wrapped her arm around her shoulder. In front of them, the elves and humans sat, laughing and chatting happily. Michelle was playing a game with three of the younger elves and Pascal was in deep discussion with Ark and Cecile.
"I'm so happy, I could burst," sighed Marie.
"Good, that's as it should be. You've come through a lot and have much still to face. So, it's appropriate that you should be given some lightness in your life."
"Ark said that he'd like to be my guide on a journey to the valley some day. Can you believe it?" said Marie, excitedly.
The time seemed to just disappear that night. Before she knew it, she was taking one last look at the world from the top of the same beech tree as before and the sky was showing the touches of the first light of day. She sat there with Ark, silently watching the changing colours in the sky and breathing the cool provencal air. They had stayed around the fire for hours, talking and sharing stories of all that had been going on in the different worlds. Now, Marie was thankful for the peace of the dawn's arrival. Michelle had fallen asleep already, but Marie still felt swept up in the enchantment of it all. Only now did the fresh air and realisation of a new day's arrival make her feel sleepy.
"Are you ready to go home?" asked Ark, after the sun had appeared completely on the horizon.
"Never, but yes," replied Marie with a sigh.
"Don't worry Marie, you are part of our lives now, whether you like it or not, and we won't leave you alone, even if you want us to," he said, raising his wings to begin their descent.
"That suits me just fine," said Marie, smiling at him and bracing herself for their next move.
The wild strawberries Shamir served for breakfast that morning tasted more beautiful than anything Charlie could remember eating. Maybe it was the circumstance, but the flavour seemed incredibly vivid to him and he savoured each mouthful, sitting happily with his companions. Ayou was next door to him, holding tightly onto his waist, as if she was afraid that he might drift off again. Kanook was there as well, drinking Dandelion tea and laughing happily at everything that anyone said. But it was Shamir who had the widest smile, sitting like a Cheshire cat at the head of the table, nursing a cup of tea that he cradled in his outstretched hands.
"I don't think I can remember being happier than this," said Shamir, with a sigh.
"Personally, I'm just pleased to be out of that pit of revolting dreams. That was an experience I will be very happy never to return to or think about again," said Charlie.
"A very wise thought, my friend. But you know, although I loathe to speak too soon, I do believe that if we were going to lose you, last night was the night," said Shamir, raising his eyebrows.
"But we didn't," whispered Ayou.
"Now I hope I can choose when I leave and not die," said Charlie, quietly.
"I'll drink to that," said Kanook, raising his cup in the air.
"Me too," added Shamir.
"I need to get some fresh air," said Kanook, quietly.
With that, they left the table without bothering to clean up, and filed out of the door to potter quietly in the cottage garden. What they hadn't counted on was the fact that the elves cared deeply about Charlie and a large number of them had been sitting up all night in the trees around the cottage waiting for news. As they emerged through the front door, there was a moment of absolute silence, followed by a deafening cheer that rang out through the trees.
"He's back," they cried, "he's back."
Charlie didn't know what to do, so he put his hand behind his back and bowed low before his appreciative audience. They all went nuts as he did this and came swooping down from their numerous perches in the trees to greet him, surrounding him until he completely disappeared from view. Each one shook him gently by the hands, and by the time they had all finished, he felt thoroughly dizzy. Shamir stood to one side a little, smiling happily and enjoying the moment of union between them all.
"Come on, Charlie, come to the village," said one of the older elves.
"Yes, I'd like that a lot," said Charlie, who was still a bit bewildered by all their smiling faces around him. Enrou took Charlie by the hand and turned in the direction of Eliantash. The other elves all filed in behind them as they went, and by the time they reached the village, there was a long procession of them trailing back along the forest path. Shamir ran along a different path that led in a similar direction, but veered off just before the village, ending up at Kanook's house. He bounded up the steps like a schoolboy and nearly knocked his old friend down as he came out of the front door as he was running up to it.
"WHOA," cried Kanook, stumbling back into the door to avoid a collision. "Goodness, I thought it must be one of my grandchildren coming in from swimming, judging by the speed you were going. What's going on?" said Kanook, with a laugh.
"Come and have a look at this," puffed Shamir.
The two friends scurried through the old elf's garden and up to his office that overlooked the village. When they arrived, they stood in front of the large window and Shamir didn't need to explain anything. Down below, the procession headed by Charlie and Enrou had nearly reached the centre of the village. Behind them was a line of the valley's residents that stretched down through the forest for as far as the eye could see. All of the houses in the village had elves hanging out of every available window and all of the trees were full. Kanook put his hand over his mouth as a huge knot of emotion burst in his heart. Shamir just put his arm around his old friend's shoulder to share the feeling and they both stood silently watching the procession.
"We'd better go down," squeaked Kanook eventually.
In the main courtyard, Charlie had been hoisted onto a wooden platform that was used primarily for making announcements. When he stood up and waved to them all, a huge cheer erupted from the crowd of smiling faces. He didn't really know what to do after this and was greatly relieved to see Shamir and Kanook winding their way towards him through the crowd. Both of them climbed onto the stage to another great cheer from all of the elves. Kanook took Charlie by the hands and looked straight into his eyes.
"Welcome to our lives and to our hearts," he said, tenderly, before turning to the crowd with his arms now in the air as a signal for quiet.
"We all know what it means to our world to have this beautiful young man here with us today. We know the dangers of looking too far ahead, but today let us rejoice that he is here and that life has chosen someone with such compassion and strength to serve with us," he boomed in a commanding voice that echoed out through the streets and into the forest.
"Thank you, Charlie," he shouted before turning around to look at him again.
"THANK YOU, CHARLIE," came the spontaneous call from the crowd, before they all started to clap and cheer again. From there, the street party began. Tables appeared from houses, barrels of special Elfwater were lifted onto the platform and all around preparations took place for a gigantic celebration. Charlie just stood there, rather bemused by all the talking and activity around him. Ayou was strangely quiet beside him as she lost him to the others for a while and Shamir was studying him quite closely for some reason.
"I've got something I'd like to show you. We can leave them to the preparations and come back to the party a little later," he said.
"Yes, I'd like that, I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed. I think I need a bit of fresh air and quietness for a while," replied Charlie, timidly.
"I want to show you the doorway to the outside world and it's a one hour walk there and back."
"That sounds manageable," replied Charlie.
"What's going on?" asked Ayou, joining Charlie at his side.
"Shamir's going to show me the doorway to my world," answered Charlie.
"Yes, I want him to be able to recognise door from the other side if he gets a chance to look for it," added Shamir, before jumping off of the platform and heading through the crowd
"Are you okay?" asked Charlie, noticing the look of shock on her face.
"Yes I'm okay," whispered Ayou, her voice stumbling a little. "It's just, I know I'm going to lose you soon back to your." she said before bursting into tears.
"Hey, it's okay, you're not going to lose me yet. I need to see the doorway so I can find my way back," he said, gently, touching her cheek. Ayou just nodded weakly, then pulled away from his touch and ran into the crowd before he could react. Charlie made a gesture towards her, but it was no good.
"Don't worry, Charlie, she'll be okay, she had to face this sometime," said a voice from behind him. He spun around to see an elf who looked like an older version of Ayou standing directly behind him.
"I'm Elugine, Ayou's mother," she said, simply.
"Ah," was all Charlie could manage in return.
"I'll go to her in a while. I'll just give her some space first," she continued, looking him straight in the eyes.
"Good, I'm so sorry if I've hurt her," he said quietly.
"Nonsense, don't think like that, you have brought nothing but joy into her life. I've never seen her as happy as she's been the last few days. But you have a special purpose here that is of significance to all of us. Your union with Ayou has strengthened your connection with this world, but you must not be blinded by your own desires. If love can happen between you, it will, but not at the expense of everything else."
"I know you're right, it's just hard, but can you please make sure she knows that I do care for her very much when you see her," said Charlie, taking a deep breath.
"Of course I will, but I can assure you it's known," said Elugine, kissing him lightly on the cheek.
"Are you ready?" asked Shamir, arriving on the scene.
"Yes, I am," said Charlie, glancing at Elugine, with feeling burning in his eyes.
"Elugine, can you tell Kanook what we're up to as I don't seem to be able to find him at the moment. Tell him we'll be back in time for the feast, if that's okay," said Shamir.
"Absolutely, we'll see you later for the food and dancing," she said, glancing at Charlie, but answering Shamir. Charlie just nodded, and took one of the bags that Shamir was carrying.
"Come on then, let's go and see this door," he said, swinging the bag onto his shoulder and grabbing one of the two staffs that Shamir was holding. He jumped down from the platform, saying hello to elves as he went.
The path they needed was not one that Charlie was familiar with. It left the main settlement, and twisted its way through a magnificent stand of poplar trees, which had bright, fresh foliage that fluttered and changed endlessly above them. However, once through this area, it followed the river for quite a way, taking them past the place where Charlie had gone swimming the previous day. They hadn't spoken for a while and Shamir noticed a certain disquiet coming over Charlie's face.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Mmm, no, not really. Right now I'm feeling guilty about what's happened with Ayou. I mean, I finally have Marie as my girlfriend, and I do this. Maybe I am in some type of dream, but it's still very real to me, I just shouldn't have done it. It's just, Ayou's so beautiful, and she really wanted me and I've never don."
"Stop Charlie, stop. You mustn't beat yourself up like this, it isn't doing any good at all. You know, it's being pretty tough on yourself to think that you've betrayed Marie because of your actions here, don't you think?"
"Maybe, it's just Marie is so lovely and I don't want to hurt her."
" I know Charlie, but I'm sure you'll feel even stronger towards her after all this is over, I guarantee it, and when it comes to making love, maybe you'll be a little bit less nervous," said Shamir tenderly.
"I hope that's true," said Charlie, smiling sheepishly.
"Of course it is, the first time is always odd because it's filled with so much anticipation. As you say, this dream is very real to you right now, and you have changed by having all the experiences here, not just some of them. Now, come on, let's have a dunk under the waterfall, that'll help clear your head of these negative thoughts," said Shamir enthusiastically.
They both whooped and screamed as they jumped under the cold water and Charlie did indeed feel clearer than he had all day. Without bothering to dry off properly as it was still warm, they gathered up their bags and continued along the narrow path, before cutting away onto a track that led to the highest point in the valley. Charlie hummed one of the songs he had learnt from the elves and watched the parrots playing in the uppermost branches of the ancient oak trees bordering the path.
As they got closer to the ring of trees, it became very steep and Charlie had to concentrate on clambering between the boulders that blocked the way. Having scaled one very steep section, he looked up from the path for the first time in a while and he could see what looked like a halo of trees resting on top the hill. It only took them a few minutes more to come face-to-face with the circle.
"These trees are extraordinary," said Charlie, patting one of their iron-like trunks.
"Yes, this is where you appeared and it's a mighty powerful place," answered Shamir, leading Charlie into the circle.
"So, is this the doorway to the other side?"
"Well, yes and no. You see, this ring is only the side door that connects to a ring of beech trees in Provence. The portal can be used in both directions, but it's dangerous and limited in its capacity. The main doorway, which I will show you shortly, has none of these limitations. However, it has not been in service for many years from either side and is lying hidden in your world. Pascal has an old map to help find it, but even with this, the exact location may take some considerable investigation, as it has been hidden under a spell for hundreds of years."
"So, what's so important about finding this door? I know it will allow the elves to travel safely between the two worlds, but there must be more to it than that, isn't there?"
"If the doorway is opened from your world, it will mean that the valley and the elves will become visible to humans again. Not immediately, but within a fairly short amount of time."
"But why would you want that? Just keep things the way they are, stay invisible, stay safe and work from the shadows. Don't let us destroy all of this and that's what we'd do, I know it," cried Charlie.
"Charlie, we are not in control of any of what's happening, we never have been and we never will be. That's the point, we have to learn to serve life as best we can and that's all we can do. Nature decided to bring you here now and we must honour that decision."
"But how do I do that?"
"You must use what you've learnt here. That to use your breath to still fearful thoughts, takes you to a place where you feel connected with nature and the power that holds it all together."
"I just wonder whether I can remember how to do that when I'm back on the other side?"
"I can truly understand that, but I know you will. It will then take a lot of courage to follow that path, believe me," said Shamir, putting his hands gently on Charlie's shoulders.
"But what about the elves, how do they feel about this?"
"The elves abide by the same beliefs. Only a few have ever made it back through the portal successfully and that has left them a fractured civilisation. With the opening of the door, they will be reunited and even though there are grave fears associated with this change, they trust in the perfection and power of nature."
"I know, it's just all happening so quickly and such a great responsibility."
"It is time for this to happen. The Earth needs this, humanity need this and the elves need this. Trust in the timing of all things, Charlie, the responsibility is with life to create, you just concentrate on staying present for the ride," said Shamir, looking deeply into Charlie's eyes.