The Elemental Sisters: Spirit

We were still a distance away from the Elf kingdom, but you could already see the tall castle. It was made completely out of white marble and, as we approached; it seemed to grow in size, looming over everything that surrounded it. As we got closer, you could see a large moat surrounding the exterior castle walls, as we walked over the drawbridge, I glanced in the water seeing different types of fish and creatures swimming around. Everything was amazing, it was like the whole place sparkled, there wasn't any dirt or mess to be found, it made our village look so small in comparison.

As we walked through the village leading to the main part of the castle, I looked at my surroundings all the homes were made from white stone. The roofs were thatched, and in behind each home were vegetable and herb gardens. Every house looked exactly the same.

Where there weren't cobblestone pathways or roads, there was lush green grass, flower gardens, and trees. It looked as though the scene had been carefully planned and created. It seemed everything had a place. At the center of the town square, there was a large oak tree surrounded by benches and a large well was off to the side of it.

"How boring." Ela muttered as she appeared beside me and looked around. Karm appeared seconds later, frowning.

"I feel bad for the suckers that have to clean everything." He muttered.

I nodded in agreement, "Someone has some major obsessive-compulsive issues, that's for sure."

"Two guesses who?" Ari stated with a grin. "Your ghost guards are back, I'm guessing, or are you just talking to yourself?"

"My spirit friends are back." I corrected her.

"Same difference." She muttered, walking away.

My sisters and I followed the army progression to the castle, I couldn't help but notice the surprised yet cheerful faces of the villagers as they looked at my sisters and me.

Frey walked over to Ari trying to look cool as he tripped and fell on his face, he quickly stood up to see if anyone had noticed. As my sisters and I laughed at his misfortune, his face turned red.

Ela and Karm burst out laughing at his display.

"I love this guy; he is a riot." Karm shared between bouts of laughter.

Frey, stubbornly sticking his chin out, turned and asked Ari, "So, what do you think?"

"I think you need to learn to walk." She chuckled but patted his arm, consoling him.

"I know what you think of me." He replied with a wink. "I was talking about the kingdom." He corrected her as he swept his arm from one side to the other.

"The kingdom is very nice, but you in comparison." She paused and smiled, "are an ass." She answered playfully, pushing him.

"Oh, well then, I guess I'll leave you alone." He went to walk away acting hurt, but looked back after a few steps with a hopeful look on his face.

"Wait, you big baby." She sighed as she skipped over to him and kissed him on the cheek, giggling and skipping away, leaving Frey with a big goofy grin on his face.

"We should keep going. The king will want to see you." Tyr spoke, causing me to jump, how the hell did he sneak up on me like that?

I turned to him as he stared at me, smirking. What is with this guy? Why does he keep doing that? As I watched, his smile deepened. Whatever, I thought as I turned to walk away.

He grabbed my shoulder and turned me to face him, "Please wait." He asked.

"Why?" I questioned, slightly annoyed by his emotional whiplash.

"I just wanted to apologize for being a jerk earlier."

"Don't worry about it."

"He seems to really regret it." Ela commented as she walked closer to him, inspecting his face, as Karm walked over to stand beside her.

"Well, I believe I owe you an explanation."

"Look, people have bad days. I get it." I retorted, flustered.

"Guys, it's rude to keep the King and Queen waiting." Sunama scolded as she walked by us.

We looked at each other and continued walking towards the castle. "it's not just a bad day, I have trouble portraying what I am feeling. I was raised not to show emotion at all." Tyr shared quietly. "Fair enough, but I told you it is fine, you don't owe me any explanation." I retorted. Why was he sharing that with me?

Just before we were about to enter the castle, Ari looked up and nudged Gia, who was walking towards her and whispered in a serious voice. "Do you think the King is compensating for something?"

I glared at my sisters as they burst into fits of laughter, "That wasn't very nice." I scolded them as Tyr chuckled behind me.

"All in good fun." He said as we entered the massive building.

"I hope the King is welcoming and lives up to his reputation." I thought to Karm and Ela.

His Kingdom had been allied with us for thousands of years and even after the King and the Queen of pixies died at the hands of the Goblins, his predecessor aided our people and helped them rebuild our homes and restore order.

"I had heard that the Elf King was a kind man and was willing to help any of his allies, but things had a tendency to become skewed. I'll just have to hope for the best." Karm added.

"We will go check out the castle and see if what they had said about the Elf King is true, going by the state of the Kingdom, I would think he was a tightass.” Ela shared with me. I nodded in agreement.

"I may have been mistaken in coming here first for help." I thought to her as she disappeared with Karm.

Inside was a massive hallway. We followed Tyr to large white wooden doors, "I'll be right back. I have to speak with the King before I introduce you." Tyr informed before entering through the doors in front of us.

I looked around the halls and although everything was in pristine condition, spirits were everywhere, how many people had died here exactly? They looked watched my sisters and I closely, because there were so many of them I couldn't sense what their intent was so did my best not to make eye contact.

Although a spirit would have to possess a lot of energy to hurt my sisters and I. A bad spirit could steal the energy from others around it and use it to inflict pain or injury on the living.

A few minutes passed, and the doors opened, and we were led inside by another elf, the minute the doors closed behind us Elves surrounded my sisters and me pointing blades at us.

I was definitely misinformed about this so-called King. I frowned and looked at the unfamiliar men now circling my sisters and I. we pulled out our weapons and took a fighting stance, readying for their attack.

"What's the meaning of this?" Tyr yelled as he walked over from the other side of the room. Anger was evident on his features as he reached for his weapon as well.

"What they say about the King is all lies, if anything, he is the opposite." Ela told me from beside Tyr.

Great, what mess did I just walk into?