David Bishop and the Mystic of Creation T.C. Crawford (icecream ebook reader txt) 📖

from the untamed forest floor to the nicely trimmed and manicured lawn of civilization that she was no longer in the outlying forest.

The grassy path eventually changed into a mossy stone walkway and she could see randomly scattered beams of sunlight lighting up the ground as they walked.

The sounds of the forest were vibrant and lively, birds cooing and singing everywhere around her along with a symphony of other creatures calling through the air. It was a beautiful and peaceful sound that almost put her to sleep had she not been so uncomfortable in her current position. Her head was dizzy from being carried upside down for so long, the blood having mostly rushed to her head, and her legs were numb and tingling.

As she turned her head from side to side, bouncing ever so slightly with each soft step, she could see the faces of little children staring at her, trying to keep pace with the longer strides of her captor. They were laughing and smiling, as if it were a silly thing to see a young woman being carried in such a way – it kind of was, she thought to herself.

She wished now that she hadn’t fought so hard. She would have saved herself a lot of discomfort over the past few hours!

Eventually the company came to a stop and the elf that was carrying Erin casually swung her off his shoulder and placed her firmly on the ground, facing him. She nearly fell over, her legs not anticipating the sudden requirement to stand on their own again, but the Elf kept her steady so she wouldn’t fall.

He had bright blue eyes and golden hair that framed his soft-featured face. He was extremely beautiful for a male, she thought, even for an elf.

He held her gaze for a long moment, as if to say, “If you behave, I will set you free.”

She nodded her head, and he seemed to understand what she meant, because he immediately took the cloth from her mouth and unfastened her ropes from around her midsection.

She rubbed her arms where the rope had been rubbing her skin raw, inspecting the red, chaffed skin, and wincing slightly at the pain that ensued.

“Thank you,” she said finally to the elf, who just stared at her blankly before nodding behind her, indicating that she needed to turn around.

When she did, she noticed the others were also unbound and were standing before a small group of elves who were all clad in similar attire as the one who had been carrying her.

They were standing before a great white oak tree that looked to be as ancient as the world itself. Its trunk was as thick as a building, with giant roots digging deep into the earth for what must have been miles to support its great height and stature. Its thick, twisting branches reached high into the canopy and stretched far and wide in every direction, with large golden-colored leaves that provided a huge blanket of amber-colored shade under which they now stood.

High above them in the canopy of the tree was a great city, built on the wide branches and apparently made of the same white wood. It had a variety of bridges connecting the gaps between the thickest branches, forming what made up a network of interconnected walkways and stairs for the citizens to move around the canopy by. Its design and intricate carvings must have taken centuries to plan and build, she thought, staring up at the city.

Erin never realized that the White City was actually built atop an ancient tree!

Looking back at the elves, she noticed that each wore a dark brown tunic with lighter trousers and a dark brown belt at the waist that blended in perfectly with the natural color of the woods around them.

On their backs, each had a quiver full of arrows with white feathers protruding at the ends, shaped in such a way to make the arrow fly perfectly through the air towards its target. Over each of their shoulders rested a long bow made of yew, each polished to a mirror shine and sported elegant carvings on the riser and grip. Although they each had the same overall design, each bow was slightly different than the other – something she assumed was a custom marking for each warrior that helped them indicate which weapon was theirs.

At their waist, their belts held decorative scabbards made of a hard leather and sported gold-plated mouth pieces. Inside each scabbard rested the gold-and-silver-plated hilt of a masterfully crafted sword sitting firmly in its sheath.

Each elf had long, golden hair that flowed from their heads and bright blue or grey eyes she noticed. Some had their hair braided and pulled back, while others wore it straight, letting it fall past the middle of their backs.

She slowly and cautiously walked over to the others and stood silently, waiting for an indication as to what was coming next.

The elf who had been carrying her walked up to the others and stood in the middle. He seemed to be the leader of the group, or at least slightly elevated in class – if there were such a thing with the elves. He definitely held his head a little higher than the others, and carried himself with a sense of nobility, she noticed.

At last, he spoke – a voice like that of a song, or what one would expect from an angel, ringing from his parted lips.

“I suppose this is where you explain yourselves.” he said simply, looking over the four companions standing before him.

Erin looked over to Tyrius and the others. Reingard and Holzer were looking to Tyrius too, expecting him to speak for the group. When Tyrius noticed the others’ eyes squarely focused on him, he sighed ever so slightly and began explaining the events that had transpired leading them up to their unfortunate circumstances the night before.

When he had finally finished his retelling of the events since their departure from Ravenfell, the elves