The Elvish Celebration

Elvish city/village, preparing for and celebrating their most religious/important day/event/ceremony


Rhaine had been waiting for years for the Winter Solstice to coincide with the full moon. She had been little more than a toddler the last time it had occurred, but she could remember clearly the festivities of the day and into the night. She was filled with anticipation as she walked out through the village. The lanterns she had helped the young elves make fluttered in the gentle breeze while streamers swirled from posts that surrounded the village green. She could see the preparations for the festival were progressing well, by the next day everything would be done and all that would be left would be to celebrate.

She smiled as she saw of elves around her own age; they were talking excitedly among themselves as she approached. One of the girls looked up at her and greeted her with a big smile and an enthusiastic wave. She returned the gesture but turned from the group and headed towards the well near the edge of the green. A young male elf sat peering over the edge as he lowered the bucket. A small smile spread across her face as she quietly moved to stand beside him. The man was so caught up in his task he didn’t see her approaching and dropped the bucket the last few feet into the well as he let out a startled yelp when he lifted his face into hers. Rhaine laughed softly and moved to kneel beside him.
‘Rhaine!’ He exclaimed trying his best to sound mad. ‘How many times do I have to tell you not to do that!’
Rhaine couldn’t help but laugh as he cracked on the last word and began smiling and laughing with her.
‘I’ve missed you.’ She said when their laughter died down and she leaned in towards him. She rested her head on his arm as he gently began to stroke her hair. She hated when Erik and the other young men had to go out hunting, but she knew they had to so they could eat. It was dangerous being an elf this close to human civilisation, they often ended up being hunted by the humans.
‘I’m here now.’ He reassured her, ‘and we won’t have to go out again until next season. We can set snares for rabbits and possums around here and that should get us through with enough fresh meat combined with the dried meat we will have left over.’ He gently kissed the top of her head before adding mischievously, ‘don’t you have work you should be doing?’ He flicked a handful of water causing her to leap to her feet. She put her hands on her hips and frowned at him.

Rhaine made her way to the healing shelter after leaving Erik. She knelt beside the bed of a very young elf. She came every day to visit this young boy, it was where she always felt she could make a difference. She reaches out and gently touched his face with a loving smile. His parents had both been killed in the last human raid fifty years ago and he had been infected with the human affliction. No one knew how it was spread or why some elves got it and others did not. There was only one cure for it, and that was the stand beneath the full moon on the Winter Solstice, the infected just had to survive long enough.
‘Hey you,’ She said quietly to the boy as he opened his eyes. A smile spread across his face as he saw her.
‘Rhaine,’ he said weakly. She frown in concern, he had been getting weaker and weaker the near they came to the solstice, she was afraid that he wouldn’t make it.
‘Hang in there Bael, it’s almost time.’ She said in what she hoped was a reassuring voice.

She spent most of the day there with him, telling him the stories her own mother had told her when she was still young. The sky was dark by the time she left him, he had fallen asleep long before she had stopped telling her stories. Concern warred within her, she hadn’t wanted to leave him tonight but she knew she would regret tomorrow if she didn’t try to get some sleep. She sighed as she opened the door on her cold dark home.

Shouting was the first thing that came to Rhaine as she was woken from her sleep. Outside she could hear the shouts of their men and the crackling of fires already lit around the village. It took her a moment to fully comprehend what was happening. She hastily dressed in her leather armour and grabbed her bow. She hated using it but it was necessary now. She knew without looking outside that the humans had found them again. Her door rattled as someone opened it, she drew back into the corner and nocked an arrow as she held her breath.
‘Rhaine?’ Erik’s voice enquired into the darkness of her home.
‘Erik!’ She said with relief. ‘What’s going on?’
‘It’s the humans. They found us again, we’ve got to go.’
‘But- what about the festival?’
‘Rhaine, we have to go, the festival doesn’t matter, we need to get out of here. They’re coming to destroy us this time. We saw their machines and med. They’ve been cutting into the forest since their last attack. We’ve got to go.’
‘But-‘ She began to say but Erik put a finger to her lips and spoke again.
‘Rhaine, it’s time to go.’
‘Bael,’ she said and he looked at her. That was all she needed, he was gone.
‘The shelter was the first place they attacked. It’s as though they’ve been scouting our village for many seasons. We have to go Rhaine, we can’t stay here any longer. The rest of the villagers have already begun to flee.’ Reluctantly Rhaine followed Erik from her home and into the chaos beyond.