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Elf Academy Part Deux  by Fiondil

17: Alex Among the Elves

"This was the servants’ wing," Loren was saying as he brought Alex to the third floor. "We’ve knocked down some walls and converted the rooms into guest quarters. I’ve put you in the Lindon room."

They walked down the hall, stopping at the second door on the left. Loren opened it and ushered Alex inside. It was not an overly large room, but it was comfortably appointed in shades of blue and green that were very restful to the eyes. Alex saw that one of his duffle bags was sitting on the floor at the foot of the bed.

"And I see Derek brought your textbooks and laptop, as well," Loren said, nodding towards a small desk that stood before the window where Alex saw a small pile of books and his laptop. "Now I meant what I said. You can spend the entire weekend in your room but I do hope you’ll at least join us for dinner. Breakfast and lunch are do-it-yourself affairs around here and once you’re unpacked I’ll show you the kitchen and give you a little tour. We have a well-stocked library and we’re wireless, so you have access to the internet. I’ll give you the password as it’s not the same as the one used by the college. The bathroom is directly across the hall."

"So I’m not attending my classes tomorrow or even going on the nature walk?" Alex asked.

"I would think you’d had enough of nature for a bit," Loren replied with a wry grin. "And I wouldn’t worry about your classes. Monday will be soon enough to resume your studies. You can take the time here to catch up on assignments and we’ll be on hand if you have any questions. Now, I’ll leave you to unpack. Come down when you’re ready and I’ll show you where everything is. Dinner is usually around seven. You may want to take a nap before that."

"I’m fine," Alex said with a shrug.

"We’ll see," Loren retorted mildly and then left Alex to unpack in peace.

About fifteen minutes later, Alex came downstairs and wandered a bit through the house, peeking into various rooms, looking for Loren. He noticed that while the house’s architecture was somewhat rustic, many of the rooms were decorated in rather eclectic styles. One room, he thought it was a sitting room of some sort, was done in a style that was reminiscent of early Louis XIV, very light and airy with a fragile look to the furniture. When he found the library he had a sense of stepping further back in time, for the ceiling was cathedral-style with heavy beams and banners hanging from them. The fireplace took up one wall and the seating was straight out of a medieval movie set with its heavily carved wood. Between the bookcases hung colorful tapestries. The bookcases were filled with leather-bound books for the most part though, incongruously, he did notice a small section of modern-day paperbacks tucked in a corner.

Looking about he saw Loren sitting at a table, poring over something that Alex could not see. Loren looked up and smiled. "Ready for that tour?" he asked as he stood.

Alex shrugged. "I guess."

"Your enthusiasm is underwhelming," Loren retorted with a grin.

"Sorry. I’m not really sure how I’m supposed to act now," Alex replied.

Loren nodded. "Understandable. I suggest you go on as you have been. Continue being Alex Grant. We’ll deal with Artemus Gordon Meriwether later. You had a frightening experience, perhaps more frightening than you realize, and you’ve suffered damage on a psychic level."

"I’m not sure I understand," Alex protested.

"I know you don’t and to try to explain would be futile because you don’t have the necessary background to accept whatever explanation I might give you. Just accept the fact that you need to rest and this is the place for it. Now, why don’t I show you around? Afterwards, if you don’t want to take a nap, we can sit out in the back garden and you can tell me all about being a spy."

"Intelligence officer," Alex said with a lift of an eyebrow, giving him a disdainful sniff.

Loren chuckled. "My mistake. Come. The kitchen is this way."

The tour took all of fifteen minutes to complete. They met no one else, not even Ambrose and that puzzled Alex. "He’s gone with Dan and Conan, whom you’ve not met yet, I think, to Chandalar," Loren explained when Alex asked. "They’ll be back in a couple of hours. Some of the others are either with the students visiting the resorts and safari companies or they are out and about on personal business. So, we have the place to ourselves until about five or so. As it’s my turn to cook dinner, I thought you could give me a hand."

"I guess," was all Alex could muster up to say.

Loren merely grinned. "Let’s go out back. I’m planning to grill some salmon and I want to get the fire started. Are you hungry or thirsty?"

"I could do with something to drink," Alex allowed as they re-entered the very up-to-date kitchen, a stark contrast to the rest of the house with its old-world decor.

"I’ll bring us some lemonade, if that’s all right with you," Loren said. "Why don’t you go on out and enjoy the garden? I’ll be right behind you."

Alex nodded and let himself out the door, making his way along the crushed-stone path with its rainbow colors to where the fire pit was located. The garden was a riot of colors and scents. He could not sense any pattern to its layout, though he thought that the area closest to the kitchen was mostly herbs. Trees graced the perimeter providing a natural privacy screen. The center was laid out with comfortable lawn chairs and sturdy tables surrounding the fire pit. He didn’t see a grill anywhere and wondered how Loren was going to cook the salmon. His answer came when Loren joined him carrying a tray with two tall glasses of lemonade and a plate of cookies. He set them on the table between two of the lounge chairs, then handed one of the glasses to Alex.

"Sit and relax while I get the fire started," Loren told him and even as Alex was settling into one of the lounge chairs, Loren went to a small shed and brought out some kindling and several larger logs and proceeded to lay them inside the fire pit.

"You’re going to grill them over that?" Alex asked.

Loren nodded. "We’re a bit old-fashioned about some things. And it’s more pleasant to sit around the fire watching the steaks grill than it is standing over an electric barbecue."

"Can’t argue with that," Alex said, lifting his glass in salute before taking a sip.

"So tell me about yourself, and I don’t mean the fabrication that is Alex Grant."

Alex shrugged. "Not much to tell and if I did I’d have to kill you." He gave Loren a sly grin.

"Many have tried," Loren replied with a disdainful sniff before returning to the fire, adding some more kindling. "So how did you and Ryan meet?"

"Well, I knew him as Ambrose Elwood," Alex replied and Loren nodded. "I was fresh out of college and I was looking for work as a translator — that’s what I was majoring in, languages — and deciding if I wanted to spend another two or three years getting a postgraduate degree in Linguistics, when I was approached by certain people who said they valued my skills...." He frowned into his lemonade. "One thing led to another and before I knew it, there was Ambrose teaching me ten different ways to kill a man with a salt shaker."

Loren lifted an eyebrow at that and Alex grinned. "Well that’s what we called it. It was really a martial arts class taken to the next inevitable step."

"Training you to kill, not just defend," Loren said and Alex nodded. "I will not insult you by asking you if you’ve ever had to kill someone."

"Thank you," Alex said gratefully.

"Do you regret the way your life has gone?"

"Sometimes," Alex admitted. "Most times, I don’t think about it. It’s a job. And a lot of times I actually am just sitting there acting as a translator as intelligence is brought to the Agency through other sources and operatives. My field of specialty lately has been infiltrating terrorist cells of the homegrown variety and nipping their little plots to overthrow the government in the bud. And believe me, since 9-11, we’ve gotten quite a few sprouting up all over the place. Last year it was in Minnesota. This year it’s Alaska."

Loren grinned. "No terrorist cells here, I’m afraid, and we’re not planning to overthrow anything. We just train people to be Elf Guides for the tourists."

"And so you recruited a former intelligence officer who should actually be dead to help you," Alex retorted grimly.

Loren stopped what he was doing and stood up, going to the table where his drink was, taking a couple of sips. "Ryan is more than a former spy, Alex, and yes, I’ll continue calling you that if you don’t mind. What he is, I will not say at this time, though perhaps before the weekend is done you’ll find out for yourself. What I will tell you is, nothing is what it seems and your attempt to infiltrate us failed almost from the beginning. Even Farrell learned nothing from us and yes, we know who he is also."

"How?" Alex asked, feeling perplexed. "Your intelligence seems better than mine."

Loren chuckled. "Only by happenstance. You and Farrell were not alone in the reading room."

It took a moment for Alex to understand what Loren was saying. He groaned. "The Nook."

Loren nodded. "Apparently Farrell didn’t think to check to see if it was occupied."

"I doubt he knew it was there. It’s not immediately obvious. I think I was here almost two weeks before I discovered it."

"So we thought. By the way, how have you been dealing with Mr. Farrell? From the report we were given, he pretty much threatened you with dire consequences if you didn’t toe the line and report to him on a regular basis."

Alex gave him a wolfish grin. "I have my methods, Watson."

Loren laughed out loud. "Very well, keep your secrets. You may want to consider joining forces with us to keep Farrell at bay and out of our hair."

Alex gave him a noncommittal shrug. Loren didn’t seem to be upset by it and simply nodded. "Well, think about it. I hope while you’re here with us this weekend you’ll find that we’re not the enemy. Well, the fire is going nicely. Why don’t you stay here and keep an eye on it while I go in and get the salmon ready?"

"Sure. No problem."

Loren left and Alex settled further into the lounge chair, sipping his lemonade and munching on an oatmeal raisin cookie, gazing into the fire and thinking over his conversation with Loren. He thought he should be feeling more upset than he was now that his cover was blown, but it didn’t seem important any more. He drained his glass and set it on the table and continued gazing into the fire. Its warmth reached him and he began to feel drowsy. He yawned a couple of times and felt his eyes drooping. Without realizing it, he fell asleep.

And he dreamed....

****

"NO! Noooo!"

Alex woke with a yell and was thrashing about, still caught in the terror of the dream. He felt strong hands holding him and someone was speaking but the words made no sense. He recognized the lilting cadence of Sindarin but that was all. Then, there was the scent of something clean and fresh wafting through the air, clearing his head of the dark cobwebs of terror that still smothered him. He blinked a couple of times as he came to himself to find Loren holding him while Dan was leaning over him with a bowl of steaming water. It was from the bowl that the fresh scent came, for he saw that some dark leaves floated in the water.

"Feeling better?" Dan asked solicitously.

Alex could only shake his head, unsure how to answer. Some shreds of the terror that had taken him still clung to him and he was breathing heavily.

"Take a deep breath, Alex," Loren told him. "It’s all right. You’re safe now. It was just a nightmare."

"The same one?"

That was Ambrose, who stood nearby along with another man and a woman whom Alex did not know. Both had silvery hair but they were not old looking. Alex took a deep breath and nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

"Would you tell us the dream?" Loren asked, brushing a hand through Alex’s hair. "It may help diffuse the terror you are feeling."

"It’s just a stupid dream. Not important," Alex protested.

"You disappoint me, Artemus." Alex looked up to see Ambrose frowning at him. "I thought I taught you never to ignore your dreams or your nightmares. The fact that you’re dreaming the same dream over again indicates that your psyche is trying to tell you something."

Alex started speaking but suddenly began trembling, as if from extreme cold. Dan motioned to the woman, handing her the bowl. "We may need something stronger to counteract the effects, Misty."

"If we had athelas...."

"Unfortunately we don’t," Dan said. "We’ll have to use what we have. I wish Roy were here. Conan, find some blankets."

The silver-haired man nodded and went towards the house. Dan was still speaking to Alex. "Alex, look at me. That’s it. That’s it. All is well. You’re safe."

Alex found himself gazing ever more deeply into Dan’s eyes, feeling himself falling and there was a sense of… veiled power and an ancientness in the man’s gaze that he could not quite comprehend and his mind shied away from it. Instead, he concentrated on breathing. He felt someone wrap some blankets around him and Misty returned with another steaming bowl from which came a stronger scent than previously. She handed it to Dan.

"I’ve mixed several herbs together," she said. "It’s not athelas but it’s the best I can do."

"Thank you," Dan said politely as he moved the bowl under Alex’s nose. "Breathe, my friend. Breathe and be refreshed. Adolo ’nan galad."

Alex had no idea what Dan was saying, but the power of his voice, almost a command, was unmistakable and he breathed as deeply of the heady scent as he could, his mind coming into greater focus and he found himself more aware of his present surroundings. He sighed and leaned back into Loren’s embrace, closing his eyes.

"Alex, please tell us about your dream. We can’t help you otherwise," Loren said, almost pleadingly.

"It was just a stupid dream. Nothing more," Alex protested, opening his eyes and glaring at them all.

Ambrose tapped Dan on the shoulder and the man stood and gave his place to him. Ambrose knelt gracefully before Alex and his expression was one that Alex recognized from years earlier. "What was the first thing I taught you?" Ambrose asked.

Alex frowned, thinking back to those early days as a trainee. "Never to dismiss your dreams."

Ambrose nodded. "Dreams are your mind’s way of speaking to you when you are not listening otherwise. Often what your mind has to say is unimportant or uninteresting and so we tend to forget our dreams, but sometimes what our mind, or rather, our deepest self, our soul, has to say is vitally important. I think this is the case here. So, please tell us your dream. We can help you, but only if you let us."

For a moment, Alex did not reply. He glanced around at the others, all of whom had expressions of sympathy and compassion. He sighed and slowly, hesitantly, he began to tell them of his dream. "I’m at the tarn and… and there’s someone swimming in it but… his face… I can’t see it and…."

Before he came to the end of his recitation he was trembling all over again. Conan left to go inside the house and came back a few minutes later with a mug of tea that Ambrose encouraged him to drink once he finished speaking. It was hot and sweet and it seemed to help, for the trembling ceased after a moment. He concentrated on sipping the hot liquid, letting it warm him inside and out, ignoring the others who remained silent.

"It seems that whatever sleeps beneath the waters was attracted to Alex’s… um… dark side," Misty finally ventured.

Dan rolled his eyes and Ambrose smiled. Loren just shook his head while Conan lifted an eyebrow at Misty, causing her to blush.

"I thought we removed the darkness from Alex’s soul," Ambrose said, turning to Dan.

"We did and we have, but that kind of evil… some residue is bound to remain and that is what Alex is experiencing through his dreams."

"Can we do something about it?" Conan asked.

"Alex, you told me that you had died," Loren said. "Do you remember what happened afterwards?"

Alex frowned in thought. "I’m not sure. There was… there was someone with me and he was asking me something."

"Do you know who it was? Can you describe him?"

"Tall, dark and handsome?" Alex quipped, trying to insert some levity into the conversation. At the looks on the faces of the others, he sobered. "Sorry. He was tall, though, taller than you, I think." He nodded at Loren. "And he had long, very dark hair that was braided with gems."

He did not miss the looks that passed between the others. "Someone you know?" he asked curiously.

"If he did not tell you his name, then I will not speak it here," Loren said. "Do you remember what he asked you?"

"He asked me if I wanted to be rescued," Alex replied slowly, "and… and he said that there were many things from which one could be rescued and that death was the least of them. Oh, and he called me by my right name."

"The fact that the swimmer in your dream is you as you truly look is significant, I believe," Ambrose said.

"Obviously," Loren said with a smile. "The question is, who are we rescuing, Alex or Artemus and does Artemus want to be rescued?"

"Huh?" was all Alex could muster, not sure what Loren was talking about.

"Think about it," Ambrose said with a nod. "Who are you when you are watching the swimmer?"

"Well, me, of course," Alex replied feeling confused by the question.

"Yes, but which you? Are you Alex or Artemus or someone else?"

Alex had to think about it for a moment. "I really don’t know. I mean, I didn’t exactly have a mirror to look into, all I know is that when I saw myself being pulled under, the smile I had on my face was cold and… and evil. I know that sounds stupid, but that’s all I could think when I saw it, that it was an evil, sick smile and seeing it on my own face made me feel… tainted."

"And there’s our first clue," Dan said.

The others all nodded, but before Alex could ask what Dan meant, Loren moved to stand, releasing Alex from his embrace. "Well, the salmon won’t cook itself," he said. "We’ll have to postpone this discussion until later."

"When Roy returns I’ll speak to him about setting up some wards," Dan said. "It should at least help Alex sleep undisturbed. It won’t solve the underlying problem, though."

Loren nodded. "Let me know if you need me to strengthen it, but otherwise, I think you and your brother can handle the warding. Ryan, you want to stay with our guest and keep him company while the rest of us get on with dinner?"

"We’ll just sit here and tend the fire. Alex can catch me up on all the dirt from the Agency. You know, who’s sleeping with whom, who’s not sleeping, who’s angling to get Maddy’s job, that sort of thing." He smiled as he stood up and sat in the chair next to Alex, giving him a wink. Alex smiled shyly back.

"Good enough," Loren said. Then he patted Alex on the shoulder. "We’ll get through this, Alex. I promise. You’re not alone."

Alex could only nod, not sure how to respond or what he was feeling. Loren gestured to Misty, Conan and Dan and they all headed back to the house, leaving Alex alone with his former mentor.

"So tell me what I’ve missed these past fifteen years," Ambrose said as he leaned back into his chair.

****

Adolo ’nan galad: (Sindarin) ‘Come back to the light’.





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