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Elf Noir

The Yew Tree

The Yew Tree

Jun 10, 2023

"Yeah," I answer Lynae. "It's a yew tree."

"How did it get here?" she asks.

Good question. I decide to keep my answer vague.

"Some girl."

"I've never really seen a tree." Enturi announces, moving between Lynae and me to examine it. We watch him run his hand up the rough bark of the trunk, the color variations barely visible in the dim light, and then along the branches to the needles and berries.

"Don't touch those berries," I warn. "They're poisonous."

"Poor tree." Enturi says softly, a needle branch pressed lightly between his two hands. "She's dying."

"Good," I say.

Lynae looks at me like I'm a monster.

"How can you say that?" she asks. "This is a sacred tree. It can't be left to wither. That's just wrong. The girl who brought it here made a mistake. Of course it's dying. There can't be enough light in here. It needs more sunlight."

"She needs more sunlight," Enturi corrects gently.

"The tree should be dug up and replanted outside." Lynae announces.

"Yeah, I'll get right on that."

Lynae gives me that look again. "What is wrong with you, Arq? You sound like you hate this little tree."

"I don't hate it." Well, actually I do. But I am not explaining what happened with Calmorien's little bait girl to her or Enturi. It doesn't make any sense anyway. "Listen, I don't care about the tree. It'll die in here. But if you take it outside, it'll die there too. Chopped up for kindling or switches. Berries picked off for poison. Needled branches picked off for brooms." I feel myself getting angrier again. "Yeah, it's a beautiful tree. But that beauty doesn't mean anything. It's just something to be picked clean and used up like every other damn thing that has the bad luck to land here."

"It is the only tree I've seen in Elftown," Lynae protests. "We can't just leave it here to die. Maybe Nana Milya could keep it safe. I could ask."

"I don't care what you do with it. But some things are better off dead."

"Goddess! Don't you care about anything or anyone beside yourself?" She spits her question out like she took a drink from a pisspot. She's angry now. Her eyes flash in the dimness.

No, I want to yell back. No, I don't give a shit about anyone! But I can't. Because it's just not true. I cared about Nana Romina. And Alvar. I'm just not very good at it. I try to avoid it. Because caring leads to disappointment at best, and can get you killed. So I just stare back at her stonily, until she averts her eyes.

I realize I might be starting to care for these two as well, since I bothered to bring them here instead of just dumping them and making my own way forward after Jet's fall. No, that's not right. I don't even like Enturi. And I remember how Lynae abandoned me in the hallway to the human guards at Calmorien's apartment. Fact is, it's just in my best interest to keep them alive and close. They are the only ones who know I survived the red tide. I'd kinda like to keep it that way. I don't want someone ratting me out to the human guards for a few coppers. And maybe together we have a better chance of surviving the next few days.

"Arq?" Lynae's eyes have shifted away from my face to the wall to my left. Great. Now she's seen the painting. "What's that?"

I sigh. Maybe coming here wasn't such a great idea after all. The spirits of Alvar and his friends seem to permeate the place.

"It's a painting." This information is enough to divert Enturi's interest away from the tree.

"A painting? Where?" he asks. And then he sees it. "Oh."

"Arquë, did you paint this?" the elf-girl asks carefully.

"No. Some other elves did."

"Who?"

"It doesn't matter. They're dead." Her eyebrows arch in alarm.

"You killed them," she states.

"No," I say. Suddenly I am tired. "I didn't kill them. I tried to save them. But it was too late. I didn't do what I should have when it would have mattered."

Lynae seems embarrassed by her accusation now. Good. She reaches out and clasps my hand.

"You can't save everyone," she says gently. It's meant kindly, I know. But I am too bitter to accept kindness. My vow of vengeance remains somehow unfulfilled, and it won't permit it. I look away from her kind eyes, into the dirt. I pull away from her hand and speak through gritted teeth.

"I didn't want to save everyone."

She doesn't have anything to say to that. I see her looking at the painting and shaking her head sadly.

"Killed for a painting," she whispers quietly to herself. "What a horrible place."


rebcon
A. Harris Lanning

Creator

The only tree in Elftown.

#elf #noir #Yew_Tree #cave #hideyhole #magic #art #survivors #Laying_Low

Comments (22)

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Wild Moon
Wild Moon

Top comment

Arq actually cares for people 😬 and he cares about Lynae and Enturi? :3 I think Arq is the hero Elftown needs

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Elf Noir
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As an enforcer for Jet, a petty elven crime boss, Arq has it better than most in Elftown, the prisoner of war slum of a human city. It's violent work, but it provides him with a little more money than he needs to survive, a little status, and a little free time.

When a prostitute under Jet's protection is brutally murdered, Jet sends Arq and a team of enforcers - including his creepy, ambitious rival; Jet's dangerously alluring girlfriend; and a chatty dwarf-of-all-trades - to find the killer and make an example of him. But when they uncover the dark reason for the murder, the delicate balance of power in Elftown begins to crumble.

To avenge a friend's murder, Arq must contend with betrayal, warring crime bosses, deadly monsters, underworld plots, and forbidden magic that, if discovered by the humans, will send a red tide of death through Elftown. His greatest challenges, though, will be grappling with his own bitter, violent nature, and trying to figure out what it means to be an elf in a place where the humans have taken away everything that makes life worth living for elvenkind.

Author: A. Harris Lanning
Cover Art: Xavier Ward
(c)2016, 2023

Updates Tuesday, Thursday, and SaturdayRead more
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115 episodes

  • Exploration
    Episode 61 Exploration
  • The Watchers In The Tower     (with bonus art by Emalie!)
    Episode 62 The Watchers In The Tower (with bonus art by Emalie!)
  • Aftermath
    Episode 63 Aftermath
  • Red Tide Reprisal
    Episode 64 Red Tide Reprisal
  • The Shattered Hideout
    Episode 65 The Shattered Hideout
  • Cut Adrift
    Episode 66 Cut Adrift
  • Going To Ground
    Episode 67 Going To Ground
  • The Yew Tree
    Episode 68 The Yew Tree
  • Shared And Unshared Knowledge
    Episode 69 Shared And Unshared Knowledge
  • Sanctuary
    Episode 70 Sanctuary
  • Treacherous Ruins
    Episode 71 Treacherous Ruins
  • Enturi's Secret
    Episode 72 Enturi's Secret
  • Arquë's Secret
    Episode 73 Arquë's Secret
  • Elven Attraction
    Episode 74 Elven Attraction
  • Lynae's Secret
    Episode 75 Lynae's Secret
  • Keep or Kill
    Episode 76 Keep or Kill
  • Enturi Steps Up
    Episode 77 Enturi Steps Up
  • Bonus Episode: Bread
    Episode 78 Bonus Episode: Bread
  • Back Alley Herbseller
    Episode 79 Back Alley Herbseller
  • Playing With Fire
    Episode 80 Playing With Fire
Ep. 68 The Yew Tree

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The Yew Tree

The Yew Tree

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