Sorry

Okay, I'm sorry for not keeping up on posts. I'll post my next WIAPT chapter now, but the joke and story I'll just do offhand, not every week. Sorry.

Chapter Three
Journey into Danger

Serelana watched the group break up and go their separate ways after the breath-taking song. Alamyre sat beside her on the hillcrest, cradling her knees to her chin as they inhaled the cool night air. “I wonder where your parents are.” She remarked casually. Serelana blinked her green eyes. Alamyre had parents at least, although she never spoke of them much. Whether they loved her or not was another question entirely. The two elves rarely conversed with Alamyre and her older brother, portraying an egotistical air.
“I’d just like to know who they’re battling. Are they safe? What kind of powers does this other side have? I mean, it’s real unnerving.”
Alamyre nodded without turning her head. “What’s this war all about anyway? I wish we could find out why everyone is fighting. I heard a rumor that even the dragons are involved.”
“You’re crazy; the dragons haven’t cooperated with us since…since…when?”
“Since never. Still though, it’s worth thinking about.” Alamyre sighed, then her eyes lit up and she turned to her friend. “I bet I know how we could find out! My father once told my mother that he had crossed paths with a creature who raved about such things.”
“Creature?”
“Yes, er, something like that. Nothing harmful, I’m sure.”
“Where was it that your father met him?”
“Erm…well, it was…”
“Spit it out, Alamyre.”
“On the west ridge of the Valley of Suffering.”
“WHAT? You have got to be kidding me. You want to go down there? That’s forbidden! You know the only ones who live there are the once who are banished from the Elven Meadows! And you want us-- me to go chasing after some rumored…thing?!” Serelana set her jaw firmly. “No way.”
“Oh come on, be a sport. We don’t even have to go in, you heard me; it was along the west ridge. We can just go down and come right back. Easy! Besides, you want to know where you parents are, don’t you?” Alamyre pleaded with Serelana for many more minutes, her eyes a swirl of amber and dark purple. Serelana stubbornly refused, but then she glanced down and saw the desire in her friend’s deep eyes, and grumbled, “Oh, alright, but we do not go in, understand?” Alamyre grinned, showing her pearly white teeth that were perfectly straight. “Great! When shall we go?”
“Oh…tonight I guess. Will your parents be up?”
“Nah, they don’t last past the moon’s half-climax.”
“Fine then, meet me here at the three-quarter climax.” Serelana nodded as the two elves parted. As she bounded home on silent feet, she groaned. “I hope I know what I’m doing.”
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
A chilly night breeze buffeted the small oaken hollow as Serelana stuffed a few essentials into her plant-woven pack by the silvery moonbeam light. A piece of what the Northerners called ‘Parien fruit’, a morsel with a slightly sour tang. Then some seasoned rolls, a rope, a hair band made of grasses, and one last item that Serelana had never taken from its home. A Periah flower, with a pink-purple hue that had been given to Serelana from her mother. The flower contained a small amount of magic, something Serelana had never dealt with, and the magic had not only kept the flower from wilting, but it was supposedly good luck.
Serelana tucked the flower into her bag and reached into a small maple cupboard that she kept in her little hollow. From it she drew the long, billowing brown cloak that her father had given her before he left. “Every time you wear it,” he had said, “you will feel my warm embrace.” Serelana clutched the soft folds to her body and could imagine her father’s long arms wrapping around her. Freeing herself from the spell and stuffing the cloak in her pack, she slung t over her should and tiptoed down the weaving branches, stopping to whisper, “I’m sorry Rinana.”
The moon was only a few more minutes away from reaching its three-quarter cycle as Serelana bounded across the hill-filled meadows. As she reached the crest of the hill once more, she marveled at how different the Circle of Music looked without the setting sun shining on it.
“Psssst!”
“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Serelana slid down the embankment and crept into the cave that the crest made. Alamyre’s light pink eyes shone at her from the dark. “You ready?”
“As ready as I could ever be for what we’re about to do.”
“Don’t be so skeptical. Come on!” Alamyre tugged at her friend’s arm and Serelana reluctantly followed until they stood under the moon. Without a word, they began running northwest. The trees, tall, dark, and swaying in the wind, sped by as a blur when Serelana and Alamyre ran their fullest. The moon seemed to be getting ever closer. The two elves reached the bottom of a large hill, and began working their way up to the top. It was no hard task for them. As they reached the top, Serelana peered over and caught her breath. Below them lay a vast expanse of grass, and just beyond that, foreboding, leafless trees stood erect in a long oval shape. Inside the space they formed, was an abyss. It was dark, with no moonlight illuminating it, although moonlight touched everywhere else. The shadows of the trees melted into nothing, their white bark glowing eerily in the light.
Serelana gulped.