01.023 Huldufólk

Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Ella’s studio, Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York, United States

Ella looked over her packed bags one more time. She had stripped down and packed them several times to maximize what would carry her the furthest. Waterproofed cold weather hiking boots. Lots of technical and technicolor clothing she had scrounged from friends.

She threw in some notebooks and other random items and called it good.

Jade had already left for the holiday with her brother Craig and a large group who were all going to New Hampshire for skiing. She sat down and waited for Jae-Young.

While she sat, she read her beginner text on public policy¹. After being knee deep in math and physics for so long, it was a breath of fresh air even if she wasn’t sure whether it was the right thing.

She alternated reading chapters with doodling theorems on encapsulated finite dimensions and emergent properties of higher dimensions. All with tons of caveats and unknowns.

When Jae-Young let himself in, he found Ella laughing. She looked up at hm, “Imagine if I stick this crap up on arXiv? I’d never be able to show my face again. Who the fuck would buy it? Magic?”

Jae-Young looked at her, “Ella, something happened. Something weird and terrible.”

He grabbed his phone, pulled up a news clip, and handed the phone to her. She looked at the headline for a while. And then a while longer before scrolling down the article.

“A huge tidal wave in Madagascar? I mean that is terrible. But what does it have to do with us?”

“Read further. The tidal wave was supposedly caused by the re-emergence of sunken continental portions near Mauritius. A small archipelago. And sunken long before humans existed, But, there are strange ruins on this land that can’t be explained. A bunch of science teams are already en route.”

“And you think… this is the reemergence of one of our hidden kingdoms?”

“Is that the royal ‘Our’ there?”

Ella flushed. “No. Stop. You know this crown thing is bullshit. But it is worrying since this might be the first large scale event we all have seen that could be related.”

“Yeah. Maybe.”

They talked a while longer but conclusions were thin. The decision was to keep an eye on the news and see what other events seemed out of place.

The next day (Thursday, December 23, 2021)

JFK, Jamaica, Queens, New York, United States

Even by the next day, the US news cycle had moved on to upticks in right-wing militia group threats and the Christmas shopping season.

The airport was full of families traveling for the Christmas holiday despite the mask restrictions and testing. Both Ella and Jae-Young found some seats away from the gate to await their flight and when they boarded and crammed into the seats, pulled out their research materials for Iceland.

They had lucked out in finding some inexpensive stays and a rental 4x4 to travel the more remote regions.

What they had not expected as they exited the airport was someone holding a sign with their names on it. A young, petite woman with delicate features, slate-blue eyes under a milkmaid braid, and a half smile. Heavy boots peeked out from under a long puffy coat with white fur trim.

“Jae-Young? And is this Eleanor? It is nice to meet you. I’m Álfheiður. Just this way…” and she quickly led them to the short term parking lot right next to the terminal, chattering the whole way and and avoiding any of their questions.

“You’ll love Iceland. The people here are nice and the volcanoes are amazing. Plus learning to speak Icelandic is an adventure in itself! Why I never knew that until my favorite volcano, Fagradalsfjall, started erupting and the news kept getting the name wrong. It wasn’t as bad as when Eyjafjallajökull erupted. That was crazy. Especially how many people mispronounced it. Like who does that? And my friends said it was better than Fagradalsfjall but that is totally not true…”

Before they got in the car, Jae-Young stopped and forced the issue. “Who are you? Where are you taking us? How do you know who we are?”

“I already told you, I’m Álfheiður. And I am taking you to your great-grandmother. She really wants to meet you, Jae-Young. And she likes Fagradalsfjall the best too. Which makes her on my side really. Have you tried hákarl? You should! That and a glass of…”

And she was off again…

Bemusedly they found themselves in a grey, boxy Mercedes with 6 wheels. The interior was swathed in brown, quilted leather and Álfheiður took the wheel and floored it out of the garage.

Soon they were traveling away from Reykjavik at a blistering pace weaving between the few cars on the highway. After an hour, Ella asked, “How much further is it? We have been traveling for quite a while already.”

“Just about five more hours. You should take a nap. But then you’ll miss all the natural beauty on this drive. Have you been to Húsavík before? Well too bad since we aren’t going there but we are going near there…”

Even if they had wanted to rest, it would have been impossible with Álfheiður constantly talking. And the whole thing still made them a bit nervous.

Later that same day (Thursday, December 23, 2021)

Near Húsavík, Iceland

“Ah we are almost there.” Álfheiður pointed to the side of the highway but neither Ella or Jae-Young could see anything before Álfheiður pulled the wheel and drove right off the highway onto the volcanic plain, the rear end sliding out even with the extra axles and large knobby tires.

The whole cabin shook and gyrated as the vehicle jumped and twisted its way over rock. Álfheiður took a steady hand and let it slide around and bounce.

“I think I am going to be sick.” Ella said under her breath.

“Vomit bags are in the seat pockets in front of you! Just like an airplane.”

Ella eyed the small bag sticking out from the seat pocket and was about to fold when the car skidded to a halt.

“Woohoo! We are here!”

Looking around they saw a stony outcropping of rock, half buried in snow. Álfheiður did not even wait but hopped right out and started marching through the snow to the outcropping. “Come on!”

Ella and Jae-Young looked at one another. Ella shrugged and they got out and started walking through the snow. As they got close to Álfheiður she spun on a heel and went into a passageway cut into the rock.

Another shrug and they ducked into the carved tunnel. Ella felt a sense of dislocation when she entered, as the rough carved tunnel transitioned into fine mosaics of trees seamlessly blending with the marquetry river on the floor. The walls gently reflected the indirect lighting hidden above the crown mounding.

It was elegant and gentle and beautiful. And Ella could feel something in the air. A light odor of incense filled the air, almost imperceptible, and Ella could not quite tell the scent, wood of some sort but not the heavier scents her mother would light occasionally.

The wooden stream opened into a large chamber. Several tall elves, dressed in gray robes, stood around chatting and Ella could feel Jae-Young’s hand tighten around hers. The incense was slightly stronger here and the room was crossed with small channels where water ran, emitting steam that partially obscured the floor.

“They will not approach you first. It would be polite for you to take a drink and a small snack first as indicating you have accepted their hospitality.” Álfheiður murmured, “Oh, and take off that ring, Jae-Young. There is no need for it here.”

Jae-Young looked at her and then his hand and with a determined motion, pulled it off. His features transformed, adopting the same canted eyes, triangular shaped face, and pointed ears of the others in the room. His skin retained the olive tones he had in his human guise as opposed to the paler skin of the elves here who resembled Álfheiður.

“And you?”

“Don’t be silly! I’m just a normal human. Now go and get something to drink and eat.”

Jae-Young and Ella walked to a table set to the side where two small plates and glasses sat. The scent of caraway overrode the incense and they took sips of the strong liquor and bites of the toasts with a mix of roe and smoked fish. The murmur of conversation and even the sound of trickling water stopped as they finished.

“Welcome great-grandson. And is this Ella?” An elf turned around around and walked over to them. She was as young looking as Ella with long coiffed silver-blonde hair and amber eyes.

“I hope Álfheiður’s driving wasn’t too terrifying. But when I heard from my friends at the Islendingabok told me that someone was inquiring about their ancestry and it matched my journey so well, I couldn’t resist a little surprise welcome party.” Her voice had a cadence and accent similar to Álfheiður but the tonality was almost sing-song in its nature.

“Well, it was a surprise for sure,” murmured Ella.

“Your grandfather was pleased to hear from me. He has had such an interesting life.”

Jae-Young blurted out, “Why did you leave?”

“Well, so he could have that interesting life of course. He would have never been able to truly join the world outside trailing me around. I left him the truth, that ring should one of his children need it as you did, and the freedom to live.”

She looked at Jae-Young and you could see her expression change to one of empathy, “I am over sixteen hundred years old. It is a burden that I did not want my son to carry and so I let him grow to adulthood and left him as all human parents must. Our kind must do that to allow our children to blossom, else they would always be oppressed by earlier generations.”

Her gaze switched to Ella and became colder, “Age makes me direct, it is not very elven I suppose, but although I talked to my son and he told me you knew about us, he would not say more. Jae-Young will live for millennia barring violence or accident. He will always remember you, but you must know this. Maybe his trust in you is foolish, for him to reveal himself and us. Even if you carry something so powerful as that.” And she pointed to the bear tooth pendant Ella had around her neck.

Even though Ella wanted to know more about the tooth, she now recognized the others in the room were only pretending to converse with one another, there was a tension in the air.

Ella gave a slight shake of her head to Jae-Young. She had been suppressing her senses and magic as much as she could, and Ella could tell that these elves could not sense anything about her. She hadn’t know about the tooth.

Ella took a deep breath, “I have no intention of causing problems for you.” She raised her voice and looked around the room, “Any of you.”

“Jae-Young revealed himself to me because I experienced something magical.” Ella let her hand rise to the pendant and grab it, using a bit of truth and misdirection.

“Well. Be that as it may. The Huldufólk bid you welcome.”