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| New Start Yellow Lift Flyers at your service in the new year. Give them a fly tonight! |
First, the Lift flyer dropped him off nearly four trees away from the masquerade ball, and he was forced to run the rest of the way in order to get there at a semi-respectable arrival time without appearing to be one of those wood elves who always arrived "fashionably" late to get attention. He had never been an elf who wanted attention.
Then, he was so hot after running, he had to ask the hostess if he might borrow a towel to wipe some of the sweat from beneath his costume collar, which was the most embarrassing thing he had done all year. Thinking of the look on her face when he asked, and her raised eyebrows, made him grateful that his costume kept her from recognizing his face. Hopefully, he would not be forced to reveal his identity at the end of the evening and further humiliate himself.
His entire life had been spent living in the shadow of others, and Thalion Thorne was not about to change that before he was ready to step into the sun's spotlight.
The ending of the ball and the old year couldn't come soon enough. He'd made plans for the new year after learning that Lyrielle Windshadow was being courted by Kaelthas Shadowspring.
Thalion had been in love with Lyrielle since the moment he had seen her at the first Spring Equinox Ball when he was just a mere child. Tho they were the same age and lived in the same forest, their lives had taken very different paths.
He had spent an adventurous childhood, learning from the elders and all other living things in the forest everything he could about the forest. As soon as he had been able to walk and run, his parents let him roam freely.
Lyrielle on the other hand, had spent her childhood surrounded by the same group of elf girlfriends, daughters of the elders, with no adventures to speak of. She only foraged beneath the same group of trees that she had known her whole life, never journeying beyond the reach of her father's voice. Her life seemed almost whimsical compared to his, yet her laughter had sounded like a magical bird song, and it often floated between the trees to find him when he least expected it.
Her parents had encouraged Kaelthas to court her because they didn't know him as Thalion knew him. They only saw him as a wood elf who was intelligent, handsome, and charming with aspirations of rising high in the ranks of forest politics. They wanted the best for their only child and having her marry an elf with so much potential would not only be good for her, but good for them.
Thalion would have to step out of the shadows and make a name for himself if he was going to stop Kaelthas from ruthlessly manipulating her and her parents for his personal gain. Kaelthas didn't have the best intentions for the elves or the forest. He only cared for himself.
~*~