My Time Among the Elves

Inbul, an escaped slave, records a five-year period of his life where he is hiding from his adopted homeland of Rastdad for treason. Shortly after leaving Rastdad, he is captured by Ellanna and the Elves of Timerial for stealing her fish. During his capture by the elves, he realizes that the elves have a completely different mindset than humans.

His first lesson that the elves were different in their way of thinking is during his capture. Ellanna asks if he would help carry part of the carcass of an elk her hunting party had recently killed.

He brought to the main settlement of the elves where he is interrogated by the Great Council. While being questioned about the reasons for his fleeing, Inbul displays the brand that marks him as a slave of his native people, the Torat. The display of his brand abhors and sickens the Great Council, as they see such things as mutilations, and they grant him temporary sanctuary while they decide his ultimate fate.

While waiting on the council's decision, Inbul learns that the elves, like humans, govern themselves by one's standing. But unlike in Rastdad or Torat, elves only use their status when doing their official duties. At all other times, they see each other as equals.

Once Inbul is granted amnesty, he becomes the guest of honor at two welcoming ceremonies. The first is an informal affair held by Ellanna where he exposed to the elves' reverence for motherhood. A few days later, the Great Council held a more formal ceremony.

Not long after his amnesty, Inbul learns that Ellanna and the elves that have befriended him are engaged in a conflict with a different group of elves, the Arrenon. Taking what he learned from observing both humans and elves, he helps craft a plan that results in the two groups not only reaching a settled peace, but trade as well.

As his time among the elves continues, he builds genuine friendships with not only Ellanna, but her daughter Ki-til, and Ellanna's hunting partners, Kelu, Celu and Iarren.Bonds that not help him learn about the elves, but support Inbul in trials that lay ahead.

In the following years, Inbul begins to immerse himself with the elves, observing and learning from them and enjoying the harmony they have. When two of his friends have their first child, he is given the honor of being one attendee at the birth. Inbul is also allowed to learn to read and write the Elven language.

Inbul's newfound world comes crashing down when it is discovered that an elf, Taranath, has not only betrayed him, but Timerial itself by divulging Inbul's location to Rastdad. Following Taranath's trial, where he is found guilty and banished, Inbul makes his plans to leave the elves.

He is stopped by the Great Council, who still see as their duty to protect Inbul, even though they must ask him to leave for the safety of Timerial. They, along with a representative from Arrenon, devise a plan to help Inbul reach the human city of Ilgan.

During his trek across the Chrysocolla Mountains, Inbul has an epiphany. He realizes the elves enjoy, for the most part, harmony because of how they deal with each other: with dignity and respect. During this revelation, he vows he will strive to obtain that in Ilgan.

He concludes his work by reflecting on a pair of encounters with elves in Ilgan he had shortly before starting his manuscript. The first was the elf who disclosed the plot to turn Inbul over to his pursuers. The other was the children of his benefactors.It was these two meetings that give Inbul reason to document his time with the elves as a personal journey and not an academic observation.