Actually, the thought of travel and high adventure intrigued him. Every elf's dream, it would be like the tales the bards sang of. One day, they might sing his song, too.
What else did he have to look forward to at home but daily drudgery and endless mountings by merchants and nobles plus their human friends they passed him along to, for coin. Still, he had responsibilities and told the unicorn as much.
"Ah, but you must come with me, little elf, else the Haven we know will be destroyed. Your training as a druid must start soon. Come let us away."
"But, but, I can not take off just like that with ... with... the first unicorn that comes along." he finished lamely.
He was trying out excuses more to convince himself than to dissuade the insistent unicorn.
"Besides, my old man and brothers would never let me just run off. I have a duty to our household. No one will tend the fields when I'm gone." he added.
"Which is why you must do just that, without telling them, for they would not willingly let you take off with me. They would lose your services both in the fields and the coin you bring home as an escort. And your father doubtless knows what is likely to happen between an elf and a unicorn."
"What does happen? I think I have a right to know if you expect me to go traipsing off with you into parts unknown."
"In the Great Forest, you will be apprenticed to the druids, one of a company of young men of your race and of other races trained to use your powers for good. In time, you will be transformed from an ordinary elf to a powerful earth druid with magical powers to command the natural world."
"Powers? What powers? I am just an elf, not a wielder of magic. My only magical gift is a green thumb."
"That is true, right now. You are correct that almost everyone has only a single magical gift, sufficient to kindle a fire or to light their way in the dark or find their way without getting lost. Unicorns and elves are different. We are magical creatures in and of ourselves. It was magic that brought us into existence and magic, which sustains us during our long lives. Which is why elves may live for centuries and unicorns, while unicorns go on till something stops us."
"Don't worry that, young and small as you are, that you do not fit the stereotype of a druid in the stories the bards tell. Actually, I have never met a druid who really did fit the description: a tall man of stern mien and with a piercing gaze and grey beard.
"Druids come in all sizes and races, but they are perpetually youthful, so they don't have a single strand of gray between them. As to what you can expect for yourself, outwardly and physically, you will look much the same as you do now, an intensely comely young elf. One change you can expect is that your head of hair will grow out to resemble the long mane of the equines."
"No offense, Merry, why would I want to grow a long mane? With my tousled locks, I look feminine enough as it is, as so many have remarked as they use me as their femme to gratify their carnal desires."
"You have entirely the wrong idea about a mane. I am a stallion and very much a male. Does my mane make me look like a filly? Or consider the proud mane of the lyon. No, there is nothing feminine about a mane at all.
"I daresay you will come to appreciate it when yours grows out. It will look sensuous when the wind whips it about or makes it stream back as you run. But if you insist, you could put your mane up in a -- you should pardon the expression -- a pony tail."
"Ha, I know what my father would say to that. An elf with a pony tail dangling behind! But seriously, how shall I equip myself for such a journey? What of tools or weapons or money? Will I have to wear clothing like many humans do?"
"A druid uses no weapons of metal, certainly not of blades of cold iron nor of steel to shed blood. As for clothing, you will have no more need for it in the future than you have had in the past. We shall be heading to torrid zone of the planet. You will find the Great Forest is a sweltering jungle, much hotter than this sub-tropical valley. Besides, since when are elves body shy. Elves do not wear any clothing before they pass their tests.
"Your kind spends the first century of life entirely naked. Even for most elven adults, a thong or loincloth are only optional and often dispensed with. It is one of the things that brings your race close to nature. I understand that perfectly. We are both naked creatures, are we not, living just as nature made us?"
"As for food and shelter, we will live off the country, sharing nature's bounty. I can graze in the meadows, and you can gather birds, eggs, starchy tubers, fruits, nuts, and such. We will often sleep under the stars or in a bower for shelter. As for what nature does not provide, we can find accommodations at inns along the way. To pay for such, we will earn such coin as we might need in ways I will suggest to you."
"Then I must take off from my only home just as I stand here now, empty-handed, penniless, defenseless, and stark naked?"
"Indeed, that would be for the best."
"Well, at least I will get to ride a unicorn!"
"Hardly young man. Disabuse yourself of that notion right away. I am not carrying you on my back, slight though the burden of your weight would be. Instead, you will walk or run beside me, alternating the pace to cover ground quicker. That should improve your wind and your endurance. If there is any mounting to be done, it is I who shall do it to you."
Did Merry's last remark really mean that a creature fully eight times larger intended to mount him? He shook his head, rejecting the impossible image that had formed in his mind's eye, an alarming vision of a small elf bent over, covered, and bred like a filly by the powerful stallion.
Despite his alarm, Dahl went off with the magical being. He knew no one would question or stop him, especially in the company of a unicorn. On Valentia, travel was unrestricted.
No one needed permission or papers to cross borders. For the most part, there were no check points or customs stations on the unmarked frontiers of the different states.
Dahl sent a letter to his father from the first village they passed through. It was only several years later that his family learned of the achievements of the druid Dahlderon.