#atozchallenge: Half-elf

Previous: Ghillie Dhu

The hands that guided Darrick pushed him to his knees.
“What is this, Erurainon?” The deep voice came from in front of him.
“We found this man wandering in the forest, in direct defiance of the covenant.” Darrick recognised the voice of his captor.
“Is that so? What did he have to say about it?”
“He claimed he had no knowledge of the covenant - and that none in their village know if it.”
“A likely story. Well, let me see him then.”
The bag was pulled off his head. Darrick looked around to find that he was facing a tall, ornately carved oak throne in the middle of an unfamiliar forest. The trees here rose higher than any he had remembered seeing, and were lit with a strange ethereal glow. All around him, elves stood looking at him with varying expressions.
Darrick could almost feel the weight of the Elven King’s stare. He lifted his eyes to the throne and matched it with a glare of his own.
“Why have we not seen you before?”
The question was as unexpected as it was strange. “What do you mean?”
“You. We have not seen you in our halls, at our table. You are one of us, and yet you are not.”
“Father?” Erurainon looked at the Elven King quizzically.
“Bring him here.”
The elf gripped Darrick's forearm and pulled him to his feet.
“We can do without those restraints,” the King said.
“But Father -”
The Elven King stepped forward, waving aside Erurainon's protests.
“What are you looking for?” Darrick finally asked as the King scrutinised his face. He rubbed at his wrists, where the rope marks stood out red and angry.
“What was your mother’s name?”
“Lisa.”
The King frowned. “Lisa or Lisse?”
It was Darrick's turn to frown. “We - well our village called her Lisa, but my father - he called her Lisse.”
“Lisse?” Erurainon interrupted. “Erulisse? Father, what are you getting at?” Darrick's captor alternated his perplexed gaze between his father and the intruder.
“Is she still alive?”
“I don’t understand -”
The Elven King gripped Darrick's chin. “Tell me, Adanion, is your mother still alive?”
“No. No, she’s not. She was killed in a raid when I was a child. How - how did you know my nickname?”
“Is that what she called you?”
“Darrick Adanion, she called me. None but her. In no one else’s hearing. How did you know it?”
“Explain, Father!” Eruranion cried.
The Elven King shook his head. “Not here. Bring him to my chambers.”

“Father, I love him. I cannot live without him.”
“But he will die and you will not.”
“Then I will die with him.”
“Why must you give up your immortality for his brief life? Forget about him. In a short span of time, he will be no more. You will find love amongst us.”
“It has been done before throughout the ages. They yet tell of Arwen and Aragorn, of Beren and Luthien, of Idril and Tuor. Why can there not be a tale of Erulisse and Adam?”
“If your heart is set on this -”
“It is, Father.”
“We are closing the portals, Lisse. Men are not welcome here any longer. There will be no choice for your children, not as Elrond and Elros were given. They will be sons of men. ”  
“I - I understand.”

Darrick sat silently as he listened to the Elven King’s story.
“You never told me, Father,” Erurainon's voice was an angry whisper. “For years, I thought her lost. I searched for her.”
“And now I have. We could not close the portals, not completely, as you know. In the light of the moon, men may still enter our realms. So we signed our covenants with the villages of men in order to protect our dwindling folk from the world of men. Less than fifty years, and they have forgotten. But it is to be expected. The lives of men are short and their memories are shorter still.”
The King sighed and sunk into his cushioned chair.
“And what will you do with me now?” Darrick asked.
“Do with you? Nothing. Go home, Darrick Adanion, and never come back. You have no place here.”

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From wikipedia:

In Norse mythology, a half-elf is the offspring of an elf and a human.
Notable examples include the Danish princess Skuld of Hrólf Kraki's saga, and the hero Högni of the Thidrekssaga (his mother was a human queen), and the royal line of Alfheim, which was related to the elves and more beautiful than other people, according to the Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar.

In other contexts: 

The concept was borrowed by modern fantasy authors. Perhaps the earliest such published usage is the character Orion in Lord Dunsany's The King of Elfland's Daughter.
The concept gained popularity through its use in the writings of English fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien. As a result, half-elves have become common in other fantasy writings and related material such as role-playing games. In Tolkien's works, the term Half-elven or Peredhil refers only to a few related individuals throughout history, however, in many post-Tolkien writings, the term half-elf designates an entire race.