by SlyOkami
Erik rolled his eyes at both their answers, “Must I do everything?” he said to himself before disappearing.
“W-wait, where’s Ivara?” Nerick then asked as he glanced around, the baby wyvern was also gone.
“How do you lose a baby wyvern?“ Makaela asked with disbelief as she stared at Nerick, “They’re the loudest and most obnoxious creatures in Faetera! Are you blind?”
“How do your dozens of elves lose a single mage? Maybe your eyes aren’t as good as you think they are.” Thea retorted back.
Nerick stepped away as the both of them turned to glare at each other once more.
“Oh my eyes are fine, ape, but yours won’t be once I stab them out.” Makaela hissed back in elven.
“I leave for a few seconds…” Erik hissed as he suddenly reappeared, dragging a struggling Shizuka by her shirt collar.
“L-Let me go! Damnit tell it to let go!” the bestia shouted as Ivara pulled and gnawed at her left boot ferociously. Nerick crouching in and trying to grab the baby wyvern by the waist, only to be slapped off by its flapping wings. Not giving up though…he then grabbed Ivara by the tail.
Ivara’s eyes widened as her irises shrunk, the baby wyvern then going completely limp as Nerick pulled her off. All of them stared down at the creature in confusion, “The tail is a greatly sensitive weak spot, well discovered Nerick.” Erik told him clearing out the confusion before throwing Shizuka into the middle of them.
“If you even think of escaping again, I will have zero qualms about killing you.” Erik told Shizuka as he coldly glared down at her, the feline beast-woman shrinking beneath his gaze. He turned to then face Thea and Makaela, their eyes widening and expressions paling as his angered gaze fell upon them both.
“As for you two…”Erik said, his eyes narrowing before he glanced about. “Everyone set up camp, let the wyverns rest up.” He then said as xilfir began materializing out of nowhere. He returned to the both of them, “You two, we’re going for a walk.”
He turned around, walking away from them as the dreadblades began conjuring campsites and tents, also leading the still invisible wyverns into the forest cover. “Follow me.” Erik hissed at the both of them without glancing back, both Thea and Makaela briefly hesitating before following after him.
Erik lead them off, the two following him yet standing away from one another. They tread through the forest, leaving the growing camp behind.
Trees and brush surrounded them in every direction, the smell of green filling the air as the chirping of birds slowly changed. With the fall of night even the sounds within the forest changed, as the sun slowly descended beyond the mountains.
For several minutes they walked, the scenery never changing as they struggled through bushes and over roots. Up until they arrived in a small opening, a large mossy boulder laying in the centre.
Erik stopped halfway into the opening, “Your bickering is becoming detrimental to our goal and my sanity. Why? Why do you dislike each other so much?” he asked, turning around to meet their faces yet neither met his. “Thea, surely you can understand Makaela’s dislike of humanity. But, Makaela you take it too far. Thea and Nerick are our allies, yes they are human, they are indeed part of the race that enslaved your kind.”
Erik’s gaze turned back, now staring at the mossy boulder. “But they aren’t the same people that did, was it Thea who put your brothers and sisters in chains? Was it Nerick who raped and burned down your homes? No, no it wasn’t.”
“Yet they did nothing but watch.” Makaela bitterly replied in elven.
“And what would you have them do?” Erik then asked, “I realised this, as my mistake. I burned entire kingdoms down to the ground because some of those people abused of nature, which nature, to my confusion allowed them to without repercussions…But it wasn’t the farmer that cultivated the fields who cut down forests…it wasn’t the blacksmith that formed the tool who ruined an ecosystem from mining.”
He sighed, “I realise, you are my creation, Makaela. You are my mistake, and my greatest regret.”
Makaela’s eyes widened in surprise as she raised her gaze to stare at his back, “Mistake?” she repeated.
“Makaela I told you before that my goals have changed ever since I altered your people into the beings you are now…I no longer seek destruction, but instead understanding.” Erik said as he continued to gaze off at the forest opening, “What I taught you about nature still stands, yet what I said about the other races…I don’t know, I have little understanding of what their worth is yet. If they are not the pests I thought them to be then…what are they?”
“I honestly cannot say, I’m still learning and I cannot conclude on an answer. But just because I have no answer for that question, doesn’t mean my earlier answer is still correct.” He continued, raising his voice slightly. “Makaela, you might not see it but I do.” Erik said as he glanced back, meeting her confused gaze. “The Xilfir have long lost their affection towards me, I understand that now, the dreadblades are not my followers Makaela…They are yours.”
“M-Master no…We are the true Xilfir, we will always follow you!” Makaela argued, “Those traitors shouldn’t be given any thought!”
Erik smiled weakly, “I appreciate your words but, you cannot ignore fact. Those I would call my followers, they remained as such why? How were the dreadblades formed? Who kept them together? Was it not you and your ancestors before you? No Makaela, the day I died marked the end of my worship. I am no God, I’m mortal, like you.”
Erik turned around fully and approached her, “Do not hate the other races for my mistake. Hate me instead, for my actions caused your people the pain you’ve been through.” Makaela’s eyes widened at his words, “Sounds similar to what that assassin said, does it not?” Erik chuckled, amused by the similarity. “Alas, I will never forgive the killing of one’s own brethren but…He was right in his words.”
Makaela closed her eyes as she clenched her fists at her side, “What are you asking of me?”
“The Xilfir here follow you and tread in your footsteps, they look at you as their leader, their queen.” Erik continued, “For your people, you have to decide on their future as well as your own. Is hate the path you truly wish to walk? Because look at where that path took me.”
“I don’t understand…” Makaela said, “Master I’ll do anything you wish of me…Anything…”
“But I ask you to think differently, the being you knew as your master died before you were even born. The teachings passed down from your elders are as mistaken as mine were when I taught them.” Erik grabbed Makaela by her shoulders, “It is time for the hatchlings to leave the nest. Makaela, you’ve shouldered the past and present of your people, you’ve respected tradition. But that needs to change, if the Xilfir are to ever have a place in this world, someone must show them how to grow up.”
Makaela opened her eyes, holding back tears as she stared into his own. “You’re saying everything I believed in…everything you’ve taught those before, who then taught me…is wrong?”
Erik nodded, “Yes, and you’re allowed to believe that Makaela. Nobody is going to punish you for thinking your own thoughts, nobody is going to force you to worship me. I don’t want you to worship me, I don’t want blind worshippers. Makaela I want you to follow me as an ally, I want the Xilfir to be my people, no longer my sword. Judge me for what I am, point out my mistakes, don’t go along with them. That is my wish.”
Erik then turned to Thea who stood there, confused at the sight of Makaela shedding tears at his words. “You must be confused, I know how the other races see my dark elves, and indeed they are mostly right. The Xilfir, like Makaela here, were taught from a young age about a single and definitive truth. If they were to even doubt this ‘Truth’, then they would be punished in ways that go unforgotten.”
“I’ve heard the stories…that is why the dreadblades are considered a cult.” Thea spoke softly, not knowing how she should feel at this sight.
“Indeed,” Erik nod
ded as he let go of Makaela, “This is why I want you to be by her side, Thea. Your passion and empathy for others is something I, a drake, could never produce. But you must not be so judgemental of the Xilfir, which is why I wanted you here as I told her these words. So, you can see her weakness just as I do, I wanted to show you what lays beyond this stupid girl’s walls.”
“Makaela,” he returned to the dark elf, “think over what I’ve said. Do not ask for choices, make your own. Nobody owns you, nobody has for many centuries yet your people have remained stuck in this limbo. Be the one to free them, that is all I ask.”
Makaela nodded weakly, her eyes misty as her thoughts lay in shambles.
(“This is what I couldn’t grasp before, that if just maybe…if I had stopped and studied the people of this world more, then maybe I wouldn’t be in this situation. This is my mistake…but I cannot fix it, I don’t know how.”) Erik thought to himself, as he again stopped to gaze at that mossy stone.
He approached it, walking out into the forest opening. Night having already fallen, only the moon was lightning up the ground around him.
“Both of you, watch. Thea, this is what I wish to teach you. And Makaela, this is what I taught your ancestors.” He closed his eyes as he laid his hand over the boulder’s mossy surface. He searched for it, deep within himself.
The core of his self, a feeling located in his chest yet not physically there. Erik grasped the connection between his body and soul. “Watchers of the green, behold my voice. Respond to this lost brother, who only searches for knowledge and truth. Respond, and show these lambs your true form. For they might not be able to hear, or speak, but they might just see.” He spoke in draconic, his voice carrying off into the forest, echoing where it shouldn’t have.
Erik stepped away from the boulder and opened his eyes, finding himself surrounded by light. Wisps of green, white and blue fluttered about him, more flowing out of the grass below and moss ahead.
“What…are these?” Thea asked as she stared at the scene in bafflement.
“Nature sprits, the souls of the living beings that inhabit this forest. Be it the critters and bugs, or even the blades of grass and strains of moss. Even the trees, they hold some of the oldest spirits, and wisest.” Erik answered as he glanced about at the many flickering lights. “You cannot hear it, but they also speak, in their own way. Tell me, what do you think the dragon’s language is? What is draconic by your understanding?”
“I don’t…” Thea didn’t know, the stories and tales of dragons were the only things that remained after the turn of the age.
“Draconic is a racial spell that uses words,” Makaela began to say, her tone still distraught. ”Just like chanting, to bend and manipulate mana. Draconic is a magical language used to communicate with these spirits, who cannot hear or feel us, they can only see us. Just like how we cannot hear or feel them, we can only see them.”
“We dragons could hear them, it is how we discovered their existence the moment we arrived in this world. They were here long before even us, they are nature itself. We created draconic to communicate with them, yet our voices could never compare to theirs.” Erik said, clenching his fists as suddenly each wisp flowed away from him, turning a dark shade of red. “Ha…I apologise, for my anger. Forgive this foolish brother.” He said in draconic.
“I cannot hear them.” He then said in a grim tone, as slowly the wisps of light drew back closer, their sudden dark red colour changing to a sullen blue. “I cannot hear their song, not with these ears. I cannot hear their voices anymore…” Erik mumbled to himself, grimacing as a single tear streaked down his cheek.
Immediately he wiped it away, surprised as he stared down at his hand where the tear now lay splattered. He clenched his hand into a fist, (“What is happening to me?…”) he asked himself, then glancing around at the lights. Noticing their colour, why were the spirits reacting so severely to his emotions? Why were his emotions so distraught in the first place?
Erik did not know, there was so much he did not know. He hated this feeling of confusion.
Making sure his eyes were dry, he turned to them. Seeing the spirits flow about them too, multitudes of coloured lights, more diversity than he had ever seen. (“Why? Why do the spirits adore you so much?”) He thought to himself, “If I could hear you now…would your song give me the answers I seek?” Erik then asked in draconic, glancing about as he watched the spirits flicker off.
The wisps of light dimmed away, leaving them with only moonlight once more.
Erik sighed, “Yeah, I figured as much.” he didn’t need to be able to hear them to know their answer, “Find it yourself, right?” a barren belief that constructed the dragon’s very culture. “I have somewhere I must visit nearby, wait for me here.” He then told Thea and Makaela who watched the spirits dissipate with child-like amazement.
“Uh, okay?” Thea said, watching as Erik walked off into the forest.
Then realising as she glanced to her side…she was left alone with Makaela, who still looked like a mess. Thea looked back into the opening but Erik was already gone, the drake was nowhere in sight. Her gaze returned to Makaela, although her tears had stopped she was still gazing down at the ground.
(“Now what?…I’m alone with her as she has an existential crisis?…”) Thea asked herself while staring at Makaela, “Uhm…should we sit? H-He never said how long he’d be gone for?” she offered awkwardly.
Makaela didn’t say a word in response, instead glancing away from Thea to hide her teary cheeks. She walked out into the opening alone, disappearing behind the boulder and sitting onto the nearest loose rock. (“This…is going to be difficult.”) Thea thought as she approached the sulky xilfir, standing with the boulder in between them.
“I’m sorry for what I said before, I didn’t mean any of it…” Thea apologised, grasping at straws to start a conversation with her.
Makaela still did not respond, and they stood there for several long moments. One unwilling to speak, too lost in her thoughts and the other unsure of what to do or say.
“I cannot say I understand,“ But Thea tried to break the ice once more, ”…what you’ve been through. But I want to understand what you’re going through now, Makaela we’re in this together whether we like it or not. Can’t you at least make me understand?”
“You wish to understand, human? How can you? Ever?…” Makaela whispered back with a sorrowful tone, “Tell me, Lady Selene, have you ever been in love?”
This caught Thea completely off guard, causing her cheeks to flush red and back away from the boulder that separated them.
“Because that is what my people use to carve into our young’s hearts, love for the ‘Truth’.” She continued, Thea relaxing in turn. ”And pain if one does not love. That way of things may have faltered among most families but…I hold the bloodline of the main branch, my mother never even blinked as she carved it into me.”
Makaela said something in elven, going ununderstood by Thea. “Nature is alive, all around us. We give back what we take, else we punish ourselves for being unable to and having taken more than we should have. That is our truth, our one belief and religion.” Then saying the same words in common so she could.
Makaela chuckled, “And now, the being we regard as our shepherd tells me to let it all go?” insanity in her tone. “That he…was wrong!? Then why? What was the purpose of what I’ve been through? Where has my time spent being taught the ‘Truth’ gone to, if it’s just misunderstood? Have I been lying to my followers all along? Is my life just a lie as well? How…what am I supposed to tell the rest?”
“Tell them…to think for themselves.” Thea said, “Just like Erik said, you need to make your own choices from now on. Don’t just blindly take a few phrases as fact, argue and try to find holes in those words so that you can form out the truth. The very truth.”
“What then? What if I don’t agree with that truth?!” Makaela asked, rising up and stepping around the boulder to face Thea. Her
eyes were wide and skin flushed darker with anger, yet her expression also showed a pleading confusion. “For so long I was alone…at the lead of my people with no clue where to take them. Then master returned! Erikathyr the white appeared before me and asked where my allegiance lay!”
Thea stared at Makaela as she broke down, any thought of trying to console the xilfir clouded by confusion as the saw Makaela’s panic.
“I thought…he was where I should take my people, that he would be our fate…that he was my destiny!” Makaela exclaimed, showing more emotion than she ever had throughout her life. Unable to control her tone or expression any longer, her mind laying distorted and heart broken. “But…He chose you before I even had a chance. You are his chosen, not me.”
“Surely I cannot be the only one? Findri had seven…” Thea offered, realising that she was indeed part of Makaela’s sorrow.
“Findri only had one Chosen, the rest where her children’s Chosen. Alan the immortal was her only true champion.” Makaela said, meeting Thea’s eyes with her dreadful gaze. “The other six…Ha, bound to a minor child like me! They were bound to Findri’s children of ice, the Jotun.”
“I-” Thea began, yet stopped herself. Utterly no clue what to even say.
Makaela smiled coldly, “I accepted that, I accepted it long before he told me that a dragon cannot bond their child as a chosen!“ Tears began to flow down her face once again, ”Yet I couldn’t help myself from hating you, and now…Now I don’t know anything anymore!” she grasped her own face, as she fell to her knees. “I don’t know!” Screaming out, anger and frustration filling her heart as she completely let her emotions loose.
“What am I supposed to do now?!” Makaela asked in plea, laying forward into the grass.
She lay there for several moments, eyes closed, her chest a complete wreckage.
Her weeping then froze as she heard the sound of iron piercing iron and then flesh, the sound so clear as it originated from directly above her. Makaela opened her teary eyes as she glanced above herself, finding Thea kneeling before her.