by Toni Cox
Mist King snorted; a sign he was relaxed; but it startled Aaron and he studied the dense vegetation around him. Strange sounds, oddly muffled, reached his ears. Sounds he could not identify. He asked Rothea.
“Some of the calls you hear are from wood peckers and forest owls. They are common in our woods, yet these sound as if they are speaking a different language. The rhythm is the same, but the tone is different. Others,” she listened, “even I have never heard before. I assume them to be birds as well. Look.”
Rothea pointed ahead at where Wolf had just startled a bird out of a bush. The black bird cawed and circled the wolf three times before flying off.
“It looks like a raven, but one unknown to me. I think the animals in here have evolved differently due to their isolation from the outside world. They should be nothing to fear.”
“I would believe it if you believed it yourself,” Aaron said.
Rothea shot him a dark glance, but did not comment. They rode in silence for a while, keeping a close watch on Wolf investigating the bushes and undergrowth along the path.
“Why don’t you tell me about Earth?” Rothea finally asked.
“Earth? Why?”
“Distract me.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Tell me about your myths. Surely you have them. This forest is about as mythical as I have ever encountered in my homeland, but there isn’t much I can tell you about it.”
Aaron thought for a while. How could he describe to her that they travelled at the speed of six hundred miles per hour in sky busses? Or that they put a frozen cube into a device called a Nanowave and within a minute it turned the cube into dinner?
No, that wasn’t what she wanted to know. Myths, legends; most people did not believe in such things anymore. Yet, during his time here on Elveron, he had discussed the subject with Silas on numerous occasions. Maybe he should tell her the story of Earth’s myths and legends the way Silas told it.
“All right,” he finally agreed, happy for the distraction himself. “I did not grow up with our Elders telling us stories about myths and legends, and most of the histories that told of such things had been banned and destroyed. Yet, I come from an old family, with roots deep in our history, and I did some research while I was still on Earth. I discovered, although we always believed it to be a joke, the people of my family from my father’s side were related to a man called Merlin, who lived a very long time ago and was rumoured to have built Stonehenge.”
“That is exciting, Aaron,” Rothea said, smiling with a sparkle in her eyes. “Tell me more.”
“When we first came here, Silas told us that he knew Merlin. It came a bit of a shock to us that this Merlin really existed, but we still did not believe him to be one of our forefathers. Only when Silas explained that one can only travel through a Gate with the knowledge of magic, did we investigate this further. Silas thought, if we were relatives of Merlin, there could be some residual magic within us, which allowed Maia to bring us through the Gate.”
“Silas knew Merlin? Your forefather?”
“If he really is our forefather, but, yes, Silas knew Merlin and helped him rebuild the Gate on our side.”
“Rebuild?” Rothea frowned.
“Yes. This is where things get weird. You might like it.” Aaron laughed; a light-hearted sound oddly out of place with the ominous forest around them. Some of the men stared at him. He continued. “The way Silas tells it, the people that are on Earth now are the second generation. They began to inhabit Earth about thirty thousand years ago.”
“Who was before them?”
“The first generation was those who built the original Gates. Silas said these people had magic similar to yours. They were a cultured and wise people, and they travelled all across the galaxy to visit the other planets to learn, teach and trade.”
“What happened to them?”
“A meteor hit Earth. The most populated areas of the world flooded, killing almost everyone instantly. After that, Earth’s atmosphere was so contaminated with the gases from the meteor, it killed most of the survivors. It took Earth near on a thousand years to recover. Those that did survive the event, clung to life, changing, adapting, and their lineage went on to become the Elders. They were the ones that re-established civilisation on Earth, but it took many thousands of years for them to even come close to the great people they once were.”
Rothea watched him speak, hanging on to every word he said. The way she looked at him brought colour to his cheeks. He struggled to continue, the forest around him temporarily forgotten.
“About eight thousand Earth years ago - Silas is a little uncertain of the exact number of years - those few who descended from the Elders and inherited their ability to do magic, decided to rebuild the Gates. Most failed at first, but, eventually, they constructed functioning Gates and the Channel was open once more. The only Gate that was never rebuilt was the Maze, as its location was now completely covered by ice. About five or six thousand years ago, the ruler of what was then prehistoric Britain favoured the Elders and also ordered the Gate to be rebuilt. It was during the years that followed that Silas travelled to Earth to help Merlin build what was to become known as Stonehenge.”
Rothea frowned. “I know there is a time difference between Earth and Elveron, but you are talking thousands of years. How is it possible for Silas to have been there?”
“It was about five or six hundred years ago counting in your years.”
“Oh.” Rothea’s lips formed a perfect O and Aaron looked at them for a moment too long. His ears burned when she continued speaking. “He must have been over two thousand years old already when he went to Earth. Did he tell you anything else?”
“He said Merlin came to live here for a while, which extended Merlin’s life on Earth. Merlin was an exceptional Human, capable of more magic than any other Human Silas had met. Silas says, if we inherited but a fraction of Merlin’s magic, we should be able to learn to travel through the Gate by ourselves.”
Rothea’s face fell, suddenly looking defeated.
Aaron wanted to reach out to her in sympathy. “What is it?”
“If …” She hesitated, biting her bottom lip. “… if Silas taught you how to use the Gate, would you go back to Earth?”
Now he did reach out and laid his hand on hers. “This is our home now, Rothea. Even if we had the chance, we would never go back. There is nothing to go back to. Earth is but a shadow of its former self. Humans have destroyed it. It is a toxic, inhospitable place. Besides, do you really think I could separate Jasmine from Archer?” He laughed again.
Rothea’s eyes narrowed for a moment, but then a smile formed on her lips. Again, his eyes were drawn to the shape of her perfect mouth and he had to force himself to look back into her eyes.
“Thank you, Aaron, for sharing this story with me. And, I am glad you are going to be staying.” Rothea removed her hand from under his and turned to her men to signal them to stop. “Eveloen, see what that wolf is up to. Looks like he has found something.”
Startled, Aaron looked around. In his telling, he had forgotten about the brooding forest, and the Regiment riding behind him. Wolf was, indeed, sniffing at a bush and digging in the dirt around it. As Aaron watched, the animal suddenly disappeared and Eveloen gave a surprised shout as she tried to locate the spot where she had last seen the wolf.
Rothea urged her horse forward and jumped off to join Eveloen in her search for the wolf. A Horse Master came forward to take her horse’s reins and Aaron quickly dismounted Mist King and hand his reins over too.
Approaching with caution, Aaron joined the two women warriors in their search for the wolf. Rothea nudged branches out of the way with the tip of her sword and all nearly fell backwards when Wolf jumped out at them, wagging his tail gleefully.
“What are you up to, you furry beast?” Rothea scolded, but he merely dived back into the undergrowth.
“There is another path there,” Eveloen said, holding ba
ck branches and pointing beyond them.
The all watched as Wolf trotted along the narrow trail, sniffing here and there, before sitting down to wait for them.
“All right,” Rothea finally said. “It looks like this is our way forward, but I do not want to go in there so late in the day. We will make camp here on the road for the night and then enter there in the morning. Neth, Cúben, please set up camp.”
“How do you even know what time it is?” Aaron asked, staring at the dark canopy above.
“I don’t think the forest wants us to know,” Rothea said, sending shivers down his back. “Given the amount of time we have been riding, it should be early afternoon now. Outside the forest, it will be dark within the next two hours.”
Aaron studied the gloom apprehensively. For two years now he had lived in a forest and had never been happier. Having been an architect on Earth, he had designed some extraordinary buildings, yet he now considered their tree house to be the most wonderful of accommodations. The trees around Shadow Hall were ancient and the city was as much part of them as the soil they had their roots in. This forest felt malicious to him.
“Do not look so worried, Aaron,” Rothea said, placing a calming hand on his shoulder. “I do not think the forest means us harm. It has had plenty of opportunity to hurt us already, yet it has let us pass without trouble.”
“Then why does it seem so unfriendly?” he asked.
“I believe that it means to scare us so we leave.”
Rothea took her hand off his shoulder, bringing back his apprehension. She moved over to where the Horse Masters were busy feeding the horses and went to retrieve her bag with her personal items, before moving to where the Servers were erecting her tent.
Aaron followed her, unsure of what to do. He had helped set up camp many times, but here he wasn’t sure where to start. Usually, someone needed to fetch firewood and water. He did not feel inclined to scramble into the undergrowth to look for wood. He shuddered at the thought. Instead, he assisted Neth with Rothea’s tent, before setting up his own. Guilt gnawed at him when he noticed Dyrell move along the treeline to collect wood. The warrior seemed uncomfortable, but did not shirk his duties as he had.
Later that night, once the gloom had faded to complete darkness and all huddled around the two fires they had built, Aaron decided he did not want to be the weak Human anymore. It was too easy to slip back into the helpless Human persona every time he felt uncomfortable or insecure about something.
He was not that person; he had changed too much. He now lived as an Elf and he felt pride for what he had already accomplished. Now, he needed to man up; be the warrior he pretended to be.
In his mind, he saw Jasmin’s face when he told her he was leaving. He saw the worry in Luke’s eyes when they said their goodbyes. Everyone thought of him as weak and incapable. It was time he proved them wrong.
“Two years the Humans have now been on Elveron and I have been researching Maia’s abilities ever since,” Silas began once the Server that brought them their lunch had left. “As far as I was aware, she should not have been able to bring them and I was shocked she did so. I helped her research the matter, but I never told her how worried I was about it. When she brought the scrolls from Dorien’s library about Soul Reaping, most of my fears were confirmed and I delved deeper.”
Silas rose from his chair to fetch his satchel. From it, he took a notebook, which he brought back to the table.
“I have been making notes on everything I have discovered. You can take this and read through it, but I will need it returned.”
Jaik nodded. “Of course. Thank you, Silas.”
“As I was saying, I was worried. When, after a year, none of the effects of Soul Reaping manifested, I went back to my earlier research, thinking I might have missed something. By then, I had accumulated so much research that I enlisted your mother’s help and, together, we discovered magic so old it has long been forgotten.”
“What do you mean?”
“Our history goes back a long way and records of our magic can be found in almost every text about our history. The most basic magic gets taught to every child once their powers develop. Those with two or three, or even four, elemental powers go on to study further in order to control their magic. I, too, was once young and had to learn to wield my magic.”
“As did I,” Jaik said.
Silas nodded. “On the basis of what I was taught and what I subsequently learned, I trained Maia to become the Life Elemental she was born to be. I taught her everything I know, plus whatever I could find on the teachings of magic. I was impressed with her skill and the ease with which she learned, so I kept from her the fact that most Primes are not able to master their skills until they reach the age of two to three hundred years.”
“But you had her take her ceremony when she was only one hundred and twenty-two.”
“I did,” Silas agreed. “I believed she was ready, especially after the miracle of her bringing the Humans here. Her powers were already so much stronger than my own and I thought the ceremony would give her focus and direction. Now, though, I believe it achieved little. Although Maia’s power was great, she has not reached her full potential yet. We discovered magic I cannot teach her. Old magic. Magic such as she used to bring the Humans to Elveron.”
“You mentioned old magic before. What is it?”
“Old magic as we call it now was used by the Prime Elders of the Forgotten Era.”
“The Forgotten Era is tale we tell the children,” Jaik said, a frown settling on his forehead. He suddenly felt ill at ease.
“Aye, we tell the tale of the Forgotten Era and the Prime Elders wielding magic so powerful they ruled the entire planet, but it is more than just a tale. Your mother and I discovered evidence that the tales are true. Many millennia have passed since magic like that has been seen on Elveron, but I now see it in almost everything Maia does. No one else, not even your father, sees it, because everyone simply expects Maia to be exceptional. Even Maia is unaware and often wields this magic without even giving it thought.”
“Even I do not know what you speak of,” Jaik said.
“Maia uses her powers with efficiency, but when she thinks about it too hard, she limits herself to what she believes she can do. Or maybe I should rather say, to what I taught her she can do. However, when she lets go of what she believes is possible, suddenly she is more powerful. To give you an example, let us look at Maia reviving a wilting plant. Every Earth magic user can do this and it is no special feat. Maia does this frequently, mostly in passing, without thinking about it. So, this one day we were walking together and on the side of the path was a Lumina plant. It was just after an unseasonal frost and the flower was dead. Anyone else would have dug it up and thrown it away, but Maia only flicked her wrist in passing, not having noticed the flower to be dead, and it sprang back to life.”
“Are you sure the plant was dead?” Jaik inquired, unbelieving.
“I am quite certain of it,” Silas answered. “I did not say anything at the time as your mother and I were already researching Maia’s powers. Instead, I started to take note of the little things Maia did, and we came to find many more of such anomalies. You will find them logged in my notebook. It makes for interesting reading.”
Silas cleared his throat and took a sip of his water before he continued. Jaik thought he had never heard the old Elf speak so much.
“Maia came to me many times over the past two years, complaining about strange dreams. I at first put these down to the stress of bringing the Humans here, the Vampyre threat and the fact that she thought Death was stalking her, but I finally discovered that nearly all these dreams were either mind-links or visions, premonitions.”
“Mind-links?”
“You know how Maia communicates with Midnight. It is on a much deeper level than how we communicate with the dragon. This kind of communication is called mind-linking. I believe, over the past couple of years, albeit mostly in her dreams, she has be
en mind-linking with Blaid.”
“With Blaid?”
“Jaik,” Malyn cut in, “stop interrupting and listen.”
“Yes, with Blaid. I don’t think either of them initiated the link and it was not intentional. I believe the two of them possess the same kind of old magic, which draws them to each other. Blaid has played a bigger part than we thought. Look at how they fought together during the battle of the first war. When they came to our rescue, their combined magic was so strong they brought Midnight to his knees as the dragon landed. Then, the two of them whirled through the Vampyre warriors, wielding their weapons like extensions of themselves. Again, this was not something they thought about, but something they let happen to themselves. The old magic within them took over and nothing would have stopped them.”
“They fought like this during the second war as well, but not alongside each other. If this magic is so powerful, how did Maia get so hurt during that battle?”
“Jaik,” his mother admonished.
“It is all right, Malyn. Let him ask his questions,” Silas said. “The old magic is the most powerful magic on Elveron, but it takes practice, and a lot of energy, to wield it. When they fought alongside each other, they could feed of each other’s energy to keep the magic flowing. During the second war, Maia had no one to guide her while she wielded the old magic and all she concentrated on was defeating the enemy. She did not think, or care at that moment, about her own safety. The old magic can be dangerous if not wielded properly.”
“So, what you are telling me is, Maia has old magic as in the tale of the Forgotten Era, but does not know how to wield it?”
“Correct. And, there is no one able to teach her how to control it. For Maia to remain in ignorance about her powers could prove fatal to not just herself, but all of us, which is why I sent her away.”
“You sent her away?”