The whole cavern fell silent, the only sound Rinne could hear was her own breathing and the light grew dimmer. It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust.
She felt something touch her mind, it felt like the guardians presence again and she shuddered.
'Do not worry Rinne, let the music flow' the guardian said to her.
A humming began throughout the cavern and Rinne began to hear the music play within her head.
Words sounded from nowhere. Bursting out of her mouth to join in with the others and Rinne could feel her power increasing.
The cavern began to shake and Rinne looked over to see the spire vibrate then crack down the middle. She feared that the spire was falling from their power, just as the tower of the philosophers. But it did not tumble down. Instead, the two halves opened up as though they were giant doors.
From within, Rinne saw bright yellow eyes looking towards the fields. Knowing that the guardian was leaving its chamber made her want to cry out, but her body seemed to be in a trance and only the song came from her.
With each step, the guardian took the ground shook more and as he neared Rinne felt the power grow immense within her.
In the minds of all elves in the cavern, the guardian spoke.
'To help this food grow so that you may live, lend me your power'
Rinne could feel her power leeching away and fought it, trying to draw it back within.
'Do not fight it, Rinne, let the power free' the guardian said in her mind.
'No' she screamed in her head and pulled with all her might and her body felt like it was burning. 'I will not give in'
Rinne cried out but it was useless, the power flowed from her in a wave of blue light and it arced over the fields into the guardian. Light from every elve in the cavern converged onto the guardian who seemed to absorb it all. When the light began to fade the guardian glowed and the singing carried on.
'What is happening?' Rinne thought.
'The power that flows through us all is for life' the guardian said to her.
'I don't understand' Rinne thought.
'You will' said the guardian who then stood on its hind legs. Towering to the ceiling of the cavern and unfolded a pair of leathery wings, just like the monster that had been plaguing her dreams. The singing stopped and the guardian remained standing upon its hind legs.
"Hold on," Rinne heard Alack say.
Rinne braced herself and tried to call the power within her but found nothing, it felt like of all her essence was gone.
The guardian roared with such might that the cavern shook and then opened its mouth. A ball of bright blue light grew from within and then burst out onto the fields underneath them. A great wave passed over them all and Rinne watched as some elves fell to their knees, but Rinne still stood as the light engulfed them and blinded her.
The cavern fell silent and Rinne blinked her eyes several times before her sight began to return. She gasped as the scene around her had changed.
Where the ploughed land was before them, now stood crops that had grown from the seeds. As if time had passed and forced the plants to grow.
Rows and rows of vegetables, wheat and even trees bearing fruit had risen out of the ground.
"That is incredible," Mavok said.
Rinne was just as unbelieving.
"There you have it, Rinne. This is what the true use of essence can be"
"There is enough here to feed us for weeks," said Rinne.
"Months," said Zalon.
The elves in the cavern began to celebrate.
"There will be a great feast on this eve, but come. There is much that must be done. We have crops to harvest," Alack said.
"Rinne, do you think that you will be able to help out now?" Mavok asked her with a smile.
Rinne shook her head and Mavok sighed.
"Why not this time?" he asked her, the smile fading from his face.
"The guardian wishes to see her," said Zalon. "I think that Rinne has decided to accept his invitation"
Rinne looked over to the spire, in all the commotion she had not seen the guardian retreat back into its cave. The great doors closed with a bang and the spire took its former shape once more.
"I am scared," Rinne said to Mavok.
"It will not harm you and I am sure that you will get the answers that you are looking for," he said with a reassuring tone.
Rinne doubted it but took her leave and walked towards the spire.
chapter seventeen
Nate had led the others in their group away from his position only an hour before but to Alyster it felt like days had passed already. When they were out of sight he pulled off the bandages to get a look at the injury himself. The smell made him want to vomit and he could tell by the redness that that infection was set. He would die from it without proper help and well before Nate could return with some, even if he managed to find his way back.
The food and water left to him would last a couple days, but Alyster had an idea about what to do. He did not want to die and was hoping that if he could make it back to the bodies that they had left earlier then soon they would be found.
Tying up the provisions that he had into his blanket, Alyster attached it to his belt and then began to half crawl, half drag himself the way back, it was not hard to do as they had left a clear trail.
Each pull forward sent pain shooting through his leg and he managed to bite his tongue. The warm metallic taste of blood filled his mouth and he spit it out onto the ground beside himself.
The sounds of snarling alerted him to the clearing where the bodies lay, as he pulled himself past a tree he caught a glimpse of two wolf-like animals running away from his arrival. The animals had already begun to eat away at the bodies and two of them were already unrecognisable.
Alyster pulled himself up towards them and begun to search through, looking for anything that might be useful to him. Some food and water added to his supply and giving him a couple more days at least if the infection did not get him first.
The ground trembled, Alyster grabbed the small dagger from his belt and held it up. A wave of energy brushed over him and knocked him backwards, with some effort he sat back up wondering what it was that had passed over, it felt like a wave of power from an elve.
"Is anyone out there?" Alyster called out.
There was no answer to his question and he continued to search through the bodies.
Nate continued forward with doubts in his mind whether leaving Alyster was the right thing to do. He knew that there was sense behind it, the others had to be saved and the infection that Nate saw needed far more help than he could offer, help that would be back at the camp.
Days seemed to pass by and the group finally made it to the beach with cries of relief. From the direction the sun was setting, Nate knew that they needed to head north to find the camp and so without resting he spurred them onwards.
It was another hour before they saw the first signs of the camp and ran for it, only to be met with half completed houses, chopped down trees and the remains of fires. But no other elves were around.
"Where are they?" one of them asked.
Nate looked around, trying to find any clues about what had happened. There were no signs of fighting or struggle, only a path that had been trodden through the forest in the direction of the mountain.
"I think they too have been captured," he said.
"What all without a fight?"
"It seems that way," he replied.
"Then what do we do?" they asked.
Nate thought about it for some time. It was clear that the elves living on this island were not friendly and the others needed saving.
"We must rescue them," said Nate.
"If they were all captured then how are a few people going to save them?" one asked.
"What was your name again?" Nate asked him.
"Mikal," the elve responded.
"Well. We first need to scout the enemy and see what we are up against. That mea
ns heading for the mountain once more"
The other elves sighed. Nate knew how the felt, he tired of all the walking around this damned island.
"We will have a rest. The others will be safe," he said to them.
"How can you be sure?" asked Mikal.
"If they wanted them dead then these elves would have killed our people right here," replied Nate.
They all nodded in agreement.
"And Alyster?" Mikal asked.
The elve was starting to annoy Nate with his questions. "He knew what was going to happen when we left him," said Nate. "Now start a fire and let's see what food we can find around here"
Alyster's mind wandered as he sat against a tree, drinking the last of the water he had with him. It had gone quicker than he was expecting and now his body was suffering for it, the whole forest seemed to blur in front of him.
'What is your name?' said a voice.
Alyster looked around but saw no-one, thinking that he was going mad Alyster chose to respond, “Alyster," he said with a smile.
'What is your purpose here?'
"There is no more purpose any longer, only to die here in this foreign forest," said Alyster with indifference.
'If it was different?' the voice asked. 'What then would you do?'
"Help my people, protect them and ensure they are safe," replied Alyster. "Learn to grow food I guess"
Alyster laughed with some hysteria as the fever washed over him.
'I have another task for you. One that you must swear to complete should life be given to you' said the voice.
Alyster laughed once more.
"The forest speaks to me and makes the promise of life. Why should I hang on to hope when the calming call of death lures me in"
'Because it is not the time for you to go yet. You must stop the young elve that you left in charge. He had judged the situation wrong and will make a grave mistake should he continue'
"Nate?" asked Alyster. "Whatever has he done?"
'Nothing yet, only you can stop him and those that follow. Take this life and see to it'
Alyster felt something grow within him. Much like the power he could access and his leg felt like it was on fire.
"What are you doing," Alyster screamed.
'Fulfil my task, life is a small reward but one you will not regret'.
The power then ran through him and Alyster felt his mind clearing, his eyes focused and his energy returned. He looked down at his leg to see fresh pink skin where the wound had once been and the pain had gone.
"Thank you," Alyster called out and he then got to his feet, stretching the numbness from sitting too long Alyster looked around at the bodies and remembered the task he had been set. He headed back the way Nate had left him to try and stop whatever was going to happen.
chapter eighteen
Rinne approached the spire and paused, feeling the now familiar presence of the guardian watching her. A last fleeting thought of escape passed through her mind before she took the final steps forward and through the doors that were now unguarded due to the amount of work in the fields.
The hallway was dark, shrouded in a strange shadow that not even her enhanced eyesight could see through it. Only items that she did not recognise.
It was a long walk before she began to feel the heat on her skin and a light appeared in front of her which then opened into the cavern and lair of the monster that had haunted her.
'Welcome' said the guardian in her mind that reminded her of Zalon.
"You wanted to see me," said Rinne as she came to a stop.
The guardian curled up with its wings folded onto its back and a tail wrapped around its feet.
'Yes I did' the guardian opened a grand yellow eye to look at her. ‘Do I scare you?'
"Zalon told me that the monster in my dreams was a dragon. A myth of old and something that didn't exist. Yet here you are"
'Here I am indeed and yet I have not harmed you' said the guardian.
"Are you not the reason that we ascend into elves?" asked Rinne. "In so doing the humans hunt and subjugated us"
'That it caused by us yes, your friends can tell you the story in detail. We have other things to talk about'
"Like what?" asked Rinne.
'The incredible tales of your use of essence is one that I am most curious about'
"We can all use the power," said Rinne. "There is nothing special about me"
'But, I can feel the power within you and it is much greater than any I have felt before. I could feel you when you first stepped foot on this island.'
"What does that mean?" Rinne asked.
'That you have a great part to play in this world. You are as dangerous as you are special, but your future is not clear'
Rinne did not know what to think. She did not want to be special or to stand out. Since her ascension Rinne had tried to keep to the shadows and let the world pass her by but something worked against that plan.
"So what do I have to do?" Rinne asked the guardian, hoping for an easy answer.
'You will have to gain control of your power if left unchecked I fear it could destroy us all. There is one more thing that we need to address, there is another that joined us upon this island whose future is as unclear'
"Who is it?" Rinne asked though she had an idea.
'The female you have fought with. She too is powerful and I know that she has an ulterior motive within this mountain.'
"You want me to stop her?" Rinne asked.
'Violence is not an answer. The world must follow the path it is walking and there are some things that cannot be changed, but we can do our best to avoid them. Stay away from this female and that is the best we can do'
"The mountain is not of infinite size," Rinne pointed out.
The guardian chuckled within her mind again.
'This much is true, just do your best and in return I will show you how to harness your essence and use it for the good it for' said the guardian.
Rinne knew that she had had a bad feeling from Amy for good reason, now she had some idea why but would make good her promise to the guardian. In return, it will help her control her power and prevent anyone from dying because of it again.
Rinne left the cavern, headed through the hallway and out of the spire to see much of the crops had already been harvested.
'How long was I gone for?' Rinne wondered.
She decided to find Mavok and speak to him of what the guardian had said about her power.
'But not of the female' the guardian spoke within her mind.
Rinne begrudged the thought, knowing that she would not have dared to mention Amy to Mavok as he would be angry with her.
'I have to make sure. Your minds can be tricky things to read. But there is something clear about this Mavok you think of' said the guardian.
'Leave those thoughts alone' Rinne said in her head.
'As you wish, but know that the way your heart feels is how it should be. There should be love in this world as there once was, Zalon remembers but many do not'
"What is love?" Rinne asked.
'Zalon will speak of such things for he loved once and knows better than I do what it means'
The guardian left her mind and it felt clear once more. Rinne changed her mind about finding Mavok, instead she chose to seek out Zalon.
chapter nineteen
Mavok pulled up the bale of wheat and hefted it onto his back then headed for the mill where it is processed into flour. The sweat dripped off of his face, he had long before taken off the shirt he wore yet there seem to be no relief from the heat of working.
Amy matched him with each bale, proving her worth and strength yet she said little. Just looked at him often with a smile.
"You do not have to work so hard," he said to her as he passed with the latest bunch.
"I can do just as much as you can," said Amy with a cheeky looking smile and she picked up her own, stumbling.
They walked next to each other towards the mill.
"There is still much to do," Mavok said.
"There are many working on the fields, it will not take much longer," said Amy.
'I hope not' thought Mavok who was tiring.
He looked over at the spire and thought of Rinne who had chosen to go and see the guardian. Mavok knew the fear she had felt. For the beast was as awesome as it was terrifying and the invasion into their minds shook Mavok up.
"I will be thankful for when it's time for the evening meal," Amy said.
Mavok nodded.
"Is everything okay?" she asked him.
"Yes, I am just distracted at the moment," Mavok replied.
"By Rinne?"
'Oh, Rinne. What is wrong with that girl?' Mavok asked himself. The guardian says she has a lot of raw essence, but that would not explain her mood nor her distrust of Amy. He waited to see if the guardian was listening and wanted to put his point in, but nothing came.
"Come on. Let's drop these off and have a break," Mavok said to her.
"Sounds good," said Amy.
They headed for the mill and dropped off their bales, then headed for the kitchens where the smell of food wafted up their noses.
"Smells like roasted vegetables," said Amy with excitement.
Mavok was hoping for some meat, it had been some days since the last time he had some. Although there were plenty of animals on the island. Most of the meat caught went straight to the guardian.
There was also the smell of fresh baked bread which started the grumbling within his stomach. They both collected a plate of food including several still warm rolls and took a seat at one of the benches that had been set up ready for dinner. There were few others in the kitchen area as most were still working upon the fields.
Amy stared at him as they ate.
"Why do you look at me so much?" Mavok asked her.
"I find you fascinating," she responded.
"How so?" Mavok asked.
"The help you give, never asking for anything in return. Rarely taking a break and always quick to forgive," Amy replied.
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