by Tj Dixon
“Well, we’ll find out soon enough. If they do attack we’ll just have Elucia shield us.” Dairon says. I wish it was a joke but Dairon really seems to believe that I could shield against an entire elven tribe. Just how crazy strong does he think I am?
Dairon takes a deep breath and begins to sing. I can’t hear it but I can sense it like a cool refreshing breeze. It’s welcome but I feel jealous of the elves and faeries for being able to hear his song. This song is supposedly the song of Dairon’s very existence. It’s incredibly intimate and yet he repeatedly shares it with complete strangers. We’ve shared a lot of time and experiences with each other and yet I’ve never heard the song and never will. I’d like to understand Dairon better and I can’t think of any better way than hearing his song.
Of course I wish he’d understand me better too. Why does he think I’m just some overpowered brute? I’m a cute young woman, not a brute! I am cute, aren’t I? I bet Dairon doesn’t think I am.
Actually, why do I even care? I like Peter, don’t I? I had given up on him for Rin’s sake, but when I heard he was supposedly dead it hurt, badly. That pain was real. Giving up on my love is very different to stopping the love though. Seeing Peter alive was a huge relief even if he had changed so much.
So if I like Peter, why does it feel like I like Dairon? I may not have admitted it to anyone else, but I have to admit it to myself. I do like Dairon. A lot. Am I in love with two different people? How is that even possible? As if that’s not bad enough, I don’t even stand a chance with either of them! I’m so jealous of Yusa and her happy reunion with Jimmy. Those two are so honest with each other and make such a nice couple.
Coming out of my little reverie I notice my surroundings. There are now elves crowded all around us. There must be over a hundred elves. As if I could shield attacks from that many elves. At least they don’t appear hostile. Instead they seem intent on Dairon’s song. Then it ends.
I feel more than a few curious stares directed my way, but most of the elves are focused on Dairon. Nobody seems openly hostile and nobody has attacked. They whisper amongst themselves and then to my relief every single elf kneels on the ground looking up at Dairon respectfully.
“Your majesty, when the time comes you can count on us.” An elderly woman tells Dairon.
“Thank you. I will be sure to reward your loyalty with victory. Please rise.” Dairon answers, sounding much more confident than normal. The elves quickly stand but don’t relax at all.
“The envoy will not be back for a few days, so might we discuss your plans whilst we have the chance?” The elderly woman asks.
“Certainly, but not in front of everyone. The more people who know our plans, the more chance of the enemy learning them.” Dairon answers.
“Please come with me your majesty and Legate Sakura. Jules is about the same age as the human, so I am sure he will be happy to keep her entertained whilst we talk.” She says and points at a boy about half my height.
What does she think I am?! A child!? Dairon just nods though. Damn him, the traitor! Now I have to babysit some elven kid. I watch Dairon’s back as he follows the old woman with Sakura still sitting on his shoulder. As I watch though Sakura turns towards me and waves with a huge beaming smile on her face as Dairon enters a small tent. Cursed faery!
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Jules. What might your name be?” Jules greets me.
“I’m Elucia.” I say with a sigh.
“I’m not familiar with human culture, if such a thing exists, but I will do my best to keep you entertained. I promise it will be fun, Elucia.” Jules says. Damn, the little boy actually thinks he’s the adult.
“How old are you?” I ask.
“Twenty three.” Jules answers with a smile. Seriously?! “How old are you, Elucia?”
“I’m fourteen.” I answer.
“So young. Have you learnt magic yet?” Jules asks.
“Yes. I can do magic just fine.” I tell him.
“How about playing sky touch?” Jules suggests.
“How does it work?” I ask.
“You both create a small cloud in elven or I suppose human shape. Then you have to touch the other cloud’s feet with your cloud’s hands without letting the other cloud’s hands touch your cloud’s feet. Whoever scores the most touches in the time limit wins.” Jules tells me.
“It sounds fine.” I agree. It will serve as practise and pass the time whilst I wait for Dairon. I create a white cloud in front of me and carefully adjust the size and shape until it looks just like me, right down to these leaf clothes.
“You wouldn’t normally make it look so realistic.” Jules tells me and forms a white cloud in front of him about the same size as him and the same general shape but nowhere near as detailed as mine.
“So how long’s the time limit?” I ask.
“Just a thousand seconds.” Jules replies. How long’s that? Well since it is in seconds it can’t be that long even if it is a thousand.
“Ok. Ready when you are.” I tell Jules.
“Then start now.” Jules says and his cloud person lunges hands first towards mine. I barely manage to evade his first attack but as I do so he twists his cloud person at an impossible angle and reverses his direction instantly. A moment later he has scored his first touch as his cloud hands grasp my cloud feet.
Jules’ cloud person backs off for a moment so I fly mine back a few feet. Then his lunges towards mine again, but this time I dive mine as if jumping into a lake or river but instead dive into his cloud person touching the feet.
“Stop. You’re disqualified for breaking the rules. You’re not allowed to pass through each other’s cloud avatar.” Jules tells me.
“You never said that!” I protest.
“You can’t pass through another person’s body so it would be silly for a training game to allow you to do so.” Jules tells me.
“You can’t twist your body like you did either though.” I point out.
“That’s not against the rules though.” Jules tells me.
“Well it should be.” I tell him.
“Then you’d have to define exactly what movement is realistic and you’d spend too much focus keeping within that movement instead of focusing on your magic.” Jules tells me with a shrug.
“Fine. Let’s try again. I’m going to beat you this time.” I tell the annoying elf brat.
“Of course. Let’s start now.” Jules says and his avatar leaps into action. Not ready I can’t avoid his first attack but I do manage to brush my avatar’s right hand against a foot. “Doesn’t count. You can’t attack immediately after taking or dealing an attack.”
“Tell me that sooner.” I grumble.
“It’s common sense.” Jules says with a frown.
“So how long do I have to wait?” I ask.
“Three second.” Jules tells me and then sends his avatar after mine again. I dodge this time and counter attack but he easily evades my attack and his next attack just about brushes against my avatar’s left foot. We both back our avatar away from each other’s.
“One, two, three.” I count and then send my avatar flying hands first towards my opponent’s feet. He tries to dodge but I manage to just about grab his feet before he can reach mine. It helps that my avatar is about twice as tall as his, because he can’t reach my feet in time.
“Well done.” Jules says.
“From now on all the points will be mine.” I tell Jules.
“We’re finished.” Dairon says.
“That was quick.” I say, turning in surprise.
“My point.” Jules tells me.
“We’re finished.” I tell him pointedly.
“Stopping halfway through is rude.” Jules tells me.
“That’s true.” Dairon tells me. “You can finish the game and we’ll head back afterwards. It seems there’s no danger of the Envoy returning so there’s no reason to be rude for my sake.”
“Fine, I’ll finish the game.” I say, a bit annoyed at Dai
ron for taking Jules’ side. Worse I have to play in front of Dairon and everyone now. I catch Sakura laughing silently too.
“Ready to continue?” Jules asks.
“Yes.” I say and throw my avatar into action before he can catch me off guard again. It doesn’t help though, because Jules spins his avatar behind me at lightning speed and manages to score a touch in his first attack.
As the game continues Jules stacks up touch after touch and I can’t even get anywhere near his feet again. Every time he attacks using a different method so no matter what I do I just can’t come up with an effective defence. Of course I try attacking first but that just ends up losing me points even quicker. The whole time I am conscious of Dairon and everyone, but especially Dairon, watching. It’s just too embarrassing.
“Time’s up. Two hundred and three points to one.” Jules says happily.
“Did you forget what I told you, Jules?” The elderly woman asks politely. Jules freezes up and turns awkwardly to me.
“You had fun, right?” Jules asks.
“Great fun.” I say sarcastically.
“That’s great. I knew you would.” Jules says with a grin. I glare at him and he winces.
“Thank you for keeping Elucia entertained. We have a lot more tribes to meet so we’ll need to be going now. Everyone please keep safe and keep hope.” Dairon says with a friendly smile. Then Sor ports in beside Dairon.
“Back?” Sor asks.
“Yes.” Dairon answers and Sor ports us all back to the temple.
“Do you know where you’ll be going next?” Sor asks.
“Sakura?” Dairon asks.
“Yes. It seems another tribe’s Envoy just left. The tribe is a bit aggressive but they’re also deeply loyal to the elven kings. They used to be a branch family of the elven monarchy and were responsible for managing a significant part of the old kingdom. As long as you can convince them quickly enough that you really are the king they should agree to help.” Sakura says.
“There’s only one way I can do that, so I hope they listen to my song before attacking. But if they don’t I’m sure Elucia can keep us safe whilst I sing.” Dairon says with way too much faith in me. Wasn’t he watching my defeat to a single elf brat just now? I suppose the brat was older than me, but as far as the elves are concerned he was a child.
“I wonder about that.” I mutter.
“Don’t worry. When playing a game that you’ve never played before against someone who has played it countless times before even an adult would have a hard time, so don’t be too depressed by your loss. When it comes to brute power though, I have complete faith in you. Even against an entire tribe your shield will hold for a little while.” Dairon says.
“Don’t blame me if it doesn’t.” I warn Dairon. ‘Brute power’ though and worse ‘even an adult’... He really does just see me as just a brute and as a child too.
“I’ll do my best.” I say without any enthusiasm.
“Are you all ready?” Sor asks. Dairon looks to Sakura who nods and then to me.
“Yes.” I reply. Sor ports us. The first thing I notice is the cold. It’s much colder here than it is back at the temple even outdoors. There’s snow right up to my waist. The leaf clothing with its enchantment helps but my legs still feel the chilly bite of the snow and even my upper body is shivering.
There are elves all around us walking on top of the snow instead of through it. They are wearing furs with helmets and sandals. The helmets have animal faces that seem to be taken from real animals. Wolves are the most common, but there are also bears, dogs and a few large birds with very sharp beaks.
“Try not to die.” Sor says floating just above the snow and then ports away. Why couldn’t she have ported the rest of us above the snow too?
“Elucia, shield us now.” Dairon says. I raise my shield around us and can only hope that it is strong enough. Then Dairon starts to sing his song, which as always, I can’t hear. I can see the emotions on his face as he sings and wonder whether I could learn more about Dairon just by seeing him sing his song.
A lightning strike hits my shield. It’s powerful but nowhere near as powerful as my shield. Enough lightning strikes this powerful though would be a problem.
“The little girl shielded it! If his concubine is this powerful, then the king must be truly strong!” An elf man laughs from just in front of me. Concubine!? There are elves all around us now but none of them seem interested in launching any more attacks. I keep the shield up just in case though.
Even before Dairon finishes singing every elf kneels on top of the snow and looks up at him. I can’t tell what expression they have because their helmets hide their faces but they seem eager. It seems that Sakura was right, but why did they think I was Dairon’s concubine? What exactly is in Dairon’s song about me? Does this mean I really do I have a chance with Dairon? But didn’t he describe me as a child just now?
“There’s nothing in his song about you, so don’t get funny ideas.” Sakura whispers in my ear.
“Oh, ok.” I whisper back. I suppose that makes sense, but it hurts that I haven’t made enough of an impression to be mentioned in his song.
“Thank you. I will be sure to reward your loyalty with victory. Please rise.” Dairon tells the elves, sounding confident again. The elves quickly stand.
“Of course we’ll be victorious! We have a king again! To hell with the Fallen Angels and their Envoys.” Roars an elf wearing a bear helmet.
“Victory!” The elves yell, raising their right fists high in the air. A moment later they lower their fists and relax.
“When the time comes you can count on us. Just let us know when you’re ready and we’ll slaughter your enemies, whoever they may be. That includes any elven cowards who refuse to do their duty.” The bear helmed elf declares.
“You’ll know when the time comes. It won’t be long.” Dairon tells him.
“Good! Unless you’re ready to start the revolution though, you shouldn’t hang around here. The Envoy will be back soon.” The elf advises Dairon.
“Then we’ll see you soon.” Dairon says. A moment later Sor is standing behind him and then we are all back at the temple.
“That went well.” I say.
“Yes, but I don’t know why he thought you were a concubine. I swear there’s nothing like that in my song.” Dairon says quickly.
“Don’t worry. I know that.” I tell him with a fake smile.
“That’s a relief.” Dairon says sounding very relieved. A bit too relieved for my liking. I can’t help wishing there was something romantic in his song about us, but that’s just wishful thinking. To Dairon I’m just a brutish child. Even if I don’t stand a chance with Dairon I still want to at least make him see me as an adult. “Are you ready for the next tribe?”
“Yes.” I reply.
“So where next?” Sor asks.
“I can’t sense any more tribes without their Envoy, actually, wait, there is one. They are a very weak tribe but they’ll definitely leap at the chance of freedom from the Fallen Angels, because their members are often used as food for the Fallen Angels. The world they’re currently on is quite a long way from here though. Are you able to port there?” Sakura asks Sor. The Fallen Angels eat elves?!
“Yes, but how did you sense that far?” Sor asks in admiration.
“The same way as the other tribes. I infiltrated their communication link and added a sensory link.” Sakura explains.
“Can they trace it back here?” Sor asks.
“No, it’s just a one way link. Even if they detect it, the worst they can do is remove it. Not that anyone except the other faeries would stand a chance of detecting it. They may not openly support us, but I doubt they’d go that far to support the Fallen Angels against us.” Sakura says.
“Fine, fine, a simple no would have done. I didn’t need that many pointless words. Ready to go?” Sor asks.
“Yes.” Sakura answers angrily.
Sor ports us into a clearin
g in the middle of sparse woodland. There are small blackened tree stumps in the clearing and in the woodland around it there are small red trees up to perhaps ten feet or so tall. The trees and tree stumps are at most a few inches wide. There’s at least ten feet between each tree and tree stump and often two or even three times that much. The clearing is at least a couple of hundred feet wide.
There are elves sitting around with blank eyes and starved bodies that remind me of when I first saw the Aer sisters. If I had to use a single word to describe them though, it would be hopeless. Not despair, but the utter lack of hope. I would say that to these elves hope is probably not even a memory.
“It’s worse than I expected.” Dairon whispers.
“We’ll definitely save them, your majesty.” Sakura assures him.
“We have to.” Dairon says firmly.
“We will.” I tell him.
“Something feels wrong.” Sor says uneasily.
“What doesn’t?” I mutter.
“No, I mean something feels out of place.” Sor says.
“Shield us!” Sakura screams.
I raise a shield with as much power as I can but the fiery onslaught that hits it from behind us is overwhelming. I literally use every ounce of power I have and the shield does hold for a moment, but then it collapses. Just as it collapses, Sor ports us away.
I fall to my knees on the temple floor gasping for breath. My mana is empty or as good as, and I feel my consciousness slipping away. As my vision fades and the room begins to spin I see Dairon’s swaying face appear just inches away from mine. Before I can faint his mouth is on mine and mana flows back into me. As my vision returns and the room stops spinning he pulls away.
“What was that?” I ask with my left hand on my chest whilst I try to calm my breathing. My face must be bright red too thanks to that kiss.
“That was an Envoy.” Dairon says.
“I thought it was gone.” I say.
“It either managed to hide from me or it returned after we arrived.” Sakura says.
“It was there the whole time. It must have been what I sensed being out of place.” Sor says.