by K.L. Bauman
Chapter 8
Becoming
As they approached Dorian, the elf looked at each of them in turn. With just a glance, he seemed to sense that something wasn’t quite right. Echo didn’t want to answer the questions that shone in her instructor’s eyes. Thankfully, he didn’t ask them. Instead, he bowed his head in greeting. “We have a surprise for you today,” he said, his features brightening. “Follow me.”
The teens followed Dorian’s elegant form through the trees and into the heart of Thildin. Echo’s spirits rose as the musical sound of elvish laughter danced in the air around them. Birds sang joyously from the tree tops, and morning sunlight warmed the sandstone buildings.
They approached a small but beautifully made hut that Echo knew to be the weapons storage building. They’d chosen their sparring weapons hundreds of times from the cool walls of the decorated room inside. Life-like paintings along the tops of the walls told colorful tales of elvish battles and victories from over the centuries. Echo had often wondered how the artists could get the figures to look as if they could leap off the canvas of the wall at any moment.
As they approached the building, Echo was pleased to see her elvish friend, Alena, standing at the entrance. Her silky, dark hair ruffled in the breeze as she smiled at Echo with her sparkling obsidian eyes. Echo had to force herself not to think about her average appearance whenever she was with her friend.
Brecker’s friend, Thalen, stood at the opposite side of the door, his perfectly straight teeth shining at Brecker. His longer, honey-colored hair was pulled back from his sculpted face.
Their friends each held silky cloths under which something was hidden. Both young elves wore elaborate clothing befitting a special occasion. A dark, flowing dress accented Alena’s hair and eyes, and Thalen sported fine, golden leather, complimenting his glowing tones.
Four elders, two at each of the younger elves’ sides, stood quietly waiting. Echo felt butterflies in her stomach. What could all this mean? She shot Alena a questioning look, but was only given another secretive smile in return.
Dorian signaled for the teens to stop, then took two paces forward until he was close to Alena and Thalen. He turned and faced Brecker and Echo. “Today is a day that every understudy longs to find,” Dorian began. Echo and Brecker glanced at each other with excitement. They suddenly understood what was happening and what was hidden beneath the silky cloths.
Dorian continued, “No longer will you be called underlings.” He gave them a laughing smile. “And no longer will you be viewed as youngsters in training. Today is your day of Becoming. Today, you become warriors. Today, you become defenders. Today, you become equals to those who have fought to protect our lands and our peoples over the centuries.”
Echo’s mind flashed to the uncle she’d never known who’d fallen defending this land. Rather than allow his death to deter her from becoming an official defender, she let it fuel her desire and determination to become worthy of the title.
Dorian turned to Alena and Thalen. Echo could barely keep herself composed as the silky cloths were gracefully removed from the breath-taking weapons. They were made from indestructible elvish steel and gleamed in the light.
Brecker was awarded a magnificent sword, and Echo would receive two long, curved daggers. The elders moved forward, each pressing two fingers to their lips, then to the blades. They repeated the gesture, pressing their fingers against Echo and Brecker’s foreheads. As their soft fingers touched Echo’s skin, a pulse of energy, the elves’ blessings, rippled down her body, empowering her with a new sense of purpose.
The older elves all stood aside, allowing Alena and Thalen to step forward. The friends extended the blades toward the teens, bowing their heads in respect to the new defenders. The power of that moment, as Echo saw her elf friend, who she’d always seen as superior, bowing her head and handing her the daggers, overwhelmed Echo. She fought back tears as she and Brecker simultaneously grasped their weapons and raised them to the sun, claiming them as their own.
The blades seemed to sing in response, sensing the touches of their masters. The weapons carried intricate designs along the blades, and elvish letters were etched in the steel. Their words were Echo’s and Brecker’s purpose; “Guardian of life, hope, and love.”
Brecker’s sword was a masculine work of art. Fiery spikes of silver jutted to the sides of the hilt and curled back to make a perfect fit around his hand. The blade was perfectly balanced and shone in the sun like white fire. His expression was hungry as he held the weapon.
Echo’s daggers were nearly half the length of Brecker’s sword with sharp, curved blades. Their hilts were also curved, just enough for Echo’s hands to grip them tightly. The guard designs were like a swirled ribbon of silvery mist suspended in time. The ends of the ribbons were spiked with one end curled toward the hilt and the other toward the blade. The pommels came to a diamond-shaped point, finishing the beautiful craftsmanship. She was given a back scabbard made of fine, golden leather. Echo practiced grasping the daggers and pulling them from the scabbard on her back and replacing them. The motion gave her a sense of power.
Brecker and Echo bowed, showing their tremendous gratitude for the gifts given.
The teens later tested their steel as they sparred with their friends. The younger elves, who were in fact still decades older than either of them, had helped them earn their weapons as surely as Dorian had done. Without their relentless sparring sessions, neither Echo nor Brecker could’ve achieved a defender’s title.
Echo sparred joyously with Alena. She knew that had she and Brecker been of elvish descent, they would’ve had a much grander ceremony. But that didn’t dampen her spirits as Alena’s eyes sparkled at her with a new sense of equality.
Echo fought with no reservations. Her new blades felt like extensions of her own body as she and Alena spun around each other like graceful dancers. Alena’s hair tickled the air around her as she thrust her sword. Echo blocked the blade by crossing her daggers in front of her, sending a pure tone through the trees as metal struck metal. She didn’t feel any tiredness as they sparred, and she didn’t feel the sweat trickle against the back of her neck under her thick auburn braid. She only felt excitement.
Echo’s vision occasionally caught the forms of Brecker and Thalen as they, too, tested Brecker’s new weapon. Her brother’s voice was fierce as he attacked Thalen with unrelenting energy.
When they were finished, the four came together, all beaming. “What a glorious day and a glorious occasion!” Alena said, her voice smooth and sultry. They all expressed their agreement to her statement. Echo savored returning her weapons to their carrier one more time as they walked away from the sparring grounds and chatted happily.
As their conversation slowed, Thalen spoke more seriously, “Our elders and our seers have been communing often these days.”
“Have you heard what they’ve been discussing?” Brecker asked.
“Not from them. But Alena and I have heard whispers.” They all looked up at the tree branches that swayed gently in the breeze, leaning into one another as if whispering secrets to each other.
Alena spoke next, her strong voice causing Echo to jump slightly. “They’ve been talking about the return of an ancient doon warrior--one that fought in the Doon Wars. His name is Belzac.”
“They have names?” Echo asked. She didn’t like the idea of shadow dwellers having something as personal as a name.
Alena chuckled at her. “They are beings, same as you and me.”
Echo felt strange. She’d always envisioned shadow dwellers as cold, unfeeling, things. Not living, breathing, name-given beings.
“What does this mean for Thildin Valley and the villages?” Brecker questioned.
“It means we may be in more danger than we thought. Belzac hasn’t been seen since the Kavalah defeated the doons at the end of the wars three millennia ago,” Thalen answered.
“The Kavalah? Who are t
hey?” Echo asked, suddenly more curious.
Alena looked incredulously at her. “Dorian has never told you about the Kavalah?” She stopped and stared as if she thought Echo had lied.
“N-No,” Echo stammered.
Alena looked at Thalen and they studied each other for a moment. Echo wondered enviously if they both possessed the power to hear each other’s thoughts. Then, Alena spoke, “Well, he must have his reasons for keeping this from you, though I can’t determine what those reasons would be. The main concern is that Belzac may have returned.”
“And what are your elders planning to do to stop him?” Brecker asked. His face was getting that fierce look that Echo had learned to fear; the look that meant he was ready to be reckless.
Thalen studied his friend, then answered, “I am uncertain.”
Echo tensed as her brother’s expression hardened. “That’s not good enough,” he said and then turned on his heal and left, leaving a heavy, uncomfortable silence in his wake.