A Failure of a High Elf (Book One)

3.7

Written: 8/10/23
Word Count: 1,138

For one moment, I had half a mind to start screaming. But the temptation passed after only a few seconds. Above me, the grassy lip of the cliff's fog-cloaked edge showed two tiny, buzzing figures, illuminated from behind by the strange light effect on the fog. I couldn't see their tiny expressions from here, but they hardly stayed suspended in the air for more than a second before fluttering away.

A tragic accident, sure, but who was going to cry because of one less "Highborn" in the world?

I closed my eyes. Time felt slow, like I would never reach whatever was below me. Shallow water? Spikes? Lava? Crocodiles?

Once my soul was freed from my earthly form, would I get the chance to see my aunt before we both reincarnated? Or had she already passed into her next life since it had been several days, at least, that she'd died?

What kind of life would I receive next? If it was true that each life influenced the next one, I would probably become a toad or a sparrow or something. A sparrow, huh? Maybe I could hold onto that spiky-headed punk's image in the hopes the memory would pass over into the next life with me.

Becoming a sparrow would be fitting revenge against my killer. But if I killed him as a sparrow, would he come back as a hawk and destroy me a second time? Wait.

My eyes opened as a strange feeling encompassed my whole body. I felt as if I had encountered a realization. A deep one. But one that made me sad. I guess I didn't want the essence of rebirth to follow after always one-upping our enemies.

When would the cycle of hate and revenge end, if that was the truth?

The sun's light seared my retinas. All around me, dark walls formed a tunnel leading straight to hell. How cozy it looked, shining those bright, early-morning rays. Almost total white, a couple hours of simple purity before the yellow and orange hues leaked in with the sun's exhaustion. It must be hard, standing over top of the world like that, day-in, day-out.

"Thanks for all your hard work," I whispered to it, my fingers trailing ahead of me. It was ridiculous to think I could reach it now. I'd never been further from the sun in my entire life. But still, I patted that fireball in the sky's image like it was nothing more than a harmless bunny, cottony to the touch.

"That's my cue, right, Your Resounding Grace?"

The words and the sounds didn't even register as I plummeted to my death. I could feel the bottom was close. My ears rustled against a different kind of wind. A cold kind, one that could only be in a deep, dark place unused to warmth. Visibility was terrible down in these shadows. The valley only faced the sun's direct rays for a slim period of the day.

How awful, to sit in utter black, seeing that bright glow just out of reach, unable to do anything about it. How cruel the sun must appear to the recesses of the valleys, like an uncaring king gracing his subjects with a mere moment of his presence before he was gone, vanishing without a trace.

A brilliant line of gold descended into the black. For a few blinks, I thought it had come straight from the sun itself, one of those invisible vines of light reaching down to light my way to a painful—and hopefully quick—death.

The vine tore down the valley, moving faster than I was falling. It looked like some sentient creature, some magical snake, weaving through the air, hell-bent on reaching me.

Fear and awe competed for space in my heart as the golden rope reached me, wrapping around my waist. My body skiddered at the changed momentum, and then I was swinging in place, back and forth, back and forth. All around me was utter black, the chill of the air damp against my skin.

Then, the rope pulled taut, and I was being lifted into the sky, back towards the light. Back towards the sun.

I patted the rope, curiosity consuming me. It felt like a slimy sea-creature without the slime, just some cool, pulsing, living object as soft as silk. With the thing's speed, we quickly reached the top. Without any kind of plan in place to let me down gently, as soon as I appeared above the lip of the marsh, the rope disappeared. In a blink. Without a trace. Not even an afterimage.

I was left clawing at the air, moments away from being sent straight back down to the valley's depths. Scrabbling against the soft grasses and ground, I found myself sliding towards my weight, the dewey grass nearly impossible to keep hold of for long.

"Come on!" I yelled to no one in particular as I felt several of my fingernails break. My legs wedged themselves in the soft, muddy underbelly of the grassy lip. Indents were quickly made, and I found myself sliding down that way, too. "This is impossible."

"You're really weak for a High Elf, lady." A familiar voice suddenly appeared close to my ear. My ears echoed my heartbeat in a tempo that moved my whole body as I crooked my neck to the side to spot a familiar Hesperide child hovering over the cliff's open air, a curious tilt to its chin.

"You!" The word tore through my throat in a snarl, but before I could get worked up, the child continued.

"You," it said, booping my forehead. The slim, child's fingers sent my head reeling back, like I'd been struck by a rubber-coated mallet. "The Goddess wants to give you a chance, so I'm helping you out just this once. Follow the sun, all the way, and you'll reach the Haspa Mines. Remember, okay? The sun. The sun is your greatest ally."

The child floated away, sitting in the air like it was being moved around on some invisible pillow. Its flight curved somewhat dangerously, swerving all over the place like it was truly riding something invisible.

"Wait!" I called after it, my legs slipping uselessly against the mud. If I kept going like this, the very edge of the damn cliff face would begin to crumble away. I was sure of it. That's how soft its underbelly was. "Explain more! Wait! Kid! What's your name? What does your Goddess want from me?"

At the final question, the child finally stopped, spinning around in the air, giving me a nasty glare. Beneath that golden halo of hair, a glower was firmly fixed in place. "The Goddess doesn't need a mortal like you for anything. Don't be ridiculous. What could you even offer? Barbed niceties and noodle arms?"