The Lost Elders

The Elder of the Isle

As soon as Kona took the Spirit's hand, a white light enveloped her and a second, far more transparent, Spirit appeared before her. He had a long beard and a staff. Kona got the sense that he was important; he had an aura of leadership, and she had a feeling she'd go anywhere he told her to. When he saw her, he smiled sagely. "Kona," he said. "Hello, Child."

"Who are you?" Kona said. Subtlety had never been one of her strong points. The Spirit beside her stiffened, but the transparent Spirit just laughed. "I like you already. I am Daleth, the Elder of the Isle." Kona stared.

"An ELDER? Like the ones that lived before the Storm?" Daleth nodded. "The very same."

"What in the Realm do you want with me, then?" Kona asked. Daleth smiled. "You, child, are me. Well, that is to say, you're a version of me. I'm gone, so the Isle needs a new elder, and Genet here," he nodded to the first Spirit, "only recently got powerful enough to summon me so I could speak to you."

"I'm an Elder?" Kona said, shocked. "I can't be an Elder! I'm only a four-star, for bird's sake! There's nothing special about me. You might've confused me for Alisa. She's the best flier in the Isle."

Daleth shook his head. "You will come to accept your destiny one day. Now you must find the rest of the Elders."

"The other Elders, the ones you knew?" Kona asked.

"No, your generation of Elders. You must find them and, when you are old, pass the torch to a new Elder, so the chain is not broken again."

"How can I possibly find them? I don't know how to find six random Skykids! I've never even left the Isle!"

"You'll know them. There is a bond between the Elders. However, I can show you them," Daleth said, touching her forehead with a single finger.

All of a sudden, images exploded into Kona's head. A tall Skykid with braids standing on a hill, reaching for a butterfly flying just out of reach. Lea, she heard in her head. A Skykid under a huge tree, playing a harp while rain falls down around him. Varden. Two curly-haired Skykids laughing and yelling as they throw a light to each other with long paddles. Reyah and Tani. A Skykid with the longest hair Kona had ever seen hiding from a krill, clutching her cape to her chest. Hadley. A young Skykid reading a scroll, laughing and showing it to a spirit next to him. Ariv.

Her vision cleared and she blinked furiously. "Is... is that them?" Daleth nodded. "Yes, and you must find them."

"I do have one question," Kona said. "Why can't their Elders tell them themselves?"

"The other Elders aren't able to connect with the living world. Only I am strong enough, and even I can come rarely, and not for long."

"Oh, that makes sense. Goodbye," Kona said. As Daleth faded, she heard his voice echoing in the cavern.

"Farewell, child. Good luck."

Three days after her meeting with Daleth, Kona was preparing to go to the Daylight Prairie to find the Elder there, Lea. Kona felt apprehensive, to say the least. She'd never left the Isle before; most four-stars hadn't. You were meant to leave the Isle for the first time when you were a five-star, for the Midsummer gathering in the Prairie. Now Kona had to leave all alone, with no experience. She'd visited Genet a couple of times since the meeting, and he'd equipped her with food and a way nicer candle than her normal one. 

She wasn't allowed to tell anyone she was leaving as it would raise too many questions, so she left in the dead of night. She stood in front of the gateway that led to the Prairie and waved to the empty plains.

"Goodbye everyone," Kona said, a single tear sliding down her cheek. She turned and flew into the night.