The Ferlands

Chapter Sixteen

"Aine! Please! Stop speaking in riddles! I don't understand this, or the history of this place! What is happening?"

Eliana's grandmother took a deep breath, steadying herself for what she must explain. "You are the one who must confront the dark leader. It is you, that is why both L'Oran and I have been preparing for years. For your entire life, I have been putting things into place, waiting for the time when you would arrive."

"Keep talking, it doesn't make sense yet."

Aine continued, undeterred by Eliana's impatience. "There was a prophesy told during the Finding, that a Seer would be seduced by the need for power and would betray the land. That came to pass just before your birth. However, there was a second part to that prophesy, one that the Queen and the Ancients have kept hidden, for fear that the dark leader would use it to her advantage.

"A healer would come, a type of Seer with the ability to take the Starlight and to use that Starlight to defeat the dark leader. You are that healer." Aine said, looking straight into Eliana's eyes.

"That can't be! I'm not even sure I'm actually one of these Seers. I still feel like a college student just trying to get through school, I don't have what it takes to save this land." Eliana shook her head, pulling away from the arms of her grandmother.

"Please listen to me. You are the foretold Seer. Your mother was a Seer, it is unusual for a Seer to give birth to another Seer. It is not something that is passed down, it is not predictable. Perhaps that is why it is so strong within you. Her gifts were passed to you, molded and changed in order to make you what you are, what the land needs, as mine were passed to her. It is what I suspected at your birth. It is why I fled with you, It had to be destiny that you came here, because only someone destined to be here would be able to make it through that passage without direct knowledge it was there."

Aine was silent after her speech, but Eliana had more questions now than she had before the woman's confession.

"You mentioned you suspected at my birth." A knowing look crossed Aine's face. "Why?"

"Your mother was not well when you were born. Things had become difficult throughout the land, and your father had just died. I was the only family left, so I took care of you right after your birth. 

"The eyes are always the first clue. It takes years for the eyes to give a hint about true gifts. Babies have such dark eyes when born, yours, however, were hazel and shining from the moment you opened them. I could already feel the Starlight moving through you, even in one so young. It was such a dark time when you were born, so much devastation. But you are the hope for us now."

Eliana shook her head at Aine's declaration. "No. I just can't believe that. It makes no sense."

"Destiny often does not make sense," she said, putting a hand on Eliana's shoulder.

"I can't do this!" Eliana was beyond overwhelmed. And now a new layer of fear had been added, hearing that she was some type of prophesied healer.

"That is your choice. No one will force you, but know that you are the predestined one. It is evident by the beasts begging you for mercy. They sense the power within you, even without training, even without Starlight. One stone, and it is still separate from the others, and you were able to vanquish the Oprey with a single thought."

Eliana had told Aine about the strange confrontations with the creatures, to Aine's delight. Now I know why. "I have no training, I don't know about battle or using powers like this." Eliana continued her protest, growing more apprehensive about either option. Leaving the land in the hands of...well of a crazed Seer, seemed cruel. But confronting the dark leader was beyond anything she had ever imagined she would do. It seemed impossible.