The Elf Thief

Chapter 30: The Council

Her elf green eyes looked far away, like she was reliving a long lost memory. “My first patrol had a lot of my friends in it, Cormack, Tatiana, Molko…I met Jiner later. We were heading towards the castle when Remaduce crashed through the trees.” She let out a bitter laugh, “He sure wasn’t moving like an elf. He was moving like a desperate human. He grabbed my hand and told me to go back to the headquarters. I was stubborn, even at eleven years old, and I thought he was telling me that I wasn’t ready. So I tore my hand out of his grasp and ran ahead of the group, Remaduce calling after me.”

She stopped, swallowed hard, and then continued, her voice small and soft. “I guess we were closer to the castle than I thought. I was running for less than two minutes and then I saw the castle wall…” Tears began to slip out of her closed eyes and an untamable anger seeped into her voice. “The King had killed them. Both of my parents were dead, and their bodies were strung up on the castle wall. He had written over their heads in their own blood, ‘Beasts cannot bargain with men.’ I stood there for what seemed like forever. Then I started screaming. Remaduce was there pretty quickly. He threw me over his shoulder, I was still screaming for mom and dad, and ran into the forest before the Quarries could come out. After a few minutes of running, I asked him very calmly to put me down. As soon as he did, I bolted. I ran as far and as fast as I could. I couldn’t see where I was going, tears blinded my vision, but I knew that I had to get away. I just kept running and running until…well…I slipped. It had started raining and the ground had gotten muddy. I slipped and fell down a steep hill. Once I hit the bottom, the ground gave way underneath me. I fell into a pit-like hole, and I was stuck there. The walls were too steep to climb out of and it was getting dark fast. Luckily the rain let up, but I was miles from any elf camp. Curling up, I fell asleep and let the nightmares come.’

She was shaking now, tears streaming down her face. Dearekk wanted to go and wrap his arms around her, tell her that she was going to be safe. But he needed her to finish her story, so he just sat there.

Her shaking slowed, and she wiped her eyes. “And they did come. At first there were just voices, but then there were pictures of my parents bodies, mangled and dishonored. And I felt a rage that no eleven-year-old should ever feel. The voices told me that they could bring them back, that they could destroy the King, end the war. I…I almost accepted, but then the voices started shrieking and then went silent. It was so strange; it felt like my head was suddenly empty. And then I saw a figure. He was dressed in all white, and his eyes…his eyes were the color of the ocean on a stormy day, an indescribable combination of blues and greys. He had horns that looked like a ram’s and a crown of blue jewels that circled his forehead. For some reason, I felt an inexplicable calmness in his presence. He knelt down and whispered to me, ‘No matter what happens, I want you to never believe those voices. They lie and cheat and betray.’ I remember those eyes boring into my soul, and I remember not being able to look away. He pushed some hair out of my face, and said ‘You will do great things, Sonya. Life will take and steal and try to kill your spirit. Don’t break. Stay strong and your name will be remembered forever. You cannot bring your parents back, but you can still make them smile. They will be watching you from above. Hold fast and make your parents proud.’ Then he kissed my forehead, stood and turned to walk away. I called out, ‘Are you the One?’ and he laughed. ‘No,’ he said, ‘The One is far more powerful than I am. I am only a wanderer.’ And then he was gone. Just disappeared into the fog.”

“I woke up soon after that to my brother calling my name. It turns out that Molko had been around looking for me, and by some miracle stumbled upon the pit I was stuck in. I…after that I started to have dreams. They were really bad at first, the voices I mean, but after a while whenever I heard them, I just thought about the man in white and they went away. Soon I stopped having those dreams all together. That is, until we were with the fay. Then the voices came back, stronger than ever. And even then, something saved me from them. It was another voice, but one much kinder, much quieter. It kept me safe. I have a sensitivity to that magic, but I also have someone, or something, looking out for me.”