Elemental Witch: Child of the Earth (Part I)

History

He turned to look at her, before nodding, motioning to the stunned, confused faces all around them in the surrounding crowds. Everyone was silent, shaking their heads, the look of fear on their faces. Reyani reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing tightly as another musical note rang through the air, pulling her back out of the arena, back to watching the same two men, though the human looked decades older, his hair grey now, wrinkles around his eyes.

If she remembered her history right, Clairval would have been going through its vicious civil war at this time. The Regency had not yet been decided, nor had the council of thirteen noble houses. Rakier and Morningside had not supported any of the contenders for the throne in the initial stages of the war and had instead sued for peace until the kingdom had been ready to tear itself apart.

"Human wars do not concern us." The Feysha said softly looking resigned. "It wearies us, the violence, the hate you sow on our lands after promising us peace."

The man nodded at that, letting out a tired breath, as though he didn't believe the words he was speaking, "there must be a leader. This is how our Kingdom will be defined."

The Feysha frowned deeply, regret flashing over his features before they hardened. "We will no longer speak, you and I. The Feysha will not allow any more of the Wild to belong to Humans. You have your lands, you settle your kingdoms, but there is nothing here in Human society that we wish to be around."

"The threat is not gone." The man said, looking worried, "our truce, our agreements, they need to stay strong."

"The humans will forget this threat, it has been seen. The Humans will forget our truces, our peace, and their promises."  The Feysha shrugged at that, before motioning to a stone table that contained one large sword, wrapped in a leather hilt. "We had one last promise from the Winged ones.... But they will have nothing more to do with this world, not until we all need one another. They fight their own wars far from here and we will not help them do that either. The races are divided right now but the Feysha do not fight for territories or banners or divisions in beliefs. We will fight for life but not until that battle is upon us."

"What are these? Weapons?" The man walked to the table, frowning as the Feyshan grabbed his arm, holding him back from touching the longsword. The human looked down at the man who hadn't seemed to have aged at all.

"If you pick up that sword, you swear to us that your children and their children and your entire Kingdom's children will respect your promise. If you carry that blade, it will hold you to the oaths we swore to one another, to the pact we made to keep this part of the world safe. When the time comes, and our Sword Keeper finds yours, then will our truces be needed." 

The human frowned, looking down at the weapons, seeing the pommels glowing brilliantly in the darkness now. "It is a heavy thing, to make a promise for generations who will not even know me, for a Kingdom that does not yet exist."

"You told me there was nothing stronger than an iron oath. That brothers of the blade never break their vows, no matter what the cost." The Feyshan said softly, watching him, "If your children are as strong as you, they will remember. The battle will not be easy and there is a lot that can not yet be seen, because of the darkness."

"It would be so much simpler, if we maintained our truce now. Kept our people working together, instead of chancing it all on memories. " The Human said softly, running a hand through his greying hair and clearing his throat, looking conflicted.

There was a nod of agreement, a momentary look of sympathy, sadness and hope on his companion's face. "Yes. But if we cling to this world and its wars, it will rip us all apart and there will be nothing left but anger and hate, when the time comes. It has been seen. My people will wait. They will watch, they will do what they can to protect the memory of what this is. Protect the sword and it will keep your memories as well."

There was a a moments pause, and the human nodded, taking the longsword by the hilt, pulling it from its sheath in a ring of metal, exposing Shelby's blade, shining brilliantly in the darkness. "I swear, by my ancestors, by my allies and for my children and their children that follow. Our truce will stand, we will maintain our posts when the Feysha see the threat."

The Feyshan man pulled the other two blades from their sheaths, tapping them three times against the Longsword. "The Feysha will watch, we will remember, and we will sound the battle cry, when the threat is seen. So it is sworn, so we are bound."

The vision shattered in a rush of silence, pulling the audience back to the present day, seeing the two fighters in locked swords, the blades screaming out as the metal scraped against metal, oblivious to the dazed and pained crowd that watched reality return in despair. There were so many more  questions, so many more things that they needed to know about.

Amiya found herself squeezing Reyani's hand, wincing and letting go as she realized her grip was tighter then it needed to be, turning to Cavin even as he stood to his feet with a shaken expression.

"I declare a draw!" His voice thundered out across the arena, followed by a stuttering blast of the horn, marking the end of the fight. There was a moment, when Amiya was certain that the fighters would not heed the command, seemingly in their own world, in a battle existing a thousand miles away,

But slowly the two of them shook themselves out of whatever daze they were in, stumbling apart and lowering their blades, each fighter dripping with sweat, shaking with exertion as they sheathed their swords and each took a knee.  

The sun had moved across the horizon by a good hour, the sand of the arena, which had started out groomed neatly before the fight, was a mess that belied a vicious battle. But no one had seen the fight that had powered the visions. Amiya wondered if the two fighters had even seen the fight they were battling, or if they had been caught in the memories as well.