Elfborn

A History Lesson

With the slender and fragile Alura as her guide, Naneen was quickly led out of the Vestican and back into the city. This time, oddly enough, there were no barriers to the paths Alura chose. But Naneen also noted that they didn't travel all that far away from the Vestican either. 'To the edges of the node and no further,' she reasoned as Alura stepped into what looked like a small garden, hidden from the street behind them by a stone trellis.

The N'Ajier made her way to a small bench beneath the spreading branches of a large, and very old olive tree, easily the largest tree in the garden. Sitting, she indicated that Naneen should sit beside her. When the young Hybernian joined the delicate-seeming woman, she looked into the garden itself with a slight smile.

"When I find places of beauty, such as this one, I often wish that the sleeping world was much more alive than it is," Alura began wistfully. "I long for the sound of birds, singing gleefully as the sun warms their plumage. Or the babble of merrily running streams, laughing in joy as they run without barrier over their beds towards the greater union with the sea." She turned to Naneen, her smile more than sad. "It is the sound that I miss the most. Sounds and smells. To hold a flower, picked from a spring-filled meadow and to smell its delicate perfumes ... Ah, that would be bliss!"

"I take such things for granted," Naneen admitted thoughtfully. "So I cannot conceive of a time when I could not feel those sensations. It must be horrible for you."

"It is my punishment," Alura answered simply. She faced the garden once again. "But I will not overwhelm you with my own pain. Let us speak of matters of importance."

"Yes." Naneen barely managed to restrain the desire to rub her hands together with glee. The possibilities were endless with Alura, a creature who had witnessed the dawn of Humanity and the Shae from her prison in the dream world. What question would she ask first? What question would be last?

"You mentioned that you knew something about the Shae's war with the Fire Lords. I believe you called it the War of Domination."

"That's because it was," Alura coolly pointed out. It was apparent that war was abhorrent to the delicate N'Ajier. Watching it spread among the peoples she had seen being born as a species must have been very difficult indeed.

"In the beginning, the Maker created a great many different races to help care for His world. Humans, Elves, fairies; all were responsible for keeping the world alive and full of energy and magic. All were one in purpose, each with their own talents and abilities to help them with their appointed tasks. Together they called themselves 'the Shae', which in the first language that all of them spoke, meant 'Servants of the Maker'. The most gifted of those races, the Elves and the Humans were two sides of the same coin, interacting freely with one another as they evolved together."

"Your kind, the Elfborn, a blending of the two peoples, were as common as the Elves and the Humans themselves, a testimony towards the compatibility of the two halves. I believe the humans of the east, masters of the land of Cathay, have a concept that describes how the Humans and the Elves fitted together. They call it 'Tchi', the life force, made up of two halves, Yin and Yang. Together the Humans and the Elves are the tchi of this world, the life-force that keeps Nature in harmony and balance with the universe."

"For many thousands of years the Humans and the Elves, along with the rest of the Shae, lived in harmony with Nature and the forces of the Universe, working together to build a great civilization. So great that it nearly rivaled that of my people, long dead before."

Another sad smile slowly grew on Alura's face as she went on.

"But, as with the darkness that grew within the hearts of the N'Ajier, pride slipped into the hearts of the Shae, lifting them up into thinking they were greater than the Maker that made them."