Shadows of a Broken Past: A Shard of Faith (Book one)

Chapter 4:

Pixl stepped forward and flipped the book open. As soon as he did, a small note fell out of it. Glancing around to see if either elf had noticed, which they hadn't, he used a sleight of hand to flick it into his sleeve. He'd read it later. 

The first page of the book was written in elvish. "What does it say?" He asked, looking at Pyro. 

Pryo and Artemis scanned the text. "Looks like the Isleandish dialect, doesn't it." Artemis murmured to the Fire Elf. 

Pyro nodded. "It does." He said. "I haven't seen Isleandish in quite a while." 

"I read over a few things last week." Stella offered. "I can read it."

"Be my guest." Pix said, gesturing at the page. 

Stella nodded, moving closer to see the dedication on the front of the first page. "'To my dear brother the king of Rivendell.'" She gasped. "This is a recent publishing!" She looked up at Pyro. "The date is from the day of the Great Massacre! Xornoth himself wrote this!" 

"He did?" Pyro cried, and Pixl's eyes flew wide open. 

"Yes!" 

"Wow." Pix breathed. "Wow. Can you read it?"

"I can. It's kind of scratchy, and it's handwritten so it's a bit bad, but I can read it." Stella cleared her throat. "Ahem."

"'Hello.  By the time you read this, I most likely will be a fable without a name. I know what's coming for me, and I want a record of my existence other than the simple bedtime story and history lesson given to children about the events to come.

"'I can't see the future, but I know that I am about to do something terrible. I've heard the stories of the previous Champions of Exor, and what they caused. I felt the thousand terrified, pained, and even some enthusiastic voices of my predecessors as the magic flooded through me. And Exor's voice as well. He said: 'A new plaything for me? My my, elves, you spoil this Great Stag.'

"'I'm scared. I don't want this being of darkness to take me over. I know that Scott's going to be the last one. I fear for his life. My brother doesn't deserve to see anything happen to us, me and mother. I want his happiness. But I might take that away."

"He truly cared for Scott." Pyro noted. "Mother told me of that. I never got to see it."

"How old are you?" Pix asked. 

"I was thirty nine when the Massacre happened. I'm forty-nine now, turning fifty in Springrise, three months from now." Pyro said. 

"I'm about fifty seven, which is young for elves." Stella said. "Barely." Pixl nodded. "But anyways." The Astral Elf looked back down. "Continuing."

"'Scott's my brother, and Snowebreeze is my mother. I'd hate to see them hurt. But I can't control it. Exor has me in his grasp now. I'm uncertain whether I should tell anyone my fears. They'd probably just laugh at me. And I don't want that.

"'I hope my story will be a lesson to everyone that nothing stays the same. One moment I went from one of the heirs to the Rivendaelli throne, the next I was condemned to be the servant -or rather, 'plaything', as he put it- of a demon god. 

"'To put it shortly, not the best thing.

"'I hope that someone can save me. Because I surely will be like this for a long time. Exor is an eternal being, and his magic means I can live forever until he decides to discard me. I'm trapped in this body now, and I can already feel him swarming through me. In my antlers, in my feathers. 

"'Why didn't I get a say in this?'"

Stella paused. "There's a giant inkblot here." She said. 

"I wonder why?" Pix asked. 

"Let's see." Stella flipped the page. 

"'I just lost control and now there's ink on my work- why.'" She smiled. "That explains it." She pointed at the footnotes. "Anyhow."

"'Exor has such a presence here. I'm terrified of him. But I can't do anything about this. I don't know what to do!

"'When I get discarded like his other possessed, I'll wither away. I won't have a future. But my one goal is to make sure that Scott does. I'm resisting so much right now. I feel him tearing me apart. The world is starting to go blurry, from tears or me losing myself, I don't know. 

"'I hope everything in Rivendell stays the same. I mean, it'll be different, obviously, but nothing will be exactly as I leave it. I know that everything is going downhill, but hopefully the neighbouring empires can help with the recovery of my homeland. 

"'Maybe Scott will settle down with a nice boy along the road. He deserves happiness after losing Aunt and Father, and so many others I know that are going to lose their lives tonight.'"

"Wow. He....knew a lot." Pixl said.

"He did." Pyro said sadly. "I'm glad that he's still out there. It give me hope that I can meet him and we can save him somehow."

"Meeting him doesn't seem like a good idea at the moment." Artemis said, flipping the page. "We have two pages left." She cleared her throat again and started again. 

"'I want everyone to know who reads this that I don't want to do this. I am being controlled. I say this knowing that someone's going to come up, read this, and say 'oh this child is choosing to take advantage of his possession', and that's not it at all.

"'Some people in the past have chosen to follow Exor, but most resisted. Only one, that I know of, has been able to fight back. But I haven't been able to find his documents again. Someone's hidden them from me. I remember his name: Blythe Winglow. 

"'Maybe something will turn up. I don't know. I haven't seen anything of him recently. If you read this, search for me please. I'd like to know, should I ever have the chance to return to my homeland. 

"'Is this the end? I do not know. I have only ever been told so. And thus I rest and sit up here, wonder if I'll return to my homeland dear. The day is done, night is coming. 

"'Therefore, my friends, I must leave you. Exor takes me now. I can feel him storming through me as I lose control. All the same, in my last moments, all I can think is of my hope to return. 

"'Skies save me.

"'I love you, Scott. Stay safe.

"'Xornoth.'"

Pixl, Pyro and Stella were silent. Pyro was the first to speak. "He.... He was so brave." The young Fire Elf said. 

Stella flipped the last page, reading the back. "It references some things in Royal Elvish, the language of the royal family. I can't understand it."

Pix was in shock, but he shook himself off. "We need to let Scott see this. He deserves to know." He said. "Maybe he can make something of it."

"Good idea." Stella said, picking the book up. "Let's go."

————

Hey guys! Sorry I didn't post the past few days like I said I would- I was getting ready for school after my long weekend and didn't get to it. But here it is!

My heart hurt when I was writing this. I love Xornoth so much and this was painful to do. But don't worry, stuff gets better. 

Much, much later though....

But anyways, give me any feedback!

-Quiet