Elemental Thief Part I : Child of Calamity

Confronting the Past

Verana stood, looking into the depthless pool, letting all thoughts and sounds fade into the background as she watched the water, noting idly that she was not reflected on the surface of those dark depths, wondering if there was a meaning behind that.

"You have been gone for a very long time." A soft voice murmured in Feysha, drawing her attention away from the water to the elder who stood beside her. She recognised the man, more by whom he looked like, than the other times she had seen him.

"In human years, I suppose." She whispered, offering a shrug. "It only causes me sadness to be on this island now. Humans change so quickly, and even the Wild is different from I remember, grandfather."

He offered a flicker of a smile at her recognition before shaking his head. "The Wild is different, one breath to the next, child. But you are familiar with the Wild from across the sea. You have returned so much of it, you forgot where you started."

She wanted to argue, but the wind danced over her wings then, reminding her of everything that had changed since she had merely been the half-Feysha anomaly raised by the Wild, so she inclined her head and sighed softly. "It is still home. I still feel it."

"Of course you do." He offered her a firm look before nodding. "But you come here seeking something."

Verana frowned, shivering before she spoke the words she had never thought she'd have to utter. "Darkness is coming again."

The Elder didn't look surprised, merely nodded and looked into the pool. "It is. It always does."

"Is it my fight?" She asked carefully, not wanting to know the answer, not expecting it to be provided to her.

"Yes." He paused, offering a shrug. "And no. Your path is to be the light in the darkness, the same as it has always been. But sometimes the light doesn't fight the darkness, it just holds its ground, so the fighters can do the fighting."

"So I am like the moon, as opposed to a torch?" She realised she was a fair bit more patient about listening to the half-riddle answers than she had been when younger.

He laughed and shook his head. "Perhaps. Just follow your path. It doesn't lead you astray."

Verana sighed softly. "There was a child down south."

"There have been many children." He didn't look surprised or confused, just patiently waiting for her to continue.

"A human girl. She was with her mother. Possibly born in the Wild, raised by Winseli." Verana watched him, searching for confirmation of the dread in her chest. "Her mother took her away, and she was left alone. The Feysha didn't try to go get her. Everyone abandoned her."

"We do not interfere in their lives." He said gently, simply, offering a shrug. "Her mother was searching for a cure we did not have. When she had the child, we told her about the girl's path. It scared her. But the Wild made her think she was strong, that she didn't need us anymore. And then the child was gone. It was her path to be gone, and we don't take human children from their parents."

Verana closed her eyes at that, shaking her head as she swallowed her anger. "I will not accept that this girl's path was to grow up alone, thinking the world was a dark, horrible place. I will not accept that we would so passively let her stay in the darkness, knowing about it. That's not the Feysha I know."

"Just because you don't accept the truth doesn't mean it's not the truth." He offered a shrug. "We have faults, as surely as the humans do. We don't like cities, we accept things others would rail against, we do not always fight when we should. We fail people, just as surely as they fail us." He fell silent for a moment, shaking his head when Verana moved to respond, offering her a careful smile. "But that is the past, and we can't do anything to change it, or the decisions made within."

"What is it? What did you see for her?" Verana asked finally, unsure if it was her place to know the answer to that question.

He shrugged again, before nodding to the large boulders surrounding the pool, to where Verana's old swords were laying, as if she had put them there only yesterday, not a century ago before marrying Drakos. "She would have to come back to us for us to know for certain." He let out a slow breath. "I know you know what to do with them, but she probably does not. She needs an instructor, a teacher. Many of them. Luckily, you know where to find them. The wielder of their twin will find their weapons soon as well."

"Not me?" she asked softly, moving to pick up the swords, feeling the familiar vibration, hearing the song laced within their metal.

"Well, I would expect for you to know where to find yourself. If not, perhaps you should not be teaching anyone." He grinned, pressing his palms together and bowing over his fingertips. "Earth's blessing, granddaughter."

Verana paused for a moment, shaking her head. "You should meet your great-grand children, you know."

His expression became a little sad then, and he shook his head. "Perhaps I will, if their paths bring them to me. But when we become elders, we give up our identity, and become the Council, the Wild. I am your grandfather, but in a way, that man has been gone for a long time."

"Did you ever have to fight the darkness?" She didn't want him to leave. She found herself needing him to stay, to talk with her for a little longer.

He smiled at that, showing his teeth. "Of course. Many times. I was a tired and old man when those swords were forged for me."

Verana knew that her time was up, could sense the Wild calling him away, so she bowed over her steepled hands, letting out a soft breath. "Earths blessing, Grandfather."

When she looked up, he was gone, and she could see her reflection in the glassy surface of the pool.