Villainess From the Stars

25. To Be Named (Special POV: The Mapmaker)

The child was something they had never seen before, she was not like their old queen in the sense of her talents.

The Mapmaker peered through the Pōrteacaleum mirror, his eyes upon his old friend.

"TheNameless are growing less and less in the Širdkryp-Gardinōs. The girl can bestow Inheritance. The Nameless have come rushing to our sanctuary, word has spread it seems."

The king hummed beneath his breath, "It would have never remained a secret. Are hunts still a problem?"

TheMapmaker shifted on his feet before looking through the core slab, "It would seem with the knowledge that an Inheritance can be gained, more gathered and so more are captured. I have been trying to devise a longer-lasting solution."

"Perhaps she will have a solution."

The Mapmaker snorted, "She is little more than a child."

"Not for long. Don't forget time flows differently in theŠirdkryp-Gardinōs. I believe she holds much promise."

—

The girl sat upon the meeting stone and a long line of Nameless formed in front of her. He watched from the shadows of the forest. Even as she grew tired she never failed to think before bestowing another. She seemed to instinctively sense the importance, or perhaps she had come to suspect it.

WhenEirlys told the rest to come back another day, the girl turned immediately seeking him out in the shadows.

"You are the Mapmaker?"

He nodded and watched to see how she'd interact with his coldness.

"Could you perhaps tell me about the name giving importance?"

"From the beginning of Terra's time, the Elem have been part of its core." When he saw her open her mouth to ask a question he raised his hand to stop her. "Terra is a living planet, its heart thrums with the sound of all its elements working together. We believe that we are all meant to be in the same rhythm of the core, that when we gain access to the element of our inheritance we will become in tune with Terra. A name is not merely a title in our culture, it describes our beings, it is a direction, a map to who we will become. At birth we are given our Hearth name by our mothers whispered into our ears, as we grow in sync with the core, our hearts, and our wings unfurl. It is an intimate name that helps us feel..." He paused, his coreaching as it always did when he heard of another's Hearth name.

"Home?"

The Mapmaker gazed at the girl and saw a likeness within her round brown orbs that seemed to mirror a feeling he had long felt.

He could see in the girl's own eyes a wisdom that surpassed her age and knew he didn't even have to speak the affirmative for she already knew it.

"In the Porteacs as the Continent calls the Elem lands, due to the proximity to the core those living there are stronger. They grow up faster and reach maturity upon their Inheritance day. It is the time when all gather to see a coming of age as an Elem's abilities truly manifest and they are connected completely to the inner workings of Terra as their element is decided."

"So when I have been bequeathing names it's been their Inheritance?"

This time the Mapmaker nodded.

"But how could that be possible, I thought you said it was only something that could be done back in your homelands?"

"It is an ability that only the core-element experts can do, which is often one of our royals. However, the last non-Elem who was able to was our late queen."

The girl pursed her lips, and her eyes got a glazed look as she looked off into the distance her brows began to furrow.

"It's a theory of our people that it was due to her special existence that allowed her to do so. She was after all a Starlight Soul just like you."

Her head whipped towards his direction causing brown waves of curls to fly to her other shoulder.

"How?"

"Were you not aware there was another before you?"

The Mapmaker grinned as he saw her shocked appearance, it would seem it had come as a surprise after all.