THE MARK OF ELDOREM: Rise Of Eldorians(Book One)

CHAPTER NINE: The royal signet of Tierlin

Xaris POV:

"Why do you have this?" I asked, eyeing the girl sitting in front of me with suspicion. Ever since she bumped into me, something about her had felt off.

"My mom gave it to me before she left," she said.

"Wait, does that mean your mom's—"

"Yes, my mom is an Eldorian. But since she married my father, who's just a regular human, I find it hard to bring out my gift. She told me about Eldorem when I was little and said I was special. Ever since then, I've known I had this gift, but I've only really used it once."

I stared at her, deciding not to pry into her gift. "Did your mom ever tell you how she got hold of this ring?"

"Yes, and she also told me something to share with the heirs of Tierlin."

I leaned in, barely able to contain my excitement. "The twins of Eldorem are real?"

She looked at me, confused. "Aren't you an Eldorian?"

Taken aback by her question, I realized I'd let my guard down. I cleared my throat and straightened up. "I am. You've seen proof of it, haven't you?"

She studied me thoughtfully for a moment, making me shift uncomfortably. "What?" I asked.

"Nothing," she said, pausing for a while before continuing, "As you might have guessed, the friends I mentioned earlier are the twins of Tierlin."

I shook my head. Something didn't add up. I was reluctant to believe in the twins' existence. "If I know Eldorem's history correctly, the twins were sacrificed to save Eldorem."

"Yes, but they weren't sacrificed to die. It was a ritual to ensure they would be reborn centuries later."

"So you're telling me the twins have been reborn in our time?" I shook my head again as she nodded. "Do you realize how crazy that sounds? You want me to help you find the twins to help us find your friend, but we have no clue what they look like or what gender they are. There are over a hundred and fifty million twins in the world, and we don't even know if they're identical or fraternal. How do you plan on finding them? And an even better question—what guarantee do you have that they've been reborn in this century?!" I yelled, almost getting up from my seat.

I realized my voice had risen, drawing the attention of the waiters and customers. Sitting back down, I said more quietly, "Sorry."

She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "It's okay," she said, her face a little flushed.

"I didn't mean to raise my voice," I said.

She nodded. "I get it. But I do have a way to make things easier," she said shyly.

"What?" I pressed.

"My mom went to seek a Rabnah's help and I'm thinking we should do thesame too."

I almost fell off my seat but quickly regained my composure and leaned forward. "What do you mean, a Rabnah's help? All the Rabnahs died during the last great war, which was over a hundred years ago. It's not like they have descendants or anything, right?"

"Sort of," she said, leaning back in her chair.

Realizing I was making her uncomfortable, I mimicked her action. She continued.

"All the Rabnahs except one died. Even though ancient beings started dying almost like regular humans when Eldorem began existing on Earth, my mom said the Crone somehow managed to preserve herself. My mom only met her once—the Rabnah was the one who gave her this ring. Ever since then, my mom has been obsessed with finding her, thinking the Rabnah will be able to tell us how to find the twins. The last time I saw her, she said she tracked down the Rabnah to Mesa, Arizona and was going to find her. But it's been six years now, and my mom still hasn't returned."