Valterra

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

     Faeron watched the group silently from a distance. He sneaked out of Elise's room again and crept down to the alley where they had first met. Peaking around the corner, he spotted her and another woman, most likely the Chloe she was always going on about. They were talking to the Elder and the Prince. One of Faeron's duties was to know and be able to recognize all the Council members spread out through Valterra. They were all standing at the bottom of the steps that lead up to the Citadel's entrance.

     Though it wasn't Elise that pulled him here. Sure, it was nice to see her outside of her room, but it was a different feeling that led him here. He had felt a similar pull when he first sought out the witch, but this was stronger and came on without any guidance from his mind's eye. It was as if a part of him was calling out to him, or rather, yanking him forward by some invisible chord attached to his chest. The more he resisted, the stronger the pull.

     It was not until the group of men was in sight that the pulling ceased. He pulled his cloak up around himself and blended into the wall of the care-house. He studied the group, he tapped into his mind's eye and knew instantly who had drawn him here. The boy. 

    Faeron wasn't sure what to make of this situation he found himself in. For weeks now he had been fighting draugs in his dreams. As an elf it was expected he be able to have lucid dreams, prophetic dreams or even enter the dreams of others. Never before had his dreams harmed him. His dreams had led him here only a few short days ago and since being near the witch they had stopped altogether.

    Just as Faeron's mind thought of the witch she laughed and reached out to the boy with her body language. It seemed apparent to Faeron that the witch fancied him. He was puzzled how this was all connected to him. Why, after so many years of solitary as Warden of Humankind, was this happening to him? 

    Faeron studied the boy again. He knew it was him who drew him here because when Faeron looked at him with his mind's eye he could see his life-force. The aura that every living thing emanates. All creatures have their own unique aura, usually consisting of one or two, sometimes three colours - though that is very rare. Yet this boy, his aura was different. It not only shone brighter and stretched out double the size of the people around him, it looked as though it encompassed all the colours of the rainbow. And it danced, like it was reaching out to catch something, it flitted and flickered like the sun. 

    He had never seen such an aura on any human, or any other creature for that matter, except for one; himself. It made him Warden. He was told it was a gift from the Cosmos, a way for him to oversee Humankind with a sharp heart and wise mind.

     He had never expected this. Part of him wanted to go to this boy now and demand answers, but he had already crossed the line by getting involved with the witch. He was not really supposed to have familiar contact with a human unless it was a life or death situation. Even then, he could easily make a person forget. He rationalized his encounters with her, thinking his life may have been in danger. The unworldly infection he received by the Soulless in his dreams had had him rattled. He saw Bolster city and the care-house in his dreams. He had seen Elise and dreamed of her attending to his wounds. He sought her out.  

    There she was now, goggling over this young anomaly. Was it jealousy he felt? Nonsense, an elf and a human could never mate. He chalked it up to her being the only person he had talked to in over fifty years. She had grown on him in these few short days. Nonetheless, he knew it was time to bid her farewell. He needed to return to his homeland and report his findings.

     He had an inkling of what was going on; the draugs, the witch, now the boy. His thoughts turned to legends he was told as a child. He cursed himself for not getting home sooner, he should have returned after the dreams began even though he had been shaken by them. Would they start again if he left her? No, he was glad he had not returned home so quickly, if he had he would have never discovered Elise, or the boy. Still, he needed answers and wanted them fast. He knew for certain where to find them.