Keeper of the World

A New Day, A New Life

I was going to answer but my mouth was to dry, how long was it since I last had something to drink, and as the fear and adrenaline left my body I realized just how tired I was. I fell, face first towards the water, my body just collapsing, completely drained and exhausted. A hand caught me and the man was som how standing right next to me, his words melting together with the sound of the water as the world went black. I went into the vivid dreaming of a person with a fever. Pictures of my mom, the village, and the man haunting my sleep, and a warm feeling going through my body, as if I was out in the sun.

I woke up, the crackling and smell of a fire filling my lungs and ears. We where close to the stream, i could still hear it making its way down the hill. But it was pitch dark and all i could see around me was the parts lit by the small fire in the middle of a little clearing. The the sweet and damp smell of rain forest still hung in the air, and it was buzzing with insects, still full with life after the sun had gone down.

The man was sitting on the opposite side of the fire with his back against a tree, his eyes calmly looking into the fire, shadows playing across his face. He looked old, or his eyes did. He had the same eyes as some of the elders in the village had, the kind of eyes that has seen many things, good and bad. The kind of eyes that said, I have lived to long.

He looked up meeting my eyes for a second, blue as mine, giving me a smile before looking back into the fire. "Awake already are we, you where quite out of it back there, I was a bit worried for a time. You where dehydrated and some poisonous plants had gotten into your scratches. I guess you have some hidden strength in that tiny body of yours." Saying the last part with a chuckle, his eyes never leaving the fire. He had an accent i never heard before, but it definitely wasn't African, where did he come from.

The only reply I could come up with was. "What time is it ?" Feeling as if I hadn't talked in ages, barely recognizing my own voice.

"A couple of hours before sun up, you slept for about 2 days straight. We will head out at first light, and I will walk you back to civilization. Get some more rest son, you need it."

I wasn't going back to sleep, I mean I've slept for 2 days, in fact I felt great. Where did all my bruises and scratches go, and i wasn't hungry. For the first day in a very long time i felt good and I was happy. It felt weird not being hungry for a change.

I Started to remember what happened before, the shaman and the men, the wave. What was that, did the river suddenly flood, only flushing the men away, somehow saving me. No wait the man said something about getting to me in time. What did he mean by that, did he have something to do with the wave. And right before i fainted he caught me, how did he do that, he was at least 10 meters away from me when i fell.

Feeling confused i looked at the man sitting across the fire. "Who are you?"

"Those eyes you have are very special you know." He replied with a quiet voice, as if he was somewhere else, thinking about something far away. His eyes meeting mine, then slowly going back to the fire.

"There was this Elder, back when I was just a kid. And he said that in the beginning of time back when the world was young and innocent and earth had just been made. There where the four children of the Lord Creator. Fire, Air, Water and Earth, having a form not to different from humans as they walked the earth, each living in their separate element.

One day Air left his high place up in the sky and went down to play with his sister Water, disturbing the surface of her pool as he dashed back and forth. And as the years past, Air often came to play with water, many times a day.

This made Fire jealous, being lonely on his volcano far away from Water and Air, but being able to see them playing from high atop his mountain.

So one day Fire decides that he also wants to play with Water and makes his way down the mountain and into earths forest, he needs to get through the forest to get to Water and Air as the pool was on the other side. Not realizing why his father the Lord Creator had put him on the mountain in the first place, the rock being able to sustain his form without burning. He walked into the forest, setting it ablaze and he watched with horror as the whole forest burned down, humans living in the forest consumed by the flames.

To ashamed to face what he done, he ran back to his mountain and hid, to afraid to tell Earth what had happened. Earth, finding his forest in ashes, set out for Fires mountain in search for revenge. Using the strength of plants and trees he started to make cracks in the mountain slowly destroying it bit by bit in his rage and sadness against Fire. As Earth had loved every flower and plant like a child in his forest. He stared causing rock slides, killing humans living at the base of the mountain forcing them to flee, the children of the earths mistakes yet again spilling onto the humans.

The Lord Creator saw what happened, and to prevent this from happening again, he bound each children to its element. Fire becoming a part of fire, Water becoming a part of water, Air becoming air and Earth becoming earth. Forever bound to their element not being able to see each other and play. They sometimes seek out humans for company touching them, when they walking through the forest, or running with the wind in their hair. But fire being so very lonely, not being able to see his siblings, not being able to touch humans without hurting or killing them. He sometimes weeps, big tears of lava rolling down the mountain showing his despair hoping that he someday might be free and see his siblings again.

And so the elder says that sometimes humans that where touched by the children could get a change of eye color. Blue from Water, green from Earth, and those who where touched was then blessed with luck and long life. Or so the story goes at least."

His eyes were now green as he looked at me, showing great wisdom, and that sadness and age again. But he didn't look a day older then 30, strong of limb, rough callused hands and knuckles, fingers fast and steady as he sat playing with a small stick.

"Let me tell you how it really works, any person that can switch their eye color to green can get in touch with their soul. Ever heard someone say that eyes are windows to your soul, well that is true, when someones drawing its power, its life essence, their eyes will turn a mossy green". The stick he had been playing with was now floating a couple of inches above his hand, if only for a second, before dropping back into his palm. "You have this power Amadi, you are one of the few that do. But having access to that kind of power, is not always a good thing"

This only made me even more confused, was this man crazy, what was he talking about. "How do you know my name, and what do you mean by that, what power."

He just sat there looking at me with those intense green eyes.