Sephira

The Elders

The mahogany doors that led to the elders' house were unlocked, receiving us with open arms only to take us to a whole other reality. How can it be that they would stop the trial because of a halfling they weren't even supposed to be aware of? Alana walked briskly in front of us; using her tall figure to her advantage, she took the longest strides she could, making sure we were still close behind.

I had been inside this house once, too long ago for me to recall the details of this place. I had been called to do nothing but hear excuses. They wanted me to believe that I was valuable to everyone in the village, but even after the hundreds of times they repeated that to me, I still had but one thought in mind: My mother left me.

It was since that day ten years ago that Felicity was appointed as my guardian, yet she never took notice of me until I could fend for myself, until I could hold a sword with my own two hands. The time when that finally came true I started my sword practice, joining all the other young sirens in the training camp.

I walked endlessly and it seemed the corridor had no end for no matter how long we walked we still kept going, deeper and deeper into the lion's den. When the moment finally came, we arrived at a door surrounded by a pair of grand staircases. The upper part of the elders' house was the village's ballroom, where important parties or reunions were held by the clan. Hundreds of sirens would come to this place just to contemplate the strength of our clan, to try and find any weaknesses that might help them turn the tide, making them the strongest of us all.

"Remember not to talk unless addressed to, young sirens. And since I believe none of you have been here, don't stray far away from where you're taken; it is quite easy to get lost inside this vast place," Alana said, just as she knocked twice on the door and opened it before receiving a reply.

Five tall figures stood before us, all with a cloak surrounding their shoulders; each of them were a different color, representing the elements our ancestors first held. Upon hearing our arrival, they all turned to look at us and didn't seem fazed at all by the male halfling.

"Miss Roke, we thank you for escorting Miss White and her companions safely to us. We wished for you to hear what we were to discuss but it seems your presence is needed elsewhere." It was Marina, the oldest of the elders, that spoke. Her youthful face didn't appear to be of one as old as her, yet the patience and wisdom she portrayed in her speech made you think twice of how old she truly was.

Alana's body became rigid as she heard this but she made no comment of it. She simply placed her hand over her heart and bowed towards the elders before turning around and walking back the way we came from. As soon as the doors were closed, all five of the elders turned to face us.

"I welcome you all to our humble abode and I also apologize for any incertitude we may have caused you. Surely, you must all be confused as to why we would stop our annual trial, the most important event every village must go through; the answer lies among you," Marina said as her eyes fell directly upon Josh. "One as yourself is wandering far from their place, halfling. Am I in the right mind to believe you came here for a reason?"

"I did. I came here to reveal the truth to your people, to let them know that they have all been living a lie." His eyes shone with ardor, portraying how serious he was about his cause.

"It is not of your incumbency to speak to our people when not asked, young man. For ages, we have lived as we do and it has worked perfectly for the life we follow, yet here you stand, believing that we will let you parade into our village and let you destroy its peaceful state." It was Lur who spoke now, her light brown wings were dim compared to the dark hues of the others by her side but even then she seemed not to care about that.

"You called us here for a reason and I can't understand why you would bring us all here to speak with Josh. Why have we all been summoned?" I asked in an attempt to change the conversation's flow. All the elders turned towards me, their overpowering presence making me feel small in comparison.

"Sephira White, last descendant from the White family and youngest white siren from our village, ten whole years have passed since we last saw you. It is a great pleasure to see you after such a long time. Your stance tells me Felicity has done a tremendously good job." Marina held a small smile in place, a genuine one at that. "But you are right, we wouldn't stop the trial for one mere halfling; we could have asked Alana to take care of him were it the case. Though hearing the familiarity with which you speak of him brings peace to my mind in what we have planned."

Upon hearing her words I felt chills run down my body, stiffening at the end of my extremities. I knew something was wrong about this situation, about the course of action that had been taken. 'What do they want from me?' Kept repeating over and over in my mind.

"Watch your words, Marina, saying too much is as unwise as going without a weapon to war," Urith said, her tone not reprimanding but oddly calm. Her dark hair contrasted against her pale skin the way the moon does against the night sky. Her piercing eyes held my gaze as I did hers, waiting to see who would waver first. It was I who did, such action bringing a smirk to her lips. "Sephira, my niece has indeed done an amazing job though I wonder if it is enough for one as yourself; so high and mighty yet so dull and defenseless, much like a blade without a wielder."

Josh took a step forward, his left shoulder obscuring half my body from the elders' view. All eyes turned to him, forgetting Urith's noticeable dislike towards me. "Speak of that which brought us here or we won't doubt that leaving is for the best. Sephira has committed no mistake so you have no reason to be reprimanding her."

"Silence! You are an intruder in our village, halfling; you have no right to speak to us with such impertinence and rudeness. You will respect us and the rank we hold," Marina said above her normal tone, the force in her words as demanding as ever. Everyone stood quiet and still, waiting for one of the elders to break the dilemma poised in front of us. Understanding no one was planning on doing so Marina cleared her throat and turned to us as she started in a calmer way, "We called you here to tell you what this halfling was planning on explaining to you."

"You have been living in our village for sixteen years now, following every custom and rule we told you, not asking or questioning us in any way. No matter the thing we asked, you would do them all. One of the things we asked is to never leave the mountain or the village, as a matter of fact, without any supervision. We told you stories of how treacherous and dangerous humans are yet many of you could easily kill one if you were to be threatened."

"Then why? Why did you say such things, elders?" Neve asked, speaking for the first time since getting here. Colette stood noiselessly by her side, observing the way this conversation was unfolding.

"We said so to protect you, to protect all of us from the abusing power of men. We certainly can overpower humans but their technology is far more advanced than what we have. They have created weapons of mass destruction, weapons that could obliterate our kind in mere seconds; that is the reason for our lies." Meifeng answered without hesitation, being one of the t elders who had decided to withhold their opinions throughout the whole time. Meifeng had a light green cloak, quite similar to the color of the shade of grass with a layer of morning dew on top. Completely opposite to her, stood Tien, with the cloak's hat covering most of her face and hair.

"But we hav-" Neve started once again before getting interrupted by a small, clear voice. "It is time for you young sirens to pay attention and pose questions until asked for them, other than that just listen and try to understand the reasons we had..."

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