Moongrace

Part 27

"I am one of you. We are of the same kin. I have been living here for the last two years and unfortunately forgot most about my home. Some severe spells were placed on me, as you can see. I wasn't blind all my life." She concluded and to her joy, the others heard her. Oh, that pleased her very much, to be finally able to speak to people again.

"Why would anybody like to live here?" Meino asked. "It's truly horrible with all those different languages, battlesome humans, always hiding and always walking. No, that would be nothing for me...!"

Suddenly Eleeza heard the beating of wings and tilted her head: "There is someone flying towards us...", she whispered.

"Ah, that must be Nioru." They waited for the third man to join them. Some moments later the guy landed next to them.

"Who are the three of you? And why are you here?", Eleeza asked curious. But also because she wanted to delay telling her name, her gut still told her to be careful and run away.

"How did you see me?", a new voice exclaimed. That must be Nioru, his voice wasn't as silky and had a tilt.

Eleeza shrugged her shoulders: "I didn't, just heard you coming closer." Then she put her face in his direction. She heard his heartbeat rise and his breath quicken.

"Who is this human girl and why can she speak Acuandela? And what is about her eyes?" He wanted to know.

"We found her hiding nearby. Meino removed a spell from her voice so she can speak. We haven't found out much, but she seems to be of our kin. And in the beginning it looked as if she was blind."

"But she doesn't have wings, does she? Maybe she is lying?"

Meino interfered: "I think one of the spells she wears hides her true looks. She might very well be one of us."

Nioru seemed to be angered: "And why haven't you found out more? I have been searching high and low all day and all you had to do was find a strange girl and have your fun with her? Lenrio, your directions were all wrong by the way! Next time be more precise, I do not have your gift, remember!"

Now Eleeza knew all names. She tried to memorise all the hints about them. Meino's gift she already knew, but what could be the gifts of the other two?

Lenrio seemed to be more controlled: "Nioru, shut your mug! My gift didn't tell me the exact location. But now let's concentrate on the problem here. What shall we do with her?"
"If she never returns to Alarana, then what problem could she cause? Let her go and we return to the castle and care about important stuff." Meino suggested.

But Lenrio decided: "No, let's first have a look, who she actually is. Then we can still go back to your Lisa."

Then he put his hand heavily on her shoulder: "Now, sweet girl with the gleaming eyes. Who are you?"

"I... I forgot my real name. People here call me April." she lied.

"Why don't I believe you? Anyway, Meino says you hide you true looks. Remove the spell and show us your true self!" he persisted.

When she didn't react, he closed his fingers over her arm and pressed it so hard that it hurt. "Meino says, the spell is yours! Do show yourself! We can hurt you more than you imagine." And to emphasise his words he squeezed her arm even further.

She gave in and lifted the other arm and her face towards the moon. Then she called magic upon and showed her true looks. The magic whirled around her and took away her hidings step by step. Her dress hung loose now on her perfect small body.

The others stepped back and made sounds of amazement and surprise.

"Oh my goodness, I have never seen such beauty!", Meino whispered in total amazement.
When the magic was gone and the shine around her had returned to its natural self, Lenrio stepped forward and examined her carefully.

"I only know one being as beautiful as you. And I think I know you:

You are Zeleenimeeveleeliluleleeza of the Blue!"

Shocked the others stepped back. "Lenrio, are you sure it's her?"

Of the Blue? What did this mean? And why in all hell did he know her name? Why were they afraid?

Too many questions and none she knew an answer to: "How would you know my name?", she asked.

"Well, let me think. Because you are not someone, that anybody could forget. Because you are the most beautiful woman ever alive and you were damnable famous and favoured. Because you stirred up our complete world. Because your insights in magic became some of the most secret information guarded by our leaders. Because your banning ceremony was a huge tumult. Aren't only those reasons enough?" Lenrio spat out.

Eleeza was confused: "My insights in magic?"

"Do not tell me they could actually erase your memory to this extend? You still remember your gift, do you?" Meino was perplexed.

"I do remember my gift, it's beauty. But it's such a useless gift. And no, I do not remember anything from my time in the Otherworld... or Alarana as you called it." She stated.

Lenrio started laughing and the others joined in: "You really think your gift useless? That is too unbelievable! You were one of the most powerful magicians among us and now you live in the dirt of this world. Useless... pah!"

Eleeza felled ashamed for something she didn't really know. Those men were truly horrible. She really hoped they would go now.

"But what are we to do with her now that we know who she actually is?" Nioru came back to the topic.

"Let's discuss this without her listening" Lenrio decided.

"Eleeza'renria, you stay here!" he added with a fierce undertone. Then the three of them leapt in the air and flew north.

Eleeza stayed back in the dark. Should she wait for them to come back, she asked herself. Her gut still told her to run and her mind had long since decided that these men were bad. Only her curiosity held her where she was. She had been powerful once? Why did Lenrio give her the suffix 'renria? What could they tell her about her old life, her family and the Otherworld all in all?

Then she thought of Evan. She loved him! Should she really endanger herself for information about a home she would never see again? No, she decided, her home was here. With Evan and all the others that had become her family. So she changed her form again to hide the glow of her skin. Then she bent down and searched the ground for a stick. After a few seconds of crawling she found one. It was a little short, but would still work.

She rose again and with the stick in front she made her way west where she knew the farm was. Soon she reached the trees and the forest closed around her. She was slow, stumbling and falling, running into trees and sometimes going around fields of bushes she couldn't find a way through. She didn't come far when she heard an angry scream of one of the men. Frightened she stopped dead in her track. Running away was no option she knew. Going further was too loud and would reveal her right away. She sat down next to the tree she had just passed by and tried not to make a sound.