Immortal Heirs

Chapter 4

We followed the elder deeper into her isolated home in the woods. For an ancient woman, she took damn long steps.  

"Why did you not show at the festival Elder? It is a time of peace among the clans." Ren asked from behind me, the woman waved his question off and grumbled as she trotted along.

"I could sense the something would go wrong with the festival and I knew that the only smart option was for me to remain far away from the clans."

"You predicted the plague?" Kai asked, storming up to the elder. Her old eyes flashed and my blood chilled as power radiated off of her small form.

"I am no seer; but I am one of the most powerful of immortals alive. So yes, arrogant brat, I could sense danger. But life shows that you cannot avoid what must come to pass."

I sealed my lips as she brought us to an old hut, something of a shamble of branches and foliage in the early spring days. She pried open the door and swung it wide, it smashed against the old walls and shook what seemed to be the whole hut. She moved inside and leaned her staff against the table as she settled herself into a chair.

"Alright children, speak. Why have you traveled the sun's path to find me? What plague do you speak of?" She folded her thin, bony fingers and I lowered myself into a seat across from her.

"Elder we need your help. A plague of catastrophic measure has befallen our clans; it sees no difference between demon, fire, fae, and ice. It has even taken its hold on my mother."

The elder nodded and reached out, her hand finding mine. "Go on, what have you come for?"

"We need to know if you have the path to find the Water from the Endless Abyss."

The elder laughed. "I would think whoever sent you had more than enough sense to know that sending four young adults on a suicide mission. The Water is not some simple object that you can pluck from its pedestal!"

"Elder we have no other choice; our clans stand to be decimated in 8 days if we fail, my mother with them!" I begged, dropping to my knee, the princes following in suit.

The elder tightened her grip on my hand and sighed. "You are most certainly Lilith's child; I have the map if that is what you truly want. But be warned, you risk more than your life, you risk your mind."

"We agreed to all of the risks when we took our oath, I'd rather die trying that have to tell my father I refused to at least try."

The ender closed her eyes and brought herself to her feet. We watched closely as she hobbled over to one of her many wooden cabinets before rustling through and pulling out a parchment, she laid out the browning paper before grasping her staff tightly in one hand. She leaned over the parchment and muttered to it in an ancient tongue. She brought the glowing tip of her staff to meet the paper and with a small ripple; ink began to mark our path. I let out a thankful sign as I watched the map slowly reveal its secrets.

When the magic ceased, the elder reluctantly rolled up the parchment and handed it to me, but her grip tightened before she let go.

"I pray that you survive this ordeal Kasdeya, it holds more than just danger; it holds your past." My eyes hardened before I slowly removed the parchment from her grasp.

She stood up and waved at her home, "If you would like to remain for a while, I am almost done with lunch; you may find hunger to be the hardest obstacle."

"Thank you elder, we appreciate the hospitality," Taron interrupted before I could decline her offer. I huffed and sat back at the table as the old woman began fussing with ingredients "It's ok Kas, we'll be on our way before the sun breeches the horizon."