Prophecy

Chapter 12

Once back inside the safety of the house, I immediately retrieve the incubator and hold it in my lap. Bruno retrieves gauze and wraps my elbow, then searches for ice for my ankle in the kitchen. He doesn't say anything, to my relief, as I am still trying to process the fresh memory for myself. I run through what happened over and over again in my head, attempting to make sense of it, but to no avail. As I am doing this, Bruno returns from the kitchen with two bags of ice wrapped in rags.

"They're a little makeshift, but it'll help with your ankle," Bruno explains distractedly, handing me the ice packs. I place them strategically around my injured ankle as he makes himself comfortable in a chair across from me. "This must all be very new to you." I shrug.

"I seem to be managing, don't I?" I joke. He smiles.

"You really are quite the Elemental." I raise my eyebrow. "A 16-year-old Creator appears on the Skyvale Elemental Search Radar, or SESR, if I may, out of the blue, her sister along with her, and right around this time, the Aurora is being abused. Not only that, but Daokhan himself comes to escort her to where she needs to go, because there hasn't been another Creator in forever—"

"How long?" I ask, curiosity surfacing.

"Decades... maybe a century," he remarks sadly. "Maybe that's why the Syacore has weakened so much." I try and put the pieces together in my head, things not seeming to match up.

"What does that mean for me, though?" I wonder aloud, anxiety replacing curiosity.

"I don't know... I wouldn't know. But it may be one of the reasons you've made it this far," he answers. "Daokhan would be able to tell you more." Bruno looks at his feet, uncomfortable. I can't fathom as to why, as he is the one in his circle of expertise right now. He turns away from me, looking out the tinted window into the glowing city.

"What happened to your wings?" I ask cautiously.

"What?"

"Your wings. Anjulee said you're a Spanish fairy, and Javier has wings. Why don't you have wings?" I elaborate, careful not to come off as sarcastic. Bruno touches his shoulder blade, almost instinctively.

"I've been without wings for a long time. I had green ones not unlike Javier's, but the Syacore gifted me with bigger wings, ones that could carry me above the clouds." He smiles at this thought. "My calling was to be a messenger in the Earth Reality. The Syacore told me I had great things in store." His breath catches, but he continues. "When I was called to the pathway—the one that leads to the Waters—I was still young: a tender 29 years old. I got caught in the middle. Someone was trying to keep me from ever reaching that old dried up fountain. Whoever it was didn't want me to be the messenger the Syacore wanted me to be." He looks down, wringing his hands. "When I reached the path, my shoulder blades were cut up, and my wings were gone." He bows his head completely, then looks out the window again, biting his lip. 

This grown man, this who-knows-how-old fairy, is broken. Shattered. Because of something that he was meant to do but was kept from. And he's still fighting that battle. A tear rolls down his cheek, and he quickly wipes it away.

"That bandage should've healed your elbow by now," he says, trying to change the topic. He gestures for me to lift my elbow, and I offer my arm up to him. He holds my forearm and unravels the gauze slowly. Once the wrapping is gone, I briefly inspect where there should've been evidence of my fall, and where I find none. I look up, not too surprised at this point. I thank him, but he doesn't respond, lost in thought. I stand awkwardly, and try a smile.

"Should I be getting back to the surface now? I thought we needed to meet with Daokhan," I remark, and Bruno nods.

"I need to go tend to the animals. You know the way out, yes?" Before I can confirm, he walks out the door, closing it behind him. I push myself up, ready to go, when I hear something hit the floor in the kitchen. Becoming increasingly watchful, I creep towards the opening to the kitchen, leaving the incubator on my chair. I peer around the corner into the kitchen, and I don't see anything. There is a gray envelope on the ground, sealed by a red wax seal flecked with bits of blue and green. The imprint looks like the wing of a dragon upon closer inspection.