Elemental Witch: Child of the Earth (Part I)

Love Lost

"Her name is Nama Veranandein," the mother's voice was soft, hoarse and filled with an emotion, unfamiliar in its delicacy from the strong warrior he had fallen in love with. He couldn't see her face, obscured in the darkness of the night and shade from the expanse of trees as it was, but he could see Kerendian's wings, how they shimmered like a rainbow in the weak moonlight. She stood several feet away from him in the clearing, having back pedalled away from him shortly after putting the child into his arms.

"Kere, you know she is welcome here. She is my daughter, but why are you turning away from her?" He tried to keep the anger out of his voice, kept the peaceful music in the soft lilting accent he couldn't get rid of when he spoke Kere's native language instead of his own. "My people, they don't fly. She has wings."

Kerendian was silent for a long moment, first looking at him and then looking down to the sleeping infant in his arms, "You are also a warrior, Sencha. Teach her to fight. I know its rare for your people, but you do have warriors, she needs to be a warrior. She needs to be raised here in the Wild. It has been seen."

Senchalneeria blinked a couple times, processing her words, before inclining his head, "No daughter of mine would be anything but. Will you ever come back for her?"

"I think it is better if we assumed that I won't. She doesn't need to know where she comes from, raise her as if she were the same as you. She needs to be a child of the Earth." The emotion in the woman's voice betrayed the coldness of the words spoken

He nodded slowly at that, " And when she wants to fly?"

Kerendian sighed softly and shook her head, "She'll eventually have to learn, but the Wild is no place for flying, the woods would rip her wings apart."

"I'll figure it out." He murmured softly, running his thumb over his daughter's cheek, watching her sleep, "You know I love you, right? I would marry you if you would only agree. We could raise her together."

"Love is a luxury I cannot afford any longer." Kere's voice held a bitter tone of resignation, wavering as if tugged along through tears.

"Can I call her Nama?"

Kerendian laughed at that, shaking her head, "that means Princess, Sencha. Its a title, not a name."

"Ah. And her pointed ears, pale skin and blue eyes mean that she would not be a well liked first born." Sencha nodded, feeling the random information he had gathered about the woman he loved suddenly fall into place as if it had been there all along. He understood now; his people were relatively open minded and peaceful, but even they would have trouble accepting a blonde haired, winged child as one of their own. Kerendian had told him enough about her people that he understood they were rigid in their society and expectations, unforgiving of outsiders and aloof from the other races of the world. They ruled the skies and had a society that was strictly governed by protocol and station. A child would have a hard enough time growing up among them, let alone the heir to their kingdom, raised looking so differently.

"You do my people no justice, Sencha." There was a bit of pride in there, stung by his judgement, "She has great things that she needs to do. But she needs your people to teach her how to do them. Remember that. She was born to be more than just of one world, one people. More than either of us, and more than the sum of two"

"We'll see what we can do, the Feysha aren't known for their ambition." Sencha said softly, offering a shrug and watching as Kere shifted closer, bowing her head to kiss her daughter's forehead, before straightening and spreading her wings wide. She paused only for a breath, her honey-brown eyes catching in the moonlight before she leapt into the air. Warm air fanned his face from the downdraft of her wings, and he lost sight of her in the dark sky when he blinked.