The rain was pouring down in great waterfalls as he walked through the village right next to the sea. A warm tropical rain, although the sky was a deep and earthly gray, threatening lightning or maybe a flash flood.
Everything was boarded up for the occasion, the villagers were getting ready for winter’s storms and nobody was around. Every shop was closed for the evening except for a local pub whose warm faint glow stood out in the precipitation. It was very welcoming in this weather and a few jolly men were present inside.
The brick walkway was full of potholes and puddles and his boots tapped with every step towards the tiny church. The steeple acted like the northern star guiding his way, making sure he was heading in the right direction in the rain and fog. The bag slung over his shoulder swayed back and forth in rhythm to his steps as he climbed up the walkway to the building. The overly large door was almost intimidating in his presence and he hesitated for a moment before grabbing the handle and opening up the abandoned little building.
Inside there were rows of benches facing the back of the church where the alter stood, and a very large cross depicting a man in robes hung crookedly behind it. There was a pile of old torn up bibles sitting in one corner where it looked like they had been chewed on by various rodents, and in the corner opposite sat once tall white candles, all broken and dusty.
He looked up above the alter where the only source of light in the room came in through a large round window, which was not of much use on such a cloudy day. Slowly he ran his eyes over the details of the room, gathering information of what he could make out in the subtle darkness, barely taking a few steps inside. Behind him the door creaked shut and turning around his eyes met with a young woman’s who had long blood-red hair and black eyes that seemed to shine violet in the light. The outline of her slender body was lit up by light coming from the cracks in the door, and she would have looked almost ghostly if it weren’t for her bright hair standing out in the shadows.
“Lemonté, it’s been too long,” She practically whispered to him through a voice that was cotton soft.
“A thousand pardons…Miss Crystal,” His long lost voice was a bit shaky, but he gained control again. There were many things that he wanted to say and ask, but decided that it either wasn’t the right time or he didn’t have the words to say it. The two of them stood facing each other for what could have been a century or more, each at a loss for words or purpose, not knowing if perhaps it was just going to stay this way forever. Until the silence was suddenly broken by the girl laughing and the man stiffened from shock, perplexed and bewildered. She settled down with tears running down her cheeks, not only from laughing but mixed emotions which she could only explain by embracing him with her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Lemonté hesitated, and then brought his arms around her. He was much taller than her so her face was buried in his chest, in his already wet clothing. He stroked her hair asking for her forgiveness and trying to calm her down remembering how she had always been this way. She had always been one to overreact and become upset. She was sensitive and fragile, and she reminded him of a porcelain doll, the way she never seemed to change. He loved her dearly for those qualities and was glad that she was no different than last he saw her; he never wanted her to change.
Crystal lifted her head from his chest and looked at him, really searched his features, reminding herself of how Lemonté looked. She took in every detail as she reached up and stroked his cheek and ran her fingers along the lines on his face. She felt his whiskers tickling her hand and reached for his ear, which was long and pointed, then curled under at the point of it. His long blonde hair was stuck to the sides of his face and neck from the rain and she took his red bandanna off his still dripping head. Crystal thought he looked majestic the way he stood, all wet and almost flawless; his eyes looked down on her soothingly, and his mouth was open just a little.
“It’s been three human generations at least, right? You left just before the Elven Wars almost three hundred years ago and I hadn’t seen you since. It’s been really quiet without you; I began to wonder if I would ever see you again. You disappeared so fast that night that in an instant I thought my entire world was gone.” Lemonté stood still, hanging onto every word that poured from her lips.
“For three centuries I have lived a life of solitude on this island, watching the seaport for signs of your return. I watched the people who live here come into this world, grow up, bring more children into life, and then die. Then I watched it all over again twice more. It’s funny how attached you can become just by watching them, not even interacting.” She was still running her fingers through his hair and now admiring his ice-blue eyes. Lemonté could tell that she was upset and grabbed her hands and held them tightly. He was looking straight down at the floor avoiding her eyes, she felt him shaking and realized that there were tears running down and dripping from the end of his nose. He tried to hide the fact that he couldn’t keep his emotions in, only to find that understanding eyes were upon him.
“Miss Crystal, I’m so sorry, I wish that I could get that time back for you. I wish that I could go back and change how things ended up. I never meant for it to be like this.” Crystal stepped back from him with her hands still in his. She felt sorry for him and knew that he honestly cared about her. She let go of him and walked to the back of the church and pulled out a trunk from underneath a bench. She opened it up and began to dig through it while kneeling down on one leg. Some articles of clothing fell over the sides of the large box, until she pulled out a ruffled shirt, a pair of trousers and a large leather coat that seemed all too welcoming. She walked over to Lemonté as he observed her movement, and held the clothing out to him.
“I saved them for you, the clothes you left with me last time I saw you, I’m sure they still fit you, and you should at least get out of those wet clothes and dry off,” She walked up to the podium that was raised a level higher than the rest of the room and behind it appeared to be a pile of blankets and some pillows. She picked up one of the large pieces of cloth and laid down underneath them facing away from Lemonté so that he could only see the back of her head and the blankets rise and fall with every breath.
He looked over the clothing she had handed him and started taking off the dripping pirate’s clothes that he had aquired over his journey. Slowly he removed his boots and laid the wet clothes over the back of a bench and pulled on the dry ones noticing the various holes and stains that weren’t there centuries ago. He stood there for a minute taking in all that had happened within a half hour of his arrival on land. So many memories and feelings that he hadn’t felt in a long time came back to him, and it almost scared him. He then wondered what exactly it was that Crystal had been feeling since he dropped in unannounced. He looked over at her, she barely moved since she lay down.
Lemonté felt the urgency to be with her as if she could leave him any second. He stepped up on the next level and walked up to the blankets where he picked one up and crawled underneath it. He laid on his back and looked up at the ceiling; she was still facing away from him, asleep perhaps. She was breathing steadily with her bright red hair covering up most of her face. He could see one of her ears sticking out of her hair, like his, it was pointed, except that her ears did not curl at the ends. Lemonté started to remember the problems that things like this had caused him and Crystal. A Water Elf and a Fire Elf were not supposed to be together. The two were feuding races and they were seen as an udder disgrace and aberration. Lemonté had been exiled for being with her, and Crystal threatened with execution before escaping from her village. But it didn’t matter to them, they loved each other and wouldn’t let anything come between them, not even the threat of death.
“Crystal, one day the wars will be over and we’ll be able to stay together without having to worry about being killed, or being chased out of the villages. Maybe one day we can become one in matrimony. I would like to see the day that we can be together, when we can stop running, stop barely escaping.”
“I hope that day comes.” Crystal rolled over and looked him in the eyes; they looked tired and longing. They were the eyes of someone who had lived through years of great stress and torment. She moved over closer to him so that he could feel her breath on his neck and her warm body pressed up against his. Lemonté’s eyes had gotten very heavy and he dozed off just as Crystal had said, “I missed you...”
End Chapter One.
