Rebirth

22. Shruck

Dear Journal,
The days are louder, disaster is more frequent, luck is a rarity. These are all telltale signs that war is upon us.
                                                     - 𝓔𝓵𝓲𝓪𝓼 𝓢𝓽𝓮𝓮𝓵𝓮
(1605)

     
It had been 14 days since Elias, Syrus and Annora arrived in Aldavia; the land of the Elven.

Elias was still in disbelief that a place such as this had actually existed in Gandalwell all this time. According to Annora, Aldavia was once visible and accessible to everyone as elves were considered a powerful and respected group of beings in Europe.

Unfortunately, they were forced to hide themselves away from prying eyes due to war and strife. The tyranny of Elijah had led to the annihilation of almost half of their population as the monster inspired chaos across the land, resulting in other groups of creatures forcefully voicing their rejection for the peace that the faes and humans fought to achieve. It had forced them to find ways and means to protect themselves, hence, the illusion enchantment they had placed upon their land.

Elias and Syrus were placed into a single tree house, away from other elves and separate from Annora; who had been invited to stay in the lair of the fairies.

She had been training them vigorously for the past weeks; trying to help them unlock the full potential of their power in the short time they had gotten to combat the forces of Odelina.

Currently, they were getting ready for another extensive training session, however, the vampires decided to spare some time to perform a much needed task.

Elias sat on a stool as Syrus loomed over him with the spring scissors he had fashioned at the elves workshop in his hand, attempting to cut his maker's hair. It had grown to waist length and Elias became wary of it, finding it an hindrance to his training.

Inside the elves' tree houses were lavish, festooned with beautiful drapery and paintings of nature. They had a king sized bed bedecked with comfy white sheets and their room contained well polished, wooden furniture such as book shelves, tables, chairs and stools.

In addition to this, a large, vertical mirror stood adjacent to their bed. These things were considered a luxury to have in his past life and Elias had only seen one in the Emma's room; her being royalty. Here in Aldavia, the elves were surprisingly advanced and quite wealthy in all aspects, whether armory, food, knowledge or magic.

"How short do you want it?" Syrus asked as Elias stared into standing mirror before them.

Glaring at their reflection, Syrus tried to ignore Elias's appearance, sensing his maker's distaste for his corpse like semblance. In actuality however, Syrus was really trying to ignore his own reflection, which resembled that of a drowned boy.

In the mirror, his skin was pale blue from lack of oxygen and his hair, though dry in reality, was dripping wet down his face.

Syrus considered it a truly cruel phenomenon; their reflection being that of the dead when they were still alive, even if they were no longer the same.

He had spent a long time gaping at himself the first night they had spent in Aldavia and he decided to forget that it even existed.

"A little pass my shoulders." Elias replied, his eyes never leaving from the mirror.

They stayed in silence as the sound of the scissors snipping Elias's long tresses of black hair filled the room, a bird appearing at the window near the front door seemed to watch them perform their task.