Witch Child - Secrets of the past

10 - A Parting

The elves were dancing again. Soft music swelled from the Elf Circle, a clearing where the elves praised the full moon. The elves played a variety of wind instruments in one whole symphony while others danced barefoot in the snow, unfeeling to the cold, in a large circle. One of these elves was named Serena. Serena, like her tribe, was a Southern Dark Elf. Her people were all dark-haired creatures. 

Sitting on the wet snow of the clearing, playing her chosen instrument, the flute, Serena studied her clan. They were a wild race, with ears that pointed over their heads and peaked through their dark hair, with grey-silver skin that blended with the night snow on the grass and in the tree tops where they made their homes. Although they were the same height as a human there was many a difference. The elves had more delicate features than humans but were fiercer and more agile. Serena's clan was called 'Enimity', the word meaning 'red temper' in her language. The clan was known for their fierce rage and general hotheadedness.

Every clan had their particular markings and clothing styles. The Enimity's men were bare chested and wore knee length, baggy pants that were tight around the waist and the knee. The women wore small shorts that stopped halfway down their thighs, and something resembling a tank top that was cut short just above the ribs and were decorated with strips of fabric that hung loosely down to the hips, like their hair which, both genders alike, was never cut. Like their hair, the clothes were brown, or greenish brown for some. Both genders wore a leather belt around their waists, each holding two knives both small and useful for throwing, being balanced perfectly. The tribes markings were also very distinctive. All the Enimity clan had two sets of black, curved lines, one on top of the other, the upper line ending in an artistic swirl design. These marks were placed on the left side of the head, above the eyebrow, and right of the chin, along the jaw. At an early age children had the same marks cut into the skin and then had a dye, made from fresh water squid ink, rubbed into the cut so that when the wound healed there was a permanent tattoo.

Serena's perked up. She heard a different sound in the night. Quietly slipping away from the dance, Serena headed in search of the new noise travelling in the wind. Pricking up her pointed ears like a cat, she listened to the sound. It was a strange sound Serena had never heard before. And then there was a voice, floating through the night air like magic. Serena was enraptured by the voice that seemed so familiar, yet unfamiliar. Finally she knew. It was the young girl that the elves all called Chennai, 'The Wandering Siren' in the elves tongue. Chennai had become a close friend of Serena's and so she followed the sound towards Nymph Lagoon.

Serena found Chennai, sitting on a felled tree next to a flickering fire, a few meters away from the lagoon. Her head was covered by a long, grey woollen cloak because, unlike the elves, she could feel the cold. She was playing a strange instrument that had a curved wooden body and a long neck on which was attached four strings. The strange wooden instrument sat on Chennai's shoulder with her chin holding it in place. She played the instrument with a long straight stick with many thin, tense strings of horse hair attached. As Serena watched Chennai pushed the stick up and down on the strings, creating a high pitched, peaceful sound that faded into the night.

Sensing a presence behind her, Chennai stopped playing and turned around, smiling at the elf.

"Annai" Serena said, holding up her right hand with the middle finger down in the elf sign of greeting and friendship.

Chennai stood, pushing the cowl of the cloak back to reveal locks of pale white-blonde hair, and repeated the sign, "Annai" then, sitting again, she gestured for the elf to sit down next to her. Serena sat and watched as Chennai took a stick and stirred the fire until it flared up.

Serena tried to remain unconcerned but she couldn't. Her heart felt heavy for some reason. She didn't know why yet, but knew her friend had something to tell her, something important.