Elennah
I
A little girl sat by the fire. She sat, entranced, watching the flames dance and move to
lick the interior crevices of the fireplace. Red and orange embers writhed about in her
otherwise silver eyes. Through sheer will, it seemed, the child was trying to make the
fire take shape, to become something it was not.
"Elennah." The Elothean woman spoke soothingly, so as not to startle the child.
The woman approached the tiny girl, and with gentle hands, gathered her blue-black hair
and tied it back. The small girl leaned upon her mother, a look of distress upon her face.
The woman produced a short candle from her pocket and touched a finger to it, lighting it.
Smiling softly, she handed it to her daughter.
Elennah held the candle reverently in both tiny hands, and took several deep breaths. Her
eyes took on a newly glinting sharpness as she stared at its flame. After a few moments,
the flame coalesced into a neat ball. Exhaling quickly through pursed lips, the girl
extinguished the fire and turned to nearly giggle at her bemused mother. The look of
excitement on her face quickly turned to one of frustration.
"Mother, I want to be tall and strong like you," Elennah whined.
"Soon enough, far too soon enough. To bed, now. Your father will be home shortly, and
I'll have him bid you good-night, even if you're already sleeping."
Elennah bowed to her mother, hugged her about the waist, and scurried off. Kalennah, left
alone to her thoughts, fell into a chair, covered her face with her hands, and shook her
head sadly.
II
"Hurry, Elennah! We do not keep Gauthus waiting!" Kalennah paced the floor, back
and forth, back and forth. The day she'd been planning for for years had arrived, but
still, she was nervous.
Elennah finally emerged from her bedroom and gracefully bounced down the stairs. Her long
hair was braided neatly, for a change, and she was dressed in her finest robes. She took a
moment to pose dramatically before noticing her mother's nervous expression.
"Mother! I'll visit! I'll bring gifts. I'll bring... er, Human houseboys?"
Elennah winked mischievously at the older woman before swooping in for a hug. Kalennah
didn't stifle her spontaneous smile. The young woman sighed, and declared, "I'd hoped
Father would be here." Kalennah's smile faded for a moment before she willfully put
it back in place.
"He's sending Storm with us. He's here, in his way." As if on cue, a large black
dog ran into the room. The three of them, the two women and the dog, traveled the streets
of the village and through many long and winding paths before reaching Shard. The elder
woman led the other two through a kindly-placed moongate, over the streets of the
Crossing, and finally, out its Northeast Gate.
Just before entering the Warrior Mage Guild, Elennah excitedly whispered to her mother,
"I want to learn Fire Shard first thing!"
III
Elennah scratched the marbled lizard affectionately. She'd joined her guild only weeks
before, but was learning quickly, and each successful spellcast brought a gleeful grin to
her face, and a deep sparkle to her silvery eyes. Yes, she thought to herself. Magic was
as beautiful as she'd known it would be. Praise Meraud! Praise those other two! Praise to
Gauthus, and to the lizard, and to the elements, and to...
Her thoughts, in all their enthusiasm, were interrupted suddenly by a tall figure that
obscured the light. Elennah blinked a few times, and then managed a smirk. Her cousin
stood there before her; he used to be such a brat! Her smirk turned to a frown, however,
when she noticed how pale he seemed, and how his lower lip quivered as he tried to speak.
'"What... what's wrong, you?" Elennah rose to approach the former brat,
instinctively moving to place her hand on his arm. The young man remained silent for long
moments. Silver eyes met silver eyes, and before long, Elennah began to weep quietly.
The man's voice cracked as he spoke. "I'm... so sorry, young one. No one knows why.
His magic met hers, and something awful happened. Something... water, electricity..."
He wept along with his cousin, and then spoke slowly. "Only the gods know for
sure."
Elennah shuddered as she wept. An orphan. Are you really an orphan, when you're seventeen
years old and mostly a woman? She considered, for many minutes, what she'd gathered of her
parents and what she'd never been brave enough to speak of. Her mother, driven by her own
mother and sisters to marry an angry man, for his position in his house. Her father,
restless and careless, driven by his family to become ever more powerful, to bring the
elements to his constant command. Both of them, tamed only by the caring for the child
they'd made together, and when that child had left to live her life, what then?
Elennah brought herself to her full height and spoke carefully. "Tell your mother
that I will not be contacting her anymore. After that is done, tell them all. No more. No
more!" In her anger and grief, she threw her talisman at the wall with all that was
inside her, and it shattered. The lizard disappeared in a brief haze.
She muttered to herself, "And I will never, ever not speak up again!"
IV
Priestess Elennah bowed respectfully to the altar before her. Clothed in crimson and
black, with depictions of Meraud's wolves adorning her cloak and blood-red rubies
decorating her silver jewelry, she was a striking, although not altogether pretty, figure.
She bowed her head, chanting a prayer, and then gestured. A cup of Elothean rice wine
appeared in her right hand, and she sipped at it contentedly.
She stepped out of the chapel and directly into the path of an oncoming Human. She raised
a hand to his chest to steady him.
"Well, hello, mage. Miss me?" Elennah winked at him, loving how a single look
could make him flush. The young cleric absently fingered the tiny shrew trinket she wore.
Her expression softened as she looked at him, searching his face for the familiar
affection, and glancing down to his left hand, where he wore the eternal band of silver.
They exchanged some teasing words before Elennah's mind returned to her tasks.
"Come with me," she said. "I'm needing to speak with a couple that want to
be married, and then I suppose I should please Tallis, and exercise my dagger." She
grinned at the man, and he grinned back, nodding. She clasped his hand in hers, and off
they went. |