The Princess of Light and Dark

Thuria

Blinding light. Every fibre of my being hurts, my body feels cold and heavy, I can feel the pain radiating from the many shattered bones, the blood oozing out of every cut and graze on my skin. My heartbeats quicken, my breaths sharp and shuddering. In my head I can hear an echo, a soft feminine voice who calls out to me, I open my eyes again and the blinding light is softer. Everywhere around me is just white and empty. The voice calls my name, softly it floats through my every cell. It is saying many things, but I cannot make any sense of it, I try to reach for it, but my shattered arms lay limp in awkward angles by my sides.

Thuria, the voice calls out to me, its gentleness coming closer. Thuria, remember Thuria. Awaken your true spirit, remember the unquestionable realness of who you are. The voice, it confuses me, I try to move once more, and the pain blinds me. Then warmth, a warmth that starts mildly in the tip of my fingers and toes, it heats and heats until my whole body is burning, I feel its scorching flames knit together every torn muscle and tendon, organs improve and mend fast as lightning, bones stitching together, my heart beats steady now, my body light and warm. No pain, no death.

The voice is no longer an echo, it is right above me as I lay in this whiteness. My eyes cannot see who it is, but my heart and soul recognise the now clear and mild voice.

Una, my own voice whispers, the name reverberated around my head, my heart it reached my soul, and my lips formed a sad smile.

Hello daughter of mine. Do not speak. Waste not what precious life I have been to grant you. Listen, for I will tell you the tale of our power, of the cursed man, and the 2 starts who changed the world.

For millennia, the stars have watched over the world below, watched as elf kind was born and thrived, watched as their weakened genes created humans, lesser people to the high elves, watched as the divide on the world started wars, hate, greed. Watched powerless, to help, to intervene. Stars are powerful, but we were made to watch them, not to involve ourselves with their mortal issues. But amongst them, a crazed elf followed clues left behind, from when stars roamed among the earth and water of the world. He followed the clues, and he discovered the ritual of the blessed star.

He took his findings to his brethren, brethren who branded him insane and banished him and his clan into the cold snowy mountains of the North. There, he created a stronger, more brutal clan, hidden beneath the mountain. That elf, he converted many to his cause, with so many elven lives pledged to him, he finally had what he needed to perform the ritual.

It was simple really, on the 3rd hour, of the 3rd night of the 3rd month, the blessed stars would shine above the world, bright to guide those who wanted to be blessed, guide them to their desires. But that elf desired only one thing, the blessed star itself. And so, with the clues left, behind, he called on the one he desired, luring it to him. The blessed star followed those hymns, but when the barrier between worlds was crossed, the curse of the blessed followed the star.

Months after the ritual, the elven lord was blessed with a miracle, his beloved wife had given him a daughter. As the years went by, their blessings grew, the daughter grew beautiful, graceful, and powerful, capable of unimaginable things. Years went by and the lords’ desires grew darker, sinister. His thirst for power and revenge consumed him fully and, in his darkness, he killed those he loved the most, in his grief, the madness ultimately showed him the truth of the ritual of the blessed stars.

Luring stars from the night sky, is a gamble. For you never know what blessed star you grab.

I laid, quietly as my mother’s voice told a familiar story. The first lord under the mountain, Sarnarel had once told me the story of his ancestor. How he had been driven away from the elven lands into the barren cold mountain for his progressive ideals. But something else flickered in the confines of my mind, a memory. A dark night, thousands of joyous diamond like lights, brightening the sky, a journey across the long darkness to reaffirm our powers. I remember a song, a deep baritone song that entranced me, pulled me away from the shower of light. I followed that voice, the other lights tried to warn me, but the soothing calling was much too strong, it pulled me stronger now, and I barrelled through darkness, I crossed the vast night sky and found its source. A man, no, an elf. He desired me and my power, and so I blessed him with a daughter. But this blessing wasn’t enough, he wanted more power, he wanted the daughter’s powers, and when she, afraid of him and his darkness, refused, he killed her mother and then her. In his grief he ended his life, but what he did not know, was that his greed had far outweighed the blessed curse. His greed had transformed the olden burden into an evil calamity. In death, the soul of his daughter, the blessed star, split into 2. A light soul and a dark soul, bound by their life force, doomed to fight each other for eternity, in new bodies, reborn each time they died, a piece of their knowledge taken from them, until nothing but light and darkness remained.

The curse is broken Thuria. You broke the curse when you allowed yourself to become light. The pieces of your soul you sacrificed for you sister and the elven princess consumed any darkness in you. You are free, free to die peacefully and come home, into the night sky with me, or you can stay in the elven world, a magical elf, blessed with a small portion of your star power.

I did not need to voice my wish, my mother’s voice turned into an echo once more, Dig for your life child, atone for your evil, live a long life. Find what you desire.

I found myself encased in wetness, a heavy feeling on my body, I opened my mouth and instantly felt the richness of the wet earth enter it. My lungs constricted. Dig for your life. My heavy arms slowly moved around me, making small dents in the compacted dirt surrounding me, it felt like hours, my body wiggled until I had enough space to lift my arms over my stomach and dig, I found out quickly that I was only in a shallow grave, my hand burst through the earth, and I heard the faint screams and gasps of people. A warm hand gripped mine and soon enough, shovels and hands were digging me out.

“My stars, you were dead girl, we checked.” A small plump man holding a shovel gasped as he watched me sit up, dirt and mud covering every inch of me.

“She’s naked. She was dressed when we found her.” Another voice uttered from behind me,” Do you know who you are girl?” A woman’s voice this time, I turned to look at her and she gasped. “Her eyes. She’s elven. We need to run, before the elves come for her and kill us.” The 2 men and the woman dropped their shovels and ran. I looked down and saw perky milky white breasts with pointy pink n*****s, long pale arms and legs covered in muck. I raised my hands to my face and felt a small nose and plump lips. I shivered and something tickled my back, I grabbed at it and pulled, yanking my own head backwards. My hair, I lifted it in front of my eyes, long, curly, and black as night. A throat cleared behind me and I slowly turned, my eyes not believing what they were seeing. Atone for your evil. Serena had once made me and Rothien sit and talk, the latter ended up forgiving me for the pain I caused him, but there had been another I had destroyed, another whom I never managed to track and make amends with, I guess, my mother star Una had found him for me. I stood slowly as he reached out his jacket to me. I wrapped it around my cold body and looked at him, he looked older, the strain of the despicable acts done on my whim weighed heavily on his once handsome face. I spoke first, before he could offer me anymore kindness.

“Hello Aladan.” His face paled and he fell to his knees, tears filled his eyes as he looked at me and whispered, “Hello Thuria.”

**

Aladan’s reaction had surprised me, I had imagined hate, anger, anything really, instead he remained on his knees, in front of me, his eyes filled with unshed tears. The silence stretched throughout the small clearing where my shallow grave had been dug. I cleared my throat quietly and jiggled my cold legs, Aladan’s eyes followed the movement and for a second I thought he was observing my young naked self, but then his eyes found mine again and the pain and fear in them told me, he was simply watching me, waiting for those long black tendrils of darkness to erupt from me and invade his soul once more.

I kneeled in front of him, startling him, he tried to move backwards, but my small soft hands grasped his big rough ones and he fought to released them, no words exchanged between us as I felt the panic and fear filling his heart, the miniscule fight left in him evaporated, he gave in easily, I felt his hands go limp in mine so I dropped them, they hit his thighs with a quiet thud and I took the opportunity to grab his chin and lift his face, so that he may be able to look me in the eyes.

“Aladan, open your eyes, please?” My soft voice sounded almost lyrical in my ears, his eyes shot open, confusion clear in them, I had never, in all the years I possessed his mind and soul uttered the word please. His eyes once again flitted around, looking deep into mine, he really looked at every inch of my new elven eyes and I let him. I stayed quiet and unmoved as his eyes roamed my face. “Al, I do not know where to begin, but I do know what I need to say. I’m sorry.” He gasped, an involuntary sound, clear by the shock of his expression, I had uttered please and sorry within minutes of each other and I could clearly see the bewilderment in his face, so I spoke again, “Aladan, I know sorry means nothing, I destroyed your life, it turns out I am a very old star, a cursed one at that, and the things I did were a result of that curse and, I’m just, I do not know what to do, tell me, what can I do?” I grabbed his hands again, but this time he snatched them back and pushed himself up, standing at his full elven height, I looked up at him, and he shook his head. “Is this a trap?” He asked, his voice horse and wavering. I shook my head, tears gently flowing from my eyes. “You are elven now?” I nodded; my voice seemed to have gotten permanently stuck in my throat at the sound of the pain in his every word. “Powers?” He asked once more. I looked down and nodded slowly, “Any where to stay?” I shook my head again and he stretched his arm to me, his hand hovering just in my field of vision. I looked at him, surprised and confused. “You are clearly not as powerful as you once were, you are elven for the first time in millennia, and you are naked. Just take my hand, and do not make me regret my kindness.”

**

Aladan had a small black and white horse with him, which he kindly let me ride, he took me to the near by human settlement where he bought me some woman’s trousers and boots. I greedily took them, my new elven body was not built for the cold. I could still feel the fear and apprehension in Aladan, and so I chose to remain quiet during our travels. We rode for hours, until dusk started to fall, Aladan’s small cottage was the mirror image of the small cottage I had once seen, Elladan’s, his brother. He helped me off the horse, my legs bowed and sore, i had survived my first ever horse ride, I smiled softly at the thought as Aladan guided the horse to a small barn off the side of the cottage, I stood, silent by the front door, waiting for him to return. He gave me a puzzled look when he returned but opened the door and welcomed me in, ushering me into the small living space and lighting the fire, it brightened the room, revealing enormous bookcases filled with old books, I nodded and scanned the tittles, mostly spells and olden myths. A throat clearing broke my thoughts and I turned to Aladan standing by the fire watching me with nothing but disdain.

“I still don’t know what game you could be playing, but there is warm soup in the kitchen and fresh bread too. Eat. Then sleep, in there” He pointed to a door just off the small kitchen, “There isn’t much in there, just a bed and a blanket….” I stopped him by raising my hand.

“It is plenty. More than plenty. I am grateful.” I stood and walked to get the food, leaving a gapping Alandan behind.

**

Thuria, wake up!! For stars sake woman, wake the f**k up!

The stinging sensation on my cheek woke me with a jolt, a very much naked Aladan stood by my bed, his hands gripping my shoulders, shaking me.

“I am awake, let me go!” I shouted over his shouts. He dropped me immediately and backed away, his hands covering his modesty as my eyes raked his naked self.

“what happened?” I asked confused, I could feel the lingering sting of his slap.

“You were having a nightmare, you kept shouting my name, eventually I came to wake you, but when I touched you, you burst into blue cold flames.” He turned his face away as I sat up and I quickly realised that I too was naked.

“Al, I’m sorry. I will go!” I stood up and he rushed into me, knocking me back onto the bed.

“The f**k you will. You will die out there, you are one of us now… Useless. Powerless until you learn to control those powers you have, you stay here.” I couldn’t help it, my eyes filled with tears and I lunged for him, my arms wrapping around his neck. “Thank you Al.” He pushed me away and walked out muttering about a crazy b***h I am, I laughed quietly at that, he had managed to return to his old kind self, maybe he could teach me to be a decent elf. And then, I could go and claim my fated.