Chapter 23 – FAERIE WITH GOLDEN EYES
1103 Words
“WAKE UP…” An angelic voice reached his ears. Eleand slowly opened his eyes. The smiling face of a female faerie greeted him.
“Swasah…” Her smile broadened when she witnessed him blinking his eyes, adjusting to the light.
He was immediately drawn into the stranger’s golden eyes. Wait, she looked familiar. She was the same faerie he saw after the accident. The one who healed him before Ahldrin and Nahil found him.
“Who are you?” He tried to get up, but a stinging pain in his chest forbid him to do so.
Eleand surveyed his eyes around. He was half-n***d, and his body was submerged in water. He was in a green water lake.
“My name is Kharyn. And yes, this is the second time I saved your life.” Her voice was very comforting.
“Thank you. I’m Eleand. But where I am?” The place was not familiar. He was confident it was not a part of Velidia.
“I brought you here at the nearest lake below Steri Volcano, in this part of Spring Region. I didn’t fully heal your wounds so that the faeries in the temple will not doubt on your impossible descent from the Unforgiving Mountain.”
“Why are you helping me?”
She simply shrugged, “Because you called for help.”
“From what domain are you?” he asked his savior. Now he could somehow distinguish a faerie from their distinctive look. He was certain this lady was not from Noyuh. She looked different, especially the color of her eyes.
“I came from a place outside Erganiv. And I’ll be back there soon.” She heartily smiled.
“Where?”
She ignored his question. “You can rest here for the next two days before I send you back to the temple. But you need to promise not to tell anyone about this.”
He nodded.
“Listen, when you go back to your magic training, you need to study fire-wielding, the Vatranum, and the rest of the elements will follow.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You cannot wield one element if you didn’t follow the proper order. Learn Vatranum, it should be followed by Gaoitherie, Erdeterra, and Aghenum must be the last.”
His forehead creased, trying to remember the words she just said. The words were quite familiar, but he could not understand.
“Vatranum is the magic of fire, Gaoitherie the wind, Erdeterra the earth, and Aghenum the water,” she explained.
Eleand titled his head, “I get it. But Enkille said I should learn Aghenum first since I am a mortal.”
“You’re not just a mortal. You are special. Maybe one of your ancestors has faerie blood. So, you might wield some magic a normal human could not,” she averted her gaze.
“Really, how did you know?” his brow raised.
“My magic can sense it.”
“If that is true, why I can’t do the water magic?”
“I said, I can feel you’re special. Because of that, you should learn fire magic first. Magic is very complicated. You have to pay attention to small details, or else it won’t work.”
Kharyn’s explanations sounded shady in his ears, but he was not in the place to question her.
“If by chance I could wield the fire, what will happen to me?”
“Practice until you become its master. The wind and earth-wielding shall follow, lastly, the water. That is a simple process. If you don’t go in that order, then you’re just wasting your time.”
Eleand nodded. There was no harm in trying if he followed her advice. Besides, he would find out the truth sooner if she was lying.
But his gut feeling was telling him that she was genuinely helping. Maybe she got the point. He could not wield water because he should be learning fire magic first. Vatranum must be a prerequisite to wield every nature element’s magic.
“You have to hurry to learn magic. You need to be strong enough when the war broke. Erganiv is not safe anymore.”
“War? Is this because the Ancient Queen is back?”
“Partly, yes. But for so many other reasons. Learn all the magic you think you can control. Do not limit yourself with all the knowledge of magic. Not all the time a faerie will come to save you.”
“I know that,” he let out a sigh.
He must train himself not to be dependent on others. And to achieve that, he had to be strong. This was the only way to defend himself in a hopeless situation. While waiting until the time comes that he could go back to the mortal world.
“One more thing, once you try to master fire magic, always remember to start from the basics. Red fire to blue fire, that’s it.”
His brow raised. Even the color had something to do with it?
“Sounds weird. Does even the color have to be in the correct order? Fire is fire, no matter what the color—” he paused midway when he thought crossed his mind, “Wait, is there a thing like black fire?”
She lowered her gaze and hardly shook her head. “It’s a curse. If you accidentally wield a black fire, you have to control it no matter what. No other faeries from Erganiv must know about your peculiar attribute. Because that black thing will destroy you and every living thing you encounter.”
Eleand just agreed. He felt too weak to argue. He suddenly sensed the heaviness of his eyelid. He dozed off again.
When he woke up, he was lying on soft hay in the shadow of a huge magnolia tree. It was full of pink flowers; other petals fell when the wind touched them and landed on his body.
Eleand got up. He gasped when his vision reached the sprawling garden in front of him, different colors of chrysanthemums.
“This is the spring garden of Perrinia, one of the largest flower farms in Croea.”
Eleand tilted his head to follow the voice. Kharyn stood near him, arms-crossed.
“Mesmerizing!” He let his eyes savor the colorful surrounding.
“Get ready. You’ve been asleep for almost two days. I will send you back to Velidia.”
He had a lot of questions in mind. But Kharyn held his shoulder, and they vanished. It was too late to protest.
- Writer
