Elvi

Out Of The Dome

Rowan stared at the letter, rereading it five times. With shaking hands he placed the letter on the tree stump next to him. She would not talk to him, short of breaking through the shield and capturing her. Which he would not and most likely couldn’t do. One week. They were to be completely evacuated within the week. The teleporters could remove them from within this charm they were hiding behind. He would never know if she was still there or gone from him forever. Was she still there now, or had her brother taken her. He highly doubted it. His Elvi didn’t seem like the kind of woman to put herself out of “danger” and leave her Coven behind. No, his Elvi would be one of the last to go.

“My Lord,” Alarik said, reaching the King’s attention for the first time. “What is that?”

Rowan picked up the parchment, shook it open and handed it to Alarik wordlessly. He watched the man’s eyes skim from line-to-line, before coming to a halt at the end of the page with a deep frown.

“She doesn’t hold back on her opinion does she.”

“No. She holds no punch” Rowan answered now absently staring at the farm land he had become so familiar with.

“What is your plan then, Sire?”

“Gather the men from the border. There is no reason to have them here. The teleporters will have them gone from inside the charm. I highly doubt they will show themselves now.”

Alarik bowed, before turning on his heel and walking off to the first station. Rowan stood, putting the letter in his jacket pocket. Walking forwards, he extended his hand, hoping to feel the forcefield that kept the witches hidden inside. Usually he kept away, unsure of the effects it would have on him, being a shifter. His fingers met solid air, a curious tingling flowing up his arm and into his chest. Experimentally he banged his fist lightly on the barrier, and watched as a ripple flowed in all directions from the site, like a stone dropped into water. He repeated the action, and again until he was hitting it hard enough to make the ripples spread to the top of the dome. Slowly his warriors joined him, watching curiously until finally the last man joined their group. The King watched as the ripples continued to flow from the point of contact upwards. He wondered to himself if the Coven could feel it. Little did he know that he had amassed a crowd on the opposite side, who were now watching him, with a mixture of terror and curiosity on their faces.

“ELVI” he shouted. Thump. Thump. Thump. “ELVI.”

*

Elvi pushed her way to the front of the growing crowd. She watched the King with others of her Coven. She stepped as close to the barrier as she could without going through it.

“ELVI” Rowan shouted, matching it with a beating of his fist. Unknown to him they momentarily made eye contact through the barrier before he turned his eyes skywards again.

“Are you going out there to talk to him?” Priestess asked from behind her.

“I don’t know. He is being rather annoying right now.” Chuckles came from the growing crowd. “I suppose I am going to have to.”

“What has made him act like this?” asked Priestess, walking closer.

“ELVI” bellowed the King.

“Are you sure they can even hear from inside of that?” one of his men asked.

“I left a letter for him, telling him we were leaving within the week” Elvi replied, not taking her eyes from the King’s face.

“ELVI. I don’t know, but I am going to try” he finished at his regular speaking volume to his warrior.

“Elvi,” started Priestess. “We aren’t leaving.”

“I am aware of that. You all refuse to listen to me. I am trying to make him leave us.”

“I don’t think it worked,” came Morana’s voice.

“Nore I. I have to go out there” she finished, watching the King bash his fist so ferociously against the dome that blood appeared on his hand.

“You aren’t going out there alone.”

Elvi turned to see her brother staring at the King with hatred in his eyes. She extended her hand out to him, taking it in hers and moving slightly to the right of the group. She smiled back at Morana before exiting the dome, the familiar tingling feeling rushing over her once more. The crowd of men startled at the sight of the new arrivals, seemingly out of nowhere. They fell into a practised fighting stance before realising who was in their presence. The King stopped banging on the dome and walked forward, ignoring the blood now running from his hand. She could tell he was excited but was trying to contain himself, to seem stoic and aloof.

“Elvi” he said breathlessly, stepping away from his men and towards her.

She extended her hands outwards to keep a distance between them. He stopped midstep, shifting to taking her in instead, his eyes momentarily on the symbols on her hands and leading up her arms.

“What do you need Rowan?” she asked to a collective hiss from the men behind the King, at the use of his name. He waved his hand behind him in a silencing motion.

“I needed to talk to you about this,” he said, pulling the letter from the inside of his jacket. “Are you serious? What you wrote in this letter I mean.”

“Yes. I am certain that there would be many a women of your kind who would wish to call you Mate. Being a King and all.”

“That is not what I meant and you know it, Elvi.” They locked eyes, neither willing to back down. “Are you and your Coven leaving?”

“You haven’t given us a choice.”

They stood in silence again. Alarik walked to his King’s side and watched the pair cautiously, Haydeon in response taking a step forward, mostly covering his sister from view. He was met with a growl in response.

“Don’t growl at my brother. You called me out here, so speak, Witch Slayer” Elvi spat.

“You can’t leave Elvi.”

“Says who?”

“I beg of you. Don’t leave. I know you mentioned in your letter a relationship, but he…”

“She,” interjected Elvi and Haydeon. The King stood silent for a moment before continuing.

“She, will have to understand that a mate bond…”

“She doesn’t have to understand anything. Mate bonds are not how our relationships work. If you spent time learning our culture instead of trying to eradicate it, you might know something as simple as that,” Elvi said harshly.

Llyall growled, stepping towards the pair. Haydeon lit his palm with a fire charm in warning. He had only just learnt this manoeuvre so was trying to bluff their way out of this growing tension, by appearing to release the charm quickly on purpose. A subtle show of strength. The King extended his arm, pushing Llyall backwards.

“You are right Elvi.” The siblings heard a quiet gasp from inside the shield. “You are of course right. In my culture, a mate bond is a sacred bond. Once the connection is made, there is no releasing it. It will forever be there, completely unbreakable. We, shifters I mean, live our lives by them. You will only know your mate, no other will ever compare, so most don’t even bother trying. Do you understand why you are so important to me and to my species?”

Elvi stepped in front of her brother again. She needed to see his eyes as they spoke. She doubted he was lying but she would know for certain by his eyes. She could detect no falsity or treachery and that scared her more. She would be the only woman he would connect with. That terrified her more than anything.

“I just want to see you, Elvi” Rowan continued. “Even if it is for a few moments.”

“What does my Coven get out of these ‘few moments?’ The illusion of freedom?” The King scowled.

“No, Elvi. Freedom. My men will be called off, never to stand guard again, unless by your request. You can remove your protection and continue your lives. Here.”

“How are we to trust you? You aren’t exactly known for your charity towards Witches. Who says you won’t come back and kill us all in our sleep the second we remove the dome?”

Elvi had stepped so close to the King now they were almost touching. The King looked down into her face, studying every millimetre of it while he could. He was almost tempted to put his fingertips to her cheek to see what she felt like, but he resisted. He fell into those eyes like it was the only thing keeping him alive. She watched him equally as curious. Someone cleared their throat from behind the King and the spell was broken.

“I, Rowan of Keitha (key~th~a,) King of Shifters and Wolves, by royal decree and therefore binding law, here say that no shifter or wolf will attack the Coven of Vadon (vaa~doon,) from this day forth, by punishment of death.”

Rowan did not remove his eyes from hers while he spoke, instead showing her that he meant every single word. The group of warriors dropped to a knee at their King’s words, bowing low. ‘As you say, my King,’ they announced in unison.

“I will be back in the morning. Show yourself whenever you are ready,” the King said, finally turning away and walking into the forest without another word.

Once the shifters had followed their King diligently, and were out of sight, Elvi dropped to the ground. Haydeon released a deep breath, before kneeling next to his sister, to help her back to her feet when she was able.