ELANIA

It's magnificent

Inside, Elania was seated on the single sitter of his brown Lawson sofa set, as in the kitchen old man Jhika boiled a kettle in the fireplace. He put herbs and honey in a cup, and then poured the hot water into it. Stirring it, he then put it on a saucer and took it to the living room with him, where he placed it on the coffee table in front of her and then sat down on the two-sitter sofa directly opposite her.

“Thank you,” Elania said.

“You’re welcome,” old man Jhika said and sat back folding his arms as Elania took a sip of her tea. “So if I heard you correctly you said a being from a higher class has threatened to kill you and use her power to shapeshift into you so that she can take over your life?”

“Yes.”

“And that in two weeks she will come and if nothing is done, she will kill you?”

“Yes,” she answered, hopeless like a little child.

"Wow, and I thought at my age and with what I have been through nothing could surprise me. This has definitely surprised me.”

“I need you to help me.”

“How exactly do you need me to help you?” he asked.

“I need you tell me what to do. I need you to tell me how to fix this. I obviously can’t match up to her so what do I do?”

“Who is this person? Did you see her? Do you know what she looks like?”

“No. All I heard was her voice. Blowing in the wind. I could feel her presence but I couldn’t see her,” Elania answered.

“Hmm, those are some abilities. She is definitely not from this class. Only superior beings possess powers like that.”

“Yes like I said unmatched.”

“Right,” old man Jhika said, as in his mind he quickly began to think of a plan.

"So what do I do? I can’t challenge her and if she comes back and I have done nothing, she will kill me and steal my life, and I can’t let that happen.”

“Well, you most definitely cannot challenge her . . . So you must summon someone that can,” he said and Elania leaned forward.

“Who?”

"You obviously don’t know this but there are many classes out there with people living lives that you can’t even imagine. And each class is ranked. We have villages, towns and then cities, they are the most developed and most advanced, and some of them even have humans with abilities that make them naturally superior to the rest of us. Now each class is governed by a leader; a village by a chief, a town by a mayor and a city by an administrator, but there’s also a body that governs them and ensures that there is peace amongst and within the classes. This governing body is called Gravantia and its leader is the governor of the world. Her name is Valkillian, a powerful creation with extraordinary abilities. She is a woman of deep faith and is one of the highest consecrated vessels of God. She has been governor of the world for hundreds of years and I assure you she will be for hundreds more to come. She is the one you must summon.”

"O.k. and how do I summon her?” Elania asked as she put the cup of tea back on the table.

“There’s a place very, very, very far away from here, it’s called the place where the leaders meet. I’ve never been there nor have I seen the place but I know they meet there once a month to give a report on what’s going on in their classes and to collectively come up with solutions to problems raised. Get yourself there and then you can summon her.”

“And you promise she will help me?”

“To fight for those who cannot fight for themselves is the calling to which she has been called, she is definitely going to help you,” he said and Elania breathed a sigh of relief as in her heart a flame of hope began to grow.

"Alright, how do I get there?”

“You have to leave the village.”

“Leave as in Lampir Province?" she asked.

"No, leave as in Wetuana Village," old man Jhika said and Elania threw her head a little back.

"What?"

"You have to leave the village."

“What do you mean leave the village?” Elania asked puzzled. Was he really saying the crazy things she was hearing him say or was she just not understanding what he was saying?

“Just that, leave the village.”

"Leave the village as in beyond the wall?”

“Yes,” he answered.

“What? No!”

“Yes.”

“No! Leave the village? No! There is no leaving the village. It is forbidden to leave the village,” she said.

"Yes it is but desperate times call for desperate measures."

"Leave the village and go out there? No! It is impossible to survive out there; the weather is brutal and the air is poisonous.”

"I am aware of that,” he calmly said.

"And that's where you want me to go?"

"That's where you have to go. If you want to reach the place where the leaders meet and summon Valkillian so that she can help you, you have to leave the village.”

“Oh my goodness,” Elania said as she threw her head down, with her heart inside beginning to beat so heavy she started to hyperventilate. She had never heard words more ridiculous in her entire life and they had her on pins and needles. Leave the village and venture into the dangerous outlands? No wonder he wanted to be left alone, he was a mad man. "It’s madness. It’s absolute madness, I mean even if I was actually considering it, how would I even do it? We’re bound by high walls with no way in or out.”

“Actually there is a way. Every class was built with a secret door so that people could escape in case of anything. Unfortunately I don’t know where that secret door is located, only the leaders know so you’re going to have to do it the good old-fashioned way.”

“And what way is that?”

“You my dear will have to climb the wall,” he said and Elania gasped. She thought she had heard all the crazy there was to hear about his plan but boy was she wrong, old man Jhika was just getting warmed up.

“You want me to climb the wall??”

"Not want, have to. If you want to get to the place where the leaders meet, you have to climb the village wall.”

“That is not possible. The wall is too high,” she said.

“Yes, fifteen stories high to be exact.” Her jaw dropped. “It’s not an easy task no but it’s either that or nothing.”

“But it’s forbidden. Climbing the wall is not just impossible, it’s against the law. We are not even to venture anywhere near it.”

“O.k. then why are you here?” old man Jhika asked.

“I came for you to help me.”

“And I am.”

“No you’re not, you’re just sitting there and talking crazy,” Elania said as inside her heart continued to beat heavily, pounding like a speaker at a party. “Climbing a fifteen-story high wall?”

“Yes. This is the only way. It’s either you do this or it’s over,” he said and Elania threw her head down once more, as her heart pounded on. “Please have some tea it’ll make you feel better.” She grabbed the cup of tea and took a few sips of it, and then breathed out softly as it calmed her down a little. “Listen Elania, I’m not going to sugarcoat what is going on here because it is way too real. A being from a higher class threatening your life is no joke. If she is as vile as she sounds then two weeks from now she will come and kill you and take over your life, unless you do something about it.”

“But climbing the wall, it’s so high.”

“Trust me darling climbing that wall is the least of your problems,” he said and a cold shiver immediately ran down her spine, as she put the cup back on the table.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

"It means that brutal weather and poisonous air are not the only reasons why the walls were built. There are things out there in the outlands . . . Dangerous things. Things that if came into contact with us . . . Would lead to the extinction of the human race.”

“Goodness.” The shiver running down her spine ran colder.

“Things to give you nightmares. Of course I’ve never laid my eyes on any of them, I haven’t even been on the other side of the wall, but I have heard of them. Creatures, vicious creatures that will hunt you and kill you,” he said and Elania’s chest tightened with fear. The harsh weather and the poisonous air was already enough bad news to deal with and now this, if he was trying to scare the living daylights out of her, it was working. “Wild beasts that you will need to get passed if you are going to make it to the place where the leaders meet.” Elania reached for the cup of tea and took a few more sips as inside her chest tightened on, desperate to be calmed and saved from the terrible way she was feeling but trapped by the disturbing words that were coming out of old man Jhika’s mouth that had her in a chokehold. “I know it’s a lot but the best thing I can do for you is tell it as it is or else you’ll be dead even before you get over the wall. And the weather really is brutal, it is no walk in the meadow, everything is extreme. In some places the air is so thin it’s non-existent, some places are so cold everything is literally frozen and some places are cesspools of poison; you step even just a single foot in them and it will be the last thing you ever do.”

Elania was ravaged with despair. First she had to climb a fifteen-story high wall and now on top of dealing with harsh weather and poisonous air, she had to go up against vicious creatures, it was all too much and the weight of the fear that consumed her was so heavy it shrunk her spirit to the size of a pebble. How on earth was she going to overcome all those things? She was just a farmer’s wife for goodness sake, she had no business going up against any of those things.

Her eyes started to water.

“I can’t do it,” she said.

“Yes you can,” old man Jhika said. He may have just met her but there was something about her that made him believe that she had what it took to do it.

“No I can’t.”

“Then she wins,” he said and Elania turned her head to the side as she gave out a troubled sigh. Being killed by Iris and having her life stolen was a terrible thing, but look what he was asking her to do? Go out into the outlands and face all those troubles by herself, maybe she was better off just staying home and waiting for those two weeks to be up. “Then she wins and you don’t just lose but you die. Is that what you want? For you to die and let her live out the rest of YOUR life with YOUR husband?”

“No,” she whispered.

“What was that?” He sat up. “I didn’t quite get you.”

“No!” she turned to him and said, as in her eyes that bold fire began to burn.

“Good. You’re going to be out there by yourself but you won’t be alone, God is going to be right there with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. In fact, He has already gone before you and prepared the path for you, but you’re going to have to show up. The battle has already been won but you’re the one who’s going to have to fight. So are you going to fight or are you just going to sit back and let this woman take away your life?”

“I’m going to fight.”

“What are you going to do?” old man Jhika asked and Elania puffed her chest slightly out as in her eyes that bold fire continued to burn.

“I’m going to climb over the wall and reach the place where the leaders meet and I’m going to summon Valkillian.”

“That’s right.”

“But what if I don’t have what it takes? I’m a housewife with a soup business, the most adventurous thing I do is go into the forest to pick wild mushrooms,” she said. “How am I going to survive out there?”

“What does Philippians 4:13 say?”

“I can do all things through Christ Jesus who gives me strength.”

“There you go,” he said. “As long as you have Him, then you have everything you need.”

“But those things that are out there, the wild beasts, they will kill me.”

“Not if you fight back.”

“But I don’t know how to fight. I’ve never fought a day in my life."

“Well, I guess you’re going to have to learn then,” he said and smiled as Elania just sat there frozen with her eyes widened. There was already enough going on with his plan and now she was going to have to learn how to fight, things just kept on getting better and better.

A moment later, Elania and old man Jhika were standing in the backyard of his cottage. She had removed her cloak and he had a golden flame-tongue dagger in his hand, looking down at it in wonderment as it sparkled under the sun like it had just been forged, so sharp it could cut through time. Walking up to her, he then laid it before her.

“You know what this is?” old man Jhika asked.

“It’s a dagger,” Elania answered.

“That’s right but not just any dagger, this is a very special form of weapon. It was given to me by the chief for my service and it was given to him by a Gravantian . . . Valkillian.”

“What?” She took a step closer as the dagger sparkled on, flashing her reflection so clear it was like looking in a mirror. “Wow. It’s made of pure gold.”

“Yes, the purest form there is.”

“It’s magnificent.”

“It most definitely is and . . .” He took a step back and swung it about with ease, like a grandmaster, and when he was done, he laid it before her again. “It’s now yours.”

“What? No, I can’t take this. It was a gift and it’s a symbol of your years of service to the chief I can’t accept it,” she said taking a step back.

“Yes you can.”

“No I can’t. That is valuable to you.”

“Yes and now it is more valuable to you because you need it a lot more than I do,” he said. “Please take it.”

“No there has to be something else you can give me, look at this, this is pure gold, it is worth more than everything I own, I can’t take it.”

“There is an old bow I have lying around.”

“Good, give me that,” Elania said.

“I will but you will need this too.”

“Old man Jhika no.”

“Yes. Listen Elania this weapon is special, it can cut through literally anything, if you have this with you out there . . . Nothing will stop you. And if you master what you can do with it, nothing will touch you,” he said as Elania just stood there taking in his words. “You may not want it but if you’re going to go out there and get done what you have to, you need it. Now take it, we don’t have much time.” She gave out a deep breath and took a step forward, and then grabbed it; holding it in her hands like it was made of glass. “It’s yours now and I need you to take very good care of it because it is what is going to be the difference between you making it out of this alive or not. Like I said, God has already won the battle for you but you need to show up and fight and this dagger is going to help you do that.” Elania looked up at him and nodded her head, not only inspired by his words but moved by the energy behind them. “Good, now . . . We train.”

Old man Jhika began to train Elania. He brought out the old bow, a wooden recurve, and a quiver with twenty arrows in it and taught her how to shoot; how to pull back an arrow and how to release it. He even brought out a dummy for her to shoot at, with a target circle on its head and on its heart. Her first shot was weak and many that followed were off target but the more she practiced, the closer to the target circles she got.

“Good again!” old man Jhika shouted as Elania went on firing arrows and eventually hit a bullseye on the dummy’s head. “Excellent! Again!” She carried on, firing as many as ten shots in a row simultaneously into both target circles. “Very good.”

Training continued. Old man Jhika came out of his house with two half-sized wooden staves in his hands and when he threw one of them to her and she caught it, the next lesson began. It was one on one combat and he not only taught her how to swing to attack, but also how to swing to block and evade attacks. He then taught her how to stand and move her feet, how to read her opponents and how to let the moves flow.

“Fighting is just like dancing, if you master the moves individually you can put them together to form attacks and these attacks are not to injure, they’re to kill so do not hold back,” old man Jhika said as he and Elania fought each other. He hit her countless times on her legs, arms, back and even in her head, and also knocked the pole out of her hand a good number of times, but she just got herself back into it and kept going. He fought her again and though she got hit some more, and even fell to the ground a few times, this time she managed to evade and block some of his attacks. “Better!”

He taught her more attacks, high and low, and showed her how to combine them to come up with deadly combos. Also, how to use the other parts of her body to enhance her attack; how to elbow, how to knee, how to punch and how to kick, and getting the hang of it quick, Elania practiced on the dummy; swinging and punching, swinging and kneeing, swinging and kicking and swinging and elbowing.

“Like I said you’re fighting to kill not to injure so you need to throw your best attacks at your opponent so that you finish them quick. You need to stun them with your attacks and when their down, you finish them. Also, you need to read your opponent so that you can know which move they’re going to do next and counter it,” old man Jhika said. “If I attack here what do you do?” he then said swinging the staff to her head and Elania blocked it. “Good, counter.” Elania pushed his staff away and placed an attack to his neck. “Good. And if I attack here?” He swung his staff straight down towards her and Elania not only blocked but countered, pushing his staff to the side and then placing an attack to his heart. “Good.”

Elania carried on with the dummy, this time inflicting blows one after the other to its head, neck, chest and limbs.

"Each swing needs to have power otherwise it’ll easily be countered and your opponent will have that upper hand you want to have over them over you. And because you’re fighting to win and you want each attack to be your last, you must make sure to attack points on your opponent that will incapacitate them and give you that upper hand,” he said as Elania went on. Old man Jhika then moved away from her and stood watching her. She stopped to catch her breath for a while and even wiped the sweat off her face with the bottom of her dress and kept going.

Night fell and together they sat in the living room having soup, with a fire burning in the fireplace and Elania looking around at all the interesting things he had in his home; not just on the walls, but on the table tops and on the shelves too.

“How’s the soup?” old man Jhika asked.

“It’s very good, thank you,” Elania responded. It was a carrot and lamb soup. Old man Jhika didn’t just have a way with weapons, he had his way around the kitchen too and he made a mean soup.

“It’s one of my family’s oldest recipes.”

“It is absolutely delicious,” she complimented. As someone who had her way around the kitchen too, she knew good soup when she tasted it and that was definitely good soup.

They carried on eating.

“Remember Elania, do not forget what you’re out there for. That’s what’s going to keep you going.” Elania nodded her head. “This Maron, is he worth you going out there and risking your life for?”

"Yes,” she responded with no hesitation. “Maron is the love of my life, there is absolutely nothing I wouldn’t do for him.”

"Good. When you feel like something is too hard for you to overcome, use that, remember him and what you have and together with your faith, you will be able to face up to anything. Your will is more powerful than your ability, you may be weak, you may be hurt but as long as your will is intact, then you’ve got everything you need to keep going. For where there’s a will . . . There’s a way,” he said and Elania nodded on.

Morning came and they were back to training. Old man Jhika took the wooden staff away from her and gave her the dagger; showing her how to handle it, how to attack with it and how to block with it just like she did with the wooden staff, but with great caution obviously as the dagger was very sharp.

Elania put to practice what she had been taught and because it was her first time handling a weapon of such caliber, she ended up slicing herself on her hands, arms and even her cheek. She sliced off a bit of her hair too, but like the previous day, she just shook herself and carried on; tying her hair back and pulling her dress up in the sides even so as to allow her better movement. Old man Jhika pushed her and Elania pushed herself even more, sweating and breathing heavily but still carrying on.

An hour later, it was time for a new lesson. Agility. Old man Jhika was sitting on a chair with a basket full of medium-sized wet clay stones on his lap that he not only threw at her one right after the other, but as fast as he could to test her reflexes by seeing how many she could slice through. She got hit all over her body, with the stones crumbling to sand immediately upon impact, but after she got into it, she began to slice through them at lightning speed and with the precision of a warrior, already so comfortable with the dagger it was like she had handled it her whole life.

“Good, show me your attack,” he said standing up and Elania attacked, swinging the dagger this way and that way, this time not slicing herself or any of her hair off. “Something is charging straight at you the size of four fully grown men, block!” he then said as he walked around her and she blocked. “It’s pushing you back trying to get you, what do you do?” She flipped in the air and landed piercing the dagger into the ground. “Good! Something is charging at you from behind, twice the size of the first one, what do you do?” She rolled on the ground to the side and then swung the dagger. “Good!”

Elania practiced her attack enhancers, inflicting blows on the dummy this time with no weapon; punching it in the head, kicking it in the arms and legs, punching it in the chest, kicking it in the face and even chopping in the neck. They then moved on to practicing her one on one combat. Old man Jhika brought out twin short-swords and the two of them fought. He attacked her and Elania not only evaded and blocked his attack, but countered it with an awesome combo of moves that ended with an attack to his neck. Old man Jhika looked down at the sword and chuckled.

“Again!” he said pushing her sword away and the two continued fighting. Afternoon came and Elania practiced the bow. Old man Jhika was sitting on his chair and this time he had a basket full of plums on his laps, and one at a time, he threw them high up into the air where Elania, with the quiver on her back, shot an arrow through each one like she was born doing it. The basket was emptied and after she shot the last plum into the leaves of the oak tree where the others had been shot into as well, she stood bold like she could take on anything.

Old man Jhika looked at her and gave her a nod, as his mouth curved into a confident smile. Elania may have been special because of her unique beauty but she was even more special because of the fire she had burning inside her, a mighty fire that assured him that if anyone could go out there and get this done, it was her.