ELANIA

I came for you to help me

Shortly after, Elania and Maron were sitting on their velvet green settee sofa in complete silence, stricken dumb by the massive bombshell Iris just dropped on them. She blatantly threatened to kill them, and it had them both terrified for their lives; Elania’s bones were shaking like leaves in the wind and Maron’s heart was pounding like it was going to break right through his chest.

“Kill us? Surely she can’t,” Maron said. What was happening was so unreal he felt like he was dreaming.

“I think she can,” Elania responded.

“O.k. so if we can’t report her to the chief and we certainly can’t challenge her, that doesn’t really leave us with much.”

“No it does not. Goodness, I just knew it. I knew from the moment she spoke that she was up to something and now we know what."

“But why? Threatening our lives, we haven’t even done anything to her.”

“I don’t know why she wants to hurt us.”

“What are we going to do?” Maron asked.

“My love . . . I have no idea,” Elania said and the two of them just sat there looking doe eyed at each other, trembling inside at the thought of this being that had literally come out of nowhere and brought fear into their lives. They didn’t know her and as far as they were concerned they hadn’t done anything to offend her, so why did she threaten their lives? Who was she and just what did she want?

Night fell and Elania and Maron were in bed sleeping. He was miles into dreamland whilst she was still at the station contemplating on whether to get onto the bus or not. She couldn’t sleep, she was fully awake and was just lying there eyes open thinking about how drastically a little note had changed their lives. Things were perfect just days before and now they had taken a complete 180-degree turn.

Suddenly, a heavy wind blew outside and Elania jolted slightly in terror. Quickly she lifted her head and looked at the window, and seeing the shadow of the trees and leaves being blown about in the wind, the hairs on her skin stood up like needles. That wasn’t a normal wind, it was her.

Elania got out of bed and with the softest steps, she made her way to the window where she then peeped through it and saw just what rage the wind was in; it blew like a hurricane was about to hit and the sight of it made her throat clench, it was definitely her.

The wind blew for about a minute but then it disappeared into the forest, and watching it go, something inside her began to brew. She looked back at Maron to see if he was still asleep and he was, and then looked back out the window with a boldness in her eyes. She had to do something. There was no way she was just going to sit back and let Iris bully them, if this mess was going to be sorted out once and for all she was going to have to grab the bull by the horns and give her a piece of her mind.

A moment later, the front door opened and out walked Elania, still in her nightdress but with her cloak and her boots on. The community may have been the safest in all of Wetuana but that didn’t mean she could be out that late by herself. She needed to be indoors sleeping but instead she was out there about to do something so brave it was stupid.

She knew it wasn’t her smartest idea, her skin broke out into goose bumps the second she stepped out of the house even, and not goose bumps of cold but goose bumps of fear. Still, she needed to confront Iris over what she was doing and hopefully bring an end to it and so she did what she needed to do.

She closed the door behind her, softly, so as to not awaken Maron, and then made her way down the path through the forest as above her the gorgeous full moon shone and all around her the nocturnal animals relished the night. There was an owl hooting in the distance, there were crickets screeching in the grass, there were bugs buzzing about in the air, frogs croaking and of course, the rustling of leaves as the gentle breeze blew through the trees. Elania had never been out in the forest that late before and certainly not by herself, and so though she had made the bold decision to go after Iris, she could feel her heart thudding at the back of her throat.

Elania walked on and soon reached the place where the wild mushrooms she was picking the day before grew, where she first made contact with Iris. It was there that she stood and started looking around, waiting for her to make contact again.

Suddenly, a heavy wind burst out of the trees and began to blow towards her. It was Iris, and seeing her wind coming, Elania was ravaged with dread, but she was there on a mission and so she stood strong.

“Oh how lovely, if it isn’t my friend,” Iris’s voice said.

“We are not friends,” Elania said quick, not wanting to give her the wrong impression as to why she was out there.

Iris chuckled. “Well, it’s still very wonderful to see you. But this late, tu tu tu tu tu tu, a beautiful woman like you shouldn’t be out by herself this time of the night, anything could happen to you. You should be inside cuzying up to that deliciously handsome husband of yours.”

“You will not speak of my husband like that.”

“I will speak of him however I want to,” Iris’s voice said as her wind blew on.

“No you will not. You have no right. You shouldn’t even be here.”

“And yet here I am.”

“You threatened my life and that of my husband,” Elania said.

“Yes I did.”

“What is your problem? You have no business here. Just go back to where you came from and leave us alone.”

“Now why would I do that when being here is so much fun,” Iris’s voice said and she laughed; with her laughter so vile, it made Elania’s skin crawl.

“What do you want?”

“I want you . . . And I want him.”

Elania’s wires got crossed. “What does that even mean?”

“It means I want your life,” Iris’s voice responded and Elania’s eyes widened with fear.

“You do want to kill us.”

“Not the both of you . . . Just you. I will kill you, use my abilities to shapeshift into you and continue living my life . . . As you.” Elania gasped. “I will become you and Maron and I will share a wonderful life together.”

“You will not get your filthy self anywhere near him! His love is mine!” Elania said as inside her blood began to boil. Kill her and have her husband, she must be out of her mind.

“It is for now, but soon it will be mine.”

“You can’t do this! You can’t separate us, our spirits are one.”

“Don’t worry he’ll grow to love me and then our spirits will become one,” Iris’s voice said and Elania’s eyes immediately began to flood with tears, her evil words piercing her heart like a spear. “Don’t cry my dear, this is nothing personal. I just want what I want and I always get what I want.”

“You can’t always get what you want.”

“Turns out I can.”

“But this is my life you’re talking about,” Elania said, with her voice shaking. “Killing me and shapeshifting into me, how can you speak so lightly about something so wicked?”

“Trust me it’ll be least of the things I’ve done. I’ve done so much worse.”

“And you have no shame?”

“Why should I be ashamed?” Iris’s voice asked.

“Because you’re doing something wrong and you don’t even care. You’re talking about taking my life like my whole existence is pathetic.”

“It’s not pathetic, it’s just in the way of what I want.”

“But it’s not yours for the taking, no one’s life is for the taking. It goes against the law of the Holy Scrolls and the Holy Scrolls will be honoured,” Elania said as tears ran down her face.

“I don’t live my life by the Holy Scrolls so I am in no way obliged to honour them, I live my life how I want and what I want is your life.”

“No! Maron and his love are mine, I refuse you to take them from me. This is MY life.”

Iris’s wind blew on as silent swept for a moment. Did she manage to get through to her or was she just pausing for dramatic effect?

“You have two weeks to enjoy Maron and his love, after that I will come and I will kill you and your life will be mine,” she said casually like she was talking about taking a stroll through the park.

“No!”

“I will have your beauty Elania and I will have his love and there is nothing you can do about it.”

“No!!” Elania screamed, with more tears running down her face as inside her heart shattered into a million pieces.

“Your days are number beautiful Elania if I were you, I’d spend them well,” she said and her wind started to blow away.

“No! Stop! Iris!” she shouted, chasing after the wind hoping to catch it but she couldn’t, it moved too fast and soon it was gone, leaving behind a woman breathless, shaken and so deflated she fell to her knees and broke down. It was already bad enough that she threatened her life and that of her husband and now this, two weeks left to live, things had officially gone from bad to worse.

A new day came and Maron awoke to an empty bed. He sat up and looked around the room and it was empty too.

“Elania?” Maron called out. “Elania?” There was no response and quickly he threw the blankets off of him and raced out of the room. Coming down the stairs and seeing Elania sitting on the floor by the fireplace, Maron breathed out a huge sigh of relief; he thought Iris had done something to her but she was o.k. He reached her and sat down next to her as her eyes were deadlocked on the flames of the small fire that was burning. “Sweetheart?” She remained the same, frozen like a statue; her eyes were puffy and there were rivers of tears running down her face. Maron held her chin and slowly turned her face to him, the sight of the pain in her eyes causing his heart in a single beat to turn a dark shade of blue.

“She came here last night and I followed her. I tried to talk her out of her evil plan but I failed . . . She gave me two weeks,” Elania said as inside she continued to fall apart.

“Two weeks for what?”

“Two weeks to enjoy the last days of my life.”

“Goodness,” he said as his bones shook underneath his skin. “That’s the time she has given us? Two weeks?”

“Not us . . . Just me.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Two weeks is all I have left Maron. To be alive and to be with you. When those two weeks are over, Iris will come and she will kill me,” she said; the words coming out of her own mouth cutting her like a knife.

“No.”

“She will kill me and then she will become me.”

“That witch will never be you! She will never be you!” Maron said and shot to his feet; getting so heated up he started to pace up and down. “She can’t do this. She has no right. Such wickedness is condemned by the Holy Scrolls. Killing you and taking over your life? What kind of vileness is that? It is abominable to even think of such a thing.”

“She’s not subject to the law of the Holy Scrolls like we are so she doesn’t care.”

“But this is wrong. Whether she is not subject to the Holy Scrolls or not she is still human, where is her humanity?”

“I guess she has none,” she answered, looking on at the flames like all hope was lost.

“This is not right. It is not right, it is cruel and it is evil. So she’s from a higher class and has abilities, that does not make her better than us and that certainly does not allow her come in here and take what is ours. She has no right,” he said tearing up and then threw his head down, giving out a deep sigh, as Elania just sat there on the floor crying to herself, with the reflection of the fire glistening in her sad eyes. Maron sat down on one of the two long sofa stools and quietness swept. “You’re the love of my life Elania . . . I can’t lose you . . . I knew love from the first moment I laid my eyes and my heart has beat for you ever since . . . I can’t lose you.”

Hours later, Elania and Maron were sitting by the table in the kitchen having soup and bread; quiet like the sound of the rising sun and with a mood darker than the deepest ocean. Elania’s eyes were still puffy but at least she had stopped crying and Maron had his hand on his cheek like he was at a funeral; the both of them completely broken inside failing to believe that what was happening to them was actually happening.

“We have to do something. There has to be someone who can help us,” Maron said. “Maybe you should try talking to her again? I can come with you this time.”

“That’s not going to work love, she has already decided on what’s going to happen and she’s not going to change her mind. You should have heard the way she spoke. So lightly like she wasn’t speaking of evil. She even said that she has done worse things which worries me even more. If this, as huge as it is, is the least of how bad she can get, then there’s nothing she can’t do and that’s very dangerous,” Elania said.

“What if we go to the royal guard? We can tell them that someone is trying to hurt us and they could protect us.”

“If she doesn’t want us reporting her to the chief then I don’t think she wants us reporting her to anyone.”

“Of course we won’t give them the details, we’ll just tell them that someone sent us a death threat and is trying to hurt us,” he said.

“But how are they even going to protect us love? She’s just a voice in the wind. We don’t even know what she looks like. We don’t even know what she’s capable of. What if what we’ve seen is the least of what she can do? She could be powerful beyond our comprehension. She could defeat them all in a blink of an eye. And then all we would have done is make her mad, and who knows what she will do then?”

“What about the church? Surely they must help us.”

“If we go to the church with this they’re going to think I’m possessed or crazy. They’re going to pray for me and check me into the rehabilitation center and keep me there until I’m sound enough to be released. And that takes months which means instead of me being out here trying to come up with a plan that will actually help us, I’ll be in there hopelessly waiting for Iris to come and kill me,” she said.

“Goodness gracious,” Maron said as he sighed; what was happening was so much he felt like he was going to lose his mind.

“God is the answer. God is always the answer but we must not seek Him through the church, we must seek Him through someone else, someone who we can freely talk to about this and won’t see us as crazy. Someone who is wise and knowledgeable about the Holy Scrolls and can be trusted. Iris outmatches us in every way, we obviously can’t go up against her on our own, and so we need to talk to someone who can tell us how we can.”

“But who? No one comes to mind.”

“Knowledgeable about the Holy Scrolls . . . Can be trusted . . . And won’t see us as crazy,” Elania said to herself thinking and then gasped as she turned to Maron with her eyes widened. “Old man Jhika.”

“Old man Jhika?”

“Yes. Love, do you remember what he was before he moved out into the outskirts?”

“Uh yes, he was . . .” Maron gasped as it came to him. “Advisor to the chief.”

“Exactly. The chiefs know things and if he was working closely with one of them, he must know things too, things that could help us deal with Iris. And not just that, but every chief and advisor must be ordained in the faith before taking their position which means he knows the laws of the Holy Scrolls like the back of his hand. He’s perfect.”

“And to have served our previous chief for the time that he did must mean he knows a lot,” he said, with hope instantly coming back to them like the rising sun cutting through the darkness of dawn.

“Exactly. And he knows of the different classes that are out there, if anyone can believe what is happening to us it’s him. We must go and see him right away.”

“Alright.”

They quickly stood up and rushed into the living room to grab their cloaks so that they could leave. Maron reached first and grabbed Elania’s cloak off the cloak hang, and threw it over her shoulders. He then grabbed his and was about to throw it over himself when . . .

“Wait,” she said as a thought came to her. She looked out the window and there was a gentle breeze blowing, softly rustling the leaves as above the high-noon sun shone. “What if she’s out there? She could follow us and completely ruin our plan,” she then said lowering her voice.

“What do we do?”

Elania thought for a moment and quickly something came to her. “You stay here and I’ll go.”

“What? No. I’m not letting you go all the way out there by yourself,” Maron said. Old Man Jhika lived all the way out in the outskirts and the walk there was hours long.

“You must love.”

"No, and if she finds you? She could hurt you.”

“Not if she believes that I’m still here,” she said and slight wonder came over Maron’s face. “I’ll sneak out the back window and proceed as quiet as I can.”

"O.k. how about you stay and I go?”

“You know that’s not going to work. I have to be the one to go because I’m the one she interacted with not you.”

He gave out a heavy breath as a sunken feeling immediately came to his stomach. "I don't like this,” he said.

“I know you don't my love, I don’t like it either but this is the only chance we have at getting our lives back, it has to be done.”

“I know I just don’t like the thought of you being out there all by yourself especially when she could be out there.”

“I know but I promise to be careful,” Elania said and moved closer to him; gently placing her hands on his face. “I know you’re afraid, I’m afraid too but if we do nothing she will win and we can’t let that happen. This is our love and no one’s going to take it away from us. Not now. Not ever. I will reach old man Jhika’s place and God will speak to me through him, He will show us what to do and everything’s going to be fine. It is written in John Chapter 16 Verse 33 that in the world we will have tribulation but we must be of good cheer, we must always be of good cheer, for He has overcome the world. And in Isaiah Chapter 41 Verse 10 He says to fear not, for He is with us. For He is our God and He will strengthen us and help us so don’t worry, everything’s going to be o.k.”

He moved in and kissed her, as inside his racing heart calmed down. “O.k.”

“O.k.”

They opened their eyes and looked deeply into each other as inside worry continued to surge through their veins. They knew they needed to be strong for the sake of their love but it was so hard, nothing like this had ever happened to them before and so they were quite thrown off by the many different emotions they were feeling that they didn’t even know they had. It was a test that blew all the other tests out of the water, and even though they were at wits end over how the whole thing was going to unfold, they were still hopeful that everything was going to be o.k. because that was what the Holy Scrolls said. That God was always going to be there for His children and that He was always going to come through for them.

“I love you.”

“I love you,” Maron said as they then moved in and shared a passionate kiss, and then a warm hug that they wholesomely embraced, as inside their minds began to wallow at the possible fate of them never feeling the warmth of each other’s arms ever again.

An hour later, Elania was on the path to old man Jhika’s cottage, located in an evergreen grass plain in the middle of nowhere, next to a giant oak tree. Every cottage was made from the same smooth grey bricks and had the same arched shaped windows and doors, but the type of stone used was different and the one old man Jhika used for his was gabbro. His cottage was twice the size of Elania’s and Maron’s and it had a sizeable vegetable garden in the back and a white picket fence that went all around.

Elania walked two and a half hours and when she arrived, she approached the gate and knocked on it.

“Hello?” Elania said and knocked on the gate again. “Anyone home?” There was no response, it was as quiet as a rock. “Old man Jhika?” she went on and shortly after, the front door unlocked and opened with a creak, but he opened it only slightly and so all she could see was his eye.

“What do you want?” Old man Jhika asked, his voice hoarse like he had just finished smoking a thousand cigarettes.

“I’ve come to see you,” she responded.

“Why?”

“Because I need your help.”

“Darling I’m retired and I’m out here to have a quiet life. Whatever problems you have go sort them out yourself,” he said and slammed the door.

"Wait! Old man Jhika!” Elania shouted and it went quiet again. She then opened the gate and walked into the front yard. “Please I need your help. I would not be here if it wasn’t of the utmost importance. Please.” The quiet prevailed. “There’s a being from another class that wants to steal my life by killing me and using her power to shapeshift into me, and I need your help on how to stop her or else in two weeks she will claim my life and everything in it. You must help us! We would’ve gone to the chief and granted you the peace you came out here to find but she threatened to kill us if we did. And if we went to the church, they would have thought me possessed and checked me into rehab, and that would have solved nothing. Please, you are literally our last hope old man Jhika. If you don’t help us . . . Then I am dead,” Elania said as her eyes began to fill with tears.

A moment later, the door creaked open and this time it opened all the way, with old man Jhika stepping out. He was a ninety year old man with a bushy beard and was wearing a mustard tunic.

“Elania,” old man Jhika looked at her and said, like he had been anticipating meeting her.

“You know my name.”

“Of course I know your name, I know the names of everyone in the province. I had to know the whos of where I was retiring to. And besides, I got a whiff of the word concerning your rare beauty, got me curious as to what they meant by that, I see it now. Your eyes are.” He got a little lost in them as a gentle smile even grew on his face. “Absolutely magnificent,” he said.

“Thank you.”

“Interesting problem you got yourself there.”

"That’s one way to put it.”

"Please come in,” old man Jhika said stepping aside and allowed her entry into his home.

“Thank you,” she said and walked in as he took a look around the plain to make sure no one was following her and then got inside, closing and locking the door behind him.