Excerpt from Alexan’s Seventh Journal, Tour of the Small and the Strange.

While there might be only six true elements, the way some individuals can use combinations of elements can easily fool the ignorant into thinking there are more.

Put together fire and water and you get steam. The combination of fire and light is usually called sun. Combine water and earth and it’s surprisingly easy to manipulate wood. While light on it’s own is enough for a basic illusion, add dark and you can give those illusions substance, making “shadow” the most natural combination for illusionists.

Put all six elements together and you get either life or death or more commonly, both. Necromancers are those who dabble in such magics, and are easily the most reviled. Those given a semblance of life through such magics are called “The Hungry” and that name is well deserved.

Unnamed Talkarn

Tal set the clean dish aside to dry and then returned to the main room to sit with Nolsa, Easil, and Layessa. The corner table was built into the wall, only giving room for two larger individuals to sit. Across from Tal and Nolsa and built into the wall above the table was a small balcony with a Gnome-sized table that allowed Layessa and Easil to join them at eye height.

“So then, do you have a plan yet?” Layessa asked, looking at the three of them, each in turn. “We know your escape wasn’t exactly expected, but you should have something?”

“Well, we do, sort of,” Tal answered first.

“The tentative plan is to attempt to sneak in during the next scattering of the windsOur hope is that it will be easier to avoid notice during the ceremony,” Nolsa added next, stepping into the conversation. “We aren’t certain how, although I have some ideas. But during the next scattering many of the wardens have to escort those with wind seeds to the surface.”

“That makes sense,” Layessa replied with a nod. “There will be less wardens, but I doubt it will be empty. How do you expect to get into the center of the Heart?”

“My hope was that I might be able to contact Seft to help us,” Nolsa said with a finger on her pale lips. “But aside from him, I was thinking of contacting an elder Erlkin named Perkay.”

“Perkay?” Layessa asked, a puzzled look on her face. Easil looked much the same and Tal assumed he himself was wearing the same expression. He’d never heard that name.

Nolsa answered with a nod, “you might know him as the hermit. He wanders around the upper limbs, but below the level of the villages.”

“The hermit?” Tal asked. “I’ve never heard of him.”

“I’ve heard of him, but only in passing,” Layessa answered with recognition. “So I know of him, but I don’t know anything about him. Why do you want to find him?”

“I would be surprised if any of you knew anything, he’s an exile, so he’s not supposed to be mentioned in casual conversation,” Nolsa explained. “As for why he can help us, he’s a woodcrafter. Perkay is as good with water and earth as he is with his natural seed. He was extremely skilled even before he became a dissident. No one really knew the exact circumstances around why he fell out with Elder Darisen, but I think I can guess.”

“He’s been hiding for a couple of centuries now, hasn’t he?” Easil asked.

“Yes, ever since his son was chosen,” Nolsa answered.

No one had anything to say to that. Tal gulped as he thought about it. How many chosen like him had Darisen really taken advantage of?

“Now, no one really knew what went on with his son, and I barely knew Beltin myself. But every chosen has died when they went to the seal, and Beltin was much the same. All that I knew was that Perkay confronted Darisen and blamed the Grand Elder for what happened. After that he went as far into exile as he could.”

“Which isn’t far at all with the barrier up,” Tal noted.

Nolsa agreed. “Not at all. It is fortunate that we’ve got some time to scale the tree, even if circling around it is going to take us longer than travelling through the trunk.”

“So why does it help if he’s a woodcrafter?” Tal asked.

“Well, he might be able to force open a new path,” Nolsa answered. “With earth and water, you can manipulate wood. Dark mana makes it even easier and he was the best. Perkay was famous before his name was removed from the records.”

“Wood?” Layessa asked with surprise. “I didn’t know he could do that. I suppose that’s no surprise though since no one talks about him much.”

“Doesn’t that make him a sort of monster of his own in the Hollow Home?” Easil asked.

“Yes,” Nolsa replied. “The question is whether he is monstrous enough. But before that question can even be answered, we have to convince him to help.”

“And to do that, we have to find him,” Layessa added.

Teacher Nolsa

Every mining hut was supposed to be nearly identical in its size and layout. This meant that every mining hut had a main room for the workers to sleep in, and a private room for the foreman to occupy.

For the sake of privacy, Tal and Easil had the main room, and Nolsa was in the foreman’s room with Layessa.

The foreman’s bed really wasn't any nicer than the worker’s bed without a proper mattress, the bedding made of straw and foliage had long rotted into dry tinder. But the privacy was still nice.

“Nolsa, we should talk,” Layessa called from her little nest. With Nolsa’s help, Layessa had made herself a bed from bunched up cloth on the only Gnome balcony in the room.

Nolsa paused in the midst of brushing her hair, slowly taking out the tangles she’d developed over the last couple of days.

“Is it about the life stories?” Nolsa asked, not quite keeping the reluctance out of her voice.

“Of course it’s about the life stories!” Layessa snapped. “What makes you think it’s a good idea to do something so foolhardy! What makes you think it’s even going to work?! He’s not even an Erlkin!”

Nolsa looked up at Layessa. She’d always been friendly with the bulbcutter, but never really close friends. That wasn’t a matter of personality, but simply due to how often they interacted. Nolsa’s impression of the Gnome lady had always been a positive one, and her reaction to Alamia’s life stories only reinforced Nolsa’s opinion of her. Layessa glared down at her now, her eyes flashing with light that reflected her passion and worry.

Nolsa sighed and looked away before answering. “I’ve read all the books there are to read in Lisnail, and almost everything that can be found in all of the villages. There are a few secrets squirrelled away in those pages. Although, from the way they are written, I think they’re only secrets to us here in the barrier.”

“Secrets,” Layessa repeated, her voice flat. “And one of those secrets is about Tal?”

Nolsa slowly resumed brushing as she talked. “Not Tal specifically, but Humans. It’s not hard to find out that they are unsown, born without an element, but inclined to develop one as they reach adulthood.”

“Okay, yeah I know that,” Layessa agreed.

“One of the things that we forgot is also why Humans are disliked. I found that reason. They have a spark in them, a spark that lets them participate in the life rituals of the Greater Elementals. After everything I’ve read, I don’t think Humans bother most races. Just the Greaters, nothing explains that better than this.”

“Only Humans?” Layessa asked.

“Has a Gnome ever successfully created an Erlkin child?” Nolsa sighed. The stories of Gnomes and Erlkin attempting to share life stories was exceedingly rare, but not unknown. Layessa didn’t have to answer that question. Nolsa continued to explain, “the writer was clear in how Humans were unusual here, and that wasn’t even the focus of his journal. I had no reason to doubt his words.”

Layessa remained quiet for a good while, only the sound of Nolsa’s brush filling the silence.

Finally the Gnome spoke. “Well, I can see it’s working. The grey creeping into your hair as the life stories sap your strength confirms it. But why so old? Creating a baby wouldn’t take years off your life!”

“Because I want Alamia to accompany Tal in my stead. After breaking the seal, he won’t be welcome in the Hollow Home for quite some time, if he’s ever welcomed back again. Darisen will see to that.”

“You’re old, but not that old!” Layessa argued. “What makes you…”

Nolsa looked up at Layessa again, meeting the eyes of the Gnome. Small as she was, Nolsa could still clearly see the concern in Layessa’s eyes.

“You don’t think you’ll survive Tal getting to the sealing pedestal.” Layessa guessed, her voice flat.

“I should be fine getting Tal to the pedestal,” Nolsa argued, “but Tal is going to need time when he gets there. Grand Elder Darisen is far too old and yet still healthy and strong, he didn’t get that way by luck. I can say without exaggeration that I am very good, and so is Perkay, but are we good enough? I can’t imagine we are…”

“Giving decades of your life to a newborn isn’t going to help you,” Layessa sighed.

“That depends on how I fight,” Nolsa replied. “I will not allow Darisen to have his way.”

Silence filled the air once again. Nolsa finished brushing her hair and set the brush down. She picked up her hair tie and began the process of braiding her long hair once again.

“You like him too,” Layessa broke the silence.

Nolsa’s hands froze.

“You never did find an Erlkin partner, but you’re willing to give so much for him,” Layessa observed. “How long have you been thinking about this?”

“I have to admit, I’m not sure when it started, but does that make me strange?” Nolsa asked, the foolishness of her actions making her feel far younger than her years. “I look at him and I think of what he might become. When I realized his natural lifespan could see him in his twilight years along with me, the Tal I imagined started to occupy a little corner of my mind.”

Nolsa laughed, the sound of it a little sad even in her ears. “I didn’t know if he would decide on me as a partner, such a thing seemed more like a silly little future to think about later, and quite unlikely knowing what I knew about the chosen. But when I first heard about his imprisonment, I felt compelled to act. I am almost afraid of what Seft and Meyla will think of me.”

“They might think you a little strange,” Layessa admitted. “But I like you more now than I did before.”

Nolsa didn’t reply as she slowly wound her hair together. She paused for a moment when her hands arrived where her hair had started to turn grey. It even felt different where her hair had aged. Nolsa sighed again and started winding the tie around the end of her braid to finish up. She still felt a bit like a child despite the grey visible in her hair and the lines around her eyes.

“Alamia will be furious with you, for not being able to go with her,” Layessa joked, trying for levity despite the sadness in her voice.

“And so will Tal,” Nolsa agreed. “I can only hope he’ll forgive me.”

Unnamed Tal

“Oh,” Easil muttered, his voice just on the edge of Tal’s hearing.

“Something wrong?” Tal muttered, keeping his voice down in cases the ladies were still up. Even now Nolsa would waggle her finger at Tal as she warned him to get a solid sleep.

The answer took maybe a bit too long, but Easil spoke just as Tal was about to ask if he was okay. “No, nothing wrong,” Easil said, “thought I heard a beast, but it was something small, nothing for you to worry about.”

“...” There was something off in Easil’s voice that made Tal question his words, but he decided to leave it alone. Instead, Tal asked about something else that was bothering him. “Do you think Perkay will help us?”

“Probably,” Easil answered. “Despite the way they have children, Erlkin are extremely attached to their kids. Knowing what we know about the seal and the chosen, I don’t doubt Darisen did something. If Perkay suspects the same, he’ll probably still be holding a grudge.”

“You think so?”

“Yes, I do,” Easil answered with confidence. “Erlkin put their hearts and souls into the life stories of their children. If Darisen took Perkay’s child, then Perkay would never forgive him.”

“Hmmm…” Tal still wasn’t sure.

“How do you feel about Alamia?” Easil asked suddenly. “We both know Nolsa is putting more in, but do you feel nothing?”

“I…” Tal started to answer, but he couldn’t give Easil any more than that. He knew the answer wasn’t nothing. Every time Nolsa started sharing Alamia’s life stories, he could feel a sense of warmth and affection that replaced the aether he contributed with his own words. Tal enjoyed the stories, even though he felt guilty about the time Nolsa was spending to tell them.

“You feel nothing?” Easil asked, prodding Tal.

“No,” Tal was able to answer without hesitation. “I feel something, I want to meet her, I really do. I’m just confused. I don’t think I’ll really understand until I meet her in person.”

“Well, there you go,” Easil’s voice was warm as he replied. “You want to meet her. That’s a good start.”

“Yeah,” Tal said as much to himself as to Easil. “I guess it is.”

End Chapter