Still set in the past, this chapter ends on a cliffhanger, which won't be addressed until Chapter 6. I offer my sincerest apologies for that.

[p=center]Chapter 3 – Broken[/p]

It was the sun that woke Gilean up as the first rays of the morning danced across his face, breaking him out of his Trance. At first, Gilean became anxious when he saw the Sleeping Area was empty, a feeling of unease crept into his stomach as he looked around anxiously until he heard their voices coming from the lower level of the home. It was uncanny thought Gilean, as long as they weren't infants, Elves spent the same amount of time in a Trance whether they were a child or an adult. Yet as far as he could remember, Gilean couldn't recall a single time he was awake before any of them.

Gilean slid out of his bed and padded down the spiraling steps towards the bottom level. His family was sitting around a table with colorful plates of boiled eggs, leafy-green vegetables and an assortment of fresh fruits appealed directly to his empty stomach.

“About time you woke up.” remarked Silpherion. Gilean scowled at his brother and took a seat at the table. Without further ado, the family dug into their meal, a sense of contentment filled the room as they ate in companionable silence. Time passed and their cutlery soon scraped empty plates as Gilean and his mother silently took everyone's plates and carried it over to the wash basin.

“So you'll be home when I get back?” asked Gilean, trying to sound casual.

“Of course. Don't worry, we won't be taking any extended missions this week.” assured his mother who, when Gilean wasn't looking, shared a secret smile with her husband. He smiled back, it was the fifth time their youngest son had asked them this since they had returned. Gilean had successfully managed to extract a similar promise from Silpherion before he had hurried off after the meal.

“Go on, then” reminded his father, taking a plate from his wet hands, “You'll be late for class.” Gilean dried his hands and hugged his parents goodbye as he stepped out the door. Even though it was still early in the morning, Nevara'el's inhabitants were in the full hustle-and-bustle of their normal daily activities. Quick snippets of conversation passed through the air as friends stopped to chat with each other. The sweet voices of the druids who maintained the village structures were mixed with the harsh sounds of the blacksmiths and craftsmen hard at work.

As Gilean raced across the footbridges, his thoughts inevitably began to wander as he settled into his usual routine. He had heard about how other Elvish villages ran from his lessons from Retsa and wondered how they managed to stay sane with such a catatonic way of life. Shrugging at the strange nature of his distant cousins, Gilean dodged greetings from the numerous villagers who recognized him and tried to greet him, which he waved off with a shout saying he was late. At the periphery of his senses, Gilean saw a similar figure dashing through the village and giving the same excuse. Unconsciously, Gilean's speed went up a notch when he caught Elphias' eye: Game on!

“So; what are you two arguing about?” asked Anaya in an annoyed voice. Elphias and Gilean had both dived through the open doorway of the Class Home.

“We saw each other on the way to class.” panted Gilean

“So we raced.” replied Elphias shortly.

“And I won.” declared both of them. The two boys glared at each other and were about to settle into a new argument, until they caught the terrifying glare from Anaya. They glanced at each other and agreed to a silent truce, postponing their contest for another time. The other children smothered giggles with their hands over their mouths as the pair awkwardly shuffled over towards the group to take their seats. Felia and Stilvan made room for them with badly concealed smiles, Reval giving a sympathetic pat to Gilean's back as he sat down. Leaning over to Gilean, Felia asked, “Did your brother get back yet?”

“Yeah they got back last night.”

“Why were they so late though?” interrupted Elphias, all traces of the previous argument had immediately dispersed, “I thought they were just doing a routine hunt.”

“Well, routine is a relative term.” joined in Stilvan, “Being the strongest means they had to be up against something monstrous, right?”

Anaya took her own seat next to Carissa as usual and pulled up her legs, hugging them to her chest, “When have they ever been on the same mission? Even my parents have never done a mission together.” Anaya's parents ranked among the strongest warriors in the village. Her mother Aume, in particular had swordsmanship comparable to Gilean's father Althian.

“I don't know...” admitted Gilean, “I never really considered it.” The children sank into a thoughtful silence, each child trying to imagine what would merit the services of Gilean's family. But their many ruminations were soon broken up by Retsa who had chosen that moment to enter the room. His gaze drifted over all the children until it finally settled on Gilean and Elphias. “I see the two of you decided to grace our class with your presence.”

Flushing, the two of them hastily made their apologies which Retsa took with good cheer. “Now then. Who can give me a summary of the hierarchy of demons; bonus points for those who can give me a detailed physical description...”

“Form 89! Switch to your left-hand and keep up!” barked Meera. The rhythmic thumping of the children's blades beat against the training posts in time with Meera's clapping. Her eagle-eyes keenly observed that not a single student missed a stroke and she let a satisfied smile break out.

“Halt!” ordered Meera, making sure to wipe the smile off her face as the children finished their last stroke, and let their swords fall to their sides wearily. “We'll stop here. Good work. Take a break and we'll finish the session with a review of forms 1 – 30”.

The children sheathed their swords and trudged over to a shady spot under a particularly large elm tree. Gilean unhooked his sword belt and plopped onto the grass with a sigh, massaging his sore muscles. Just as he was beginning to relax, a sarcastic voice drifted out from behind the tree.

“Having fun?”

Gilean's eyes opened as he gave an annoyed reply to the voice, “We were until you showed up.” Secretly, Gilean was glad that his brother had showed up to watch, but he wasn't about to let him know that. The other children's reactions were not nearly as subdued though.

“Silpherion!” “Silpherion-ava! Why are you here?!” “Silpherion, can you show us some techniques? Just a little please!” excitedly chattered the children.

If this were the middle of the night, Silpherion would have been practically invisible. His long black hair jutted out at various angles to give it a wind-swept look and he was covered in his usual garb of all-black attire. Silpherion claimed it gave him a mysterious charm. Gilean thought the real mystery was how his brother didn't pass out from the heat.

“Haha! One at a time! How are you guys?” laughed Silpherion holding his hands out in a halfhearted attempt to hold back his high-pitched horde of admirers.

“Were you watching, ava? How were we?” asked Carissa hopefully, her cheeks red.

“Where did you go?” butt in Elphias, “Why were you so late?”

Silpherion's attempts to slow down the torrent of questions were in vain as they all became more enthusiastic. Attracted by the noise, Meera came over towards the group she thought were resting to see what the commotion was.

“Afternoon, Meera.” greeted Silpherion when Meera came into eye contact.

“I wanted them to have a break, you know? You're being a nuisance.” said an annoyed Meera.

“No it's fine!” “We're okay!” replied the children as they rose to Silpherion's defence.

“Now, now. Meera is your teacher and if she thinks I'm being a distraction, I should probably leave...” sighed Silpherion, already turning around.

All of the children mewled in disappointment; Elphias had even grabbed hold of Silpherion's shirt and was tugging at it to prevent him from leaving. With large, baleful eyes, the children directed a pleading gaze towards Meera, who seemed to physically stagger from their looks. A blush crept up her neck as Meera stammered, “Well – I mean, as long as you're just observing, you can stay I suppose –” getting cut off as the children squealed their thanks.

“Show us something!” pleaded Felia, which was soon enthusiastically taken up by the other kids. Meera, who was feigning disinterest, leaned back against the tree and sneakily glanced at Silpherion.

“Alright, alright.” conceded Silpherion, “I'll show you one thing.”

“Awww!” “Just one?” repeated Anaya sadly.

“Just one.” confirmed Silpherion.

Drawing away from Meera and Silpherion, they huddled together and whispered to each other in urgent tones.

“Maybe a spell?” suggested Reval.

“What about a new sword technique?” pitched in Elphias.

“We've asked him to do those before though!” reminded Anaya.

“We all still enjoyed it though.” pointed out Felia, smirking at Anaya who immediately began blushing.

“Well...yeah...but we should ask to see something new.”

“But what?” pondered Carissa. It was eerie, thought Gilean, how they all turned towards him as soon as Carissa uttered these words. Truthfully, Gilean was furiously working on what to ask for in his own mind as he had seen pretty much all of Silpherion's vast repertoire. An idea wiggled in the back of his mind as he considered what to say.

“What if we ask him to do one thing, but would actually show us a lot...” said Gilean slowly, “Like a – ” his gaze settled on Silpherion and Meera chatting together when everything clicked together.

“Like a duel.” declared Gilean triumphantly.

“So! The rules are as such: One, no magic is allowed other than the ones needed to avoid serious injury.” recited Lauren, who who acting as referee for the match after she and Veo had been conscripted to join by Silpherion. “Two, the match will end when either party has been disarmed or they have received too many hits to their bodies. Finally, melee weapons are the only weapons that are permitted. Are the combatants ready?”

“For a while now.” muttered Veo, blanching when Lauren shot a venomous glance at him. Silpherion had been on his way to meet Veo and Lauren when he had stopped by the training grounds. When Gilean had proposed the duel between Meera and himself, he agreed, but he first wanted to go fetch Veo and Lauren. Unsurprisingly, Veo was adamant about dueling Silpherion himself, a position which Meera was unwilling to relinquish. After some arguing, Silpherion proposed that he duel both Meera and Veo at the same time. It was a testament to Silpherion's overwhelming skill that the two of them accepted this arrangement so easily.

“Ready.” replied Silpherion, unhooking his sheath from his belt and drawing his blade with a loud scrape. Gilean worriedly eyed the naked blade, “Silph, aren't you going to use a practice sword...?”

Silpherion understood the source of his baby brother's worries and laughed it off, “Don't worry, it'd be a problem if I didn't do this.” punctuating his last words as he touched two fingers to the base of his blade. There was a loud whoosh as small gusts of wind whipped up and down the blade, leaving behind a nearly invisible distortion of space that extended a few millimetres away from the blade that was accompanied by a very low whistling sound. Winking at Felia, he drew back his sword and swung it towards his arm. The children cried out in horror, only to be replaced by awed gasps as the blade bounced harmlessly off of Silpherion's arms.

In order to satisfy their curiosity, Silpherion got down on one knee and beckoned for the children to come over. Felia cautiously moved her hand over the blade, “It's cold!” exclaimed Felia.

Emboldened, the children all pressed their hands against the blade: No matter where they touched, they encountered a springy resistance that prevented any contact with the metal part of the sword.

“Wait a second...” said Elphias thoughtfully, glancing over towards Veo and Meera who were having their blades similarly blunted by Lauren. “Why don't we ever use this during our own trainings?”

“Part of your education. You have to learn how to properly maintain and refurbish a blade that's gone through a beating.” smiled Silpherion.

“...I don't suppose you can teach us how to do that?” quietly requested Elphias.

“Nah. I wouldn't want to spoil your fun.” winked Silpherion, with a smile that was infectious enough to wipe the scowl off of Elphias' face.

“You ready, Silphy?” yelled Veo.

“For a while now, Vee! Did you want to change your trousers first?” shot back Silpherion, causing all of the children to laugh.

“Let's cut the banter short. These kids have class later and I would rather finish this sometime before tomorrow.” said Lauren, interrupting Veo before he could make a snappy retort. “Take your positions, fighters.” ordered Lauren. Silpherion stood up and sauntered over towards his opponents, sword in his right hand and accompanying sheath in his left.

Veo and Meera faced Silpherion with blades held at the ready, standing a few paces away from each other. Judging for herself that everything was in order, Lauren stepped back and shouted, “Begin!”

Gilean stiffened when Lauren cried out as he waited for the three to begin. However the three remained motionless, neither party had moved a step, though the air crackled with tension. Gilean didn't even know what was the first flaw he saw, but in the next instant, Silpherion had kicked off the ground and was flying towards Meera. Silpherion's sword raced around his side in a deadly arc as it whipped towards Meera on a direct trajectory towards her left arm.

The blow would've connected had it not been for Veo's intervention as his blade pierced the space where Silpherion stood, only to violently ricochet off of Silpherion's sheath that had swung up to meet it. But the slight drop in speed was enough for Meera to launch her own counterattack as she took a step back to lessen the force of Silpherion's swing and parried his sword away near the tip.

All three warriors disengaged from each other simultaneously and once again stood apart, equidistant from each other. This only lasted for the briefest of moments, as once again, Silpherion mounted another attack against Veo, who barely managed to ward him off with Meera's assistance. The battle continued, as the three parties struggled against each other, neither party able to gain the upper hand against one another, any change in the battle was either immediately countered by the teamwork of Veo and Meera or the incredible prowess of Silpherion. The speed and ferocity of their attacks increased with every engagement, so that their figures seemed to blur and the sound of their warded blades (and sheath) clashing sounded like a rapid beating of canvas-covered drums.

Finally, the three once again stood apart from each other in a narrow triangle, and despite their physical exertions, none of the warriors appeared to be out of breath. The only sign of any sort of exhaustion was evident in the slight sheen of sweat covering their foreheads. It appeared that Veo and Meera had decided to try a new plan of attack as Veo remained where he stood and Meera began to slowly circle around Silpherion in order to trap him in a pincer. Gilean let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding and anxiously waited for Silpherion to break out of the formation. Shockingly, Silpherion patiently waited for Meera to finish moving around to his back.

“What is he doing?...” muttered Lauren, confirming that Gilean wasn't the only one who thought Silpherion's behaviour was abnormal. The only thing that Silpherion did that seemed to acknowledge his enemy's tactics was to turn his body in a half-circle so that he had both Meera and Veo, at least partly, in his peripheral vision. Perhaps both Meera and Veo felt like they were being baited into a trap of some sort, for neither moved from their spots despite their advantageous positions.

Gilean wasn't sure what his brother did after some moments of nothing happening, but he was sure Silpherion did something to goad Veo. For Veo's face morphed into an ugly grimace as he charged towards Silpherion. Gilean thought that maybe he was counting on Meera to be a few steps behind when Veo charged unexpectedly, which would've allowed him to deal with each threat separately. However, Meera had begun her attack at the exact same time Veo had mounted his.

It would only be many years later that Gilean would fully understand what his brother had did back then, and it still managed to fill him with the same sense of awe and pride as it did on that day. One moment Silpherion was about to meet two blades swinging through wildly different paths that would engage both the lower and upper half of Silpherion's body to leave no chance of blocking either one. And in the next, Silpherion thrust his sword downwards, his hand holding the sheath darting out as Meera went flying backwards. In the next fraction of a second, Gilean was just able to catch Silpherion's slight pivoting motion as he delivered a monstrously fast punch in his now free hand to Veo's face. Meera and Veo's blades had dropped to the ground in that brief exchange, which Lauren had belatedly picked up on.

“Stop! The match is over! Silpherion is the winner!” called a rather flustered Lauren. A few seconds after this, the children began to hesitantly clap as they weren't sure exactly what had transpired.

“Silpherion...won right?” asked Elphias.

“Well...yes.” said Lauren.

“Um, what happened exactly?” asked Gilean, as unsure of what his brother did as the rest of them were.

“Well – I mean, exactly? I – I'm not too sure how detailed you want me to outline the bout.” stammered Lauren.

“Just that last part where Veo and Meera were charging form opposite sides.” explained Anaya. In truth Lauren only saw the kick Silpherion had delivered to Meera, but even with her dynamic vision, she was unable to figure out how he dealt with Veo. Off to the side, Silpherion was helping Meera to her feet and handing back her sword.

Lauren decided to come clean to the children, “Truthfully, even I wasn't able to fully follow what he did. I saw the feint he delivered with the sheath and the kick that followed shortly after, but not much after that.” said Lauren honestly with pink cheeks. “So, let's ask the perpetrator himself.” declared Lauren with an embarrassed smile. Gilean and the others heartily agreed, secretly hiding their admiration for Lauren; none of them were able to follow any of Silpherion's movements.

Like a mother hen, Lauren led the children across the field in a long line towards Veo, Meera and Silpherion. Veo was cradling a bloody nose and glaring at Silpherion who was handing back his sheathed sword that had fallen to the ground.

“God, you are such a dig'” complained Veo, his nasal injury serendipitously preventing the children form hearing any obscenities. Silpherion eyed Veo critically and remarked,

“I actually think your new look is an improvement, Vee-Vee.”

“I thing' it'd loog' betta if you had a matching set.” growled Veo

“Sorry! Sorry! It was a total spur of the moment thing!” assured Silpherion as he held up his hands protectively. “Do you need some help with that nose?”

“I god' it, thangs'.” replied Veo. Meera wordlessly passed him a handkerchief that she'd pulled out somewhere, wincing a little as she brought up a hand to her chest. Veo wiped off the excess blood and pressed his thumb and forefinger to the bridge of his bulbous nose. With a grimace, Veo pressed inwards as the cartilage and bone snapped back in place with a crack, fresh blood streaming from it as he realigned his nose. Once more Meera passed a fresh handkerchief that had had water poured over it and passed it to Veo who pressed it against his face with a relieved sigh. His ministrations were finished, just as Lauren and the children pulled up in front of them.

“So? How was it?” asked Silpherion cheerfully, leaning on his sword that was still embedded in the ground.”

“It was really, really good!” exclaimed Stilvan, with the other kids making similar exuberant claims.

“But –” interrupted Gilean as everyone turned to look at him, “We couldn't tell what happened in the end.”

“Oh?” said Silpherion with a raised eyebrow. He turned to look at Lauren with a bright smile, “Wasn't Ms. Referee watching everything?”

“Not when you're moving that fast. I only saw the feint and the kick.” replied Lauren coolly. Silpherion's smile faded, disappointed with Lauren's forthcoming answer as a perfect opportunity for teasing her slipped away.

“Well...it's a bit hard to explain, so I'll show it to you slowly. Elphias, toss me your sword.” said Silpherion. Startled by the request, Elphias fumbled with his swordbelt a bit before passing it to Silpherion. “Lauren! Since you were left out of the fun, do you mind assisting?”

While she was surprised, Lauren quickly acquiesced, “What do you need me to do?”

“Nothing for now.” said Silpherion, “And I need you for something else Vee.” after sharing a glance with Veo. Silpherion unsheathed Gilean's sword and warded it with the same windspell he gave his other blade. Like before the match, Silpherion once again knelt and beckoned the children closer.

“What direction do you see the wind ward blowing on my blade?” asked Silpherion.

“Outwards.” answered Gilean upon closer inspection.

“Right!” nodded Silpherion, “Lauren, do you mind warding your own blade like you did with Meera and Veo's?” Lauren unsheathed her own sword in reply, an idea slowly forming in her mind as to what Silpherion did.

“Done.” said Lauren, holding it towards the children at Silpherion's insistence.

“Same question. Where's the wind going?”

“...Inwards? Towards the hilt.” pointed out Anaya with her finger to trace a line of the wind's path down the blade, looking towards Silpherion for confirmation.

“Exactly. Remember that detail for later. Lauren, you'll play the part of Veo for this demonstration.”

“And what will Veo be doing?” drawled Veo.

“Waiting patiently for his turn.” answered Silpherion succinctly. Veo shrugged his shoulders easily and moved to the side with his sheathed sword clutched in one hand, and stood with the children to watch.

“Keep in mind that all of us.” said Silpherion, pointing to himself, Veo and Meera, “We're using standard equipment for the duel. Because Lauren is using her own, I'll need to ask her for her sheath for this demonstration.”

Lauren handed over her sheath without any questions to Silpherion's outstretched hand. “Ladies, if you could please take the same positions of where I was charged from both sides. No need to move so far away though.” directed Silpherion, who again stood in that curious position of not facing either of his opponents with both hands extending in their directions.

“Meera, if you would please execute the same rising slant you performed earlier with a fraction of the speed.” Meera quickly complied as she dashed forward, her sword elevating from the ground in a scything arc towards Silpherion's exposed back. Silpherion thrust his sword hand behind his body, catching Meera's blade underneath the cross-guard. At the same moment, Silpherion swayed towards Meera as Lauren playing the part of Veo, swept her own sword across the now empty space. Silpherion plunged his sword into the soil, taking Meera's sword along with it as the sheath in Silpherion's left hand stabbed upwards causing her to reflexively jerk away.

Lauren's return swipe was already under way as Silpherion's sheath raced to block it. Or so it seemed, for in that instant, Silpherion lowered to the ground and placed his foot upon Meera's chest.

“Stop!” said Silpherion in that rather precarious position and Lauren froze mid-swing, “Because I don't want to kick Meera a second time, let's just say I did and she was blown away. Meera obediently moved backwards several steps. “Now the kick I gave Meera gives me an extra bit of forward momentum – Lauren please continue your movement.”

The fight resumed and Silpherion resumed his explanation, “Watch carefully now: Lauren needs to adjust her swing into a more vertical position to accommodate for my lowered stance. This will put her sword at the same degree of elevation as this sheath.” emphasizing his last word by letting go of the sheath as it flew towards the incoming blade in the same path as his swinging arm. The suctioning effect of the wind helped the sheath to slide smoothly down the shaft of the blade. Silpherion's fingers had already formed themselves into a fist and let it come to a stop a hairsbreadth away from Lauren's face.

“So, that was the basic scheme, which works as long as you're able to move three or four times faster than your opponents.” smiled Silpherion, a look of confusion slowly appearing over his face over the lack of a reaction from the stunned children. “Uh, was something unclear?”

“...More like something unbelievable.” intoned Veo, shaking his head in disbelief.

“...Eh?”

In addition to the rather peculiar nature of the villagers of Nevara'el, there was one other feature of the village that made it unique among Elven settlements, or even villages in general, and it did not lay in its inhabitants. Between the brooks and brambles that populated the forest, there was one area of the forest domain of Nevara'el that seemed to overflow with life. It was a small clearing surrounded by the lushest and thickest of trees in the forest, arranged in a perfect circle around a colossal monument that stood in the middle, soaring past the tree tops that encircled it. Flowers of all kinds, and some that the Elves were sure were not present anywhere else in nature, bloomed around the monument in vivid splashes of pure monochromatic flowers arranged in clusters, or roses composed of several different colors scattered around.

Curiously enough, though, no animals seemed to come around the monument, although they certainly seemed attracted to the spot as there were often several that watched the clearing from the forest. The founders of Nevara'el did not know what the monument was for, but since their own spellcasters had determined to be a benign structure, they left it alone. Over the generations, it gained a special place in the hearts of its inhabitants, who seemed to feel more alive in its presence. Although from the name alone, one could easily say that they hardly cared at all as it was so lacking in imagination.

“Sahhhh!” yelled Gilean, swinging down the novochore blade with supreme confidence. Appear! Burning Rays! Gilean willed with all of his might for flames or even anything to appear from the end of the blade. Like so many times before, Gilean grew excited as the novochore inside the blade shivered and his soulself thrummed with energy, thinking that today would finally be the day. But like every single attempt before, that faint rumble moving through the blade was the only sign of something remotely magical happening.

Once more! Refusing to let his continued lack of success get to him, Gilean again readied his sword, this time gripping it with both hands as he drew it backwards so that he could thrust the blade forwards. With an intense look of concentration, Gilean re-doubled his grip and focused on filling the blade with his soulself. Like the sensation of rivulets of water running down his body, his soulself flowed down his arms and extended so that it enveloped the blade and filled the novochore inside.

Breathing out slowly, Gilean limited how much of his soulself he was injecting into the novochore, making sure not to pour too much in. The last time he had tried that, the blade he was using had exploded in his hands, which had won him a fairly savage...scolding from his rather irate brother who had wondered where his extra sword had disappeared to.

Judging that he had given enough energy (more than what was necessary, truthfully), Gilean stabbed his sword forward with the mental image of a bolt of lightning shooting out of the end of his sword embedded in his mind. Tragically, nothing shocking happened.

Gilean ignored the ever-growing list of failures and prepared his sword in an overhead stance this time. As he lifted his blade, the muscles of his upper arm spasmed and the sword fell out of his grip to fall unceremoniously to the ground with a thud. Gilean followed the sword shortly after, falling on his rear with braced hands and then collapsing onto his back gasping.

Thought my endurance was getting better recently. I'm slacking off too much. Gilean slowly reigned his breathing under control, and despite his mental vow, continued to like where he was. He stared up at the evening sky, feeling content as the energy from the Glade seemed to fill his body and rejuvenate it. Gilean stretched his hand out in front of him so that it covered more than half the sky in his field of view and closed it determinedly, Once more.

“...No, I'm not tired, it's fine...” mumbled Gilean sleepily, the slight jostling movements Silpherion made as he carried him on his back only served to momentarily rouse him. Silpherion smiled as he shifted his brother into a better position; Gilean's arms hung loosely around Silpherion's neck. The novochore blade that Gilean had been using bumped against Silpherion's leg, as he recalled the scene of him entering the glade where Gilean had made Silpherion promise to meet him.

“You definitely have to come!” pleaded Gilean.

“Alright, alright. I'll meet you later in the usual spot in the evening.” promised Silpherion.

“What a troublesome brother you are...” chuckled Silpherion. When he made some hasty goodbyes to some of his friends he had not seen in a while to hurry and meet Gilean, he had found his brother snoring peacefully in the Glade; the novochore blade still clutched in his hands.

“...It's fine, just give me a second to rest...” yawned Gilean, “Don't...leave me alone...”

Startled, Silpherion stumbled in his tracks and nearly tripped over his feet when he heard Gilean's quiet plea. Gilean, for his part had finally settled into a peaceful sleep, his last words seemed to be a final act of defiance. Although when Silpherion twisted his head to look at him, a single trail of tears streaked across his brother's face, shining in the bright light of the moon. Moving with extreme care, so as not to jostle him too much, Silpherion gently brushed Gilean's tears away.

“...As long as you want me here, I'll be by your side.” promised Silpherion

Is there a way to turn back time? Would anything different have occurred if there was? Gilean often lost himself in such fantasies. He thought that if he had done this or not have heard that, then everything would be okay. Sometimes he wished he could have done something, anything at all.

His sin. His fault.

“No.”

“What do you mean, no?” asked his father dangerously.

“I mean, no. No I'm not going another search with you two. No, I'm not going to lie through my teeth about going on some grand hunt. And no, I'm not leaving Gilean alone here!” snapped Silpherion.

“We are doing this for Gilean's sake!” reminded his father with a raised voice. Silpherion's mother, Tamara, placed a gentle, but firm, hand on her husband's shoulder to direct his attention towards the staircase. His father's temper deflated as quickly as it had come under his wife's vice-like grip on his shoulder, instantly regretting his sudden flare-up.

“Why?” asked his mother with a penetrating stare towards Silpherion. Silpherion always felt like a mouse underneath the gaze of a mighty falcon circling high above it when his mother looked at him like this.

“...How long have we been looking, ever since we found out?” said Silpherion, carefully picking out the words out of a conversation he had been planning on having with his parents for a long time. “This latest excursion with all three of us was supposed to have been the one.”

“So because we failed again, you want to give up?” growled his father, “You would leave him broken?!”

“You think he's broken?! He's your son!”

“And I want him to be whole!”

“Enough! Both of you!” scolded his mother in harsh whispers, “We either keep this discussion quiet, or we don't have it at all.” Both elvnmaga flushed guiltily, each regretting their words and actions as they sat at the table with clenched fists.

“I saw him at training today. He did well.” remarked Silpherion after some time passed. “Even without a bridge.” looking at both of his parents in the eye.

“For now.” murmured his mother softly, coming around the table and placing ehr hands over Silpherion's, “But what about later? When the gap between him and his friends becomes wider?”

“But that's just -”

“It's more than being unable to use magic,” said his mother, cutting off Silpherion's protest, “For a swordmage, their soulself is their life. He already needs to Trance two hours more than we do, when it was only a hour more in the past. What if he never comes out of it?”

“...You can't know that.”

“You don't know that.” reminded his father gently.

“He's my brother. I can't leave him alone again...!” choked Silpherion.

“I know it's hard, but we're doing this for his sake.” his mother squeezed his hands tightly. “Don't give up. He needs all of us.”

All of Silpherion's planned arguments and rebuttals faded in those clear eyes and calm reasoning of his parents that he despised himself for trying to run away. “...I'm sorry. But what do we do now though? We've exhausted all our leads in healers.”

“First thing in the morning, we'll ask my old friend Lucinda for advice.” answered his mother calmly, “She might be able to point us in the right direction.”

“Is it wise to let more people know about this?”

“You said it yourself, we've run out of all ideas we could come up between the three of us. Lucinda's a good friend who has a lot of contacts with the Mercenary House that could help us. More importantly, she can keep a secret.”

“And the village? I don't think they'll accept all of us going on another hunt so soon. We got lucky last time with that demon attack in Carowyn.” pointed out Silpherion.

“Then we'll leave.” It was something they had all been considering, yet never spoken out loud. His mother's words thus did not bring about the shocked silence that it would have. “We'll go somewhere far away, where we don't have to worry about such obligations. Where we can focus our energy on what's really important.” finished his mother.

“Do you really think the village would let their highest earners leave just like that? Vyon and Fomë will be particularly reluctant to do so if we go on another charity mission.”

“Gods, no. They'd see us all dead before we brought a single silver to another village.” snorted his father.

“But,” added his mother, “They wouldn't be able to stop us either.”

“True, but we could be a bit more subtle than -” began Silpherion, when a series a footsteps followed by a loud bang echoed from upstairs. They all rose as one, Silpherion being the closest, was the first to run up the stairs fearing the worst. He burst into the Sleeping Area, practically flying across the length of it from the speed he had built up on the stairs.

The room was empty. The sheets of one bed thrown into a flurry and another loud bang sound echoed from the window shutter that had been unlocked and was repeatedly slamming into the wooden framework by the wind.

"Gilean!"

Äuversdäe. The time when most of the villagers were asleep, what little they needed were spent in the darkest part of the night and when even the many sounds of the forest had settled into a velvety silence. Beneath the sliver of moonlight that wasn't obscured by the overhanging clouds, a small figure was running through the forest in a haphazard manner. The figure did not run towards the outskirts, for a small part of his mind remembered that there would be guards, but instead ran deeper towards the heart of the forest. Occasionally he would stumble against small roots and branches littered on the forest floor, one time even falling down, but he would recover and continue his chaotic dash.

Will always be weaker than the others. Leaving the village. Missing bridge. Broken. Gilean's thoughts were in a chaotic cacophony, each overheard word of his family's private conversation bringing up more questions and fears than he thought were possible. While he wasn't sure what exactly was wrong, he knew what, or who the problem was. This knowledge blurred his vision, his tongue tasting salt as tears ran down his face. Gilean didn't know where he wanted to go exactly, or even why he had suddenly ran away.

All he knew was that he just need to go away somewhere. His journey soon came to an end, as he emerged from the thicket of trees sweating and puffing, into the Glade. Like so many times before, Gilean's hand had already pulled out the novochore blade that he had brought with him unconsciously, and ran his soulself down the length of it.

If I can just manage to do this. Everything will be okay! We won't have to leave the village and they won't leave me. Gilean then began to pour as much of his soulself into the novochore as he could, forcing everything he had into the crystal so that it seemed like the blade was overflowing with this energy. His vision grew dark and his hands grew cold as his knees began to shake with the effort of expending so much energy. As far as he knew, it was impossible to fully expend one's soulself, though at this point, Gilean could not care less about such a thing.

“Gilean!” yelled Silpherion, who had come running out from the trees, freezing in his tracks as he saw that Gilean had directed his shaking hand holding the blade towards him. “Gilly.” said Silpherion carefully, “Just draw back in your soulself and let's talk about this, we can explain every-”

“No! I'm not broken! I can do this!” His mother and father came from the trees red-faced and disheveled.

“Gilean!” “Äeoil!” Unlike Silpherion, his parents rushed towards him, heedless of the shaking and now glowing sword Gilean held within his hands. Before they could reach him, Gilean held his sword aloft, pointing it towards the sky as he concentrated on the image of flame shooting up into the sky. The blade shone even brighter as the monument in the Glade seemed to glow in response. Cracks ran down all along the blade as the light grew brighter and illuminated everyone in the Glade as everything faded into a white-hot incandescence.

The Elven Language

-ava: This is a suffix meaning "Brother". Used as a traditional greeting for acquaintances and close relations between elves.

-ala: This is a suffix meaning "Sister". Used as a traditional greeting for acquaintances and close relations between elves.

Äuversdäe: Evening

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