Fraweyni, daughter of Tessa, the first elf, was more than just an elf. The magic that radiated through her was of a time when the earth was still in its beginning form, before even Camin and Lowus ventured into the picture, drawn deep from the bowels of Toas as well. It was this ancient magic that she unleashed in battling the foreign gods. And would have long defeated them, if they were not still tethered to Toas by Eldana’s inability to key into the magic reserved in the earth. Fraweyni believed in Eldana, but in the meantime, she focused her abilities on keeping Camin and Lowus occupied.
“Hello, girl.” Eldana heard a voice say.
Quickly, she whipped around to face Lord Taboon. She heard footsteps behind her. She turned her face and spotted Sinto coming into place behind her. She smiled.
“So, this is it,” she said.
“This is it,” Sinto replied.
Eldana planned to infiltrate their minds. But she intended to distract them first. As she stretched out her hands to send gusts of wind towards them, she was knocked down by an energy wall. Eldana cried in pain as her sides pressed her into the earth. She flicked her eyes upwards and saw tendrils of black energy shooting forth from both Lord Taboon and Sinto’s hands. Forbidden magic. Eldana was assailed by despair. She had learned no defense against forbidden magic.
Eldana felt her strength waning. Like it was being sucked from her. Instinctively, she went into herself, digging up memories of the pleasant times she had once had. Times with her friends. The moments they had fought together. All the things they had been through. She thought of how privileged she was to have the friendship and support of the elves. And to see Shewit, before she was killed.
Just then, she heard Shewit’s voice in her head. It was a memory.
“It is in you. The ability to draw energy from Toas and unleash chaos. You just have to surrender to it.”
Eldana had not understood what Shewit had meant then. But she did now. She closed her eyes, and let herself go. She had been trying to draw from the well of power when all she had to do was dip into the well and be lost in it.
“Take me.” She whispered, even as Lord Taboon’s dark magic was all around her. Suddenly, something cracked inside her and opened. As a segment of her revealing itself; a segment that she had never known was there.
Eldana felt such a rush of energy that she screamed. A ball of radiant light exploded from her, throwing Lord Taboon and Sinto aside, and spreading through the entire land like a ripple.
Eldana lay there glowing like the sun. She was a conduit for the energy in the air. A giver and taker of life. She knew what she had to do – drawing from the depth of Toas.
With an ear-splitting shriek, the light drained from her, and back into the earth. It spread through the land like webs, growing, becoming larger, and swallowing the surrounding ground. And then suddenly, there was quiet. Eldana breathed. She felt weak. But she was still alive. Siem, Hermon, Mikko, D’rmas, and Meko rushed to her side.
“Eldana,” Siem called. “Are you alright?”
Eldana gave a weak smile.
“Well done, child.” Eldana heard a voice say.
It sounded like Fraweyni’s. But Eldana was not sure.
She succumbed to her weakness and closed her eyes.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Self-fulfilling Prophecy
Eldana, Siem, and Hermon had spent so much time running that they had forgotten what it felt like to live without having people on the lookout for them.
Immediately after the battle, Siem, Hermon, D’rmas, and Mikko, had lifted Eldana from off the ground and to a shelter that Fraweyni had caused to grow from the ground. There, Meko administered to her.
“Is she going to be okay?” Siem had asked, concern etched deeply on her face.
“Yes, I think so,” Meko replied.
“You think so?” Hermon asked.
Meko looked up at him. “The kind of magic she has just worked has never been worked by anybody. Not even the being of Balance and Chaos that came before her. She just single-handedly blew out every enemy. And it’s not just that.”
“There’s something else?” Siem asked.
“Yes. She is alive and the world is not crumbling to pieces.”
“What’re you saying?” Hermon asked.
“I’m saying that Eldana is not the cause of chaos in Toas. And if that comes to the people, there is no fear of gods anymore!”
“She told me not to call them like that. Gods. Rather Camin and Lowus” Mikko remembered.
Meko nodded.
“Everything will be different from now on, everything. Would you adhere to the rules if there was no appending chaos looming?” She left the rest to the thoughts of her listeners.
Sinto and Lord Taboon were nowhere to be found. Somehow, they had slinked off the battlefield. The orcs were a race whose love for battle was almost unbridled. Even after Lord Taboon, who had enlisted them, was gone from the battlefield; even when it was clear that theirs was a losing battle, they fought on. The Elvsoc faced them with strength and skill, decimating their numbers until the orcs were forced to flee for their lives.
Eldana woke back up in the shelter with all her friends surrounding her. She told them the
