Chapter 7

Elyza's adventure continues

Florenz caught up with Elyza half way down the street.

“You really will not fight for us?” He asked her.

“Why should I? You hold meetings to discuss me while your own people are taken from their homes. What am I supposed to fight for?”

“They are afraid Elyza. Many have died in this fight.” She turned to face him.

“And I will not be the next.” How could he not understand? He took her shoulders in his hands.

“You will not die Elyza. I will not let it happen.”

“Even you cannot stop death Florenz.” She looked into his eyes and all he saw was sadness.

“Ever since I got here I’ve been chased, told my whole life has been a lie and now I am expected to put my life on line for a bunch of people who do not care. This is a beautiful place that should be fought for and I will, fight for it. But so will they.” They walked quietly back to the meeting.

As she walked through the door all sound faded and every head turned to watch her. She walked up to where Eric had been standing during the meeting and turned to look at all the faces. Public speaking was not something she was ever good at. She gathered all her courage and spoke.

“My name is Elyza and I am an Elemental.” She paused

“You all believe that I am here to save you. I am not. I am one person and I alone cannot save you. I do believe that together we can save Wifaria. We will need all the help we can get. There are many who are afraid and isolated because of the Queen. Those without magic, creatures in the forest and all others.” There was murmur through the crowd.

Everyone stood watching her as she finished speaking.

“But they will not help us.” Said a man at the back of the room.

“Have you asked them?” She had been expecting something like this.

“Of course not, we will not rely on those people.” Said a plump looking woman.

“Those people? Have you actually looked around at ‘those people’? They are sad and scared of the queen and of you lot.” She could not stand the way this room judged people they had never actually spoken to.

“Yeah, well so are we!” yelled a young boy.

“You have hope and methods of protection, they do not. They have lost just as much if not more than you you have and they have nothing to protect their children when they are ripped away from them because they are like you. Do you want to win or do you want balance restored and happiness for all in Wifaria. I will not fight just so you can supress them as the queen is doing to you. This is not a fight just for you; it is for all in this land.” They were quiet again.

“I will leave it to your leaders to determine the best way to approach them but, I suggest you start with the children. They tend to be more open and accepting of the unknown.” She looked at Florenz who nodded and she started towards the door.

“Oh and I suggest you leave magic out of it. At least to start with. You do not want to scare them off before you even start. An act of kindness can go a long way.” And she opened the door and left.

They walked back to the house in silence until Elyza broke it.

“How do you think it went?” Florenz looked sideways at her.

“You did well. I do not know if they will follow your advice with the non-magic people. There are many years of mistrust between them.” Elyza sighed.

“I do not want one supressed people to be replaced with another. They need to learn to respect each other. Or there will never be peace in Wifaria.”

“You know you are wiser then I thought you would be.” Elyza stopped and looked at him.

“It is not wisdom you see. It is experience being on the receiving end. I was never accepted back home, not really. I look different and act different and people did not understand me. It resulted in me feeling alienated and quite often lonely. It is not a nice way to feel. I learnt to accept it and just went about my business. But not having any friends my own age, it’s a lonely existence.” Florenz looked down his nose at her.

“You do not want that for the people of Harrand.”

“I do not want that for anyone. Not those with magic or without and not for the creatures of Wifaria either. They all have feelings, even if they are different from us.”

“You are right Elyza, it is not wisdom it is kindness.” She looked up at him for a moment then turned and continued to walk.

Not long after they got back to the house Rayleigh and her parents walked through the front door and joined Elyza and Florenz on the couch.

“Well you’ve definitely caused a stir.” Petro announced to them.

“You should have seen their faces after you left and what they were saying.” Piped up Rayleigh.

“Did they listen? Are they going to reach out to ‘those people’?” Elyza asked tiredly. Chanelle leaned forward on the couch resting her head on her hands and said.

“Well there were mixed views. Some seemed to see what you were saying but others were angry you even suggested it. In the end, after a lot of arguing, they decided to get the children to reach out to the non-magic children outside the magical community and see what would happen.”

“So you did it.” Squeaked Rayleigh excitedly.

“Hmm we will see. It will take work and trust from both sides. I am just hoping that they can unite for the sake of Wifaria.” Elyza yawned and announced she was going to bed.

Elyza woke in the morning to a scream. Her eyes flew open and a shocked looking Rayleigh was standing over her.

“Your hair an.. and your eyes.” Elyza grabbed her hair and pulled it out so she could see it. It was red again, which meant her eyes would be a bright emerald green.

“Oh no.” she jumped out of bed and ran from the room in search of Florenz.

“Well I guess we better be going. I am sure Chenelle will have a scarf we can use to hide your hair on the way out. As for your eyes you will have to avoid eye contact as there is nothing we can do about that.” Florenz stood from the couch and called for Chenelle.

“Oh this is much more you I think. Come with me we shall find a scarf.” Chenelle led her into her bedroom and started digging through what looked like a pile of rags. She held up a cream length of material.

“Yes this is perfect. I can’t give you anything too fancy as you will be on the road and it will look very suspicious if you have anything nice.” She handed Elyza the material and they went back into the lounge where Rayleigh was standing with two bags at her feet. One Elyza recognised as her own the other however, Elyza had no idea who that belonged to but she had a sinking feeling in her stomach as she saw Rayleigh wrapping a scarf of her own around her head.

“Oh no. You are not going with them young lady. It’s much too dangerous.” Came Chenelles stern voice from behind Elyza.

“Of course I am. My place is at Elyza’s side. Ask Florenz I’m sure he’s seen it.” She retorted defiantly.

Florenz had the misfortune of walking into the room at that precise moment.

“Why would you tell her she is part of all this. It’s much too dangerous for a 16 year old.” Florenz looked surprised at her.

“I have done no such thing and anyway, I do not know who the other companions will be. They have been shrouded in a most inconvenient mist.” He said standing up to his fullest height as if to make up for not seeing this.

“Well it is not her!” Florenz sat on the couch and closed his eyes. His whole body was glowing and Elyza knew he was looking for who the others may be. She looked over at Rayleigh just in time to see her frown and tears fill her eyes but they were blinked away before anyone else could see. Florenz stopped glowing and opened his eyes. Those eyes went straight to Rayleigh who shook her head sternly at him.

“Well it seems she is indeed one of our companions. I would think if we are to go by the prophesy Rayleigh here would be our believer. That leaves us with a warrior to find, or more accurately they will find us.” Chanelle’s eyes filled with tears and she turned to her daughter who enveloped her in a tight hug.

“You knew one day I would leave. I’m not the type to sit still while others are hurting.”

“I know I just didn’t think it would be this soon or this dangerous.” She pulled back and looked at her daughters face.

“I will be careful Mum. And besides I’ve got Elyza, we’ll take care of each other.” Chenelle looked at Elyza and moved towards her. She pulled her into a tight hug and whispered in her ear.

“Look after my girl and yourself. You’re a part of this family too now so be careful and come back to us when this is all over.” Elyza’s eyes filled with tears at this but she too blinked them away.

“Thank you for everything, I appreciate it more than I can say.” She told Chenelle as they broke out of the hug.

Chenelle and Petro waved to them from the front porch as the group of three walked down the street and out of sight.

“So where to from here?” Rayleigh asked Elyza and Florenz.

“Well, I have Air and Earth under control now so that just leaves Water and Fire.” She looked over at Florenz.

“Water next I think.” He replied joyfully.

“Where do we go for that?” Elyza was sceptical about finding someone who had an affinity for something with water.

“Only one place to go. The merfolk.”

“Merfolk? Oh, I’ve always wanted to go to the lake and find merfolk. Mum used to tell me stories when I was little about mermaids walking on land with their beautiful colourful hair.” It was the first time Elyza had really seen Rayleigh as a 16-year-old girl; she always seemed so much older.

“Yes well, they haven’t walked on land for many years so this may be something Elyza has to do on her own.”

“On my own?” Elyza was a bit afraid of doing this on her own. She had had Malak with the turtles and Florenz when she learnt earth but to learn water she would be alone.

“Yes. I’m not sure about Rayleigh but I cannot breathe under water.”

“Neither can I.” Elyza said aghast.

“Actually you can. You will, I think, be able to put a kind of screen of air around yourself to prevent the water touching you. You would be in a kind of bubble.” Elyza’s mouth fell open.

“Magic is limited only by your imagination.” Florenz said looking at her and chuckling.

As they walked out of Harrand Elyza couldn’t help but feel a little sad at leaving. Rayleigh slid her arm in Elyza’s and said.

“This will be fun.” Elyza laughed. She thought this time it would actually be fun with Rayleigh as part of the group.

Only minutes after this thought, they heard voices ahead and Elyza had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Rayleigh put her hands out to stop them and pointed for them to head into the trees.

“The Order.” She whispered to them when they were a few feet into the trees.

“We will have to keep off the well-used paths. They patrol them regularly. That group are probably the same ones we saw in Harrand.” Florenz told them. Elyza looked into his kind eyes and nodded.

They slept under the canopy of the forest that night and for the first time in a while, she dreamt of the handsome black-eyed man. This time they were on a beautiful beach at sunset and wind whispered through her hair. She turned and watched him walk towards her. Her breath left her and she felt light headed as if the sight of him had stolen her breath away. As he reach her, a dazzling smile spread across his face revealing brilliant white teeth. He reached for her and embraced her. Elyza couldn’t help herself she closed her eyes and breathed in his scent. The smell was a mixture of soap and sweat. For some reason it comforted her and awakened her senses.

He pulled away and slid his hand up to rest on her cheek a crooked smile on his face.

“I have missed seeing you.” His voice was husky and deep.

“I do not know why but as have I.” She replied. She was relieved to see him but she didn’t know why. She had only ever seen him briefly and only ever in her dreams, how could she miss someone she didn’t know.

“I am sorry I kept leaving before. I was not sure how you would react to me taking over your dreams.”

“You are real? A real person?” She asked bewildered.

“Yes of course. That is why these dreams seem so real to you.” He laughed and dropped his hand from her face.

“But how…. You have magic. Your power is that you enter dreams.” She realised.

“They call people like me ‘Dreamwalkers’. Although I am the only one left with this power I think.”

“Why what happened to the rest of them?” She asked sadly although, she suspected the queen was behind it.

“People feared us. I can bring nightmares to unsuspecting people or if I should please I could kill them in their sleep. If you die in your dreams, you die where you lie. Not all of them were like this but, some were and that was enough to warrant the extinction of them. This was before my time of course. So now there is just me.”

“That is horrible. I do not understand this world.” Elyza said sadness filling her.

“People here are so cruel when it is not necessary. If they would just talk to one another they would see that they are all alike.”

“Well it is understandable. How do you stop someone from killing when they kill as they sleep?” He paused.

“That is not what you meant though. People of Wifaria are blinded by fear and hatred. It has been this way since before I was born and is only getting worse. If there is anyone who can make them see the error of their ways. It is you.” He had taken her hand and started walking along the beach.

“How so?” She asked him.

“You are an unbiased party. You see it for what it is; you have no emotional connection to any side. Not yet anyway.”

“I suppose you are right.” She sighed.

“This world expects a lot from me. I’m not sure I can deliver everything they want.” Killian stopped and turned to look at her.

“This world wants a lot yes. But what does it need?” He pulled her to him and slid a hand into her hair.

“Sometimes what someone wants is not what they need but they do not know that until they have what they need.” He leant his head down and Elyza melted into him. Just as his lips reached hers, she was shaken awake.