The Last Ones

            Nephalene Sayers did not know what force propelled her forward. Hunger, she supposed. She was starving. She hadn't eaten anything in the three days since she'd used all of her coins to afford a headstone in the Siggan Cemetery for her stillborn son, Arlo Reddock.

            Once again in her short life she found herself left with nothing to hold onto. She no longer had her parents nor her siblings, or even her childhood home. She didn't have her friend Wynnie, or the kind old woman Loreena. She'd recently lost Elias and her babe, her last connections to Avellana.

            Her survival instincts were strong, though. She'd proven that in the Cwenburhan prison, where she'd killed three other children so that she herself could live. Even then her situation had been dire, but some part of her had refused to give up. As it did now.

            She trudged through the streets of Sigga, headed west. As she neared the Lovedie forest the crowds thinned. She hesitated at the forest's edge, where the cobblestone gave way to dirt and untamed foliage. Then, with a deep breath, she ventured inside.

            She quickly became disoriented, and fretted she'd be unable to retrace her steps and return to Sigga. Not that anything other than a stone reminder of the son she'd lost waited there for her. Perhaps it would be better if she accidentally stumbled upon the main kingdom. She figured she could find just as many if not more patrons there.

            She quickly discovered a fruit bearing tree, though she couldn't identify the fruit that hung from its branches. It was shaped like a pear. Its top was a bright orange that faded into a golden yellow. It looked thick and juicy. Nephalene picked up a long stick from the forest floor and prodded at one of the branches until one of its fruit fell.

            She rubbed it against her dress and examined it closely in her hands. She sniffed it. It had a delicious floral scent that made her mouth water. She brought it to her lips and was about to take a bite when an unfamiliar female voice startled her and she dropped it.

            "I wouldn't eat that." The voice said. "It's poisonous."

            Nephalene turned in the direction of the voice. It belonged to a tall, lithe, pale young woman with long blonde locks and bright amber colored eyes. Her long ears were pointed at their tips, which Nephalene thought strange. Her skin was riddled with red marks; old scars and fresher, open, oozing sores and blisters.

            It wasn't her skin that caused Nephalene to flinch, however. It was her eyes, so much like the Cwenburhans who had taken her family and her innocence from her.

            "I'm Luana." The woman said as she approached. She extended a hand towards Nephalene. Even her hand was covered in the marks. Nephalene, being careful to avoid gazing directly into the woman's eyes, reluctantly shook her hand.

            "I'm Nephalene." She introduced herself.

            "You're a human." Luana said. She sounded surprised.

            Nephalene was perplexed. What else would she be. Aren't you? She was tempted to ask. Then she remembered something that sent a chill down her spine. She and Elias had heard the legend of the Lovedie forest elves from Loreena, their brief caretaker.

            "You're an elf." Nephalene voiced her suspicions.

            Luana nodded. "I'm among the last ones." She said solemnly. "But I imagine," Nephalene stiffened when the elvish woman grasped a strand of her curly red locks and twisted it around her finger. "That you know how that feels; to be the last of a kind. After all you're an Avellanan, aren't you?

            "Come," She said without waiting for Nephalene to respond. She started deeper into the forest, and Nephalene unthinkingly followed, unsure where the elf was leading her.

            They came to a clearing where there was a small fire going. The flames licked a skinned rabbit that was expertly strung above them.

            Luana cut the rabbit down with a knife she whipped out from beneath her clothing and plopped down onto a fallen log by the fire. She patted the unoccupied space beside her, a clear invitation. Nephalene sat down.

            Luana began to dissect the rabbit and offered Nephalene a piece, which she gratefully accepted. When Nephalene had devoured the meat she'd been given, Luana silently gave her more. She continued to do this until Nephalene realized she'd eaten the entire rabbit while Luana hadn't had a single bite. She felt satisfied, as her stomach was full, but guilty, as it had been the elvish woman who'd earned the meal, and she'd given it away to a stranger. Nephalene was no longer accustomed to such generosity, not since Loreena Morsey had died. No one but Elias had shown her kindness since, and he had left her.

            "Thank you." She murmured.

            Luana smiled kindly. "You're welcome." She said.

            She sighed then. "I don't have much time left." She said softly.

            Nephalene stared at her. "The legends all claim you're immortal." She said.

            "It's very uncommon that an elf takes ill, and even rarer that they're born with impure blood. I was. My mother Dawn was accused of horrid acts when my marks first presented themselves when I was ten years of age.

            "The elves gave up the practice of magic. With the exception of the charms it is expressly forbidden. They charged her with secretly dabbing in the arts, and said that my sickness was her retribution.

            "She was banished for her infractions, though she was innocent all along. Before she left, she gave me this." Luana clutched the charm that was strung around her neck.

            "She hoped it would protect or even heal me. It was foolish of her to think so. The sun and moon charm does not wield such power."

            "Then what does it do?" Nephalene inquired curiously.

            "The moon emerges at the end of each day, and the sun rises at the start of each new one. The sun is loyal, and no matter the weather it is always there; even when the clouds shadow it, it is still there.

            "The charm is meant to symbolize both the end of hard times and the beginning of better days, as well as our enduring conviction that we will see those days come to pass. It is a promise of sorts.

            "But there are no brighter days ahead for me." She continued, sounding melancholy. "I lost my faith long ago. I know what I must do if I wish to live, though I am hesitant to do so. If I waver too much longer the impurities in my blood will kill me. I watched it happen to another.

            "My mother told me of a sure cure, though she warned me it was a last resort. The cure will alter me in a manner which cannot be undone, not even by magic." Her tone was ominous.

            "We're the last ones, as you said; members of dying races. We must do what is necessary to survive, to ensure the continuation of our people." It was only as she spoke the words that Nephalene accepted the truth of them. She lived not only for herself or her family, but also for her entire kingdom.     

            "Take this with you, wherever you go." Luana removed the charm from her neck and offered it to Nephalene.

            "You're mother gave it to you." Nephalene objected.

            "Yes, but it holds no power for me. The magic lies dormant.

            "Do you know what I see when I look at you, Nephalene? Someone who, despite what she may claim, still holds onto the hope that her story can have a happy ending; someone who still believes such a thing is possible. Beneath your sorrow and rage is a little flicker of faith that with the sun will come better days."

            Nephalene was dubious. Was Luana's assessment of her correct? Did she still possess hope...and faith? She'd thought those were parts of her had been stripped away by the Cwenburhan soldiers.

            She reached out and touched the charm. It was surprisingly hot against her skin. It sent waves of heat rolling through her, and she was engulfed by a most pleasant, warm tingling.

            "I think the charm was never effective for me because I never believed in it. I don't believe in anything, and it could sense that. But you...you do."

            Nephalene shivered at Luana's implication that the charm was a sentient being.

            She took it, though, and placed the cord around her own neck. She had to tug it loose from the red curls it became entangled in. The warm tingling sensation intensified.

            "I have to go now. You and I cannot be seen together." Luana said suddenly.

            Nephalene nodded in understanding, grateful to the elvish woman for her kindness.                      "You know, Nephalene, if you can maintain your faith even after all you've endured...Then perhaps I can find a little myself." She rose from the log and smiled. Then she darted away and disappeared into the forest, leaving Npehalene all alone.

            What Nephalene did not know was that giving her the rabbit and the charm would be the last kind acts Luana ever preformed. Her condition would steadily deteriorate until she finally gave in and accepted her mother's cure. She lived, but was transformed into something twisted and unrecognizable...A monster.

            Nephalene, meanwhile, wore the charm around her neck day and night. Her circumstances did not improve, and she began to lose what little hope she had. She did not know that less than a hundred mile away in the main kingdom lived a miserable princess and her servant, and that in two years time they were fated to meet. Nor did she know that when that time came she would be pregnant with a daughter, and that together the three of them would become her sun.