Chapter 9

I couldn’t allow myself to process the confidence in her words. She had to be lying. That was the only explanation. Zame was clearly joking. No one could know that about me. No one. “You are being ridiculous.”

“Am I?” Zame raised an eyebrow as she trembled.

“You’re crazy if you honestly think I’m a magi elf.” I laughed then, dramatically throwing my hands in the air. The sound was so desperate and loud that it made me mentally cringe. It sounded so wrong.

“Enough lies!” She roared. She looked like she was seconds away from strangling me again. I backed away from her just in case.

“I’m not lying! How could I be … one of those?” I asked with revulsion. “I’m not a monster.”

Zame huffed in exasperation and gripped my jaw with her hand. She yanked my face upwards. “You can stop the bullshit now. Look up there, Princess.” She pointed at a tree in front of us. “I watched you do that.”

I wasn’t exactly sure what I was looking for at first. What could possibly be in the branches of the tree that would ultimately be my undoing? I imagined something like ghastly dead bodies hanging from tree limbs with bright red blood smeared everywhere and dripping down to the forest below. I surely had to have murdered someone in my sleep as my final act. I'd have to have done something unimaginably horrible to deserve being discovered after eighteen years of hiding.

But no. I hadn’t murdered anyone. Nothing was damaged at all, except for myself. This knowledge gave me a small peace of mind. Heavy emphasis on small.

Large gray stones were nestled in the corners where the branches met the trunk. I wasn’t sure how or why my subconscious decided to levitate a bunch of rocks up into a tree, but that was exactly what happened. The stones were strategically places in a single line on top of three branches, one right after the other.

This was the reason I was soon going to be feared and looked on with hatred moments before someone drives a dagger through my heart? Rocks? All fear Aurelia the Terrible! Beware of her stones of death! Watch with horror as they drift into the trees!

I turned towards Zame warily, unsure of what to say or do. Would she kill me right here? Or would she drag me back to Ohrog for a bigger audience?

“No wonder the blood stones were useless,” she muttered to herself as she narrowed her eyes. Zame sighed heavily as she frowned. Without warning, she reached around on her side and pulled out a sleek black dagger. It glistened against the moon, beautiful and deadly.

I wish I could say I stood there calmly, accepting my punishment. I was a magi elf after all. I was not allowed to exist. I should have received my fate nobly. But, that wasn’t what happened. As soon as Zame pulled out that dagger, I panicked.

It was almost too easy. I shot my hands out, sending a wave of telekinetic force towards Zame as she flung backwards until I heard a sickening crunch. I didn’t look to see what she collided with, I just kept running.

It felt hideously wrong to use magic out in the open. It was so wrong, and yet so right. After struggling to keep a tight control over my magic day after day, it was surprisingly exhilarating to just let go.

“Wait! Get back here!” I heard Zame yell from behind. I could hear the sounds of her pounding feet, coming closer and closer to me. She was much faster than I was. It wouldn't be long before she was close enough to stab me.

I rounded around a tree at the last second, feeling the sharp gust of air against my face as one of her throwing knives narrowly missed my head and slammed into a tree. Crap. I turned to see Zame reach in the holster on her thigh for another knife.

My eyes narrowed in concentration as I focused on the knife in her hand. I suddenly yanked it out of her grasp, sending the gleaming blade flying through the forest and out of sight. I did the same with the remaining two knives. Believe me, Zame was not happy about that.

I was running out of options here. I noticed a thick brown vine wrapped around the trunk of a tree and an idea formed in my head. I didn't think it would work for very long, but it was better than nothing. I shot my hands out toward the thick vine, watching the plant suddenly unravel itself from the tree, obeying my will. It hovered in the air moments before I sent the vine flying into Zame. I frantically tried to wrap it around her body before she had a chance to escape. It was hard. Zame was too fast.

I somehow managed to ensnare her, and I quickly started to wrap coils and coils around her body. I watched her struggle against the vine, praying that it would hold.

“I'm going to kill you, Princess. Let. Me. Go,” Zame growled. To my astonishment, the vine held.

I took off running away from her. I didn't even have time to ponder where I was going, or how long that vine would hold. I just ran. Zame and I were heading in this direction to start with, and I prayed it would lead me to the portal.

         Did I really just use magic to wrap a vine around Zame? I couldn't believe how strange that sounded. What was even more strange was the uncharacteristic silence that followed my footsteps. It took me several minutes to realize that Zame was not following me. I was truly alone.

            I did it. I beat Zame. Granted, it was with elven magic, but it happened. I was still alive.

            I continued running, not even pausing to glance behind me to make sure that Zame had not followed me. I kept moving, pushing my body past its maximum physical limits. It reminded me of when I ran away from Prince Roman with Zame the night I saw his silver wolf.

         Great, now I had two deadly drow out to capture me. I couldn't decide which was worse, being captured by Zame, the fierce, intelligent, rogue darkling who ran on her own rules, or by Prince Roman, a cold hearted, lethal darkling prince who despised all high elves like his mother. Both ideas made me cringe.

           If Zame wasn't pursuing me, I'd bet my life that she was notifying everyone in Ohrog that the High Elf King's only daughter was a magi elf. She might have even fled to Azrain by now, screaming at the top of her lungs that a demon lives amongst the royal family. It was unbearable to imagine Aelrah's reaction if he found out about me that way. All of our years of close friendship would be utterly meaningless to him now. If I ever made it back to Azrain alive, he'd look down on me with disgusted eyes. How could he have ever cared for and protected a magi elf? A monster?

           There's nothing I could do about it now. My secret is exposed, and as much as I wish I could go back and time and change the past, I can't.

         I've never tried to fully find my limits magically before. My entire life I've had to hide this terrible secret, never once having the chance to explore my abilities. Who knows what I was capable of? Magi elves were so rare and rarely lived long enough to even know what they could do. Did we all have the same talents? I knew for certain that I could make things fly with my mind. Levitation came naturally to me; I didn't have to think about it. Mind compelling was an entirely different matter, though.

         In the past, I had compelled many people over the course of my life and had no idea that it was happening. Any time I would ask for something, I'd usually get it. People seemed to want to go out of their way to please me. I never thought anything of it, being the Princess of Azrain and all. It wasn't until Aelrah made a joke about how I got my way all of the time that I truly began to wonder. I could make things fly, whose to say that I couldn't influence someone's mind to do my will? And then I started to slowly feel the magic flow inside of me whenever I spoke a direct command. There was no clear pattern towards the magic, and I still have yet to understand how to use it. It just happens sometimes.

           A gleaming flash of white suddenly lured my attention away from my thoughts. A smooth pale object was propped against a tree, tilting slightly to the side. I hesitantly made my way closer to the white mass. I've never seen anything like this before in my entire life. The front of the object was sleek and felt hard once I trailed my fingers along the edge. It was cold to the touch.

           My hand glided easily over the strange surface, finding no bumps or rough spots. The object was as hard as a rock, yet smooth as glistening water. It was separated into two unequal halves, the bottom half was much larger than the top. It was roughly my height, but its width could probably fit three of me. Two black markings framed the separation line, forming hill-like structures on each half.

         I realized after a moment that this curious white object did not belong in the Uncharted. It was so unique; it seemed appropriate on another realm. Could it possibly be the portal that I have been searching for?

             I swallowed nervously, feeling an excited smile form slowly on my face. I carefully placed my hand against the smooth white surface and tried to sense its magic. I felt something alright. It wasn't a magic that I was familiar with. It was powerful, chilling, and tiny vibrations pulsed against my hand. Feeling encouraged, I pressed my palm harder against the surface, trying to activate the portal.

            Nothing.

        I took several deep breaths and closed my eyes. Take me to the Human Realm. I whispered in my mind, trying to will my compulsion towards the white mass.

Nothing. Again.

         My muscles were growing fatigued from pressing against the portal, and my mind seemed strained. It was clear that my own magic seemed useless against it. Feeling defeated, I let my hands drop over the black markings. Frustrated, I bumped my head against the surface. I was so close to freedom.

         Out of sheer anger, I gripped the black markings and tried to rip them from the surface. I've never been particularly a violent person before, but there was a first time for everything. I had just worked so hard to get to the Human World. It was utterly unfair that I found the portal with no means of activating it.

            The surface of the white object suddenly gave way to my pull and swung open like a door. A cold blast of air suddenly rushed towards me, sending goosebumps all over my body. A hysterical giggle escaped my lips. The portal was inside, not on the surface.

            I shot my hand inside the large white door and slowly poked the back. Well, I tried to poke the back. My fingers suddenly disappeared whenever I pressed them against the wall and reappeared again when I pulled them back.

          Unlike the terrible crushing sensation of the blood stone, it seemed like this portal was simply cold. I didn't feel anything painful when my hand went through. It was as smooth as air.

          This was it. The moment I have been waiting for. After eighteen years of being magi, I have finally found a way to heal myself. I will finally be able to live at peace without any worry of discovery. And most importantly, I will not be able to hurt anyone ever again.

         I took several deep breaths. This is for you, Iris.

        Without so much as a farewell glance towards this world, I stepped through the portal, leaving Azrain, my life, and my family indefinitely.

Reviews

[InsanityWriter]

:) Cool. You made me laugh when she thought of how she'd be remembered... XD please keep writing!! I love this. ^_^

[Strigoikillerr]

Thank you!!! :D Kind of a lame way to go out.. lol