Chapter Five: The Origin

The Origin

 

Several days went by after Danani relived that horrible memory that she kept to herself. Kath had not spoken to their parents about what Danani had told him, like he said he wouldn't. Although, she couldn't help but get a little nervous each time she saw her brother talk to either their mother or father, or anyone else for that matter. She knew he wouldn't tell her secret, but in a deep, dark place in her mind, it kept telling her that he could always let it slip from him, exposing her as the terrible monster she thought she was. 

Though she had kept her secret from everyone but Kath so far, Danani had become hyper-sensitive to anyone's presence around her, and had become very cautious with people for the most part, a direct opposite of her usual friendly personality. She had also refrained from venturing into the forest entirely, which deeply saddened her, but she just couldn't bring herself to walk towards it.

The Princess had tried on an earlier day, but as soon as the tall, green trees she loved came into her view, her body shook with nerves and she Danani felt her body halt, unwilling to go any further. She wanted to go forth, with all of her heart and her brain tried to force her legs to continue, but they would not, like her body had turned on auto-pilot and it was going to take her anywhere but into the forest, anywhere except where it took it place. 

Without being able to visit her favorite place in the kingdom,and not wanting to train, for that would mean she would use Fire, Danani had stayed cooped up in the castle mostly, which silently alarmed her parents. This wasn't like their daughter, who craved being free and allowed to go wherever she liked. The King said it was in her nature as the controller of Fire to wander free and loose, without restraints. So her wanting to remain in the enclosed walls of their residence, peaked Dwoven's interests. 

 

In the afternoon, after finishing a meeting with some of the town's leaders, Dwoven decided he was due a chat with his eldest child, and made his way to her room, where she had spent most of her time lately. 

Knock, knock.

Danani picked her head up from her desk in the corner when she heard the knocking at her door. She had been gazing out the large window beside it at her beautiful mountain view, her head resting on her outstretched arm. Noticing the sunlight's position on the nearby hills, Danani knew she had been daydreaming, or day-nightmaring, to be specific for some time. Visions of the men she had burned to death constantly plagued her, but beyond Kath getting the PG version, she couldn't go to anyone else for help. As her father's voice came from the door and the knob started turning, Danani shook herself quickly, shaking the flashes from her eyes for the moment, and plastered a small smile to her face, which grew into a big grin once she saw her father's beaming face appear around the corner of her door. 

"Afternoon, darling. What have you been doing up here all day?" 

"Lie. Lie!" Danani's mind screamed at her and she quickly tried to think of one. "Nothing, sir. I have just been...," she looks quickly around the room, landing her green eyes onto a large, battered tome placed on her desk.

It was an antique, leather-bound book that was lengthy, with browning, frayed pages.The Princess had actually visited their East Library, where her father had placed all of the reference, scholarly works, with an emphasis on history publications. 

"I...I was thinking about my powers. Our powers. And I was just wondering about where they came from and why do we have them?" It wasn't a complete lie, for she had been wondering about that, just not in the last little while.

King Dwoven grew a small smile on his bearded face, and looked down at his daughter with pleased eyes. He walked over to her, kissing her forehead, then grabbing the heavy book off the desk and sat down on her bed, opening the book to the first couple of pages. 

"Well I was wondering when you would get curious about our gifts?" Danani looked at her father with a confused expression, then took on a serious face. "What do you mean, father?" 

"Myself and your mother decided before you and your brother were born that we would only explain to you the creation and path of our special gifts, to us controlling the elements, when you two came to us, searching for the answers." Danani's brow furrowed, standing from her chair and walking over to her bed, and sat next to the King. 

"Will you tell me our history, Papa?" Dwoven wrapped his left around his daughter's shoulder like when she was a tiny, little girl, and she snuggled up against the warm body of her father, instantly comforted by him. He balanced the opened book on his knees and looked down onto the ancient pages with elegant, swirly lettering. "Of course, Danani. I will tell you of our beginning."  

 

Many years ago, this world began to be plagued by monstrous creatures and tyrants with selfish plans. If nothing was done, the world would end in disastrous ways, ridding the land of everything and everyone on it. 

But a powerful sorceress, Qsyia, wanted to save this precious planet, and attempted to find a way to prevent it's utter destruction. She searched for years in the far lands of the world, where the worst of climates, creatures, and hazards populated, for the solution that she was seeking. A power that would turn the world back from the brink of devastation, and send it progressively forward, into prosperity. 

As wars raged between foes for nothing more than land and power, rulers were driving the lands to break apart at the seams. Volcanoes threatened to cover the lands and oceans in scorching magma, the ground quaked frequently, and tidal waves were daily occurrences, swiftly wiping out whole countries.

One day, Qsyia finally found proof of her goal, a lost scroll that detailed four powers that were created alongside the world's beginning. Said to be the core spirits of the Four Elements; Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. They were supposed to be a safeguard against the total annihilation of the inhabitants of this planet we call home.

However, upon their conception, they were deemed too powerful to be unleashed at that moment in time, and they were separated to the farthest reaches of the world. But Qsyia knew that it was time for their reawakening now, in her time, to save the world. She was determined to find them and rid the world of the evils and plagues that infested it. 

Following directions explained in the scroll, she began her dangerous journey in search of the special gifts that awaited her, accompanied only by an empty, square, frosted container, which she would need in order to handle the powers in her pursuit. 

Qsyia traveled far and wide across the vast lands. The sorceress battled unimaginable creatures and fierce opposition from men who wanted the gifts for their own twisted means, though she slayed them all, leaving only bloody trails in her wake.

The fierce woman first ventured to the tallest peak in the world, and braved the harsh blizzards and snow beasts that lurked about. She eventually found the resting place of the Orb of Air, a sphere of white and gray light. Harnessing her own supreme powers, she called upon the power of Air once she came to it's home, received the glowing ball, then placed it in the frosted box to bring back with her and would do this three more times in her quest. 

The sorceress entered the pit of the hottest volcano, a funnel of lava and charred earth. Carefully withstanding the intense heat she felt through particular spells, she came away with the swirling red Orb of Fire. She plunged into the depths of the darkest ocean, battled the numerous deep sea creatures who resided at the bottom, and found the luminescent, royal blue mass of power that was the Orb of Water. Finally, Qsyia burrowed down the deepest tunnel into the earth, shoveling past tons of dirt and rock, to find the dark cavern that protected the Orb of Earth. She destroyed the guardians of the globe, green and bright in it's coloring, and completed her formerly-daunting task.

Once the box held the four glowing spirits of the Elements, Qsyia brought the box to her homeland and retreated to her fortress to fulfill the final part of her plan. However, during her treacherous voyages and dangerous tasks, the sorceress had expended much of her strength and magic in the retrieval of the powers, and her life-force was fading quickly. 

Weakened considerably, Qsyia used the final last bits of her powers and sought out a young, humble peasant boy in a nearby village, who had never known power or the thirst for conquest. Orphaned and destitute, he instead only wanted to live peacefully, have the fortune to be well-fed and taken care of and to help others live similarly. He wanted to have a happy family and to live fully in content. 

The sorceress presented this boy the very opportunity. Her milky white eyes peered into his deep, warm brown one;, her long, graying-silver hair hiding much of her face. Qsyia opened the box before him, letting him gaze into the box, washed over by the luminous light that erupted from the spheres.

"I gift you with these abilities, child" she spoke to him in a soft, wispy voice, like it pained her to speak, "in hopes that you will do what is right. With the Elements, all things are possible. Use them to heal, build, and protect, but to never destroy, kill, or conquer. Find you a beautiful, kind woman and have wonderful children with her. Build a kingdom for them and others to live in harmony and peace for all their days."

The boy, on a bended knee beside her, gratefully accepted the present she offered him with a bow. "I accept gracious sorcess." 

The boy saw a smile creep onto her face slowly, then it lit up her tired-looking, pale face. She explained several more things to the intently-listening lad, until she had told him everything. Then with an accomplished expression, closed her glazed-over eyes and let out one last breath. 

Qsyia's form then slowly disappeared, only a few last sparks of power being left behind shortly, then nothing. The boy, saddened but motivated to fulfill Qsyia's wishes, grieved for several moments, then immediately set to his new mission. 

 

"Wow, papa," Danani exclaimed as her father stopped reading and looked at her. "I never knew that so much had happened for us to have these gif...uh, abilities," Danani had usually said "gifts" when referring to the Elements they possessed. But since everything had happened, she couldn't bring herself to call them gifts anymore. More like a curse, but she kept that piece to herself. 

"Yes, my dear. A lot has been done to get to where you and I are now." The King then looked out the window, and seeing the sun beginning to set. He pat Danani's knee, stood up and stretched, then made his way over to her bedroom door. 

"But, papa..." Danani began with a questioning scowl, stopping her father. "What happened after the Qsyia died? What happened to the boy?" She looked at him with a longing to know the answers. 

Smiling his brightest, most-loving grin, the man looked at his inquisitive daughter with proud eyes. "Ah, well what happens next is another story, Danani. One in which I will tell you this evening." Danani nodded and the King continued to the hallway. But Danani wanted to know one more thing. 

"Papa?" Stopping once again, he braced against the door's threshold, giving her his attention. 

"And who was the boy? Does the book not say?" Her hands fall onto the book at the end of her bed, searching for a name. 

"His name is not in there, Danani. That book does not tell his story, only he knows." Danani slightly pouted, but only for a second. "But, I believe you know who he is." Danani looked up to him, confused, but her father just smiled wickedly and left from the room. 

Danani sat back against her pillows with many questions floating around in her mind, but one came to the forefront and stuck there. 

"Did my father give me my powers? Did he give me Fire for a reason? If so, does he already know that he made a mistake in his choice?" 

Author's Note

Okay, okay. What do you really think of this chapter. I started this one without any clue how it was going to go or turn out. What do you think about the history lesson? :-)