“Have you ever loved?” Gewey asked.
Lee’s eyes suddenly became distant. “I told you that the Oracle said I would have to sacrifice everything,” he said. “I once had a wife and son.”
“What happened to them?”
“I left them behind,” Lee confessed. “My road would have put them in too much danger. I couldn’t have that.”
“Where are they now?”
“Safe in Hazrah,” Lee answered. “But it’s not something I enjoy talking about.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
“It’s fine,” Lee assured him. “I made my choice. But I want you to promise to talk to me as things…progress.”
“I promise.”
Suddenly, Lee looked as if he had been struck by lightning.
“What is it?” Gewey asked impatiently.
“Bound to earth,” Lee mused. “You’re bound to earth.”
“You’re not making sense.”
“Felsafell said your strength was in the earth!” Lee said excitedly. “I think I understand what he meant. You see, my father is Saraf God of the Seas, and so when I’m near the water I can listen to its heartbeat and gain strength. I have to sit and meditate to draw on this power, but maybe you can draw from it directly, as you fight.”
“How would I do that?” Gewey asked, puzzled.
“First you must learn to hear the earth. The sword can wait. Kaylia’s teaching you the knife. That will have to do for now. Tomorrow we will try to tap into your true power.”
That night, Kaylia seemed different during training. Gewey was able to find her in the shadow three out of four times, and he was able to avoid her for over twenty minutes. Finally, she told him the lesson was over and started back to camp.
“Wait,” Gewey said.
Kaylia stopped but didn’t turn around. “What is it?”
“You said you would help me understand what Felsafell told me. I’m ready to tell you.”
“Perhaps you shouldn’t,” Kaylia advised.
“I don’t understand. Why not?”
“My judgment is compromised,” she replied. “I’m sorry.”
“Tell me what’s wrong,” Gewey pleaded. “Maybe I can help.”
Kaylia laughed softly. “It’s not something you would understand.”
“Is it because I’m so young?”
“Age is not something elves look at to determine ability,” she explained. “I’m old by human standards, but not much more than a child to my own people. The reason you wouldn’t understand is that you’re not an elf.”
“I could try. I might surprise you.”
“I think you might,” Kaylia agreed. “But I need to work this out my own. Don’t worry, I’ll be alright.”
That night, Kaylia slept far from the others. Gewey stopped wondering what was troubling her. His thoughts wandered to what Lee had told him about elven feelings, but that only raised questions in his mind that made him laugh at himself. If Kaylia were human, he would take her words to mean something else, but she was right; he didn’t understand elves.
The next day, Kaylia sat in silence with her hood pulled far over her face as they rode in the wagon. Dina laughed merrily as Lee spun tales of his past adventures. Gewey loved Lee’s stories-especially the ones that included Gewey’s father-and never tired of hearing them.
He tried to tell a few of his own, but every time Dina looked at him his tongue felt heavy and useless, and eventually he stopped trying.
“Kaylia,” Dina said, trying to make conversation. “Surely you have some adventures you could share to pass the time.”
Kaylia didn’t look up. “I have no desire to pass the time,” she said flatly.
Dina cleared her throat. “Okay, then. How’s your training going, Gewey?”
“You’d have to ask my teachers.”
“He needs to work harder,” Lee chimed in. “But I think he shows promise.”
“You should feel fortunate,” said Dina. “Not many people get to train with a man like Lee, let alone an elven warrior.”
“I’m no warrior,” Kaylia snapped. “There are no elven warriors. You humans know nothing.”
“I’m sorry,” Dina said sincerely, reaching over to touch Kaylia’s knee. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”
Kaylia’s hand immediately shot out, grabbing Dina by the wrist. Her eyes fixed stonily on Dina’s. “Abomination,” she hissed. She reached down and drew her knife. Dina screamed and tried to climb over Lee to get away, but Kaylia was too fast. Before anyone could move, she had caught Dina and pulled her to the floor of the wagon, knife pressed to Dina’s throat.
“Abomination!” she repeated, louder than the first time.
Gewey was in shock. “Afisul Si Damon!” he shouted, the words spilling out before he knew what he was saying.
Kaylia stopped abruptly, her eyes wide. She stared at Gewey, stunned.
“How?” she cried. “How do you know these words?”
Kaylia leapt from the wagon and ran. Gewey tried to go after her, but she was out of sight before he could make it more than a few feet.
Millet and Maybell sat shocked, trying to piece together what had just happened. Lee reached down and pulled Dina to her feet.
“What was that about?” Lee demanded. “Why did she attack you?”
Dina was shaking terribly. “I was careless, and she realized what I am.” she said, trying to calm herself.
“And what is that?” Lee inquired.
“My father was a blacksmith from Baltria,” she said quietly. “But my mother was an elf. That’s why she called me abomination.”
The wagon fell silent. Everyone stared at Dina with a combination of wonder and confusion.
“How can that be?” Lee asked. “Such a thing is impossible.”
“No, not impossible. But as far as I know, I’m the first. And what I am puts me in danger from both worlds. I thought my human blood would mask my identity from Kaylia, but when her hand touched mine, she could sense the elven blood in me.”
“But you look human,” Gewey remarked.
“Yes, I do,” she acknowledged. “But do you remember when you asked me how old I am?”
Gewey nodded.
“I’m thirty eight years old,” she revealed. “But my elven blood makes me look like I’m barely out my teens.”
“How did it happen?” Millet interjected. “With the hatred that exists between the races, it’s hard to imagine.”
“How does anything happen?” she replied. “My father found my mother injured in the forest when he was out hunting. He told me he knew that he loved her from the moment he first saw her. She had been attacked by soldiers who had heard that a large group of elves were in the forest near the city, but as it turned out, she was the only one. She had left her people on what my father described to me as a ‘soul quest’. She was attacked while she was meditating, so she didn’t hear them coming until they were already on her. They left her for dead, and if my father hadn’t found her and cared for her, she certainly would have died.
“Once she healed, she found out that my father had moved her to a small village thirty miles north so he could care for her without raising suspicions. He’d sold everything he had to have enough money to keep her alive and away from other humans. Soon, she realized she loved him as well.”
“How were they able to stay together?” Millet asked. “Eventually they would be discovered.”
“They were,” Dina said sadly. “My father tried his best to keep her safe; at one point, he moved to an even more secluded area so that they wouldn’t be found.”
“But they were found,” said Lee. “Weren’t they?”
“Yes,” said Dina. “But it was the elves that found them. I was only three when it happened. I remember my father embracing my mother and begging her to come with us, but she knew that was impossible. The elves didn’t know about me. They only knew that my mother loved a human. She knew they would kill me, if they found out there was a child, so she sent my father and me away. I never saw her again.”
“I don’t understand why they would want you dead,” said Gewey. “You’re innocent in all this.”