pushed her to the good.
Legon sat quietly with his eyes closed. He was breathing deeply. She and the others waited patiently.
Soon he opened his eyes. They were different. She saw them in incredible detail, etching the image in her memory forever. She locked eyes with him, and she attempted to look into his soul to unravel the mysteries of the Everser Vald, but the answers didn’t come. Still, the eyes were different, not just in physical appearance but in substance. There was… more behind them now. Was that from being an Elf, or from what he had done?
She looked away. She wasn’t worthy of holding his gaze, not after all that he had done for her and what he would do for them all. It wasn’t that he was deity or a prophet. No, it was rather what he was destined to do that made her feel a sense of awe. She also now knew his lineage, but Arkin wouldn’t reveal that, nor would she. That was the Elves’ place.
Legon looked around the circle and Sara followed his gaze. Arkin was looking down, but not at him or anything else, judging by the look in his eyes. Keither was looking at him, not believing what he was seeing. Here was one that looked at the world through logic, Sara thought, but magic was still beyond him. Sasha had great tears running down her cheeks now. Sara knew that they sprung from happiness. Her brother was free of growing old and dying. She wouldn’t have to know the pain of losing him. Sara would have to look at Sasha differently as well. Legon spoke to her then.
She was caught off guard by a finger under her chin, guiding her face. No more was this the rough hand of a butcher, but the soft tender hand of the healer. He looked her in the eyes, not letting her look away.
“What are you thinking, Sara?”
What an odd question, but this whole scene was odd. There was a reverence to it that wasn’t appropriate for the mourning of a friend and loved one.
Her throat caught as she spoke.
“Un Prosa,” she said, using what she knew of the old tongue. Her head jerked from his hand as she looked down. She could just see his face. He paused, looking curiously at her.
“Why do you look away from me?” He was hurt, but that wasn’t the intent. Arkin answered for her.
“She means no disrespect. In fact, she respects you very deeply, but I am afraid that she knows more about you than you do.”
“Is it time to break your oaths, Arkin?” Sasha asked politely.
“Yes, I think it is.”
* * * * *
Keither knew that something far greater than himself was happening here and tried to clear his mind. It was close to daybreak, but the moon would not set for some time to come. It was that part of the year when the sun would be rising and the moon would stubbornly hang in the western sky, refusing to bow to its more powerful brother. He sat on his overly large behind. All of them were sitting now. Sasha gave Legon a piece of bread to chew. He would be hungry after all, wouldn’t he?
Arkin took a sip from his water skin, collecting his thoughts. “It won’t do to get right to the part where you two come into this story, so I will start further back.” When he said, ‘you two’ he inclined his head to Sasha as well as Legon. How was she involved in this?
“As you know, there was a war when the Queen took over this section of Airmelia. And in that war, human, Elf, and Iumenta fought. All sides took casualties, obviously; one of these was a dragon. His wife was killed. Now it doesn’t matter what killed her, only that she was killed and his grief was great. All of you remember what I have said about what happens when an Elf’s spouse dies, don’t you?”
They did. Keither wondered how a dying Elf had anything to do with their current state, but he listened on.
“Before this great dragon expired, he used magic and the Mahann to ascertain the future, for he wanted to know how long it would be until the rest of his house fell to the Iumenta.”
Legon spoke, preempting Arkin. “But he didn’t see their end.”
Arkin looked surprised at Legon’s intuitiveness. “No, he didn’t. He saw in the future one man that would either choose to belong to