She cried out, sure he was falling to his death, but he managed to halt, swinging from one hand over the abyss.
Holy shit. She couldn’t breathe, her throat tight with fear.
The dragon dived toward him, iridescent, horns glinting like gold. Finn cursed, let go of his handhold.
Ella jerked toward him, but he caught himself again, his hands bleeding crimson on the white rock.
The dragon breathed a streak of fire and Ella gasped as Finn dropped again.
“Finn!” she yelled, heart in her throat, and jerked awake.
A moment passed before she could make sense of the soft pillow under her cheek and the shuttered window across the bed. She was in her bedroom, in their apartment. It had been a week since they’d returned from the military base. The weather had grown warmer; the days brighter.
She hadn’t shared a dream with Finn in a while. Why now?
Shadows played on the wall and rippling light filled the room. She rolled on her back and rubbed her eyes, her heart thumping hard.
Finn stood by the bed, head bent, dark-tipped ears poking out of his ashen hair. The air shimmered in front of him — an oval, the size of a face mirror, hovered at eye-level.
A damn Gate.
Sitting up, she scrambled back on the bed. As she stared, open-mouthed, Finn lifted his hand, long fingers extended, and reached into the shiny surface. Blinding bright lines undulated on his arm, on his calm face. He didn’t seem to be in pain.
She was afraid to speak. What if the Gate gobbled up his hand or something? But she must’ve made some noise because he turned slightly toward her, head tilted to the side.
Silver light filled his eyes.
Shit. She shivered, hating the icy feeling of fear.
Finn returned his attention to the Gate, brow furrowing in concentration. A tremble went through him and he jerked his hand out, clenched in a loose fist. He nodded and the Gate shrank, glowing brighter for a moment like a supernova.
Then it vanished, leaving the room dark and brilliant afterimages branded into her retinas.
Ella sucked a hissing breath. “Finn?”
He didn’t move for a long moment, and she wasn’t sure he’d heard her. His skin glowed faintly in the gloom, the lines fading one by one, and his glittering hair began to dim.
In silence, he walked to the bed and sat next to her.
“You never stopped opening Gates, did you?” she asked faintly, afraid of the answer.
He shook his head.
“But how? I’m with you every night. Dave has had the perimeter watched. How did...” Oh. Damn. “You can close them. The Gates still open, but you close them before anything passes through.”
Finn pressed his lips together, then nodded.
“You can control them?” she asked breathlessly. “Can you open and close them at will? Can you—”
“No,” Finn said quietly. “I don’t know how to open them.”
Yet. The word hung unspoken between them. Yeah, his magic was changing. Finn was changing. Growing stronger.
She didn’t know what to say.
He lifted his fisted hand toward her. He watched her under lowered lashes, his hand hovering.
“What is this?” Something glowed, caught between his fingers. “What did you do?”
“It’s called a starburst,” he said, his deep voice vibrating with some strong emotion.
His fingers uncurled. A star-shaped flowed sat on his palm, crystalline, giving off a faint glow and the scent of fresh snow.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, mesmerized. “That’s just... Why?”
In the glow of the flower, his eyes were warm and clear like gemstones. He tapped his chest with two fingers and smiled.
THE END of EPISODE FIVE
END of SEASON 1
I hope you have enjoyed The Truth (Episode Five of Boreal and John Grey).
Sign up for the newsletter to be informed about new releases and promotions! http://tinyurl.com/afme4r7
Links to my books:
http://tinyurl.com/buth6k6
Author’s Note
I have always had a fascination with elves and fairies – dragons, too. I am a big Tolkien fan, and have studied fairytales and legends of the world, hoping to understand what these creatures mean, what their origins are and how they differ between cultures. I found the Nordic elves fascinating, hence the decision to base my elves in large part on the Norse mythology. The opening quotes of most of the episodes are based on transcriptions of the Scandinavian epic saga Edda (Younger Edda or Prose Edda) which speaks of the Aesir (the gods), the Aelfar (the elves), distinguishing between Light and Dark elves, and the Duergar or dwarves which may or may not be the same creatures as the Dark elves. Giants are also mentioned, Yggdrasil the world ash tree from which the worlds hang, and the halls of Hell made of the spines of serpents... I think it’s a fascinating mythology.
The idea of Boreal and John Grey has existed in my mind (and my notebook) for many years – minus the mythological side. The series name was one of the first things I jotted down about ten years ago. I imagined a man jumping between worlds, one of which was in an ice age (hence the “Boreal” part), being quite different in every world and not sure how to find the way back. Obviously, the story line changed quite a lot in this version. But for almost as long I’ve wanted to write a story about a female lead, a police investigator, and her elf partner, so I was very pleased when I thought of merging the two ideas, coming up with Ella and Finn.
I like very much the idea of parallel worlds and of crossing over. I also wanted to explore the appearance of the elves as described – their ears, so often talked about, but also their paleness (at least for the Light elves), and give it a logical explanation, since I’ve made them as “human” as possible. Therefore, I went back to the origins of our race to find out how a race could be born with ears different from ours (yeah, a small ear fetish here... lol) and practically albino.
Why do elves look the way they look?
The ears were interesting. Most animals have pointed ears – but our ancestor, a tiny rat-like mammal, happened to have rounded ear tips (http://www.livescience.com/26929-mama-first-ancestor-placental-mammals.html). No evolutionary advantage there, simply luck gave us rounded ears. Which meant the elves could simply have evolved from a similar ancestor – with pointed ears. There you go: instant Spock ears for the entire elven race.
The colors are another story. The question was more complex and has to do with environmental adaptation for survival. My answer was two-fold. Elves are often portrayed with uptilted eyes, an Asian feature. Science tells us many peoples in Asia have evolved this eye shape to deal with the glare of snow. The narrower the eyes, the less likely they are to be blinded by the reflection and in the north of Asia there is a lot of snow. Elves coming from a world mired in an ice age might well develop such eyes – it would be useful!
Finally, why would they be so pale? Again the answer is two-fold. One part has to do with sunlight and the production of vitamin D, needed for strong bones, healthy skin, nails and hair. People in the north of Europe, for instance, are pale, blond and blue-eyed. This is a light form of albinism which developed thousands of years ago, ensuring that the radiation of the feeble sunlight of the north was absorbed in much higher quantities in their skin to enhance the production of vitamin D, something the higher levels of melanin in the skin of most people would prevent (melanin is there to protect us from the harmful radiation of the sun. The stronger the sunlight, the more melanin is needed for protection, allowing just the right amount of radiation to go through for a healthy body...). So, you see, being pale in a world with practically no sunlight would be a good thing for these elves.
Then there’s the issue of camouflage. In a world where the elves are not the highest rank predators (well, hello dragons and wolves!), being able to hide easily would be paramount to their survival. Their paleness, combined with the bright lines flashing on skin and hair, would help them blend
in the snow of their home world, in the way arctic foxes and polar bears do.
Where is the story set? The context is vaguely US but I haven’t picked a particular town. I hope you forgive me for this vagueness. Also for my obsession with dreams. I can’t help it.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering... I’m nothing like Ella. I’m more like Finn: the silent type. I also have no family from France or Scandinavia, although as a child I thought I was a changeling (still not sure I’m not). Regarding mothers: my mother is nothing like Ella’s, either. Mine is very supportive and we have a great relationship. Just thought to clear this up.
One last thing...
A huge thanks to all of you who followed my heroes on their adventures. I hope you enjoyed spending time with them. I am planning to write a second Season to the series. If you have enjoyed this series and if you would like a sequel, please write a review, it would mean the world to me.
About the Author
Greek Cypriot with a penchant for dark myths, good food, and a tendency to settle down anywhere but at home, Chrystalla likes to write about fantastical creatures, crazy adventures, and family bonds. She lives in Cyprus with her husband and her vast herds of books. She writes mainly fantasy and science fiction. Her dystopian YA science fiction series “Elei’s Chronicles” (Rex Rising, Rex Cresting, Rex Equilibrium) is available on Kindle and in print. Shorter stories set in that world are also available, and a Companion to the series is also in the plans.
Where to find all books and series: http://tinyurl.com/buth6k6
Other links:
Blog: http://chrystallathoma.wordpress.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/chrystallathoma
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Chrystalla-Thoma/117863861560579
Boreal and John Grey Season 1 Page 44
