Eleanor

by S. F. Burgess

“This wasn’t Freddie’s fault, Eleanor. Conlan knows that, he’s not going to hurt him,” he assured her.

  Eleanor shook her head. “He attacked you, Will, with very little provocation; how is that not his fault?”

  “He’s the element of fire. Fire is a very destructive and unpredictable force. Since there is nearly always a fire blazing somewhere around him, Freddie feels its pull far more than we feel the pull of our elements. It’s a very difficult element to control and can flare up with very little effort.”

  “I’m surrounded by earth all the time; I haven’t lashed out,” Eleanor said, confused.

  “No, your temper takes far more to bring it to the surface, like the slowly grinding pressure that creates an earthquake – and like an earthquake I imagine it would be just as devastating. Don’t be too hard on Freddie; he really does try hard not to let his nature get the better of him.”

  Will and Amelia were busy in the kitchen preparing food when Conlan came out of the other cave. Intent on what they were doing, neither of them noticed him. Eleanor, having returned to her seat by the fire, took one look at Conlan’s face and felt buried under his exhaustion, pain and misery. She felt hot tears spilling down her cheeks. He noticed and with effort smoothed his face into its normal hard, expressionless guise. Staring at him through her tears, Eleanor wondered how he managed to hide so much.

  “I’m going to dress,” he said, softly announcing his presence. “Then we should eat.” Will glanced back at him and nodded absently before returning to his chopping. Conlan walked stiffly back towards the bedroom. Eleanor noticed, with another twist of her stomach, the long, thick, raised red scar tissue. They ran in haphazard, horizontal lines across his shoulders and down the length of his muscular back. He said the Protectors had flogged him before, Eleanor thought in horror, wondering at the courage it took to face something like that when you had been through it before. Conlan paused at the entrance to the bedroom, and without turning round he added in a sinister tone, “And Will, if you ever drug me again without my permission, I’ll make sure you regret it.”

  “Ungrateful sod,” Will muttered, but there was no real venom in his retort.

  Will and Amelia, still organising food, left Eleanor sat by the fire. Before long she began to feel sorry for Freddie. How awful must he be feeling? He had not emerged from the other cave and Eleanor’s curiosity got the better of her. Getting to her feet she walked over, but at the entrance she stopped, unsure if she should enter. Freddie sat against the far wall, his head in his hands, and he was sobbing softly. She walked over and sat down at his side. Freddie did not raise his head. Not knowing what to say, Eleanor placed a hand on his shoulder. Freddie struggled to get his sobbing under control. When he finally spoke, his voice still sounded broken.

  “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

  “That’s OK, you didn’t really do any damage,” Eleanor said quietly.

  He raised his head, eyes full of hope. “You forgive me?”

  “Of course I forgive you, Freddie. You didn’t mean it,” Eleanor said, meeting the grateful, relieved smile that spread across his face with a friendly grin of her own. “I think we’re going to have a meal, are you going to join us?”

  Freddie’s smile fell, replaced with uncertainty. “Do the others want that?”

  Eleanor shrugged. “I want it, would that be enough?”

  Freddie considered this for a moment and then nodded. Helping Eleanor to her feet, he took her hand and she led him back to the fire. Conlan and Amelia looked up from their food as they sat down, but they said nothing, Will carefully spooned food onto a plate and handed it to Freddie.

  “Thank you,” Freddie whispered, not able to look Will in the face. Will then gave Eleanor a plate of food from her personnel ‘non-meat’ pot and for a while they sat in silence, each absorbed in their own thoughts. Eventually Eleanor’s constantly churning mind began throwing questions at her again.

  “Conlan, you promised that when we were safe you’d tell me what was going on. I’m feeling fairly safe right now, so spill.”

  Green eyes glared at her. “Do you ever stop asking questions?”

  Amelia sniggered, and beside her she saw Freddie struggle to keep his face straight. Keeping her expression neutral, Eleanor waited, watching him, until he nodded, sighing heavily.

  “OK, where would you have me start?”

  Eleanor thought about it – there was really only one place he could start.

  “Start at the beginning.”

  He stared at her for a moment. “The beginning?”

  Fairy Tales and Hokum

  Eleanor snuggled down into the cushions as Will took the empty bowls away. Conlan was staring thoughtfully into the fire. His voice was so quiet when he began that she had to strain to hear.

  “In the beginning, when the world was new, the four elements – earth, air, fire and water – held sway. They moved with great force, but no purpose. Great earthquakes shook the mountains, tsunamis crashed against the land, violent winds sent storm clouds racing across permanently grey skies and lightning caused raging fires that incinerated all in their path. And into this terrifying cataclysmic world a portal was opened, a hole from other worlds.”

  “What other worlds?” Eleanor asked.

  “Think of it as parallel universes; all these worlds sit in the same physical place, where earth is, but they exist on top of each other – they are there, but not there,” Amelia said.

  Eleanor did not quite get it, but asking more questions was probably not going to encourage Conlan to keep talking.

  “May I continue?” Conlan asked patiently. Eleanor nodded.

  “Thank you. The portal was opened and through it came all manner of creatures, including Dwarves, Elves and eventually men, only realising, once they had come through the portal, that it worked one way and they could never return. Fearing the world around them, the different races put aside their differences and worked together, building a city in which they could feel safe. The Dwarves brought law and a common language, the Elves brought weaponry and magic, and man – man brought purpose.”

  “Your snarly, growling language… that’s the Dwarf’s language?” Eleanor asked, surprised.

  “Yes.” Conlan paused, waiting to see if she was going to interrupt him further, but Eleanor snapped her mouth shut and he continued.

  “Man brought purpose. One man in particular, Alaric, saw the terror in which everyone lived and felt it his duty to ease their suffering. He went out into the wilderness to find a way to help his people. Wind buffeted him, floods tried to drown him, fire chased him and the earth shook beneath his feet, but after many years in the wilderness he began to understand the elements around him and he tried to communicate with them. He stood on the beach letting waves crash upon him, sat on mountain tops as the wind raged around him, buried himself in dirt and even let fire burn him. He found he could hear the elements’ voices but they were too far removed to hear him. All his attempts to reach the elements failed. Exhausted and broken, all his defences gone, Alaric crawled into a cave thinking only of sleep and eventual release of death. But as he slept, Earth heard his dreams and saw this fragile being resting within her, afraid and alone. Compassion filled her, and seeking to help him she entered his dreams. She told him how he could communicate with the elements; she told him how to create Avatars – beings, in human form, created from the elements themselves, held together by his blood, his passion, but controlled by a human soul.”

  So I’m an Avatar, at least that’s better than an abomination.

  “Awakening from his dream, Alaric set to work. Using soft earth and his own blood he fashioned a human shape, but where to find a human soul? Taking his half-finished Avatar with him, Alaric returned to his people, but in their eyes he was a dirty, unkempt mad man, raving about needing to take souls. They destroyed his Avatar and chased him from the city. Alone and bereft he wandered, finding himself in front of the portal. As he watched the other world through it, the thought c
ame to him. Here were souls he could use. He made another Avatar from blood and earth and tried pulling a soul into it. He chose a soul at the moment of its death, believing it to be the more humane option, but the soul was very hard to pull through and the Avatar remained nothing more than blood and dirt. With effort Alaric discovered that it was possible to drag the souls from their bodies, but this caused them untold suffering.”

  “Untold suffering? That’s a rather mild term for what you put me through, don’t you think?” Will commented drily.

  “You did that to Will, tore his soul from his body?” Eleanor asked, unable to keep the horror out of her voice.

  “Yes.” Conlan’s’ voice had the hollow quality to it that made Eleanor shiver. She wanted to ask more questions but she was frightened of the painful memories she might drag up, so she just stared at him.

  “It’s OK, Eleanor, I got over it a long time ago. Finish the story, Boss,” Will said.

  Conlan nodded. “After several failed attempts at pulling souls through this way, Alaric decided to try to learn the other world’s language so he could talk to the souls, convince them to let go of their bodies voluntarily. Watching the portal he studied hard and learnt what he could, and then finally he was ready.”

  As the pieces of the puzzle clicked into place, understanding dawned on Eleanor. “You didn’t speak his language, that’s why you had to drag Will here. You couldn’t ask him.”

  “I didn’t have access to the portal, so I had no way of learning and I rushed into something I didn’t understand,” Conlan said, regret plain in his tone.

  “Why? Where was the portal?” Eleanor asked.

  “If you let me continue, I’ll get to that.”

  “Sorry,” Eleanor said, falling silent again.

  “Alaric could now talk to the soul he needed. So he searched for a soul that was appropriate and explained to her what he wanted. To his surprise she said yes; she told him she was dying and was happy to enter a different world where she would be well again. When she awoke, she was the living, breathing Avatar of elemental Earth. Overjoyed with his success Alaric set about creating the other three Avatars. At first they seemed disorientated, confused, but as they got used to their surroundings they began to feel the elements around them, taking on more of their attributes, and as they did so, they became more adept at controlling them. They calmed the world and showed Alaric the five noble virtues, which all men should hold dear: compassion, courage, wisdom, truth and duty. As the Avatars learnt to control their elemental connection, the land became more inhabitable and the people began moving out from the city they had cowered within. They crowned Alaric king, and the Five ruled the land and it flourished. As they grew old the Avatars died and new ones were created, watched over by descendants of Alaric’s line who were raised from birth for the important task of ruling the land and communing with the elements. As the old Avatars died, their souls merged with the elemental energy and the people took to worshipping this human energy, giving it the new names Talukki, Paivina, Ethrel and Rana.”

  Talukki… that’s what that Protector called me, Eleanor thought, another question occurring to her.

  “So who’s who?” she asked.

  “Pardon?” Conlan said, not even trying to hide his irritation at being interrupted again.

  Eleanor ignored his tone. “Well, I’m the Avatar of Earth and apparently the Goddess Talukki, so the other gods and goddesses, which ones are which?”

  Conlan snorted. “You’re not a goddess, Eleanor. There are stories about the gods and goddesses that embodied the noble virtues, and if the person requesting contact was pure of spirit then Paivina of Fire, Ethrel of Air and Rana of Water may well take corporeal form to communicate with them.”

  “Can you tell us those stories too?” Eleanor asked.

  “I’m having enough problems telling this one. May I continue?”

  Eleanor nodded.

  “Everything was fine in the land for many thousands of years, but over time others became greedy for the power Alaric’s bloodline held, and eventually the king was betrayed and the bloodline was lost. Furious battles raged for the crown. The winner was an evil man who knew nothing of virtues, only wanting the power for himself. Once he got it, he destroyed the existing Avatars and made new ones – Avatars like him; mean, power-hungry and vicious. This man ruled the land with terror and menace, demanding the people worship him as a god. His demands became too much and a resistance was formed. The resistance went to the Elves and begged them for help. For a very steep price the Elves provided help by showing the resistance the secret to creating more Avatars. The resistance used this knowledge to create an army of elemental Avatars, but they did not have time to plan and were forced to rip the souls from the bodies on the other side of the portal, in some cases before they were actually dead.”

  Eleanor saw Will shudder.

  “The Avatars they created were driven mad, and they became mindless killers with devastating power. Battles were fought for hundreds of years, following which human beings were almost wiped out. When the dust settled, a new order was in charge. The Lords of Mydren were seen as defenders of the people; they built a tower around the portal and eventually denied its existence.”

  “So if the portal is hidden, how did you bring our souls through it?” Eleanor asked.

  “The Lords may claim the portal no longer exists, but it’s still there, and those sensitive enough, like the shamans, can feel it. Despite the tower around the portal, things can still be pulled through it,” Conlan said.

  “OK, so the soul is pulled through, but isn’t it trapped in the tower?” Eleanor wondered.

  “Your soul is energy, so it’s rather hard to trap and it can’t be destroyed – it just has to be guided out. Can I finish?”

  Again Eleanor felt confused, but she nodded.

  “The portal was hidden, it’s existence denied, and people were told that Avatars were evil and to be feared, so that no one would be tempted to create one. Effort was made to control naturally occurring elemental magic, and anyone who displayed the talent was murdered or enslaved.” The raw grief in Conlan’s voice made Eleanor look up, but he coughed and continued. “The Lords slowly and insidiously expanded their rule, and where once were free-states or towns, there were now Lord-protected, tax-paying, ground-down people. Now almost the whole land is theirs. It’s been seven hundred years since an Avatar walked in this world, and all that really remains in the minds of the people are the names given to the ancient Avatars they worshipped as elemental gods.”

  Conlan stopped, looking into the fire. The others also seemed caught up in their own thoughts, even Freddie was quiet. Eleanor slowly processed the story, trying to figure out how she now fit into this new life.

  “So that’s why you brought us here, you want to be king?” she asked after some thought.

  “Yep, delusions of grandeur,” Freddie muttered.

  Conlan glared at him. “No, that’s not the reason you’re here, Eleanor.”

  Will flashed him a wicked grin. “Come on, Boss, admit it – some part of you is totally into being king.”

  Conlan shot Will a warning look and then sighed. “It would make a change from people trying to kill me,” he murmured.

  A thought occurred to Eleanor and it was out of her mouth before she considered if it was a good idea.

  “King Conlan... sounds like a giant ape!”

  Next to her Freddie dissolved into such a paroxysm of laughter that the dying fire danced and jumped with his guffaws. Will, a small, tight smile trying to move across his face, made no sound, but his whole body shook with the effort. Amelia had her hand clamped over her mouth, her eyes full of mirth as she fought to contain her own giggles. Conlan looked bewildered from one to the other and then back to Eleanor, who gave him her best wide-eyed innocent look.

  His eyes narrowed. “A giant ape?”

  Eleanor nodded, still doing her best to look innocent.

  “She’s talking about a m
ovie character called King Kong. He was a giant ape, a very large version of those little tree climbers we saw in Pendover,” Amelia said, slightly quicker than the others to get a hold of herself.

  Understanding showed in Conlan’s eyes. “Movies, television, moving pictures on a screen… entertainment in your world.” Amelia nodded in confirmation; clearly they had had this conversation before. He looked back at Eleanor and for a brief moment she caught a glimpse of the tiger whose tail she had just pulled. He said nothing, made no move towards her, but Eleanor felt the threat as fear turned her skin to ice.

  “And what happened to this giant ape?” he asked her softly.

  “He was killed, trying to save the woman he loved,” Eleanor said, annoyed by the slight tremor in her voice.

  Conlan nodded, an amused grin finally showing. “An honourable giant ape...”

  Eleanor smiled, relieved he had seen the joke. “If you don’t want to be king, what do you want?”

  “I want to restore the connection with the elements, before they destroy us all,” Conlan said.

  “The elements are going to destroy us?” Eleanor asked in horror as images of earthquakes, tsunamis and forest fires ran through her head.

  Conlan nodded slowly. “They have been left on their own too long, they’re distant and becoming restless. They remember what it felt like to stretch their powers, and the further the link with man fails, the more they move back to that wild state. The Lords pass the storms, flash floods and forest fires off as freak weather conditions, one-off incidents, using their enslaved Enforcers to hold back the worst, but this can’t work forever. The shamans have been recording these ‘events’ for generations and they are getting stronger and more frequent.”

  “So who, exactly, are the shamans?” Eleanor asked.

  “Some of the last free practitioners of elemental magic in Mydren. They use magic in direct violation of the law; they have risked everything to help me,” Conlan said.

  “How many of them are there?”