Chaos Destiny

by Mussie Haile

  “Have I pleased my teacher?” she asked.

  Mosa stuttered as he searched for words to put in his mouth.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The Elves of Ciroc

  Not very many creatures in Toas knew of the times before the new gods – Camin and Lowus. The times before Camin and Lowus were rife with unbridled chaos. It was like the world was turning against itself like a snake and tearing itself apart. The elves were witness to these times, and so were the orcs. They were creations of gods who had withered away for some unknown reason, leaving their creations, and the world they had created to fend for itself. In this chaos, created by the new and the old gods, magic ran like wildfire through the land, manifesting without cause or provocation, and making alterations in different places.

  When the world settled under the reign of Camin and Lowus, ancient gods whose pre-existence was unknown, the humans and a lot of other races rose. And so too, did their kingdoms, cities, and towns. The majority of the elfsoc – a name ascribed to the elves by humans – settled in Kleas, and indulged their immortality, watching the world move with very little involvement.

  Now, that the end of the hundred-year cycle was due and the being of Balance and Chaos was still alive, the world was unravelling again and returning to its state before Camin and Lowus. Chaos was coming back. A rash of killings had begun in Kleas and the Middle Kingdom. The elves, indifferent to the plight of others but theirs, lived in the woods, where they could look after their own affairs. They had survived chaos before. Surely, they could do it again?

  They made a part of the Ciroc, rarely travelled upon by anything asides animals, their home.

  The elves were led by Fraweyni, Child of the First, Daughter of Tessa. She was the sole child of the very first elf, Tessa, who grew tired of the world two millennia ago, and micronized herself to become part of the stars. She was a beacon of strength, wisdom, and power to her people, and she led them like they were an extension of herself.

  Once they had secured their place in the forest, she had sentries stationed at the outskirts of the space they had cut out for themselves. The sentries morphed into trees and alerted others through a special signal whenever intruders stepped within their boundaries. Unwilling to let any of her people die in a skirmish, Fraweyni would, with an attachment of guards, let out her voice – which was so soulful, magical, and powerful that it could bring the stars to brightness in some days – and sometimes the minds of intruders.

  Earlier today, she had been alerted to the presence of a magician within her boundaries. He was alone, the sentries had told her. But magicians were dangerous, and even though this one was outnumbered, he could still cause a fair amount of harm. So, she sang, and as expected, had ensnared him.

  She got bothered, however, when moments later, the sentries reported that there were three more magicians within their boundaries, who looked to be searching for something or someone.

  “They must be friends of the magician we captured.” She said.

  But why were all three here? She asked herself.

  A magician strolling this deep into the Ciroc, she could call a mistake. But three more was something else.

  Could they be looking for a way to launch an attack on us? She asked herself.

  The best course of action, for her, would be to have them killed immediately. But she was seeing more than an accidental invasion here, and so had to interrogate them. She had lived so long in the world to be drawn to hasty conclusions. At eight hundred years, she had taken after the wisdom of her mother, Tessa.

  “Meko”, she called one of her lieutenants, a slender elf with long dark hair. “Take some elves with you, and find out from which direction these magicians came from.”

  Not long after, Fraweyni had captured the three magicians, Meko reported that there was another one, a young man, processing meat a few distances away from where the other three were found.

  With all of them captured, Fraweyni proceeded to probe their minds for information about their identity, and of course, the reason why they had ventured so deep into the Ciroc, instead of joining their respective kingdoms in preparing for war. Fraweyni had them sedated with the fragrance of the petals of a Linthaea – a magical flower with the ability to render creature’s unconscious while keeping their minds alive, but numb.

  Fraweyni had the tribe’s most skilled telepath, Kochob, probe their docile minds.

  It had taken hours to get into Eldana’s head, because of the kind of magical energy radiating inside her. Kochob painstakingly procured a memory of her from childhood, meeting with a Sinto who was going to be her teacher.

  “What is it?” Fraweyni asked when Kochob disentangled his mind from Eldana’s with a gasp.

  “This one.” He said. “She’s one of them. The princesses of the King.”

  “A being of Balance and Chaos?” Fraweyni asked.

  Kochob nodded.

  “Hmmm...” Fraweyni mused. “A being of Balance and Chaos who is still alive while the world crumbles into chaos. It seems like she grew a mind of her own!”

  “How is that?” Meko asked. “I thought beings of Balance and Chaos were supposed to be sacrificed before they knew enough to question the purpose of their sacrifice?”

  “Something about this one is different,” Kochob said. “I just do not know what it is. There is also some kind of sorrow, numb. She hurts,” he said, his face long and serious.

  Kochob was still recovering from the amount of energy he had expended in boring into Eldana’s mind. These beings had been set up by the human king as an equilibrium between the good and the evil constantly wrestling for the hearts of men. Finding magic meant humans could live as long as they wanted, even as long as the elves, but because most of their minds were not prepared for it they strayed into evil ways, and allowed the evil that hovered around their minds to make vessels of them. The human race was not the only race susceptible to this evil, so the sacrifice every 100 years of a princess, chosen among the king’s many children by the gods, was not only for the good of the human race but for the whole world as well.

  “You sure you are up for this?” Fraweyni asked him.

  “Yes. I just need a little rest.” He replied.

  Moments later, Kochob sat at Hermon’s head, with his eyes closed, as he peered into Hermon’s memories. He found one memory that revealed his identity. An incident in his childhood where he keyed into rare ancestral magic and faced two fierce beasts alone.

  It was dusk when Fraweyni checked up on Kochob again. Showers of light, from the globes the elves had sung into existence, illumined the woods within which they dwelt, and giving it a soft pastoral quality. Fraweyni was decked in an ankle-length flowing gown with a laurel of blooming flowers resting on her head.

  Light glowed from within Kochob’s tent making the tent translucent. Fraweyni parted the tent opening, and almost bumped into Kochob himself.

  “My lady.” He apologized and bowed slightly. “I was just on my way to you.”

  “And in such a hurry,” Fraweyni said. “I can only imagine what would have happened if we had not caught ourselves in time. How are you faring?”

  Kochob sighed and moved into the tent. Fraweyni followed him.

  “The identities and relationship of these three are really interesting.” He said. “The three of them,” the elf pointed at the unconscious bodies of Eldana, Siem, and Hermon, “are trying to reinvent themselves. Yet, still, help the being of Balance and Chaos restore balance in some other way.”

  Kochob pointed at Hermon. “This one is called Hermon. He is a berserker. One of the five. Son of Biniamin.”

  “The Biniamin?” Fraweyni asked. Her eyes reflected a little light of interest now.

  “Yes,” Kochob replied. “He transformed into full berserker at a young age, during a coming-of-age ritual gone wrong. He was told he had to keep making the transformations f
or the protection of his clan. He fled to get rid of the curse.”

  “What about this one?” Fraweyni asked, pointing at Siem.

  “Her name is Siem or Siem, and she is obviously of elven blood, although her family is unknown.”

  Fraweyni’s eyes shot wide open. Unknown family? she thought.

  “Are you sure?” she asked.

  Kochob nodded in affirmation. “It was her mother.” He said. “Her mother was an elf.”

  “Do you know who she is?”

  “Sadly, no. She never met her, and the father only divulged her mother’s identity years later.”

  “If her father told her that, there is every tendency that he was lying. I mean, he is a human. Mortality is such an impediment to those of them without magic. They rarely get their facts right.” Fraweyni objected.

  “I am not sure he was telling a lie.”

  Fraweyni looked at Kochob.

  “The level of magic I saw her perform,” he continued, “was of elven strength. No human could achieve that.”

  Fraweyni’s face grew pensive.

  “There is something else,” Kochob said.

  “What?”

  “She was a Si from day one in the School of Magic. And was also, up until her expulsion, the mind behind the notorious Women Guild in the School of Magic.”

  “Ah,” Fraweyni’s eyes brightened. “A woman of mettle.”

  “She was the last of the Kajewil. The last students to be taught magic according to the rules of the old magic.”

  “An oddly interesting troika indeed,” Fraweyni observed. “What about the other two?” she asked.

  Kochob looked at Mikko, and D’rmas.

  “One is a free warrior of the Qeltifom clan, and the other is a mage novice, apprenticed under the notorious Lord Taboon. But rebelled and decided to help the company.”

  A cloud of silence perfused the atmosphere as soon as Kochob was done speaking. Fraweyni’s gaze was unfocused as she retreated within the walls of her mind.

  “What shall we do with them? This is the weirdest mix of characters that I have ever seen in my life.” Kochob asked after a while.

  “Leave them for now,” Fraweyni said. She would just watch them and see what they were up to.

  She turned, and walked out of the tent, into bright lights and serenading music. Her mind was racing. Something was very different about this group and whether this was a good or bad sign was still hidden in the stars.

  Reader Report

  The elves were witness to the times before Camin and Lowus, as were the orcs. They were rife with unbridled chaos. These two were creations of gods who had left their creations and the world to fend for itself. In this chaos, created by the new and the old gods, magic manifested without cause or provocation, and making alterations in different places.

  When the world settled under the reign of Camin and Lowus, the humans and a lot of other races rose along with their kingdoms, cities, and towns. The majority of the elfsoc – a name ascribed to the elves by humans – settled in Kleas and watched the world move with very little involvement. They were indifferent to the plight of others and lived in the woods, where they could look after their own affairs.

  Because the end of the hundred-year cycle is due and the being of Balance and Chaos was still alive, Chaos is coming back. A rash of killings had begun in Kleas and the Middle Kingdom.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Alive Again

  Siem opened her eyes, and for a moment could not remember anything but her name. Slowly, everything began to come back. She took a good look at her surroundings.

  She was in a tent that rose high into the sky, pointed like elfin ears, and slender. There was a cluster of belongings at the far end. A table, bags, a chair, and a few other household things. They were not much, but they were enough for simple living.

  Mikko! Siem sat up quickly.

  The last thing she remembered was going into the woods with Eldana and D’rmas in search of him. Then she remembered Hermon, who they had left behind, and felt a pang of worry. He would be all alone, without a clue as to what happened to them. Siem herself had no clue, and so decided to catch up with the time she had missed.

  Just then, the flap over the tent parted, and a head peeked in. Siem was about to summon a gust of wind to blast the person away when she stopped. Eldana was smiling back at her from the tent’s entrance.

  “Eldana?” Siem asked.

  “Yes, sleepyhead,” Eldana taunted as she came in. “Who do you think it was?”

  Siem swallowed and looked around again.

  “What is this?” she asked, using her eyes to gesture at the tent. “Where are we? What happened to the others?”

  “Woah, easy mother hen,” Eldana said, and laughed.

  Siem took one look at Eldana, and let her rising anxiety abate. She figured that Eldana would not be smiling or jesting if everything was not okay.

  “Is everyone okay?” Siem finally asked.

  Eldana looked at her and said:

  “Yes.”

  “Where are we, Eldana?”

  “We are among the elfsoc.” Eldana replied.

  “The elfsoc?” Siem questioned with surprise. “Are we in Kleas?”

  “Nope,” Eldana answered. “We are still in Ciroc.”

  “What are the elfsoc doing in Ciroc?”

  “I asked the same question when I got to know where I was,” Eldana replied.

  “Turns out,” she said after a while, “that they were the ones who took Mikko.”

  “So, he is safe?” Siem asked.

  Eldana studied Siem and nodded in the positive.

  “You have a thing for him,” Eldana said.

  “Hm?”

  “Mikko,” Eldana insisted, “You like him.”

  “No, I do not.” Siem refuted, her eyes flaring, color coming to her cheek, and she immediately looked away.

  Eldana made to speak, but Siem cut her off.

  “If you are going to pry to see if there is a sliver of affection in me for Mikko, stop.” She said.

  “I was going to ask if you were ready to come out,” Eldana said.

  Siem sighed. “Fine.”

  Siem walked out of the tent, and into a glade. It was small, like a courtyard in the forest. Siem spotted elves going about their normal lives. The sight of them reminded Siem what beautiful creatures elves were - tall, and gallant, with looks that could rarely be rivalled by any other race in Toas.

  “Where exactly are we going to?” Siem asked Eldana, as they headed into the trees.

  “Their queen has been wanting to see you.” Eldana supplied.

  “What for?”

  “I have absolutely no idea. Perhaps to interrogate you?”

  “Interrogate me?”

  Siem scoffed.

  “I have got a barrel full of questions right now.” She said. “Like, why am I here?”

  “Well, that one I can answer for you,” Eldana replied. “We are here because we invaded the elves’ boundaries.”

  “That’s preposterous,” Siem said.

  “Do not tell them that to their face, or they will send you back to sleep!” Eldana joked.

  The pair walked into another clearing much like the one they had come from, only larger. There were groups of elves training with swords, long staves, bows, and other assorted more delicate weapons. Siem thought she saw someone familiar going at an elf with a sword. She narrowed her eyes in scrutiny. The person was laughing and dancing with his steps, jumping about like a graceful butterfly.

  “Is that not D’rmas?” she asked.

  “It is,” Eldana replied.

  Siem watched D’rmas weave in and out of the elf’s sword strokes, and deliver an equally lethal combo of his own, which the elf deflected or dodged.

  “Impre
ssive, right?” Eldana asked.

  “Totally,” Siem replied. “Won’t they hack themselves to bits with the way they go at each other?”

  “My thoughts exactly. But Merhawi says that the blades of the swords are made blunt by magic. So strokes would hurt, but not maim or injure.”

  “Hmmm...”

  “Well, D’rmas finally gets something that is not boring.”

  They walked between the trees again and left the training ground behind. Bits of sunlight fell in tiny shafts, giving the forest a little taste of the daylight, it was missing. Siem saw a few squirrels jump from tree to tree, and birds flit through branches while chirping non-stop at themselves. A gentle breeze cruised through, ruffling leaves from the lowest branches. Everything was serene. Safe. Natural.

  “I can see why the elves would want to leave Kleas and retire here,” Siem observed.

  “It’s unsullied by the chaos that’s unravelling outside.” Eldana supplied.

  They got to a place where the trees formed an arched entranceway.

  “Wow,” Siem said with awe written clearly on her face. “I had forgotten what excellent manipulators of nature the elves are.”

  “Welcome,” a voice said.

  Eldana and Siem looked up abruptly and spotted another elf.

  This one looked young, but so did most of the elves. Siem knew the elf had probably seen more millennia worth of time than most things in the world. The only indication of age the elves had were their eyes. Their eyes glowed with the amount of knowledge and experience they garnered through their immortal lifetimes. The eyes of the oldest among them radiated with fullness, meaning, and age.

  Eldana and Siem came to a halt as the elf approached.

  “Hi.” They greeted.

  The elf nodded and introduced herself. “I am Meko. One of Fraweyni’s lieutenants.”

  Siem was about to speak, but Meko cut her off.

  “There is no need for that. Fraweyni demanded that she see you as soon as you were awake.”