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    4
    The Innocent Die


    I wiped at my tear-filled eyes as I pulled away from her, my eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean?” She didn’t look at me in the eyes as I stared at her in complete confusion. Did this have anything to do the conversation I overheard? “Grandmother… I don’t understand.”

    “For years people that show the type of power that you have… they’ve been killed.” she said quietly. “There would be more of you. Your ability is still rare, but I’ve helped to… I…”

    It didn’t seem that she was able to keep the tears back now, but I was on the verge of answers! Perhaps I should have been more considerate but the words came out before I had time to stop myself. “You what?!” I demanded.

    “Along with the priest I’ve ordered the deaths of many of our kind. All of them like you.”

    There was a silence in the clearing. Only the sounds of birds could be heard for minutes. My grandmother? The elder had been ordering the killing of our own kind? “But why? What for?”

    My grandmother swallowed hard and took a deep breath. “I don’t have much time to tell you what I know so listen well. Please.”

    What was wrong with her? My gut didn’t like this at all, she was in such a hurry and seemed paler than usual.

    I nodded to her, eyebrows furrowed.

    “A long time ago, before you were even born, before the wraiths came back, we had a priest with the power of prophecy. He had visions, they said that it was our god himself that sent him these images.”

    Another pause as she seemed to try to catch her breath. I began to say something but she stopped me as soon as I opened my mouth.

    “I know you’re worried Catriona, but please just listen. The priest foresaw such death and destruction upon all the races. Something unlike anything we’ve seen yet. For years he prayed that he would be shown the way to stop this all from happening.

    “Finally he was sent another vision only moments before his passing. One of a wing elf with such power, a rain of lightning that would destroy the bonds of some horrible creature. It was a rare ability and… and…”

    “The only sure way to keep it from happening was to get rid of the power…” I finished for her. I didn’t know what to feel. I was angry, upset, in shock and disbelief. This couldn’t be true! My grandmother was not a murderer!

    “I’m sorry Catriona… It’s not something I’m proud of.”

    My thoughts were just not going around this! The priest too! People that had been wonderful to me all my life and now at least one of them wanted me dead! My stomach churned and I felt sick. The thought that I could possibly be something to bring about death and destruction didn’t help matters much either.

    “Is that all you know?” I questioned after a moment. I was nearly afraid to hear anymore. Maybe I would have been better off without the answers I had wanted so badly. I would never see my grandmother or the priest in the same light ever again. It was as if the glass that I looked at life through had been cracked into a million pieces, and with each passing second the cracks grew even more numerous.

    “In this vision were also towers … surrounded by snow… somewhere to the north in human territory. You can’t go near them.” my grandmother said to me, her brow furrowed in thought. “You can’t stay here. That‘s all I know for sure.”

    “Then where am I supposed to go?” I demanded. I had not been able to sit still and I now stood, pacing. My nerves were shot, I felt on the verge of just panicking and falling victim to my building anxiety.

    “Go to Archosaur and don’t let anyone know of your powers. It’s a secure city, you could stay there until this is over.”

    “And what about you? What are you going to do?”

    “I will stay here. I can find another solution to this…” she said though she didn’t sound very sure of herself. “I’ll send word to you when it’s safe to return.”

    “I hope it won’t be too long…” I murmured.

    She didn’t reply, but turned her attention to the sentry. He had been so quiet, I had nearly forgotten he was there. “Aiden.” she prompted him.

    He looked up from whatever thought he was having. He looked just as bewildered and shocked as myself though it showed less on his face and more in his deep blue eyes. “Yes?”

    “Please escort Catriona to Archosaur safely… I appreciate your help, I promise that I’ll reward you kindly when you get back if you could just do this one thing for me.” she said pleadingly.

    He nodded slowly. “I will…” he said with a hint of hesitation. I could only guess what he could have been thinking. Regardless of the secrets he had heard, my grandmother was still the elder.

    “Thank you… I will let your family know that I’ve sent you on a quest so they won’t worry.”

    “Right…”

    “You have to go now, there’s not time to waste, they’ll be looking for me.” she said quickly to us both, me and my suddenly decided escort. “Please be safe.”

    I felt horrible leaving my grandmother there. But she was right, someone would come for her. She would be rushed to healers, there should have been no reason to worry. “I… I still love you Grandmother…” I said quietly.

    “I love you too Catriona. Now go, hurry.”

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    The elder sat alone in the forest for some time, trying to keep herself awake. The rough bark of the tree she leaned against hurt her back but she didn’t care. So long as her granddaughter was safe. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she heard footsteps along the forest floor. Some one had come for her at last.

    “So you revived her did you?” A familiar voice stated. She looked up to see the priest emerge from the forest into the clearing. He stopped in front of her, looking down at her with a stone cold gaze.

    A sinking feeling settled itself in her gut and she struggled to find the words to speak. “I-I did. There has to be another way than this… this slaughter of innocent people.”

    “There is no other way.”

    “How can you be so sure?” she demanded, using the tree as leverage to stand up right. She was so weak. If she didn’t find some kind of help soon then she would surely die from how exhausted healing Catriona had made her. She only ever had one revive spell in her. It was all any cleric could take. If they didn’t get help soon after they would have given up their own life to save someone else.

    “Look at us, Cale. In trying to prevent a monster from being unleashed, we ourselves have become heartless monsters.” she breathed, barely able to speak louder than a whisper.

    “And look at you Edyta. You’ve become weak.”

    “If you mean weak as in I have regained my conscience then yes, perhaps I have.”

    He glared at her. “You’ve made a foolish mistake. Now those premonitions could very well come true and it’s all because of your rash actions. You‘re a traitor to us all.”

    She stiffened at the harsh word. Traitor? “I will find another way.”

    “This is the only way! What we‘ve been doing for years! It‘s the only way to keep the world safe from this demon!”

    She looked into his eyes as he snapped at her, nearly scared by what she saw. There was barely a trace of the old priest that she knew left. This had eaten at him so much for all these years. Had she at one point in time been the same way? It had taken her own granddaughter’s death to wake her up? “You’ve let this drive you to the edge.” she murmured.

    “You know just as well as I do that my predecessor was never wrong. His visions, they were all accurate, everything he said happened or would have happened had we not taken steps to prevent it.”

    There was a silence between the both of them before he spoke again. “Perhaps you made this mistake because you didn’t see what I saw.”

    “What are you saying?” she questioned. The world around her was spinning as she struggled to remain standing.

    “He somehow showed me his vision. It was horrifying. People dying, towns burning. Men, women and children alike slaughtered or kept as slaves! That last vision is what killed him Edyta!” he said, his voice getting increasingly louder. “When I tried to help him this is what I saw!”

    She stared at him in shock. It was all she could do, what could she possibly say to him? Truthfully she was afraid to speak for what he might do.

    “And now because of your granddaughter, because you had to save her, that vision could be a reality.” he snarled. “I was wrong to hire an assassin, I should have done it myself. I would have made sure there was nothing left of her for you to heal.”

    His words stung. They scared, hurt, and infuriated her all at the same time. “I won’t let you harm her. Never again.” she said through clenched teeth.

    “You won’t have a choice.” he said, turning to leave. He summoned his wings and they came in a flurry of white feathers. “Perhaps she isn’t too far away already.”

    “No! You won’t touch her!” the elder cried. She didn’t think about her next action nor did she care, she wanted to take him down! If that was the only way to keep Catriona safe then so be it! She lunged at the priest, latching onto him but just as the electricity from her spell made it to her fingertips she was thrown backwards.

    A quick moment of pain took her as she came into hard contact with a tree, and then, there was nothing.

    CHAPTER 5