“You want to find the mountain tribe hero?” Riftor smeared some sticky juice across his face with the back of his hand in an attempt to remove the mess. Kiyan could see Sapphire wasn't done with the topic though but she let it rest for the time being.
“Yes I think that would be best.” Kiyan lifted the food bag onto his back when they were finished eating and grew a few straps to hold it into place. “Do you know where we might find a guide?” Kiyan watched as Riftor jumped to his feet.
“I can take you.” The elf suddenly looked crestfallen. “That is if you want me to go with you.”
“Of course we want you to come with us.” Sapphire flashed a smile towards Kiyan. Kiyan smiled back but caught himself. Luke was in the back of his mind fuming. Kiyan reacted without thinking and slipped the silver bracelet off his wrist and tossed it towards Sapphire. Thin strands of silver stretched out and clutched at Kiyan's fingers but he moved too fast and Luke's nanites flew through the air. Sapphire caught the bracelet with a confused look.
“What?” Sapphire looked confused for a moment then started laughing. “He thinks I like you more than him.” This was followed by another laugh. Controlling herself, Sapphire slipped the bracelet on her wrist and held it up admiring the woven silver band. Kiyan rolled his eyes at Luke's irrational actions and glanced towards the confused Riftor.
“What was that about?” Riftor glanced from the bracelet to Sapphire to Kiyan.
“Luke is in love with me and he is jealous of Kiyan.” Sapphire held up her wrist with the bracelet.
“Love? That's gross. How can a bracelet love anything?” After Riftor's outburst both Kiyan and Sapphire started laughing as they sensed Luke sulking. Apparently when Sapphire was wearing the bracelet, she could sense Luke much like Kiyan could.
“Maybe you will understand in a while but Luke is that bracelet. He is a shape shifter and can look like just about anything he wants.” Kiyan tried to explain but Riftor was still clearly disgusted by the idea.
“Can we go find the hermit now?” Riftor warily eyed the bracelet as if he expected it to bite him.
“Come on let's go.” Kiyan messed up Riftor's hair as Sapphire swung her backpack onto her back and looked up expectantly. Riftor took one last glance at the bracelet and began climbing the rock wall on one side of the fold. Kiyan followed pulling himself up with the numerous hand and foot holds. It didn't take more than a few seconds to reach the top. From this vantage point Kiyan could see the slope that ended with the cliff from the previous night. On one side was a steep rock slide leading up the hill and on the remaining sides was a valley with at least a dozen folds similar to the one they had spent the night in. A few of the house sized boulders could be see with windows and doors visible in the distance. Riftor descended the other side of the wall and headed up the hillside. Kiyan and Sapphire dropped down the side landing lightly on their feet and followed the boy.
“Did your ears hurt when they were made like that?” Riftor was watching Kiyan as he asked the question.
“What? No, I was born with ears like this.” Kiyan shook his head and rolled his eyes.
“I'm sorry.” Riftor looked sincere.
“Ha ha ha, no no all my people have ears like this. I'm not from this planet. I came from far away. Another planet.” Kiyan tried to explain the origin of his ears.
Annoyance swept over Riftor's countenance at Kiyan's laughter but he quickly forgot his annoyance as he remembered something Kiyan had said earlier. “You said I could bend? Can you bend?” Riftor dropped back beside Kiyan as he asked the questions.
Instead of responding Kiyan snapped his fingers and watched as a boulder nearby splinter into dozens of pieces. Riftor watched in awe.
“I wish I could do that.” Riftor looked down again. Kiyan leaned over and picked up a rock the size of his fist.
“Throw it.” Kiyan handed it to Riftor. The boy took aim and released it at a boulder nearby. There was a loud crack as the rock hit its target and ricocheted away.
“No I mean throw it like you threw it at me last night.” Kiyan picked up another rock and threw it at the same boulder. He propelled it with his mind and watched as it smashed into the boulder and exploded into a hundred pieces and a cloud of dust. That is how hard you threw the rocks at me last night.
“But I just threw it. I didn't try bending it.” Riftor was confused. He picked up and threw a couple more rocks without any difference of skill. His aim was true but it was only his muscles that manipulated the rock.
“Here let me help.” Kiyan handed the elf another rock. “There is energy in this rock. The energy is at rest until you give it direction. You can't force it to obey you. Just make your will known to it and let it go.” Kiyan held his hands on Riftor's shoulders and helped him direct his mind. There was a pause and Kiyan sensed not only the rock giving a small almost imperceptible surge but an unnatural breeze twisting around then for a moment. Riftor tensed and threw the rock. The throw was erratic and fell short of its target.
“See! I can't do it. I can't even hit the other rock.” Riftor despaired.
“Actually that was a pretty good start. I felt you touch the rock's energy but you didn't give it or even yourself direction until it was too late. Let's try something else.” Kiyan stopped and picked up yet another rock. Seating Riftor down on a flat rock he sat down opposite him and handed him the rock. Sapphire rolled her eyes and took a seat on a nearby rock.
“OK just close your eyes and hold the rock.” Kiyan waited as Riftor closed his eyes and cradled the head sized rock in his hands. “Now describe it.”
“It’s heavy. It’s rough.” Riftor furrowed his eyebrows. “It feels funny. Tingly? It is heavier on one side than the other.”
“Now why would that be?” Kiyan watched the rock in Riftor's hands. “It is nearly perfectly round. Why would it weigh more on one side?”
“I don't know.” Riftor still hadn't opened his eyes.
“You do know what it is. You can feel it deep inside you. Just like you know it feels funny. Like you know it feels tingly.”
“Riftor focused even harder. It’s not as heavy as I thought. Kiyan watched as the rock began to slowly levitate. Is it hollow?” With the last question Riftor opened his eyes and Kiyan caught the suddenly falling rock.
Kiyan rubbed a finger over a crack in the rock. The crack followed his finger until the whole rock fell in two. Inside was a small chamber with a few good sized crystals. Kiyan gently pried one loose and handed it to Riftor. The clear crystal was a couple times thicker than a thumb and slightly shorter than an index finger began to glow faintly.
“It’s a glow stone.” There was a look of wonder on the elf's face as he cradled the crystal like it was a great treasure.
“You can't make the rock obey you but your hand felt uncomfortable under its weight. You wanted it to weigh less so it did. In fact it weighed so little that it floated into the air.” Kiyan freed the other glow stones and handed them to Riftor. “Your mind is subconsciously in phase with the rock’s energy and it gave the energy a direction to act upon.”
Riftor got up and continued up the mountain as he thought about what Kiyan had said. “So you mean that I should think about throwing it instead of actually throwing it?”
“Something like that.” Kiyan was trying to find other words to describe the sensation. Riftor picked up a small rock and let it set in the palm of his hand. Closing his eyes he focused on the rock. The glow stone in his other hand flickered for a few seconds then flashed with a bright white light. The rock in his other hand shot out of his hand towards a giant slab of rock a couple dozen paces away. The rock blasted into the granite slab and left a deep pockmark where the shrapnel was imbedded. Out of the corner of his eye Kiyan saw Sapphire's hair scatter as the wind obeyed Riftor's will.
“I did it! I did it!” Riftor looked up at Kiyan and the shocked Sapphire.
“Yes you did and you are still doing it.” Kiyan held up a hand to shield his eyes as a gust of wind smashed into the gra
nite slab and sent dust in every direction as it spent itself. When the dust was settled they heard a sharp crack as the rock succumbed under the strain and split in half. “You are a better bender than I had guessed.”
“Kiyan did you make that wind?” Sapphire had captured her short neck long hair.
“No I didn't.” Kiyan had never heard of someone bending two elements other than himself without additional training. Riftor would become a powerful bender with training.
“You mean he is an airbender too?” Sapphire looked at Riftor with a shocked expression. Kiyan watched shock, surprise, confusion and excitement vie for control of Riftor's face. Finally confusion won out and Riftor turned up the hill and continued their climb. Kiyan sensed that the boy wanted time with his thoughts so he followed in silence. Sapphire must have sensed the same thing because she also was quiet.
The group finally reached the top and they set out following a narrow valley up the hill. Waterfalls cascade down the sides in areas but Riftor navigated it without failure finding the best spots to cross. Short scrubby trees survived this high in clusters here and there. The valley ended in a rock wall that threatened to block the travelers. Undeterred Riftor promptly proceeded to climb the wall finding cracks and crevices for fingers and toes. Kiyan followed keeping an eye on the nimble elf above his head. They achieved the top without incident however and continued their journey. A couple high valleys passed and they turned up a steep ridge on the side of the last one. When they reached the top they found it wasn't the sharp ridge that they had anticipated but was instead flattened out into a high shelf of some type. When they had progressed further they found what looked like a collapsed crater in the center. The sides dropped dramatically down to a flat bottom. The oval shaped hole was rather large being a half mile wide at its widest and only a little less at the narrowest. Near the middle in a patch of trees and plants that looked out of place on a mountain like this was a small stone house.
“That's the hermit.” Riftor spoke for the first time in a while. “I don't know how to get down there.” Kiyan glanced around the hole in the ground and didn't see a way to walk down. He knew he could simply drop down the side or fly but he didn't want to leave Riftor and Sapphire. Another part of him was concerned wondering what sort of battle would await and if his friends would be safe if there was a battle. While he was pondering these questions he noticed a series of unnatural markings on the wall below him. Triangular cracks with the flat side up could be seen every foot or so descending down into the hole. Getting an idea Kiyan spread his fingers and flexed his wrist as he attempted to bend the rocks. In reward the triangular shapes slid out of the wall and became a stairway. Kiyan and Sapphire jumped down to the first one and looked back up at Riftor. The boy paused a moment before he followed them. The rest of the descent was relatively easy. At the bottom they made their way towards the dwelling.
Chapter Twenty: Light
“You're late!” The three of them jumped as they passed a trees and the ancient voice shattered the stillness.
“We are here now.” Kiyan recovered himself enough to answer the greyed elf that had addressed them.
“Indeed you are. Let me guess. You are here looking for a challenge and then you will set out to vanquish the agent of darkness.” The elf stood and leaned on a gnarled staff. If elves aged slowly than this one had seen centuries.
“Yes?” Kiyan's answer was as much a question.
“Well I'm sorry to disappoint. You have already met the chosen hero for the mountain tribe. If it makes you feel better you met him in battle and defeated him. You challenged him to become a better warrior and yourself learned much of yourself from the encounter.” The corners of the elf’s mouth twitched up as he watched Kiyan’s surprised expression. “I am Sorloc.”
At this Sapphire gasped. “Kiyan this is the elven oracle that made the prophecy.”
“I think I would have remembered a battle like that.” Kiyan hadn't seen a single mountain elf aside from Riftor and Sorloc.
“Oh but you do. When we saw this day we saw every moment and every action that led to this instant. To the day when our people would balance between great potential and infinite loss. I saw a girl consumed by darkness and an insatiable hunger. This one would have laid waste to entire forests in her thirst for power as the darkness raged in her. We saw the water elves slaughtered by unnatural fish. We saw a young elf with a great destiny lost in a tragic accident and no one mourned his loss. We then saw every action that changed that future. Deep Current and I did things that should never have been done in order to ensure our survival and even yet I still haven't seen for an assurity what the future before us holds.”
“Deep Current?” Kiyan began to realize that he had been part of a massive plan. “Riftor was the mountain tribe representative?” His head hummed with new questions.
“So many questions. Come with me and I will answer some of them.” The elf turned and strode towards his abode. They followed and found themselves inside a room lit by numerous glow stones. Sorloc motioned them towards several seats and took one himself.
“Yes, Deep Current. He was the other oracle that saw this future. He sabotaged his ship so that the star drive would fail. They were supposed to be rescued and sent to the world where he would met you. I can only hope that we didn't doom them to a terrible fate because of our actions. That brought you here. Deep Current sent you to the location where you met Sapphire. You freed her from the darkness and averted her fate. Our carefully crafted prophesy led you to your encounter with the water tribe hero. However your battle with the elf was not the challenge. He was instrumental in attracting the real challenge. You fought and killed the demon fish and you saved the water elf race. From there you progressed on the path we laid out for you and came to the elven settlement in the mountains.”
“So you mean to tell me that the prophecy of the heroes challenging led me to landing in that fold and nearly killing Riftor?” Kiyan still felt guilty over that near fatal accident.
“Exactly. In the original timeline, Riftor was killed last night in a rockslide on the other side of the mountain. I built and gave the fold you found him in to his parents.” Sorloc twisted his staff in his hands. “Each of these encounters gave you a key that you will use in your final battle against the dark lord. I only caught a glimpse of the battle. Sapphire was there as well as three others.”
“What about me? Do I get to fight the dark agent?” Riftor only understood part of what had been said.
“No, you have a different destiny. A great destiny and a future protecting the stars but now you must learn and better yourself. I can guide you on that path if you will let me.” Sorloc leaned back in his seat and looked Riftor in the eye. “I can train you in your use of both earth and wind. I can also pass on skills that have been nearly lost to the ages that will help you in the future.”
“Will I see my friends again?” Riftor looked between them furtively.
“That depends entirely on you. Kiyan is already a protector of the stars and you will meet him again when you take your place. Sapphire's fate is hidden from me. I don’t know if you will ever see her again. There are many possible scenarios.” Sorloc intently waited for an answer.
“If I stay...” Riftor paused and glanced at the people watching him. “If I stay, do I have to eat royk porridge?” Judging by the look on Riftor's face it was clearly a deciding factor.
“Only once in my unnaturally long life have I ever tasted that abominable porridge. It hasn't befouled my table for six hundred years.” Sorloc laughed at what he considered a trivial condition. “So it is settled.” Sorloc gave Sapphire and Kiyan the information needed to find the dark lord and any advice he felt important.
After a few more questions, Sapphire and Kiyan left the house to prepare for their journey back. “Just because you were seen in the annals of time means nothing when it comes to your battle. Your victory is not guaranteed. The glimpse I saw was not enough to tell me that.” Sorloc held Kiyan
's shoulder as he tried to impress his point. “Sapphire, your future is veiled from me also but I do know that not everything is as you think.” With that Sorloc rejoined Riftor and walked with the boy back towards his house. Riftor turned and waved before disappearing from sight.
“Do you think he will be happy with Sorloc?” Kiyan had a good feeling about the old elf but he was still worried about the boy he had become attached to in the last day.
“Sorloc has more to offer than anyone on this planet can give Riftor. The legends state that when he experienced the vision of the future he was granted immortality. He hasn't aged a single day since then. If he saw something in Riftor's future, I am sure he was right. What do you think he meant by protector of the stars?”
Kiyan was silent for a moment before answering. “I'm a member of the Protectorate. An organization that protects our universe and less advanced races from threats from within and out. That's one of the reasons I am here. These agents of darkness or drakken are invading our universe and the protectorate is at war with them.”
“The universe?” Sapphire's eyes widened at the idea.
“Our fleets patrol the known universe.” Kiyan was quiet as he thought about what Sorloc had said about. So Riftor was supposed to join the protectorate at some point in the future if Sorloc interpreted what he had seen correctly. Kiyan decided that when the war was over that he would have to come back and check on him.
“Do you want to fly back?” Sapphire turned to Kiyan. They had been directed back to Sapphire's continent by Sorloc. They had a long trip ahead of them.
“Sure if you are up for it.” Kiyan shook a couple kinks out of his shoulders and quickly shifted into his draconic form. Snapping his jaws released a satisfying pop. Sapphire rolled her eyes before gingerly climbing aboard. Kiyan leaped forward and shoved himself into the air. Spreading his wings and giving a powerful thrust propelled him high into the air. A twist of the wingtips and tail made Kiyan slide into a sharp bank before they hit the side of the canyon. They were above the other side of the canyon when they reached it. From there they turned and flew towards their destination only having to dodge a couple peaks along the way. Sapphire sucked in her breath as they flew off the edge of the world. Below them could be seen the peaks of the lesser mountains. Kiyan bent a strong tailwind and settled into a steady beat. Feeling Sapphire leaning down in an attempt to avoid the cold slipstream Kiyan bent a bubble of calm air over his back. The distance melted under his wings as he drove onward. Despite the level of bending that Kiyan was maintaining he didn't begin to feel the drain until darkness began to settle. Blue flames trailed his wings as the dark set in. Kiyan alternated between replenishing his energy and powering onward.