Fire, Ice and the Moon (Part 2)

Luna's adventure continues as she learns where she comes from and who she is. But the humans are coming...

Art by Simone Ford

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Hi. I'm back. Now, where were we? Oh, right that strange woman and those... humans.

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Eventually I got up from that cold stone floor, as the rain poured on. I decided to go back home, knowing that my parents were both at work and that nobody would miss me at school. I ran, holding up by backpack to defend myself from the heavy and pelting rain. My sneakers splashed in puddles and around me, people rushed by, some under colorful umbrellas, others taking refuge under the broad roofs of the buildings around us.

Once I got home I changed clothes and put everything away to dry. I prepared a nice cup of soothing tea, took some chocolate cookies from my emergency stash (this definitely counted as an emergency) and went to snuggle under the fluffy covers and pillows of my sofa chair, facing the window.

I watched the rain drops fall and fall and fall.

---

I don't know how long I sat there. But I can tell you, some things take time to process. After some time (in which I may or may not have taken a short, brief nap) I got up. I started packing and stuffing things into a grey backpack. I packed the essentials; extra change of clothes, toothbrush, a novel or two, food, water and so on. I looked around my room.

I didn't have much, because I've never felt the need to collect memories of places with people I don't fit in with.

I'm not very social, as you probably guessed. But I've never minded being alone.

Things packed, I decided to take a nice, hot, long shower. Despite myself, excitement and a little apprehension bubbled in my gut. I couldn't wait until this woman came to get me.

I knew that there would be risks but... that woman really had understood me. Nobody had ever made me feel like that, like I could belong. And anyway, what's life without a little risk?

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Days passed. My bag was hidden well, under a clump of clothes in the depths of my wardrobe. I kind of lost hope that the stranger would ever show up. I was a fool for trusting her. But something kept me from unpacking everything and forgetting this little experience.

My parents noticed my weird mood but didn't say anything about it. They laughed and continued on as normal, ignoring my teenage self. I know they love me, but only because I'm their daughter and that's what parents do. We're not a real family.

---

One night, a week or so after the meeting with the elf lady, I was home alone. My parents had gone out on a "date" or something and I was lounging on the sofa, binge watching Stranger Things. For like the third time. I'm kind of a fanatic. Oh well.

I had fresh lemonade in one hand and I was waiting for my Thai take-away to arrive.

The doorbell startled me, the loud ding dong echoing throughout the house. I got up, money in hand and went to greet the Thai delivery guy.

As I approached the door, my senses went on alert. For some reason, the hairs on my neck stood up and goosebumps appeared on my arms. I swallowed down my fear and opened the door. A dark figure was standing there and I couldn't see their face as it was hidden in the shadows of the night.

I gulped.

"Um, hi?" I asked, in a squeaky high voice that made me cringe inside. Why did I have to sound so scared? It was only the Thai delivery guy. I hoped.

Before I could ask them anything else, the figure stepped into my house, shoving me aside and locking the door shut. I was about to thump them on the head with an umbrella I had found lying on the floor when the person turned.

It was her.

The elf woman.

She looked exactly the same as before, choppy black and grey hair with shiny black and gold armor. Her mouth was still covered by a mask but this time she had strange shoulder pads which looked very sharp.

"What are yo-" I demanded but I was (rudely) interrupted by her.

"Ssshhh." she said, and for the first time I noticed the mud stains on her armor and her wide, adrenaline filled eyes. "Get down."

I followed her order and we both crouched down, the woman snapping her fingers rapidly. All the lights in my house turned off. The TV turned off too, and the locks on the doors and window clicked shut.

After a few minutes of tense silence and my brain wondering what the hell was going on, I heard footsteps run past. They had heavy boots on and were approaching my house.

A man spoke.

"Where did that she-devil disappear too?"

I almost gasped in surprise. I recognized that voice! It was Gert, and judging from the amount of noise they were making, his buddies, which I nicknamed Slick Blond Hair and Machine Guy were there too.

"I have no idea sir." a man said.

I couldn't see their faces and the only recognizable voice was Gert's.

"You fools! What are we going to tell headquarters this time?! Idiots! Letting her get away!" He spit our angrily. He went on muttering different obscenities and curses as the other two men stood in silence.

Suddenly, something beeped, very close to where I was.

"Sir, sir! I found something!" a man said, which I guessed must have been Machine Guy.

Crap. They were going to find us, and fast. Until now they assumed nobody was home but that trick wasn't going to last long.

The elf woman stared at me, and for the first time I saw real panic in her eyes. For some reason she wasn't using her magic snappy fingers.

The adrenaline was rushing into my ears. The sound of the men talking faded out and with a swoosh that icy clarity of before came down onto me. The fire, ice and power rushed through me once more and all my senses heightened.

The pungent odor of the men hit my nose and I could see much better in the dark. My skin seemed to be glowing with power, and the elf woman seemed very shocked.

"Turn it off, turn it off, now!" she whispered to me.

The men outside were talking louder know, and I could hear the strange machine like gun beeping rapidly. They were coming closer to the house. I had to-

The icy clarity spread through my body. A surge of power, like what I imagined drinking stars would feel like, made my body jump a little. I snapped my fingers, not really knowing why, and my hands went through a series of intricate patterns in the blink of an eye.

A thin, invisible shield seem to wrap itself around my house.

The machine gave one last beeeeeeeeeep. The men walked away after awhile, while Gert told them off. Whatever I had done, it had obviously hid the elf women and me from the detector.

The fire and ice slowly faded away. We sat in silence for a few more minutes until we couldn't hear the men anymore.

"What... What was that?" the elf woman suddenly asked. She composed herself quickly though, and went back to being the cold emotionless being of before.

"I have no idea. And shouldn't I be asking questions anyway? Who are those guys? Why are you here, know? Do you know how long-" I went off on a rant but I was quickly interrupted by the elf lady.

She got up and brushed her knees, offering her hand. I grabbed it and in one quick, effortless motion she helped me stand up.

"I know that this is confusing. Come, let's sit down and I will explain everything to you." She said.

She snapped her fingers and the lights came back on. As if she owned this house, she walked into the kitchen and sat down on the table. I followed her.

"Do you have anything salty to eat? Unujium would be better, but you don't have that here." she asked, looking at me.

I had no idea what Unimum or whatever she called it was.

"Um, sure." I walked to the food shelf and took out a packet of salted peanuts and put them into a bowl.

I sat down and the woman crunched on the peanuts for a few moments. Finally, she finished chewing and stared at me.

"Let's begin from the beginning." she began.

Yeah, no really, I thought, what a great idea! I sometimes got a little snappy when I was tired and fed-up.

The elf lady, who hadn't yet told me her name, cleared her throat and began speaking.

"Long time ago, our world was filled with magic. Many creatures roamed the Earth and lived contently side by side. There were two dominant species, the Elves and the humans. The Elves ruled the forests and the humans ruled the ocean and the habitable land. We elves had control of elemental magic, like water, light and more. The humans did not have any control over magic and because of that they grew very envious of us. Their jealousy grew and morphed into a cold-blooded hatred for everything that was magic. They gathered armies and struck down all the magical creatures. The Elves tried to fight back, but we were not prepared. The humans used weapons never seen before, filled with iron to hurt the magical creatures and other poisons harmful to magic. Wars raged on and eventually the Elves had to go into hiding. We created a safe land and rescued the few magical creatures left.

Believing we were dead, the humans felt ashamed of their actions and they erased all traces of our ancient civilizations, changing history until it was unrecognizable. The only traces left are tales of Witch Hunting and ancient legends and myths of dragons and fairies. The human populations grew and soon, there were only a few left who remembered magic and their bloody, purging wars. Still, those humans feared we would come back. They created a secret cult, the Obsidian Council. The group was created for the sole purpose of making sure magic never resurfaced and that the truth of our history remained hidden. On their search for magic they journeyed to places so ancient, not even the Elves remember. There they awoke a dark force, a timeless beast.

The Shadow.

The Obsidian Council got wrapped up in dark magic, and the shadows spread across the land. It was a dark time for the humans too, bringing bloody wars, diseases and poverty.

We Elves, stronger after years of recovery, decided to come out of hiding and fight back. We fought for years, slowly purging the grasp of The Shadow from the world. The Obsidian Council lost most of its power and today works under the cover of the darkness, far away from prying eyes.

But we lost and suffered much in those battles and many of our Elves were lost and killed. We lost our secret land and home. Many Elf parents decided to hide their children in plain sight, giving them to the care of unsuspecting human families. We had no choice and no way of sustaining these children. We used up our last powers to make the Elves look like humans. We all went into hiding, becoming familiar with the human ways.

But years ago, the Obsidian Council reemerged. So the remaining Elves gathered and with the help of our allies remade a secret land. Today I and others go around finding these Lost Elf children. At the age of sixteen, Elves' powers start to awaken and we have to make sure to find them before the Obsidian Council does.

You are one of those children. It is a miracle that they have not found you yet." the woman took a break and we sat in silence as I processed everything.

"So. Will you come and train? Will you join the Elves?" she asked, breaking the silence.

It all made sense. The power I had, the not fitting in, those men and their machines. But could I really leave my parents- my human parents, I reminded myself, behind?

Honestly, it didn't take me long to decide.

"I have nothing here. I've never really fit in." I said, more to myself than to the elf woman. "I will come with you." I told her, looking up into her blue eyes.

I was an Elf. I had powers.

The woman smiled. Or at least I thought she did.

"Then come. Let's return home." she said, standing up.

Home.

I followed the Elf into the promise of a new life.