Of Elementals and Holy Ones

[Ruu]

"Go, my child, go with the blessing of Layru. May her light shine upon you, give you hope, and give you peace. Remember. There are eight elemental fiends...One of Fire, One of Water, One of Earth, and One of Air. The evils of nature have also taken upon themselves materials forms in Magma, Ice, Sand, and Mist. You will know the Elementals are near with your staff. It will glow brightly the closer you are to an Elemental. Use the Light of Layru wisely, and none will stand against you."

An elderly gentleman stood in front of a young boy. The older man's eyes were jade, and his face was gnarled and wizened, yet filled with a certain wisdom. His locks and his beard were white, orderly and well-trimmed. The boy himself was not yet eighteen years of age, and yet his sapphire eyes were filled with knowledge beyond his years. Golden locks fell near his shoulders, and he held a staff of pure white in his hands. It was made of crystal, but held no light at the moment. He wore the traditional white robes of the clerics of Layru, and around his shoulders was placed a silver cloak and hood.

"May the Light of Layru be with you as well," said the boy softly, bowing his head, "I pray that I am worthy to do her bidding to restore peace and light to this world."

The priest nodded and turned to the people gathered behind him.

"Let us give him our prayers and gratitude, for the hero of our people goes forth!"

The crowd erupted in cheers. The boy, known as Calum, waved shyly before turning to walk into the wilds that lay on the outskirts of the neat and orderly town. He had said his goodbyes. There would be no point in crying anymore. He had a mission, and he would fulfill it, whatever the cost to himself. Calum froze as something white flitted in the trees. He jumped as a hand touched his shoulder, but smiled when he saw the face of a beautiful woman. Her hair was chestnut, her eyes the same color as the boy's.

"Mother? I thought...I was to go alone," Calum whispered.

"I know..." whispered the woman, a priestess by the name of Aria, and the woman who had cared for Calum ever since he had appeared on the doorsteps of the Great Church, "But...before you left...I wanted to warn you. Calum...you are a smart child. Not everything is as it appears. Do not trust everyone, not even those who you may think have the best intentions. Trust your heart. Let it guide you on the right path."

"W-what...what do you mean?" asked Calum, tilting his head in confusion.

"I've...already said to much. Now...go, go on your journey. I know you will return with opened eyes," whispered Aria, hugging him gently before running back towards the city.

Calum stood there for a few moments more, unsure of himself. What had Aria meant by those words? He didn't understand. Was she worried, as he was, that fighting the Elementals would be breaking his oath not to harm another creature? But...the priests of Layru knew what they were doing and would never lie to him. Of this he was certain. He would fulfill his mission, and the world would be saved, no matter the cost to himself. As he walked through the forest, he looked to his staff. The deeper he traveled, the more it began to glow. Already he must be close...The Elementals must have been nearer to the city than even the priests imagined...Soon...would be his first test...

[Pollux Astrae]

Eyes. She saw eyes, tearing and at the brink of a sob. Just those grey, wide eyes catching the light of a bright white then suddenly--!

Darae woke, way passed her usual waking time thanks to the nightmare. Her gasps rose her chest and sounded across her small room, the clutch on her sheets turning her knuckles almost as bright as the illumination still bouncing off of the eyes in the image of the dream. Just a dream to some, but it was a pair of eyes that only had water to them. She kicked back the covers with a yawn and pulled on a fresh tunic to save herself from her own sweat. Darae pushed back her short brown hair feathered with uneven cutting, staring at her feet as she gathered the nerve to stand. It was rare she dreamed of elementals. Some times it was of the fire spirits leaping into a pit of hot liquid, or maybe a cloud of mist sluggishly stretching over a morning. Never an attack on an elemental. Who saw them, save for her? Maybe men of knowledge who had the Sight, or ability to see elementals. It was gifted, not learned. Darae shook this from her mind and readied for the day outside.

Under the shade of a looming mountain range, Darae warmed her clothing and her heart. The fathers were working on lumber to sell, the mothers working on skins for clothing and food. Of course, the children ran to Darae who knew she was part of the mountain, part of the whole earth, and asked her what she felt. In good humor, Darae put her hand on the ground and nodded as if in conversation.

"Oh, oh yes! You say Geslyn hasn't been eating her vegetables? No!" Darae smiled, teasing the few kids who laughed and a patted their heads as she went on her way.

"Father, I'm going to the woods!" she called over her shoulder as Falin hacked at wood, the sound like listening to bones crack in her ears. He nodded, so with a smile, Darae pulled her sack higher up on her shoulder and sprinted to the edges of the broad woods separating a quarter of the country. She needed no map, just a wit on her. Darae fiddled with the small root on a leather thong around her neck for superstition sake. What if it was more than a creative dream in the middle of the night?

"Elements, have yourselves a lovely day," Darae murmured, her soft voice of no specific sex wished through the trees. Half an hour was spent plucking at the roots and sprigs of the early summer, thinking, when she felt it. The feeling only describable as if her bones had been jarred by a sharp blow. Weakening, Darae closed her eyes and tried to breathe. No, no she was suffocating! Darae stopped her lungs a moment, then sucked in heavily and smelled her mother, Trayk. She was here, but...something was wrong. She felt wrong to Darae. "M-Mother..." she whispered into the soil under her hands, trying to scream. She could see her mother in her minds eye. This was her mother's way of calling for help. Maybe she was scared, or hurt? Darae rose and sprinted, using the ground to spring her forward father than she should have been able to, sprinting until the sun did not warm her hands and left her in the pit of her own thoughts. Somewhere, deep in the forest, Trayk needed Darae.

For the life of her, Darae could not remember if her mother's eyes were grey.

[Ruu]

Calum continued to walk through the forest, seeing not a wild animal or any other living thing. And yet, as he walked, his staff continued to glow with increasing brightness. He took a deep breath, trying to forget his fear and his unease. Even if this was the right thing to do, he was frightened about facing monsters. How were the priests so sure he would be able to defeat them? What if they...No, he had to forget about any fear and doubt. Would not Layru bless him with her light and protect him?

Before Calum could dwell anymore on his thoughts, something move in front of him. At first, it looked merely like a grove of trees, but as it rose to new heights, warm, liquid eyes and facial features could be seen. Flowers could be seen growing around the tree, as if clothing it. Gnarled knobs and branches seemed to form the visage of limbs, and trees above seemed almost like a ground. Calum paused in fear, but the Elemental did nothing to attack him or make any move towards him...

Calum was silent before holding up his staff, now glowing brilliantly. At first he spoke quietly, but then his voice continued to grow in strength. These were the words he had been taught and had spoken since a young age.

"I, Calum, wielder of the Light of Layru, do judge you for your crimes against our people. You have attacked our borders and ravaged our lands. Now...I sentence you to the judgement of Light."

Still, the Elemental made no move towards him. Were they not ferocious beasts? Attacking any traveler on a whim? But still, it continued to look at him with that warm, almost sorrowful gaze. What was he to do? Could he destroy something that made no move towards him?

[Pollux Astrae]

Sprint faster, damn the Gods! Darae left her bag at the feet of a swaying tree in an unnatural breeze, a spasm in the hair of the forest and their chests. Suddenly, on gravel two miles from the clan villiage, she slipped to her knees and began to bless the earth that cut away at her skin through her trousers. Gravel was her mother's favorite rock for it's small but sharp qualities. "Praise, praise be to the trees that breathe in what is not for us. Praise be to the waters that bring us the life we so need. Pra--" Darae paused in her hymnal when she felt her mother's feet rumble the gravel.

Trayk, the Elemental of the peaks and valleys, stood almost taller than Darae's own bear-like father. Her face was pitted and imperfect, not like the Elementals of water as she had seen only once before. And her eyes were brown. This allowed Darae to breathe again. Not only was it silly to think her mother was being attacked, but not to remember the color of her mother's eyes? Where had been her mind?

"Mother, y-you called?" Darae kept on her knees to glance up at the rough figure. Trayk's thin lips were a line with worry.

"Darae, your father has taught you of the cities, of the lands where there are governing forces. Today, I teach you one final lesson," her sentences flowed together in an urgent tone, much unlike the calm woman Darae had seen only a few times before. "There is somebody in the forest from that place. And he is not here to do well." Trayk stared at her daughter, reaching out with her filthy hands to cup the chin of her child.

"What's wrong? Why does this matter?" Darae searched in her mother's face. Trayk had never called Darae with such fear in her heart before, surely something had come up? This wasn't just about a traveler. "Mother?"

Trayk dipped her head and blinked back tears. The forest shook, roaring with the wind, trembling with the earth. "Mother! What...?" Darae stood, looking to the foliage above her. Never before had trees cried until this day.

"I must go for a while. Know this: Bravery is doing what is right, only for you, even if you are afraid." Trayk said with a hard voice to cover her trembles. Darae would never see her mother again. They both knew this. And on the north edges of the forest, something sent up a shriek of a vulnerable soul losing the most important battle.

[Ruu]

Go back...destroy...

Calum blinked in surprise. Had the creature just spoken to him? What did it mean? Before he had time to contemplate, light surged in his staff as if of its own will, building power for a deadly strike. What...was happening?

Do not give up faith, Calum. This monster is indeed dangerous. You must destroy it before it destroys you.

Was that...Layru's voice? Was she inspiring him to complete his first task. He looked back up at the Elemental, which still had not made a move towards him. He looked to his staff before closing his eyes, allowing the light to strike the creature mid-section. The Elemental shrieked as part of its body disintegrated before its very eyes. Without warning, it swung a large branch (that looked suspiciously like a hand) at Calum. Calum could do little as the limb struck him, sending him flying into the ground, his staff clattering beside him. Well...now it was fighting back, but to be fair he had provoked it. He hastily scrambled to his feet just as another fist struck the ground, causing him to back up. He closed his eyes, ignoring the danger, channeling the energy in the staff. Light surged again, wiping away half of the Elemental. It screamed in pain, desperately struggling to knock him out with its remaining limbs.

[Pollux Astrae]

Darae was so confused. Her mother was gone the next moment, and the trees were in uproar. What under the Sky was happening? A traveler meaning harm to whom? There was too much confusion. Too much was unsaid. All Darae knew was an Elemental (by it's scream), was at the North half of the forest, ant it would take Darae too long...

But what was the point of not trying? Maybe...Darae could help. So, she ran again, ignoring the stinging in her legs. No animals lurked in the shade of the great looming foliage just above them, and the Elemental was Darae's only beacon as it kept up it's horrible yelling! Darae had to get there soon. Before long, the grasses thinned. That was the sign she was getting closer to the North end. Grasses waned with the come of cities, civilizations. The smell of rotted, charred wood was in the air. Darae knew the smell from the side of her fire. Something had just left this planet, it's body was hot and dying.

Darae got there too late, there was nothing left. And the trees were still. Ash littered the ground, the only thing left from whatever the Elemental was. It stung her face when it touched, the heat of it sinking into her skin. All that was left was ashes from the scream of the Elemental. Darae felt the pain of watching it's remains float. She sucked in a breath, puking on the ground before her at the taste of dead body. What could kill an Elemental? Something from the city, powerful and wasting at her homelands?

"No, NO!" she shrieked, looking around as fast as she could for signs, tracks. She'd find who did this to a sacred spirit! She'd kill them. Her face was hot now from her blood, and the air was hard to breathe. Elementals, all her life, were supposed to be superior. They were the earth embodied! Darae was half of an Elemental for the love of Gods! Suddenly, she found the tracks. He'd not escape, this traveler. Not from the daughter of the mountains.

[Ruu]

As Calum left the area, a feeling of dread settled on his heart. What...had he done? If he was doing Layru's will, why did it feel so...wrong? The Elemental had only attacked him after he had...disintegrated half its body. As he looked around, the ground seemed somehow dull and bland. The trees murmured in the wind, and everything seemed to have a hostile aura. As he walked, he felt suddenly weary and sat on a log laying on the ground. He shivered, feeling suddenly cold as if angry eyes were fixated on him. Was this right? Or was this what his mother was trying to warn him about?

He looked at the staff, now dull and without light. He wasn't anywhere close to another Elemental. Did he even want to go on? He was...scared. His eyes, once bright with religious fervor, were now clouded and confused. Had he just made the worst mistake of his life?

[Pollux Astrae]

Darae, furious, went back to the tree she'd left her roots at, sliping her hand into the bag and gripping the hilt of the knife. Her mother had showed her how to use obsidion, and when Darae was skilled enough, gave her supplies for a small dagger. Falin would just have to wait a while, Darae reasoned. Her body was under stress from anger and confusion, but no, no fear.

When she'd returned to the area of the...murder, Darae searched the ground for signs, tracks in the wispy grasses. she found a pair of feet, not huge, not heavy. Darae let out a shaky breath. Could she do this? She'd track this killer of sacred beings down, then what? "I'll make him pay. For scaring my homelands," Darae glanced up at the trees. What had they witnessed? Was the Elemental brave? Had it fought back? Who could tell but the killer.

Not only is it a sin against the earth itself, but it is a crime to kill an Elemental most places south of the cities. That is, if you can. Elementals are tricky and escape numerous ways before they fight back. But Darae did not want to flee. This savage city man killed one of her kind, what would stop him from killing her or her mother? Nothing. So she had to get there first.

[Ruu]

Be at peace, my child. You have done well. The first test is always the most difficult. Now go with the strength and the light to the sea. Strike down with my light any who oppose you. The time for judgement is at hand.

Calum's eyes widened at the words, clear as crystal in his mind. Were they really the words of the goddess Layru? It was said that none had heard her words in a millenia, and yet here they were again. He planted his staff firmly in the ground and got to his feet. The sea...It would be a long journey to reach this destination. And the hostile feeling, as if the very trees were bemoaning a loss, continued to nip at the back of his mind. But what if the first Elemental hadn't been as dangerous as some of the others? As he walked, he noticed everything continued to have a dull, grey color. If he had struck down the Earthen Elemental, wouldn't he be doing great harm to the forest, the plants, the trees? But the priests had said that they were not protecting the land, rather ruining it with their wanton destruction and their hatred for all the people of Layru. What was the truth?

[Pollux Astrae]

Darae looked at her pack and took stock: roots and plants to eat, a knife, a waterskin, and a small pouch of gold. Surely this should be enough, it was hardly a journey? But who knew how far he'd gotten? Darae caught herself looking over her shoulder to the direction of the clan, but back at the ash on her knuckles. Falin would have to wait. The earth was turning grey from the abuse--what if it had been her mother attacked? Darae picked up on the trail of a pair of feet, following. A million things flooded Darae's mind. Why? How did this happen? Not much else mattered but finding him for these answers. What would Trayk say to her following him? Darae pushed that course from her mind. An hour passed without care, the trees aging and rotting under her scrutiny as Darae walks the almost cemetery forest. Suddenly, an unearthly pale sheen a few yards away caught her periphreal, snapping Darae's attention. It was a boy, no a young man, his staff and clothes white with unatural purity. Unlike her, his skin suggested he'd never lived in the wild like her...but Darae could nearly taste the ash on the wind coming from him. Despite the unhallowed feeling in her stomach, something about him surrounded the area, unmistakably so. "You!" Darae shouted, pulling her short knife from her side. "You don't belong here, do you?" she called from her safe distance. The wind, in it's own language, spoke to her. 'Murderer...him...slayer' it seethed, hissing at her. This was all she needed. "You killed that Elemental!" Darae hollered, accusing. She'd find out soon enough.

[Ruu]

Calum blinked and whirled around, holding his staff in a defensive posture, searching for the sound of the voice. His eyes soon spotted a young woman, brandishing a knife.

You killed that Elemental!

The words felt like a blow, even though she had not thrown the dagger. He took a few steps back, face pale, body shaking.

"I...I..." he stammered, "I'm sorry...I was...was just..."

What could he say?

"It was Layru's will.." he concluded softly, though the words felt somehow wrong even in his own ears.

The priests had said nothing about fighting anyone other than the elementals. He couldn't hurt someone, especially not a woman. What was he to do?

She has broken my laws and continues to aid and abet the Elementals in their lust for wanton destruction. You must fight her.

"I...can't..." whispered Calum, the color draining from his face, not realizing how crazy he sounded at the moment.

[Pollux Astrae]

Darae's teeth set in a barring fashion, and she crouched, holding out the knife. Her earthy smell mixed with sweat and anger reminded her; she is half of the earth. She had this right. Darae growled and kept her eyes on the fair boy, almost pretty, but uglier than anything she'd ever seen.

"Sorry? Sorry! You will be!" Darae sprinted forward, trying to put out of her mind she'd never fought before. All that remained in her was anger at this sin, this crime nobody but the gods could judge. The gods do not look favorably on those who kill Elementals. A yard away, Darae swung roughly, showing how serious she was. When she spun the trees showed how sickly grey they looked and this fueled her passion, this fury coming from her core. Darae yelled as if in battle, continuing to swing with each step. Horribly, she would miss and strike again. "Come on!" she egged. "Coward!" Darae screamed in his face.

More than anything, she wanted to have a very good reason to kill this man. Falin hunted. The clan was a meat eating village, but as an Elemental's daughter, her own views were never to kill anything alive if she could help it. Fruits of the earth did not count, but animals were not fruits. Human beings, even killers, weren't fruits. But not even killers were gifted in having the same aura as this boy she was trying to catch the nerve to slice.

[Ruu]

Calum's eyes widened as the girl ran towards him, anger in her eyes. What had he done? The words in his mind continued to goad him, whispering that this girl was a savage, bred only to fight and kill. But what had he done? He had destroyed an Elemental sacred to her. He continued to walk backwards as she swung at him, though he noted she was purposely missing.

"I...I will not fight you..." he said slowly, "I will not harm a woman..."

He had sworn an oath not to harm under the laws of Layru, and yet he had broken them by slaying the Elemental.

Calum...you are confused, child. You must fight back, or she will murder you in cold blood. Your spotless purity will be extinguished before your journey can even begin.

"I will not fight...I will not fight her..." Calum whimpered, trying to hold back tears, even as he clutched his staff tightly.

Though the staff was lethal to Elementals, it would do little against the sharp curve of the knife the woman brandished.

[Pollux Astrae]

Frustrated with this, Darae kept swinging, this time getting closer. Closer her knife-point arced to his chest, and with a change, Darae glanced his chest with a knuckle. There was no pain behind it, only a warning. She stepped back, circling.

"Won't harm a woman? I'm not a woman!" she scoffed, thinking of ways to harm his mental stability. "Neither was that Elemental. But it wasn't a man either! It was all of this!" Darae shrieked, nodding to the trees in their dormant colors. "I will kill you. Hold up your staff!" she shouted as she grew closer, steadily. Mother, give me the strength to kill him. Darae prayed.

Sharp, the answer was this; No. Darae was taken aback and stepped further away, finding her legs were shaking with fear. It was not keeping her from killing. It was not approval. "Why did you do it, hm?" she hissed, back to a feral crouch. From the corner of her eyes a slow, murky shimmer as if under water started to emanate from the staff each step closer. This was the weapon. Continuing her frog-like jumping back and forth Darae watched the boy, saw his fear. She lived on it. But would she harm him on it?

Darae swung again and planned not to miss this time.

[Ruu]

Calum flinched as she swung, but only lightly pushed him away with her knuckle. A few more steps back. His mind was a fog...Visions of his mother...her words...the priests...High Priest Califor...The kindness in his eyes, yet the certainty that this mission was to be done. The boy hadn't imagined that it would have been so hard. He thought the Elementals were monsters, but they hadn't attacked him...They had done nothing to him. Why was he fighting them?

Because! They will destroy the world as we know it! The one you fought...it was but a precursor to the true rage held within. Do not be fooled by the woman! As she says herself, she is no woman. They have no shape or form! Strike them down with my judgement!

Was this truly Layru's voice? Would she ask such a thing? The staff was beginning to react of its own accord, sending out a stringy substance towards the woman.

"No!" shouted Calum, the light retreating back into the staff, "I...I'm sorry...I was told they were beasts...monsters...were going to destroy the city...I didn't know..." he sobbed.

The next swing of the knife, however, did not miss. He turned, the knife slicing into his arm. He winced in pain as he took a few more steps back, closing his eyes, chanting softly. He would not fight, but he would not die. Light seeped into his wound, healing it, and slowly a spell of protection began to form around him.

[Pollux Astrae]

Darae felt the obsidian push through his arm, and sickness overwhelmed her. Darae backed up with a horrified look on her face and stared at the runny blood on her knife. No. She couldn't do that again. When she looked up, Darae saw his arm was fine, but the hint of what was there ringed his flesh with a few droplets of blood. The she heard his plea ringing in his ears.

"W-What? Who told you it was...no, Elementals are good!" Darae felt herself start to sob, her hand at her mouth. She tasted the hilt of her blade and removed it by throwing it to the ground behind them. There she stood, still and waiting. Something had come from the staff at her, but his command stopped it. "Elementals don't care about cities. Didn't your people tell you that?" she whispered, wondering if this all could have been stopped before she stuck him.

This was a mistake. Trayk meant it when she said she would not give Darae strength to kill this man. He was crying, for the love of gods! Darae peered up into his face carefully from her distance and wiped up at her own salty tears. "What are you doing? Why are you doing this?" Darae almost didn't want to know. What if this was a ruse? Too many things floated around in the air. All she knew was he killed an Elemental but not her. He must not know she was half.

[Ruu]

"No...my people have always lived in fear..." whispered Calum, the spell vanishing when he realized the woman was no longer attacking him, "The priests said the Elementals would destroy us all...They told me I was...destined to save my people...But all I've done is...become a murderer."

His tears were openly flowing now, much as he tried to stop. He had never meant to hurt anyone....Now he knew it was true. The Elementals had feelings...he had seen it in their eyes, yet had done nothing.

"I'm sorry...I deserve nothing but your anger...I know you could never hope to forgive me..." he whispered, kneeling to the ground, "Please...take my life...I do not deserve it after what I've done."

Calum! Stop! You must not to do this! If you do, your people will die. This...this...creature has bewitched you!

The staff began to shake, shining brightly.

"No!" cried Calum, holding on to it tightly, trying to keep the light from flowing, "R-run...I-I don't know how much longer I can stop it..."

[Pollux Astrae]

Take his advice. That staff will kill you. Trayk whispered suddenly like she was behind her. Darae spun on heel and started to sprint hard in the other direction, almost the same way she came back. Her face was covered in fearful, yet thankful tears. There were only a few truths she could asses. Far enough away that she couldn't see him, Darae hid behind a tree and thought about these truths.

First, the man was now aware of what he'd done, now seeing his wrong. Second, he was told to do this by the priests of his city. Darae clenched a fist and stared into the grass. They told him to kill the Elemental. Third, he would not kill her. At least willingly. Darae took in heavy breaths, standing behind a tree and thought about what she could do. There was one other strange thing; the boy was talking to himself. Like he was conversing. Maybe something in his mind was talking, as Trayk did to her? They seemed at war. She felt pity for the sensitive man still back there, probably holding that staff in check. Everything was silent. The trees would not swing. Darae had to go back, she had questions.

[Ruu]

Calum watched in anguish as she ran, saddened that he wasn't sure if he could control the staff long enough to keep her safe.

"So...you would not heed the voice of Layru any longer?"

The boy spun around, eyes widening upon seeing the High Priest, standing before him. Yet his body was somehow...translucent...his form thin and wavering. His eyes were sad, almost holding pity.

"Father Calcifor? How did you...?" breathed the boy.

"I have felt your doubts, and have projected myself here through the will of Layru. Child...you were born to save your people. Why would you listen to the words of that...creature? She could be lying for all you know."

"But the Elemental...it cried when I struck it with the light. It didn't attack me. It didn't do anything to me. Please...Father...is there not another way?" asked Calum.

"I'm afraid not. These...Elementals...They will pretend to have feelings and thoughts, but they are all a ruse to cause you to let your guard down."

"But the woman...she could have killed me, yet she didn't," replied Calum insistently.

"You would question the High Priest? You would question Layru herself?" asked Califor, face darkening, "Calum. If you insist going down this path, it will lead you to oblivion. You will do the will of Layru. Now...my power wanes. I must go. Remember my words."

The High Priest vanished even as Calum looked at the staff. He turned from the staff to the place where the priest had once been. He clutched the staff firmly, eyes angry, before hurling it into the woods. There was a sound like a sigh. The boy took a deep breath, as if he had been released. Without warning, the staff materialized in his hands once again. What sorcery was this?

"I warned you, Calum...And you should have known better, girl, to deny the will of Layru!" shouted the High Priest's voice, "Now...Calum will do my will, or I will destroy this forest and every living thing in with my own Light of judgement! There is no protection now that the Earthen Elemental is gone!"

"No! Stop!" cried Calum, unable to comprehend what was going on.

His entire world was being flipped upside down...

[Pollux Astrae]

Trayk appeared to Darae in her mind, a saddened, pale sight. Her face was ashy like clay. Darae sucked in a breath and held tight to her knife. "I have to go back, I have to understand!" Darae pleaded. Trayk brought her trembling hand to under her chin.

"I know, Darae. I am weak with it all, with the loss of the guardian of our earths," Trayk almost sobbed, but stood just a bit straighter like a pillar. Darae nodded, staring at her feet as she wondered what to do. "They will kill you, Darae. This boy has a staff of destruction. However, it's power is originated from good." Darae's head snapped up.

"How can this be so? How can it be good?" Darae snarled and wiped up at the dirt on her clothes.

"Good and bad are lines that do not go the same way in everybody's eyes. Good for me is air and sun. Good for mortals is food and company. All I know is that you are, you are just that." Darae sucked in another breath as if she couldn't breathe again. But she had to breathe to get back to the boy. Darae leaned down and scraped at the earth, finding compact and harsh ground...good for armor to the daughter of an earth Elemental. Darae knew how if it didn't suck all the energy from her and she'd face that damn staff. Come hell or high water.

[Ruu]

"Now...child...I'm sorry," the High Priest's voice almost sounded remorseful, "I should not have threatened. It is against the will of Layru. But...you must see that what you are doing is allowing yourself to be blinded by the words of a girl you hardly know. How do you know she is not lying? Child...you are to be our savior. Do not let this..."

Suddenly, the image of the High Priest shimmered and rippled, as if something had passed through. Calcifor turned to look at something Calum could not see.

"I must go...but remember, child. You must not back down."

The priest disappeared and Calum shook his head confused, holding the staff tightly lest its power go out of control.

"My...friend?" he called into the forest, having never been told the woman's name, "He's gone...I believe...but I don't know what to do about the staff. I don't know what to believe anymore. I'm so confused...M-maybe...maybe it would be better for you to rid yourself of me. Then no one could use the staff for evil ever again..."

[Pollux Astrae]

From her days with her mother and under the security of the mountain, Darae had learned about herself through the ground up. She was a being of partial rock, so she understood what each rock said. And also from this, minerals can be turned into metals for armor from this holy man in the forest with a killing staff. While metals conducted electricity, black rocks do not. Black rocks beside a mountain is as common as leaves on a tree. All Darae had to do was dig a little.

Darae returned to the side of the trees where Darae could see the boy, but he may not see her. Her skin had a sheen even under the shade of the boughs overhead from her small protection, and the bag in her hand was full. The black, porous molten rock was crushed until it had a fine powder quality. Darae sucked in a breath, somewhat comforted by the use of 'friend'.

"Did you know rocks can make electricity twice it's power? Rain Elementals use them to make their angry lightening strong enough to burn a home. But some rocks betray this," Darae poked out from behind the tree. Her feathered brown hair was dusty in strong grey and ashy black, her face almost stony. "I won't kill you. I won't stoop to that. Hold out your staff, we may be able to stop your staff." Darae said in the shadows.

"My mother told me evil is not a straight line, neither is good. What is good for me may not be good for you," Darae said gently and shoved her trembling hand into her bag with a step out into the open. "Hold out your staff. I'll...I don't know, encase it..." Darae muttered, hoping this would work. Hoping he wouldn't kill her. Hoping she didn't have to attack him. So much hope in such a dark moment, Darae didn't think she deserved it. Darae grimaced to herself. Maybe her 'demon Elemental powers' would neutralize the damn thing.

[Ruu]

Calum's eyes widened as she came forward, even as the staff began to crackle and surge with power once again. He was worried for her safety, but couldn't help but to admire her bravery. In the face of something that could easily have killed him, the boy wasn't sure he'd be as brave as the woman before him. As Darae stepped forward with the bag, he hesitated for a moment, eyes wide as he struggled to hold back the wayward energy.

"B-but...if it doesn't work...the staff...it will..." he couldn't finish the sentence.

But...perhaps she was right. Perhaps she knew what she was doing. Did he really know about the staff he carried? All he knew were the...most likely lies fed to him by his elders. So, after another moment, he held out the staff, closing his eyes to concentrate as it continued to glow with a white light.

"Whatever you're going to do...do it quickly..." he whispered, "I...I don't know how long I can hold it back."

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