Immortal Fire - Book One

I had not even heard them come in, but there they sat. And they were looking right at me. There were three of them, all women. They wore long white, flowing dresses that covered their feet and had flowers braided into their extremely long hair. Two were blonde and one had pitched black hair. I shuffled uncomfortably as all three held their eyes on me. The one on the far right, with the raven hair, was the first to speak.

“What is this business that was so dire, Hayden Levirious, which you simply had to seek company with us right away?” She never took her eyes from me as she spoke.

Eventually, she turned her gaze to Hayden. Hayden was tense; I could see his arm muscles tensing beneath the skin. No one else seemed to notice it besides me. He exuded an air of nonchalance, yet great respect.

“I believe I might have stumbled upon the Angelis Mortis, your grace.” All three women’s eyes snapped fire as they reeled their gazes back to me.

“And what makes you believe this as true?” It was the blonde woman in the middle that had spoken.

Hayden relayed all that had happened over the past two days, and they sat in silence, never taking their eyes off me. A voice in my head was screaming at me to run, but I could not seem to find the nerve to.

“Come here, child.” It was now the blonde to the left. They all had that unnerving musical voice that sounded like a sonnet, yet you knew it could turn deadly all the same. I stepped forward after looking at Hayden. He nodded slightly but was still as tense as ever before.

“What is your name?” The Elder asked.

“Aria Silverton” That was the wrong answer because now they were all scowling at me.

“Silverton...?” I just nodded. All three women got up from their chairs and started circling me.

“Do you think it is true?” the raven-haired woman asked the others. They looked me up and down and then the one blonde stepped forward and grabbed my chin. I wanted to pull away and hit her. I could feel her deadly force pressing down on my jawbone. She then sniffed and recoiled.

“It’s true sisters…”

“What is true?” I know I was not supposed to speak unless spoken to, but I needed to know.

“You are the Angelis Mortis, yet there is a problem here…,” said the blonde Elder.

“I don’t understand…” I said confused.

“Of course, you don’t, however, we will explain it to you. You may step back to the others now.” Doing as The Elders said, I went and stood next to Hayden once more. He was staring straight ahead as if seeing nothing.

“You, my dear, are no normal Angelis Mortis. You see, an Angelis Mortis is a Light Elf through and through; and yet you are not which brings us to our problem. You, child, are half spawned of the light and equally of the dark. A Halfling.” It was the raven-haired woman who spoke again. She seemed to be more in charge than the others who just sat and watched.

“Are you saying that I am an Elf?” I asked, disbelieving.

“No, you do not get the honor of claiming to be one of us. Your parents my dear committed the most horrendous crime imaginable when they spawned you. I would have thought that your mother’s exile would have been enough to stop this from happening, apparently I misjudged her.” I could not believe this woman. She knew my mother, and she was insulting her? I could feel my blood pressure rise.

“You know my mother?”

“Yes, and I am bitterly disappointed in her that she refused to leave that disgusting child of the dark.”

“Dark...?”

“By the Goddess... Do keep up. Your mother is a Light Elf, and your father is a Dark Elf.” I felt the blood in my veins run cold.

Looking at Hayden now, it all made sense. He was being a jerk because he had figured out in the car that I was a Halfling. He could not stand me now because I was not good enough anymore. He must have felt me staring at him open-mouthed because he shuffled uncomfortably on his feet. Deciding that I would deal with the shock of everything later, I asked more questions while I was still getting answers.

“What problem do I cause by being the Angelis Mortis?” My voice was dead of emotion and the Raven-haired Elder did not seem to notice.

Hayden and Marcus did though because they were finally watching me with unease. Ignoring them, I straightened my stance and looked The Elder dead in the eye. Her eyebrow rose to that in what seemed like surprise and respect.

“As an Angelis Mortis born of the light, you should just be able to fight for the Light Elves, however with the blood of the Dark running through your veins; you could just as simply fight for the dark. Which, I might add is the reason Hunter Levirious is trying to capture you or kill you so that you will not fight for the Light.”

Okay, that was creepy, but it made some sense in a messed-up way but not everything added up. Hunter had a bigger plan, and I knew it. I must have been calm from all the shock; nothing else made a viable reason as to my composed state.

“Okay, but why is Hunter after me now that I have met Hayden, and what are these dreams that he asked me about?” Hayden must have left that part out when he had explained to them earlier of the situation for all three sat forward in their chairs, looking between Hayden and me. Hayden was looking ahead again but I could see him tensing once more.

“Let me see your hand child.” The raven-haired Elder called out sternly.

Stepping forward, I placed my hand in The Elders, palm up so that my blue mark showed. She took a deep breath and traced the pattern with her ice-cold fingers.

“It can’t be…” she whispered to herself as she looked up at Hayden again with new interest, narrowing her gaze with determination.

“Marcus, you may leave.” said the raven-haired elder.

Looking over at Marcus, I could see that it was the last thing he wanted to do; but instead, he just bowed and left. Looking toward Hayden, he seemed switched off to everything.

“Hayden step forward.” He did as he was told and was now beside me once more.

“Hayden, I want you to touch this mark.”

Finding this a bit creepy but saying nothing, I let Hayden touch my hand. The mark started to glow, and the Elder dropped our hands. She stood up so fast that Hayden and I almost did not make it out of the way. She was now pacing the room with wide eyes, stopping now and then to look at Hayden and me.

She looked at the other elders and there seemed to be a silent conversation going on between the three of them. Finally, she went back to her chair, and I felt myself relax a bit.

“Here is what is going to happen now. Hayden, you will begin training Aria in defense and see if she can learn to control the Angel Fire. Aria, you will be provided food and lodging; anything else that you may require such as clothing etcetera will is provided as well.” Okay, that did not seem too bad.

“However,” Oh shit. Here it comes. “You will be escorted by Marcus wherever you go as well as not meet with Hayden Levirious outside of your training sessions. The training will also be under surveillance; we have our ways of reviewing your lessons... You may not leave Lunzos for any reason. Is that clear?”

Was this woman insane? She was making it sound like I was in a prison. I was about to say something like how she should go get screwed when Hayden pinched my arm without anyone else knowing. Giving my arm a little rub, I reminded myself to kick his ass when we were done here. The elders all nodded in agreement to the terms as if it were the best thing to do. The best thing for whom?

“Is that understood?”

“Yes, Elders,” Hayden replied. I was surprised to find a hint of anger in his voice and a large amount of sarcasm.

The Elders noticed for they narrowed their eyes on him before dismissing us. Leaving the room and heading out of the building, everything replayed in my head, and it was unbelievable. What had my life turned into?