25th of Cylus, Arc 718
The cold winds of Cylus battered the mage as she stood on the deck of a Water Troop barge. A crumpled letter was clutched tightly in her hand. That morning a young message runner from the Elements had arrived at her door bearing the letter now in her hand. The words contained in the message were authored by one of her mother’s friends that dwelt on Faldrass. The author recounted events from a week ago when Sephira’s mother Amelia Blackwood was assaulted in her own home by an unknown assailant. Somehow the letter had found its way to the mage and she had caught the first available boat headed toward Faldrass.
As the island came into view through a thick layer of icy fog, Sephira stuffed the letter in the pocket of her new coat and checked that her sword was properly sheathed at her hip. Gently pulling on the hilt of Wyvern, Sephira noted that the weapon was well oiled and battle-ready. Whoever had dared to lay a hand on her mother was in for a rude awakening if she found them.
The barge lightly bumped into the mooring of the Faldrass docks before the Elements began offloading their cargo. Sephira slipped past them without even bidding them farewell before she set off across the beach toward a cluster of cottages with neatly thatches roofs. There were very few people outdoors in the bitter cold so many homes were shuttered against the wind with smoke pouring from their chimneys. A single cottage stood out to the young mage with its bright blue shutters and indigo painted door.
Sephira broke into a run, her crimson coat flapping behind her as her boots pounded the sand. She had not seen her mother since she had fled from Faldrass nearly two cycles ago. The mage was unsure how she would explain her departure. Her mother was unaware of her identity as a mage and likely was unaware that her daughter had become an Element. Sephira had quite a bit of explaining to do.
The Element paused before the door, hesitating for a brief moment before raising her gloved hand up to give three solid knocks. There was a long pause of several trills before the door slowly creaked opened. A shadow stood in the narrow opened before she stepped into the light. Amelia Blackwood was a bit shorter than her daughter but the dark brunette hair was the same along with the sharp features. A dark bruise obscured her left eye and several scratches adorned her wrists. Sephira felt her blood begin to boil, at least until her mother came bolting through the door to wrap her in an embrace.
“Thank the fates, you’re alive!” Her mother sobbed as she hugged her daughter tightly.
Sephira’s anger evaporated as she returned the embrace. “I’m so sorry Mum, I should have come home sooner.” She cried, burying her face in her mother’s shoulder. The hug lasted only for a few trills before Sephira stepped back to examine the bruising on her mother’s face.
“I heard about the attack.” There was a dangerous edge to Sephira’s voice.
“Never mind that right now.” Amelia chided as she gestured for her daughter to follow her inside the cottage.
The interior was just as she remembered it. The kitchen hearth crackled happily beneath a steaming pot of soup. Handmade curtains of blue and green covered the windows; embroidery in the shape of gulls and other birds were carefully stitched into the fabric. Sephira’s mother was a seamstress of some repute on Faldrass so it made perfect sense that she would decorate her home with her work.
A couple of woolen arm chairs sat before the fire, and her mother bade Sephira to take a seat, all the while her daughter kept her gaze on the black eye decorating he mother’s face.
“So, you joined the Elements...is that why you left?” Amelia said flatly as she took a seat opposite her daughter, her lips pursed and her eyes downcast.
“Mum, I didn’t leave because I wanted to join the Elements. I left because something happened...the night Elias was...killed.” The mage leaned forward her eyes flashing with a prismatic array of colors.
“Killed? My dear his hearth fire got away from him, that’s all. It was an accident.”
Sephira grimaced, not realized until now that no one on Faldrass knew what had actually happened to the old man; Although the baron knew, though if only because she had told him herself.
The woman leaned forward, a look of deep concern in her eyes. “I was there Mum, Elias was attacked and killed by a mage, a Defier.”
Horror ignited on her mother’s face as she shook her head in disbelief. Her pale hands tensed in her lap atop her flowing azure skirt.
“That doesn’t make any sense; there are no mages on Faldrass. If what you say is true, then where did this person come from, and why would they want to hurt the old man?” The words stung and Sephira visibly winced. She had never told her mother what she was or what she had been doing during the time she spent with Elias. Five arcs of her childhood had been spent on that mountain, learning her magic, practicing her craft trial in and trial out. Perhaps she was not ready to reveal that truth, but she owed it to her mother.
Her eyes dropped to the floor, hues of stormy gray drifting through her irises. “There are mages here.” She replied softly, slowly raising her eyes to meet her mother’s.
“Elias was one.”
Her mother looked at her aghast, fear and revulsion sweeping across her features. Sephira has seen that fear before in the eyes of the citizens she protected. No matter the steps she took to prove her goodwill, people could still look at her with that same dread. Her mother was about to become one of those people.
“And so am I.”
Silence followed, her mother starring at the hands clasped in her lap. Sephira stood from her chair and slowly approached her mother, kneeling down in front of her and taking her hands in her own.
“It’s still me mum, I’m the same person I was before.” The Element looked at her mother with a hopeful twitch of a smile before her face fell. Her mother sat there silently for what seemed like an eternity before finally opening her lips to speak. She did not meet her daughter's eyes, her pupils remaining fixed on her lap.
“How long?” The words were cold, wreathed in frost and ice. It was as if her mother had vanished behind a veil, the person before her was completely alien and unfamiliar.
“Five arcs, since I was fifteen.” Sephira said gently, trying desperately to make eye contact with the older woman. Her hands squeezed Amelia’s tightly as if somehow physical contact could make the situation easier.
“Elias taught you this, he made you into this?” Her voice had grown jagged and bitter, the words growing in volume as she spoke until finally her eyes snapped up to meet Sephira’s own.
“He did this...”
Sephira bristled at her mother’s accusation, her own gaze growing sharp before she decided to take a gentler rout. Surely this was difficult for her mother, learning that you daughter was not only a mage but that she had been one for some time without you ever noticing. Lies had been told and secrets kept from Amelia.
“I made a choice mum, that’s all there is to it.” Amelia’s eyes cut to the side, as if unsatisfied with letting Elias off the hook. How could her daughter have known what she was doing when she was only fifteen arcs of age? How dare that man make this choice for her!
“Listen, you can believe what you want.” The mage reached up and lightly set her hand on her mother’s shoulder. “But that is why I ran, someone attacked Elias, and before he died he made me promise that I would leave before they came for me as well. “
Taking a deep breath she continued.
“I joined the Elements to find a safe haven and a place where I could be of use. Being an Element has become more than I ever expected. I have a purpose now...a purpose that allows me to help people, all the more because I am a mage.” Sephira signed before slowly climbing back to her feet, her mother’s icy expression remaining as she continued to avoid meeting her daughter’s eyes.
“When I heard that you had been hurt...I boarded the first boat to the island.” There was genuine concern in the mage’s voice even if her mother continued to ignore her. Sephira continued, her voice growing in surety as she spoke.
“Mum you need to tell me who attacked you or anything you remember about the person that hurt you.” she pleaded. Sephira was desperate to get some answers. Was the attack simply an attempted burglary or was there something else at work. Was it the man who had killed Elias, had this all been done to force Sephira return to Faldrass?
The woman stared at her mother for a few more moments before her eyes hardened. Sephira loved her mother and would do everything in her power to support her, but they would make no progress like this.
“You may not want to talk to me right now, but in this moment I’m not just your daughter, I’m also an Element and I will investigate this crime.” Her words were firm and unwavering , even if Sephira felt like she was falling apart inside. It wounded her to see her mother acting this way, shunning her because she was a mage, because she had lied about it for so long.
Finally her mother’s eyes lifted and some of the light returned to her eyes.
“I didn’t see who it was. It was dark, I was going to bed when there was this flash of light...then there was just pain." She stated tersely before snapping to her feet and moving toward the small kitchen to stir the pot over the fire. Her daughter stood there, watching her as she listened to her mother’s brief account of the attack. Finally after several bits of silence Sephira gestured her right hand toward the door.
“Pack your things; I’m taking you somewhere safe.”
Amelia’s eyes jolted up to finally meet her daughter’s own gaze.
“I’ll do no such thing.” She hissed angrily before proceeding to furiously stir the pot of soup. “I’ll be fine Sephira, I’m not leaving my home.” The acidity to her words was palpable, there was a gaping hole between them that would not heal over for quite some time.
“Mum ,I will carry you out of this house if I have to. ”
At this Amelia’s lips twitched with the barest whisper of a smile.
Sephira continued, undaunted. “The Baron offered us refuge should we ever need it, his home is probably the safest place on the island, perhaps even the safest place in Scalvoris. He said you two were friends a long time ago. ”
The Element stepped into the kitchen until she was only a few steps away from her mother.
“Please, do this for me. I may have lied to you, but I did it to keep us safe. Please stay with the Baron until the danger has passed.”
Amelia begrudgingly looked up at her daughter, her dark eyes examining her carefully before finally giving Sephira a singular nod.
“Thank you.” The woman replied with a relieved sigh.
“I promise I will make this right.”
As the island came into view through a thick layer of icy fog, Sephira stuffed the letter in the pocket of her new coat and checked that her sword was properly sheathed at her hip. Gently pulling on the hilt of Wyvern, Sephira noted that the weapon was well oiled and battle-ready. Whoever had dared to lay a hand on her mother was in for a rude awakening if she found them.
The barge lightly bumped into the mooring of the Faldrass docks before the Elements began offloading their cargo. Sephira slipped past them without even bidding them farewell before she set off across the beach toward a cluster of cottages with neatly thatches roofs. There were very few people outdoors in the bitter cold so many homes were shuttered against the wind with smoke pouring from their chimneys. A single cottage stood out to the young mage with its bright blue shutters and indigo painted door.
Sephira broke into a run, her crimson coat flapping behind her as her boots pounded the sand. She had not seen her mother since she had fled from Faldrass nearly two cycles ago. The mage was unsure how she would explain her departure. Her mother was unaware of her identity as a mage and likely was unaware that her daughter had become an Element. Sephira had quite a bit of explaining to do.
The Element paused before the door, hesitating for a brief moment before raising her gloved hand up to give three solid knocks. There was a long pause of several trills before the door slowly creaked opened. A shadow stood in the narrow opened before she stepped into the light. Amelia Blackwood was a bit shorter than her daughter but the dark brunette hair was the same along with the sharp features. A dark bruise obscured her left eye and several scratches adorned her wrists. Sephira felt her blood begin to boil, at least until her mother came bolting through the door to wrap her in an embrace.
“Thank the fates, you’re alive!” Her mother sobbed as she hugged her daughter tightly.
Sephira’s anger evaporated as she returned the embrace. “I’m so sorry Mum, I should have come home sooner.” She cried, burying her face in her mother’s shoulder. The hug lasted only for a few trills before Sephira stepped back to examine the bruising on her mother’s face.
“I heard about the attack.” There was a dangerous edge to Sephira’s voice.
“Never mind that right now.” Amelia chided as she gestured for her daughter to follow her inside the cottage.
The interior was just as she remembered it. The kitchen hearth crackled happily beneath a steaming pot of soup. Handmade curtains of blue and green covered the windows; embroidery in the shape of gulls and other birds were carefully stitched into the fabric. Sephira’s mother was a seamstress of some repute on Faldrass so it made perfect sense that she would decorate her home with her work.
A couple of woolen arm chairs sat before the fire, and her mother bade Sephira to take a seat, all the while her daughter kept her gaze on the black eye decorating he mother’s face.
“So, you joined the Elements...is that why you left?” Amelia said flatly as she took a seat opposite her daughter, her lips pursed and her eyes downcast.
“Mum, I didn’t leave because I wanted to join the Elements. I left because something happened...the night Elias was...killed.” The mage leaned forward her eyes flashing with a prismatic array of colors.
“Killed? My dear his hearth fire got away from him, that’s all. It was an accident.”
Sephira grimaced, not realized until now that no one on Faldrass knew what had actually happened to the old man; Although the baron knew, though if only because she had told him herself.
The woman leaned forward, a look of deep concern in her eyes. “I was there Mum, Elias was attacked and killed by a mage, a Defier.”
Horror ignited on her mother’s face as she shook her head in disbelief. Her pale hands tensed in her lap atop her flowing azure skirt.
“That doesn’t make any sense; there are no mages on Faldrass. If what you say is true, then where did this person come from, and why would they want to hurt the old man?” The words stung and Sephira visibly winced. She had never told her mother what she was or what she had been doing during the time she spent with Elias. Five arcs of her childhood had been spent on that mountain, learning her magic, practicing her craft trial in and trial out. Perhaps she was not ready to reveal that truth, but she owed it to her mother.
Her eyes dropped to the floor, hues of stormy gray drifting through her irises. “There are mages here.” She replied softly, slowly raising her eyes to meet her mother’s.
“Elias was one.”
Her mother looked at her aghast, fear and revulsion sweeping across her features. Sephira has seen that fear before in the eyes of the citizens she protected. No matter the steps she took to prove her goodwill, people could still look at her with that same dread. Her mother was about to become one of those people.
“And so am I.”
Silence followed, her mother starring at the hands clasped in her lap. Sephira stood from her chair and slowly approached her mother, kneeling down in front of her and taking her hands in her own.
“It’s still me mum, I’m the same person I was before.” The Element looked at her mother with a hopeful twitch of a smile before her face fell. Her mother sat there silently for what seemed like an eternity before finally opening her lips to speak. She did not meet her daughter's eyes, her pupils remaining fixed on her lap.
“How long?” The words were cold, wreathed in frost and ice. It was as if her mother had vanished behind a veil, the person before her was completely alien and unfamiliar.
“Five arcs, since I was fifteen.” Sephira said gently, trying desperately to make eye contact with the older woman. Her hands squeezed Amelia’s tightly as if somehow physical contact could make the situation easier.
“Elias taught you this, he made you into this?” Her voice had grown jagged and bitter, the words growing in volume as she spoke until finally her eyes snapped up to meet Sephira’s own.
“He did this...”
Sephira bristled at her mother’s accusation, her own gaze growing sharp before she decided to take a gentler rout. Surely this was difficult for her mother, learning that you daughter was not only a mage but that she had been one for some time without you ever noticing. Lies had been told and secrets kept from Amelia.
“I made a choice mum, that’s all there is to it.” Amelia’s eyes cut to the side, as if unsatisfied with letting Elias off the hook. How could her daughter have known what she was doing when she was only fifteen arcs of age? How dare that man make this choice for her!
“Listen, you can believe what you want.” The mage reached up and lightly set her hand on her mother’s shoulder. “But that is why I ran, someone attacked Elias, and before he died he made me promise that I would leave before they came for me as well. “
Taking a deep breath she continued.
“I joined the Elements to find a safe haven and a place where I could be of use. Being an Element has become more than I ever expected. I have a purpose now...a purpose that allows me to help people, all the more because I am a mage.” Sephira signed before slowly climbing back to her feet, her mother’s icy expression remaining as she continued to avoid meeting her daughter’s eyes.
“When I heard that you had been hurt...I boarded the first boat to the island.” There was genuine concern in the mage’s voice even if her mother continued to ignore her. Sephira continued, her voice growing in surety as she spoke.
“Mum you need to tell me who attacked you or anything you remember about the person that hurt you.” she pleaded. Sephira was desperate to get some answers. Was the attack simply an attempted burglary or was there something else at work. Was it the man who had killed Elias, had this all been done to force Sephira return to Faldrass?
The woman stared at her mother for a few more moments before her eyes hardened. Sephira loved her mother and would do everything in her power to support her, but they would make no progress like this.
“You may not want to talk to me right now, but in this moment I’m not just your daughter, I’m also an Element and I will investigate this crime.” Her words were firm and unwavering , even if Sephira felt like she was falling apart inside. It wounded her to see her mother acting this way, shunning her because she was a mage, because she had lied about it for so long.
Finally her mother’s eyes lifted and some of the light returned to her eyes.
“I didn’t see who it was. It was dark, I was going to bed when there was this flash of light...then there was just pain." She stated tersely before snapping to her feet and moving toward the small kitchen to stir the pot over the fire. Her daughter stood there, watching her as she listened to her mother’s brief account of the attack. Finally after several bits of silence Sephira gestured her right hand toward the door.
“Pack your things; I’m taking you somewhere safe.”
Amelia’s eyes jolted up to finally meet her daughter’s own gaze.
“I’ll do no such thing.” She hissed angrily before proceeding to furiously stir the pot of soup. “I’ll be fine Sephira, I’m not leaving my home.” The acidity to her words was palpable, there was a gaping hole between them that would not heal over for quite some time.
“Mum ,I will carry you out of this house if I have to. ”
At this Amelia’s lips twitched with the barest whisper of a smile.
Sephira continued, undaunted. “The Baron offered us refuge should we ever need it, his home is probably the safest place on the island, perhaps even the safest place in Scalvoris. He said you two were friends a long time ago. ”
The Element stepped into the kitchen until she was only a few steps away from her mother.
“Please, do this for me. I may have lied to you, but I did it to keep us safe. Please stay with the Baron until the danger has passed.”
Amelia begrudgingly looked up at her daughter, her dark eyes examining her carefully before finally giving Sephira a singular nod.
“Thank you.” The woman replied with a relieved sigh.
“I promise I will make this right.”
Dialogue|Thoughts
