"Brother," she exclaimed sorrowfully, "I swear upon our parent's grave that I will not rest until I have avenged your death!" There were no tears wetting her face that day or for any day to come, for she had no time to grieve.
The last of her family was dead.
She scavenged around for what little she could find of the house she and her brother had once shared with her long departed parents. It had been left in shambles.
Her family had been members of the world's deadliest warrior race. They were the Sidhe; they were as beautiful as they were dangerous. There were two different types of Sidhe. The full blooded and those who became part of the Sidhe after their territories were taken over by the Sidhe; some were given noble status, like her family.
The thing about this female, she was not a Sidhe by birth. Some of her genes had been genetically altered. Her hair was fire-like red and gold, and her eyes were snake-like, the color of pure gold with a silver of red for a pupil. The hair color was now, only seen on a Sidhe when a terrible calamity is about to befall the world. They are said to yield powers, the likes of which no other Sidhe or mortal could comprehend. It is also said that the power they control, came at a high price.
In times past, the Sidhe were great Battle Mages and Paladins. Virtually any Sidhe could become a Battle Mage or Paladin; that was until five thousand years ago when the Sidhe broke away from the Elders.
During that war the casualties were devastating on both sides. By the time the smoke cleared, six-hundred and ninety-five of the remaining Battle Mages and Paladins had declared their independence from the Elders and renamed themselves the Sidhe. After that bloody massacre the ones who named themselves Sidhe gave up their greater magic's by sealing those powers away for when the world was in great danger. Thus the legend of the Battle Mages and Paladins came to be. They sealed their powers away in hopes that one who was found worthy during the world's time of need could call upon their powers
She found a horse, that had not been killed or lamed, and put her meager findings in place, then swung herself up on the horse's bare back and flicked the reigns guiding the horse into a canter. She was determined to make it to the state of Lytharia, one of the twenty-six Sidhe states, and home to the King and Queen of their people.
It was a grueling twelve week journey from Ystatlin. This was not a journey that she would normally make on her own, but given her circumstances, she had no choice. She had to warn the King and Queen. Besides, her brother and only friend had been killed in that massacre and she was out for the blood of those who killed the last remnant of her family.
"Why?!!" Silvari cried out, "Why was I the only survivor?" It just does not make any sense. I just got off with some scratches and bruises here and there, but now that I remember, something just doesn't feel right. She thought about everything that had happened during those two months of hell and she found that it just did not add up in her mind. She felt the event's that happened were shrouded in mist as if whoever attacked her people had used some kind of memory alteration spell. She was still trying to marshal her thoughts together when she made her first stop of the day. It was not one of the better-known inns but it would serve her purpose and it was cheap.
"I think I will stop here for the night she told her mount and see if they have any available rooms." Her gelding turned his head back to look at her as if he understood every word; it was a born and bred genuine Sidhe horse. Her gelding nodded his head and whickered in response. She dropped the reigns and lightly leaped off his back and led him to the stables where she paid the stable hand a Silver Star. When she handed the coin to him, his eyes got large and he could barely stammer out a thank you.
As soon as she walked through, the door all conversation died out as all eyes turned in her direction. The innkeeper came rushing out to see why a sudden silence had descended over his inn. He took one look at the newcomer and immediately knew what she was.
"Get out! Your kind is not welcome here." The innkeeper said forcibly."
"Please sir I just need a room for the night. I just came from Ystatlin and….." that was all she got a chance to say before she was interrupted.
"I said you are not welcome here. Leave at once or I will have you thrown out. Your kind is a, blight on this world that need to be eradicated, and your race should have not existed in the first place.
Even though Silvari was hurt by his words she did not let it show on her face as she said, "as you wish sir," and that was all she said before she backed up and was about to step back out when she paused and turned and said, "those of you who wish to travel to Ystatlin, your journey will have been in vain."
"And why will our journey have been in vain?" one of the guests asked her.
"The people of Ystatlin have been massacred, and I am the only survivor, also I am on my way to warn the King and Queen of Lytharia. Since my kind is not welcome here I'll be on my way. For those of you who came all this way to see Ystatlin, I am truly sorry that you have come all this way for nothing." Right as she was about to open the door and walk out, another voice stopped her dead in her tracks.
"How do we know that you didn't have a hand in the massacre? How do we know you are telling us the truth? Moreover I find it suspicious that you were the only one left alive. If there was truly a massacre you would not be standing here telling us to stay away from Ystatlin."
With those series of accusations thrown her way, she froze and an overwhelming sense of guilt overtook her. She fell to her knees as the tears she had been keeping at bay by sheer force of will finally fell. As her guilt and grieve started to take their toll on her mind, her powers broke loose and had it not been for the stable hand she had given the silver star to, the inn would be nothing more than a pile of rubble. He ran up to her, wrapped his arms around her, and whispered in her ear that it was not her fault. Once she was done crying she asked the boy what is name was.
"My name is Hallen. May I ask what your name?"
"My name is Silvari."
"What a pretty name."
"Thank you."
"Hey I know, why don't you stay with me and my family, I'm sure they wouldn't mind having you after all you did give me enough money to feed my family for a month," Hallen suggested to Silvari.
Silvari readily agreed to stay with him and his family for the night. Once all her tears were dried up she put her cold emotionless mask back into place and it was a mask she would wear for a very long time. Drawing upon her innate powers, her hair became so dark as to look like the night sky, and her eyes became a cerulean blue. She gestured for Hallen to proceed ahead of her while she went to the stables and got her gelding. Her gelding sensing that she was still distraught whickered softly and gently butted her with his head in a comforting gesture, that small gesture made her laugh for the first time since that nightmare two months ago.
The walk to where Hallen lived was a good twenty-five minutes from the inn where he worked. As they were walking, he was telling her about his family and how they did not have enough money to pay for a healer that his little sister was so in need of. She listened to him and decided right then and there that she would help his family out, and in turn she would take him with her to be her aide, guide and friend. All of this processed through her mind; about the same time they reached the shack were he lived with his parents and sick sister. His father and mother ran out to greet him, where they stopped twenty paces from him when they saw Silvari.
"Son who is this girl?" his father asked, "And…."
"Dear, that girl is Sidhe."
"What do you mean she is Sidhe? I thought they were wiped out a long time ago?"
"Did you not hear of the legendary battle that tore the Elders apart?"
"No, I haven't, and I will not let filth like that thing standing there contaminate my home."
At that point, Silvari thought it best to butt into their conversation, "excuse me but don't you have a daughter that is in dire need of a healer? If you let me stay here for the night, I will see what I can do for your daughter."
"Yeah ma, pa you really should let her stay for the night. She gave me enough money to feed us for a month."
"If you let me stay I will heal your little girl in exchange that you let me take Hallen with me."
"And what do you want with our son you piece of filth?"
Silvari's eyes went colder than Hallen had originally thought possible, and he knew that no matter how much he pleaded with her, she would not stay.
"Hallen take me to your sister."
"Yes ma'am."
Turning to his parents she said, "I will heal your daughter then I am leaving and taking both of them with me. It seems my good sir that your wife has been keeping secrets from you."
"What the hell do you mean that my wife has been keeping secrets from me?" he asked.
"All I am saying is that your wife isn't all she claims to be."
"Leave this place." Hallen's mother cried.
"I will leave after I have a chance to do something for your youngest, take me to her, and that is not a request. From what your son has told me, she is very ill and not likely to live past the year."
"Fine we will let you see her and then you will leave here. No, and you will not be taking our son with you. God knows what you will turn him into."
"It is not my choice to make, but his. If he so wishes to travel with me then that is his choice and I will gladly take him with me."
"Really you would take me with you?" Hallen interjected before either parent could get a word in edge wise.
"Well then if that is all, I would like to take a look at your daughter now." She pointedly said, suiting her words to actions.
Five minutes later she had her gelding watered and fed and then, had Hallen show her to the room in which his little sister was staying. His sister being the youngest did not have her own room, but shared a room with their parents. Once Silvari got to the room the smell of sickness and death were almost too overwhelming for her, it was to the point that she actually had to step outside the room. Once she steeled herself, she pushed the door open and stepped into the room. One look around the room showed a girl in a fitful rest. She rushed into the room and knelt by the bed.
"Hallen tell me, what is your sister's name?"
"Her name is Malina. What does her name have to do with anything?"
"Knowing her name has everything to do with this healing. In order to save her, I must call her back to the world of the living, now I am going to need you and your parents to step outside the room."
"Oh no missy we are not leaving our daughter alone with you. I still don't trust you."
"Fine, but you will stay quiet, because this is going to require all of my concentration."
Once she felt that the girl's family would not give her any problems, she started the spell that would link her to young Malina.
"Penar mala venit a mando grav-voule, culathein minato quiere. Pulenayi, dantan musala."1 After she completed the spell, a silvery-bluish light surrounded the two of them.
What felt like an eternity to the other three in the room was actually five hours. That is how long it took for her to locate and isolate the areas that the sickness had spread to, and then she got to work destroying the virus one cell at a time. When she was done the silvery-bluish light faded and was replaced by a soft blue glow. When she sat up, the girls parents came rushing forward bombarding her with questions. She held up her hand to stop the questions and told them to give her a minute. Once she got her bearings back she explained what she did.
"Come Hallen, it is time that we leave." Silvari said leaving the bedroom, "if you want you can take the time to tell your parents goodbye. I will be outside with my horse."
"Thank you Silvari, it means a lot to me." Hallen exclaimed and ran over to give her a hug.
The only person to ever give her a hug like that was her brother, who she would never see again. As she started thinking about her brother things started to go haywire. The house started to shake, glass started to break, and she was cursing the name of the Elders.
"Damn you to Hell, damn you for what you did to my family, to my people, as long as there is breath in this body, I will have my revenge."
Hallen seeing the look in her eyes just continued to hug her and tell her things would be okay and that she would have her revenge, and that her brother wouldn't want to see her like this. It worked after five minutes of his whispering soothing words to her, she allowed a small smile to tug at her lips, and then apologized to his father and mother for the damage she had caused. Before walking out of the house she left her money pouch on the table. It was the last of her money. After Hallen said his goodbye's he gathered his things and walked out of the house.
A/N: The spell she used is a Sidhe spell to link to people together, to heal someone on the brink of death. The spell means: Hear me ancient spirits, spare this child for she is precious. What power is given me, bind us as one.