When the thundering of Firenze's hooves faded into the distance, Lizzie looked up to the older centaur she was leaning against, and said, "what just happened?"
He looked down at her, seeming amused, and said, "I do not believe we have been introduced. I am Cyfrin. And you are?"
She straightened up as much as she could, still feeling bone-tired as if she would fall asleep standing up, and said, "I'm Elizabeth Stoll. I thank you for chasing away that-whatever that was." She paused, considering something, before asking, "do you know what that was?"
He opened his mouth to answer, but Bane interrupted him, barking, "Cyfrin, we do not tell the secrets of the stars to humans. Remember your oath."
Cyfrin sighed, and said, "Bane, can you not see sense. She healed the unicorn. She used our magic."
Bane reared in fury, and said, "she is human. There is no way that is possible."
"There is, and you know it."
Bane snorted, and turned away from Cyfrin, saying, "take her back to the school and be done with it."
Cyfrin, looking furious, lowered himself to the ground so Lizzie could clamber on, before taking off, though not in the same direction as Firenze.
"Where are you taking me?" Lizzie asked quietly.
"To figure something out," he muttered. He looked up and her and said, "Elizabeth, do you know why someone would want to hurt that unicorn?" She shook her head. "To drink its blood. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive even if you are an inch from death but at a terrible price. You have slain something so pure and defenseless to save yourself, and you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips."
She paused, and said, "but who would do such a thing. Who would be so desperate as to go that far? Seems to me like death is a better option."
"It is," Cyfrin agreed. "Unless, all you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else - something that will bring you back to full strength and power - something that will mean you can never die. Elizabeth, do you know what is in hiding in your school at this very moment.
"The Sorcerer's Stone, but, that would mean - The Elixir of Life - but who?"
Can you think of nobody who has waited years to return to power, who had clung to life, awaiting their chance?"
It was like she had been struck by lightning, and she sucked in a breath, barely daring to breathe, before whispering weakly, "Voldemort."
"Indeed. Now, I have answered your questions, but you have yet to answer mine. So, if I may ask, how did you heal that unicorn?"
She was startled, not expecting that, and said, "I didn't do that. I couldn't have done that."
Cyfrin stopped and turned to look at her, with an undetectable emotion in his eyes. "But you did," he whispered.
"But, but how?" she whispered, staring at her hands.
"That is what I would also wish to know."
And he looked, and in his eyes was kindness, and sympathy, and sadness. And so, she told him everything, from when she got her letter to now. About her unexplainable hate of Quirrell, about Cerberus, about Norbert, and about her persistent dreams. She spared no details, and he listened, for the first time in a long time, someone listened to her, really listened. When she was done with her explanation, he just nodded and looked up to the stars. She did too.
For a long time, the two of them just sat there, looking at the stars. Then, suddenly, something Bane had said came to her. "Mars is bright tonight," she whispered.
Cyfrin stared at her, not understanding what she was saying. "Yes," he answered.
It was like a lightning bolt had struck her. "Mars is bright tonight. Mars. Danger is coming. That's what it means."
He stared at her in disbelief, before stammering out, "y-yes, how did you know that?"
"I don't know. I just did."
He looked at her thoughtfully, before saying, "I think you should see something."
They thundered through the woods, trees blurring past her, the wind tearing at her hair and making her eyes water. They passed normal and magical animals alike, including a strange herd of creatures, like horses, but with great wings, like those of an eagle. They looked up as she passed, and they had yellow eyes. They continued on, jumping over a stream at one point, before Cyfrin stopped suddenly in front of two large elm trees.
He knelt down, and Lizzie took that as a signal to jump off, and once she did, he turned to her, leaning in and staring at her so intensely she thought he could see her soul.
"What I am about to show you, you must vow never to tell anyone. You must swear not to utter a word of it."
She nodded, and said, "I swear. I swear on my mother's soul."
He nodded and led her through the trees, and it was suddenly a different world.
She had entered into a large clearing, with a camp of sorts set up in the center. She gasped as she realized where she was.
The centaur village.
They walked in, Lizzie nervously keeping close to Cyfrin's flank.
The result was instant. Everywhere they walked, centaurs stopped what they were doing and stared at her. The few that were out in the middle of the night stared at her like she was a creature from another world.
They walked deeper and deeper into the center of the village until they stopped in front of a hut. Cyfrin motioned for her to wait outside, and entered, leaving her in front of the hut.
She waited for several minutes, nervously tearing up grass stalks and tying them into knots before Cyfrin popped his head out and led her inside. There was a fire burning in the center, and it filled the hut with a strange smell, like early mornings and jasmine.
Sitting behind the fire was an aged centaur, much older than her or Cyfrin, and another centaur stood near him.
"Elizabeth, this is Arax. And this is his son, Magorian."
She got the feeling that the old centaur deserved respect, so she bowed her head. He smiled slightly, although his son was still looking at her like she was a bug that had offended him and should be squashed.
"Hello, child," he said warmly. He had a deep voice, but kind, and when he smiled his face crinkled. "Hello," she said meekly.
"Cyfrin says you have done amazing things in our forest. He tells me you saved the life of a unicorn." She nodded. "Please sir, I don't know how I did it. I didn't mean to!" He looked into her eyes deeply, and it felt like he could see every thought she had ever had. They stared at each other for a few minutes, before he said, "you are not in trouble young one. We just wish to know how you accomplished such things."
"I do not know."
He nodded, and said, "sit. Look into the fire. Tell me what you see."
She sat, and the heat from the fire enveloped her, making her even more tired.
At first, she sat and saw nothing, and was about to give up from frustration, when something flashed in the fire. A shape. Like a-like a stone. She murmured it under her breath, and suddenly something unleashed, and a flood of images came through the fire. A mirror. An arrow. Stars. Her. A door. A lake. Her. Spiders. Her. Suddenly a dragon appears. He roars, and she swears she can hear it.
The edges of her vision start going fuzzy and she tries to cling to consciousness, but the flood of exhaustion sweeps her away, and she falls backward, warm hands catching her before she hits her head on the floor.
The three centaurs watch the human child, one irritated, one nervous, one patient.
She is staring at the flames, and they the frustration in her. Suddenly, she sees something. She murmurs, "a stone." Suddenly her eyes flare, and where there had once been a beautiful deep blue, was now a flaming orange, almost perfectly reflecting the fire she was staring into.
She started watching frantically, almost leaning into the fire. Cyfrin moved to help her, but Arax held out his arm, stopping him. She watches the fire frantically for another few minutes, and then, a dragon head appears in the fire for all to see, and it roars. She starts shaking and falls backward, Cyfrin rushing to catch her before she hits her head.
The hit is silent for a few more moments, and then voices burst forth.
"Did you not see. Do you not know who she is-"
"No, she is not. She can't be-"
"You know very well she can-"
"It is impossible. Lies-"
Arax holds up his hand, and both centaurs quit their bickering. "Magorian. See to it that Bane and Firenze return from their patrol. I wish to talk to Cyfrin alone."
"But, Father-"
"Magorian!" he barked.
The centaur bowed his head and left, throwing a glare at the unconscious child in their midst.
They sit in silence for a few more moments, letting the things that had been revealed this night rest.
The silence is broken when Arax stands, and walks over to Cyfrin, peering curiously at the girl next to him.
"Tell me what you know of her;" he commands quietly. And Cyfrin does. He tells him what the girl had told him, about her dreams and strange encounters with creatures, and he tells him of what he witnessed in that small grove when she healed the unicorn.
The hut is quiet as the old centaur contemplates this new information.
"Do you know who she is?"
"Yes."
After a long pause, he sighs.
"You wish to mentor her."
"Yes."
Another long sigh. "I give you permission to take this foal under your wing, and to guide her until she may take her oath."
Cyfrin bows his head, and murmurs a quiet, "thank you.
Her eyes open slowly, and it feels like she's lifting a ton with each eyelid, but she manages. Looking around, she finds she is still in Arax's tent. It is empty, and the fire she had been looking into earlier is dead, just smoldering logs now. She shoots a glare at it, before standing up slowly.
She walks outside of the tent, to find Cyfrin sitting there, whittling something with a small knife.
He looks up at her, and tucks the block of wood into a small pouch, saying, "good morning. I should get you up to the school before they send out a search party." He chuckles, and she looks up to see that the sun is rising, just peeking over the edge of the horizon.
She nods, and he lowers himself down so she can clamber on, before he sets off on a brisk trot, not nearly as fast as the night before.
They go on in silence for maybe 20 minutes, Lizzie still waking up.
Cyfrin sighs suddenly, and he lowers himself to the ground, and Lizzie climbs down, wondering if she had done something wrong.
"Lizzie, I believe there are some things we should discuss."
"Okay…"
They continue walking, Lizzie having to jog slightly to keep up with him.
"Arax has given me permission to mentor you."
She pauses for a second, before saying, "what does that mean?"
He chuckles softly. "A mentor is a teacher of sorts. When centaurs get older, they need a teacher to help them learn how to handle the powers they are getting. Our magic doesn't really appear until we're around 10 years old. So, when they reach that age, they are given a mentor. The mentor is usually a family member, not a parent, but an uncle or aunt, or perhaps an older cousin, one who has taken the oath and can train you."
She nodded in understanding, but a question bubbled up. "I-I'm not a centaur. Why do you need to mentor me?"
He stopped walking and looked at her again. But, it was almost like he didn't see her.
"Elizabeth, who was your mother?"
"My mother? Her name was Kiara. Kiara Stoll."
"And your father?"
"I don't know. He left. Left or died when I was two. I don't remember him."
He looked at her sadly.
"Yes you do."
She shook her head, but a memory was coming to the surface, one that she had never known before but knew with perfect clarity was real.
She was in a meadow, and her mother and Felan were standing in the middle, and she was on the back of a horse, galloping around.
Except it wasn't a horse.
It was a centaur.
He was laughing, and kept throwing glances back that she was still on his back. But she knew she wouldn't fall. Her mother had made a harness for her, so she could ride without falling off.
And this centaur.
She loved him.
Why did she love him?
She delved deeper into the memory, or whatever this was.
Her breath hitched when she realized who he was.
This centaur, he was, he was her father.
She was suddenly flung from the memory, and she emerged gasping for breath, like she'd been drowning.
She was sitting against a tree, and Cyfrin was lying next to her, staring at her worriedly.
"How did I-, I was over the-"
"You fainted. I caught you and brought you here to rest until you woke. Here, drink some water," He said kindly, handing her a small flask.
She took a few sips, and he waited patiently. When she was done and handed the flask back to him, he put it away and asked, "what did you see."
She looked down at her hands. "I saw my father."
He nodded.
"He-he was a centaur."
"Yes, your father was a centaur. His name was Sahir. And you are half a centaur. That is why Cerberus and Norbert treated you as such, why you see glimpses of the future, why you saw things in that fire. You are half a centaur."
She just had one more question, though she almost dreaded the answer.
"Did you know him?"
Cyfrin hesitated for a few moments, before he reached down and picked up her arm gently, turning it so he could see the strange birthmark on the inside of her arm.
It was a strange swirl, and he mother had said she had it because she was blessed.
He reached out his arm, and put it next to hers. And, just below the crook of his elbow, was a strange swirl birthmark. Just like hers.
She gasped slightly, and looked up to meet Cyfrin's eyes, where he was gazing at her kindly. "Yes. He was my brother."
Well, I hope you liked this. Tell me what you thought of the plotwist.