The mage ran through the forest noiselessly.
Her feet knew their path, steady and sure- her pursuers would never catch her.
She leapt over logs, hope growing in her stomach as she flew. She needed to reach the fastwater.
Here, she could phase into her clan animal- a trout- and be lost to those who followed. The water would wash away her mark of exile and she could return to her clan.
Sucking in a breath, she made a sharp turn. They could still track her, but she vowed to make their task as difficult as possible.
Turning cast her new problems- she may run into someone, and with the exile mark on her chest she would be instantly cut down by anyone who valued their clan soul.
So what? Now that she'd had the taste of elvish blood- she wouldn't hesitate to kill again...
Tagan
I prodded the fire. No-one else was up, although I could tell by Axenn's breathing that he was awake, and had been for some time.
My sister, Nil was curled up in a ball, grasping her cloak and sleeping fitfully in the absence of her husband.
Ala was sprawled out and snoring and I smiled to myself at her inelegance.
Marjue was silent and still; the calm attribute of her element- water- only visible as she slept.
Axenn finally sighed and rolled over, effortlessly hauling himself into a sitting position and nodding at me in a silent greeting. I nodded back and observed as Axenn's element stirred around him as he woke. I watched as the mist swirled and disappeared into the atmosphere.
Its job was done; it had protected Axenn through the night.
The elf boy shook his head as his element departed, the dew flying out of his shaggy black hair. Then he got up to wake Marjue.
Marjue fought against the morning, batting her brother away with an incoherent grunt. Axenn shrugged at me, and I shrugged back at my nephew, laughing silently and miming that he should tip the wash-water over her.
A grin split his face (a rare sight; his humour was not often displayed so obviously) and he pointed at his mother. We laughed together, revelling in the natural easiness that came to our little family when we travelled back here- back home.
Sure we missed the others in our lives- Nil missed her husband desperately. Mari and Axenn missed him too. They also missed their uncle and cousin. Ala missed her best friend and I missed my master- Pheobel- and my best friend Ororan Yolenyee.
But coming back to the clan time my siblings and I grew up, the pain of all that had happened to us since then lessened. We felt whole again while we were surrounded by our untainted elements and the magic that was thick and welcoming in the air.
And it was, of course, this moment of realisation and content when everything started to go wrong.
One thing that every elf innately knows whether they were born in this time or not, is that when the birds take to the skies and the trees whisper among themselves of terror- something evil is coming.