Deep in the wild of Fay'Run, the Mothertree sang the song of a tragedy unleashed in the heart of the House of Elves. The impossible, the unthinkable, had happened: the corpse of the Archdruid Ivnel had risen to bring death and destruction to his people like a vengeful spirit.
But he was not the only ghost from the past.
In the midst of the chaos, a human had appeared, a relic of a long-dead house, and his mere presence had struck fear into an already panicked populace.
And as if that weren't enough, Elanor Caelith, the former Seer of the House, had sung a hymn of war against his own people. All to save a human. One human.
'This... is unbelievable.'
Around him, the wind and the leaves danced to the song of the storm. It was a protective song for him and his father, and an impenetrable one for everyone else. For some reason, Kadar knew it was raging outside, but here, in the eye of the storm, it was peaceful. There was just him and his father.
Kadar had seen the nature magic of the elves before. Mayiaiwiel had always used it, and sometimes, when he had seen elves in the secret, he had seen it too.
But he had never known the extent of the magic his father had mastered. It was as if he had separated him and Kadar from the rest of the world with his singing just to create this one moment.
Kadar's heart grew heavy. This moment, he realized, was the moment of farewell.
"Father... why...?"
A slap on the back of his head interrupted him and he looked up in alarm.
Elanor looked at him sternly.
"You snuck out, against my orders. And what is that thing in your hand?"
He pointed to the crossbow. Kadar blinked in confusion. For a second, he almost wanted to laugh.
"I'm sorry..." he whispered.
His father looked at him sternly for a moment. Then he sighed.
"Oh, Kadar... I've been too kind to you."
He laughed a little. His eyes softened.
"But I have one last gift for you."
He held up the bag and pressed it into Kadar's hands. Kadar himself didn't understand. Then his father took the long, wrapped object from his back and draped it around Kadar.
He looked deep into his son's eyes. Kadar saw many things in those eyes. Pain, joy, love... farewell.
"Happy birthday, my son."
Kadar looked slowly at the bag his father had given him. His eyes wandered to the side, where something heavy hung on his shoulder. The tears were close.
'Ah yes,' he realized.
'Today is my sixteenth birthday...'
The thought sounded like a sick joke in his head. But... he didn't want to lose this moment.
He turned back to his father with a painful expression on his face.
"Thank you," he forced himself to say with a faint smile on his face.
"What is it?"
Kadar's voice was heavy, as heavy as the air around them, filled with leaves and wind. His fingers tightened around the bag, as if he could feel the weight of the answer.
Elanor shook his head, a bittersweet smile on his lips.
"Something to remind you of home..." His gaze wandered and his voice dropped, almost to a whisper.
"Of both your origins."
Kadar's heart tightened. He wanted to ask what his father meant, but before he could speak, something in Elanor's gaze changed. The tenderness gave way to a deep seriousness that Kadar had rarely seen. It was an expression that said more than words ever could.
"Kadar," Elanor began, his voice firmer than before.
"Listen to me. Before... before this ends, there are some things I need to tell you."
Kadar felt his stomach clench. End? He didn't wan't it to end. But he was too weak to change it. He nodded silently, unable to speak.
Elanor took a deep breath.
"Sixteen years ago, I found you in the human castle when I escaped from their hold."
Kadar nodded quickly.
"Yes, I know that. You told me."
Elanor shook his head.
"Not in the way I have to tell you now." His voice weakened for a moment before he continued.
"I was there, Kadar. I was there when the humans... when they disappeared."
Kadar's mind did not fully grasp the meaning of all this. But his father spoke with a conviction that left no doubt.
"The stories they tell each other today are... different. They are incomplete. But I was there."
Elanor paused, his eyes fixed on a point in the distance, as if looking back through time.
"I saw it, Kadar. The disappearances. Every single one of them... just gone. Not dead. Not alive. Just... gone."
Kadar swallowed hard. His hands shook. He wanted to say something, but the words caught in his throat.
"Everyone is gone," Elanor continued.
"Except you. Yet, when I found you... you were already dead."
A shiver ran through Kadar's body. He felt the tears well up in his eyes, but he still didn't understand what his father was trying to tell him.
"Perhaps you heard us talking earlier," Elanor finally said.
"Radoslav, Ra... they all know. In blood, you are the only human left, Kadar."
Kadar's heart pounded in his chest. What he had always suspected suddenly became an inescapable truth.
"They will hunt you," Elanor said, his voice now filled with urgency.
"They will want to find you. Because without you... without you, they will not survive, Kadar."
"But why?" Kadar's voice was a harsh whisper.
"Why me?"
Elanor was silent for a moment. His eyes softened, filled with sadness.
"Because you are the last key. The last one left."
The words hung heavily in the air, but then Elanor added, softly but with unwavering determination,
"But you don't have to, Kadar. You don't have to help them."
Kadar looked up, his eyes wide with shock.
"What?"
"It is not your battle. There is no home to defend for you." Elanor looked at him, and there was a mixture of love and regret in his eyes.
"They will never accept you. There is no House of Humans left to take you in. You will be... alone."
Kadar's throat tightened. Alone. It was a word that hurt more than any wound ever could.
Elanor pointed to the bag in Kadar's hand.
"This is all I can give you for this difficult journey. I'm sorry, Kadar. I'm sorry I couldn't do more for you."
Tears streamed down Kadar's cheeks. He shook his head.
"No... no."
His voice broke, but he continued to speak.
"You did so much for me. You raised me. You taught me how to live. How to survive. You loved me. That's more than I could ever hope for."
Elanor smiled weakly before pulling his son into his arms. Kadar clung to him as if this moment would never end. But deep down he knew that this parting was inevitable.
Suddenly, the air around them twitched. A soft crack, like a bolt of lightning, cut through the silence. A small crack opened in the raging storm of leaves - claws broke through the barrier, only to be swept away immediately.
Elanor's spell began to break.
Kadar didn't notice. For him there was only this moment. This painful, final moment.
His father released the embrace and looked deep into his eyes.
"You are stronger than you know, my son. Not just you, but your blood. Just... don't get lost in it. Please."
His voice was calm, but his hands were shaking.
"I am proud of you."
Those words, simple yet so difficult, broke Kadar's heart. They signaled what he had refused to believe. This... might be the last time he would see his father.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, anything that could stop the moment, ease the pain. But what could he say? There was so much left unsaid, so many questions, but his mouth was dry, his throat tight.
Elanor spoke, his voice firm but tinged with sadness:
"Even if the whole world hates you... never forget that there are people who are there for you. Even if I'm not here anymore."
Kadar felt his insides tighten.
"You... come with me, Father! Please!"
His voice was a desperate plea, almost a cry. But Elanor just shook his head. Tears ran down his cheeks, his eyes were red, but he smiled.
"Oh, my son... forgive the Mothertree that I had been your father," he said softly.
Kadar started to object in his hand, but Elanor held up a hand to calm him and continued, "I didn't know how to raise a child. Especially a human one. But when I found you so innocent then... how could I have left you there?"
His voice trailed off, but he caught himself and continued.
"I tried to turn you into an elf. Now I see that was a mistake. You are not an elf. But... you are not meant to be a human either."
Kadar stared at him, confused and hurt. Elanor still smiled weakly.
"And yet I don't regret a single day of taking you with me. Hiding you and raising you. Of taking something that wasn't mine and loving you every day."
The words pierced Kadar's heart. Tears streamed down his face and his hands clutched the pouch his father had given him.
"And if you ever feel lost in this wide world, just..." Elanor's voice dropped, almost to a whisper.
"Just stay my son. Stay Kadar Caelith. Forever."
Kadar wiped away tears with shaking hands. His voice broke as he answered.
"I will, Father. I swear, I will."
A long silence followed. They looked at each other as if trying to capture the moment forever. Finally, an expression of peace found it's way onto Elanor's face.
"Then I have nothing more to fear."
And then he began to sing again.
It was beautiful, his father's song. A song of love and farewell, of a bond that not even death could break. The storm grew stronger around them, the leaves swirling in a melody as old as the forest itself. But for Kadar, only his father's voice mattered, lulling him, comforting him, grounding him.
He knew it was the last song Elanor would ever sing for him. But at that moment, the song was all he needed. All he would ever need.
"O Mothertree, your roots so deep,
Where secrets dwell, where forests weep.
By winds that howl, by branches torn,
Let the exiled soul be forlorn."
Elanor's voice was quiet at first, almost melancholy, but with each syllable the power in it grew. Kadar could not breathe, only feel the echo of the words in his heart as the leaves around them began to rustle like a slow breath.
"Through ancient law, your judgment calls,
No shadows linger 'neath your halls.
The soil shall turn, the skies shall cry,
Let none return who defy."
The world began to tremble, as if responding to the song itself. Kadar could almost feel his father's power, like an invisible pulse emanating from Elanor.
"But here I stand, a father lost,
Who bore the love, and paid its cost.
A human child, so pure, so frail,
I shielded him from hate's cruel gale."
Tears burned in Kadar's eyes, but he could not wipe them away - the words held him captive.
"O leaves that sing, O boughs that sway,
Take him far, keep harm away.
The world may scorn, the world may blame,
Yet in my heart, he bears my name."
The leaves began to converge on Kadar and the ground shook slightly. Elanor raised his voice, the singing full of power, like a choir from another world.
"For every star that fades at dawn,
Another soul must journey on.
This is my pledge, this is my pain,
My son shall live, though I remain."
Kadar closed his eyes and let his head sink into his father's warm chest. A hand ruffled his hair, but the words would not be stopped. For they were the most powerful law in the forest of the elves.
"O Mothertree, with all your might,
Cast out the dark, preserve the light.
Through song and storm, through life and death,
I sing for him, with my last breath."
As Elanor sang the last words, the world around them erupted. The leaves and the wind closed in on Kadar like a protective embrace - but this time only for him, without his father.
Nature began to take him away. Away from this place.
Elanor stood there, his form both powerful and fragile as Kadar was swept away by the magic.
A last smile danced on his father's face before the world disappeared before Kadar's eyes.