"The years after the Prime War ended, the powerful followers of the Prime Beings ruled. They called themselves the gods, and they controlled every aspect of the lives of mortals that had been born from the bones of the Prime Being, Yornus. His corpse had become the battleground of his brothers and sisters after his death, forming the mountains and rivers and oceans from their own power." -Excerpt of Kieva's Mythological History
------------------------------------------------Semsì-------------------------------------------------------
"What are you doing up here?"
The voice startled me. No one had ever found me up here, all the way on top of the guard tower overlooking the entire city. I looked up from where I laid on the tile roofing, and peering up from the south, where a 40 foot drop awaited, was the round face of an elven girl about my age. Her accent was strange, and there was a long pause as I stared.
"Uh," I stammered, "trying to relax," Her head tilted in response and her forehead creased as her eyes narrowed at me. My startled tone must have been enough to tip her off that she was singular in finding me on this peak.
Her face was round, and her nose rather flat against it, with long straight jet black hair tied in a bun atop her head. Elves across the continent were known to be every shade of brown from the various mahogany toned elves of the Ver-Andan forests, to the tall and fair skinned elves hailing from the island kingdom of Alina, and the midnight skinned elves of the deep, of which my ancestors belonged to. Many tribes of each area have a long history of mixture, so skin tone and height is a poor way to distinguish us apart, similar to the many toned humans who inhabit our world.
This girl heaved herself up, a rather effortless motion that betrayed a bit of her tendencies. She was a climber, like me. Though I could already tell she did much more of it than I. Though I knew not where she was from, she was not a deep elf like myself, who hailed from the Soms Mountains south-west of Rency.
"You relax up here?" she said, sitting on the tile and gazing out towards the same sunset I was looking at.
"Yes," I said hesitantly, her straightforwardness was somewhat uncouth in Rency. "How- how did you get up here?" I stammered, stuttering over my words.
"You didn't climb past the tree on the southside of the inn on to the lower wall then walk about twenty five feet to this wall? The climb up here isn't far afterwards." She held a slight grin, revealing a row of sharp teeth, betraying her true wood elf heritage. She had long arms and a lithe build though I was still significantly taller than her by nearly a foot.
"I- uh- yeah, that's exactly my route?" I questioned.
"Yeah it's slightly worn down, I think you've used it a few times right?" she laughed, allowing her smile to trickle out naturally now. Her laugh was light and airy, and calmed my nerves slightly.
"Yeah," I laughed too, "I've been coming here since before my twenty five." She looked at me with eyes the color of amber, an almost orange, brown color in the setting sun. They looked at me with a sort of inspection that felt deeper than a surface level look. Her eyes were round and they blinked once or twice before she looked away and spoke again.
"I wanted to get away from the humans at the tavern for a moment, I didn't expect to find anyone up here right now," Her voice was lower pitched, something that made me want to listen all the more to what she was saying. "They are louder than even the dwarves back home in Chrzurub," she chuckled, "then I saw that there was a little worn trail leading up the wall, which led me to you. What is your name by the way?"
"Semsì'vatu, but my family calls me Semsì," I said. "You are the first to ever find me, guards walk right on by every half hour and not one has seen me in all my years." And it's been almost 75 of the human years that I've been coming here. I thought.
"Semsì, I am Jiva of the Hu`te`dine. I've come a long way to Rency with my father and he seems very disappointed now." She pulled her legs in close to her chest and sat her chin atop her knees. "I wasn't told what this whole trip was for, though I think now I'm beginning to understand my place in this world."
Okay, now I'm lost.
"Your place?" I asked.
Her gaze seemed lost in the sunset for a moment, so I let her have her freedom. I was mostly startled by this strange elf who barged into my space at sunset to tell me her problem, not to say I was mad about it at all. She was rather pretty after all. I followed her gaze, watching a cloud the shape of a chicken head peck its way across the sky. The red and orange background against her as she sat in front of me made it seem like she emitted a slight aura and glow.
"I don't know my place, yet." she smiled finally and leaned back. "That is not for me to find out yet. I have yet to have my Cantari this year." She said proudly.
"My Cantari is in a month," I laughed, suddenly remembering the thing I had climbed up here to escape thinking about. It must have been noticeable because she stifled a laugh behind her hand and I layed back.
"Everything was simpler when I was only twenty." She chuckled to herself, looking back at me.
"Me too. The only thing I had to worry about was learning how delicate the terms of society were, any little move and I could disappoint my father." I laughed to myself, but it was strained and I really hoped she didn't notice.
The raised eyebrow told me otherwise.
"The elves of the south have strange customs, I agree," she said, and I smiled.
"You are still well versed in the language and all of the customs." I said, your home is not close.
"I am the daughter of Wa`ati and granddaughter of my peoples Kerda." She said, not looking at me but staring back at the sliver of light still peeking over the horizon.
"Your place will be important," I said, looking at the darkening sky above me. She was quiet for a moment before she responded, letting the sun set before speaking.
"The world turns whether I am here or not." she turned around towards me. In the darkness only lit by the moon her eyes were even brighter somehow.
"I don't understand, Jiva."
"Would the world not continue to turn if I had not met you here tonight?" she asked.
"Well, yes, of course," I nodded.
"Then my place, at least for tonight, was to appear to you and grace you with my presence." she smiled.
"Who are you, really?" I was somewhat convinced I was dreaming, so I pinched my wrist as slyly as I could. Nope, I'm awake.
"I told you the truth. My name is Jiva."
"Yes, but why did you come to Rency?" I asked, plainly.
"I told you, I came with my father, from the far northern mountains of Chrzurub. I don't know the real reason why he came and brought me, but I am here so this was my place to be." I could see the smile she had now was forced.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."
Jiva shook her head and moved a little closer to me.
"No, don't worry. My father has been very worried lately and usually he's rather open with things to me and my siblings but now," she trailed off and I sat up.
"I've never felt that way with my father," I chuckled, "I think your father can change back to better than mine at least." She didn't respond to my comment and instead asked a question.
"Do you think that a person can be destined to another?"
The question took me aback. I hadn't spent much of any time really thinking about destiny anyway. Things came different to me. I was an okay swordsman, something all elves of the Siregal Valley tended to train in and an okay illusionist, which generally helped with my swordfighting. A harmless bit of extra sparks to the face of an opponent could decide a duel ending in a win or loss. I had peers that could cast entire fireballs now, and here I was throwing some sparks in a duel. If I had a great destiny, it would be to work for my father's company, if anything. Could people be destined to be together?
"I mean, does consent play a part?" I asked. Another tilt of the head. The way her hair twirled when she tilted was endearing and with a slow blink I could understand her expression was clearly one of playful annoyance.
"Uh, I mean, the gods could introduce people. If you believe in that sort of thing. Do they decide what your destiny is or just present choices for you?" I looked back at her and raised an eyebrow. She giggled, a light flowy laugh.
"I like to imagine that everything is up to us, the gods just placed us here. What we do with the opportunity of life is something we must find within ourselves, or at least I thought I did." She smiled again. "I don't know what awaits, but I will face it head on. Can I count on you, Semsì, to be a friend I have here while my father and our small group stay in Rency? I'll meet you here every night until I leave back home." She held her hand out to me.
"I don't really have many friends," I said, watching her still, hesitant to take her hand.
"You wouldn't have to do much, just meet me here for the next few nights." She slightly bit her lip in anticipation.
"I mean, sure. I don't have anything to lose.You would not be the only one who has a strange paternal relationship."
"You and your father don't get along?" she asked, puzzled.
"Not exactly," I chuckled, getting some form of amusement thinking that my father was in any way similar to hers.
My father was the second generational patron of a multinational metal mining operation. Our wares were sold locally and as far as the kingdom of Alina. The entire business was larger than I cared for, and maybe that's why I ran from what that part of life had for me.
"We talk to each other, you could say," I chuckled, the thought of how I truly thought of my father an actual joke to me.
What could I say to the man who spent more of my own life in another city, which must be saying something.
"You talk?"
"If he comes back to the place he likes to call home, and he sees a reason to talk to me, I don't stop the interaction." I said, taking in the last of the sunset, as the night truly set in. "I have given up on pleasing the person who calls himself my father."
"He doesn't come home often?"
"No." I said, curtly, hoping to end the discussion on father's. She had other plans.
"What does he do?"
Wonderful, my favorite question.
"Hat`ie vo ui'ta'vati, aithva nade wata'zi." I recited in the language of my forefathers, a form of elven even she could probably understand called Sylvan.
"My father mines the Prime metals, and I am his eldest." was the closest translation I could give for the words, though she nodded like she understood completely. I held the burden of his fortune should he return to the void, and the burden of his enemies. Even before my one hundredth year, I knew this well.
"You are the heir of the wati'fito." She looked at me with the large brown eyes, and for a moment the moons both reflected in the amber pools. I knew the many words the locals called the miners of the Prime metals in the places my father's miners delved; in some I had already visited with him.
That was when he was trying to teach me the ways of his fathers livelihood, though he soon found out that my other siblings might be more adept at following in his and grandfather's footsteps. Maybe my youngest brother, who has yet to reach his fifty years, will continue on his current path and take the family business over.
"I don't want to claim any of that," I said after a moment.
"You don't want to claim any of the power you have?"
Who have I met?
"My power?"
"Do you know who you are?"
"If you are asking if I know my place, I'll say right now, I have no clue. Nothing has ever been clear to me, nothing but my magic and dueling." I cast a spell, throwing golden sparks into the air with a wave of my hand, though this one was mostly out of anger.
She stifled a grin as she watched the sparks dissipate and then inched closer.
"I don't ask if you know your place. You cannot know your place until you know who you are. I know who I am, Majiva. I am Faraste Jiva`inte Ghuriurk of the Hu`te`dine. I am the granddaughter of the greatest Kervanda my people have ever seen, healing more people of the north than any before. I follow in greatness. Now who are you?"
Who am I? Who did I come from?