He leaned forward upon his knees, shielding the flames from the uncertain gusts of wind.\u00a0 That chill breeze had pushed through the forest for days, and the elf wondered if it would ever relent.<\/p>\n
He cocked his head then.\u00a0 Was it a wish he just made?\u00a0 The wind did desist, if only for a moment.\u00a0 There was another sound beside it then.\u00a0 The elf reached down and grabbed his spear.<\/p>\n
When an ally emerged from the brush, he let his makeshift weapon go, returning his attention to the fire.\u00a0 His companion drew closer, but remained as quiet as he could\u2014as quiet as a ghost.<\/p>\n
And Shandranar\u2014or what was left of it\u2014had its fair share of ghosts.<\/p>\n
The elf by the fire looked up at his young friend, and noticed that far-off stare.\u00a0 He held onto two dead grouse, and had his bow slung over his shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cIcarus,\u201d the elf on the ground said.\u00a0 \u201cIcarus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shaken from his stupor, Icarus looked down at the meager flames.\u00a0 That flickering light landed on the other elf\u2019s face, and he once again caught himself staring at the odd bald spot on the side of his head.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Senah,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cMy mind was in another place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Senah was shaking his head before the excuse was ever offered.\u00a0 \u201cNot just another place, child.\u00a0 You were in another time.\u00a0 You\u2019ll never be able to move forward until you stop looking over your shoulder.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sullen look was gone from Icarus\u2019 face in a moment, and he threw the two hunted birds to the dirt.\u00a0 \u201cWhich one is it, Senah?\u00a0 Should I remember my failure or should I move on?\u00a0 You won\u2019t decide which.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou must do both,\u201d came the cool reply.\u00a0 \u201cYou have to learn from your mistakes and grow with that knowledge.\u00a0 Right now, you\u2019re trapped in the past\u2014and you cannot change that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Icarus fumed at those words.\u00a0 Senah was right, of course, but how was he expected to move on from the events that he allowed?\u00a0 His lifelong friend was gone, ripped through to another world.\u00a0 His father and brother had perished as the floating continent plummeted to the ocean below.\u00a0 He was alone in the world, except for the strange elf on the opposite side of the fire.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to forgive your failures,\u201d Senah said.\u00a0 \u201cBut you must not forget them.\u00a0 And you must embrace your strengths.\u00a0 For instance: you\u2019re much better at hunting than I am at starting fires.\u201d<\/p>\n
The young elf tried to retain a stern visage.\u00a0 He looked down upon his companion; his jaw locked, his brow furrowed.\u00a0 But seeing Senah\u2019s wry grin caught him off guard.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t keep the smile from tugging at the corners of his mouth.\u00a0 It was then that he realized how long it had been since he had allowed himself a reprieve from his pain.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do I move on, Senah?\u00a0 How could anyone in my position?\u00a0 I brought about the worst cataclysm our world has ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have Rezarius to thank for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI could have stopped him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCould you have?\u201d the odd elf asked.\u00a0 \u201cHe had centuries more experience than you.\u00a0 No, you were fated to fail against him.\u00a0 But you should not have been expected to face him alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what about all this?\u201d Icarus asked, pointing out into the sea before him.\u00a0 \u201cThe water, the sky, the storm\u2026 Shandranar will never be the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, it won\u2019t.\u00a0 But it can be better.\u201d\u00a0 Met with an incredulous stare, Senah chortled.\u00a0 \u201cOf course it won\u2019t be right away.\u00a0 Our world needs time to heal.\u00a0 Eventually, those scars will diminish though, and we can make sure that what Rezarius did never happens again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can\u2019t,\u201d Icarus said.\u00a0 \u201cAll the humans are gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
The other elf nodded.\u00a0 \u201cYes, they are.\u00a0 But maybe not for good.\u201d\u00a0 As they considered that thought, he clapped his hands together.\u00a0 \u201cYou may hunt better than I do, but I\u2019ll wager I can cook better than you, youngling.\u00a0 Would you go and gather some more kindling while I prepare something for us?\u201d<\/p>\n
The younger elf bowed his head and spun on his heel.\u00a0 He left Senah, his rescuer, alone as he disappeared beyond the trees.<\/p>\n
That lone elf stood there in the clearing, gazing out at the tumultuous sea.\u00a0 In the distance, just beyond fallen Shandranar, a stark bolt of lightning struck the water.\u00a0 Senah narrowed his eyes, watching as the looming storm grew darker there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
He leaned forward upon his knees, shielding the flames from the uncertain gusts of wind.\u00a0 That chill breeze had pushed through the forest for days, and the elf wondered if it would ever relent. He cocked his head then.\u00a0 Was it a wish he just made?\u00a0 The wind did desist, if only for a moment.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1UVey-15m","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4176"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4176"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4177,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4176\/revisions\/4177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}