A red Liquid that circulates in the Arteries and Veins of Animals

By now I am somewhat used to being mistaken for a girl. The lighting is kind of awful in here, the only source of light being the last rays of the setting sun shining in through the window. So considering all that, I guess it isn't too unexpected.

But being mistaken for my mother, that is certainly new...

"I didn't think you would have survived all these years. Why did you come back here? Did you think I'd take you with me when I leave?"

He breaks into neurotic laughter, like he had just made the funniest joke to ever grace my ears. I don't find it all that funny. While I'd already be inclined to jump for his throat, both his gun and my lingering uncertainties hold me back still.

Thankfully he seems like the type to enjoy the sound of his own voice, so I'll just let him keep talking.

"Those fools down there must have thought you were still employed here and must have let you through. I'll have their heads when all of this is over; none of them are the slightest bit competent!"

Those fools down there let me through because I killed a good number of them in a harrowing dance of death. I wouldn't call their competency too much into question, more so the one of the oaf employing them. Mother did work here after all...

"You know, you always were one of my favourites; a true shame you had to go and actually get pregnant. I have no use for bastards, after all. They'd only come for my head to claim my fortune."

At this moment, you only think of your fortune? Is that truly the only reason you might fathom why a child of your own would come to claim your head?

"Why were you so stupid to refuse the medicine to kill it? You could have resumed your cushy life as my concubine. I suppose thinking wasn't your strong suit in the first place. I did choose you based on your looks, after all."

Mother's sacrifices for me reached even further back than I imagined...

This is as good of a confirmation as I'll get: this reprehensible man might just be my father. The source of everything awful in this life for both my mother and myself stands right before me.

"If you get on your knees and beg, I might take you with me after all..."

That loathsome grin on his face tells me all I need to know. He thinks himself the smartest man to ever grace this world. Yet he was only a lucky fool that found this vein of salt first.

"Why so quiet? I know I used to tell you to shut your mouth all the time, but why are you so obedient now?"

He didn't even have the guts to kill her, only sending her beyond the wall to find her death there. He truly is a coward. And this very quality of his shall prove to be his demise.

"Isha, if that thing still points at me when he pulls the trigger, I will die."

"It won't; I will make sure of it."

Thank you, Isha. I wouldn't know what to do without you.

I walk towards him.

"Stop! Don't come any closer!"

I doubt he's ever fired a gun before, the way he holds that thing. He's shaking like a leaf in the wind.

"I will shoot! Don't test me!"

Go ahead, you coward.

And shoot he does. The loud booming sound assaults my ears. The smell of smoke hits my nose. The side of my cheek burns. A small amount of blood spills from it; it seems like he grazed me.

From every surface in the entire room, Isha's vines grew towards his hand, pulling it away to the side. It forms almost something akin to a spider's web, only consisting of her thorny hatred instead.

Like snakes, they begin to slither around his body, pulling him to the ground.

Now he is at my mercy.

After the first punch, he cursed me.

After the sixth, he offered to take me with him.

After the fourteenth, he offered me wealth, lands and power. Everything he owned, really.

After the sixty-third, he begged for mercy.

After the one hundred and seventy-sixth, he spoke no longer.

After around three hundred, I lost count but felt no inclination to stop nonetheless.

Until the very end this man could never fathom what I would have wanted from him. A decent father. One I wouldn't have to be ashamed of. One that would have made Mother happy.

But this despicable man could have never given me that.

Now my right hand hurts too. I feel dizzy again. Need to hurry, I don't have much left in me.

In a frenzy, I quickly search through all the drawers. In one of them I do indeed find those crimson pellets; thank god this wasn't all for naught. But I also find something else: a weird-looking seed, roughly the size of one of a peach's. Just like the one Mother had me swallow once...

"Take it."

No arguing there.

As I try to get up to leave, my body no longer obeys me, collapsing to the ground. This is bad; I need to get back to Mother quickly!

Isha's vines, this time thornless, lift me onto the cushy chair accompanying the desk and push it towards the window.

"Take a short rest, if only for a few minutes. If you pass out on your way back, it'd be even worse. The fresh air should help."

While it pains me greatly to idle here, she is right. I take a few deep breaths. While my body is practically screaming at me to let go and sleep, I refuse. Not until I've confirmed Mother will be fine. More deep breaths. The quicker I can recover, the quicker I can go to her.

My eyes take in the view out the window. You can practically see everything from here. The oasis, the city and the walled slum. Around and beyond that, there is nothing but vast dunes of sand, as far as the eyes can see. A road leads away from the city.

Close to the horizon, on that road, I see a small moving line, a caravan of merchants. Must be those that managed to flee before we broke through the wall. There wasn't that much time between us starting to besiege the gate and me opening it, was there?

Either they must've had a keen nose for unrest, or they knew what was about to go down. So they packed up all their food and-

"This city is doomed."

"What?"

"We cannot stay here."

Isha appears rather confused.

"We cannot hold this city. The only things here we have in abundance are salt and water. You can't live off that. Where are we going to get the food?"

"We could sell it to..."

She gets it now.

"No one in their right mind would trade with us. Not only are we elves, but they could just wait for around three weeks and take the city for themselves without any resistance. Everyone would rather abstain from cheap salt for three weeks if they get the literal mine almost for free afterwards."

So once Mother is cured, what then? I'll have to leave this place as soon as possible. But where would I go? The human hatred for the elves is not bound by geography; I don't think we'll be truly safe anywhere right now...

We need a place of our own. Somewhere we can remain undisturbed. Where no one can reach us...

"We had something like that once; the World Tree shielded us from our enemies. Gave us the power to protect ourselves or remain hidden from foes as necessary."

"But it was reduced to cinders, wasn't it?"

"Isayah, that seed that you found, the very same kind your mother fed you as a child, is a seed of the World Tree."

Come again?

"It is high time I tell you what I remembered. I am Isha, a fragment of Ishanyael. The very seed you took into your being."

I did see her since eating that thing, so that tracks. The reason she can wield the magic of the Tree would be because she is said Tree, or at least a part of it.

"These seeds will not sprout once planted; they do not possess the strength to do so. But if one were to collect the power of a large amount in a suitable vessel, replanting the tree might not be impossible."

That 'vessel' would be me...

"And with the return of the tree, all elves would regain their magic once more?"

"Correct!"

She really is ecstatic about it. So, collect as many seeds as possible, plant the tree again and create a safe haven for all elves. This might be an undertaking of a lifetime, but it would be for the best. Elves do live multiples of those anyway, so Mother might reap the benefits for centuries to come.

I look at the seed in my hand. Holding it now, I start wondering how the hell this got past my throat when I was but a babe. Even now, swallowing this huge thing will prove a challenge. Well, here goes nothing...

While it does hurt quite a bit, as soon as it's stuck in my throat, it already seems to dissolve, becoming a part of me. That would also explain how I managed the last time...

I feel a calming spring breeze from Isha. While I have described her as blurry and ethereal before, with the seed's power, she seems to have gained sharper features. Or did she regain them?

"Any idea where to find more of these seeds?"

I'd imagine desperate elves would have picked them up as the tree burnt; my mother most likely came into possession of one the very same way. Since Zareth had one too, the humans might keep them as a trophy of some kind...

"To the north I feel a faint resonance; there must be one somewhere in that direction."

That's awfully vague, but better than nothing still. A goal for the future.

Enough rest. Time to get Mother that medicine. Though I'm still somewhat dizzy, I'll manage.

I pick up that pistol as well; he'll have no use for it anymore. Its one shot is spent, but maybe I'll find some ammunition at a later date.

The way back proves no issue at all; the elves managed to subdue the remaining wardens downstairs. The fighting everywhere had also died down.

Reaching our tent, I hear the familiar coughs of my dear mother. She still lives, thankfully.

I force the medicine down her throat, and within an hour her fever already drops significantly. This stuff sure is potent...

As soon as she's somewhat stabilised, I move her and Eleanor to the apothecary, a building I now know to be empty. They still have intact beds there, so I place them in those. In different rooms, of course; I can't expose Mother to a corp—I mean Eleanor—right now.

As soon as I've confirmed Mother should make it, I collapse into an adjacent bed.

And I cry. The tears I wanted to shed for Eleanor now flow out of me like a waterfall. And they refuse to stop. With Isha comforting me, I cry my heart out until I drift to sleep.