The Highest One

My ears were still ringing after the explosion, even though the claw had been high above the clouds when Fenlar hit it with a fireball and the dragonfire burst.

“I hope we didn’t scare anyone too much," she said as we walked back to our path.

I smiled. I was happy that she hadn’t taken her armour off. Maybe she’d just forgotten to remove it? She must be as used to wearing it as I was, if not more. It made me happy seeing it, though. She looked exactly as I remembered her when the war had raged. Tall and proud, with the black Adamantine armour glittering with gold and silver.

She looked like the hero she’d always been, a hero that had inspired the lonely and afraid girl I’d once been never to give up and always to do my best. The hero who had shielded me with her cloak from the blowing blizzard as we crossed the narrow mountain pass. A mentor who had taught me magic despite my age, telling me that years didn’t matter and that such beliefs limited my imagination. A friend with whom I dared to share my deepest fears and dreams as we readied ourselves for an upcoming battle, and later, she had become someone else for me…

But I didn’t want to think about that because no matter what I did, I was just a simple woman who was only doing her part like everyone else, and she… She was Fenlar, the Highest One, the title the people of Westaria had given her, even though it was usually only reserved for the Great Kings of Old who ruled their land at the beginning of time.

The forest began to change as we continued, and the young saplings were replaced by old, majestic trees that had somehow survived the war. The cool air brought a smile on my face, and I could hear the gurgle of flowing water in the distance.

“Should we stay here for the night?” I asked.

“Are you tired?” she asked, peering up at the sky.

The sun was slowly setting, but we still had a few hours of light. I sighed. She really did like our journey. In all the years we’d spent together, I’d never seen her this relaxed and happy. Or maybe I had, but I just hadn’t paid attention to it. The first time I’d seen her smile was when we began this journey, leaving Tar Anir, the capital of the Triumvirate, and travelling to the less populated lands destroyed by the war to try to rebuild what we could and purify the land from the dragons' venom.

At first, I’d thought her plan was foolish, and we would be of better help if we worked with the Triumvirate, as the others did, and put all our might together to heal our world, as we had once done to defend it from the Naeglor. But as we went from place to place, we soon found many places poisoned by dragons' fire that the scouts had mistakenly marked as safe on their maps. People had returned to them, and many other desolate places we’d thought were empty, unaware of the danger they were living in.

Although it wasn’t the Triumvirate's fault, they’d put most of their efforts towards the fertile plains of Kai-Karu and other similar areas that produced the most food. It made perfect sense.

I’d once asked Fenlar why she’d chosen to do otherwise. I remember her looking at me for a long time, and I started to regret questioning her choice when she pushed the sadness away and smiled, telling me that the people still believed that someone would help them and she couldn’t let them down.

So we kept travelling where her intuition told her to go, and more often than not we found a place that needed healing. No matter how small and insignificant it was, she always took the time to leave it in a better state than we’d found it.

I turned back to her in the forest.

“What about you? Do you feel we should stop here?" I asked.

She smiled.

“Let’s walk a bit further. I am curious where that stream will take us."

We found it soon after when our path wound upon its bank, and we looked at each other, imagining how nice it would be to jump into the cold water after a whole day of travel. In a flash of light, Fenlar’s armour vanished, and she ran into the stream in her tunic, gesturing to me to follow, but no matter how tempted I was, I didn’t want to leave us unprotected.

"I will keep watch.”

I chuckled as she tried to keep her balance on the slippery stones, and she turned to me with a sad face. But I shook my head, and we began walking upstream, me on the path and she in the cold stream. The path soon widened where the vegetation had been cut back to keep it clean, and I wondered if someone lived nearby. Indeed, soon after, a small village hidden among the old trees appeared, but as we approached, only the silence filled the air.

Fenlar climbed back on the path, her tunic dripping with water. She must have slipped and fallen into the water when I didn’t look.

“Are you okay?” I asked, but she just smiled and turned to the village.

“Do you feel something?” I asked.

She nodded.

“There are people there."

I smiled with relief, happy we wouldn’t need to spend another night camping in the woods, and turned to her. I traced her tangled hair, her half-wet tunic and bare feet. She didn’t look like the hero they expected to see.

“Fenlar…”

“You can do it, E'rin."

She smiled and put a hand on my shoulder. I blinked.

“Do what?”

“Be the Sorceress of Trumvirate they hope to see…”

“But…it’s you who…” I began, but she moved her face so close to mine that my heart skipped a beat.

“Will it make any difference to them who helped them?” she whispered.

“Of course it will! Imagine the stories they will tell for generations to come about the Great Ardryll Fenlar Ynquirelle coming to them in the time of need."

She sighed and looked away.

“I’ve asked you to call me Meve..." she murmured.

“Why?”

Why did she insist on being called by her name? She’d earned all those titles, and it had become how people called her more than anyone else.

“Because I don't need to be Her anymore…” she whispered, and her hand brushed through my hair as she stepped back.

I blushed, but she just smiled.

“Do it, just this time as a part of your training."

“My training?”

But she didn’t answer and instead set out towards the village, forcing me to follow.

“You will never see the power you have if you keep walking in my shadow.”

"But…" I tried, but we had already entered the village, and she called out, announcing the arrival of the Sorceress of the Trumvirate.

A group of people emerged from a building hidden between the trees and slowly approached us. I shivered as they came closer, and I could see their greenish skin covered with blisters and swollen faces. I pulled out my RuneSphere and activated it, staring with rising panic at the runes lightning up one by one, but the light stayed yellow no matter how much power I poured into it. I glanced at Fenlar, but the old man leading the group spoke before I could ask her what it meant.

“You are safe here, wise one."

He bowed his head. I glanced at the other villagers. They all bowed before looking at us curiously. What should I do? A thousand thoughts rushed through my head, but my mind went blank when I tried to focus on any of them. I glanced at Fenlar, but she just gave me a soft smile before looking away.

"We…we will help you… The Trumvirate will help…" I mumbled.

“It’s in the water…" a middle-aged woman whispered, looking at me with admiration.

The water…? I shivered and glanced at Fenlar and her wet tunic. Water… I pressed my RuneSphere to her body and held my breath as the runes lit up again.

“What does it show?” she asked, seemingly unbothered by what might have happened to her.

“There are some traces of venom…but it shouldn’t be enough to cause…”

I glanced at the villagers with rising panic. What should I do? What should I do? I glanced at Fenlar, but she avoided my gaze. Was this the lesson she wanted to teach me? How could she do this to the villagers?

I glanced at them again, feeling their gaze on me as they waited for me to help them. Help... That’s what they needed.

“We will heal you…we…we will take the venom out of your bodies," I said with a trembling voice and gave Fenlar a nervous glance.

She smiled. Was I doing the right thing? I didn’t have time to think as more villagers approached us. I gave them a nervous glance.

“We... we need some place where you can rest. You will feel weak when the poison leaves your body."

“As you wish, Wise One."

The old man bowed his head and turned, leading us deeper into the village to a long, low house hidden between the trees and covered with turf and creeping vines.

“We used to hide here when the dragons came…” he said as we entered. “Turf and stone hid us from their eyes. There is still some water and food here," he added, walking between rows of low beds.

I watched as the families walked in and took their places as if they had done it many times before. They probably had, I realised. I helped the older ones lie down, and when everyone was ready, I cast a series of spells invented by the Trumvirate to counter the venom's effects. We’d been forced to learn so many things since the Neoglar invaded our world.

The sun had set long before I was done, and I was exhausted when we left. Stars shone brightly above our heads, and the cool breeze filled the air. I smiled and looked at Fenlar.

“Did I do well?”

“Only you know…" she said softly, halting next to me.

“But you are…” I started, but she put her finger to my lips, and my heart skipped a beat.

“I’m Meve…" she said softly. “You should rest. You spent a lot of power to heal them."

“Will they be okay?” I asked as we walked through the old trees to set up our camp.

I’d been too busy to have time to ask them where we could stay, and none of us wanted to intrude on someone’s home.

“You took the venom away…” she said with a smile.

“But the venom is still in the water…" I sighed. “I should clear it…”

I turned and started to walk to the stream.

“E’rin…” she said softly as she followed me. “You are too tired. Rest first. You can do it tomorrow."

“No, they will need water in the morning."

I shook my head and continued walking when she put a hand on my shoulders.

“E’rin, you don’t even think clearly. There must be something that poisons the water, maybe upstream, maybe even further. Cleaning it here won’t help."

I sighed.

“You are right… Let’s go and check.”

“E’rin…” she chuckled. “Not even I was this bad when you tried to convince me to rest and take care of myself."

“You were worse…” I chuckled.

“But I listened in the end…”

“You did…”

I smiled and turned to her, and she put a hand on my chest and dispelled my armour.

“So let me take care of everything tonight."

"But...but you are..."

“I’m Meve…” she smiled and took my hand, leading me back to our camp.