Raven Chapter 36
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Chapter 36: Drifting
I had been forced into a world I knew nothing about.
I remember the first few weeks staying with Jared Petrie and learning about the human world. It almost seems like a distant memory, or maybe a dream. Perhaps in traumatic events certain aspects seem to stand out, while others get completely forgotten.
That would be the best way to describe the first few weeks of my stay with Jared Petrie. I'm not sure how I survived but Jared was a continual source of patience and understanding.
Jared lived in a small town called Warrenville. He lived on the outskirts of town up on a hill. It was a New England style colonial house, and in time I would grudgingly come to admit that humans had come up with some brilliant technologies.
Almost immediately after he had taken me in, he brought me to his computer and showed me how to look up information. Within days I had become an addict, absorbing nearly everything I could see. After a few weeks of constant study he took me away from the computer and brought me into his office.
"Aden, how goes your learning?" he asked me
"Good" I said. I was definitely an eager student. My grasp of English was stronger than ever and I had a good understanding about human culture. At least, I thought I did.
"I cannot keep your presence a secret much longer, although I am not an elf myself. Others will undoubtedly be watching me and they will need to be informed of your condition." He said
This had been cause for much argument. I had begged and pleaded for him to not make my presence known to the other elves. If they discovered I was from beyond the gate, well I could imagine it might be upsetting and I wanted to be more comfortable with my new surroundings.
"There is a large conclaves of elves based near here. There are two factions and as soon as one learns of you, I have no doubt the other will follow." Jared said
"I don't want to get into the middle of local politics" I said
"You may not have a choice in the matter" Jared warned me
It didn't matter; I still didn't want to get involved.
Apparently the elves had bought into the human idea of organized religion and the new church had been trying to usurp the current leader. From Jared's description the guy sounded like an old dinosaur.
"Lord Cailen has been in control of the conclave for nearly four thousand years. But the more and more time passes, Aldo Vera and his son Veritas have been steadily gaining power." Jared warned "a small war could break out at any moment, and if word gets out there is a fully fledged hand of ada..."
I didn't need the picture, I understood the significance.
"I'm not going to take sides" I said firmly
Jared bit his tongue
Jared had a human son named Daniel Jacob Petrie. Daniel was near my age and he had been a great help teaching me about school and how humans learn and about the vast network called the internet which I found to be amongst the most amazing things I had ever heard of.
It was Daniel that explained to me that several elves went to his school. Apparently over time it was easier to stay in the education system then the work system. They continually learned and relived their human youth over and over again.
Despite the rift between Lord Cailen and the Temple it was the temple that had managed to procure huge amounts of resources to their Elven cause. This included fake ids and paperwork, homes, private land, living expenses, transportation, and a multitude of other things that allowed them to keep themselves secret.
I realized that I would not be able to keep myself a secret for too long, but one day about two months after my arrival at Jared's I had no choice. My body had begun to reject its human mold and my true Elven form started to come through.
The day had started normal enough, but by lunch I was feeling terribly ill. Jared was worried as I grew a fever and the pain was becoming unbearable. My magic was fighting the change and it felt like my whole body was on fire.
I remember Jared coming into my bedroom he had given me and sat on the bed next to me.
"Aden, the fever is even higher than before" he told me
I was too far gone to be able to answer him clearly
I saw him pick up his cordless phone and dial a number
"This is Jared Petrie, I have a level-E medical emergency." He said into the receiver
I don't know how long I waited but within moments my magic sensed several figures approaching the house at lightning speed. Soon I heard voices
"Jared!" I heard a voice call
"In here!" Jared called
In moments three figures entered the room and two instantly were on the bed with me.
"Calm" a voice said to me and I tried to calm but my magic was too strong by this point and I could feel my control begin to slip.
I felt a cool hand on my forehead and a voice like an angel call to me
"It's going to be okay" I heard
His hand stroked my forehead and rested on my cheek
"It's okay now, let it go." It said to me
With the fever I was slightly delirious but I managed to open my eyes and my eyes locked onto a crystal blue pair of spheres and the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. My magic stopped fighting and I felt the fever break.
I blinked and my eyes adjusted to a smiling face of a blonde boy elf. His hand was still resting on my cheek. I reached up and grasped it.
"Thank you" I said holding the hand and I watched as the boy's face lit up into a brilliant smile. My mind drifted to the hushed voices on the other side of the room.
"Jared, who the hell is this?" I heard someone say. I managed to look over and see a large and well built elf with the same features as the beautiful creature above me.
"I found him wandering through the woods." Jared said
"He's lucky he didn't have his transformation in a human hospital, how long has he been here?" another voice asked
"A little over a month" Jared replied
"WHAT!" I heard another voice by the door bellow and then it got hushed again
"Jared, I have told you repeatedly that if anything were to ever happen that you needed to contact me." I looked over and it was like a scene from a nightmare
Behind the door in the shadows a figure case in total blackness. The only things visible were his eyes which in the blackness seemed to be glowing a bright cobalt blue, and his mouth which showed his perfect white teeth. Both his teeth and the whites of his eyes sparkled as if illuminated.
"I'm sorry but there is a bit of a complication" Jared said
"What is that?" The figure said clearly annoyed
"Check him out for yourself" Jared said
I heard footsteps and watched as the shadow figure seemed to jump and morph between the shadows of the room. The only indication being his eyes just seemed to appear and grow out of different shadows. It was terrifying. Then suddenly a black mass grew up from the floor beside me and took a humanoid like shape beside me. It was blackness as if a void of nothing was beside me.
"Colin" I heard the voice call and the boy who was over me left go of my face and backed away. I shut my eyes tightly to avoid showing the fear I had in my eyes.
"Are you awake?"
"Yes" I responded
"My name is Cailen" It said.
So this was the fabled missing son of Lord Zasuan.
"Why do you look like that?" I asked
"I am shadow walking, when I am moving I am impossible to see but when I hold still long enough I look like this." He said and I opened my eyes and saw the black figure looming over me and I gasped as I was staring into his bright blue eyes. The blackness surrounding him almost seemed to be tangible.
"Sorry" he said and I watched as his features blurred and he vanished.
"This is Clayton, Jacob and Colin" I heard his voice say from behind me, addressing the elves that were next to me. Clayton is a member of the Temple, Jacob is a doctor, and Colin is Clayton's brother.
"My name is Aden" I said
"You're lucky that Jared here found you, had you done this transformation in front of humans..." he trailed off "Well it would have been very bad"
"I'm sorry" I began but he interrupted me
"It's alright, I am glad you are safe" he said
I sighed and my eyes settled on Colin
"I have other things I must attend to, I'm glad you're okay I..." Cailen began
"Did you check him?" Jared said and I wondered what he meant
"Give me your hand Aden" he said and I looked out and saw a hand in front of me coming from the shadow of the table next to me. The hand itself looked like a normal hand except it looked like it had been painted pure black. I reached out and he grasped it.
Silence reigned over the room
"What is it?" Clayton asked
"Is he alright?" Colin said
Cailen released my hand and his arm backed away and vanished into the shadow. His voice appeared next to Jared.
"Jared, did you know?" Cailen asked
"Yes" was the simple reply
"I understand now" Cailen said his eyes reappearing by the door. "He's fine, come Jacob, Colin... we're leaving"
"Could I just..." Colin began but Cailen gave him a pointed look
"Now!" he shouted and Colin gave me a sad glance and walked out of the room with Clayton, Colin and Jacob.
"Jacob is your brother?" I asked Jared and he gave me a smile
"Yes he is" Jared smiled "and a good one"
"What happened?" I asked "why did they just suddenly leave?"
"Cailen is so old he is sensitive to magic, as soon as he touched you he could sense your power right away, even if you were repressing it."
"I was" I replied
"He will be back later by himself without a doubt" Jared said
"Great" I said. Not meaning it at all
"Want to see your new look?" he asked me handing me a small mirror.
I looked just like I thought I would. My eyes seemed bigger and my ears had come out nearly a foot long off my head.
"How long before I can change back?" I asked
"Perhaps a few days as your magic settles" Jared said
"Good" I sighed. Although I was ecstatic I had finally made my true form, I realized in this world I would be stuck inside until I had managed to change back and hold it.
"What does Cailen really look like?" I asked
"He doesn't come out of shadow walking for anyone or anything. But he did allow to see him once, to not betray his trust I will just say he looks young for his age. I am not sure if it was all the shadow walking or his raw power, but he looks good. He is not a hand of Ada, but his latent Elven abilities make him extremely powerful.
"Is that why the temple has been fighting him?" I asked
"Veritas has hired several assassins to kill him in the past, so long as Cailen remains in the shadows, he will remain nearly impossible to kill. Cailen is a bit of a recluse and Aldo and Veritas both seemed to think we should be lead by a more... showy leadership."
"I see" I said not really liking where this could be leading
0.o.0
Jared's prediction had proven true and I did not have to wait long before he arrived. I was sitting alone in my room and I was still feeling the after effects of my magic quite burning me from the inside when I felt my magic seem to come alive. It felt like a warning but I did not sense anything wrong. But it felt like I was being watched
"Hello?" I called out
"I see your magic is working quite well" I heard a voice say. I recognized it as Cailen's although I could not see him.
"Show yourself!" I said and I watched as he seemed to emerge out of the shadow of the door to my closet. It didn't scare me, but it really did creep me out. I watched as his eyes appeared and his mouth and he hovered in the darkness.
He stood at the foot of my bed and looked down at me with his blue eyes and for the first time I recognized his age; it was reflected in his eyes. They seemed timeless and sad.
"I am sorry if I startled you, I have only been here a moment" he said taking a seat at the foot of the bed.
"Shadow walking" I said "I learned about it back home, but I never thought I would actually see it in practice"
"I will admit it is a particular difficult ability to learn, but I could teach you if you would like" Cailen said "Maintaining the darkness around you even after you step out of the shadow is a trick I will not however"
"That's alright, I would like to learn" I smiled
"So tell me, where did you come from?" Cailen asked "I wondered why Jared would risk hiding you... was it the fact you are a hand of Ada or was it something more?"
"Cailen please..." I begged
"I sensed your arrival" Cailen said "About six months ago there was a massive explosion at a paint factory in Danvers."
"Okay" I said
"Although the chemical used to make it could be combusted the large canisters holding them were intact, the explosion was magical." Cailen added
"What happened?" I asked
"Nobody was hurt. The magical force was enough to alert every elf within a hundred miles. We attempted to search the area, but the human police forces had swarmed the area. I assume you were found and taken to a human observatory" Cailen said
He was exactly right.
"I see I am correct... It shows on your face" he said
I closed my eyes and took a deep sigh. I didn't realize the memories would be so painful.
"Please tell me" Cailen said reaching down and taking my hand
"Okay here's my story..." I began
0.o.0
I told Cailen my story...
His face remained neutral allowing me to press onward without interruption. He remained calm although I would be sure he would be ready to jump out of his skin. I finished and the room fell into an eerie silence.
"Please say something" I begged
"You are extremely lucky; Ada brought you here for a reason. I suppose with her blessing I should do everything in my power to protect you." Cailen said giving me a small smile.
It really wasn't the answer I was expecting
"I cannot allow myself to get upset about things I simply have no control over." Cailen said as if reading my thoughts.
"It was like you read my mind" I said
"Hardly, but after sixty lifetimes and over a hundred times through school, you learn a thing or two about reading people's emotions. Aden, I cannot possibly describe how happy I am that you have come here. I think that your presence will bring hope to many people." Cailen smiled
"Jared said something about there being no hands of Ada?" I asked
"There hasn't been" Cailen said soberly
"And you plan to use me against the temple?" I asked and I regretted saying it instantly as Cailen's face soured and from his eyes I could feel his anger.
"We've lost enough lives, and those infants may dream, but they are still a part of my people and I will not, and cannot abandon them... even if they have forsaken Me." he said and I realized why Jared looked up to him so much.
"Then why not allow Clayton and Colin know about my power?" I asked
Cailen got up off the bed and vanished into the darkness
"I will return when you are ready to speak civilly" and was gone.