keeper of the lost cities short stories

Fitz - the meeting

Fitz was almost sure that this is the girl he was looking for. What made him reconsider this thought were her eyes - brown eyes with flecks of gold, whereas all elves had blue eyes. But he also couldn't hear her thoughts which was weird.

He looked again at the picture in his hand, he was sure it was the same girl, but... he couldn't talk to her if he wasn't certain she was the right girl.

She was looking right at him. if he wouldn't go now he would have to come back to the lost cities with nothing and he did not want that to happen, not when they were so close to finding the girl. He approached her and smiled at her.

"Is this you?" he asked. Even though he was sure it was.

She nodded.

"I didn't realize your eyes were brown."

"Uh . . . yeah," she said "Why?"

He shrugged. "No reason."

"Are you in this class?" she asked

"No," he answered.

Why would she ask that? He asked himself, wasn't she in this class?

"Tell me something. Do you really think that's what they looked like? It's a little absurd, isn't it?" He tried to distract her so that she wouldn't ask him anymore questions about himself .

"Not really," Sophie said, "Why? What do you think they looked like?"

He laughed. "Never mind. I'll let you get back to your class. It was nice to meet you, Sophie."

He turned to leave when all of a sudden two classes entered. Their thoughts were very loud and it gave him a splitting headache. He rubbed his forehead and saw Sophie doing the exact same thing. What?! It couldn't be! Or could it?

He decided to ask her "Did you just . . . hear that?" he whispered. keeping his voice hushed in case anyone else was listening.

But inside he was screaming from excitement! This was what he needed, the clue that told him she was an elf, the one they were looking for. He was sure it was her. And he needed to earn her trust.

But before he could decide what to do she stepped backwards and asked:

"Who are you?" in a whisper.

His eyes widened. "You did—didn't you?" He moved closer, leaning in to whisper. "Are you a Telepath?"

She flinched. And he knew judging by her reaction that she was.

So this girl was a Telepath. This was a very unexpected development.

"You are! I can't believe it," he whispered.

She was about 12 years old, that's a very young age to manifest, even younger than he was when he manifested his ability. She was the youngest telepath and elf to ever manifest. His dad was not going to believe it when Fitz would tell him this.The girl backed toward the exit.

He needed to calm her.

"It's okay," he said, holding out his hands as he moved closer, like she was some sort of wild animal he was trying to calm. "You don't have to be afraid. I'm one too."

Sophie froze.

"My name's Fitz," he added, stepping closer still. She studied his face, maybe trying to see if he was joking.

"I'm not joking," he said, guessing that that was what she was thinking.

She wobbled on her feet. She looked like she was about to fall, so he grabbed her arms to steady her. "It's okay, Sophie. I'm here to help you. We've been looking for you for twelve years." it did not help like he had expected. If anything it had made it worse.