Shadows of a Broken Past: A Shard of Faith (Book one)

Chapter 17: Interlude I

The room was shadowy and silent, no moonlight filtering through the thick curtains. The elf sitting at her desk looked up upon footsteps at the door, her antlers glowing softly in the candlelight. She set her quill down, her wings fluttering as she stood up. She stepped towards the curtains, pulling one of them to the side so she could see out. 

The door creaked open slowly, scrapping along the floor as the smaller, dark-skinned elf peered into the room. "Mentor?" She called shyly, her wings tight to her sides. "It's late. You should get some rest." 

The elf, 'Mentor', turned her head. "Nissa, you know I only have so long." She said quietly. "I wish to finish my research before my time is up." 

Nissa shook her head. "Mentor, simply receiving one's apprentice does not mean death is two steps away." She said, eyes slightly sorrowful. "It means only that I must learn everything quick, so you can relax."

'Mentor' turned back to the window. "Nissa, I will leave you." She said. "It has been nearly ten years since I received you as my student. I doubt I will be here long enough to teach you everything." 

Nissa hesitated. "Mentor, please." She said. "Aqa-aga. There must be some way-"

Aqa-aga shook her head. "No." The young elf said. "My mentor died when I was twelve, and I am now approaching twenty-four. I haven't seen much death on the Council, but Elektra has told me enough of what happens." Water wreathed her antlers as she lowered her wings. 

"'I am an elf of many talents. My abilities will only be used for the right path, for the right reason, for the right purpose, for the right good. I, Aqa-aga will never surrender to those who bring my home harm. As the water Elf of this esteemed council, I pledge my life, soul, and abilities to protect and defend Rivendell. This is my promise to keep for my entire service.'" 

Aqa-aga's intonation of her Council Pledge hung in the air, simmering in the tense air. 

"My service is coming to a close." Aqa-aga said quietly. "I can sense it."

Nissa looked down. "Mentor....Aqa-aga." She said. "How will I remain on the Council without you? You are the one who taught it all to me."

"Nissa, you are one of the strongest elves I know. You will flourish on the Council, with or without my presence." Aqa-aga smiled weakly. "After all, you must teach him when the time comes, after I can no longer show him the way."

"Him?" Nissa tilted her head. "Him who?"

"'The Flake of the Frost.'"

Nissa nodded slowly, then frowned. "I don't understand." She admitted confusedly. 

Aqa-aga strode past her slowly, her pale violet hair shining in the moonlight and glowing a hazy orange from the still-lit candles. "All will be revealed in due time." She said, repeating the words that Artemis, the star-reader, always told them. 

Nissa nodded. "Yes, mentor." She replied. 

Aqa-aga stepped into the hallway, her eyes trained on the floor. She didn't know where she was heading, but she knew that is was somewhere important. 

She vaguely remembered wandering into the gardens, feeling the cold air wreathing around her. She lifted off the ground, her wings flapping slowly and silently in the chill. The young woman flew over the courtyard, her eyes glazed as she went. She kept going, not bothered by the fact that no one was about at that time. 

When she came to her senses, she was standing outside the ruins of the former Palace of the High Snows. Something had drawn her to this ruin, this place of great pain for all of Rivendell. Life had changed after the Massacre. Aqa-aga's mentor Seling had died a year before it, and the girl had hardly been out of grieving before the disaster struck, and she was thrown head-over-heels back into mourning for her lost family.