Blood Memories [Last of Elves book 1] (NaNoWriMo 2014)

Nine: Naameh

Naameh

I didn’t expect anything else from him. He knows that to win the duel, he would have to kill. Both of them know that.

What he doesn’t know, though, is that my captain is tired. He wants to join the goddess once more. Give up the sword.

He has done wonders for me, for the temple warriors. The warriors know the fine art of the sword. Granted, not like Panthera does, but well enough for their job. After all, they haven’t had to be on the run since they were young. They were chosen by the goddess for their service. Chosen when they were eighteen, old enough to learn. When they reach forty, they are welcome to leave, to let the newer ones come through and learn what the will.

My captain’s refused to back down every year.

He’s chosen to stay on, to wait for the one we both knew was coming. He and I knew that he was the only one with the knowledge to teach Panthera what he needs to know. But every year that passed, I grew more despaired. I thought it had been too long. That my captain’s choice would have been in vain. There were plenty who would have been fine captains. But he allowed none of them to defeat him. He kept telling me that it wasn’t time, that I wasn’t ready, that he wasn’t ready.

That Panthera wasn’t ready.

I never asked how he knew that. It wasn’t for me to know. All I had to go on was what the goddess showed me. Little pieces of the elf’s life.

His childhood. His older brothers. His flight, the fear that he hides in his heart. The way he hid himself. In plain view, yet out of sight.

He was clever. Very clever. But for I, who knew, he gave himself away.

He cannot help himself, I know. Giving up his heritage would be like me giving up my link to the goddess. A part of our soul ripped out, never to return. I can’t imagine what it would be like for him, even as I can’t imagine what it would be like for me.

I don’t know what he will end up doing. He must be used to killing, to defending himself against any hunters that came across him. He could not have survived otherwise. I have heard nothing of these hunters. Indeed, I thought the hunting had ceased since the disappearance of the elves. There was no need to keep going, after all. They were all gone.

But to hear of them disturbs me. There has to be a way to stop them, to protect him. If he is truly the last elf left, then he must be protected. The goddess wants his life to be kept, so I must obey her.

However much I hate it.