The Festival of Fire was the next day. It was the biggest celebration in Suditi and the one day of the year that Nayeli allowed Elowyn to spend on extravagance. Most people were dressed with an excess of jewelry and feathers. Elowyn and Nayeli were no different.

The city was flowing with people. Music pulsed, people danced, and the air smelled of spices. Elowyn and Nayeli were easily lost in the crowd as the day was passed celebrating.

As the sun set, men gathered wood into a pile at the base of the temple. The masses gathered around the pile. The priests stepped forward as the priestesses descended from the temple. In the hand of the head priestess was the Forever Flame. She set the flame by the pile of wood and the crowd went silent.

The priestess began to dance as drums beat out a rhythm for her. She moved around the Flame, occasionally reaching a foot or hand out to touch it. As she pulled her hand back, the flame would cling to it momentarily sustained on her hand. As the dance progressed, she was joined by the other priestesses.

The flame was sustained longer as well. The head priestess began to pass the flame to those dancing with her. The flame circled around the woodpile, from dancer to dancer, till it reached the head again. She then threw it into the pile and it ignited.

It was then that the priests joined in. They danced around the fire, using their powers of pyromancy to shift and shape the flames into animals and monsters. The crowd would gasp as snakes of flame weaved through the audience and children screamed with glee. It was something most of the tribe had seen several times before, but somehow it always excited them.

The power to wield fire was one any native Suditian could learn. But the societal rules made it so only priests, priestesses, and warriors could be pyromancers. As a child, Elowyn had wanted to be a priestess and had announced it one day. The other children mocked her and informed her, to her dismay, that only natives could learn pyromancy. It was an ability that was passed through the blood, as necromancy and lumomancy were, but it didn't come naturally as lumomancy did for Elowyn. Pyromancers, terromancers, hydromancers, and aeromancers had to train for years to master the ways of wielding.

"My people!"

The drums stopped. Everyone looked to the Batab who stood atop the temple.

"Visitors from the dark lands have brought news of war." Whispers. "The borders of Nevar have fallen."

The whispers raise to murmurs.

"As we speak, the demons are spreading to the shores of our mainland. We must prepare. We will stand strong and fight fiercely."

A cheer.

"Tonight, we will pray that the gods of light will protect us."

Priestesses then led a young girl up to the altar crowning the temple. Elowyn's heart stopped for a moment. It was a girl that Elowyn had healed not days before. She had fallen and hit her head, her family feared her dead. But she was only unconscious and was easily healed. Now she stood, waiting to be killed just after her life had been spared.

Elowyn would normally be upset by this, but she could see on the girl's face that she was happy with it. It was a great honor to be chosen for the gods. She believed her sacrifice would help bring balance to a world in chaos.

But even so, Elowyn could not make herself watch. She looked anywhere but at the altar. Elowyn tried to stare just below, but the steps were stained with the blood of previous sacrifices and she ended up turning completely away.

Elowyn's eyes drifted across the crowd. She paused when she saw that someone too was ignoring the sacrificial ceremony. It was a blond boy, one who came from the ship the previous night. He stood out quite a bit given his appearance. Light hair, light skin, light eyes. Probably Nevarian.

He was watching Elowyn instead. Their eyes met for a moment across the fire, but Elowyn quickly looked away.

Her eyes drifted back to the altar. The girl was spread across it. The priest raised a knife. Elowyn could not stay. She turned and hurried out of the crowd before she could see the ceremony finished. She rushed out of the city and into the forest.

Elowyn ran down a path, careful to avoid tearing her precious feathers. She had grown up learning both Suditian and Nevarian tradition and perhaps it was just a desire to know her past, but she always felt more drawn to Nevarian. Including their religious beliefs. Nevarians were peaceful, opposed to war and violence, they held all life as precious. Most Nevarians didn’t even eat meat.

This was a difficult contrast for the Suditian tradition of human sacrifice, one Eloywn couldn’t quite handle yet. She wasn’t sure if she ever could.

She stopped at the edge of a stream. Just stood there, staring down at the water. She wished she had grown up in Nevar, even if it was overrun with demons. She wished that her mother had not died in this place where she could not belong. Or perhaps she wished that she had...

"You weren't raised in Nevar were you?"

Elowyn swore and jumped. She looked up. The blond boy was across the stream, only a few feet away.

"Did you follow me here?"

He nodded.

"You left a trail of jewelry behind you." He held up a bracelet.

"Oh! I didn’t even know I dropped it! How did you see it? I would think it is too dark for most people to see.”

"Ahh but I'm not most people. I’m a Lumomancer too."

Elowyn audibly gasped.

"Hmm. I'm guessing you've never met a fellow Light Bringer before."

Elowyn hesitantly shook her head.

He smiled and stepped across the stream.

"Well then, I am Chord. And you are?"

"Elowyn."

"It is a pleasure, Elowyn." He bowed slightly. Elowyn just stood there, a bit uncomfortable.

Chord's smile faded when he noticed the birthmark on Elowyn's left shoulder, just below her collarbone.

"If you don't mind my asking, what is that?" He motioned to her shoulder.

"It... It's just a birthmark."

"A birthmark..." He emphasized 'birth.' He continued, " I... I'm sorry, but I must get back to the city."

He gave another small bow and hurried off in the direction they came from. Elowyn wondered if that was normal for eastern men, or if this was just a peculiar circumstance. Either way, she shrugged and went home.

Elowyn sat in her home with her back against the wall. She stared at the pictures Nayeli had painted on the walls. Animals, people, stories that had been passed down through Nayeli's family.

Nayeli would be upset when she got back. Elowyn's abandonment of the festival would be seen as disrespectful. People may not have noticed, but Nayeli would care nonetheless. Nayeli believed in their gods of light and fire and Elowyn disrespected that belief.

The door to the hut opened and Elowyn stood. But it wasn't Nayeli, it was the Batab’s guards.

"Come with us."

"What?"

"The Batab has called for your audience."

"But..."

The guards grabbed Elowyn by the arms and pulled her out of her home. She shrugged them off as they walked through the forest, but they still stood close enough to stop her if she tried to run.

Elowyn felt sick. She began to feel that the day she had feared had finally come. She would probably now be sacrificed to the gods she had disrespected her whole life. Perhaps that would be a fitting punishment.

The outskirts of the city were still bustling with people celebrating after the festival, but as they drew closer to the city center, the streets got quiet.

The guards led her straight to the palace and in the palace, straight to the Batab’s seat. The room was empty save a few people by the seat. Nayeli was standing beside their leader, not looking her way. And on his right hand was Chord, the Bearded Soldier, and his men. Perhaps it was seeing him in a fuller light, but the soldier looked much more intimidating than he had at the beach.

Silence fell as the chief motioned for Elowyn to step forward. She did so and gave a small, respectful bow.

"There has been much talk of darkness in our lands," the chief spoke in a slow, confident tone. "No doubt you have heard the whisperings of evil."

Elowyn slowly nodded, confused.

"These men come from Nevar where they fought on the forefront against the demons. But now they have a different task. Do you know of the One True Heir?"

She shook her head, glancing at Nayeli. Nayeli would not meet her eye.

"A prophecy spoken by an oracle was given that the child, the true heir to the Nevarian throne, would bring peace to the world once more."

Elowyn said nothing, just stared back at the Batab, more confused than ever. She barely whispered, "Why am I here?"

"How old are you?" The Bearded Soldier questioned.

Elowyn swallowed, "Eleven." He turned to the Batab and nodded. He turned back to Elowyn.

"In the prophecy, the child will be known by a mark. A mark on their shoulder."

Elowyn slowly raised her hand and brushed her birthmark.

"Child," the Soldier said, "do you know anything of your parents?"

Elowyn shook her head. "I came here when I was young with a young Nevarian woman. The women died of an unknown illness just days after arrival. She hadn't spoken to anyone, but it was assumed she was my mother. That's... that's all I know."

The bearded man nodded again. The Batab announced, "Child, you are the one true Ayer."

The silence of the room felt suffocating to Elowyn. She looked to Nayeli again for comfort, but Nayeli still looked away.

The Batab continued, "You are to leave with these men tonight. They will take you to your fate. May the gods be with you."

Chord took Elowyn by the arm and led her from the hall. Thanan men passed carrying wooden crates of dried plants, rolls of fabric, and animal furs. Elowyn realized they were paying for her.