1: The Child and the Song
“A child sings and she calls it magic.”
It wasn’t what Re’ne’shi said that stung. It was, Alexa reflected, that no one moved to tell her she was wrong. Alexa was certainly adult enough to be so far from home, and her magic had been powerful enough that morning that Lucas was coughing up chunks of dead lung because she had grown him a new one. La Chanson and the circlet upon her brow were more than enough proof that what she did was use magic.
But the thought played on her mind anyway. Did the others see her as a baby, a child to be kept from walking into furniture? Was that why Chevalier was really here - not as a protector but as a sitter? Spider seemed to find the assessment hilarious, but did Lucas think the same? He certainly wanted to read Re’ne’shi’s books and learn from the Ebon elf, but did he agree?
For someone already unsure whether she was supposed to be the one chosen for this task, having someone explicitly draw attention to her age threw her back into the courtly uncertainty she was only just beginning to find her way out of. She knew what Chevalier would say to the situation: “she doesn’t know you. She doesn’t know what you’re capable of. Don’t let her get to you.” But the others knew and left her floundering in the sickly sense that Re’ne’shi was right. For once the half-elf usually so quick with replies had none, and she didn’t like it.
As they toured the town, Alexa was quiet. The murmuring of the city was not unlike La Chanson: Try though she might, she could not make the sound fade to the back of her mind. So instead, she listened. Listened to the cadence of the Uondeerveld, listened to the song it tried to sing. Husky, muted, peaceful. It did not invite sleep or alertness, but perhaps…awareness? Re’ne’mala rolled along, babbling about some historical plaque or other while she led them around, uphill in the oppressive dark. As perplexed as she was by how long it took Re’ne’shi to learn how to use something Alexandrie did on a whim, in her household back home, age had brought wisdom - and Re’ne’shi and Re’ne’mala were both older than any of the other mortal members of the party.
A part of her scoffed at the need to study books to connect with whoever or whatever gave her magic, but perhaps Re’ne’shi was simply a little slow to connect with the entity that entrusted her with the abilities she had. It had, after all, taken Alexa a whole year to feel as close to La Chanson as she did now, and Lucas’ experience seemed very different to hers. She made a mental note to watch very closely when Re’ne’shi used their magic. Perhaps they were just a court magician who knew sleight of hand. She had seen a lot of very talented tricksters back home. Maybe that’s what Re’ne’shi meant. That would make sense, at least.
And did Re’ne’shi see magic, or hear it, or smell it? What did their senses tell them? The Ebon elf said they did not need to speak to cast spells…nor did Alexandrie, really. She just…didn’t have anywhere else for La Chanson to go otherwise. A lot of power ran through her when La Chanson was feeling particularly protective - the screaming and humming were a better outlet than tingling in her skin for hours after. Besides, La Chanson was the Song of the World. Surely the world deserved to hear its song at times.
The Song of the whole world. Why was it opposed to the pantheon? And why had it been disrupted by Genofeva’s magic? And how had she found them? And why Lucas but not Spider? And what would they find of Chevalier’s past? And would Lucas and Spider stop travelling with them when they got to Cliffkeep?
And all these thoughts crammed into her mind did not stop the heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach that reminded the half-elf - the half-cloud-elf that she couldn’t see the sky. The open expanse of nothing had been replaced with the weight of the world and it was only the soothing lilt of La Chanson that kept her from dashing back to the elevating device to return her to safety. She wished she’d taken note of the positions of the stars before they’d come down here. She wished there was a way to calm the heart of a somewhat panicked, somewhat hurt, unsure, teenaged half-elf.
Five days they would be with Re’ne’mala and Re’ne’shi. Five days was not enough time to make them believe what she was and what she was doing there. Why did she care? Why did it matter what they thought of her when they would only be taking the group to the crossroads? Not even a week and then they would be gone. She would not be on the surface, that would take more time, but…at least back to the dynamic they had before. One she was beginning to like…
The waterfall washed away thought for a moment. Just a moment, suspended above this cavern between two waterfalls almost gave her clarity. It was almost as though the constant murmuring distracted her, but the waterfall was immediate and beautiful and captivating and she could focus. It would be fine. Five days and they would be halfway through the journey. La Chanson pointed her in the direction of her goal, and peace fell upon her for a moment.
Only a moment.
The wet-warm of the Uondeerveld and the hum of life and thundering of waterfalls were nothing to the icy dagger Alexandrie felt at the back of her neck. How stupid - tellement stupide - to think that there was going to be an end to this journey? How stupid to consider that perhaps she could live a life unafraid of what could be to come, of what might be behind. At first she thought she’d imagined it, but La Chanson was there. No sooner had the circlet gone than someone was there, most certainly there behind her, watching. Searching? Hunting. They were being hunted. They were prey, and there was no rest for prey. Prey were skittish, prey ran. Prey always ran.
Found. Found.
Lucas may be alright with moving forever, but Alexa was the one feeling hated by someone or something.
The worst part was that it didn’t feel far enough away.
