A man wearing a feathered hat whistled as he gazed in the far off direction of Ignis.

  Or rather, where it used to be.

  “Well, I’ll be…” the man muttered as he took off his hat to scratch at curly blonde hair that reached down to his neck, “so this is why I needed to be here today.”

  He looked up to the sky, usually filled with swirling orange, yellow, and red lights that were currently obscured by heavy rain clouds.

  “A little warning would have been nice…”

  His expression became thoughtful, “Well, I suppose You DID give me a warning. Hmm… well, let me amend that, then. A little clarity would have been nice.”

  Thunder boomed, as if in response to his complaint.

  He had no way to know whether it was actually a response from on high or not. However, he decided to interpret it that way and added, “You’re right. I shouldn’t be complaining. If I had known, I might have acted contrary to how You needed me to. In that case, it’s quite alright. I trust You.”

  He turned to look behind him, where a massive group of elves were looking around, looking utterly bewildered. He finished his earlier thought under his breath, “If it weren’t for You sending me here, then I wouldn’t have been able to save these ones.”

  Was there a purpose to saving these specific elves, I wonder? Or perhaps the purpose was merely in the act of saving them… he thought.

  He glanced back to where the former capital of Axis Mundi once existed, and thought with a forlorn expression, If only you survived, Anila Tufani. Oh, how your death will complicate things…

  The moment the rain had begun to fall, he’d known the legendary hero of Vindanna, the one who once matched the Dominion’s first Champion back during the Human-Elf War, was dead.

  The loss stung unexpectedly hard.

  They’d never been particularly close. They hadn’t ever really known each other. But still… She’d been a hero to her people. And knowing that hero was now gone…

  His attention was drawn back to the group of elves he’d whisked away from Ignis before the Etheric Fusion explosion wiped out the capital.

  If only I could have saved more… he halted that line of thought. He’d done what he could. That would have to be enough.

  Lord knows he had enough regrets in his life.

  “W-what happened? Where are we?!” cried out one of the male elves.

  “One moment we were in Ignis, fighting for our lives,” said a female, “then, we saw two massive Arts about to collide… the next thing I know…”

  “You were out here,” feathered hat wearing man finished for them.

  The entire group seemed to snap out of their shock induced daze and regarded him with suspicion.

  He rolled his eyes in response, “Oh, come now. If I’d wanted you all dead, I’d simply have left you to get caught up in that Etheric Fusion explosion.”

  The elves all looked to one another with looks of confusion.

  “What’s Etheric Fusion?” the male elf from earlier asked.

  “It’s best you don’t know,” the feathered hatted man answered, “otherwise you may one day try to replicate THAT atrocity.”

  “What are you talking about?” the female elf asked.

  The man gestured in the direction of Ignis.

  The confusion only grew among the group.

  “Uh… there’s nothing there in that direction,” the male elf pointed out.

  “Exactly my point!” the man huffed.

  “Hold on…” the female elf squinted in that direction, before gasping in shock, hand over her mouth, “I see ruins! Remains of… Void… is that Ignis?!”

  The other elves huddled towards the elf woman, all squinting before growing as pale as she had.

  The superior senses of elves will never cease to amaze, the man thought.

  “You’re correct. Almost,” the man tilted his feathered hat up, “rather, it WAS Ignis.”

  “By the Maker’s grace,” the male elf cursed, “what happened?!”

  “First off,” the man waved a chiding finger at the elf, “do NOT take His name in vain by using it as a swear.”

  The elf actually looked admonished, amusingly enough.

  “Second off,” the man continued with a frown, “you ask what happened? What happened was a very foolish elf, who should have known better, gave into her rage and chose vengeance over duty!”

  He let out a deep sigh of regret, but moved on, “What’s done is done. For now, we must get you all out of here. Pursuers will no doubt be on their way.”

  “And why should we go with you?” the female elf asked with narrowed eyes, “you’re a hume, are you not?”

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  The man blinked, then chuckled, “I am? Are you certain?”

  The elf woman frowned, inspecting him more closely, “Are you not? You’re not an elf, are you? Don’t tell me you’re a half-blood?!”

  “I wonder…” the man gave a mysterious smile, “human. Elf. Does it really matter what I am? No. What matters is that I’m the only one capable of getting you to safety.”

  “You still haven’t answered why we should go with you,” the male elf pointed out.

  “Well, if you’d rather get captured, then by all means! You have free will. I’m not forcing you to do anything. I’m merely presenting you with an option,” the man clarified.

  “And where would we go if we decide to join with you?” the female elf asked.

  “Why, I’d take you to safety, of course,” the man answered, “the Rebellion is always looking for new recruits. And I can’t imagine you’d want to side with the Dominion.”

  The eyes of all the elves widened at the mention of the Rebellion.

  “You’re with the Rebellion?!” the male elf asked.

  “Yes,” the man brushed aside a lock of hair, “and no.”

  That only seemed to confuse them. Understandably so.

  “Well, which is it?” the female elf asked.

  “Both!” the man smiled widely.

  The female elf looked like she wanted to strangle him just then, “Void… you are aggravating, you know that? Why don’t you just answer the question straight out? We don’t have time for these games of yours! What is your affiliation? With whom do you serve?”

  “I serve only one,” the man answered, “and He is the only one whom I will ever serve. But that is besides the point. You are correct that we have no time. So, what will you decide?”

  He gestured to himself and smiled, “Will you go with me?”

  He then gestured towards the remains of Ignis and shuddered, “Or will you decide to take your chances with the Dominion? I highly recommend you don’t do that, however. After having their capital vaporized, they will be out for blood, I tell you.”

  “You fail to mention the third option,” the female elf pointed out with narrowed eyes, “we could decide to go out on our own. Take our chances at escaping without your help.”

  The man blinked, “My dear… that is essentially the same thing as the second option. The end result will be the same. The only difference is the time it will take to get there. But it WILL happen. You will inevitably be captured on your own.”

  “You speak as though you know with certainty,” the female elf challenged.

  “I do,” the man responded, all mirth suddenly gone.

  The sudden change in demeanor was enough to quell any further argument.

  The male elf stepped forward, and asked him, “Tell me… are you the one that saved us?”

  “Yes,” the man exhaled before adding, “and it was quite a close call too…”

  “And the others?” the male elf asked, “there were a surprising many who heeded our call to fight back against the humans. What of them?”

  “Most died in the fighting,” the man answered with lament, “and the few that remained perished with the capital’s destruction. Those who are here are the only ones I managed to save.”

  They all looked downtrodden at that news, but not surprised.

  The female elf gave him a suspicious glance, “And how exactly did you save us?”

  “I wonder,” the man gave a cheeky smile, “that is not important. Just know that I did. Or rather, that the Maker sent me to save you all, so it is He, rather, who deserves the credit.”

  The male elf’s eyes lit up at that, “The Maker sent you?!”

  The man raised his brows at his reaction, “After a fashion.”

  “Oh, bless the Maker’s name!” the male elf praised, hands clasped in a prayer.

  “Well, this is a surprise,” the man gave a genuine smile, “I’d thought the Dominion had beaten the faith out of the ones enslaved in the inner Circles. I’m surprised to find one whose faith remains.”

  The male elf looked to the female elf, “We should go with him, Sana!”

  The female, Sana, looked uncertain, “I don’t know, Onas. This one claims to be sent by the Maker… but those are just words.”

  “Did he not miraculously save us from a calamity that wiped out this Realm’s capital?!” the male, Onas, responded.

  Sana fell quiet at that.

  The man looked back and forth between them. Onas… Sana… why do their names tickle my mind so… What do You want me to know? What do You want me to do here?

  Sana looked to the far, distant remains of Ignis, and muttered, “I hope Lady Tufani and her daughter managed to escape.”

  The man took a deep breath through his nose. “I’m afraid,” he began, “that Anila Tufani is dead.”

  Every single elf froze before they turned sharply to face him.

  “What?!” Sana cried out, hands over her mouth, “that’s… that’s impossible!”

  “I’m afraid not,” the man shook his head sadly, “no matter how powerful an Etherean becomes, they are still only mortal. There exists only One throughout the heavens and earth… only He has immortality. The rest of us… though some are harder to kill than others, it is not impossible.”

  He locked eyes with each and every elf before repeating, “Anila Tufani is dead. I’m sorry…”

  “If the Dominion managed to kill even Lady Tufani…” Sana fell to her knees, “then we really are doomed!”

  Surprisingly, it was Onas who spoke up, “No.”

  They all turned to him, as he shook his head vigorously, “No, we are NOT doomed. This man is proof the Maker has not forsaken us. Though I struggle to believe that Lady Tufani has passed, even if she had, there is no way she did without making certain that Aria escaped.”

  To the man’s curiosity, that seemed to light a spark in the others. Even the one called Sana. ESPECIALLY Sana.

  “Who is this Aria?” the man asked, curious.

  “She is the daughter of Anila Tufani,” Sana answered, “we knew her for short time before her mother freed us from our cruel mistress.”

  Ah… the man thought, a piece of the puzzle falling into place in his mind, so THAT is why these were the ones I wound up saving.

  “And you’re certain this Aria lives?” he asked them.

  The confidence at which they nodded surprised him.

  “Very well,” the man said, “then it is all the more imperative that you come with me.”

  They looked confused at that, to which he explained, “I know with certainty Anila Tufani is dead. But if her daughter lives… she will be stricken with grief more than any other by her loss. If you truly knew her, Sana, Onas, then you MUST come with me. The girl will need something to help ground her. Perhaps seeing your survival will assist with that.”

  Sana and Onas looked to one another.

  Onas had already been willing to go with him, and now only looked all the more convinced. He gave Sana a look of encouragement. She nodded, before turning to the man and nodding at him as well.

  The man smiled as he adjusted his feathered hat, “Very good, then! Let us be off.”

  “Wait,” Sana got on her feet, “one more thing.”

  “Hmm?” the man turned.

  “Who are you? Or rather, what’s your name?” she asked.

  The man smiled, “Oh, I’ve been known by many names. Hard to keep track of, really. I suppose… yes, that one will do. You may call me, Arvad Malachi.”

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