SWNOVELS Chapter 10: Powers Unknown
“I just need to get to Headoreon Shawdlortur’s office.” Sahara says trying to avoid eye contact with her.
“Well,” Waizlynn pushes Sahara back slightly, “I just wanted to tell you that Brystol is mine.” Sahara scuffs in annoyance as she moves back a step to get some space between them. “He and I are a couple, and you will never be the tari. So, stay away from him.”
“Newsflash…I don’t want him. And I can’t help they are forcing me to set by him in class.” Sahara replies.
“No. But you can help from being with him in your dorm room.” Waizlynn pushes her again and it is starting to get annoying. “Why was he even in there?”
Sahara turns her eyes to meet Waizlynn’s finally, “Why don’t you ask your boyfriend?”
Waizlynn looks disgusted. “Boy? Did you say boyfriend?” She laughs in mockery, “What is that some human term?” Sahara didn’t know what the term was in the elf world. “How dare you insult the future aran by referring to him as a boy.” Waizlynn says as she angrily moves around Sahara and leaves her standing alone in the hall.
She knocks on the office door as she arrives feeling confused by her encounter with Waizlynn. “Enter.” She hears Headoreon Shawdlortur say. She pushes the large door open and steps inside. “Ah, Sahara, come in, come in.” He says with excitement as he motions toward her. “I have something to show you.” He pulls a black cloth off a table, revealing a clear shaped cube. “This belongs to you.”
“Me?” Sahara asks confused. She had never seen the object before and did not know what it was.
“It has been passed down in your family for generations.” Headoreon Shawdlortur explains. “It has been kept safe the past thirteen years in a secret chamber at Holestroy, waiting your return.”
“What is it?” Sahara asks curiously looking at the clear cube.
“A declure.” Headoreon Shawdlortur carefully picks up the glass cube and begins to hand it to Sahara. “It allows the holder to see two possible versions of the future.”
Sahara takes the cold glass in her hand and notices a rainbow of colors shimmer on the cube’s surface. “What do you mean two possible versions of the future?”
“The future is never set in stone and relies on choices we make. The cube will show two versions of the future. It will not show the choices that will cause those futures though.” He explains.
“Why would I want to see my future?” Sahara feels slightly scared of the thought of knowing what her future would be like.
“Many reasons. The main one being protection. I believe your parents last time to use it was when you were born, and they heard of the uprising of...” He pauses but Sahara knows he mean’s Patreek. “Of evil to overthrow their kingdom. The two possible futures they saw helped them determine how to plan for what to do if those futures occurred. That is why there was already a plan created to protect you when Kinderton fell. And how Kinderton was taken back so quickly. They used their knowledge of the future to prevent damage.”
“How do I use it?” She flips the cube upside down looking for a button or switch.
“That I cannot tell you.” Headoreon Shawdlortur says sadly, “It is not known how to make the cube work. Usually, the key to opening it is passed down from generation to generation, but it is unknown where your parents might have left the key for you.” Sahara feels disappointed that she missed her opportunity to lead a normal life with her parents alive. “I assume they prepared a way of providing you the key in some form. No one knows though.”
“Thank you.” Sahara says felling saddened by the thought of her parent’s leaving her anything. She had never received anything from her human family. She slides the cube into her pocket before she continues, “I came by because I was wondering if you know why a herd of glorman attacked us the other night? From the other students lack of knowledge, I assume it is not an ordinary occurrence.”
“It is unusual for glorman to travel in herds.” He sounds surprised by her referring to there being a herd. “Are you certain there were more than one?”
“Yes, sir.” She replies. “There were multiple green glows flying toward us.”
His face loses some of its color before he finally speaks, “Impossible.” He murmurs in thought as he sits down in the chair behind him. “Who in the tri-kingdoms would be controlling them?”
“Controlling them?” Sahara finds his words interesting.
“Beasts only glow green if under a control spell.” He responds still sounding in thought and distant.
“You mean someone sent them to attack us?” Sahara feels concerned with this newfound knowledge. “Why would they do that, Headoreon?”
Headoreon Shawdlortur suddenly stands to his feet and moves over toward a narrow door in his office. He flings the door open revealing a flat square table inside the small closet. “Latin.” He says as he lays his hand down flat on the table. Sahara moves closer toward the closet and notices a beige piece of old paper laid out on the table. Color begins to swirl on the paper and changes from being blank to showing a map. “Mittanya Patreek.” He says waving his hand across the map. Sahara recognizes Patreek’s name and looks down at the map that seems unchanged by his words and hand wave.
“Is this a map of the tri-kingdoms?” Sahara asks seeing the three kingdoms’ names on the map.
“Yes, Aranel.” The headoreon says still sounding distant while carefully looking at the map.
Sahara can see small dots moving on the map as she looks closer. “What are those moving dots?”
“Elves.” He replies, “This map shows every elf in the tri-kingdoms.”
“Did you just ask to see Patreek?” She leans over toward the map more interested in it than she was before.
“Yes,” Headoreon replies sounding relieved, “but he is not here.”
“Then who could have sent the glorman to attack us?” Sahara notices the academy on the map and wishes she could zoom in to see it better.
“That is something we will find out, but nothing for you to worry over. You need to stay focused on your studies. You are safe if you stay within the academy’s grounds.” He looks scolding toward Sahara as he continues, “No more teleporting. We cannot risk anyone else knowing of your ability, then who already knows.”
Sahara places her fingers on the map and moves her finger to zoom in as if she were using a human phone. To her surprise, the map zooms in on the school until she can see the moving dots each have names attached to them.
“You’re a fast learner.” He says causing her to look up toward him.
“Sorry.” She pulls her fingers back away from the map.
“No.” Headoreon motions toward the map, “Please, explore.”
Sahara uses her fingers to stroll around the map of the academy. She wonders how to tell which floor each person is on, so she moves her fingers causing the building to turn sideways. Now she can see the front of the building. She explores the first floor of the building and can see each piece of furniture; she zooms on to the dots and can see them transform into figures of elves. She sees two ellon talking and laughing but she cannot hear them. “Do you use this to spy?”
“I brought this with me on Aran Rayterbay’s orders, as I watch over you. It is the only map like it in the tri-kingdoms.” Headoreon Shawdlortur bends down toward the map and makes it zoom back out so that the entire tri-kingdoms can be seen. “Aran Rayterbay created it after you were taken to the human world so that he could watch over the tri-kingdoms and find those that threaten us more quickly. The only downfall is the name of the threat must be known to find them.”
“Since you do not know who controlled the glorman, that means you cannot locate them by use of the map.” Sahara asks in concern, “Or perhaps that elf that controlled them is not in the tri-kingdoms?”
“There is no way the elf could control the glorman from elsewhere with the layers of protective shields up.” He shakes his head with his response.
“But I can teleport through multiple shields.” Sahara knows she could not be the only one to breach through the shields.
“Yes.” He looks in thought for a moment. “You are the only one that we know of that has that ability. Controlling spells are different.” He looks quickly up toward Sahara, “Perhaps not for you though?”
Sahara feels alarmed by his words because they seem more like a statement than a question. She is not sure if she should answer or not. She remembers controlling the glorman in class. “Saitar Regald.”
“What about him?” Headoreon Shawdlortur squints his eyes at her.
“No.” She shakes her head realizing her thought had been aloud. “Nothing.”
He moves toward the closet door to exit as he speaks, “We will miss lunch if we do not go down.”
Sahara follows the Headoreon out of the closet and toward the office’s exit. “Do the saitar all live on campus?”
“Yes. Mostly.” He replies, “with the exception of Hove.”
“Hove?” She tried to remember the name being introduced at the beginning of year feast, but she had not heard the name before.
“Yes.” He motions for her to follow him toward the stairs. “He is the beast keeper. He lives in the cottage next to the beast dungeon.”
“There is a beast dungeon on campus?” She asks as she continues to move down the stairs following Headoreon Shawdlortur.
“Yes.” He pauses on the stairs and turns toward her. “It is not allowed for students to visit the dungeon. There are hundreds of creatures down there that are only taken out one at a time to teach students how to battle and protect themselves.” He begins to move down the stairs again as he continues to speak, “They are each locked in their cages with individual spells.”
“What kind of beasts?” Sahara had only ever seen the two dragons upon her arrival and glormans. She cannot fathom there being hundreds of more.
“One of each kind, the good and bad.” He replies as they arrive to the main floor. “Now, off you go to lunch.” He motions for her to go toward the first years’ entrance door to the banquet hall. “I have a meeting.” He nods his head toward a tall man in a grey cloak standing next to a large window in the hallway.
“Thank you, sir.” She says before turning away to leave him and enter for lunch.
The room banquet hall is buzzing with student’s talking as Sahara enters, but it quickly quiets as students notice her. She feels odd by all the stares, she knows it must be because she encountered a glorman and this is the first time all the students had seen her. She sits down in her usual spot, but the others seem uncomfortable. “Why is everyone staring at me?” She asks her small group of friends.
Mecca quietly responds as she looks around nervously. "Did you really call the Cundu a..." She pauses and Sahara feels confused for a moment as she listens to Mecca spell. "B. O. Y."
Sahara looks up toward the second years floor for Waizlynn, who is smugly smiling down at her in triumph. She notices Brystol look down at her briefly before quickly moving away from the railing and disappearing. She looks back toward her friends at the table, who are all watching her. "I just told her to ask her boyfriend." She finally responds quietly. The students around her gasp and begin to whisper and she sees Mecca's face blush. Sahara feels confused about why the word boyfriend is so bad. "It is a normal term in the human world." She tries to plea her case.
Phylan responds without looking up at her, "Here it is a great insult to call an ellon such a name. Especially the future aran."
"That is one of the worst," Bularia sits down next to her as she speaks. "No. Definitely the worst. That is the worst thing you could call an ellon here."
"And Waizlynn told everyone?" Sahara feels embarrassed by the realization that the entire student body is watching her and judging her.
"It is alright." Bularia says between smacks, as she eats her food. "You didn't know, and everyone knows you are from the human world, so it will be forgotten by tomorrow."
"Deeto." Phylan says as he stands to leave the table. "That is the correct term, for next time you refer to an ellon dating an elleth."
"And Keeto for an elleth." Mecca says giving Sahara a consoling glance.
Sahara takes a roll from the tall pyramid in the middle of the table. She watches Phylan leave the room and she wonders if she offended him. "I will see you all later." She quickly grabs another roll and moves toward the exit to follow Phylan.
"I am sorry, if I offended you." She says to Phylan as they enter the hallway. "I did not know."
"I am not offended." He shakes his head toward her. "You did not know but perhaps you should start spending more time on learning our terms and old language before you get yourself into trouble."
"I will spend my spare time doing that." She promises.
"Um." Phylan looks nervously behind her before he speaks again, "Good. I got to go."
Sahara looks behind her and realizes Brystol is approaching. She cringes as she debates on running away or not. She feels frozen in her place though as she watches Brystol draw closer until he stops directly in front of her. He just stares at her as if he is waiting for her to speak. She wonders if she should apologize or just keep silent. His words catch her off guard, "Were you trying to insult me? Or are you just that clueless?" Sahara feels embarrassment creeping up in her cheeks. He speaks again before she has the chance. "Was it to get back at me for giving you the nickname Pukey?"
"I." She stops her words as she notices Headoreon Shawdlortur moving toward them.
"Come in here." Headoreon Shawdlortur says as he opens a door to a room. They both enter in silence. Sahara sees a wall in the room that is a water tank, much like a fish tank but is filled with snake-like creatures swimming around. She hears the door close before the Headoreon's scolding voice causes her to turn back toward him. "You two were told to be nice to one another."
"Word travels fast." Sahara says awkwardly.
"Yes. When you insult the Cundu." Brystol says sarcastically.
"Yet you insult the Aranel, and no one seems to care." Sahara says angrily. She is not sure why this ellon angers her so.
"Are you two determined to make my job harder?" Headoreon Shawdlortur interrupts their annoyed stares at one another.
"And what is your job exactly?" Sahara turns toward him still confused about the specifics. "To watch over me?"
"Yes." He says with a sigh, "My main task is to ensure your safety. And you spreading insults about your betrothed and the future aran is not helpful. You have to have a good relationship with each other."
"She started it this time." Brystol says, sounding annoyed that he is being scolded too.
"Did you ever think, that maybe," Sahara tries to control her anger as she steps closer to Brystol. "Coming from who it did, my words were misinterpreted."
"So, you did not call me a boy?" He says crossing his arms.
Sahara tries to calm herself before she speaks. "I just told Waizlynn to go ask her boyfriend." She rolls her eyes as she looks toward the Headoreon. "I didn't know the correct term was deeto or that it would be so insulting to say."
The Headoreon nods in realization and she hears Brystol scuff in annoyance. She looks over toward Brystol as he moves toward the door. "Can I leave? Because it seems the only issue here is Sahara doesn't know the language or ways of our world."
"Then perhaps, you should teach her." Headoreon Shawdlortur says, and Sahara swears she sees him trying to hide a smile.
Brystol stops in front of the door and turns back toward them slowly before he asks in a squeaky voice, "Say what?"
"The aran ordered for you to help teach her and progress her more quickly in her studies, so." The Headoreon looks back and forth between Sahara and Brystol as he continues. "This is the perfect opportunity."
"No." Sahara shakes her head confidently. "It is not."
"Yes." Headoreon Shawdlortur claps his hands together and a book appears in his grasp. "Here, I meant to give this to you earlier. It is the elfictionary. It is for elves to look up the human terms of our terms and language. I thought you might find it beneficial."
She takes the book from him and flips through the book to see if boyfriend is in the dictionary. She finds the word deeto and notices it says the word boyfriend as the definition in human terms. "See." She points to the word in the book and holds it out toward Brystol. "I did not insult you intentionally." She is not sure why she is trying to defend herself; she really could care less if he feels insulted or not. "And I am sure the book will be all I need for now." She looks up toward Headoreon Shawdlortur as she continues, "I far from need him as a tutor to learn. Please just let me at least try before you force us to spend any more..." She tries to soften her tone, "before we resort to me needing a tutor. I have only been here a little over a week, but I will learn the language and terms quickly."
Headoreon looks over toward Brystol in thought for a moment before he responds, "I will give you until the Holestroy ball. If you can pass the elven terminology test that the younglings take by then, I will allow you to continue on without assigning Brystol as your tutor in that area."
“When is the Holestroy ball?" Sahara asks excitedly knowing she will be able to learn what she needs quickly.
"In two months’ time." Brystol says, “It is always the day of our first Plorksol game.
“Oh.” Sahara says realizing she has to spend time practicing for their first game as well as study all these words at the same time.
“I could help you learn the words.” Brystol offers sounding polite.
"No. I can do it alone." Sahara smiles excitedly toward the Headoreon. She wants to ensure him she does not need Brystol. “If I need help, I have roommates.”
"Alright." Headoreon Shawdlortur holds his hand out for the book Sahara is holding. She silently complies and hands it to him. He flips through the pages until he stops at a page in the middle of the book. "You will need to learn all of the words from the first page until this page by then."
Sahara gulps at the realization that there are over ten thousand terms in the pages he has specified. "Oh."
"Yes, it is a lot." Headoreon Shawdlortur says, "but that is the bargain, and it is not as much as you think."
Sahara nods her head as she wonders what a passing grade would be, "So what is passing? A, C, or B?"
"What?" The Headoreon's short question rings in her ear filled with confusion.
"What grade would I need?" She tries to clarify.
"It must be another human thing." Brystol says looking at the Headoreon.
"Passing is passing." Headoreon Shawdlortur states flatly.
"Yes, but how many can I miss before I fail?" She again tries to clarify.
"You are allowed five incorrect responses." The Headoreon responds finally understanding what she is asking. "There are one hundred of the terms chosen at random from the twelve thousand in this section of the book."
"So, a ninety-five." Sahara says skimming through the book.
"Is that how the human world judges it's knowledge? by numbers?" Brystol looks interested.
"Yes." Sahara says with a nod. "Thank you Headoreon Shawdlortur, I will start right away." She leaves the room as she begins to try and memorize the first word on the page.
She hears Brystol speak just behind her as she is walking down the hall. “I don’t mind to help you, Sahara.”
She turns toward him feeling confused by his kindness. “You are the last per..” She catches herself from saying person remembering he corrected her last time. “…elf I would ever get help from.” She makes her words clear, “So, just leave me alone.” She turns to leave him and go to her room to study the elven language.