The silence after Aeliana's passing was a different kind of silence: vast and empty, no longer filled with the comforting presence of a guiding mind. Eli, eight years old and carrying the profound weight of her gift, felt the urge to move, to follow her final telepathic instruction. Go to the town in the north. You'll find people there.
He moved with an unnatural quietness, the Whisperwind Hind Essence humming beneath his skin, guiding his steps. Days bled into weeks as he tracked subtle signs of human passage, faint trails, the scent of woodsmoke, the distant echo of axes biting into wood. His sharpened senses, gifts of the Essence, detected each small disruption in the forest's rhythm, drawing him instinctively toward pockets of human life.
The first sight of the village stole his breath. It was not the vast stone structures Aeliana had once shown him, but a cluster of sturdy log cabins with thatched roofs, nestled in a clearing. Trees had been cut with purpose, not violence. Smoke curled lazily from chimneys, carrying the scent of cooking. Children's laughter, sharp and clear, rang above the hum of the forest. It was jarring, overwhelming. He froze at the tree line, heart pounding, a wild thing confronted by a strange new herd. A silent observer, a hunter in reverse.
He lingered at the edges for hours, until the sun painted the sky in streaks of fire. Hunger gnawed at him, finally stronger than his fear. Slipping from the trees, moving with the innate stealth Aeliana had taught him, he followed the irresistible aroma of roasting meat.
An old woman sat outside a cabin, her face a roadmap of wrinkles, shelling peas. She looked up, her gaze surprisingly keen, and saw him. Eli tensed, ready to flee. But she did not scream or shout. Her eyes softened instead, and she took him in.
A young boy, wiry and slender, with unruly dark hair, green eyes like the forest, his skin sun-browned and faintly scarred by brushes with the wild.
"Well now," she murmured, her voice raspy but kind. "Look what the forest blew in."
That was how Eli came to Lumar.
The villagers, led by Elder Maeve, the gentle yet firm matriarch who served as their head, were cautious, but remarkably accepting. Eli spoke little at first. His words were clumsy, guttural, echoes of human sounds. He understood more than he could say, thanks to Aeliana's lessons, but speech felt foreign. He communicated through gestures, quiet nods, or bursts of frustration. Quick movements startled him, loud noises made him flinch.
Maeve, whose hands often glowed faintly with the earthen light of her Tier 2 Earth Shaker Essence, took a particular interest in him. She saw the wildness in his eyes, but also a quiet intelligence. As Eli helped with chores, tracking lost livestock, finding medicinal herbs, working tirelessly, she began to teach him.
"You feel it, don't you, boy?" Maeve asked one evening as they sat by a crackling fire, the air fragrant with her herbs. She traced a finger along his arm. "The hum. The pulse in the world around us."
Eli nodded. He always felt it: the ebb and flow of Aether, the subtle energies Aeliana had shown him.
"That's Essence," Maeve explained, her tone calm. "The lifeblood of our world, flowing from the great Essence-born Beasts that roam these lands. Some are wild, ancient spirits of the forest. Others, we hunters seek. When a beast falls, sometimes, rarely, if we resonate with its spirit, a Heartstone forms. We bind it, and its power becomes our own." She lifted her hand, and the ground trembled softly, a fissure forming in the dirt. "Like this, the strength of the Earth Shaker."
Eli's eyes widened. So, Aeliana… she gave her Heartstone to me? The thought was vast, almost too big to hold.
Maeve smiled knowingly. "There are rarer ways, too, when a beast chooses to give its spirit freely. That is a true blessing. Such gifts are power beyond measure." Her eyes lingered on him. "You move like the wind, Eli. And your senses… sharper than a hawk's. You have a gift."
She also taught him about the world beyond the forest: the Kingdom of Eldoria, ruled by King Aldrin Solara, and the four Ducal Houses who governed the regions, such as the militant House Cinder in the east. Lumar, she said, was too small to interest them. Their lives were simple, harvesting rare herbs, collecting Crystal Drops from lesser forest beasts, and selling them to passing traders. Crystal Drops, Maeve explained, were not true Essences but condensed fragments of a beast's nature, used to imbue weapons with minor effects or to power small Aetherial devices.
With his hunting skills and the Hind's gifts, Eli became indispensable. He tracked strays, found rare plants, and warned of dangerous creatures long before they reached the village. He learned to handle a hunting knife with precision and silence. On hunts, he guided the villagers safely through the woods.
"Keep sharp, Eli," called Joric, a boisterous boy his age with perpetually scraped knees, after one such trip. Their sacks were heavy with Crystal Drops from Forest-Boars. "Old man Tiber says a Grumble-Bear's been sniffing near the North Path. Might need your spooky silent skills."
"My skills are for protecting," Eli answered softly. His words were clearer now, his voice steady. He even smiled sometimes, a small but genuine curve of his lips.
He learned to play with the other children. Lena, curious and bright-eyed, followed him to the river, fascinated when he caught fish with his bare hands. He taught them hide-and-seek, vanishing so completely the forest rang with their laughter and frustrated shouts.
Seven years passed. Eli grew into a lean, agile young man of fifteen. He remained quiet and observant, preferring trees to crowds, but the villagers had become his family. He tended herbs with Maeve, mended fences with Joric's father, and shared meat with Old Man Tiber, who always rewarded him with warm bread. Lena's older brother taught him flute melodies, his notes weaving with the forest wind. And always, hidden beneath his tunic, the silver ring lay cool against his skin, a constant reminder of the gift that had begun his journey.
Lumar was a fragile peace, a haven balanced against the wild. But Eli had lived long enough to know peace in Eldoria was never built to last.