Lexi half rose from her chair as she rested her fingers on the table and leaned toward the book. Maybe it could help unlock another of Lexi’s abilities.
“I didn’t write down what they said,” Elfie said. “I described what happened but not the exact words.”
“Can I read it?” Lexi asked.
Elfie turned the book to her. “Of course.”
Lexi held her breath while staring at the yellowed pages and cramped handwriting. A drawing of a smiling child filled the center of the page. A golden glow surrounded the girl. Her hair was a vibrant red, and she smiled as she tilted her face back to the sun.
It took Lexi a little time to decipher the script as it was cramped onto the page and flowed around the girl. But the words didn’t reveal anything more than what Elfie had already told them. There was nothing for her to learn here.
“You saw the child glow?” Lexi inquired.
“I did,” Elfie confirmed. “I think I’m one of the few, outside of the arach, who has ever seen it. But the child was badly injured, and when she awakened, I don’t think she had any control over whatever ability the arach use to keep their glow hidden.”
“And you never told anyone about it?”
“The light fae do not betray the secrets of others. I think that’s the only reason the arach let me live with my knowledge. That, and I was good friends with the mother of this girl. She ruled the land then and wouldn’t have let the others kill me.”
When Lexi turned to look at Elfie, the woman smiled as she brushed a strand of hair over Lexi’s shoulder. “I knew your grandmother well. And I was there the day she savedyourmother with a magic I never wrote down. Perhaps I considered it a betrayal at the time to do so. I don’t remember now, but it makes sense for me to think that way.”
“My mother,” Lexi whispered as she glanced back at the page. “What happened to her? Why did she have to be healed?”
“She fell from a tree and was speared through by a branch on the way down. Because she often played in the forest alone, no one looked for her until she didn’t return for lunch. And then, it was only a few of us who went out.
“By the time your grandmother and I found her, she’d lost most of her blood. While that may not be lethal for most immortals, she was only a child at the time, not fully matured, and nearly dead by the time we found her. Your grandmother saved her.”
Lexi ran her fingers over the drawing of the girl and her radiant smile as her skin glowed. “But you put her glow in here and not the spell. No one had seen the arach glow… until me. Or at least that’s what we believed.”
“And you were wrong, though I doubt many others saw it and lived. I put the glow in my book, but most, who are not arach, would assume it was the sun behind her, or I imagined her with a glow as she returned to life. Anyone else who looked at this book wouldn’t have considered it a glow. You, as an arach, know what it is. And you’ll notice I didn’t put all of her many markings on her.”
When Lexi glanced at her, Elfie smiled.
“Yes, I saw all the silver markings too. I may have to write many things down to remember them, but I vividly recallthatdetail,” Elfie said. “I know others have seen those markings, they’re more common knowledge than the glow, but I didn’t want to combine them.”
“What were my mother and grandmother like?”
“They were strong, proud women who didn’t back down from anyone or anything.”
“In the end, that helped ensure their destruction.”
“It helped ensure the destruction of many, but they had good hearts, and I doubt either of them wanted what happened to occur. They never saw things getting so out of control. No one did.”
Perhaps that was true, but if Lexi wasn’t careful, she would follow in their footsteps. She couldn’t let that happen.
“Do you know anyone else who could tell us more about the arach?” she asked.
“No. Your species is one of many mysteries.”
“And I know none of them.”
Elfie gazed sadly at her before shifting her gaze to Varo. Then, her eyes fell to the book, and she carefully closed it.
“We all endure adversities in our lives, make choices that define us, and continue onward or falter. There are no other options. Youwillfind your path in this world and unleash secrets you never knew existed,” Elfie said as she returned the book to the shelf. “When the time comes, you’ll decide if you’re a warrior or not.”
“That’s funny coming from a light fae when you all refuse to fight,” Cole said.
“You can be a warrior without fighting,” Elfie replied. “There are many who accomplished much greatness without ever spilling blood.”
