Chapter 77: Saira’s Past With The Elves

Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Saira’s Past With The Elves

The morning went by peacefully.

Arin had just finished eating when he saw it.

Saira had been silent the whole time.

She would have normally been chatting to someone, teasing Mira, bickering with Ayan, or arguing about something pointless.

Instead, she simply sat alone beneath a tree on the edge of the settlement.

She looked into the distance.

Arin studied her for a moment.

He knew that look.

He had seen it the first time they arrived in the Elf Lands.

She recognized the place.

In a way, Arin had hoped it would never come up.

Now that everything had calmed down, he decided it was as good a time as any to ask.

He approached her and stood beside her.

"Saira?"

Saira looked up at him with a familiar smile on her face.

"Yes, master?"

Arin sat down next to her.

"I’ve been meaning to ask you something."

Her smile faded slightly.

"What is it, master?"

"You’ve been acting oddly ever since we got here," Arin said.

She looked away.

"You recognize the Elf Lands."

Saira didn’t respond.

Arin glanced at the settlement before looking back at her.

"You knew where we were going before Eldran even told us. You recognized the roads and some of the old buildings."

Arin paused for effect.

"So how?"

Something in her eyes seemed to change.

Saira looked down at her hands.

For several long seconds, she said nothing.

Finally, she spoke.

"I’ve been here before."

Arin wasn’t surprised.

"I figured."

Saira shook her head.

"Not recently."

"When?"

Saira’s fingers tightened around the edge of her dress.

"A hundred years ago."

Arin raised an eyebrow.

"A hundred years?"

"Yes," she said.

Saira looked into the distance.

"I was brought here as a slave."

Arin’s expression changed.

Saira rarely talked about herself.

She was usually upbeat, emotional and never afraid of voicing her opinion.

Seeing her this way sent a strange feeling through Arin.

"What happened?"

Saira hesitated before responding.

"The elves hated demons."

Arin remained silent.

"I don’t know if it was all of them. I never met every elf in this land. But the ones who owned me certainly did."

Her voice was quiet.

"They sold me to them."

Arin clenched his fist.

Saira continued.

"I was young."

She gave a sad smile.

"I looked almost the same as I do now."

Arin remembered.

Saira was a demon.

Her appearance rarely changed despite spending so much time with him.

"My body could regenerate," she said.

"That was one of the things they hated."

Arin looked at her.

"They would hurt you because of it?"

"They didn’t have to worry about killing me," Saira said.

Her voice was empty.

"If they hurt me, I would heal."

She looked down at her hands.

"But they found a way to keep me from healing."

Arin frowned.

"So you could no longer heal yourself?"

"Until the seal was broken," she said.

A gust of wind passed through the trees.

Saira stared at the ground.

"Every day was the same."

Her voice was growing quieter.

"They would beat me. Sometimes they would burn me. Sometimes they would hurt me with magic."

Arin said nothing.

"They wanted me to fear them."

Saira’s fingers trembled slightly.

"I did."

She swallowed hard.

"My body could have healed everything, but the seal kept it from doing so."

Arin looked at her.

"How long?"

Saira let out a quiet laugh.

"I stopped counting."

The answer made Arin’s stomach tighten.

She continued.

"Every morning was horrible."

Her gaze slowly met his.

"I would wake up knowing what was going to happen."

"And every evening?"

A soft expression crossed Saira’s face.

"Every evening was different."

Arin waited.

"That was because of her."

"Who?"

Saira’s lips twitched into a faint smile.

"Elmora."

The name made Arin understand why it was important to her.

"She was an elf?"

"Yes," Saira said.

She looked into the distance.

"She was about my age."

"A hundred years ago?"

"For us, yes."

Arin remained silent.

"What was she like?"

Saira’s smile grew slightly.

"She was annoying."

Arin raised an eyebrow.

"Annoying?"

"She talked too much."

A faint laugh escaped Saira’s lips.

"She would sneak into where I was kept almost every evening."

"Why?"

"At first, I didn’t know."

Saira rested against the tree.

"She would bring food."

Arin listened.

"Water too."

"She would give it to me and then sit there."

"I hated her."

That was unexpected.

"You hated her?"

"I was a demon held as a slave by elves."

Saira looked at him.

"What did you expect?"

Arin nodded.

"Fair."

"I thought she was lying to me."

She looked away.

"I thought she was trying to get information out of me. Maybe she was trying to warn the others."

Saira shook her head.

"But she never did."

"What did she do?"

"She came back the next day."

Arin smiled.

"And the next."

Saira nodded.

"Every day."

"She kept bringing you food?"

"Yes,"

"And even though you hated her?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Saira smiled.

"I asked her that once."

"And?"

"She said she didn’t know."

Arin chuckled.

"That’s a horrible answer."

"She was horrible at answering questions."

Saira actually looked happy for a moment.

"She would sit next to me and talk about everything."

"The weather. The forest. The village. The things she learned about."

"She would complain about her teachers."

"She once went on for about an hour telling me about an elven technique I didn’t understand at all."

Arin laughed.

"What did you do?"

"I pretended to listen to her."

"You didn’t listen?"

"Of course I listened!" Saira said, looking offended.

"I may have pretended to be annoyed, but I listened."

Arin grinned.

"And eventually, you became friends"

Saira nodded.

"Eventually."

She looked towards the trees.

"Elmora was the first elf I trusted."

Arin said nothing.

"She taught me things."

"Like what?"

"How to control my mana."

Saira lifted one of her hands.

"I always had mana, but I never really understood it."

"Elmora taught me how to feel it, rather than just let it out."

"She taught me patience."

A small smile formed on her lips.

"She taught me how elves sensed magical flow."

"Things I still use today were taught to me by her."

Arin stared at her.

"So she was your teacher."

"My teacher," Saira said.

Her smile faded.

"And my friend."

A heavy silence filled the air between them.

Arin understood why Saira had been so happy during the evenings.

"She would come after everyone had gone to sleep."

"Yes,"

"You suffered during the day."

"Yes,"

"But every evening she came."

"Yes."

Saira closed her eyes.

"For those few hours, I could forget where I was."

Arin’s expression softened.

"What happened to Elmora?"

Saira did not respond.

Something in her breathing had changed.

Her hands were shaking again.

"Saira?"

She opened her eyes.

There was no smile on her face.

"She was killed."

Arin felt his heart stop.

"By who?"

Saira looked down.

"I don’t want to talk about that."

Arin said nothing.

He could see the pain in her face.

The demon who could laugh at almost anything was in obvious distress.

Arin decided not to press the issue.

"Saira."

She looked at him.

"You don’t have to tell me."

Her eyes widened slightly.

"About that day? No, I don’t have to. Not now, at least."

Saira stared at him for a long moment.

Then she looked away.

"I remember that day."

Her voice was barely above a whisper. ℴ

"I remember what happened afterwards."

Arin remained silent.

"But..."

She stopped.

Her expression tightened.

"I don’t want to say anything else."

Arin nodded.

"Okay."

Saira looked at him again.

"You’re not going to ask?"

"No."

"Not even curious?"

"I’m curious."

Arin paused.

"But that doesn’t mean it’s more important than you being ready to talk about it."

Saira stared at him.

Then she gave him a sad smile.

"Master..."

Arin stood up.

"You can tell me when you’re ready."

He held out his hand.

After a moment, Saira took it and stood up.

She looked towards the settlement.

"The elves here now aren’t necessarily the elves from back then."

Arin glanced at her.

"I know."

"And Eldran..."

She hesitated.

"He wasn’t chief then."

Arin nodded.

"I figured."

Saira took a deep breath.

"I don’t want you to think I hate every elf because of what happened."

Arin looked at her seriously.

"I don’t."

Saira smiled faintly.

"Good."

They began walking back towards the settlement.

After a few steps, Saira suddenly spoke.

"Elmora loved this place."

Arin looked at her.

"She used to tell me how beautiful the forest was."

Saira’s gaze met the trees.

"I didn’t understand it then."

She smiled bitterly.

"Now I do."

All the words seemed meaningless to Arin.

Still, he said nothing.

He simply walked beside her.

He had plenty of questions.

Too many, in fact.

But some answers simply weren’t his to demand.

Behind them, the ancient Elf Lands remained quiet and peaceful.

Yet for Saira, the trees carried the memories of a hundred years.

Memories of chains, agony and a young elf who had come every evening with food and water.

A friend who had been betrayed and left to die.

The rest of the story would have to wait.