Adventures of Elas

### Preface

Written by Abi in Gossamer's perspective. The fic is a story about Gossamer's Volk Clan love interest Lyra and is set about 2ish years before Gossamer leaves the clan. Inspired by "What If" by Coldplay (listen to it afterwards or when you get to the part starting with "We set our plan in motion").

Characters: Elas = Gossamer, Amryn = Vestele. Amedee and Folwin are friends from the clan. Lyra is the love interest

### Adventures of Elas

We head towards our station for patrol, the sun hidden deep behind the mountain range. Amryn is leading, eager to get going. We’ve had reports of increased activity in the area as the village has grown more restless. The rebellion is starting to spike again… and that can only bring chaos.

Amedee fills the silence as she excitedly tells us about her opportunity to raise a pup. Folwin listens with apparent awe as she continues. As the stars start to dim, Amryn motions for silence. We’ve entered the central circle. Just like we planned, we station ourselves east of the village. Folwin and I climbed up the nearby tree to set up our scout for the day. Amryn sits at the base of the tree and pours her bottle of black sand onto the ground. After using her finger to draw a circular pattern, she plants incense into the sand. I watch as she meditates, the incense drifting around her up to Zvezda. If today goes well, Zvezda might grant her more power. Amedee stands near Amryn, hand resting on the hilt of her sword as she scans the dim forest.

We continue in silence, as the shadows shrink with the moving sun. Amryn hasn’t moved, eyes closed and focused. I pull out my dagger and mark the tree with my watch symbol, a circle with two diamonds stacked vertically. As dawn arrives, I hear a rustle in the trees closer to the village. As it draws closer, I see more details of what appears to be an elf. I draw a circle in the air in front of me, and push it towards the figure. As my hunter's mark lands on the figure, my surroundings dim as the elf begins to glow a deep red.  I take my stance, notch an arrow in my bow. I aim and let Zvezda guide the arrow to its mark. I hear a thud as the red aura around the limp body darkens and my surroundings brighten. Whoever it was is dead now.

Amryn’s eyes are still closed as Amedee walks forward to investigate the body. She drags the figure by the arm over to our tree. I climb down to look. My arrow went straight through the neck. It appears to be a man from the village… Amedee searches the pockets in his now blood soaked coat. He seems fairly young but old enough to know better than to run away.

Amedee pulls out a journal and begins flipping through the pages. “He was heading to Dragon Tooth Pass. Sounds like he was trying to get outside help for the rebellion…”

After scanning another page, she stops and her once casual stance shifts. “He knows our markings,” she holds up the page to us. “He knew how to decipher them…How did he find this?”

She begins to read again when Amryn opens her eyes and reaches for the book. “This is what we’ve been waiting for…” she snaps the journal closed, “Finally. This is how we’ll prove our worth to the others, to Zvezda.” Her fingers tap the cover as she turns to the group, “He must have been working with someone from our clan. There’s no other explanation. We can’t alert anyone of this yet, so we should hide the body for now. Folwin, take care of the blood on the ground. Amedee and Elas, you two find a hiding place. I’ll search the journal for more answers. Zvezda guide us” She then returns to her incense and starts to read.

It doesn’t take long to hide the body. After Amedee molds the earth beneath us, we place the body inside, pushing an overturned log on top of the makeshift grave. When we return, Folwin’s hidden any trace of blood and is standing watch by Amryn. “He never mentions their name, but it is obvious he had ties to the clan. We can continue today as normal, but don’t mention anything to the others.”

After finishing our scout we head back to the den and report nothing. We enter the main hall for dinner, the entire clan listening to Tannivh’s updates of rebellion activity.

Amryn pulls me aside from the group into a nearby room, “I have an idea of how to find this traitor… The journal mentioned methods of contacting them. I don’t know if we can tell Amedee or Folwin yet. The journal makes it sound like multiple people had contact with this clan member… I think we should try to leave them a message, and then expose them” Her eyes glow intensely as she waits for my answer. “Elas, this will finally prove to Tannivh that I can lead. That I’m worth Zvezda’s blessing.”

I nod, “I agree. Let’s set the trap” After discussing our plan, we return to the main hall, no one noticing our absence as they debate the outcome of a recent rebel skirmish. I look over the crowd, someone here betrayed us.

After the meal, I head to Lyra’s hut near the wolf den. “Elas! How was scouting?” She greets me with a kiss, grabbing my hand and leading me to the new cubs.

“Long… Amryn is so ready to just be promoted. I’d be fine staying on scouts though” I shrug.

She hesitates, as if reading into my uneasiness, “Well I think I can cheer you up... Are you ready to meet the new wolves?” She smiles wide as she unlocks the gate. “Ok. So I named this one Lita, the one with the white coat is Tosh… Oh! This one is my favorite” She reaches down to pick up a light brown cub, “Her name is Lyra the Small. Fitting right? She’s pretty cute.” She winks and hands me the cub as she sits down. The other cubs swarm her as she brings out crumbs of food. Lyra laughs as they climb on top of her. Without noticing, I find myself smiling too. I sit down, and hold the cub in my lap. Lyra knows me too well.

Later on, I return to my tent to see Amryn forging the message from the rebels. “Finally, what took you so long?”

I sit down at the table, watching her work, “Lyra was showing me the new cubs. You should go see them. They’re so cute.”

She stops working and stares at me, “You can flirt with your girlfriend later, this is more important. I tried to hide traces of tampering, do you notice anything off?” She pushes the letter to me and crosses her arms expectantly.

I draw a circle in the air with an upside down triangle. It glows a dim red as I flick the corner and watch it spin. Suddenly the letter begins to emit a faint light. “Yeah I can tell,” I say, sliding back the paper.

“Ugh. I thought I was better at that,” Amryn grabs the letter and crumples it up, the magic leaving the paper. As she forges a new letter, I pull out my dagger and add more details to the wooden pendant I’d been making. I might even be able to finish it tonight if Amryn takes long. We sit in silence except for the occasional angry/aggressive crumbling/sighs/huffs of failed attempts.

“Do you think she’ll like it?” I say and hold up my finished pendant. The design is two interlocked circles with a diamond shape in the center.

Amryn stops working and halfheartedly glances at the wood carving, “Looks great. Care to help me with this?” She passes her recent attempt over to me, and it does seem to have improved. I draw the same circle and triangle and spin it… but there seems to be no traces of magic.

“Wow, I can’t see anything. What magic did you use?” Amryn leans back in her chair,

“None… Too hard to mask. So you think it’ll work?”

I hand back the letter, “I think it will. Ready to catch this traitor?”

“Always”

We set our plan in motion. Using the journal, we find the messenger bird hidden on the outskirts of the village and deliver our letter. The forged message has directions to meet at a river near the village the following night. We return to the clan, anticipating the following day.

After another day of scouting, we leave the base and head to the river. We climb a nearby tree and set up our watch. I grab my bottle of mistletoe ash and spruce leaves. I trace a circle with the ash on my skin and crush the spruce leaf, watching as the circle glows and shadows envelop us and we camouflage into the tree. I hold my bow by my side, an arrow already notched. Night grows darker as clouds hide the moon. We wait. Minutes, then hours pass with no change.

“Maybe it didn’t work… We should head back,” I whisper.

“No. We can’t risk losing them. If we just…”

Her response is cut short as we hear footsteps. I scan the river, watching as the shadowy figure approaches the meeting spot. I draw a circle in the air and push it towards the traitor… their outline glows against the shadows. I just need to immobilize them… we still need answers. I draw my bow, aiming for their leg. The arrow snaps through the silence, followed by a scream. I jump down, revealing myself as I ready another arrow. Amryn follows, and we walk toward them. They face away from us as they clutch their leg, the arrow protruding from the other side.

“Now, you’re going to tell us exactly what’s going on. You didn’t think we’d find out did you?” Amryn grabs their shoulder and turns them around as they fall to the ground.

Their voice filled with terror, “Amryn? How did you… Elas?” Wisps of dark brown hair fall from her face as she looks up, desperately, her eyes gleaming over.

I drop my stance, “Lyra? What were you.. No…” I take a step back, unable to hide my confusion and anger, “...anyone but you.”

Amryn seems resolved and unwavering, “Why were you working with the rebels? No wonder they’ve been able to fight back with you giving them information” She pulls a dagger and faces it toward Lyra.

I panic, dropping my bow and stepping between them, “Wait! She must have an explanation. Right? Lyra wouldn’t betray us. Please.” I look down as tears blur my vision.

“Elas, The clan is terrorizing the villagers. I just wanted to… I only wanted to help them. They’re suffering,” I hear the agony in her voice and turn towards her. “I would never betray our family. I just couldn’t let…”

Amryn tackles her to the ground and Lyra screams in pain as the arrow snaps/is pushed deeper into her leg. “Amryn stop!” I move to pull her off, but Lyra grabs the dagger from Amryn’s hands. I step back as Lyra twists to pin Amryn down, holding the dagger against her throat.

“I don’t want to do this… “ Lyra pleads, “Elas, we can leave this. We can leave the clan, and walk away.”

Amryn spits, “Don’t listen to her. She just wants to make it out of this alive.” As Lyra waits for my response, Amryn hits her, knocking her back. Lyra winces, taking the dagger and arching towards Amryn.

Out of reflex, as Lyra goes to strike, I pull a dagger from my brace and throw it. Lyra falls to the ground as Amryn turns to stare at me. I drop down beside Lyra, ignoring Amryn. I trace a circle on Lyra’s arm and watch it sink into the skin. I stare at her closed eyes and wait for the healing spell to take effect. Nothing happens.

“Amryn. Help me. She’s not waking up.”  I trace another circle. “Amryn please,” tears fill my eyes. “Amryn. It’s my fault. Help me.” I hold Lyra, unaware of Amryn’s hand on my back.

“Elas. You had no choice… Elas can you hear me?” She pulls me away to face her, “Lyra betrayed you, the clan, Zvezda, everything. Listen to me.” Amryn grabs my shoulders and shakes me. “ELAS. Snap out of it.” I hold my breath and stare at her, seeing the tears her words are hiding. “We found the traitor, and Zvezda will bless us for this sacrifice”

I catch every other word, as I turn back to Lyra. I reach into my pouch, pulling out the pendant I made. I grab Lyra’s hand and wrap it around the pendant. After several minutes of silence, I stand up, “We should inform Tannivh.” Amryn grips my shoulders, “Thank you for saving me.” The words echo through me as we leave Lyra’s body by the river, waiting to be retrieved by scouts.

Tannivh applauds our loyalty, hosting a feast to celebrate. He announces Zvezda has deemed Amryn worthy of her power. Amryn’s excitement is more than enough to draw the attention away from my subdued reaction. It seems wrong to celebrate this victory.