Shael swung from vine and bounded off branch, her long hair pulled back with the wind of her momentum. She needed a place to be alone, somewhere she could meditate over recent events. She had offered herself to the human, for she knew that it would only strengthen her people.

And he had rejected her. His words did not bother her, but she could not forget. How can you accept such things?

He was a human, ignorant of their ways. But still, to reject her? Vanni every year journeyed from all five Tribes in the hope to win her hand, and returned empty handed. Noone had even managed to touch her during the sacred Ravshi, even Fenrith. Ravshi was more than a duel. It was a dance, of sorts. And how the human proved a worthy partner, even if controlled by the spirit.

She had not accounted for being bested by a man, nor to be dismissed by him. Her offering of body and melding of mind was as personal and sacred as a sylf could give. She was loathe to admit, but deep down she felt a fury at being scorned that came from her wounded pride.

She did not consider giving herself to another vanni, not after Fenrith. She would at least offer herself for the best of her people. How can you accept such things? His words echoed in her mind. She bared her teeth and landed lightly on a wide branchwork, rolling and continuing her fierce speed. She always did what was for the good of her people. What did the human know of sacrifice, and duty? She did what had to be done.

Shael paused to rest a hand upon a tree. She was close. An hour more and she stopped, breath heavy from her mad dash. She descended down a hollowed tree, used as a fishing retreat and long disused. The indigo sky peered out in the distance, and Shael looked down a white craggy cliff thirty feet high leading to an open brown sanded beach. She loped along the cliffside until a slope granted her entrance to the shoreline.

Shael sat down on the sands, arms huddled round her bent legs as she gazed skyward. The pale moon marked the night as her domain, and hers alone. The stars were her countless children, shining in a sky speckled with greys, indigos, and purples that twisted and pulled at each other to both merge and disconnect. Below was an unfathomable amount of water as far as the eye could see which swept and pulled back, bubbling and frothing with the ebb and flow of its tides.

She never told anyone besides her sister that blue was her favorite color. She never thought to do so. Never been close enough with another to share the unimportant details of her being. And the water reflected a shimmering sheen of various blues, purplish blues, bright blues and dark blues.

Somewhere in the sky she saw the shade of Hector’s eyes. Shael wished that she could see the open blue sky every day, compared to the dim gloom of the forest. The Warden felt trapped, destined to defend her homeland from the encroachment of man. And she had felt duty bound to offer herself to a man.

Duty was her strength, honor her guidance and sole companion. Shael breathed deep, taking in the warm salt breeze; harsh, clean and pure. She spotted two long boats curved and peaking at their front and back, their owners nowhere to be found.

She would have to return before dawn, which meant a sleepless night. Shael was used to such hardship however. So she basked in the light of the starry sky for a time, and undressed to swim not far from shore. The water was cool, but not discomforting.

The salt stung her eyes so she swam face up, feet paddling back until she floated, limbs splayed out, staring skyward. Eventually she returned to shore, her toes wriggling in the sand and relishing in the sensation. She wrung her hair dry, water darkening the light brown sand. There she stood, the warm breeze tickling her bare body dry until she would turn back from whence she came.

***

Shael arrived at the Odigwe arboreal before first light. She reached the top of the hollowed tree, the view of its open canopy tinged faint orange from the grey horizon. Shrugging off her pack which held her weaponry and disrobing once more, she sat cross legged at the center of the open hollow.

A ray of light bounced off her back, then bathed her body in its gathering warmth. She exhaled sharply. The muscles of her belly flexed inward with each deep breath. Her eyes opened, restored in body if not mind.

“Are you dressed?” A sylf’s voice said shortly after through the moss covers.

“Yes,” Shael answered. “You may enter.”

A muddy brown toned hand waved through the doorway, and Celdan’s mate, Muriel, stepped into view. Her strikingly white hair was brighter than her off grey robes of an Elder Seer. Her warm golden eyes pierced and held Shael with her stare, seemingly drawing out all her secrets. Shael bowed her head in respect.

“Elder Muriel, I was just leaving.”

“Please, stay. I understand you had offered yourself to the human.”

“That is none of your business, Elder,” Shael maintained her low tone.

“It is my business to know such matters, fledgling,” the Elder whipped in reply. “You know that this human is our most promising hope in establishing peace with mankind.”

Shael jut out her chin. “Why do you think I do what I do then, Elder, if not for our people?”

“Your offer was wild and overzealous. The human is not yet even a man, still having to understand the ways of his people, least of all ours.” Her wooden face softened with her voice. “Though most of their kind live brief lives, and their memory briefer still, they are not so different to us. I should know, having spent centuries with one I entrusted as my companion evermore. Do not take his dismissal as a refusal. And do not take it as an insult. Their ways of courtship are not bound by law nor tradition. What they see as our virtues they view as shackles and archaic.”

“Did you come here to discuss philosophical rhetoric with me, Elder?” Shael frowned, to which Muriel replied with a closed lipped smile.

“I want you to know that you are not alone in our fight to save our people. You do not have to burden yourself with your sense of duty. Why did you offer yourself to him?”

Shael shrugged. “The most I could do was use my bondless state for the best of my people.”

The Elder shook her head ever so slightly. “Do you believe that your bond with another is worthless then?”

“I never said that-”

“That you do not deserve a chance to be happy?” Muriel pressed on, as if she had sensed a philosophical weakness in Shael’s resolve. “Fledgling, you are not even over two centuries in life. The forest tends to keep one’s view of the world in the trees, and not the world itself. Have you ever thought of what would make you happy, before what you thought was the duty to your people?”

Shael thought back to the laughter of a newling, the open pale blue sky and a hand dark as earth clasped over hers. She had not even known what his grasp would feel like. Rough and unyielding, as his thankless devotion?

“You know this story. The humans take it all away, as is their nature.”

“So a sort of matrimonial suicide, if you will? For you were willing to give yourself to such a human. They are not inherently evil, Shael. Not all. This human, Hector, is pure of heart. He can be molded to be a man that can save us. Or end us. There are three reasons why he dismissed you. You never call him by his name. He does not love you. And you do not love him. You wish to help save our kind? Treat him with respect and decency. Show him the virtues of our people, and learn the ways of his people. It takes bravery to face the unknown, and it takes strength to understand it.” Muriel turned for Shael to pass and bowed her head, “May you walk a bright path.”

Shael nodded, “And may yours shine brighter.”