Lithoniel

Lithoniel often dreamed about her first command, of the day she would be the one to take the decisions. It wasn't because she craved power or position, but simply because she wanted to be accepted, acknowledged for her talents and for once, not shunned for her looks. But leading this ragged bunch wasn't what she dreamed of. They were broken, their souls crushed by the weight of death and the horrors they were forced to witness. Not that it was surprising. Fifty hunters left the tribe in search of food, and merely twelve were coming back.

What really surprised her was that only the weak and young survived. It was like a breach, a rupture of a principle deeply engraved in the collective minds of every elf. Only the strong survive. An unwritten law more than a maxim repeated over and over to the elf children since the day they were born. Yet, there was no veteran left in the small company toiling on the hillside. Lithoniel, the Phinoriel brothers, and Garluin were the oldest, but even they were merely younglings still waiting to become full-fledged hunters. The others were just children, and little was expected from them except to watch and learn.

"Lithoniel" Kolvar called, drawing her attention back to the present.

He ran to reach Lithoniel and his brother in the vanguard, three or four hundred steps from the rest of the group. The young man was slim and his features sharp like many elves, but there was something soft in his brown eyes. The innocence of a child, untainted by the harshness of the Embersea. He didn't seem dependable but sweet like a younger brother or a puppy following her around and wagging its tail.

"At this rate, we won't reach the village before dusk." Kolvar said, turning his head back.

The elves were shuffling their feet on the stony soil, their eyes hollow.

Lithoniel nodded absentmindedly. But then she noticed both Kolvar and Rolim were looking at her and realized what that meant.

They are waiting for orders. My orders.

It was strange, but for better or worse, she was in command. Lithoniel cleared her throat, her nails digging into her palms as she tried to endure the dull ache in her broken arm.

"We need to set out camp. Rolim..."

"I'll scout the area." He preceded her, his words practical and short like he didn't want to waste any more time with pointless words.

Rolim started to pick up the pace, but Lithoniel stopped him, her hand holding tightly on his forearm. He lifted his eyebrows, stared down at her hand, then up at her face. But Lithoniel was looking down, suddenly very interested in her shoes.

"Only..." She hesitated, her lips tight as she slowly looked up, meeting his gaze, "Don't go too far. We need you."

"I won't." He struggled to smile like he wasn't used to it.

Rolim had a square face, average for the most, even rough for the elves standards. But when he smiled, he looked like a completely different person from the brooding shadow he usually was. Lithoniel looked at him startled. This was the third time in eighteen years that she had seen him smile. She wanted to look at that "phenomenon" for some more time when she heard someone clearing his throat.

It was Kolvar.

"I should go." Rolim said, and the moment was over.

He reverted to his usual self, hurrying to scout ahead. Lithoniel followed him with her eyes until he disappeared from the view. Then she sighed, turning to look at Kolvar.

Something passed on Kovlar's face as he stared at his brother retreating back. A frown maybe, swiftly replaced by a caring expression when he looked at Lithoniel.

"What is it, Kolvar?" Lithoniel sounded annoyed.

But if he noticed it, he didn't show it.

"We may have a problem." He said instead.

Another one?

She followed his gaze and grimaced. She had to agree with him. That was a big problem. It was Garluin.

"He wasted no time before starting to recruit children for his little cult." Kolvar muttered.

Lithoniel scowled. She saw Garluin walking close to an elf girl, a hand on her shoulder as he whispered something in her ear. It was Liara, the youngest among the small group, barely thirteen years old.

"This was her first hunt." Kolvar said quietly from beside her.

Lithoniel shook her head. It'll take a miracle to forget what happened. Most likely she'll be scarred for life.

Garluin was using that, enticing her when she was most weak. He was a master at that.

"He coped quickly with the grief." Kolvar said.

Lithoniel glared at him, but just because he was talking too loud.

Besides, Kovlar was right, this wasn't a man grieving for his mentor's death, but someone planning something. She became certain of this when Garluin turned - probably realizing she was looking at him - and smirked. He said something to Liara before heading directly toward Lithoniel. When he was some steps away, Kovlar came forth, putting himself between the two of them.

"What do you want?" Kovlar glared at him, arms crossed as he attempted to look threatening.

Garluin stared at him like he was looking at an insect, his gaze slipping after him to look at Lithoniel. Then he smiled, smugly, with that intrinsic air of superiority she hated.

"I have something to tell you."

"And I suppose it's just a coincidence that you waited for Rolim to walk away before doing that?"

Garluin's jaw twitched, "I think you'll want to hear this."

He tried to flaunt that signature smile of his, but it had lost its luster.

Lithoniel sighed, "If you want to talk, talk."

Kolvar looked back at her, doubt appearing on his face.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"I am." I think.

"Didn't you hear her?" Kolvar barked, stepping back at her side. "Talk, if you must."

"Very well then." Garluin took a deep breath, "Lithoniel, daughter of ashes. The people have chosen."

Lithoniel stiffened. Daughter of ashes. Daughter of no one. The epithet hurt, but it wasn't the reason she was nervous. She recognized these words, they were part of a specific ceremony. An investiture.

"Don't..." She started, but Garluin was still talking.

"They have chosen you." He said, and his words were repeated like a chant by the others.

They started to converge on her, forming a circle with Lithoniel at the center. Then Garluin knelt in front of her, head down, his arms stretched forward and his palm upwards. Lithoniel stopped breathing when she saw what he had inside his hands. It was the Nightstalker's ring. The symbol of his title. It was made of obsidian, black and opaque inside Garluin's hands.

"You can't do this." She whispered.

"The people have chosen." Garluin repeated, the ceremonial words weighing on her like a boulder.

"Not all the people." She countered.

"I am the Nightstalker's heir." Garluin replied, a bit of his innate arrogance leaking out.

"But you aren't the Nighstalker."

Lithoniel was wary. The entire situation felt wrong. Why was Garluin so hellbent on yielding a title which was rightfully his? To her of all people? It made no sense.

Garluin opened his mouth and closed it, a cunning expression appearing on his face.

"Maybe not, but I can still nominate you. And after what you did with the Zaruk, do you really think someone will oppose?"

More than one, actually. She knew her tribesmen well, and no matter what kind of feat she achieved, the chances she had to be elected were nonexistent.

"You are a hero Lithoniel." Garluin continued, "You saved all of us. And like I said, the people have chosen."

His arm described an arc, pointing at the people around her. They were nodding, smiling: something close to devotion in their faces. Her lips trembled, a wave of emotion sweeping through her as she realized they really wanted her to lead them.

"Just accept it." Kolvar muttered.

She tried to force back the tears threatening to come out from her eyes. She failed. So she bent over to hide them, her trembling fingers reaching for the ring in Garluin's hands.

When she touched it, when that black polished stone was inside her hand, she took a glimpse at Garluin's face. He was smiling.

Her breath caught in her throat and she felt like one thousand snakes were crawling on her skin. That wasn't the expression of a person who just yielded his title to a woman he loathed, but the satisfied smile of someone who achieved his goal. It was gone when he stood up, replaced by a mild and generous expression, his hands joined on his chest while he watched her. He looked like the image of someone selfless who yielded his title for the greater good.

"You deserved it." Kolvar said, his words followed by a chorus of congratulations by the elves around her. Lithoniel answered with a half smile, but her heart wasn't in it. Not entirely at least.

She kept staring intently at Garluin. She had a bad feeling, the impression the show just started. It became a certainty when Garluin raised his hands, warning the others to stay quiet.

"I have just one last request." He said, raising his index finger. "From the former Nightstalker's successor to the new one."

"You little..." Kolvar started, his head whipping back to look at Lithoniel. "You don't have to listen to him."

He was wrong. Lithoniel could feel it when she looked at the faces of the elves around her, detected the expectation in their gazes.

"I have to" She whispered.

Garluin had just sacrificed himself. She had at least to listen to him, even if she had the impression everything he had done so far was in preparation for this precise moment.

"What is it that you want?" She asked, her voice toneless and low.

"Me? Nothing." He shook his head. "It's not for me that I'm asking for, but her" He pointed to someone at the far edge of the circle.

It was Liara, a frightened mouse standing alone on the sidelines. She was small, way shorter than five foot, her unruly coppery hair like a formless bush surrounding her scared face. She hiccuped and seemed to grow even smaller when everyone turned to look at her.

Lithoniel looked at Garluin, confusion evident on her face.

"I want you to protect her." He clarified. "Both her parents were hunters who died for the tribe. And now, because of the Zaruk, she even lost her brothers, the only family she had left. She is the youngest among us, and she is alone."

One could say a lot of thing about Garluin, but he was a consummate actor, capable of captivating the crowd like no one else. Everyone - Kolvar included - was eating out of his hand, waiting for his words, to hear that perfectly modulated voice narrate the next part of the story.

"Of course I'll protect her." She said, choosing her words carefully. She was sure there was a trap somewhere, but she couldn't see where. "Like I would protect every hunter under my command."

But Garluin shook his head.

"No, Lithoniel that's not what I meant. I want you to personally guarantee she'll be safe. Just until we are back to the tribe, of course." He added like it made any difference.

Lithoniel's lips parted, while she was too shocked to formulate an answer. But Kolvar didn't have such problems.

"Are you mad?" He half shouted. "How can you think she..." He began, but Lithoniel interrupted him.

"...I'll do it."

Kolvar looked at her like she had gone crazy.

"Lithoniel you know what means. You know what..."

"I know" She cut him out.

Oh, she knew, she knew all too well. If she promised to protect her, she was honor-bound to do so, even at the expense of her own life. It was one of the oldest and most sacred of the elves' vows.

That's why very few people dared to swear it. Failing to uphold the vow meant to become lower than a beast inside the elves' society, as Garluin knew well.

However, she really had no other choice. She saw what kind of effect Garluin's story had on the survivors. But above all, she saw the look in Liara's face, the hopelessness, and fear in her eyes. After seeing that, how could she refuse?

"Fine then" Kolvar sighed, his shoulders dropping like he gave up. "Do as you like."

"I'll do it." She repeated.

"You swear it?" Garluin asked, his face unnaturally serious.

Lithoniel nodded, very slowly.

"I swear."

Garluin looked around him, his eyes dwelling on every single elf like he was taking notes of the hunters nearby, the witnesses of her vow.

Then he smiled, "Well then. You lifted a burden off my shoulders. I can rest well now that I know little Liara is safe and sound." He said and then walked past her, followed after a while by the others hunters.

Liara came for last.

"Thank you." The small elf said to her, though Lithoniel had almost to read her lips to understand what she was saying. Then Liara bowed, hurrying after Garluin.

"That guy."Kolvar said, shaking his head. "He doesn't miss a chance to make himself look good."

But Lithoniel had something else in her mind.

"Do me a favor and keep an eye on Liara." She said to him, her eyes staring at Garluin's retreating figure like she wanted to dig a hole in his back.

Kolvar furrowed his brow. "Liara? Not Garluin?"

Lithoniel shook his head.

"Liara" She repeated.

She wasn't sure why, but there was something off about what Garluin said at the end. Something ominous.