Whispering Light

ONE: Only strong survive

“Mère,” I whispered. Mother. I clutched my chest as I stared down at my ‘true’ mother’s grave. Death of a broken heart, the saddest death of all. Rain fell in torrents as tears slipped down my face. “Princess, we must go,” said one of my guards. I nodded my head. I placed my fingers tip to my forehead and then to my lips before touching the polished stone. With whispered words, the plain stone turned into fine granite with curling scrollwork in the ancient language.

“Princess, you shouldn’t have done that. She took her own life,” the guard spoke up.

“She gave me life, Ryse, the least I can do is give her the rights entitled to every elf!”

“Yes, Princess,” Ryse muttered.

“I bless thee and welcome thee with open eyes, open heart, open arms, and open mind as is the will of the whispering light. Que la lumière soit avec vous chuchoter.” May the whispering light be with you. I closed my eyes to focus on my magic for the journey home when suddenly the world was swathed in darkness, screams, and pain.

Clutching the royal seal in my palm, I whispered a spell. The seal melted into my palm, thus tattooing its emblem into my flesh. And then, I felt nothing but excruciating, searing, white-hot pain.

XXX

Whispers. Darkness. I’m surrounded in complete darkness and, until now, silence. I hear whispering. Hushed voices all around me.

“She’s already changing,” said a voice. “Her body has accepted the venom instead of resisting it.”
“Guys look at the brand on her arm,” said another voice.

What’s it say?”

“Chuchotant la Lumière. Whispering Light. Shit, she’s from the court of whispers, she’s an elf!”

“Was an elf, she turning now, she’ll be like me.”

The darkness began to recede. I opened my eyes, welcoming the light, and was finally able to see the faces of the voices that surrounded me.

What is your name,” asked the shortest of the bunch.

“I am Rayne, Princess of Whispers.”

“How old are you?”

“I am eighteen.”

The one with red and black hair touched his index and middle finger to his forehead and then his lips. “Give us your true age, Princess.”

“Ah, you speak the ancient language,” I smirked. “As you are well aware of, a spell was placed on my people centuries ago, making it to where we cannot tell a lie while speaking in ancient tongue. Listen well when I say that I have only seen eighteen Autumns.”

“That’s impossible,” said the boy with black hair. “Elves lost their ability to have children long before they became elves.”

“Ah, someone has been brushing up on his history. Yes, my people, long before we entered the Whispering Forest, when we were still witches fleeing from the noose, we lost our ability to procreate.”

“Your people haven’t been able to have children for thousands of years. That would mean that you are the first child to be born in almost four thousand years!”

“You are correct,” I smiled. “I am a rarity among my people, the first born elf in three thousand seven hundred and fifty-seven years. Because of my rarity, I was plucked from my mother’s arms and given to our queen, Natiana.”

“They took you from your parents? That’s terrible,” said the shy blonde.

“Yes, terrible indeed, but it is what’s expected of a dying race. Now, I have given you a name, give me yours.”

“Kiro.”

“Yu.”

“Romeo.”

“Shin.”

“Strify.”

“Odd names, but I expected that; you are children of the shadows. What are your true forms?”

“Yu is a demon, Romeo and Strify are vampires, Shin is a wolf, and I’m a mix of vampire and demon,” Kiro answered.

I nodded, then looked down at myself. I was still wearing the my mourning dress that I wore to my mother’s grave, but what surprised me was the bite wound above my breast. The bite was iridescent black in color and I instantly knew it to be the bite of a demon. “How long since I’ve been bitten?”

“Forty-eight hours,” Yu answered. “The transformation is complete; you’re a demon now.”

“I don’t understand,” I said confused.

“Compared to demon’s blood, elf blood is very weak, the venom took over your body and the strongest won out. You get to keep your old powers, but you are now a full blooded demon.”