Kael led Akero through the shimmering forest. The air was thick with magic, and the leaves on the trees rustled softly, as if whispering secrets. After passing through a final thicket, an elven village appeared before them. The houses were built from living trees and woven with glowing vines, and the air smelled of flowers and ozone.
Elenora waited on the doorstep of her home, a large structure that resembled a tree of enormous proportions. She was tall and graceful, with hair the color of silver moonlight and eyes as deep as a lake. Her presence radiated wisdom and age, but also a kind of sorrow.
"Kael," she said in a voice that reminded him of a babbling brook. "It has been too long. And you bring me... a guest." Her gaze shifted to Akero, appraising him. "It looks like he is not from here."
"No," Kael confirmed. "This is Akero. He comes from a world called Earth. His Source is fracturing."
Elenora nodded, as if she had expected this. "I see it. His aura is chaotic, torn between two realities. Come inside."
Inside the house, filled with drying herbs and crystals, Elenora placed her hands on Akero's chest. A cool, washing energy flowed through him, soothing the pain that had plagued him for days.
"Your source is powerful," she said, her eyes closed in concentration. "But it is completely unaligned. It's not just dissonant with our world... it is attuned to something else entirely. I feel chaos, sparks... I feel change." She opened her eyes, looking at him with keen interest. "What did you feel? What happened when you tried to use it?"
Akero inhaled, remembering the awful sensation. "Pain. There was intense pain. But... the first time is when I was sleeping.. and later in schoo." He clasped his hands, looking down at them. "And all that pain happened just because I wanted to freeze time for three seconds. "
Elenora's eyes widened with excitement and deep interest, not just sympathy.
"Three seconds..." she repeated quietly, almost with respect. "Akero, you are not fighting your gift. You are smothering it. Your power isn't to cause pain. Your power is time manipulation. It is one of the rarest gifts, even among us. It tries to manifest, and you push it back; that's why it hurts so much. That's why it only lasts three seconds."
She closed her eyes again, and her hands began to glow with a soft, blue light. A faint scent of rain and freshwater filled the room. "My own affinity is for water," she explained, her voice now a calming murmur. "To guide, to flow, to find the path of least resistance. I will use that nature to guide your source back to its core, to calm its turbulent flow. Do not fight it."
Akero expected a new, different kind of pain—a cleansing fire or a scalding purge. Instead, a cool, profound clarity washed through him. It was the feeling of an icy stream cutting through burning desert sand within his veins, carving a new channel. The sharp, thorny waves of energy that had been flaying him from the inside began to recede, to still, to slow their frantic churning.
He felt the wild, thrashing thing inside him—the caged beast that had been beating itself against the bars of his ribs—finally yield and go completely, utterly quiet. The frantic, irregular pounding that had threatened to shatter his chest was replaced by a single, strong, stable, and silent rhythm deep within his core. It wasn't pounding anymore. It was thrumming. Solid. Utterly quiet.
Elenora pulled her hands away. "There."
Akero drew a breath. A deep, full, unobstructed breath that filled lungs he hadn't realized were constantly compressed. The air moved through him smoothly, without a single hitch or spark of agony. There was no pain. No pressure. Only a profound silence and a newfound solidity at his core, like a mountain settling after an earthquake.
His hands flew to his chest, fingers splaying over his sternum as if trying to touch the quiet miracle within. A broken, disbelieving sound escaped him, half a sob, half a laugh.
"It was so... loud," he whispered, his voice raw with a vulnerability he couldn't hide.
The relief that crashed over him was so intense it was dizzying. He hadn't understood the weight of the chaos he carried until it was finally, mercifully, lifted. He looked up at Elenora, his vision blurring with tears of pure, unadulterated release
"Thank you," he breathed, the words feeling utterly inadequate for the magnitude of what she had just done. "I... I can't even... thank you. I don't feel it anymore. The pain is just... gone." He ran a hand through his hair, a shaky, bewildered gesture. "I forgot what it felt like to just... be. Without it tearing me apart."
From his place by the doorway, Kael gave a single, slow nod of approval, his usual severe expression softening a fraction. "It is done. Your source is stable. The fracture is healed."
The door to the chamber whispered open. A younger-looking girl stood there, her warm blue eyes wide with surprise. A faint, uncertain smile touched her lips, and long white hair cascaded over her shoulders. She carried a bundle of fresh, fragrant herbs in her arms.
"Elenora, I brought you the willow-bark and sun-reed you asked for... oh!" She stopped short, noticing the guests. "Sorry, I didn't know you had visitors."
"Come in, Nea," Elenora said gently, her voice still carrying the calm of her work. "Your timing is perfect, as always. I have just finished stabilizing the source of our guest. Nea, this is Akero. Akero, this is Nea. She is often my hands when a task requires more delicate work than my own.
Nea stepped fully into the room, her gaze shifting to Akero. Her eyes softened immediately with innate compassion. "I can see the strain it took on him," she said, her voice kind and melodic. Without waiting for an invitation, she approached and placed a gentle hand on his forehead. A soft, green glow emanated from her fingertips, and a wave of soothing warmth washed over Akero, erasing the last remnants of tension in his neck and the dull ache behind his eyes. "The stabilization is a powerful magic. It can leave one feeling... hollowed out. My gift is small," she murmured humbly, "but I can ease the lingering discomfort."
Elenora watched with a knowing look. "Do not let her modesty fool you. Nea possesses a true healing gift. Her source strives for harmony and restoration." She then gestured toward Kael, who had been observing quietly from his post by the door. "A stark contrast to Kael's affinity. His connection is to the living fire of this world—a force of control and raw power."
As if on cue, Kael lifted his hand. A small, vibrant flame sparked to life above his palm, dancing and twisting with contained energy. It cast a warm, flickering light across his serious face, highlighting the fierce determination in his silver-blue eyes. He held it for a moment, a silent, potent demonstration, before closing his fist, snuffing the flame out without a trace.
"Each source has its own nature," Elenora concluded. "Its own purpose."
Nea's cheeks flushed slightly at the praise and the display, and she withdrew her hand, offering Akero a shy, genuinely kind smile. "I just like to help where I can."
After all of that, Akero told Elenora and Nea everything. He spoke of Vorath's sudden appearance, the terrifying ultimatum, and the cosmic threat of The Unknown.
Elenora's face grew stern, the lines around her eyes deepening with grave concern. "Vorath... A Herald of the Unknown. This is ill news for all worlds. The Unknown is not merely an individual; it is a phenomenon, a hunger for obliteration that travels through the dimensions. If it has sent its Herald to warn a child from Earth... then something grave is stirring."
She turned her formidable gaze from Akero to Kael and Nea. "He cannot fight this alone. His power is immense but raw, a sword yet unformed. He must learn, but not only within these walls. To master a source like his, he must journey. He must seek out places of power and face challenges that will forge his will."
Akero listened, and for the first time, the path ahead didn't seem like a solitary march to a doomed end. It seemed like a quest. He straightened his back, the new stability in his chest fueling a resolve he hadn't felt before. "She's right," he said, his voice firmer now. "I have ten years. I won't spend them hiding. I need to get stronger, and I need to find a way to stop this. But I can't do it alone."
Kael didn't hesitate. He stepped forward, his jaw set. "My path is yours. I will accompany you."
All eyes turned to Nea. She looked at the floor, wrestling with the weight of the decision, then lifted her gaze. Her blue eyes, usually so soft, now shone with a determination that burned away her uncertainty. "Then I will come as well. A sword is useless if the wielder falls. Healing can save lives on a journey like yours."
Akero looked at the two of them—Kael with his fiery resolve, Nea with her gentle yet unyielding strength—and then to Elenora, whose nod was both a blessing and a command. That fragile flicker of hope in his chest burst into a steady flame.
His struggle was no longer his alone. It was their mission.