Hasta manana, eternal life: chapter one

CHAPTER ONE
Esmeralda

“Esmer! Esmer, wake up! You’re going to be late for school! Again!” The shout of a motherly woman rings in her ear when she waves goodbye to a silent and fantastic dream. “Esmer, this is the last time I’m calling you. If you don’t get down here in five minutes, I’m giving your breakfast to Giro!”

Caring more about food than a dream, Esmeralda jumps out of bed and sprints for the water closet to get ready. Putting on a green dress robe, she quickly cleans her teeth and runs to the breakfast table. It was the last week of school for the year, followed by a long three-month holiday. It was the month of October and the signs of summer were already rolling in.

“I’m here! I’m here, please don’t give away my bread!!” She came stampeding into the room like a herd of, well, stampeding cows. “Oh, plain croissants? I’d rather give them to Giro.”

“Quit complaining and eat up. The school, bus will be coming in ten minutes,” said Ester, Esmer’s mother. It was a habit around the Lumina household to call its members by short nicknames instead of the long official names, Esmerelda in her case.

“Mom, will there be anymore of the trips to the Shrine of Light? I’m getting bored of all this praying and worshipping,” said Esmer while chewing a mouthful of croissant. “I don’t really believe in all this ‘the Lights started it all’ nonsense.”

“Shush your mouth, young lady! If one of the priests hear you saying that, you’ll be a heretic in no time,” exclaimed Ester, although she, too believed naught in the tales told by the shrine. “You just go to the shrine tomorrow and keep your comments to yourself. We don’t want any trouble, now do we?”

“Yeah, sorry mom,” said Esmer while swallowing the last bite of her meal. Then she grabbed her backpack and went out to the yard to wait for her ride to school. It was a bright morning, only 7 and it was already like noon. The trees were half golden and the evergreens were still flourishing. The hay-roofed cottage Esmer called home was smoking white smoke through it’s brick chimney. The sparrows and bluebirds were singing in their nests. The blue sky was clear and there were no clouds. It was suspiciously pleasant for a Monday morning.

Playing with her long red ponytail, Esmer waited patiently for her ride. Then she noticed a red wolf watching her from the blacksmith’s welcome mat. It had crimson eyes that pierced her mind like red ruby daggers. Then the sudden blow of a school bus horn broke the mesmerizing exchange of gazes. She quickly boarded the vehicle and sat in the rear seat and looked through the windshield behind her. The wolf was gone.

At the Rivedell School of the White Arts (SOWA), Esmer ran in and quickly headed for the library. It was first period and it was religious activity period. The whole of SOWA would go the Grand Cathedral of Light in the centre of the school to have some short (By short, I mean 2 to 3 hours minimum) prayers. In the library Esmer looked up the Big ‘Ol Book of Meanies. It sounds rather cheesy, but it’s the most informative book about demons or, as the book refers them as: meanies.

“No, there’s nothing here about demons resembling wolves,” Esmer remarks to herself. “In fact, it is a known fact that wolves are one of the Three forms a demon cannot take,” she often talks to herself during research. It’s a habit to others, but it really does help in storing all the facts in your long-term memory, if you happen to be an elf. “Most elven or elven-related demons take the form of more simpler being, such as mice or even insects.”

Satisfied, she closed the book and returns it to its rightful place, at the top of the rack. She pauses for a minute, thinking of what to do next. Then she heads for her classroom to finish up all of her homework. Just as she was about to exit the library, an announcement was made through the Public Address System.

“Attention all SOWA faculty members and students in year eight. Please report to the Woodhall assembly quarters immediately. I repeat: Attention all SOWA faculty members and students in year eight. Please report to the Woodhall assembly quarters immediately,” and there goes Esmer. She was indeed the head of the Prefectorial Staff, the one person that in one rank below a teacher.

“I wonder what this is all about, now?” She asks herself while sprinting to the Woodhall assembly quarters, which was ironically exactly on the opposite side of the whole school area.

As she run she could see every green robed prefect walking towards the quarters. Why was she running, you ask? She was one of the six ‘Devas’ who in mortal terms, Board of Directors or Executive Commitee (EXCO), in which she was the highest. She was a very attractive young woman, with long hair tied into a ponytail, shining a scarlet glitter, with sharp eyes that pierced when she was angry. Of course, she was most beautiful when she was angry. She was slender with big, a-hem, ‘packs’. She was great in sports and magic alike, and was the dream girl for men and women alike. She was also the youngest in everything. She was the youngest in her class, the youngest Valedictorian, the youngest Mage Graduate, the youngest in the Devas. She was about to find out she was the youngest in something else.

Woodhall was actually a crater, a scar from the Apocalypse, and was made into a circular terraced assembly hall with a single pedestal in the centre. That was for the Principle of SOWA, and the front terrace were divided into six sections, one leaded by a Deva. It was like a government, this school.

As the elven principle stood in the centre of the hall, everyone’s voice died down to a complete silence. He was much respected, as a Principle, a Mage, a Priest and an idol for Esmer. He had, however a deep, dark secret. He did not believe in the Three Lights creating this world, like most intellectual ones have established since this belief was introduced.

“Good morning, faculty members and prefects,” Principle Fathyme said. His greeting was returned with a synchronized roar of “Good mornings”.

“Now, I am here to inform you that the Fourth Continent of our world has declared war upon us, and the other two continents. They claim that their land was the starting point of the Three Light’s journey. Our government has proposed a debate on whether this is true or not. They would like one of all of you to join with two others from their respective continents to find the roots of our land’s creation,” then he stopped for a while. “Any suggestions?”

As soon as he finished the question, every single one in that room, including the professors and lecturers exclaimed. “Esmerelda Lumina!”

The principle laughed and said, “Well it is quite obvious who you would choose on this mission, erm, debate. Miss Lumina, would you?”

Esmer paused for a moment, and then she nodded with a smile. She had the most beautiful smile, did I mention?

“Wonderful! Would you kindly step into my office, please? Okay, meeting adjourned,” and he hit the little pad with the little hammer, and everyone flowed out as fast as they flowed in. The hall was left with Esmer and Fathyme. “Now, if you please, Miss Lumina.”

They both headed for the glass elevator, which lead them to the principle’s office. The office was more of a lounge than an office. It was at the top tower, its walls were all glass and there was a prism hanging from the ceiling like a chandelier. It spread the light that came though it into three, red, green and blue. The focused light then fell on a mini gemstone of its respective light colour on each corner of the triangular room. There was a table and a chair with one of those four pendulum thingies on the table, a stack of books and a bottle of ink. Esmer had visited the office once before, when she got the Mage License.

“Now, we both know why you are here,” he said in a cool and serious voice. He was looking into Esmer’s green eyes. “This is a mission, my dear. You have until the end of the school holidays. On Saturday, we shall send you to the Ultin Grand Cathedral where you shall meet your two other teammates. The answers you need to find are in the Promised Lands up north, but the winds and storms there are far too strong for our magic to transport. You will have to travel on foot.”

“Yes, sir. What shall I pack?” Esmer asks in anxiety to get to class. She never, in her life and maybe the lives before, missed one.

“Just whatever that’s listed in this envelope. All your supplies shall be given to you at the Grand Cathedral. Now, go on now. And I shall meet you on Saturday.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir,” she said, and left the office in a hurry.

The whole of SOWA was spitting compliments at Esmer, more than usual, of course. They had a missionary for the government on their hands, and not just any government. The Holy Council, the highest form of governors in the ranks of priests, from Inferior to Grand:

1st Grand Priest
2nd High Priest
3rd Superior Priest
4th High Bishop
5th Arch-Bishop
6th Arch-Priest
7th Priest
8th Superior Inferior Priest
9th Inferior Priest

The Council’s 9 ranks, although their names lack creativity, had different roles, uniforms and in some cases, gender. The men often occupied the ranks sixth to ninth, and the women occupied the first four ranks. The fifth rank is occupied by a woman or man elf, preferably a man. However, miraculously a man managed to hold the position Grand Priest for the next five hundred years, as the elves lived for seven hundred, or a thousand at highest.

At home, Esmer started packing up her list. It was a green envelope that opened up into a letter. In the envelope was also a small package that revealed a perfectly cut emerald. No points on it, it was just cut into a perfect hemisphere. It was rare and beautiful. Her mother tried to convince her to sell it, but it seemed extremely important. Esmer packed a long bow, a quiver with ten arrows, an empty amulet with a sphere gem socket, a dagger and three changes of her best outdoor gear. She packed three combs, a brush, and some make up (Hey, a girl’s got to have her make up). Then she made her way to a long journey to the Ultin Grand Cathedral.