[This is an ongoing chapter a week story that began with the first Words for Wednesday for 2025 on 1 January. I'm hoping to continue it through 31 December, the last Wednesday of the year. To start from the beginning, click on the Words for Wednesday 2025 label to the right and it will pull up all of the weekly posts, beginning with the most recent. To start from the beginning, continue to click "Older Posts" at the bottom of the page until you get to 1 January 2025, then click "Newer Posts" to read the next date. You can thank Blogger for the inability to list them by chronological order under the labels.] Thal looked at the others and sighed deeply, "To be honest, I think I've been hearing the voice my entire life, I just thought it was part of my dreams. It wasn't until I heard it when I knew I was awake that I realized it was something else. Elder Elowin seemed to even know about it before I did because she didn't
inquire if I was hearing voices. She simply stated that she knew I was."
"This may constitute as a stupid question, but what exactly does your voice sound like? I mean, does it sound like you? Or someone different?"
Lyri threw a look at Eldrin that made him shrug in self-defense, "I just mean, when I'm thinking out problems, I sometimes talk them out loud to myself, and I know what I sound like. I sound like me. So, it wouldn't occur to me that I was hearing someone else's voice unless it sounded really different from me. Which would kinda freak me out."
Thal smiled. "Yeah, it definitely didn't sound like me, and it did freak me out. I think I was in some kind of a trance most of the times lately when it happened because I would 'wake up' in weird places. Like when I had been writing sigils around the village. Other times a stray memory would cross my mind, like déjà vu, and I knew for a fact that I had never been there or done that before. At least that I was 'aware' of. I was even going to talk to you about it one night, but then it swayed me from doing that until I talked more to Elowin about it."
Kael looked at him closely, "You know, for an elf who is descended from a royal you are the least pretentious elf I know. No offense, but as much shite as I put all of you through since we've been littles it would be easier to believe that I was the one with royal blood."
They all laughed at that in agreement before settling into an awkward silence.
"It's not something I would have thought either, but it is what it is. Elowin did warn me that royalty sometimes comes at a high price. In this case, I have the existence of every wood elf riding on my shoulders if I fail at breaking this curse. But, no pressure, right?"
Thal's smile was a weak one, and the other three just looked into the fire rather than at him. He knew that even though they had all volunteered for this adventure, he was the one who had to sit on the throne to save them all. A part of him wanted to send them all back to familiar forests, but he doubted he would be able to succeed without them. In any case, the window of opportunity for him to change his mind had come and gone hours ago.
It was Kael who spoke next, rising to his feet to put out the fire, "We should probably douse this now, so the smoke doesn't draw any unwanted attention and get a few hours of rest before we start again."
As they lay in the shade of the moss lean-to they had built, Lyri waited until she heard the slow rhythmic breathing of Eldrin and Kael sleeping before she whispered, "Thal?"
"Yes?"
"Is there any way you could just undo all of this?"
"What do you mean? Like wave a wand and magically make it all disappear?"
"You needn't be sarcastic, I just meant, is there any other way to break the curse?"
"I'm sorry, Lyri. You're right, that was sarcastic of me. I've been wishing the same thing myself. There is nothing I wish for more than to just snap my fingers and fix it. Unfortunately, I'm a descended from a king and not a wizard."
"I'm sorry too, Thal. I know that this is just as overwhelming for you as it is for us. We just seem like a bit of a rag-tag group to have been chosen to save the world. I'm trying to keep a cheerful outlook for the sake of all of us, but I'm just a little frightened. I didn't even get to leave a note for my parents, and I know they will be worried sick."
Thal reached for her hand and squeezed it tightly. There wasn't anything he could say for he felt the same fear of the unknown. Before long he heard her breathing slow down and tried to match his own to hers to calm his mind.
*~*~*
"Watch out for the black ones."
Thal's voice woke the three of them, and Lyri was the first to sit up and look at him. His eyes were closed tightly, and as Eldrin reached to wake him, Lyri stayed his hand and shook her head.
"Watch out for the black ones, I say. You need to avoid them."
"Is it you? The heir? Is it you talking now through Thal?" Lyri asked.
Thal's face relaxed a little, and Kael and Eldrin looked at her, bewildered.
"Yes." he whispered.
"Can you tell us any more than that? Black what?"
"Spotted black." he whispered again.
Before she could ask spotted black what, Thal awoke and looked at the three of them, staring at him with wide eyes.
"What are you looking at me like that for?"
