Luna instinctively stepped back. She didn't know what she'd been expecting—but it wasn't this.
The face staring back at her was close to human… but not quite.
Strong, sharp ridges traced along Tara's cheekbones, and faint spots—like a leopard's—patterned the sides of her neck.
Tara offered a nervous smile, revealing teeth a little too sharp to be comforting. Luna's eyes followed a sudden twitch near her temples and froze—ears, long and dagger-shaped, pointed toward the sky. Fine fur tipped them, trembling like antennae.
Tara noticed Luna's unease, her smile falling to a frown.
"They call us the Elemarr," she said softly. "Or just elves. We come from a natural mutation caused by Akrinn's manea. They used to think us abominations, but now?" She exhaled. "We're just abnormal."
Tara looked at the ground, heavy with shame
Luna felt guilty at her response. She promised not to react poorly and that's just what she did. But, at the same time she never expected Tara to be another species! She didn't even know they're were other species. Not ones that could speak like a human.
She swallowed, forcing her tone steady. "I don't think you're… abnormal," she said, choosing her words carefully. Her voice softened. "Just… a bit different."
Tara gave a slight smile. "That is just your oldlander hospitality talking. You wished to scurry off as soon as I dropped my hood"
"No I didn't" Luna shot back. "I just didn't know what to expect." she stared at Tara but this time with fascination rather than fear. And this time Tara didn't seem to mind being looked at.
"So, your family?" Luna asked. "Do they look like this too? They're all… Elemerr?"
"Elemarr" she corrected gently. "But you can just say elves. And no I am the first in my family to be born an elf. Uncoincidentally I am also the only endowed."
As she spoke, her shoulders seemed to loosen, as if releasing a weight she'd carried for years.
"My family's a lot like yours, Luna—nomadic, always traveling the Holds of Akrinn. They're renowned for their skill in alchemy, rivaling even the finest alchemists in Olympus and Vein." A sad smile crossed her lips. "They found potent soil, unclaimed by any Hold, and had me there. They expected me to be born simply Endowed."
Her voice broke. She gestured to her face. "But I came out looking like… this."
Her eyes became a dam holding back an ocean of tears.
"It's hard enough earning Endowment from unclaimed soil," she murmured. "The Untamed are born unwelcome… but elves?" Her eyes lowered. "We were never meant to be born at all."
Her eyes began to flood, whatever tears she'd been holding back began down her face soon forming a puddle at her feet.
Luna froze, she watched Tara as her tears continued. She moved closer each step chosen deliberately. She didn't know how to comfort someone, let alone a Moonie alien. So she did the only thing she knew the thing her mother always did when she was upset.
She wrapped her arms around Tara and held her tight.
"I'm glad you were born, Tara," she whispered. "I'd be dead if you weren't."
Tara's eyes widened. She'd expected Luna to cower, or grimace at the sight of her face. But she didn't.
This is her first time seeing Elemarr and she…comforted me? Tara thought, people back home see my kind all the time and still react as if i'm some freak.
She never expected she'd ever call an earthborn friend but now? In this moment she felt like she finally had one.
Guilt crept across her face. Luna spotted it—Tara had been holding something back.
"Tara?" she asked softly.
Tara swallowed, her voice trembling. "Luna, I—" She stopped, fighting herself for the right words. Her gaze darted away. "I need to tell you something."
On the outskirts of the camp, Atreus was writing notes in his journal, they were…directions. Dimitri appeared his tone demanding.
Dimitri emerged from the shadows, his tone sharp and demanding.
"You think I don't know what you're doing, Atreus? Your sudden insistence on helping Luna—was I supposed to believe you've had a change of heart?"
Atreus didn't turn at first. When he finally did, his expression was calm, almost detached.
"I am doing my duty as an Olympian," he said evenly. "By serving one of our Alakiir's interests, this place must be marked… at least for consideration."
Dimitri stepped closer, his voice lowering to a plea.
"I am begging you, Atreus—leave this place be," Dimitri said. His voice trembled, eyes clouded with guilt—the same guilt that lingered on Tara's face earlier.
"Why do you care so much about this Earthborn?" Atreus shot back. "She's no different from the others in the marked zones."
His confusion was genuine. To Atreus, everything he did was for one reason—to make his father proud.
Alakiir Merrel Collinsport, Atreus's father, was head of Olympus's Veil Academy and research station in New Athens. It was he who had assigned this expedition: three Kindred groups, each tasked with locating viable test subjects on Earth—people the Holds wouldn't miss. Dimitri's team was one of them.
"I don't know why Atreus, something is different about her." Dimitri sighed "we've marked three settlements already your father will be pleased, I assure you he will."
Atreus hesitated, brows furrowed, not yet convinced.
"Do it for me," Dimitri added softly. "As your brother, I ask this favor. Phenta knows I'll owe you one."
"Fine," Atreus said at last, snapping his journal shut with a thump. "You and your strange earther fetish is none of my business" he mocked. "Just don't make it a habit. I'd hate for my family's star prodigy to be caught visiting a lover on the other side of the World Bridge. Think of the scandal."
"Lover?!" Dimitri sputtered. "I said she was different, not that I wished to court her."
Atreus burst into laughter—the exact reaction he'd been hoping for. "Defensive! What could be the reason, I wonder?"
Dimitri shoved him playfully. "Thank you, Atreus—really."
"Don't thank me," Atreus replied with a smirk. "I'm doing this for my own sanity. You'd pester me the entire trip back to Akrinn otherwise."
His nose twitched at the delightful aroma coming from the center of the camp. The smell of foreign vegetables, broth, and wild meat turned their heads.
Dimitri's eyes widened "It seems they've finished supper." He said licking his lips "last one there is a—" before he finished Atreus was already in full sprint toward the smell.
"Cheater," Dimitri laughed, chasing after him, through the firelight.
They approached the crowded center of the camp. Everyone gathered round with bowls in hand. The children of the tribe were first in line, while the older tribals waited behind them.
They scanned the crowd for the people they knew, their eyes landed on the lady handing out the food. It was Pat'ul, she dipped a wooden ladle into the large pot, when it emerged it was filled with a golden porridge, the chunks of vegetables and meat, made Atrus drool.
"We must have some Dimitri," he said, his mouth watering. "I'm so forning hungry
Dimitri looked around the camp "We should find Luna first, maybe she can get us a bowl." he said hopeful.
They approached Pat'ul carefully not wanting to disrupt the natural flow of the oldlanders' routine.
"Excuse me, Uhh" Dimitri realized he never learned of her name, in his head he had just called her Luna's mother. "I haven't actually caught your name Mademe…"
She looked at him, clearly annoyed by the interruption. "I am called Pat'ul." She said still focused on filling the bowls.. "Why aren't you with my daughter, she is supposed to be keeping you out of trouble?"
"That's actually why we're here to ask if you knew where she went."
She nodded towards a tipi, with a visible cool emitting from it.
"She went there, with your Elf friend"
The boys eyes widened,
"How on Akrinn did you know she was an—" Atreus had whispered these last words. "An Elf"
Pat'ul shrugged, continuing to fill the children's bowls.
"Go find them and stay with them…I do not trust you olympians to wander un-accompanied" she said her voice filled with disdain.
Dimitri wanted to ask why, but he bit his tongue. "We'll find them," he said instead, giving a small nod. "Our gratitude."
Pat'ul said nothing. The boys exchanged a look and hurried off toward the chilled tipi.
Inside, Luna and Tara sat cross-legged on the floor across from each other, eating far more than twenty-five blueberries.
The tipi flap flew open.
"By Phenta—what is wrong with you two?" Luna yelped, clutching her bowl as the boys stumbled in.
They froze, staring at Tara. Her elven features glowed in the lantern light, no longer hidden by the hood.
"You… you took off your hood," Dimitri said, stunned.
"I did," Tara replied, her tone clipped. "I made a deal with Luna and… it doesn't matter."
"Well, we're starving," Atreus interjected, pointing at Luna. "And she's our meal ticket. Come on, let's eat and depart."
Luna started to rise, but Tara placed a hand on her arm. "I haven't finished telling you—" she hesitated, glancing at the boys, "—you know."
Tara's eyes locked on Luna's as she pulled her hood back up. "Remember—tell your mother she needs to move this camp before midday."
Luna frowned, confusion flickering across her face. "Why? You still haven't told me."
"I… can't," Tara said quietly. "Just know this place won't be safe tomorrow."
Luna hesitated. "I'll tell her, but it's the elder's decision. She likes this spot—it's good for trading."
"Then convince her, Luna." Tara's voice trembled despite herself. "Please."
"Well, if you just told me why, it would be easier—" Luna stopped as a voice bellowed from outside.
"I am starving!" Atreus shouted.
Tara sighed, finishing the concealment of her face before heading for the flap. She paused, glancing back at Luna.
"Remember what I said."
Then she stepped out into the dusk.
By the campfire, Luna sat on a log, the orange light crackling against the pale evening sky. She ate slowly, spooning the golden porridge at an even pace—unlike Tara and Atreus, who sat across from her, devouring their bowls as if it were their first real meal in days.
Dimitri approached from the pot, his own bowl still steaming. He settled beside Luna, giving her a small nod before starting to eat. He held the spoon up to his mouth, he didn't blow to cool it down.
"Ow, forn, it!" he said, patting his burned lip.
Luna burst out in laughter. "Why didn't you cool it down?" she said, trying to hold it in.
Dimitri gave her a playful grimace still holding his lip. His words slurred.
"I…thought…it cooled…down"
"Three steps from the pot?!" her laughter beckoned through Astoria, calling the crows to the air. Dimitri's face reddened with embarrassment.
"I blew on it! Do you earthborn always scorch your stew?" he said playfully.
"Do you moonies eat yours cold?" They both laughed at the innocent rapport. And though they both were too shy to admit it they were becoming…friends.
Dimitri's eyes wandered to Luna's tanto, sheathed at her side, its engravings glimmering faintly against her cloak.
"I noticed your blade earlier," he said, placing his steaming bowl beside him on the log. "May I?"
Luna's eyes shifted, suspicious. "This was given to me by my grandmother, what use is it to you?"
Dimitri smiled, "I don't wish to take it, only to study its enchantments. I'm an enchanter in training"
Her brow furrowed. What was an enchantment, she thought, Maybe he meant the glowing runes etched along the steel. She forced a confident tone. "The… enchantments?"
"Yes, its coding looks centuries old—perhaps pre-expulsion," he said leaning forward. "Do you mind if I take a look?"
Luna. eyes studied Dimitri's, They were locked onto the tanto, curiosity brimming from his pupils.
"Here—you can look at it." She said at last handing it over. "Be careful with it, like you said it's older than your entire world"
Dimitri accepted the tanto with surprising reverence. As the blade caught the firelight, the runes shimmered a deep
"Retunii!" he whispered, awe creeping into his voice. "This enchantment's been thought lost for a hundred years!"
"What does it mean?" Luna asked, hope breaking through her tone.
"Like all enchantments, it's written in Akiri's tongue," he said, eyes gleaming. "I've never done great in my linguistics classes but I think it roughly translates to Return."
Before she could respond, he hurled the blade into the night sky.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" Luna screamed, leaping to her feet as the others looked up from their bowls.
Dimitri only raised a finger. "Wait for it…"
"Wait for what? You just threw my grandmother's—"
In a blink, the dagger reappeared in his hand, materializing from thin air.
Luna's breath caught.
"Retunii," Dimitri said with a smirk. "It returns to its wielder."
He flipped the blade so that the hilt faced Luna. She took it back slowly, as if this blade she carried her whole life was brand new. She observed it slowly studying the words carved into the side closer than before.
She turned it in her hands, tracing the glowing word etched along the steel, seeing it now not as a relic but as a secret waiting to be understood.
Dimitri watched her closely, the playful edge returning to his voice. "Perhaps I can't teach you how to wield Manea…" he said, "but I can teach you how to code an enchantment."
Luna looked up, eyes bright beneath the firelight. "You can do that?"
He grinned. "Afterwards, we'll be even again—since you fed us."
Dimitri opened his hand, and an ivory-bound leather notebook materialized in his palm, its cover etched with faint runes that pulsed once before settling still.
"Is that Retunii too?" Luna asked.
"No—this is Voi-inven," he said, then paused, correcting himself. "Or 'Void Inventory' in Hue-maek. It allows objects to be stored in the same realm the Akiri were banished to—the Void. Makes these long expeditions a bit easier."
He caught the awe shimmering in her eyes and smiled. "How about I teach you? That way you'll never lose your blade again."
Luna nodded eagerly. Dimitri flipped open the notebook, its pages covered in delicate enchantment glyphs, each line glowing with a soft, familiar light. Luna leaned closer, recognizing the same symbols that danced across her grandmother's tanto.
"Voi-inven!" he whispered. A golden stylus appeared between his fingers, its tip glimmering faintly.
More Korral, Luna thought, watching the radiance spill from its edge.
Dimitri knelt beside a nearby log, the same one where his porridge had gone cold. "Place your blade here," he said, tapping the bark with the stylus. "Let's hope you have good penmanship."
She knelt aside him smiling, "My mother taught me, I never thought I'd use it until now." Dimitri handed her the stylus and pointed at a line of runes on his page.
"That's the code you're using," He said eagerly, passing along his knowledge. "Now, take the Korral tip and carve carefully into the blade. It'll channel the Manea straight through. But mind the old runes one wrong mark, and the whole enchantment could collapse."
He guided her arm as she carefully traced what she saw on a section of empty steel, the screeching hard on her ears. Dimitri watched carefully making sure she mimicked the symbols faithfully. She marked the last rune and a gimmer of light shot to her eyes.
"Voi-inven" it whispered surrounding her mind.
"What was that!" she cried, the words bringing her unease.
"It was the manea, if it spoke to you it means the enchantment will hold!" He patted her on the back. "You're a natural Luna," he said, smiling. "Now grab the hilt and let it fall from your hands, as if you were storing it away."
She picked up the blade and dropped it multiple times, and each time it hit the ground with a thud.
"It's not working!" she murmured, frustration sharpening her voice. "Is it because I'm Unendowed?"
Dimitri's tone was calm, patient. "It's always hard to use an enchantment right after it's been coded. Just sheathe it for now and try again another time."
Luna sighed, defeated, and slid her tanto back into its sheath. "Guess moonie magic isn't my forte."
Dimitri didn't respond—he simply pointed toward her waist.
Her brows furrowed. "What?"
She looked down. The sheath was empty. Only faint blue sparks hovered where the blade should have been.
Her eyes widened. "It worked!" she gasped, leaping to her feet. She reached into the air, mimicking what she'd seen Dimitri do—and in an instant, the tanto materialized in her hand.
"By the Radiance!" she shouted, half laughing, half crying. "I'm using moonie magic! I'm…" She paused, striking a mock-dramatic pose. "A wizard!"
Dimitri laughed, shaking his head. "Well maybe not a wizard but definitely an enchanter with promise–" before he could finish the sentence Luna jumped to hug him, this time tackling him in the process.
"Thank you!" she said gratitude filling her voice.
Dimitri froze—the same warmth from before rushing back. His cheeks flushed red. Maybe Atreus is right, he thought, quickly pushing the notion aside.
Finally, he returned the hug, smiling softly. "You're welcome."