An Early Awakening?

The next morning, I got off my soft bed and walked over to a cushioned chair where Eyva sat sleeping.

This was where she usually slept, always ready to stand up and attend to my needs.

For the first few months of my life, I thought she was doing that just because it was her job, but it was obvious she was here because she cared about me.

I had never felt such genuine care before. I was like a starving man given a scrap of food. I wanted more. I wanted to keep this going forever. The mere thought of Eyva eventually leaving me when I grew up pained me.

But I needed to survive before all of that.

I tugged at Eyva's dress sleeve. She woke up, rubbing her eyes, her pointed ears twitching. She was groggier than usual, probably because she had stayed up much later talking to my mother.

"I want to Awaken," I said.

Eyva sighed and patted my head. "Like I said, little leaf, there is simply no way." She rubbed the bridge of her nose, agitated, though not at me. "Forgive me, little leaf, I am more tired than usual."

"I heard you talk with mother last night," I said.

Eyva perked up, ears pointing up. "Wh-what? You did? You weren't sleeping?"

"No, I wasn't" I said. "I heard everything.

"Oh, you poor thing," said Eyva. She looked at me sadly. "All those harsh things your mother said, you must understand they came from a place of hurt. She didn't mean them."

"It isn't about her. It's about my father. I'm afraid he's going to do something to me. I know I have seven years, but father's patience won't last that long." I stared at Eyva resolutely. "I know you know it, too.

If there is a way to Awaken fast, I want it. No, I don't just want it, I need it."

'How is this boy so perceptive? ' thought Eyva. 'He saw right through me.

And those eyes, sharp, piercing, like they are burning into my very soul - those are not the eyes of a simple minded child. There is resolve in there unbecoming of his years.

And he is normally so sweet and soft.

No, that stare is understandable with the threat of his life on the line.

I should not coddle him, but…'

Eyva bit the knuckle of her thumb nervously. "Awakening early is dangerous, little leaf. Very dangerous. You must let it happen naturally.

I can convince your father and mother of your potential and keep them calm."

"But there IS a way to Awaken early, isn't there?" I questioned Eyva. I had always gotten the sense that she was hiding something from me regarding early Awakenings, and this confirmed it.

Eyva looked around, making sure the other assistant maids were not there. "There is. It is an Elven secret. You see, little leaf, Elves are a people attuned to the Wild, to life itself.

I am a Teintean, an Elf of Flame.

I can 'ignite' the fiery light of life within another, healing what is broken or awakening what is asleep in a ritual called Synchronicity." She quickly looked around, triple checking the maids were not here.

Whatever she was about to say next seemed like highly classified information.

"Your father is impotent. Do you know what that means?"

"I do." I nodded.

"Good. You are learning such difficult words so quickly." Eyva smiled at me. "I used Synchronicity to ignite the flame of life in his body, allowing him, briefly, to sire a child. I can do the same to fix a cut or broken bone.

I can also perform it on a mother's womb, ensuring not only a healthy child, but one of greater talent than would be birthed naturally.

It is why I am a royal midwife, in demand among noble houses across this continent.

However, Teintean synchronicity comes at a price.

Any flame burns by devouring. Its heat and light come at the price of something that is consumed to ash.

In this case, the tinder for the flame is life span, and the cost, especially to you humans, is great.

Synchronicity was meant to be used between elves and magical beasts, and we live on the scale of centuries to millennia.

Humans, even with the most complicated of longevity spells, find it difficult to survive over two centuries, if even that.

Restoring your father's ability to birth a child cost him twenty years of his life. It is why he cannot so easily sire another and be done with you."

I got straight to the point. "Can I Awaken with it?"

"It is possible."

"What will it cost me?"

Eyva gulped. "I do not know. At the very least, a decade, likely much more.

But before even that, Teintean synchronicity, as it calls upon the chaos of fire, is inherently difficult to control.

A young body such as yours, not even a year old, will burn away in a flash."

"But I'm bigger than I'm supposed to be," I countered. "Much bigger."

"That is true…" Eyva bit her lip. "It would be more accurate to say you are four or five years old, compared to the normal human child. And your mind is already so developed.

It is possible you can survive, but…" Eyva shook her head. "No. I cannot bear to be the one responsible for burning such a precious life like yours away."

"No? I want to live, Eyva," I said. "For me. For you. I need to Awaken. Trust me, I want it. When it happens, will I feel it? Will it hurt?"

"It will hurt tremendously," said Eyva. "As energy swirls within you, it will burn you from within. It will be painful beyond compare. You will feel the flow of fire in all of your veins, in the deepest marrow of your bones."

"I don't care." I actually liked this.

The process sounded exactly like Immolation, a form of Qi Control I practiced in my past life that involved 'burning away' my lifespan to accelerate healing and recovery.

I couldn't focus my internal mana because I couldn't feel it, but if I could feel the energies of synchronicity, then I was confident I could manipulate it to survive it.

Eyva put a hand on my shoulder. "Let us wait just a bit more, little leaf. Until you are a year old. That is a great milestone both for your body and mind.

It is when your existence becomes more engraved in this world.

You will have a much higher chance of surviving then.

Until then, I will keep your father at bay and make sure you are safe."

One year, huh. That was just two months away. I decided to wait, though it was mostly not my choice.

Eyva was already conceding a lot being willing to perform the synchronicity procedure on me, risking my life, a life she cherished, in the first place.

I didn't want to push her further, and I didn't think she would give any more either.

"I'll wait."

"Good, good." Eyva hugged me and sighed deeply. When she pulled back, she had her usual confident, strong sense of self back. "Come, then, we still have some studying to do!"

I groaned, the remembrance of ten assignments I had to do by today hitting me like a runaway train. But internally, I smiled, feeling much more secure.

I just needed to wait two months, and then Eyva could secure my future. I wanted to tell her that she had no reason to be worried about me surviving synchronicity, that my Qi control would probably help out, but I didn't know how to explain that to her.

Until then, I could hold onto this quiet life of studying.

This life where I indulged in warmth, safety, and care.

This life where I felt loved.

"Eyva," I said as she was mercilessly walking over to a table to prop open one of my study books.

"Yes, little leaf?"

"You have to leave me later, don't you? When I'm bigger."

Eyva nodded sadly. "I do."

"Does that mean I can't see you anymore? At all?"

"I will still be around, little leaf," said Eyva. "And with how developed Orian magic is, so long as you are in Orian territory, you may send messages to me with magic alone, without need for raven or courier.

You will not be alone, I promise you."

"What about you? You left so much behind. You miss your home, don't you?" I knew that Eyva left her home on a sense of wonder and adventure over a century ago, wanting to see the world outside of her community.

As it so happened, the elves were an incredibly reclusive people, living in fabled lands where trees grew up to the skies, where walls of thorns and impassable fog prevented outsiders from ever stepping foot within.

Eyva liked living among humans and other races, but occasionally, she would tell me she wanted to go back.

She had left behind a mother and a younger brother, apparently, and her brother, especially, she was worried about, for he had been little more than a child when she first left.

Eyva nodded and cocked her head. "Yes, it has been nearly a century since I last stepped foot in Fir Tein. I do worry sometimes, my little brother Ferdiad must be a growing boy by now, and with his troublesome personality, I just know my mother is having a tough time.

He is not like you, little leaf, smart and calm and focused. He is wild in every sense of the word."

"Then when I'm bigger, when I'm Lord or someone important and I can do what I want when I want, I'll make sure to visit your home with you," I said. "I want to see what it's like. And I want to see your family, too."

"Oh, you sweet thing." Eyva put the book in her hand away, rushing up to me to give me a hug. "You know just what to say to soothe me." She broke the hug by putting a wagging finger in front of my face. "But just be warned that it won't stop your assignments from being due."

I sighed. It was worth a try.