Chapter Thirty-Nine

Many weeks passed since Atohmma, went to the elven village and since that day Nucamma visited. She was now a fully transformed elf. The clothes she bought before going there, finally came to good use. Her appearance was not the same.

During her transformation, Atohmma had many discomforts and strange changes to her body. Her eyes became black, her ears were longer and more pointed. She had a much stronger voice and her fingers-nails were long and sharp. There were nights when she would perspire and become nauseous. Her diet seemed to help with curbing the full effects of her changes, and she spent quite a bit of time with the elder lady. There were times, during her transition, when the elemental shield, caused earthquakes in their world. The villagers were concerned. In some villages, some shakes seemed to have lasted for hours, whilst in others, the quake cracked open the earth in various spaces. Many natives, were reluctant, to see the shield's reaction or activity. Venomma and Orgamma did not consider doing anything, because they chose to believe that the shield's presence was there to protect their world. In the elven village, there were disruptions, because of their proximity to the mountain and the shield, but it was nothing that the elves were not prepared for.

Atohmma began noticing her abilities day by day. She finally recovered some clues from her journal, that indicated to her, the possibility of her being capable, of affecting outcomes, depending on her thoughts. She noticed, whenever she needed the assistance of the sage or the elder lady, they came to her. When she realized the quakes seemed to be continual, her mind was on the shield and the possible flames. Her desire at the time was to get well, enough to check on what may have been the cause of the quakes, and unknown to her, those thoughts, enabled the quakes to cease. The connection she had with the elemental shield had increased. She was instructed by the Chief to remain calm and to give herself time to get used to the transformation. She knew all she needed to know about the elves way of life and her world. She spent quite a lot of time with the Chief sage, learning, growing and developing. She was now her true self.

Atohmma began to feel some concern over having to return to her village. She didn't have to, but she wanted to. She told them she will return. Her home and the best place for her to be was with the elves now. However, her intentions would have been to return to the elven village, after the natives knew the truth about her. The Chief sage was against this being handled this way. He told her she should complete her task and obtain the sword of compassion from within the elemental shield before the elders announce her as the leader. She was unknown to the natives now, and although, to her, she is the same person, it may not have been easily accepted by most of her village natives.

She knew that, no matter what she appeared to be, Nucamma would be okay with it. She wanted him to know. Frisky understood everything and he even knew about her changes over the time she spent there. He advised her, that she should complete the task. Atohmma knew she had to await the confirmation of the elemental shield, where her readiness was concerned. It would have been paralyzed, to accommodate her, reaching into it for the sword of compassion. The Chief sage was observing the shield closely, day after day, night after night. He knew what to expect when it was her time. The shield itself would make it known.

Atohmma was tempted to fly across the village. She wanted to see Nucamma before anyone else. She knew that Venomma and Orgamma had things under control in her village. She knew her pony was well taken care of and Windsong was mystical. There was nothing and no one else, who would have been wanting to see her more. She trusted, that she would have been safe going to see him, and would return unharmed. Something about doing it bothered her. She thought that maybe, she should ask the Chief sage for permission, then she remembered he was against her doing anything before she received the sword. She knew Frisky wouldn't have agreed. Atohmma thought, if only she could see Nucamma for just a brief moment, it would have been a comfort.

Her thought did not fail her. Nucamma was sitting on his chair at the side of his cave when he had an idea. He decided to go again to see Atohmma, just like he did the last time. He knew the way and he didn't need any company this time. All he had to do, was get there and the guards would get her. He didn't seem to mind it if Atohmma thought he was worrying again. All he knew, was that he was curious and anxious to know what was happening to her. He changed and the time didn't matter, he flew off. Upon reaching the western mountain, he noticed the shield. He couldn't recognize it as it was not quite dark yet and it was just a pale white light. He walked towards the entrance and through the cave. When he was at the exit, the guards were not there. He waited. He knew he couldn't go any further. He sat on the ground of the cave, waiting. "How could the entrance, have no guards?" he wondered. Meanwhile, Atohmma was having her bath and she could sense something or someone has entered the village. She walked out of the bath, quickly changed and stepped outside. She just stood there, listening, observing, silently trying to determine her sudden disturbance.

She walked down the path and through the village. She saw the guards. "Who's at the entrance?" she asked. "No one my lady. We took a break for something to eat and would be back there shortly." said one of the guards. Atohmma shook her head and kept on walking. When she arrived at the entrance to the village, she saw Nucamma sitting there, with his head on his knees. "Nucamma!" he raised his head and upon seeing the person, he stood up quickly, dusted his hands on his pants and greeted Atohmma formally. "It's me, Atohmma. What are you doing here?" "Atohmma! you seem different." He walked up to her and they hugged "I was just thinking about coming over to your village to see you, and here you are." said Atohmma as she hugged him back. Moving away from her a little, he said, "You look, awesome but different." He observed her ears, her eyes, her attire and he even walked around her to see if she still had wings. Atohmma giggled saying, "this is the reason I wanted to see you, to let you know what developed, so that you wouldn't be too surprised." "At least I can accept this version of you, but what about the others? I don't think they will recognize you or even respond to you like the person they knew before." said Nucamma apologetically. Atohmma was aware of his point, and she agreed. She already had few natives that were not against her at the village and her fair share of those who did not believe in her. Although she was prepared to handle whatever came her way, she knew that it would not be easy, when they eventually found out that she was their leader.