The Last of the Water Elves
Things started to change slowly at first but over time the changes started to happen faster and faster.
At first, the rain sometimes felt warm, but gradually warm rain was all there was. Then it at times it would sting the skin, eventually it would feel like burning. Now it’s rare for the water to feel warm. Not just rain but all water, it tastes like copper, and feel slimy and no longer the refreshing cool liquid it is known to be.
Sandra now sits in her small creek of mostly clean water alone and isolated. Since the water began to turn sour others like her began to disappear, most from their homes becoming too toxic to live in. Others from sacrificing themselves to clean the water hoping a more permanent solution could be found if they had a little more time.
But years had passed and nothing has changed, if anything things have gotten worse. With the world becoming the way it is, this has solidified Sandra's isolation. Now she spends her days alone sitting on the shores of her creek staring at the water. Feeling its coolness running over her feet hoping to see anything in the clear water.
The sun beats down on her orange skin, it too has become harsher and now has more of a bite to it, like an abused animal fighting with anyone that got close. Sandra's yellow eyes looked up to the clear sky, not a cloud to be seen nothing to give her respite from the sun's brutal bombardment just a pale sickly blue. It was almost noon soon she would need to move into the shade of one of the few trees that dotted the shoreline.
Even the bodies of the Water Elves could not withstand the heat of what mid-day had become. It wasn't always like this, Water Elves used to be able to withstand a manner of whether, scorching heat, or cold blizzards it didn't matter, as they were creatures of nature. They were never encumbered by the environment as they were completely in tune with the wonders of the world around them and as so always moved about it completely free to experience every sensation of the natural world. But this world wasn't natural anymore, so it was beginning to reject her.
After moving to her new spot under a peppercorn tree that hangs over a deeper part of the creek which would allow Sandra to sit on the creek bed but keep her head resting on the surface of the water as she stared up into the tree. Her long thick green hair floated alongside her until it soaked up enough water and sunk behind her. The ambiance to a normal person might seem beautiful, the sounds of the water lapping against the shore, the smell of the tree soaking up the sunlight as it leaked through the leaves blowing in the wind. So relaxing, no?
Not for Sandra, it was a reminder of how far things had fallen, this tree she could tell was a feral creature, brought here from a far-off land. It was a strong and hardy plant able to thrive in harsh conditions like the world she lived in today, but it's because of that hardiness this plant had taken all the resources of the native trees, now all there was left along her creek where peppercorn trees.
As Sandra rested looking at nothing in particular, she noticed something small moving in the tree above her. Eyes widening, she lifted her head out of the water freeing her ears from the underwater stillness so that she might hear the something she had seen. Once her ears where free of the water there it was, a song of a bird, it had been years since she heard one let alone seen one. Excited to see a living bird again she jumped up on the shore and begin to scan the tree. Hoping to see a wondrous bird of bright cheerful colours, her smile fell when she saw it.
A small sickly grey bird with an orange beak and legs, with beady black eyes. Another invasive species that outplayed all its native counterparts. Still like the peppercorn tree there was some beauty in the fact that it was alive and its song wasn't too unpleasant Sandra decided. She sat and watched the bird for some time as it bounced around in the tree.
After a short time, the bird flew off past the furthest tree from the bank, Sandra followed it to see where it was going but by the time, she got some distance from the creek she stopped. The trees here were sparse and few and far between, going any further at this time of day wasn't a reality. As she looked off into the dry dead wasteland, covered in yellow grass before her, she wondered where the little bird was going.
After the bird had disappeared, she turned and walked back to the creek's shore, thinking about her future. If there was somewhere that the bird came from maybe there was a Water Elf there. "No," she thought to herself why risk everything on something so small, avoiding that kind of hopeful thinking had kept her alive for this long, no need to start now.
As she was nearing the creeks shore, now hot and covered in sweat from her short walk in this oppressive heat, and without enough of a breeze to cool the moisture on her bare skin she couldn't wait to dive back into her inviting waters. But before she could get close to the water Sandra caught sight of a horrid creature crouching on the shorefront across from her.
It had its hands in the water, staring at bubbles it was creating under the surface. Sandra darted behind a tree before it could notice her standing there. From a distance, she spied on the creature. A hulking mass covered in the skins of dead animals; Sandra could not see its form underneath the skin it too was affected by the sun so much so that it needed to cover every inch of its body in other creatures as protection.
A large wide-brimmed hat sat upon its head with cloth hanging from the hat surrounding the creatures head, but not at the front as not to obscure its vision. Sandra couldn't see the creatures face it was too far away, she wondered if she could get closer for a better look and would it be worth the risk? She knew how dangerous these things were. After all, they were the ones that destroyed the world.
After some time, the bubbles stopped and the creature pulled up a clear jug of water. This thing was stealing Sandra's water, her chest tightened as rage filled her, she needed to do something. Then the creature turned around placing the container in a bag and retrieving another, Sandra took this chance to slip silently into the water. As she sunk below the water, she released her hold on her physical body and became one with the water around her melting into the clear liquid so that she would be hidden in plain sight.
Sandra moved into position under the creature to get a better view of the thief. A little shocked she noticed the face of the human was that of a young girl, maybe only 17 or so. Her mouth was wet meaning she had already had her fill of water. Unfazed, Sandra was ready to strike, she planned to grab this girl from around the back of her head and drag her into the water in order to drown her in the liquid that she so coveted. But before Sandra made her move, she noticed this girls face was wet, the water was coming from her eyes. This thing was crying.
Sandra continued to float, unseen, watching, the only sound she could hear was the bubbling of the jug as the air inside was being replaced with water. As the bubbling soon stopped, Sandra could hear something else, she hadn't noticed it before but the girl was speaking quietly to herself.
"Thank you, thank you whoever I didn't think I'd find any water out here". She sobbed to herself overjoyed that she had found such a bounty of water. As the mystery girl pulled the jug out of the creek tears fell and landed on the mirror surface separating the two entities.
Watching the display Sandra remembered an old custom of her people, long before the humans had learnt to harness the power of coal and steel. There was a rule, if a human ever came to your home and drank from your water, as long as they thanked you and gave you something in return you must show them hospitality. "After all these are fragile hopeless creatures who need our help", something Sandra's father was fond of saying.
Sandra felt her anger fade away as she wrapped her hand around the girl's as she continued to hold the jug under the water. While the mystery girl couldn't feel anything amiss, she suddenly felt relaxed like all her problems had been solved. "Stay here, for now, rest under that peppercorn tree, place your feet in my water and wait until the sun begins to set before you leave, then you will be able to finish your journey," Sandra whispered to the girl, not that she could hear her, but a sudden feeling washed over the girl as if she followed the instructions that just popped into her head everything was going to be ok.
As the mystery girl set herself up under the peppercorn tree, with her feet in the water, she fell into a deep sleep. Sandra had cast a spell on the girl, one that would revitalise her, restore her stamina and heal her of any long-standing wounds and fatigue. Sandra rose out of the water and sat by the girl's side to watch her sleep. After all, this is something that she hasn't done in a long time, and might never do again so she wanted to take in every second of it.
As the sun began to kiss the horizon and the sky began to turn to pale oranges and purples, the mystery girl awoke, at first slowly, then suddenly jolting awake ripping her feet from the water. Shocked and cursing her stupidity she analysed her feet. Surely spending all that time in the water would have softened them and made them too painful to walk on. But instead of waterlogged feet, they were perfectly normal. In fact, better than normal all the hard calluses and blisters were gone, it was like they were brand new.
As the mystery girl pulled herself up off the ground expecting to feel the aches and pains of her tired body, she noticed their complete absence. She was wide awake full of energy and happy, something she hadn't felt in a long time. She glanced around with the feeling someone was watching her, but everything was still and calm she was the only one in this private oasis.
With the cool air of the afternoon kissing her face the mystery girl gathered her stuff and left the shore of the creek. Once she reached the top of the bank with the view of the open wasteland in front of her growing darker in the afternoon light, she glanced back at the creek to take in its beauty once again. For a second in between the glance and a blink, she thought she saw a woman standing in the middle of the creek but once her eyes focused, she saw there was no one there.
Laughing to herself the mystery girl turned and walked away disappearing behind the bank of the river. Sandra watched the spot the girl vanished from to make sure she was truly gone before rising above the water's surface again. Seeing the small amount of happiness on the human's face filled her with pride, this was something her people used to often do for humans a long time ago and being able to perform the ritual once again felt almost nostalgic.
With the sun fading and along with its heat the sky was beginning to twinkle with the faded lights of distant stars. Sandra relaxed and laid down on the surface of the water and looked at the night sky thinking about the day. For her, it was the most eventful day she had in a long time, first the bird and then the human, finally these new memories would be something she could dream about.
As the last of the light from the sun faded away, sleep began to descend on Sandra as she too descended to the bed of the creek to rest. As her consciousness began to fade, she was suddenly jolted awake by something brushing against her leg. Shocked and suddenly terrified she burst apart into the water around her to hide from whatever was in her creek.
After all, there should be nothing in her water there hasn't been anything for so long. Taking in her surroundings looking for the intruder Sandra was shocked to find a school of fish. These were yet again another feral species to the land, but at this point, Sandra didn't care she had a newfound appreciation for them as they were still finding a way to live in this world. These beautiful fish with their silver bodies striped with dark grey and glorious red-tipped fins like small flowers dancing in the water. Captivated by their presents Sandra watched the creatures taking in her home scanning the creek bed as if they are looking for something.
Sandra watched them long into the night to try and find out what they were looking for. Eventually, the nature of their search revealed itself to her. They had come to her creek to spawn, the females were weaving ribbons of their eggs amongst the underwater plants and fallen logs as the males glided over them. The Females then seemed to settle in like they were ready to protect their unborn children, Sandra gazed at her new neighbours with delight looking forward to the day the children would be born. She was so taken by the amazing sight of life beginning a new before her, she didn't notice the flow of the creek beginning to slow.
It has been several weeks now since the fish have appeared in Sandra's creek and she has enjoyed every minute of their presents, swimming alongside them, watching them interact with the plant life under the water, she hasn't been up to the surface of the water at all. The eggs have begun to hatch and the water is a flurry of life, Sandra felt like she was a part of the world again, so loved and so happy.
One morning Sandra began to stir in her sleep, she had this feeling that something was wrong, like something that was always there was missing. Her eyes fluttered open to the underwater landscape which now had an odd green tinge to it. At first, she thought this was a trick of her eyes, she closed them stretched out her body and took a deep breath to help shake off the sleep when the air was suddenly caught in her throat. Now she knew something was wrong, the oxygen in the water was much lower than normal. Fully awake and in a panic, Sandra shot up to the surface of the water, bursting into the air covered in slimy foul-smelling water, she was welcomed with a disturbing sight.
The surface of her once crystal-clear creek was now a horrid green colour with thick clouds of lime green algae suspended in it. "How could this happen," Sandra said to herself, trying to wrestle back control of her panicking mind, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and cast her mind outward to try and find the cause of the problem. Quickly she noticed the current of the water had stopped, so all the water in her creek was now at a standstill. Reaching out further hoping this was caused by a blockage or something fixable the devastating truth dawned on her. As her mind reach the waters end it kept getting shallower and shallower until it was met with a wall of dry dirt. For her, it was like seeing the edge of the universe shrinking, being consumed by an infinite void of darkness that was consuming the world she knew.
The creek was beginning to run dry. The section she lived in was a deeper part of the creek system and the section beyond her was shallower again meaning the water could not flow on had become stagnate. But even with the stagnation, the algae shouldn't have bloomed as quickly as it did, it could only do this if there was a sudden increase in waste. That's when it dawned on her, all the new fish and their waste coupled with the unrelenting sun and stagnate water caused the algae to suddenly bloom. Then an even more nightmarish thought popped into Sandra's head, if she struggled to breathe under the water what about the fish, is the algae sucking up enough oxygen to cause them to suffocate?
Sandra took a deep breath and dived under the water again, fighting back the urge to wretch at the feeling of the viscous water passing around her she began to search for her fish. They too were beginning to feel the effects of the new condition of the water. Many were slowing down some had stopped altogether and the older fish were floating still and lifeless already succumbed to the lack of oxygen. Unable to hold her breath any longer Sandra jumped back up to the surface and in a panic clambered to the shoreline.
There she collapsed to her knees pulling her body in on itself curling into a ball, grabbing the back of her head and pulling it close to her chest all the while wailing and crying at the hopelessness of the situation. Her home was destroyed, her new family laid dead and dying and if nothing was done soon, the young ones would be gone. Desperately thinking of what she could do nothing possible came to mind. She couldn't gather the survivors and move them to a new location, beyond her creek was an empty wasteland. The only thing she could do was sit and watch, soon she would be alone again, with a rotting corpse of a creek, and if it did not rain soon and a flow return to the water Sandra would more than likely die herself.
As she processed the horrible thoughts, she felt the tears slow, rolling over onto her back she stared up at the empty sky with the harsh sun beating down on her "This is the beginning of my end" she told herself. True that would have been, not that Sandra could know for certain. If she had chosen to continue to lay there; the fish would have died, the creek would have dried up as there was no more rain to come, earth's water cycle had stopped there was no recovery from this point. Sandra would simply evaporate away with the rest of the water.
But as it were this would not happen, as Sandra laid on the shoreline with her feet in the water, with a branch of a peppercorn tree in the corner of her vision an idea came into her mind. Like many of her kind had done before they would cast a spell that would prolong the natural order of the world hoping to holt the degradation of things for a little longer. This spell was costly and required the caster to use their own body as a catalyst for the spell. But it was always temporary because it was fighting against the forces of nature, like trying to keep a tree alive in a wildfire by misting it with water.
Sandra thought, "Why try to keep things the way they are? Everything is changing for better or worst no one can stop the march of this world". That’s when she had an epiphany, the peppercorn trees, the bird and the fish manage to survive because they grew into an environment they aren’t welcomed in. they dominated because they took advantage of being unpredictable for the native species. "Things are changing, so let's let them!" Sandra yelled.
Most of the time when casting this spell an elf needs to use a branch of a native tree that flowers. But for Sandra that was both not an option or the intention, by using a non-native branch she would cause a runaway effect that would completely alter the environments in the world. Some species would die but others would prosper. For her that would be enough, in a couple of hundred years no one would know that this world was almost destroyed.
As Sandra hesitantly snapped off a small branch from the close's peppercorn tree, she solidified her resolve by saying to herself "it's better that someone else have a chance to go on, than no one". She turned to face the dying creek the one that had been her home for so long. Without hesitation to sustain her decision she swept the peppercorn branch in her hand across her body and rested it beside her head. The end of the branch opened with a small white flower then it burst into a formless blob of water dancing next to Sandra's ear. This was her soul born out from her body that was about to be released into the world. With tears in her eyes, she swung the branch across her face and into the sky.
At once Sandra's body broke apart into a clear liquid and fell to the ground, without the soul of the water elf holding it together the lifeless water could no longer keep its shape.
Else ware a lone figure was resting under a peppercorn tree in the middle of an open field. It was the mystery girl waiting for mid-day to pass so she could continue her journey. She didn't have a destination in mind she was just trying to survive, she often thought back to her time at the strange creek, that maybe she should have just stayed there. After all, there was plenty of water, possible fish in the creek and wood to burn, but every time she begins to regret her decision, she remembers the feeling she got when she was there. It felt at first that she was an intruder in someone's house, but after she left it felt like she was leaving a welcoming home. It didn't feel right returning, like it wasn't her place to stay.
Suddenly the leaves in the tree above her began the whip around and shake violently like they were caught up in a strong wind. Frightened the girl ran from the tree out into the open field looking around she noticed the small dried up yellow grass shrubs also whipping in the same wind. But unlike the tree, they were beginning to turn black, break apart and blow away in the non-existent wind. Breathing heavily the mystery girl fell to the ground eyes locked on the fading landscape, worried she might be next. Luckily, she could not feel this wind the plants were experiencing. But the world ending mutations continued, next was the blackened dry crusty ground she stood on beginning to turn a bizarre shade of orange. Her heart now pounding in her chest the mystery girl scanned her surroundings looking for something, anything that could describe what was going on.
Then as if to finally cause the poor girl's heart to give out, an ear-splitting explosion rang out from above her. The girl's eye shot up to the sky to see what other madness was going on, she saw a sky blackened with clouds. "When did..." Her thoughts broke when the second bolt of lightning, lit up the sky. Then it began a complete downpour of rain. The air became cool and as the cold fresh and calming water hit the girls face, she couldn't help but laugh. For all the horror of what was happening before her, the water was fresh and clean, something she hadn't felt in a long time.
As the weather worsened the girl ran back the way she came, earlier she passed by a rocky cliffside, hopefully, there was some shelter there for her to wait out the storm.
All around the world the same thing happened, a wind only felt by plant life came, killing anything native to the land and leaving only the tough invasive species. The ground turned orange the sky turned black and it rained relentlessly along with constant explosions of thunder and lightning for a full 3 days, bombarding the surface of the earth.
The mystery girl awoke on the 3rd day, the clouds had finally stopped for the time being, and the sun was out in full. The light hitting her eyes the mystery girl crawled out from a small crack in the rocks she was sheltering in to see the landscape. The sky was a deep blue like she had never seen and the sun didn't feel like a fire burning her skin, the world hasn't felt this welcoming before. She looked out to the open wasteland, expecting to see the unnatural orange as it was before. The girl's eyes widened instead of the lifeless orange wet landscape she thought would be, there were rich solid black fields dotted with specks of green.
She rushed out from the rocky cliff face and into the new garden before her. She stumbled and fell; the ground was much softer than she thought like it was freshly turned soil. Looking around her the small specs of green were little buds of plants beginning to grow. Once again, the girl began to cry as she did back at the creek so grateful for this miracle.
The land the last of the Water Elves once called home would no longer be known as the sunburnt waste it was, but now a land of lush peppercorn trees singing with the songs of grey birds, next to a strong flowing river full of red finned fish.