The Binding Trial

Allan steps up to the center of the stage nervously scanning the crowd before his eyes meet the pale blue pair in the audience. He hopes she knows just how sorry he is and that he never meant for any of this to happen. More than anything he wants to run to her, comfort her, and tell her everything will work itself out. But then he remembers the words she once told him "above our obligation to each other is our obligation to our circle." He was and will always be Allan born of earth. Additionally as an elder he has certain responsibilities he cannot turn his back on even if in the end they will hurt the one person he cares about most.

"My good friends born of earth we thank you for coming today. For countless generations we have lived in peace among the other circles working together to ensure the natural order of things. An unfortunate event that occurred nearly thirteen years ago has changed all of this. As an elder I failed to protect you by informing you that there are those who live among us that do not belong. And it is these actions of those not born of earth that have put the rest of us in danger. Today we must decide their fate." He walks away from the front to take his seat among the other elders of the circle.

It is taking every ounce of strength in Sarah to not cry, to not show them she is afraid of what they may say today about her boys. Evan stands to her left staring down at the ground beneath his feet. Adam stands to her right looking straight into the podium. Calla has decided to stand with them and is holding Adam's hand as a sign of support. Sarah cannot be angry at Allan for doing what is in the best interest of his own people because once upon a time she made that decision herself. Follow your head and not your heart.

What's worse is that Sarah knew most of the elder's sitting up on that stage. At one point they were her peers. She worked with them at various cross element council meetings. There was one younger woman she did not recognize sitting next to Allan. She must be relatively new. Sarah did not like the essence of this woman one bit. The last time she had this much of a negative vibe off of someone, well very bad things happened to someone she loved very much.

The woman spoke, "I am Elder Lucy. And I must first state that aside from Elder Allan no one in the council was aware that the prophecy lived among us. We would never have allowed this in the first place."

Allan argued, "We do not know for sure they are the ones the prophecy speaks of."

She laughed, "Just because we are not born of air does not mean we are stupid. Are these not the children of Athena born of fire and Gavin born of water?"

Sarah spoke up, "They are. But I beg of you not to punish them for something they cannot control."

Lucy's voice rose,"And who are you?"

Allan answered, "That is their grandmother, Elder Sarah of water."

"She is no longer an elder. She brings disgrace to that title. An elder puts the well being of their circle above all else. She fled from her circle only to infest ours. She is right about one thing though, these children cannot be controlled for they are an abomination of nature. That is why we must bind them especially before their second wave comes in. That only gives us a couple of weeks to prevent any further damage."

Lucy stood up and walked to the front center of the stage with all eyes intently fixed on her. She explained the chain of events that have unraveled over the last several years. While in labor Athena tapped into the power of her unborn children to create a blaze so massive it killed nearly everyone in her circle. The few survivors fled to the nearest neighboring fire village they could find. This was when the idea for the revolution began. It took a few years to formulate a plan, but the ultimate decision was to overtake the other elements by force in search of the prophecy children.

The revolutionists first order of business was to destroy the water village Gavin came from. They surrounded it completely to ensure no one could escape, then engulfed it is a blaze similar to the one Athena had previously created. This time there were no survivors. As soon as Sarah heard this she could no longer hold her tears back. The dear friends that she left behind were all gone. This was the first time she began to have doubts in that choice she made so long ago. If she hadn't taken the boys with her then they all might still be alive. This was all her fault.

Lucy didn't stop there. She said that a select free from various circles went to seek out the revolutionists in an effort to make peace and prevent further massacre. Unfortunately none of them survived or at least that is what was assumed since no one returned back from that trip.

Sarah looked over at Calla. Calla's expression had become nearly vacant as Lucy's words sank into her. This was the sad truth of what had happened to her parents, a truth Allan had tried to protect her from. She let go of Adam's hand and looked at all of them as if they were now strangers to her. Indirectly it is because of them that she became an orphan. There would never be a way to fill that empty space in a child's heart no matter how much Sarah or Allan tried.

Unlike Allan, Lucy's brown eyes were cold and unkind. She looked right at Sarah, "Not only have you failed your circle as an elder, but you also failed your son as a mother. And from the looks of it you are failing your grandchildren as well. It is your selfish ways that have put my circle in jeopardy. Do you honestly think that they won't sense him especially after what he has done?"

Allan shouted, "You don not even know Evan or Adam. They have such pure hearts. And they will not be found, the trees have sworn to protect them. They will protect all of us as they have always done."

"Where is your honor Elder? Perhaps you have spent to much time with them to forget who you are and where you come from. Your loyalties are with those of earth. You best not forget that", Lucy scolded.

"How long will we allow this prophecy to control us?" His eyes locked back with Sarah's. "There must be another way we can fight this together."

One of the other elders suggested they break up the public forum to discuss these matters more privately. Calla abruptly ran off into the crowd. Adam wanted to go after her, but Sarah told him that she would come back to them when she was ready.