. The Elemental .

Kelsi knows about the looks.

She feels them tapping on her skin one by one like raindrops.

Some are chilly. Some are ice cold.

Some are lukewarm. Others, scalding hot.

They run down her figure as if her body is a chiseled statue, as if her chitin, eyes, and azureous complexion are simply an exhibit to everyone around her.

But what kind of exhibit is she? A grand monument to be revered, an inhuman monolith to be feared? Or is she a lumbering target for those people to ridicule?

Whatever she is to them, their rain freezes, burns, stings her all over. They bore through her shell and melt her skin into a molten slag, leaving her skeleton for all to see.

But no one can stop the rain no matter how hard they bat at it. So, Kelsi goes about every day with the looks, pretending as best as she can that they don't truly exist – no matter how hollow they make her, no matter how much they hurt.

All she can do is fight to push past them, just as Mama and Papa and Professor told her.

You’ve got it.

Do your best!

Try again one more time.

Today, she’s only starting to understand what they mean.

----------------------------------------

Distant thuds rattle the bottom floor of the barracks.

The students, all nearly identical in their light robes, stop mid-strut in the hallway.

For an instant, their suspended confusion crystallizes the dignified air.

Books lie tucked underneath sleeves and satchels, eager to be opened up to another class.

Carpet stretches into the distance, well-treaded by the traffic of learned folk.

In this captured moment, all of them seem to have forgotten about the earlier scandal. Perhaps it’s a willing ignorance, as if they crave to return to their proper pursuits of knowledge so much that the newly fractured walls are invisible to them.

Now, they stand still, routine interrupted for the second time today, only beginning to notice the rumbling growing louder and louder…

The humans murmur amongst themselves.

“You all hear that…?”

“It’s getting closer, I think…”

As the sounds approach, the trembling floor begins to quake, bumping the scholars into the air.

They realize too late that the shaking is not some earthquake, nor any other kind of natural disaster…

…But the footsteps of a rather peculiar individual.

“Out of the way!”

The collective shout echoes through the hall before the crowd splits in two.

Out from it bursts Kelsi, her hair streaming behind her in a silver blur.

Her staggering legs bound over huge swaths of ground with every stride, and her heavy, pressing steps leave a track of footprints in the carpet.

The yelping students can barely make way without toppling over each other. In the commotion, all orderly composure is shattered – books and assignments scatter onto the floor, splaying out in agony before being blown back into the air by the goliath’s draft.

Does she notice the throng of people scurrying in a panic?

Does she pay this disturbance any mind?

Not really, no.

She has to hunch over to keep her dark antlers from scraping against the ceiling, but she doesn’t mind. It gives her a better view of her hands, which she holds a hair’s breadth away from her grinning face.

In them, she carries today’s achievement, the only thing her jagged, crystalline eyes can focus on: her core. It pulses in her palms as it did in Professor’s room, beating with her racing heart as she flies through the hallway.

Yet, the pumping, rushing blood in her veins has less to do with the fact that she’s running at full speed than her excitement at having discovered something new about this strange energy in her grasp.

It came to her after Cezar left her in her room. She plopped herself on the human-sized bed she could barely sleep on, curling up in humiliation over her disastrous meeting. Surely, she’d done her and Professor in for good!

…But her attention span could only linger on that for so long.

Before she knew it, she’d begun to practice the awakening position as Fior constantly instructed, crossing her legs on the floor with her arms outstretched.

It took no time at all for her to realize the light she summoned earlier was no fluke, and that it no longer resisted her.

Accomplishment reeling in her chest, she watched the light seep in and out of her fingertips over and over again until she lost track of time.

In, and out.

On, and off.

As easy as breathing.

When the Vice Chancellor returned with his victorious announcement, he couldn’t even hand her the suspension note before she blew past him.

She ran, and ran, and kept running…

Until now, at the end of the hallway, her commotion leaves behind a frenzy of panicked students.

Before her, a pair of hardwood double doors blocking the way out.

…Before long, not anymore.

I’m already suspended, right?

The sunlight greets Kelsi’s skin like a warm welcome, and the full picture of Rift Point hits her all at once: pale tower houses stretch into the clear blue skies, leering down at her from all directions, piercing her with the glare of a thousand windows. Underneath them, the green training field stretches to the brim of the wall surrounding campus, populated with blocks of Guard trainees donned in silver armor. They’re all nearly identical to one another, though in a different fashion from the students inside – their builds, their movements, and even their faces are rigidly disciplined, unlike the smooth and calculated gaze of the academics.

Everyone here is nothing if not “mature and collected.”

Not so for the girl.

As she quickens her pace against the grass, she remains fixated on her hands with little awareness for the environment around her.

Her core continues to blink on and off.

On, and off.

On, and off.

This steady rhythm mesmerizes her to the point that she almost doesn’t notice the phalanx of troops directly in her way.

The sergeant’s words sound out into the frantic air:

“It’s the Elemental! Make way!”

Kelsi’s head snaps up, freezing every single armored individual in her sight.

It only lasts long enough for one of them to blink, but none can mistake the ocean of annoyance in the eyes staring their way.

She doesn’t give them time to break formation. Keeping her hands steady, she strains her powerful legs, rears back in motion…

And clears the seven ranks in a single, casual leap.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Landing beyond the startled soldiers, she forgets her agitation as soon as she spots the arched orifice ahead: the gate. It beckons for her to escape, to cross under the wall and not look back. Since walking through last year, it’s taunted her with the act almost every day.

Now, not only is it practically right in front of her, but she no longer has to resist!

Her steps erupt into a full sprint once again.

The gate comes closer and closer…

Closer, yet closer…

Until she carves an antler-shaped hole all the way through the thick wall as a parting gift.

The trainees and their sergeants watch as the sky-colored, black-wreathed giantess disappears down the hill. Those closest to the opening swear they can hear a cackling squeal of a laugh.

Goodbye, Rift Point Academy!

…Well, at least for a few months, that is.

----------------------------------------

Altar City.

The resting place of the immortal age.

Scour throughout the remains of the old empire in the realm Altaria, and none shall find an older town or post.

The entire settlement is rides up the Dagdian Peninsula, a gradual cliff cutting northward into the Dalrune Sea. On such harsh foundation, most of its lodgings burrow snugly into the hill with only their chimneys poking above the dirt.

Most, of course, except for the upper city sector, Danu Prominence, which has long since defiantly terraced itself against the brutal elevation. As if to make a point, its smooth, stony architecture boasts over the modesty below, refusing to hide itself underneath the grass. Its crowds of fine folk make a similarly shameless daily commute, enjoying the luxuries of tiled rooves and roads as the sights of the ocean coax their eyes.

Yet, although such a view is certainly spectacular, the view culminating at the cliff above – Rift Point – is more spectacular still, as is the fortress academy named in its glory.

A glory from which Kelsi’s bluish figure now flees.

As her feet hit the first stone bricks in the city, she finds not one thing has changed since last year.

The perfect mimicry of each house.

The chalky white permeating every surface.

The cacophony of conversation and commerce.

The delicate yet determined cleanliness.

Most of all, despite having escaped Rift Point, something about the people here still unsettles Kelsi in spite of the comfort her core gives her.

That is, the looks here are the worst of all, sharper and hotter than lightning bolts.

A little boy clings to his mother, whose eyes radiate disgust.

A merchant topples over, grimacing up at her in indignation.

Sneers pelt her from the windows lining each building.

By the time Kelsi refocuses on her hands, she finds her core has instinctively retreated into her fingers. Even so, she can’t stop herself to resurrect it, lest she leave herself vulnerable to the swarm of outrage clawing at her back.

The strait passage soon gives way to the far more spacious trading square. Innumerable shops border the edge of the clearing, and smaller stands occupy the spaces further inside. At the center, a pillar of water springs from a marble fountain, reaching high above any of the roofs in its sparkling display.

Here, too, there is no end to the people, nor to their noise. Where there isn’t a merchant squawking about their wares, there is undoubtedly some haggling customer hungry for another deal, or a supplier laboring to maneuver their squealing carts through the masses. All the while, four silent Guard members station themselves by the fountain, the presence of their sheathed swords ensuring the clumsy process runs smoothly.

It grinds to a halt as soon as Kelsi emerges from the street.

In the span of a single moment, all liveliness gives way to confusion, and the deafening atmosphere fades to silence. The paused figures stare up at the Elemental one by one.

She slams against the impenetrable wall of looks. It peels at the protective chitin all over her body, prying open her insecure mind.

Frozen in place, her eyes squeeze shut.

…

Oh gods.

…

What should I-

No.

Don’t lose it.

This isn’t any different from school.

I have to be better than this.

…

You just have to pass them.

…

“Hey!”

The shout booms through the air, forcing Kelsi’s eyes open.

Across from her, the four guards have begun to approach from the fountain. Each one rests a cautious hand on their sword hilts, but the captain leading them trembles with what Kelsi can only discern as rage. As she gets a better look at him under his silver helmet, she notices his face is tightly wound into a scowl.

“I don’t care who you are. How dare you conjure your *piseogs here?”

Kelsi tilts her oblivious head before noticing the man – and everyone else in trade square – is not looking directly at her.

When she looks down to see why, she gasps.

Her arms and hands sit outstretched past her chest, and a steady glow rests between them.

While her eyes were closed, she’d somehow summoned her core by habit!

As if beckoned by the light, the attention she let slip into the crowd returns to her in a rush of sudden confidence.

She looks back up at the readying guards. The captain’s infuriated glare seems to have dulled to her somehow, and the urge to taunt him – inconceivable only seconds ago – builds up in her chest.

All she can manage is a cocky, confused smile.

“After her!”

The soldiers draw their swords, and the market clears for the ensuing chase as Kelsi starts toward another street entrance.

As she barrels through the stands, she realizes it’s not just the guards’ looks that have changed.

The children, the mothers, the merchants, and all other residents of Danu Prominence…

The thousands of looks which had just dragged her to a full stop are now husks of their former selves.

Their fire, snuffed to cinders.

Their ice, melted away.

-!

The moment the notion of invulnerability crosses Kelsi’s ego, she feels something invisible graze her skin.

She can’t make out exactly where it comes from. It’s an ambiguous presence, something more akin to a hunch than anything. Still, the look is there, somewhere – it’s not hostile or even mildly irritated like any of the ones prior.

It’s almost ticklish – childishly inquisitive without any discernible intention.

“Don’t let her get away!”

The order jostles Kelsi out of the brief distraction, alerting her to her slowing pace. The guards are so close she can make out the captain’s abnormally large nose hairs.

As she picks up her speed, she glances in the general direction of the curious gaze again.

It’s already gone.

…Must’ve been my imagination.

Her eyes drift back to her core.

Soon, the upper sector passes her by, and both its looks and pursuers fade into irrelevance.

----------------------------------------

As Kelsi sprints down the peninsula, Rift Point shrinks into a distant speck.

To her, the journey to the bottom of the long hill takes almost no time at all. Everything she zooms past – burrows, chimney stacks, terraced fields, not to mention any of the modest folk in her way – it’s all a blur, as if there’s nothing in her way to begin with.

In reality, her trek from Rift Point to the lower sector gives the sun enough time to recline into the ocean, bathing the water in the mellow gold of dusk.

Still, the girl shows no signs of fatigue. She might even have more energy now than ever.

Perhaps it is the sight in front of her that rejuvenates her so.

Below the tip of the cliff, down the hill from the burrows, past the stepped grain fields, one will find themselves here at the outskirts of Altar City, where the gigantic outer wall Baladeith stretches from coast to coast. Made impenetrable some time ago, the barrier’s gate is entirely filled in, making outside entry nigh impossible…and, by extension, preventing exit from within.

With no reliable way out, this town serves as the furthest refuge for all manner of overworked and unfortunate folk – the lowborn, the poor, and provided they can make it inside, any foreigners. They flock to the wall in droves, cramming their dwellings together as densely as possible without bothering to worry about petty privileges like structural soundness. Many even hug up against Baladeith itself in order to save resources. Hence, this place has earned an infamous yet fitting name: the Wallsides.

Stepping into the dirt streets, Kelsi sighs and relaxes into a light jog. Nothing appears to have changed.

The thatched rooves, mud walls, and formless windows.

The unmatched aroma of fish and produce.

The gray, omnipresent view of Baladeith.

Of course, here, too, the teeming lives of the locals fill even the tightest alleyway.

Yet unlike those in Danu Prominence, not one person here sneers or screams Kelsi’s way, even when they see the warm light emanating from her palms. Occasionally, there might be a child gawking up at her, but an adult always comes to their side to calm them, waving in recognition.

She almost doesn’t remember the last time she received a kind look from a stranger.

Even so, she hasn’t forgotten a single corner in her hometown. Still carrying her core, she makes every cramped twist and turn, maneuvering past the gentle crowd and uneven roads with carefree finesse. She resists her stomach’s idea to scoop up everything she sees from her favorite jerky stands.

Deep within the mounds of buildings, she finally comes to a stop at the stairs of a rather odd structure. It’s unusually tall and broad for a building in the Wallsides, and its rough, rocky exterior distinguishes it from the clay ones lodged next door. At the house’s rear, a plume of gray smoke flows from a chimney extending above a slanted wooden roof – another rarity in these parts.

Strangest of all, despite the high energy driving the entire town, the clanging of metal from inside this abode can be heard above everything else like a constant bell.

Kelsi climbs the stairs as quietly as possible and comes face to face with the front door, which unlike all before it, is big enough for one of her size.

The rusted plaque above it reads a single, engraved word:

LUCHRE

She swallows. Her body shakes violently, but only out of sheer anticipation. She can’t wait to throw open the door, but she can’t decide how she wants to break the news, either! Excitement creeps onto her face, transforming her persistent grin into a magnificent, beaming smile.

She drops one arm to her side, cradling the prize she’s brought back from school with a single hand.

…I’ll just show them!

Unable to contain herself any longer, she reaches for the handle.