“Long ago, our worlds were all separate. Humans had their world of stone, water, and woods. Goblins had their woods and brooks. The sprites had their prairies and rivers. Dragons had mountains and valleys that paired with the sprites' lands. The kyrill had oceans and islands plenty for them. Flits danced on their stone and volcanoes” the old one said.
“Why did it change,” the child at her feet asked.
“Well, for each of us it was different,” she said. “Humans became greedy and ambitious, destroying their world with it. Sprites were constantly at war, and tore their prairies apart. Kyrill poisoned their waters, trying to make the oceans do as they willed. Flits boiled their stones in hopes of building things to worship mortals. Goblins grew too distant from their woods, chopping them down,” the old one’s wings twitched just a little bit. “So, their Creators,, Spirits, and Gods abandoned them.”
“Then how did we all come here,” the young one asked, puffing their wing feathers up in excitement.
“The Elementals saved all they could from each world and each people,” the old one pushed her gray hair out of her face. “The Elementals had helped create all of our worlds, and did not wish to see them destroyed. So, each of the four most powerful Elementals sent their children of blood to bring the survivors to a new world that had not yet been given life. The survivors luckily for us all, included plants and animals we use for food. The world they gave us to share isn’t as pretty as our old ones, but it is what we need and what we have.”
“Why? If our peoples all did such terrible things why save us,” the youngling’s wings drooped just a tad.
“It is often that the actions of a few are paid by all. Other times, issues are ignored until it is irreversible and only then will some try to fix it. It isn’t the fault of all, nor the descendants of those who have done wrong. The Gods, Spirits, and Creators had been pushed away, disobeyed, and spoiled too many times in turn. They decided that they had had enough,” the old one said. “The Elementals decided to give us all one last chance. IF we destroy this world, they will leave.”
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
“Is that why there are Drifters like you,” the youngling asked.
“Yes,” the old one chuckled and ruffled the youngling’s hair. “We are the ones who the four most powerful Elementals choose to protect, defend, and heal all who live here. Drifters do as their respective Elementals command, in order to ensure history is not repeated.”
“Then why are there only four,” the young one asked. “That is a really big job for only four people.”
“Sometimes I wonder why too little one,” the old one sighed. “But it is the number that the Elementals agreed on. One for each of the most powerful; Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. And each of their children act as helpers, eyes and ears, and advisors.”
“When you get old and die, what will happen,” the youngling asked.
“Another Drifter is chosen to take the place of the one who died,” the old one answered. “Our bond to each other is severed and remade to connect the four.”
“Which Drifter are you,” the youngling asked.
“I am the Air Drifter,” the old one smiled and raised her wings. “The Air Drifter is always either human or sprite. The Earth Drifter is always either human or goblin. The Fire Drifter is always either human or flit. The Water Drifter is always either human or kyrill. Dragons and humans are each made of all four elements but dragons cannot use their magic, and thus cannot do the duties of Drifters.
“Do you think that I could be one of the next Drifters,” the youngling asked. “Do you think so Drifter Atilk?”
“I don’t know youngling,” the old one answered. “None of us have ever expected to become Drifters, and we never wanted to. But now, none of us would trade our path for another.”
A strange glow flared up on Drifter Atilk’s wings, orange like fire. The old one gasped and arched her back as the orange glow turned blue, then brown. The young sprite screamed for his mother. The old Drifter gasped again, and her moth wings turned black. She fell from her stool, spasming with her eyes rolled back in her head. The youngling’s mother came running but it was too late. By the time that she knelt by the Air Drifter, she was dead.
~
All four Drifters are dead, that is what all were told across the world. Someone had killed three of the four, and the Air Drifter was killed by the backlash. That’s why Drifter Atilk’s wings had glowed and changed color. The youngling’s dream of becoming a Drifter shattered, when they heard the news. If all four were dead, there may not be any more.