The pale moonlight made the buildings perched on the hill look like strange giant mushrooms. The City of Five Pillars was peacefully asleep, unsuspecting of the two shadows creeping through its narrow streets and climbing its endless steps at this very moment. Despite coming from different directions, both shadows seemed to have the same final destination – the tiny square in the north-eastern part of the city.
The first shadow emerged from between the rows of houses and, making a bit more noise than intended, stumbled in the moon-lit plaza. Karil timidly looked around but, as expected, the square was empty. He moved to its center where a large marble monument stood. It depicted three elemental masters – one man and two women. The boy touched the smooth surface of the stone with a shaking hand. As always, this brought him peace. He chuckled. The statue of his heroes was the place where he could find the so desired tranquility. These were the last Supreme Masters of Fire, Air and Earth.
Tracing the pedestal with his fingers, the boy red with throbbing heart the well-known inscription: “Life given so others may live is not lived in vain”.
Everyone in the City of Five Pillars, and even on the entire continent, from the white-haired elders to the snotty kids, knew the story of these masters. Han Ardere, Ada Eolis and Sella de Terriano were the names of the three revered heroes who had sacrificed themselves to save the lives of the two million people behind the city walls.
Thirteen years ago, when Karil had still been a baby, the Last Great War had ravaged the continent. The army of the Northerners advanced towards the city, leaving only devastated villages and burning land in its way. As if nothing could stop them.
The boy smiled triumphantly. What fools those invaders had been to think that they could take over the Five Pillars! For it had been under the protection of five Supreme Masters.
The battle had been monumental, the might released by the Elements so immense, that the top of the nearby mountain had been blown away, turning it into a smoldering crater. The victory, however, had been bitter. The city survived but three out of the five Supreme Masters paid with their lives, and the other two disappeared without a trace. For the deceased, the people had built a memorial in the north-eastern part of the city, from where one could see the site of the final battle, so that they could wait for the return of their brethren. But the two never came back.
Karil sat down on the stone slabs and leaned his head on the pedestal, his gaze drifting into the night sky. Someday he too would become a great elementalist and protect the Five Pillars, just like these three, who now watched over him with their unblinking stone eyes. He wouldn’t allow the fear of some tiny exam to break him. Were the Supreme Masters afraid when they stormed into battle? Of course not! In their hearts had surely been not even a shred of fear or doubt, even Death unable to break their spirits. How could he then dread the stupid water-manipulation, when he wanted to be like his heroes? The boy imagined how one day he would return to the City of Five Pillars after a battle with some terrifying monster and would be greeted like a hero. Maybe he would even get a statue…
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Sinking deeper and deeper into his dreams, Karil didn’t feel his eyes closing.
The second shadow emerged in the square just when the moon hid behind some thick clouds and drowned the city in sticky darkness. Now, this shadow was completely silent, as one would expect from its kind, and its clothes, if someone could see them in the pitch-blackness of night, were also quite suitable – soft boots and a long hood that made its wearer almost invisible.
The shadow stopped several steps from the monument and gave a quiet sigh.
“So much time has passed,” it murmured. “I am so happy to see you again, albeit from stone. Ada! Sella! Han! I know, I promised to come more often. Hopefully, you are not angry.”
Stepping closer, the shadow, just like Karil, ran its hand over the pedestal. An invisible mouth chuckled as the fingers traced the inscription.
“Life given so others may live is not lived in vain!” it read somewhat amused. “This would not have been to your liking, right, Han? Too pompous. And Sella would have said that men understand nothing of romance. And you, my sweet Ada, wouldn’t have even bothered with such nonsense. You would have laughed at it and gone to stir some trouble, just like you always did.”
The voice of the shadow suddenly faded. For several minutes the night's tranquility was disturbed only by the soft breaths of the wind. Then quietly, almost like a gentle gust, three words seeped into the darkness:
“I miss you!”
The shadow stretched its arms out, almost as if wanting to hug the statues. The air suddenly became chilly and swirled around the hooded figure, blowing its cloak. This lasted only for a brief moment. When it was over, the shadow closed its arms, and a low, crystalline clang echoed over the square. Obviously pleased with its work, it murmured a short “Goodbye!” and with yet another sigh prepared to leave into the darkness the same way it came. But suddenly, it did something very untypical for a shadow. It tripped!
A pained cry echoed. Then another one, and the shadow plunged to the ground. As it was falling, the hood flew off. At that same moment, the moon peeked from behind the clouds and illuminated the stranger’s face. It was a man! Not a ghost, not a disembodied shadow, but a living man, who cursed and tried collecting himself from the ground. The pale light revealed a mid-sized, slightly crooked nose, broad forehead, and two eyes dilated in amazement, that were peering in another pair of fear-filled eyes.
“It can’t be!” The man muttered in shock and stretched his hand out.
But Karil didn’t stay long enough to see what was so incredible. Now completely awake, he nimbly escaped from the man’s fingers and with racing heart sprinted to the nearest street. The man remained sitting in the moon-lit square, peering in the direction where the reason for his tripping had disappeared. After some time, he realized his jaw was hanging. The former shadow shook his head as if to drive away an unpleasant thought.
Another cloud covered the moon and when it passed by a few seconds later there was no trace left from the man. When the next morning the sun rose over the Council building, a rumor spread throughout the city about strange happenings last night. At the feet of the master’s statues, three exquisite ice flowers had appeared and stubbornly refused to melt away.