Enfina

• Kayla Gray, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2016

This is the story of my death. The death that brought peace to the valley. The valley of elves. We are peaceful folk, living in harmony with every elven clan there is. Except for one clan. The Virtuilli clan. Their oath is to bring vengeance upon those who have done wrong. Even though they may have not done any wrongs, death will be their punishment. In all elven clans dragons are the supreme rulers. Each clan has a different dragon god which they worship and are ruled by. The Balven clan has the goddess Ravawynn, the Herberos clan has the god Morgolor, my clan has the goddess Orirel, and the Virtuilli clan has the god Zinkas. All clans believe in different dragons apart from one. The entity of life, Enfina. She is said to bring life to those who have suffered an unfair death. Enfina uses her own life force to bring them back to life even if every five thousand years she needs to rest for ten thousand long years to regain her energy. But on the first peaceful day of winter the sun rose over the valley where the feint whistle of birds could be heard and the smell of fresh bread lingered through the air. But this was soon overwhelmed by thick smoke and the smell of burning ashes. Zinkas had turned on the other dragons and was bringing havoc to the valley. Ferocious flames roared, bringing buildings to their knees. I knew that only Enfina would bring peace so I hastily packed some supplies and raced to the mountain’s peak. The journey was enduring and as each day passed, I could see the battle worsening. I reached the peak just before the full moon reached its apex. I sat on a short stone pillar, crossed my legs and placed my hands in my lap. From there, with the light of the apexed moon, I was transported to Enfina’s spiritual plain. I had come face to face with the goddess of life herself, Enfina. I pleaded her to awaken from her deep slumber and bring peace to the valley. Enfina agreed but warned me of a price I must pay for this. I accepted this and was transported back to the material plain. A deafening roar pierced my ears. I whipped my head around to see Enfina descending from the clouds then landing in front of Zinkas. The two dragons roared at each other for a while. That was what it sounded like to the elven ear but they were actually speaking in Draconic. Only highly sophisticated elves know that. I had made it down to where they were standing. Zinkas then gave in and bowed to Enfina. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my chest. I looked down to see it was glowing. This was the price I had to pay. The death of my body for theirs to live. I gazed down at my corpse before ascending into the clouds. Peace was restored.