Page 112 of A Soul to Guide

“Well... yeah,” Raewyn said while tilting her head. Had she not told him yet? “About thirty-one years ago for us, which is around four hundred and sixty-five years here, we figured out how to open permanent portals rather than chaos ones. We were able to teach mana stones to open them with astronomical points to make gates. There are a whole bunch of calculations I don’t understand, since it’s not my area of expertise. I just know the portal will always find land, so we don’t just pop up in space. Still, it doesn’t always mean the other side is safe or breathable. Most worlds aren’t.”

“This is how you found Earth? The humans have known about your kind in some way for thousands of years.”

“No. Earth was found many years before that through a chaos portal. We were able to recreate it, but it was always temporary, and it brought us to a different part of the world every time. Earth is really big, which is why it was so easy, whereas many other realms are small. You can literally travel around our realm in the span of a Nyl’therian week with nothing but your own legs.”

“What about the Demons? Was that an accident too?”

Glad she was most of the way through her food, Raewyn placed her plate on the ground when her stomach twisted.

“No. We created a portal to their world on purpose, not knowing what we’d be facing. When a team of explorers went inside, they never came back, and instead, a horde of Demons exploded from within.”

“Couldn’t you just close it?” There was an accusation in his tone, one that cast justifiable blame.

Raewyn shook her head with her shoulders falling. “We must be able to access the portal, and the Demons’ numbers are dense around it. There’s too many of them, and they’ve built nests around it. That part of the forest is impenetrable now.”

“And these other realms wouldn’t help your people?”

Once more, she shook her head. “What you don’t understand is that we are one of the most technologically advanced races of people. What humans have here is nothing in comparison to what we have discovered, or what we can do. Out of the five realms we’ve had stable contact with, the only ones who can compare to us are the Anzúli, but they are essentially humans with magical capabilities. They aren’t fast, nor strong, and their magic can’t compete with the horde – Demons are resistant to magic, although not impervious.”

Raewyn leaned back on her hands and turned her face up towards the sky to rest her head. She wished she had more positive answers for him, or that the history of the Elysian people didn’t turn out the way it did, but nothing could change it.

It was what it was.

“TheBansu were the first we were able to reach, and they were primitive. They were basically one with their realm’s flora, so they didn’t need any advancements. Everything they could need or want was provided by their planet. The Taihee were a little more advanced. The difference between them and the Bansu was that they were overjoyed when we shared our knowledge with them, whereas the Bansu, although happy to share a connection with us, didn’t want to change their lifestyle. There was a race of Elves namedNanteth, and they had an opposing sun cycle to us – more night than day, and it was basically winter all year round. They were pale because their melanin was different to ours, so they could absorb more of their weak sun, whereas our three suns are too strong and we live in a permanent summer. We couldn’t handle their world, and they couldn’t handle ours – even though we did try.”

“Why bother doing all this?” he asked, like what they had been doing was absurd. “Why bother trying at all?”

Raewyn snorted a small laugh.

“Because we wanted to be friends! We wanted to connect with people, no matter who they were, where they came from, or how they lived. We respected everyone’s culture, never pushed anyone to make changes, but we wanted to expand. We wanted to learn what was out there,whowas out there, and our hope was that we could build a bigger world, where we were all connected through peace.”

Quick to respond, Merikh curtly said, “That’s foolish. Peace only lasts for so long before differences create war.”

“Not for us. For nearly a decade, so a hundred and fifty years here, not once did we have any issues. Everyone understood we were all different, and that stepping into someone else’s realm meant we adhered to their culture, unless they approved otherwise. There was balance and unity. It’s possible when your heart isn’t filled with judgement and hate.”

“No wonder you didn’t keep in contact with the humans here, then. They are the complete opposite of that ideology.”

Raewyn bit at the inside of her cheek, and then picked at grass stalks as a way to distract herself.

“I wish you weren’t right, but you are. When our people visited here, we were hunted for being different. They saw a tall, pointed-ear creature who could cast magic, and the humans wanted to hurt us, experiment on us, turn us into prisoners so we could fulfil their greedy desires. We tried, many times, to establish peace, but it just wasn’t possible. We were going to try again in the future, hoping they’d change.”

“Humans know of centaurs, mermaids, golems, and other weird creatures. Did you meet them as well?”

Her expression brightened with the curiosity in his tone, which made it less gruff and more boyish.

“Golems I’ve never heard of, but are you talking about centaurs as in half-horse people?”

“Yes.”

She nodded. “We did meet a race like that, but they weren’t as friendly. Actually, they were rather rude and had a superiority complex. We kept the gate open, but no one ventured to either side. Mermaids were a little more friendly, but we can’t breathe underwater, and they couldn’t walk on land, so we only traded with each other. They did teach many of my people how to swim, and a large group of them moved to Nyl’theria since they wanted to give their ecosystem a break from overpopulation. See?” Raewyn gave him a coy smile. “Unity that benefitted both parties. They came to our sea, and we were able to venture to their small land.”

“Ugh,” Merikh grunted, and she imagined he would have rolled his eyes... if he had any. “You expect me to believe your kind is so forgiving and understanding, but I’m sure that can’t be completely true. There must be a point at which you Elves couldn’t accept another.”

“Were you not listening at all?” Raewyn’s brows drew together tightly as her lips pulled to one side. “As long as the people were understanding of cultural differences and accepted the bond of an open gate, we were happy to have that connection. If they were set on changing us, we would close it with the intention of trying again in the years to come. The idea was placed in their heads, and we hoped the next contact would go more smoothly. We never forced the issue. If they were violent people and wished to control or harm us, we would have closed it immediately without discussion.”

“All the people you have spoken about are similar to you.”

Raewyn tilted her head to the side. “I don’t understand.”

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