Kaito Silverleaf's Arc

Chapter 1 of 5

Kaito Silverleaf scrubbed his forearm raw, but the marks would not fade. Five of them, dark and curling, like ink pushed up from beneath the skin. He shared this home with five other elves, and he had spent his whole life pretending he was the same as them. He was not. His eyes were shaped wrong. His hair held a color theirs never did. Now his skin had begun to speak a language he could not read, and if the others saw, they would call him cursed and drive him out. He pulled his sleeve down and glanced toward the cottage door. The dragon carved into the wood seemed to watch him. Outside, the others were feeding his winged tiger by the fence. He heard them laugh. Soon one would come inside. He needed answers before that happened, and he needed them now. Kaito lit a candle and knelt by the cold hearth. His great grandmother had died when he was small, but she had left a locket behind. He pressed it now, the way she once showed him. "If you ever need me," she had said, "hold this and speak my name." He had never believed it. He spoke her name anyway. The candle flame bent sideways. A shape formed above it, thin and gray, wearing the same flower dress he remembered. Eleanor Thompson looked at him with warm brown eyes and clicked her tongue like he was still six years old. "You've been hiding those," she said. "I can smell the fear on you from the other side." Kaito rolled up his sleeve. His hand shook. "They think I'm cursed. What are they?" Eleanor floated closer. Her smile faded. "Not a curse, child. A birthright. Your father was not one of these forest elves. His blood ran older, and it hid inside you until now." She touched his arm, cold as river water. "Each mark is a lock. When all five open, you'll know what you truly are." The door latch rattled. One of the elves called his name from outside. "Cover them and go to the old laboratory in the runed tower," Eleanor said fast. "The master there reads the old blood. He can teach you to open the first lock before the others turn on you." Her shape thinned. "I cannot stay. But Kaito, tell no one. Not yet." The candle guttered out. She was gone. The door swung open. An elf stood in the light, staring at Kaito's bare arm. His eyes went wide. He saw the marks. "What is that?" the elf whispered. He stepped back, one hand reaching for the others outside. Kaito stood. He had no more time to hide. He had a name for the tower now, and a reason to run. He grabbed his cloak and pushed past the elf into the yard, where his winged tiger lifted its head and waited.