I stared at Amara’s long, tapered ears in shock. An Elf! Everything I had ever been taught, all that the other monks at the priory had ever said, were that elves were a wicked race who did not honor our Gods or respect Man’s holy places. Most damning was that the terrible conflict in the Holy Land was their fault!

  “Yes, I am,” Amara said, her brow furrowing at my horrified expression. “Is it as strange as a random human showing up in Ara’s temple when humans have been absent from these lands for decades?” I stared at her as I tried to come up with an excuse to cover for my outburst.

  “I…I was not aware of that,” I finally sputtered, trying to cover for my embarrassment. It hadn’t been my intention to insult her. This was the past and things had changed since then. How they had changed! The Elves were demon worshippers in the present, or so all the Bishops and the Pope said. I doubted Amara would care to hear that.

  “Where did you say you were from, Brother? Ordheim? I have not heard of that city. Where is it?”

  “Oh, it’s far from here. Very far. Barely a fishing village, really.” It surely hasn’t even been founded yet! Amara shrugged.

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  “Elion is not so far, although I have not been there in almost fifty years now. Much to the irritation of my father. He and others of my family believe that holding onto Ara’s memory with the hope that he will return a fool’s errand.”

  “How long has it been now?” I tentatively asked. I worried Amara would grow more suspicious if I asked a question that would have an obvious answer people from this time period would know, but her face registered only sadness.

  “It has been scarcely a century since Ara fell. I too harbor doubts, Brother Kenric. I’ll not deny it! The world has changed so much in so short a time.” Amara sighed. “We must not give up hope that Ara will return to us someday. That Hope will return. That you are here now shows that humans have not given up either and I take great comfort in that.”

  I smiled at her words, but inside I burned with shame. My mind was in turmoil: Elves had not always been demon worshippers and I had allowed my judgement to be compromised by preconceived notions. Amara was an honorable, decent woman. Would I have still acted as I had to save her life had I known she was an Elf? No. Likely not and I was ashamed of that fact. Light guide me, I would do better moving forward.

  “Come, Brother,” Amara placed her helmet back upon her head and lowered the visor. “We dare not tarry any longer. The Lady’s private chambers lay just ahead.” I nodded my head and followed after her. I wondered if we stood a chance of winning with just the two of us. My spells were ready and Amara kept her shield forward. Could we defeat the Hellblade? That part was uncertain, but a lump of burning coal rested in my guts over the reality that no matter the outcome, the past could not be changed.