Leora lay on the floor staring blankly into the space above her for a few minutes before she began taking stock of her surroundings. She was no longer in the cavern but was lying on the floor at the bottom of the staircase leading up to the shrine.

  Still alive then, she thought, still here. She focused on taking deep, steady breaths.

  “Oh shit! I remember!” Leora swore aloud. It’s true! It was all real, that room, the orb, the voices, the decisions I made! The dreams I’ve been having, those were from before, from when I was Jenny, they were real too! Leora sat up and buried her head in her hands.

  What happens now. Do I have to go up there and tell them the prophecy was wrong? That I angered their god? Okay, we’ll leave that bit out. But still, they’re all going to be so disappointed! What will mother say? She saw the crystal on the step next to her and picked it up carefully. The menu didn’t reappear, even when she squeezed it and shook it.

  Alright, maybe more of this can be hidden than I thought. A plan, I need a plan. I can do this!

  Leora was distracted from her pep talk by the creaking of the door at the top of the stairs.

  “It is time to return to us Leora and share your light.” She swallowed nervously and suppressed a hysterical giggle. So, no time to plan, just going to have to wing it! She climbed the stairs and found the bishop himself waiting at the top.

  “Time is short child; you were in the arms of the gods for a long time. Let us hurry to the western window so that you can light the evening candle. Then we will hear your news.”

  Leora nodded and followed automatically, keeping her head bowed. The western chapel was heaving. Leora wove carefully through the mass of bodies, keeping her eyes down, feeling increasingly uncertain as she heard the whispers around her.

  “Is she an elf do you think?”

  “Some rare bloodline perhaps?”

  “With that dark hair, surely not?”

  “Well she’s certainly grown.”

  “Do you really think she will bring a message from the gods?”

  Leora tried to ignore the voices and focused on getting to the window. The sun was already setting, the sky awash with pink and gold. Only a slither of it was still visible sinking into the shadow of the great forest in the distance. Leora hurried to pick up the matches and stood watching attentively, until the sun finally vanished, and she lit the candle.

  “Light protect you” chorused the assembled priests.

  “Light protect us” Leora murmured the required response.

  A hot hand clasped her shoulder and turned her back around to face the group. The bishop was still beside her. She was so used to looking up at him, at everyone, that to find herself suddenly much closer in height to the adults around her was very disconcerting.

  “As most of you know, 12 years ago we received an oracle. This blessed message told us that a child, an orphan, would be found, and that this child would grow up to receive the blessings of the god of light, and play a crucial role in our ongoing battle against the forces of darkness. The child was indeed found, marked with the suns orb. She was placed in the care of an esteemed family in our community and raised and educated right here. Today, finally we rejoice that the day has arrived where Leora has completed her ceremony and will be able to join us in our crusade.

  Now I ask that the majority of you return to your duties with light in your hearts, and the senior clerics remain here to speak further. Light protect us all!” He raised his hands in benediction, and Leora took the opportunity to shrink back out of reach.

  Stolen story; please report.

  The priests began to file out of the room and in the confusion Leora scurried over to her mother. “Mother, I don’t think this has turned out the way-“

  “What are you?” interrupted her mother accusingly. “You are not a demi elf. I don’t understand, elves are the favoured children of light, you were meant to be an elf!”

  “That’s part of it, mother, I think there has been a misunderstanding. I’m a…a demi dryad.” Leora whispered frantically, “I think the prophecy was wrong or it changed, or I changed, but I’m not-“ Before Leora could explain, the bishop called the meeting to order and a glass tablet was brought out and placed on the table by the window.

  “Now Leora, what message have you received for us? What holy guidance will light our path forwards.” They all looked expectantly at her and she shuffled awkwardly forwards.

  “I’m sorry your grace, I think there has been a mistake.” She began. “I…I don’t have any message for you, it’s not…that wasn’t what happened…I don’t know what I…”

  “That’s impossible! You were down there for hours! That only happens when a direct link is made. You are the promised child, you are marked!”

  Leora looked down at her hand, and instead of the pale raised ring that had been there, the mark was red and beginning to blister before her eyes. She gasped as her mother swooped in and grabbed her hand.

  “What did you do?! What did you do wrong? You have displeased the gods, look at this!” She yanked her hand towards the priests, “Look at her, she’s not some rare elven bloodline” she scoffed “Look at those eyes, she’s a demi dryad! Light knows how that is even possible, they never leave the forest. They can’t use mana! She’s useless. All this time, wasted!” Leora’s mother turned away in disgust.

  “This can’t be, there must be a mistake,” muttered the bishop. “Girl! Give me your crystal this instant!” He snatched it from her uninjured hand and placed it on the glass tablet.

  An abridged version of Leora’s status screen appeared above the tablet. It listed her race, titles and skills. Fortunately, there was no mention of her status as a soul traveller. As the priests gathered around, discussing the situation in hushed voices, Leora dug her fingernails into her palms and tried to swallow back the fast-approaching tears. She couldn’t believe how terribly this was going.

  “She has extremely high mana reserves, more than any demi I’ve heard of!”

  “Yes, but if her race is incompatible with mana that’s more likely to kill her than be of any use.”

  “Crafter!? How could this happen? She cannot possibly be the child of prophecy; did we find the wrong baby?”

  “Generalist is the bigger issue, even with all that mana, with those skills under that title she could never amount to anything!”

  “To be honest, I always found her lacking in her classes.”

  “But she had the mark, what’s happened to that, did she lose the favour of the gods?”

  “She’s only a child, let us all remain calm.”

  “Indeed, how could a child lose the favour of a god, she hasn’t done anything?”

  The priest’s voices were growing louder and louder as they all tried to find an explanation for the bizarre outcome of Leora’s ceremony. She watched with a strange and overwhelming mix of emotions. She was scared and sad and guilty, but also defiant and somehow excited. Leora knew that it was in fact her own fault, she had made the choices with the express intent of thwarting the orb, who turned out to be a god. Now she had upset all these people and her mother wouldn’t even look at her. However, she had made those choices in order to fulfil her own dreams, and they did reflect her as a person. She didn’t regret it. She regretted the trouble it was causing, absolutely, but the choices themselves, they felt right.

  Leora tried to hold onto that silver lining, despite the rising tension in the room. She noticed her mother had moved around the group of arguing priests and was speaking quietly to the bishop. A few moments later her mother left the chapel without so much as a backward glance.

  Leora hurried after her, desperate to speak to her. She caught her just as she was heading out of the main shrine building and towards the stables.

  “Mother, please! Can you wait a minute! I didn’t mean to-“ she clutched onto her mother’s richly embroidered cloak.

  “Enough! Leora, stop this nonsense. I am leaving.” She shrugged out of Leora’s hands and continued walking.

  “Mother that’s not fair, you don’t understa…”

  “Don’t understand? Ha! You are the one who doesn’t understand! This was our chance; you have no idea what this means.” Her mother spun back to face her. “This war has been going on for years. None of the northern cities support it anymore. For them, the demons are such a distant threat that they are no longer willing to send soldiers and supplies. It’s too expensive. And despite what you might hear in the city, we are not winning. We are being driven back, little by little. 40 years ago we had huge swathes of territory in those mountains, now we have been systematically pushed out. The child of prophecy was meant to turn the tide, give us the upper hand in some way. Prove that we are right, that the demons must be exterminated!” Her mother glared at Leora, shaking with rage. “I’m not surprised you lost your blessing. The god of light obviously saw that you are a failure. That you mean nothing. That’s the truth Leora. You are nothing. You are no one.” She turned to leave but Leora grabbed her arm desperately.

  “Mother I’m sor-“

  “No!” she snapped. “You. Are. Not. My. Child.”