"Okay, you definitely hit your head at some point back there -- or maybe when you were a infant. That's plausible as well. Either way, you're wrong," I shook my head sharply which only appeared to amuse the elf some more. Everything I did seemed to bring humor to him. "I'm not this brajé you speak of. You were casting some sort of spell that only affected me and that's it."

His bright amber eyes shone in deep contrast with the shadowy the forest surrounding us. "You have not the capability to understand how correct you are, Elias."

I ground my teeth in frustration and looked to Aldyth to for reassurance, but she appeared unsure of how to handle all the information that Taurus had handed to us. It soon became clear that she wouldn't take a stance on the matter, and that I was on my own in reasoning with Taurus. "What do you want from me?"

"Nothing," he replied simply. "Honestly, there is nothing I want from either of you. I know excellence when I see it. It is simple thing really, to see greatness." He stopped in mid-step and looked down at me. "Which I see none in you, and for that you should be proud."

"I'm not sure what 'greatness' means in elvish," I retorted as we started to walk again. "But around these parts, it's usually a positive trait."

"I'm not saying that it isn't," he motioned to forest before us. "Does the tree achieve greatness for blooming every spring? For helping us breathe and supporting life?"

"Um..." Neither answer I came up with seemed like it would be the right one, so I walked in silence and waited for him to continue.

"It's does not," Taurus said at last. "Because to be a tree, is to give those things. Greatness is going beyond your niche to find a better goodness in the world. It's putting forth an effort to change what already is. But being a brajé is like being a tree. You are naturally a wonder."

"I-I don't understand," I stammered and looked over to Aldyth, who offered me another weak smile. "I don't even have the faintest idea what happened last night and now you insist I'm a prodigy?" Ever since I woke up from the attack of the East, Taurus had been making light jabs at everything from my hunting skills to my nonexistent love life. Yet, the words coming out of his mouth now, sounded so much like a compliment that at some point I started believing that this was all a very strange nightmare. "What did I see? Explain, elf!"

"You didn't see, so much as hear," Taurus reminded in a gentler tone. "There is a simple magic in the Cardinal Nations that most people can preform. In limited conditions, one can conjure the power of the North Cardinal to slightly alter the environment around one's self. Though neither of you would dare to admit it, you and Aldyth were slowly freezing in your boots. The Northerners live in a highly livid climate that is forever changing. Often the weather is cold, and their winters are harsh. I was trying to summon the spirit on the North to sweep the cold away -- with the excitement of Elias's insight, both of you failed to notice that you were no longer shivering.

What you heard was a semblance of sound. Many of the cardinals can do it, but it takes years of practice to pick musical sounds out of raw motions. The fact that you could do that without any prior training or education is baffling to the point of miraculous. The cardinals stopped physically looking brajés when the East started talking of war, but they still welcome them with open arms if one happens to fall into their borders. Brajés are a dying power. Elias, I may be speaking prematurely, but you are a wonder of nature. To use your word, you are a prodigy. You can hear the sound of silence, which is the very of heir mark of the fading nations. You could be the turning point."

The way he was phrasing made it seem like he left the speech hanging so I would ask the obvious follow up question -- which I did. "The turning point of what?"

"To the return of the Cardinal Nations ...to how they were before," he looked down to his feet as he walked. "They are slowly fading out of power, you understand? Many of their people are falling ill, their culture is struggling to maintain the height it had when all was well. They teach music in all four Cardinals, but even within their borders, brajés have stopped being born. It is hard to explain how devastating it is for them, to have so few of natural talent. The politics in all four of the nations has become more about serious discipline and less about the music of which their countries were founded on. It is not a good system, but unfortunately it is spreading in all of the four. Especially in the East." He looked up at me. "But you, you might be a sign of hope for them. If you are a brajé, which I'm almost positive you are, then there might still be others being born out there in the Confederacy, and as soon as this war is over, they can start looking for them again." He looked so hopeful that I was unsure of what to say to him.

"What if I don't want to be a brajé?" I asked quietly.

"Want isn't a factor in this, Elias," Taurus replied sternly. "Whether you like it or not, you are a brajé and there is nothing you can do to change that. The decision lies in what you are to do, now that you know."

"Is there anything else I can do?"

"You could ignore it," Taurus shrugged. "Some people did and went on with their lives. But once you hear the sounds of silence, the calling becomes very great. You'll start hearing music in everything from the wind in the trees to the despair of the dead, and not having anyone who understands and sympathizes with you, it can become very difficult." He dropped his head. "Or so I've heard."

A/n

Changed the cover again.