𝐸𝑙𝑒𝑎

I was standing on the rocky ground of the cliffs. Only a few steps separated me from the deadly abyss. A small distance between me and a painful end. Stabbed by the pointed stone columns or forever swallowed up by the ocean, whose waves beat tirelessly against the rock walls, accompanied by a constant rustle. For as long as I could remember, I had gone to the cliffs and listened to the sea. Its quiet call to take me to other worlds. Away from this dull port city, away from all the social expectations and obligations. Just being free.

Suddenly two muscular arms wrapped around my neck. The sudden pressure on my throat made me let out a choked noise. It took me a second to process the shock. Then I quickly moved my hip to the left and pushed my right elbow into the abdomen with full force. A pain-filled groan sounded. Before the attacker could recover, I grabbed his arms and hurled him forward over my shoulder. Now he laid in front of me groaning.

"What are you doing, Ru?!", I shouted indignantly as I identified the attacker as my brother Ruakin. "I thought I'd give you a fright, sister. " He grinned at me, his light blue eyes, which were so similar to mine, mischievously sparkling. "Next time you should take protective clothing, brother", I teased him. "Noted. " He saluted, still lying on the ground. "Don't you want to get up?" I asked him, raising a sceptical eyebrow. Shaking his head, he replied, "Not really, the hard, rocky floor is surprisingly comfortable. " Now it was my turn to shake my head. "As my oldest brother, shouldn't you be a little more grown-up?" "Being grown-up, what is that?" he asked teasingly, grinning at the same time. "Come on, you childish bastard.", I said, holding out my hand to him. He took it and pulled himself up. However, he didn't expect me to use as much as strength as I did, because when I pulled on, he almost fell down again. Now it was me who was grinning. "That was on purpose!" Ruakin complained. "That was for the fright", I told him, not sounding very bothered by his complaint, and shrugged my shoulders. "Didn't I pay enough when you slammed me on the floor?" "That was just a reflex, not a punishment. You should know that I'm a pretty good fighter. " As I said the last sentence, Ruakin prided himself. "Of course, after all, you learned from the best. " I had to laugh. "Not so arrogant, Ru. Even without training I could kick your ass". "You'd think!", he replied condescendingly.

Fast as lightning, I pulled out one of my knives, which I hid in inconspicuous pockets sewn into my pants. Before he could react, I held the knife to his throat. "What did you want to say, Ru?" "Of course I wanted to say that my beloved sister is a master of martial arts and I would never dare to face her in a fight", he pretended to be submissive. "You may be allowed to go", I discharged him with great authority in my voice. "Thank you very much, O great Elea. " He bowed so deeply that he almost touched the ground. I couldn't hold myself anymore and started laughing loudly. Ruakin joined in. Even though I was often longing to leave somewhere, I was glad to have him.

"Elea, Ruakin, where are you?" someone suddenly shouted from a distance. That was no doubt the voice of my second brother Keiran. He was the calmer of the three of us and probably the only reason our mother hadn't gone crazy yet. Because Ruakin and I had probably already given her one or two gray hairs. The two of us had always been wild and daring, and Keiran was the only reasonable one of us siblings to make sure that we didn't accidentally kill ourselves. And I loved him for that. Ruakin was also grateful to him, even though he wouldn't admit it. After all, he was the oldest at the age of 26. Keiran, on the other hand, was 23. At 18 years old, I was the youngest who was definitely overprotected by both of them. It had taken a lot of convincing to persuade Ruakin to teach me how to fight. After he came back from two years of military service, I had already started begging him. Four years later, when I was fourteen, he had finally given in.

"What is it?" Ruakin called back. "You should help Mother with the preparations for the feast. " I moaned. Every year in spring we celebrated the Ikari festival in Koula. The purpose was to thank the sea goddess for last year's fish catches and to ask her to assure generous catches again in the next year. That was the most exciting thing in this town. A feast about fish. Fish was the main theme in this town anyway. Most of the people here lived from fishing and Koula was also one of the leading cities in Talakea when it came to exporting fish. My father had one of the biggest fleets and was one of the biggest fish distributors. One day Ru was supposed to inherit the company as the eldest son. But since he was not particularly interested, Keiran had agreed to do so. He was the pride of the family, while Ruakin and I were the disappointments. Ruakin was a womanizer who wanted to bind himself to nothing and no one and had no plan what he wanted to do with his life.

I, however, had big dreams. But as a woman, I was expected to marry a good man and find a decent job and have children. A good, down-to-earth life. And also boring to death. Of course, the fact that I hadn't even had a boyfriend upset my parents. But I'd just never met a guy I wanted more with. My parents, on the other hand, thought it was simply because of my "impossible nature. " Only because I once broke the arm of an arrogant creep, because he grabbed my ass. Since then, every male in this place, except for my brothers, had been careful."Are you coming, or do I need to get you?" Keiran asked us, slightly annoyed, to hurry. "Come on, El. We can't escape Mother anyway", Ru said resigned. "You're right", I gave in with a sigh. "But still, I can think of more fun things than cooking fish all afternoon for this boring party tomorrow. " Discouraged, I kicked a stone aside as I walked. "This year it might not be so boring.", Ru tried to cheer me up and wiggled his eyebrows. "Of course. This year the fish market and the crowds will be more exciting, and probably all the old ladies will refrain from looking at me disapprovingly. " My voice was dripping with sarcasm. That was one of my few talents. Be sarcastic. After that, there was only fighting and stabbing. Since I could never keep my hands off sharp objects, Ru thought it best to teach me how to use them. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have any fingers left.

"No, I'm serious", said Ru. "Yesterday I saw a group of wandering showpeople enter the city". "Really?", I asked, this time with real enthusiasm. "No, I was hallucinating", he replied, rolling his eyes. Playfully, I rammed my elbow into his side. "Sarcasm is my thing", I reminded him. „I can't remember you ever claiming it for yourself, little sister. " He smiled at me from above and patted my head. Just because he was my brother, I refrained from breaking his arm. "Don't call me little, or...!" I hissed. "Or what?" he asked, provocatively grinning. "Or I'll kick you into your best piece so that. . . " "All right, all right", he interrupted me. That son of a bitch knew I hated being called little. It reminded me that most people were taller than me.

Meanwhile we had reached our brother Keiran. He had already waited for us with folded arms and a displeased expression. "Everything alright, Kei?" asked Ru and patted his shoulder. "My ears are falling off from this miserable wind", he moaned. "If you had wrapped a cloth around your ears like me, they wouldn't be cold now", I said, pointing to the black cloth that held back my shoulder-length blond hair and covered my ears. "Yeah", he muttered, then he turned away and began to walk down the hill to the city. Ru and I followed him silently for once.

From behind, I could watch Kei rubbing his ears constantly and messing up his half-length, dark brown hair. He looked more like our father. Dark hair, dark eyes and a broader stature. Ru and I, on the other hand, followed our mother. Blonde, curly hair, pale blue eyes and a more petite stature. Even if no one would have the idea to call Ru petite, because he had gained a lot of muscles from his combat training, but compared to his peers he was indeed a bit smaller. But thanks to that, he was all the more wired and agile. And because of his ingenious strategies, he was a difficult match in a real fight. Even though I liked to talk big, I didn't stand a chance against him.

I turned my nose up as I entered the city and followed my brothers through the streets. After spending some time on the cliffs, it was always hard for me to get used to the penetrating smell of fish that seemed to be everywhere. Only at the harbor one caught the occasional fresh, salty sea air in good wind. After the cliffs, the harbor was my favorite place. Although Koula wasn't a big city, it was kind of a hotspot for sailors or poeple travelling by ship in general, and the port was accordingly large. Every day ships docked there and people from faraway worlds came aboard to replenish their supplies and rest. Every time I was here, the desire to sneak on board and leave this dull life made my heart ache. But until now, I had not had the courage to do it. Because if I finally dared to leave, what would happen after?