The monks continued to translate the tome over the next few days. Some worked on making copies so they wouldn’t all have to share the same document, and they worked on different parts. The more they discovered, the more certain Anna was about her theory of two Catastrophes in the distant past. But nothing mentioned the Wisps. There was nothing that would help Halcyon and the others.

  “It seemed like we were so close to finding something out about them!” Anna said to the others at the end of one of their long days. “Now it’s just gone dry. And we have to leave soon.”

  “Hey, we found some cool information,” Peter said. “We can stop talking about ruins from the Catastrophe, and start talking about them from the Catastrophes.” Anna just glared at him.

  “The monks have only translated a few of the pages so far,” Andrew said. “Maybe there will be something about them later on. Or in passing. Something about magical servants, or something like that.”

  “How could the Wisps be servants?” Peter asked.

  Andrew shrugged. “I don’t know. Just a thought.”

  “Thanks,” Anna said, appreciating that they were trying to cheer her up. “I’m just frustrated. Even if it does confirm a connection between the Wisps and the High Elves, I’m not sure if it will tell us what the Wisps want now.”

  “Did you think it would?” Andrew asked.

  Ana shook her head. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “After they showed me that vision and we went to Frostlake, I was sure we’d found something they were looking for. Now I’m just… less optimistic, I suppose.” She held up her and to look at the gemstone on her wrist. “And I thought that the more we learned, the better I’d be able to communicate with them. Halcyon’s still the only one who seems to understand me.”

  “How would we use this stuff with the Wisps, anyway?” Peter asked. “We’ve just learned a few details about the High Elve’s history and society. A few names. Bits and pieces of the language. Well, that was the monks, not us so we don’t really have it unless we ask them. But I’m not sure how it would work with the Wisps.” Anna turned slowly to look at Peter, her mouth hanging open a little. “What?” Peter asked.

  “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that,” Anna said, turning around and marching back toward the Library.

  “Think of what?” Peter asked.

  “Are you going to try and talk to the Wisps in High Elven?” Andrew asked.

  “Yep!” Anna said.

  “I thought they didn’t understand language,” Peter said.

  “They don’t understand our language,” Anna said. “I don’t know about any other. We’ve just communicated with feelings so far. Even the ones that were so intense it felt like words weren’t really talking at all. But what if that’s because it just isn’t their language?”

  “I guess that’s worth a shot,” Andrew said as the trio reached the library again. Inside, they found Sister Maggie hunched over a copied page from High Elf tome, absently tapping the desk as she read and reread the document.

  The nun glanced up at them as they approached. “I thought you were headed to bed,” she said.

  “I had an idea,” Anna said. She explained again for the nun and asked if Sister Maggie could teach her a few phrases of High Elven. The nun seemed excited. She set her paper to the side, then riffled through the others until she found a bound reem of notes.

  The nun handed the notes to Anna. “I’ve been trying to record High Elven words and their meanings into this. It’s not organized as well as I’d like, but it’s as close to a dictionary as we’ve got at the moment.”

  “Thank you,” Anna said, taking the notes. “Do you think I’ll be able to greet the Wisps with this?”

  “Page seven,” Sister Maggie said. “No, nine. About halfway down. There was the phrase ‘offered greetings.’ I don’t know if it’s a proper greeting, but you may get the idea across.”

  Anna found the page while Sister Maggie was talking. “What about help?” Anna asked.

  “Harder,” the nun replied with a grimace. “There’s a few words it could be from that introduction, but it’s not clear if they refer to societal matters. The difference between ‘aid’ and ‘keeping the peace’ and so forth. And that’s assuming none are homographs for different words. Context helps avoid that mistake, but we encountered several words we thought we were sure of, only to find what looked like the same thing being used in a totally unrelated way half a page later.”

  “It’s still worth a shot. What is that word for aid?” Anna said.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “I don’t remember which page that’s on,” Sister Maggie replied. “What’s it you’re trying to tell them, exactly?”

  “For now, I want to see if they respond when I tell them I want to help.”

  Sister Maggie nodded. She thought for a moment. She took the pages of notes back, scanning through them and jotting a few things down on a separate scrap parchment. “Try one of these,” the nun said.

  Anna took the strip and tried to read the unfamiliar sounds. “A arso.. Airso” she stumbled a bit, then managed. “A airsonm bid cuithiod.” Nothing happened. But then, Anna thought to herself, the Wisps weren’t paying attention. She repeated the line a few times to herself, hoping her pronunciation was enough, then focused on the Wisps, themselves. She was sure there was something in the plan, and she allowed that to spur on her excitement, sure it would draw the Wisps out a bit more.

  Halcyon focused on her first. Then a few of the others did. When it seemed like she had the attention of as many as she could get, she said the line again. “A airsonm bid cuithiod.” Nothing happened. She tried again. Still nothing.

  Disappointment seemed to well up inside her. Halcyon responded immediately, trying to pour out comfort and calm in response, but all it did was make Anna feel hollow. “I was sure that would work,” she muttered.

  Sister Maggie shrugged. “Don’t feel too bad. It was a good idea, but then again, they don’t really have ears. Even if there is something in Athalfin’s tome that they want, I doubt it would be so… eas…?” the nun trailed off. As she was speaking, One of the wisps flared up, rising out of Anna’s bracelet. Andrew and Peter stepped forward, though neither seemed certain about what they should do.

  Anna blinked, stunned for a moment. It wasn’t Halcyon. The Wisp was sky blue, though in it’s depths, there were flashes of yellow and red. Anna didn’t feel any anger coming from the Wisp though. It was… excitement of some kind. The other Wisps, even Halcyon, seemed confused by it.

  “What’s going on?” Andrew asked.

  “Does it want something?” Sister Maggie said as well.

  “I don’t know,” Anna said. “It was confused when I was talking, but when you…” Anna’s breath caught. “What did you call the book, again?”

  “The High Elf book? We’re naming it after the author: Athalfin’s Tome.”

  At the name, the Wisp flared a little brighter and bobbed closer to the nun. Sister Maggie looked nervous. “Athalfin,” Anna said. Again, light flared as the Wisp seemed to spin around in mid air and bob toward Anna. More of the Wisps were paying attention now, and this one seemed to be more focused than Anna had ever seen them. She tried repeating the line in High Elven again, pouring as much feeling as she could into the words. The Wisps remained focused on her. They were expectant, as if she hadn’t said anything since uttering the name of the book.

  “Is it the name?” Andrew asked.

  “I think so,” Anna said. “This one’s responding to that. The others are just… responding to its response.”

  “Why would it do that?” Peter asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Anna began. Then a thought occurred to her. A wild one, greater than the revelation of the second Catastrophe. She looked back at the nun. “Sister Maggie, do you still have that list of High Elven names?”

  “Yes,” the woman said. She lifted up a small stack of books and began rifling through the pages they were sitting on. She found the list and handed it to Anna.

  Anna took it, then, focusing on the Wisps, began reading them off. “Ardonm.” Nothing. “Brymbal.” Still nothing. “Bendin.” Anna’s excitement waned as nothing happened with the next few names. Perhaps her idea was wrong. “Kiarmak,” she said. A second Wisp burst out of her bracelet and hovered next to the first at full attention. Anna could feel in its influence that it was eager for more. She repeated the name, and it bobbed closer to her.

  “What’s going on?” Andrew asked.

  Anna didn’t answer. She continued down the list. Nothing happened for a while again. Then, “Gilfirin.” Another Wisp popped out. “Pridatha.” A fourth. A few names later, “Tireal,” and two revealed themselves at the same time. And then another. “Invasa.” Anna could feel excitement growing in all the Wisps. Halcyon more than the others, though none of the names seemed to cause a special reaction from him. He came out while Anna was between names, bobbing around the others, almost as if he was congratulating them.

  “Liosfalda,” Anna continued. The Wisp in Peter’s sword burst out. Peter started, taking a step back as the light bobbed closer to Anna. Anna repeated the name for the Wisp, and it came closer.

  Anna could feel the Wisps excitement building on one another. A thrill ran through her, a mix of the same excitement, and worry that they might lose control. She tried to focus on remaining calm as she finished out the list. No more joined them. Only those eight, and Halcyon, hovered around Anna excited. She looked between them. She doubted it would work, but she tried the phrase once more. “A airsonm bid cuithiod.” No reaction to the words.

  She refused to become disappointed, though. Instead, letting the Wisps excitement bolster her, she tried to let the feeling grow. She repeated the phrase in her mind, back in her own language, over and over. The Wisps all seemed to calm and draw closer to her again.

  They stayed like that for over a minute. Anna waited, hoping they would show her some other way she could help them. Instead, she felt her feeling reflected back. “No, we don’t need it,” Anna tried to tell them. “You’re the ones who need help.”

  The excitement dropped again, but not into something like sorrow or frustration. The Wisps flashed green, and Anna felt a strange determination, somehow different from what it was before. Then they all, one by one, floated back into her bracelet. Accept for the one from Peter’s sword, who returned there.

  “Alright then,” Peter said. “They seemed pretty happy about those names.”

  “Why would they, though?” Andrew asked. “It didn’t seem like they understood anything else.”

  “And it wasn’t all of them, either,” Peter pointed out.

  Anna looked back at them, surprised they hadn’t seen it themselves, or felt it in the influence. “Well, that’s only to be expected, isn’t it?” she told them. “However they think, it’s not like normal. But names are special. Wouldn’t you be excited to hear your name again after so long.”

  “My name?” Andrew and Peter asked together. Then she saw realization dawn in their eyes. Peter brought the hilt of his sword up to look at the crystal where the Wiso lay.

  “It can’t be,” Andrew said. “How would they even do that to themselves?”

  “I don’t know,” Anna said. “But I think that’s what Halcyon originally came to me for. He’s looking for a way to undo it.”

  “Young lady,” Sister Maggie said, looking at the notes. “What you’re saying… no, what you just demonstrated… this changes everything. The Wisps… they…”

  The nun seemed to overcome to continue. It was Peter who ended up finishing for her. “The Wisps… Are the High Elves.”