That day in the prison, the floodwater came from every direction. It was not a slow rise the waters rushing in was violent, churning, slamming against the walls making the prison groin with the pressure of the water. Soldier stood on the table, hands up in the air, praying out loud in that steady voice of his. I lowered my head and started praying too. For a moment, all I could think about was my family my mother and father who were always there for me and my little sister who I want to be with as she grew up into a fine lady. My family who would never see me again. A tear gathered in the corner of my eye before I could stop it. I had not cried once since coming to TDC. Showing that kind of weakness could get you marked, as an easy to exploit. But none of that mattered now. The end was coming, and we all knew it. Hope had drained out of the room as the water started to come to our wastes. Nothing could stop the water god wanted us at the bottom of the river and water kept rising, cold and relentless. Drowning was not the worst way to go. There is a strange peace to it like slipping back into the quiet warmth of your mother's womb, the world fading into something soft and distant. I did not want to die but mama I am not coming home.
My mind went blank, and my soul drifted free it felt weightless, unburdened. My sole floated through what I can only describe as an infant realm this is heaven. Time did not matter there. It did not move forward or backward. It simple was not. My conciseness woke in a heavenly realm a place that was soft and warm. A being stood there with me I could feel its soul bright and full of joy it almost felt like a humming. Its face was indescribably beautiful. I could feel its attention on me, it felt so gentle. I asked it where my family and friends were. My thoughts went to my grandfather and my best friend from middle school too. People I had lost long before the flood people. I thought I would finally see again. A sudden drop pulled at me, like the ground had vanished beneath my feet. The warmth dissolved, replaced by darkness and fluid pressing in around me. I did not understand what was happening. Then a light appeared ahead, small at first, then growing brighter. I thought for a second, I am going to make it to heaven.
I found myself in a room full of pointy‑eared people. They lifted me like I weighed nothing, passing me from one pair of hands to another. Someone cleared my airway. Someone else gave me a small injection. A third person traced glowing runes over a carved circle in the floor, and the whole thing lit up green. I didn't understand any of it, but I recognized the situation instantly. Growing up on a ranch, I'd seen my share of animals being born. The sounds, the movements, the way people handled a newborn then it all clicked. This was not heaven. This was birth. They placed me into the arms of a beautiful blond woman with emerald‑green eyes. Her expression was soft, relieved, overflowing with a soft loving aura. Soldier once told me about a book he read on reincarnation. I had laughed it off back then. Now, lying in this stranger's arms in a body that wasn't mine, I wished I had listened to him. Maybe I would have been less shocked. A thousand questions crashed through my mind. Where was I? What was I? Was I even human anymore?
I looked up at the pointed ears, the runes, the glowing circle, the strange language around me. I had a guess. Elven, I thought to myself I must be elven. This is not real I had read Lord of the Rings once. That was the closest frame of reference I had that even that felt flimsy compared to the reality I was staring at whatever I had become, it wasn't the man I used to be. It took a few weeks before everything finally made sense. No matter the race I was still a baby I found out I am the son of Eryndor Silvashar, my father, and Velatha Silvashar, my mother. They called me Zeno Silvashar.
An elven year or a rotation is four hundred days long. An eleven-life span is 500 rotations or a year it's hard for me to get my head around that number. Their calendars were precise, numbered, efficient. So, it's not like they have shorter years or they did not calculate that life span right I only figured that out because I saw one hanging in my father's study. My brain must have been wired on high mode because I picked up the elven language in what seemed like a few months. I am going to assume baby brains work the same no matter what world you come from. With the abilty to pick up on their parents' language quickly. I did practice a but I cannot really speak English either, I am still a baby. The elves in this territory of land live in a forest hidden by a permanent fog barrier. Humans assumed the forest was cursed or haunted because anyone who wandered in was either turned around, got lost or killed. It took me year to piece that together my parents did not exactly explain that to me. I did try to wonder in there as soon as I could was and I saw an opening. This quickly turned into me getting scolded by both of my parents. The forest was still a dangerous place for kid my size.
Elven aging was strange. They grew at a pace similar to humans until about sixteen, then their bodies simple just paused. They could stay in that youthful state until around four hundred years then they age for the next 100 years till they pass of old age. Outward appearance meant nothing a person who looked twenty could be two hundred, you never know. Elves were not even considered adults until seventy‑five years old. That still felt unreal to me. In my old world, seventy‑five meant retirement. Here, it meant you were finally old enough to stop being treated like a child. Their technology surprised me too. They were as advanced as humans from my old world, but everything ran on magic instead of machinery. Just like when I was born that was a group of nurses and the magic circles that were activated where one to heal then one to detox then one for vaccines for common illnesses in this world. That must be why they live so long. Elves live along time and they produce really slowly only ovulating once a every 10 years and carrying for another full year so time moves differently when you have a long life. And all of this the fog, the culture, the lifespan, the magic I gathered piece by piece, year by year, while living my life as a normal baby.
It took me almost 3 years to figure out how to read the elven language. But once it clicked, it clicked hard. I devoured every book I could find. In the Elven country, libraries are everywhere. Even the smallest towns have one. They are warm little buildings with carved beams and shelves. For a small child this place seemed to be endless. First few year growing up I wandering through them the same way they did in my old world.