'Patience'
Patience… it pays off, reflects Adila as she sits quietly on the tree branch, her dark brown eyes fixed intently on the intricate nest. The tiny, blue-gold eggs are still quiet and unmoving, the only sound filling her ears besides the soft tinkling of the crystal forest is her quiet breathing. Tightening her grip the rough bark of the tree branch, Adila curls and uncurls her fingers slowly, feeling her elemental power reach out and gently flow between her and the tiny eggs.
Adila squints one eye closed as she focuses on the feeling flowing in from her elemental connection to land and air animals - those that breathe. The tiny hearts of the baby Luminbelatz birds still curled up in the delicate blue and gold eggs are beating steadily, and she can feel the familiar slow growth of elemental energy that signifies that they will begin hatching soon.
Sighing patiently, Adila props her chin in her hands and earnestly fixes her gaze on the delicate nest again. Her mind begins to drift, imagining the beautiful Luminbelatz the scraggly chicks tucked up in the blue and gold eggs will become. Their blue and gold feather will flash by, just a momentary glow in the field of vision as they manoeuvre through the crystal forests with lethal fluidity. Despite being so swift, the falcon-like Lumindbelatz never seem clumsy - the swifter they flow through the air in flashes of gold and blue, the tighter their turns seem to get, and the smoother they appear.
As the same breeze that stirs the crystal-like leaves of the trees blows a few strands of her curly brown hair across her eyes, Adila shakes her head firmly to bring herself back to the present. She must be patient, she tells herself. Patience, after all, leads to some of the best things - like waiting hours for baby birds to hatch just to see the magical moment where they taste the air for the first time, patiently waiting for the moment when a little fuzzball of a baby creature opens their eyes for the first time, and of course, things like baking…
Closing her eyes, the scent of a warm cakes fresh from the oven, the curling, steamy, golden goodness drifting through the air, comes to Adila's mind… that and the long minutes spent just before that point as a little girl, intently watching the cakes baking. Childish fascination from years ago returns as the memories float through her mind - of staring at the baking cakes as they slowly metamorphasised from swirling batter through to the point where she could run and fetch her sister Marina to float the trays from the oven.
Marina… Adila opens her eyes again and frowns thoughtfully as she thinks of her beloved older sister. Another cool breeze sets the leaves of the crystal forest tinkling gently, almost as though Marina is there herself - she is after all a full Air Elemental, one of the first possessors of the full elements of Fire, Water, Earth, or Air to be born for many, many years. Adila herself has an affinity for the smaller element of air-breathing animals - but Marina never made things strange just because she had full elemental powers.
"But Marina does love the 'Human world'…"
Adila muses quietly, almost startling herself with the sound of her own voice in the peaceful air. Steadying herself on the branch, Adila returns to her thoughts - why would Marina love the 'Human world' so? Why not just stay in Elenthea, here where the Elementals are born and live with their powers flowing freely with no risk of being discovered by the humans?
The mother Lumanbelatz - a small, sleek bird with smooth golden feathers spilling across her silky plumage, broken only occasionally by royal blue highlights, lands back on the nest and settles down comfortably, tilting her head at Adila as though listening intently to her thoughts. Adila smiles and speaks seriously to the mother Luminbelatz - as she often does. Speaking to the living, breathing creatures of her world often help her understand her own thoughts.
"You see, Mama 'belatz, in the 'Human world' I can't just speak to the animals whenever I wish… for no human knows of Elenthea and the truth about Elementals, and things are staying that way. Do you know how hard it is to not react when I can hear the voices of the animals speaking all around me?"
The mother Luminbelatz chirps absently before tucking her head under her wing - losing interest in Adila's voice. Adila smiles indulgently at the golden, falcon-like bird and shifts again on the branch, pushing up her flowing sleeves from her wrists.
"Besides, I don't understand why she would want to talk to humans - how could they understand her? They have no elemental power, they couldn't understand that extra sense we have, the affinity to the elemental energy binding our worlds… Why would she waste so much time there, amongst the humans?"
A sharp surge of elemental energy suddenly refocuses Adila's mind on her surroundings - the eggs! Adila squeezes one eye closed and focuses on feeling the elemental energy coming from the nest - yes, the eggs are starting to hatch! The mother Luminbelatz quickly takes her slender head out from her golden wing and hops up from the blue and gold eggs, coming to perch excitedly beside Adila on the rough bark of the tree branch.
Four eyes - two sharp, black bird eyes and the two intent brown ones of the elemental girl focus unwaveringly on the nest as one of the blue-speckled golden eggs start tapping softly, sharply. Adila holds her breath, a wide smile spreading across her face as she watches the emergence of a new creature into the world. Now this, this is worth being patient for - this is worth the time…
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