“They likely don't realize that they're doing any damage,” Erlandral said. “Or perhaps they don't care. And as far as the magic dying, if they took enough asha and every type of elemental magic, they would become as we once were—an immortal in full possession of all four elements. They'd be in balance and wouldn't need Danu anymore.”
Farinne looked at her father askance.
“When we gave of our ashas to create Danu, we had to separate them by the magic they contained—their elements,” King Dranalt explained. “This was not an easy task, but in the end, we were able to divide our asha into four elemental components. Each of us contributed a significant portion of asha with magic from three out of our four elements, leaving ourselves a full portion of one. This was how the elemental races of Sidhe were born and this is why we must remain in Danu to sustain her and she us—she holds the rest of our asha and its magic. The realm is literally our life. This is also why the other Danutian races revere us—we sacrificed much to make this realm. We had hoped that this hindrance would remain with us—those who created Danu—but we soon learned that even our children”—he reached out and stroked Farinne's cheek—“were born with a deficit. You see, we didn't have the magic to pass onto you.”
“But if the thief takes magic from every heart, they would be complete and wouldn't need Danu anymore?” Farinne clarified.
“Exactly,” Dranalt confirmed. Then he looked back at Erlandral and asked, “Would this thief show any signs of taking the magic?”
“He or she would be very powerful,” Master Erlandral said carefully. “You have to understand that they didn't just take one person's asha and magic, they took from a collective pool that thousands of Danutians contributed to. This would make them even more powerful than any of us had been before, perhaps even liken them to gods.”
“Little goddess,” I whispered.
“Will you stop muttering to yourself!” Elisande snapped at me. “It's terribly annoying.”
Everan narrowed his eyes at Elisande but she was staring at me and didn't notice.
I lifted my chin and met her imperious stare. “When your son stole the asha from all of those humans and I took it back, I briefly became a goddess.”
“What?” Elisande whispered in disbelief.
“Humans may not have magic, but life force can be just as powerful, perhaps even more so. All of their asha made me into a little goddess and that is how I met the Gods of Danu,” I went on, too angry to hold back. “I went into another plane of existence, one where only gods can tread. But then I gave back the asha and returned to the way I was.”
“Blessed Air,” King Dranalt declared. “You were a goddess?”
“Briefly,” I repeated. “But what I'm getting at is how similar this is to that situation. Prince Terial had tremendous power because of all the asha he'd taken but that asha was human and it fought him. I don't know how powerful someone could become by taking asha and magic from the heart of an element of Danu, but I imagine that god-like is an apt description.”
“So, how do we stop someone like that?” Uncle Nial asked. “How do we defeat a god?”
“Well, with Prince Terial, I simply took the asha back,” I said with a grin. “I don't see why this would be any different.”
“You're just going to take it back?” Princess Farinne asked dubiously.
“She can do it,” Queen Elisande muttered.
“I believe I can,” I said confidently. “But first, we have to find the thief.”
“Any ideas?” Uncle Nial asked the mages.
They began murmuring among themselves again.
“If I got close enough to this individual, I'd probably be able to tell what they'd done simply by viewing their asha,” I offered. “But I can't just go walking around Danu until I see someone with a strong asha.”
“No, but you could roam areas where there has been a magical imbalance,” suggested one of the mages.
“How long do you think the time between theft and signs of an imbalance is?” Everan asked.
“There's no way to know that,” Master Salien said regretfully. “But that is a good question. There was a long space of time between the incident at the forge and the earthquakes in the Earth Kingdom.”
“Those elemental incidents wouldn't be spaced out like that unless the thief stole magic multiple times,” another mage pointed out.
“That is what I was getting to.” Salien nodded at the other mage. “I think we can assume that the first theft was accidental but then, upon realizing what they'd done, the thief returned to take more magic and asha, perhaps even becoming addicted to the power.”
“If they're addicted, they'll go back for more,” my grandfather said.
“I don't think they'll be able to touch the Heart of Earth or Fire. Not for the time being,” I said. “We protected both of them.”
“Can you protect Air and Water as well?” Dranalt asked.
