The Dark Elf War

Chapter Four

Eldihel

Naeya sat quietly and waited in the night gloom of the forest. She was waiting for someone. “You’re late,” she said, her voice doing nothing to disguise her annoyance.

Obaram stepped out of the trees. “Hmm, that body suits you, it seems quite lovely by human standards…I guess.”

Naeya made a face, “Humans disgust me, even more than you do. I can’t wait to get out of this body. The seal is weakening, soon I will be free to return to my original form, so I would appreciate it if you would refrain from useless flattery.”

Obaram smiled at this, he didn’t like Naeya much, in truth he didn’t like anyone much, save himself. However, Naeya was always direct and to the point, and that was a rarity among their kind.

“How have you faired with the woman?” Naeya asked.

It was Obaram’s turn to look disgusted. “More poorly than I had hoped, she has gotten harder to control every day and she will arrive in Eblan by boat in the morning.” Obaram sighed.

“How could one simple human give you so much trouble Obaram?”

Obaram was loathe to reveal how complete his failure was but it would be worse if he tried to hide it, “It gets worse,” he said finally. 

“Go on,” Naeya said impatiently.

It seems I finally lost the ability to influence her at all, it happened all at once yesterday, I have tried to reestablish contact but I had no success, I believe I am being blocked somehow.”

“The betrayer?” Naeya said, her eyes narrowing, refusing to name the one who had betrayed them and helped the dragons to be sealed.

“Perhaps,” said Obaram.

“He could create problems for us if he is returning.”

“There was nothing I could do,” Obaram said.

“Do you think that will matter to the High Emperor,” Naeya said, “well she is out of your control so she could be a danger to my plans. I will put her out of the way.”

“How, she is a powerful wizard, and killing her would surely alert the betrayer if he is truly the one interfering.”

“It is simple,” Naeya said, “I will enchant a cell in the dungeon to prevent the channeling of magic, and hold her there until I can get the swords from the king.”

Obaram shrugged his shoulders, “why are we doing this anyway, I mean what are the chances that those swords the king has are really THE swords.” Obaram said.

“Are you going to tell the High Emperor he is he is wasting his time,” asked Naeya. 

Obaram lost several shades of color at that thought but he did not answer.

“Obaram, you may not like it but we are playing the roles that the High Emperor gave us. If he feels these tasks are important then we will do them.” Naeya finished.

“I know,” Obaram began.

“Well then stop whining like a…”

“Both of you shut up,” a voice spoke into their minds.

“High Emperor,” they both shouted and then fell to their faces.

“I grow tired of your petty arguments, we must move up our plans, Naeya, you must retrieve the swords in three days, Obaram I am sending you to reawaken the Giant of Bab-il.” The High Lord spoke.

“Why the change in plans great master,” Obaram asked.

“I want Eblan off the map, their military force is seconded only to Baron and the giant will do well to eliminate that threat, also I need the giant as a distraction, it seems Kail became impatient.”

“What did he do?” asked Naeya.

“He surrounded the Kingdom of Fabul and tried to take the crystal there, It almost worked too, but the humans had built an escape route into their castle and they escaped, Kail caught up with them but one of the humans had a powerful earth magic with him and he brought an entire mountain down on them both.”

“So Kail is dead,” Obaram sighed, “Though he was almost equal in power to us high lords he always was too hasty.”

“Damn,” swore Naeya “We expended much power to get Kail out and now he is dead.”

“Do not worry, “The High Emperor said “This will work to our advantage, The Mordihel still pursue the king of Fabul and when they catch him they will get the crystal, and I have already ordered the retrieval of the crystal of Fire, we will soon be free of this seal that has bound us for so long, we will be unstoppable.”

Rydia stood on the top of a precipice overlooking a huge city built right into the side of a mountain.

“Am I dreaming?” She thought, “I was on ship wasn’t I?”

The quiet city suddenly changed. It was engulfed in flames, a huge battle raged all around her. She could feel the heat of the flames leaping up from the town. Humans and Lunars and another race of people which did not know all fought against huge dragons and warriors carrying strange looking swords.

Suddenly the scene changed again. She stood by herself in a forest. Rydia suddenly that she was no longer in her own body but the body of a large dragon. A voice spoke from somewhere behind her. “Have you sided with the humans?”

“Yes,” she answered. She turned to see an even larger dragon in front of her. It was then she realized that she could not control the dragons actions, it was as if she were watching a play but instead of being in the audience she was seeing it through the eyes of one of the actors.

 “So betrayer you have chosen the weak over the strong.”

She spoke back. “I did not choose weakness I chose what is right. You pretend we are gods. When I think of what you destroyed…of what I helped you destroy.” She could feel her head shake sadly. “I cannot let you do such things again. I am…was your friend, but we’ve all changed into something evil, I cannot abide by it.”

“I trusted you,” the other dragon roared, he then shook his head sadly, “You have made your choice, our friend ship means nothing to me now. Next time we meet you and I will be enemies.”

“I know,” the figure in which Rydia resided said.

With that the huge dragon took skyward and left.

Rydia woke up and bolted upright in a cold sweat. The gentle waves of the ocean rocked the ship back and forth making her feel a little sea sick from sitting up so quickly. The first thing she noticed was that her head was clear. She could see clearly how foggy her mind had been in the last few months. What had caused her mind to become so clouded she wondered. Was it magic? Certainly no magic she knew of. What was even more important than how was who and why. She was also wondering why it had cleared up now, was it the vision she had? Who had sent that vision anyway? She was sure it was some kind of vision since she wasn’t in the habit of dreaming that she was a dragon. She put her hand up to her face, “If only I knew what it means, I’m sure it’s something important.”

The ship was now coming into port. She thanked the captain for a safe journey and the headed towards the castle. When she got to the gates she noticed that the guards were giving her unsettling looks, but she wasn’t going to turn around just because of the way some idiot looked at her.

“I am Rydia the Summ…” She began.

“We know who you are,” the first guard said.

“We’ve been ordered to revive you properly,” the second guard said.

If Rydia had been paying attention she would have noticed the sarcasm in the guard’s voice, but instead she just wondered how Edge had known she was coming. She walked past them towards the castle gates only to find that a meeting with Edge would have to wait because one of the guards had knocked her unconscious.

“Did you have to hit her so hard?” asked the first guard.

The second guard looked annoyed, “Hey, you heard what Adrelea said, she’s a criminal and a powerful sorceress, I don’t want her waking up and turning me into a frog or something, now help me carry her to the dungeon.”

“Alright,” the first guard grumbled, “but I don’t like Adrelea.”

“Don’t say things like that, you could loose you head for saying something like that,” the second guard said.

After the refuges descended from the mountain it became a mad dash for safety. People thought if they could make it to the forests they could hide from the army. Yang had managed to get a few retired soldiers to act as scouts, and thanks to their reports Yang now new that the army that had taken Fabul was on their trail and only a few days behind. The army was better organized and better equipped than a bunch of farmers and merchants running for their lives so he knew they would catch them eventually. “It’ll probably be two or three days before they start catching up to people and killing them.” Yang said to Rosa.

“What will we do?” Rosa asked.

“The only thing we can do, we keep running,” Yang sighed to himself, it wasn’t in his nature to run from a battle but he wasn’t dumb enough take on an army by himself. At least not with out a defensible position he thought as he grinned to himself.

“Perhaps some may survive by hiding in the forests, were not but a day or two from them,” Rosa said.

“That could buy us some time, but what we really need is an army,” said yang.

“Perhaps Cecil has gotten our message by now,” Rosa suggested.

“Perhaps,” Yang said.

Kain had spent the last week training with the new recruits in the castle. He needed something to do with his time, and they needed training. He was no longer a servant to the Baronian crown, but the veterans in the castle remembered him and were happy to have him help train the recruits. He spent most of his evenings with Ryanna. He liked spending time with her but sometimes she could drive him nuts. She had promised not to ask about his past again, but she seemed determined to bend that promise almost to breaking. She never asked, but she sure dropped hints. The other thing that infuriated him was that, in truth, she was almost as elusive about her past as he was about his. Perhaps she was just doing it to get back at him, but he had a feeling it was more than that. He wondered what she was hiding.

WHACK! Kain knocked the last guard to the ground with a blow to the head. Five of the better recruits at the castle decided they had enough of Kain’s attitude.

The five came up to him after training and one said, “I’ve had enough of your attitude Dragoon. I’ve heard that you were held in high regard when you served under the previous King, but I think I could take you easy.”

“You’ve had enough have you?” said Kain, “Well if you think you’re better than me I’ll fight you…all of you at once if you like.”

“You’ll fight all of us at once?” the recruit asked suspiciously.

“Sure,” said Kain.

It took Kain one minute to knock them all out with a wooden practice spear. 

“They won’t be so sure of their abilities from now on,” Kain thought, “maybe it’ll make them cautious enough to keep them alive.” Kain turned to some of the other soldiers. “Take them back to the Barracks, let them rest, but don’t allow the white wizards heal them, I want them to remember those bruises.” He was just about to go back to training when he heard the castle gates opening. He heard a guard say something about someone coming from the Serpent Road. Kain left the training area and went to see what was going on. The Elder of Mysidia was coming through the courtyard when he got there.

“Hello Kain,” the Elder called out when he saw Kain and waved him over.

“What brings you to Baron?” Kain asked.

“I’ve translated that tablet that you and Ryanna brought with you, well actually I’ve only translated a little, but it is a very old language and I won’t be able to translate more without some help,” the Elder said. He saw the recruits dragging their unconscious friends towards the barracks and raised an eyebrow questioningly at Kain.

“They thought they were as good as me, I proved them wrong,” Kain shrugged.

“I see, well you should come to see Cecil with me, you found the tablet so you should here what I have to say.”

When they got to the throne room Cecil greeted the Elder, “It’s good to see you again; it’s been too long since you last visited, though something tells me you aren’t here for a friendly visit.”

“I have translated part of the tablet that Kain and Ryanna found; I thought you should know what it says,” the Elder said.

“Let me send someone for Ryanna, she should be here too,” Cecil said as he motioned one of the guards to go located her. 

Several minutes later Ryanna appeared.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“Elder has translated part of the tablet,” Kain said.

“Why don’t we go to my study to talk,” Cecil suggested. Turning to the guards he said, “Make sure we are not disturbed.”

“Yes sir,” they said as they left.

“You say you translated the tablet that Ryanna’s friend found,” Cecil said.

The Elder sat down in a chair and thought a moment, “Well only some of it, It is a very old language. It took me days to find anything in my library about that could help me translate it.”

“What, but the only library larger than the Mysidian library is in the land of the summoned monsters,” Kain said.

“Yes but the language on this tablet is extremely old, it comes from a time before the Lunar moon appeared. The only reason the tablet still exists is because of some sort of enchantment of preservation that was placed on it.”

“Some kind of enchantment?” Cecil asked.

“I really couldn’t tell what kind of enchantment it was, it wasn’t any kind of magic I am aware of,” the Elder looked troubled, “Those ruins on Ordeals are very old, older than I imagined. Tell me Ryanna, what led Duncan to believe he would find anything of value in the ruins, and how did he find this, We Mysidian wizards have searched those ruins many times and have never found anything to give us a clue to who lived there and you two found this in just a few months.”

 “Duncan found some old manuscripts that pointed to something on Mt. Ordeals, as to how he found it; it was location was protected by powerful magic, he removed the magic.

“Hmm, I never sensed any magic there,” Elder half mumbled to himself.

“What does it say?” Ryanna asked.

Kain noticed that Ryanna was quick to change the subject but said nothing.

“I suppose I should get to that,” said the Elder, “First I should let you know that the book I used to translate it was rather limited in resources, the writer wasn’t even sure of who spoke the language. He seemed to think it came from one of two groups, one was called Mordihel and the other was called Eldihel.”

Cecil’s eyes went wide, “Eldihel, isn’t that the ancients gave to…”

“Elves, yes that’s right,” Elder finished.

“Then what are Mordihel?” Kain asked.

“As best the writer could explain, they are like the other side of a coin, very similar to Eldihel but that they are evil.”

“Dark elves,” Cecil said, he shivered at the thought, he had fought one once and was almost killed for his trouble.

“Anyway,” the Elder began, “Most of the tablet was incomprehensible, I was only able to translate a few words here and there, what I did figure out was that a great battle was fought on Ordeals and it destroyed the city there. Some beings of great power were trapped some how. The only part I was able to translate much of was a section at the end. It’s a prophecy of some sort.”

“What does it say?” Cecil asked.

“This was what I translated,

Bindings will not last forever.

One day the nagul areunegeth will return

I was unable to translate those two words, they name something but I do not know what.”

“What does any of this mean, why would those soldiers be after a tablet that no one can read,” Cecil asked. He looked as if he would say more when he noticed that the Elder was staring at Ryanna closely. He turned and looked as well.

Ryanna’s eyes were about three times as large as normal and she looked as if she would faint.

“You know something don’t you?” Elder asked, “You’ve heard the phrase nagul areunegeth haven’t you?”

“D…Dragon Lords,” Ryanna’s voice squeaked out finally.

“I don’t understand, if you can read this why didn’t you tell us?” Cecil asked.

“No, I…can’t read the ancient tongue,” Ryanna’s voice was regaining its strength but she still looked ready to faint, “but, I’ve heard my elders tell the stories, every one where I’m from has heard the name nagul areunegeth.” 

“Where exactly are you from?” Elder asked eyeing her.

Ryanna looked startled suddenly, “I’ve said too much, I must go.” 

She got up to leave but Kain grabbed her arm, “not so fast, I too would like to hear about your homeland.”

Cecil spoke up, “Lady, I have felt for some time that there is more to you than it seems, I think now would be a good time for you to tell us the truth.”

Ryanna looked frightened, “You think I’m evil don’t you.”

“No,” said Cecil leaning back in his chair, “I know you are not evil, but I also know that you know something important and you cannot hide it from us any longer.”

“What about you Kain,” Ryanna asked relaxing slightly.

“I fought in many a battle with you and have trusted my life to you, I know you are good, and I trust that you had good reasons for keeping things from me, but we must know what you know.”

Ryanna slumped back in her chair, “The elders warned us not to leave the forest, I suppose I knew that I would be required to reveal my identity despite the rule against it.” She rose out of her chair.

“What are you doing?” Kain asked.

“Showing you who I am,” Ryanna replied. She reached behind her neck and fumbled with something for a moment. An intricate necklace suddenly appeared around her neck as she removed it.

Cecil, Kain and the Elder looked at her closely, at first she seemed exactly the same and then suddenly they noticed the difference. Her face became more angular her eyebrows swept upwards, and her red hair became brighter somehow, but the most notable change was her ears, they swept up and backwards into points. “Now you see me as I really am.” Ryanna said as she sat back down.

“Y…you’re not human?” Kain asked.

Ryanna looked a little perturbed, “does that bother you so much?”

Elder spoke before Kain could answer though. “Might I ask what you are lady? I thought my self to be familiar with all races, but…”

Ryanna smiled slightly, “Do not be hard on yourself Elder, no human has seen one of us in our true form since before I was born, at least a thousand years ago I think. The elders forbid it. As for what I am, my people are called Eldihel.

The room was completely silent for at least thirty seconds.

“You’re an Elf?” Cecil said finally.

“That was the name humans gave us, yes” Ryanna said.

“But all of the histories in Mysidia say that the elves died out over a thousand years ago,” Elder looked irritated, not at Ryanna, but at the idea that the histories might not be completely accurate.

“That is what we wished you to believe, my people have hidden themselves in the forests since that time,” Ryanna said.

“And no one ever stumbled on to you villages?” asked Cecil.

“Our magic is part of the forest; no one enters the elfin forests with out being allowed to. Those who come to near will suddenly find themselves heading in a different direction,” Ryanna said.

“Why did you and Duncan leave the forest then,” Cecil asked.

Ryanna continued, “Our scouts had reported more above ground activity from the Mordihel than normal. Then the Taigg reader…that’s a sort of oracle, said she felt that the Mordihel were about to do something bad, she didn’t see anything specific though. Duncan had just pieced together some information in our library and had figured out where the mountain we call Mount Blood was.”

“Mount Ordeals,” Cecil broke in.

“Yes,” Ryanna said, “You see Mount Blood was the place of the largest city the Mordihel ever built, and the last one they built above ground. Duncan got this idea that we might figure out what the Mordihel were up to by exploring the ruins. No one believed him. I mean no one has lived in the ruins since the end of the war. People figured he was just looking for an excuse to study the ruins; he has…had an insatiable desire to study anything old. They let him go but only let him take one ranger because of the problems we were having with the Mordihel. He chose me. He never told me much about what he hoped to find but I now I know that he must have known more than he told the counsel of Elders, He must have believed that the Mordihel intend to release the dragon lords. That is why I decided it was best to reveal myself to you. 

“This is the second time you have mentioned the dragon lords, who are they,” Cecil asked.

Ryanna looked troubled, “It is not a thing we like to talk of…the Eldihel once served the dragon lords along with the Mordihel. During the Oath Breaking war we rebelled against them. They were sealed in a battle on Mount Blood and the Mordihel city was destroyed. If the Mordihel have found a way to break the seal…”

“It would be disastrous,” finished Cecil.

“Yes.”

“I thought that my days of fighting were over,” Cecil mused, “perhaps they are not over yet. Tell me do you know anything about this seal, they must have used some sort of talisman to store the power for the seal, if we knew…”

“I’m sorry,” Ryanna broke in, “but I don’t know any more of the tale. Perhaps my Elders would know something.”

“We should take this tablet to your people Ryanna; they will be able to read the rest.” Elder said suddenly.

“Yes that would be the best idea,” Ryanna finished.

“Where do your people live?” asked Cecil.

“We live in the forests north west of here,” said Ryanna, “The city of the Elves there is called Elidar.”

“You live south of Troia then, we could take an airship.” Cecil said.

“You want to come with me?” asked Ryanna.

“I would like to meet your people if I can,” Cecil said.

“You may come if you wish, but don’t think they will welcome you easily,” Ryanna said.

“Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been in that position,” Cecil said as he smiled at the Elder.

“Perhaps I will come as well,” Elder said.

“You wish to come?” Ryanna asked.

“Well, It’s not every day that I get a chance to meet a race of people I thought died out a thousand years ago and I’m not about to miss the chance to,” Elder said.

“What about you, Kain” Cecil asked.

Kain had not said a word since Ryanna had revealed her Elvin nature, He looked at Cecil slowly, “I don’t know if…” what ever he had planed on saying he thought better of it and simply said, “Yes I’ll go.”

“Fine,” said Cecil, “I’ll order airship made ready. Meet me at the airship docks in two hours. I need to go find Lorien, Cid’s daughter and tell her to get an airship ready for flight.”

Kain left as soon as Cecil was gone but Ryanna wasn’t about to let him leave without him saying something “Kain, You haven’t said a thing since…”

“What do you want me to say, that I’m happy about all this?!!!” Kain angrily broke in.

“Am I so repulsive to you now that you know I am not human, is that what this is about?!” Ryanna asked with equal anger.

“No you’re…well…I…I don’t know…This is just a lot for me to take in,” Kain said finally his anger draining away.

“It seems strange for me to say this, but I…I feel closer to you than just about anyone in along time, I don’t want to loose your friendship” Ryanna said as she seemed almost on the verge of tears.

“I…I don’t know if I can care for anyone ever again…after the things I’ve done, I don’t know if I deserve your friendship.” Kain said.

“I don’t care!!” Ryanna suddenly yelled at him. “I don’t know what it was you did that was so bad, but YOU are the only one who seems hate you for it. Perhaps you have not always been a good person,” she said poking him in the chest for effect, “but I know you are now, Kain…I would trust you even with my life.”

“T…Thank you,” Kain looked at the floor. “I will try to…I would like to be your friend…I think.”

“That’s a start,” she said as she smiled.

Elder, Ryanna and Kain were at the airship dock waiting for Cecil. He was half an hour late. Lorien, Cid’s daughter, was tooling around with one of the airships.

“Do you know what is keeping him, Lorien?” Kain asked.

“Don’t know just about the time he got through talking to me one of the guards came and said that there was a messenger from Damcyan, Cecil said he would see him then be right on.” 

Cecil appeared; by his face something was obviously wrong.

“What happened?” asked Kain.

“Fabul is under a siege,” Cecil looked almost ready to faint.

“Fabul,” Kain said, “didn’t you say that…”

“Yes Rosa is there…and Cid,” he gave Lorien a sad look then he looked at Ryanna, “I won’t be coming with you, the journey your undertaking is important but you must undertake it without me. I need to mobilize the soldiers as quickly as possible to go to Fabul.”

“There is nothing to explain,” said Elder “You must go to save Fabul…and you wife.”

“I hope that I am not to late,” Cecil said, “the messenger from Fabul had to ride all the way from Fabul to Damcyan; it’s already been more than two weeks since he left Fabul.

“I’ll start the prep for the rest of the airships sir,” Lorien said.

“The other engineers can handle that you should go ahead and take them to Troia,” Cecil said motioning to the others standing there.

“No,” was all Lorien said.

“What?” asked Cecil.

“My fathers in Fabul too, I’m not about to act as a ferry driver when my father could be in danger. He means as much to me as Rosa does to you.”

Cecil looked at her a long moment then finally said, “Your right, you have right to be there, get one of the airship pilots to take them…and then…get the other ships ready for flight.

This chapter ended up being very little action. Mostly because the section where Ryanna shows her true nature took longer than I thought. I wanted to spend some time on plot development in this chapter though there are still many secrets in the plot yet to be revealed. I promise there will be more action in the next chapter.

If you have any questions, comments, insults, or you have some advice on how I can improve my writhing style let me know, but don’t send me email telling me my grammar sucks, unless you have advice for improving it, because I already know and I am working on it so back off. Believe me I was much worse before I went to college.

My Email is Mrlambchop@yahoo.com