by Brad Clark
The stairs were chipped and well-worn as well. They were also steep and covered with a thin layer of moss. Glaerion glided down the stairs while Conner took his time. They turned a corner and a blue light bathed over them. It came from a glowing gem that was affixed to the wall. A series of the gems lit the corridor that led downward on a gentle slope.
As they walked down the corridor, a coolness came over them. Conner actually felt a chill as the stifling heat of the summer sun no longer beat on them. Even the air felt crisp. As they walked, blue lights kept coming into view. That was when Conner realized that they were walking in a large, slowly descending circle. A slight sense of anxiousness swept over him as he realized they were completely underground. He glanced over at Glaerion, who was staring straight ahead with tight lips and a firm jaw.
“I thought you Elves hated this underground stuff.”
“We do,” Glaerion replied.
“Then why are we going down here?”
“It is where the Elven Council meets.”
“Do all Elves hate being underground?”
“Only the sane ones.” Glaerion started walking faster so that Conner was no longer next to him.
Conner smiled at the Elf’s discomfort and followed without asking any more questions.
After only a few more steps, they came upon a side corridor to their right. Glaerion turned into it and came to a stop at a large wooden door set into the stone. Unlike the main corridor that was smooth and finely crafted, the side corridor had rough stone walls, but the ceiling was much higher. The doors were nearly twice as tall as they needed to be. To Conner’s untrained eye, it appeared that the small corridor that they just entered was constructed at a different time than the main corridor. If he were to guess, he would say that it was older, but he had nothing to back up his thoughts other than a hunch. He wanted to ask Glaerion about it, but it was clear that the Elf was not interested in small talk.
“Ready?” Glaerion asked as he approached the door. A large iron handle was attached to the door, which Glaerion firmly grasped.
Before Glaerion pulled the door open, Conner gave him a close look and asked, “Are you ready? You still seem nervous.”
“Not at all.”
With a grunt, Glaerion yanked on the door handle, revealing a large chamber with a very high ceiling. Instead of blue lights to illuminate the chamber, a multitude of gems hanging from the ceiling cast a soft white light that filled the room. The walls were adorned with faded tapestries that hung from floor to ceiling. A large carpet was set in the center of the room which covered most of the floor space. Placed directly in the middle of the carpet was a tall, round table. Set back from the table in a semi-circle were seven overly large chairs. They seemed to fit almost perfectly in the large chamber, but they seemed much too large for the Elves that sat upon them. Their appearance almost looked comical to Conner. If he did not know that Elves were the same size as Humans, he would have thought they were half his size. Any humor that he might have thought quickly left as the seven Elves stared back at him with stone-faced seriousness.
The Elf who sat in the center chair stood. He wore a simple crown upon his head. As he spoke in his native tongue, Glaerion dipped his head. When he finished, he remained standing.
“King Illichian,” Glaerion said in Commoner. “May I present the Hurai, Conner.”
Murmurs spread among the council as they spoke among themselves.
“Is it for his benefit that we must speak in his tongue?” asked Jiahasha, an Elven Council member who sat directly to the king’s right. His dark eyes bored into Conner.
Conner felt a tingling sensation for a moment, but it quickly passed.
“You doubt my word, Jiahasha?” Glaerion said. “I said he was Hurai, and he is our guest. If you wish to test his immunity to your magic, do it. Just have the fortitude to be open about it.”
“I simply needed to be sure,” Jiahasha replied. He sat back in his large chair, but he continued to stare at Conner.
“What was that?” Conner whispered. “What did he do?”
“Jiahasha clearly trusts no one, including his own kind,” Glaerion replied loud enough for all of them to hear. “He cast a simple spell upon you to see if you were Hurai and immune to its effects.”
“A spell? What spell?”
A slight smile grew on his lips. “It is a spell that would repel pests by causing intense itching. If you were not Hurai, you would be scratching every inch of your body right now. It is how we keep the predators away from our village.”
King Illichian cleared his throat. “Glaerion, you were to come directly to me once you returned. Bringing the Human, Hurai or not, is out of order.”
“He is my companion and my friend,” Glaerion said, his eyes scanning the council members, gauging how they would react to his statement. None clearly liked that he had called Conner his friend. He continued, “We have traveled far to deliver grave news from the north.”
“We know of your news,” King Illichian said. “The Ark of Life has been found, and it has been used. I have not felt the pull on the Web of Magic to be this strong since the wars with Humans. I had feared that you failed in your task. The council has been debating for some days on a course of action.”
“The course of action is clear. We must take up arms and travel north.”
“To help the Humans?” Jiahasha asked with clear anger.
“Yes.”
The other council members all began talking at once to one another. Although they were speaking in Elvish, Conner could tell from their tone that they were not happy with Glaerion’s statement. King Illichian remained still, ignoring the commotion around him. Some of the Elves comments were directed at Glaerion, and he replied back in his own tongue with equal anger.
Conner stepped forward. He knew proper protocol with Karmon royalty and he made the correct assumption that such protocol would be appropriate here. His one step forward was slow and included a slight bow. Any more than one step and his action would likely be treated as a threat. With his body still slightly bent over in a bow, he looked up at the king.
“Your Majesty,” Conner said. “If I may speak?”
“Proceed.”
The other Elves stopped their arguing and waited for Conner.
Conner took a deep breath. Although he had thought about what he might say, those words did not come to him right away. His mind was blank, and he suddenly had a hot flash of panic. The words that he was about to say could alter the course of the world. If he said the wrong thing, the Elves might imprison him as an enemy. But if he could somehow convince them to help, they might just have a chance to save not only Karmon but the entire world.
“Conner!” Glaerion said with a sharp whisper. “Speak!”
Conner took another step forward, and the king raised an eyebrow.
“I am a but a peasant, a commoner, in my own kingdom,” Conner said. “I am not a noble or even a merchant. I own no land. The first years of my life I lived off the land in the forests that we call Darkenwood. What I knew of the world was just how to hunt and survive. I had known of our cities, but I had never been there. The largest village I had ever been in had maybe a hundred inhabitants. I was a boy then. A naïve boy that knew nothing of the world. I knew that a great empire existed to the west. My aunt talked of it, and I dreamed of visiting there one day. But then I met this girl, a princess. And I went to her father’s castle and lived there for some time. I trained to become a warrior. Not a knight, but a Hurai warrior. A Sak’Hurai. At the time I did not know who I was, but my master, Master Goshin must have, as he taught me his ways. You would think that the more that I grew and learned, the more I would know of the world, but that wasn’t the case.” He hesitated and took in a deep breath. “I could spend hours detailing out how I left my kingdom and traveled far to another land and learned to be a man and learned to kill. But I fear we are running out of time. A great evil force has been unleashed on the world, and it has destroyed my kingd
om. We cannot stop it alone. We need your help. That is why we are here. Why I am here. We ask for your help.”
“Tell me of the Ark of Life,” King Illichian asked.
Conner held in his frustration. He had just clearly asked for help, and the king acted as if he had not spoken at all. “I was tasked to find it and keep it safe.”
“You?” King Illichian asked loudly, over the murmurs of the other council members. “You were tasked? By whom?”
“Someone who called himself Micheal. He came to me when I was severely wounded. I guess I was actually dead. He told me of the Deceiver and his power and that the Ark of Life could never fall into his hands.”
“Indeed. The power of the Ark of Life would change the balance of power in the universe to the Deceiver. He told you where to find it?”
Conner shook his head and glanced at Glaerion. “Not entirely. He gave me hints, and I figured it out. It was hidden under the castle within my kingdom. Glaerion helped me find it.”
The king looked at Glaerion. “You found the Ark?”
“Yes,” Glaerion replied. “I touched it, and it nearly killed me. Conner was able to hold it, and it did not affect him. That was when I began to suspect that he was Hurai.”
“Where is the Ark now?”
Conner and Glaerion shared a look.
King Illichian replied for them. “You do not need to tell me, for I know that it is in the hands of evil. I have felt its power and no Elf would dare use it, and the Hurai would not be able to use the power. It is in the hands of a Human. A Human Mage. The one that you were sent to find, perhaps?”
Glaerion stepped forward to stand next to Conner. “The Human mage who had tapped into the web has been killed. I killed him myself. There is another.”
“And there will be more,” Jiahasha added from behind the king. “The Human is right. We should take up arms.” Then he added with a sneer, “To cleanse the world of Humans.”
“You are right, Jiahasha, there will be more Humans that will learn how to tap into the Web of Magic. Yet, exterminating Humans is not the answer. They can be our allies. It is just this one that we must defeat. He used the Ark of Life to call forth Stone Ogres and goblins. And dragons. This man is more than just a Human mage. It is the Deceiver that has come to earth. Just as we had feared.”
“Dragons, you say?” King Illichian took a step back and sat down in his chair.
“They destroyed our city,” Conner said. “Between them and the Stone Ogres, it only took one night to turn our kingdom’s capital city to rubble. And the goblins and an army of soldiers killed many thousands.”
King Illichian focused his eyes to the darkness. “The dragons have returned,” he repeated.
“Yes,” Glaerion replied, even though the king had not directed a question at him.
“Why could I not see this?” King Illichian asked himself. He closed his eyes, and his lips moved as an Elvish spell was spoken. The room remained silent and still for several long moments. Suddenly, the king opened his eyes. “They hide themselves. I cannot feel them, but I can sense their absence.”
“What does that mean?” Conner asked. “Didn’t the Deceiver bring the dragons to fight for him?”
“No,” King Illichian said. “Dragons are creatures from the early ages of the world. They are not of the Deceivers realm, nor can they be controlled by him. But they have been enemies of the peoples of the earth since they were banished eons ago. They would have no love for Humans, or for Elves. The Deceiver would easily use them to help destroy cities and armies, but they could hardly be considered his ally. Our fight will not only be with the Deceiver and his armies, but with flights of dragons.”
“I only saw two,” Conner said hopefully.
“Two would be more than enough, but better than the thousands that once filled the skies. If they were to repopulate the earth, they would be the dominate species. Human and Elf would become extinct. Glaerion, it seems bringing two Humans into our midst was the least of our problems. Between dragons and the Ark of Life being in the hands of the Deceiver, the outlook for the world is dire.”
“You’re not just giving up, are you?” Conner asked.
“Our homeland of exile is far from the battles,” King Illichian said. “We will have time to build our defenses and prepare for when they come for us.”
“Wait, what?” Conner exclaimed. “We need your help now. There are thousands, millions of people in our kingdom and in the Taran Empire that will die if we don’t send an army to fight them. Our swords and shields can kill those goblin creatures, but they cannot protect against dragons or a madman that can cast balls of fire!”
Jiahasha spoke up, “Your land is lost. There is little we can do for it. We must do all we can to preserve ourselves.”
“You cannot be serious!” Conner turned to Glaerion, who stood silently with his chin touching his chest. “Glaerion! Say something.”
After a long sigh, Glaerion said, “The Elven Council seems to have made up their mind. As wrong as it may seem.”
“How can you let us die like this!” Conner screamed. “Our whole civilization will be wiped out!”
Jiahasha sprang up from his seat. “Were you there when Human mages slaughtered Elves by the thousands? Your civilization nearly destroyed ours. It was not Elves that brought the war to the Humans, the Humans brought their merciless barbarism to the Elves. We owe you nothing.”
“You are angry because of something that happened five thousand years ago? Can you not see past that and see that the world is a better place, now? That it is worth defending?”
“The world is worth defending,” Jiahasha said sharply. “But Humanity is not. If you were not Hurai, I would cut you down where you stand.”
Conner took a threatening step towards him. “I would like to see you try.”
Jiahasha stood, a long Elvish dagger in his hand. “That can be arranged.”
The king did not move, but Glaerion did. He stepped between them. “Enough of this! I have felt the anger that you all feel. You know that. But I have spent time with Conner and other Humans, and I can call them friend. They are not the people that we left five thousand years ago. They are still arrogant and foolish, but they are not the threat they were. There are some that may be a threat because they are spellcasters, but that does not mean that we shouldn’t try and save them. Maybe this time we can teach them to control their power, to use magic wisely. They don’t have to be our enemies.”
Jiahasha did not move and continued to hold his dagger up. “There will never be a day that a Human could defeat an Elf in battle.”
“Put your dagger away,” King Illichian said. “And sit down. Glaerion speaks words that we must consider.”
“What?”
The king turned to his fellow council member and pointed to his chair. “Sit.”
Reluctantly, Jiahasha tucked his dagger into his pants and sat back down.
“Something else concerns me,” King Illichian said. He noticed Conner still standing defensively. “Please, Conner, relax. There will be no fighting here in the council chamber. The Ark of Life in the Deceiver's hand should give him ultimate power. Yet, I have not felt that kind of power. With the Ark, he would have nearly unlimited power and ability to cast any spell that he could muster. He could literally move mountains with just his mind. And yet, he must call for dragons to help him fight his battles? And bring goblins from the depths of his domain to be his army?”
“What are you saying?” Glaerion asked. “That he really does not have the Ark? I felt it. I know what it feels like. I touched it, and I felt him use it when I was there.”
“Something is not right. Describe it to me.”
“It is a jet black gem with hundreds of perfect facets. It is as it has always been described.”
The king clapped his hands, and a young Elf came running from the shadows of the chamber. To the young Elf, King Illichian said, “In my library, there is a book. It is on the top shelf in the back of the
chamber. It has a worn red binding. It is very old and very fragile. Please bring it.”
The young Elf ran off, and the king continued, “The Ark of Life was put into hiding many, many eons ago soon after the fires of creation cooled. It was never meant to be found and used, but it was. It was discovered by Human mages, and they used it to help build their civilization and defeat their enemies that stood before them. The Ark allowed them to draw more power from the web, which meant more powerful spells could be cast. Their limitation in using the Ark was their own Humanity. In the hands of the Creator or the Deceiver, the power of the Ark would be unlimited. They could forge themselves a new earth. But Humans could never achieve that kind of power.”
“They didn’t need that much power,” Jiahasha snapped. “The Ark of Life gave them the power to be a threat to the rest of the world. That was why we had to step in.”
Further discussion was silenced by the sound of the young Elf running back into the chamber. Panting, he held out the book in his hands for the king to take. With tenderness, King Illichian took the book and gently opened it. Slowly, he turned the pages until one page caught his eye. For several moments, he stared at the page before standing up and setting the book down upon the small table.
He waved for Conner and Glaerion to come forward. The other council members stood and came forward as well.
“That is the Ark of Life,” Conner said, seeing what they all saw. Drawn carefully on one page was a depiction of the Ark. Each facet of the gem was carefully replicated in the drawing.
Glaerion reached his hand out and touched the page. “Except the necklace was not there. The gem was by itself.”
King Illichian nodded. “Of course. The Ark of Life is two pieces. The gem and the necklace are each imbued with the power of the web. Alone, they are powerful, but not nearly as powerful as if they are together. The being that has the Ark of Life has only half of it.”
“What does that mean?” Conner asked.