Meridias

  ***

  Elunduil arrived with the others in Ellicia and they eagerly made their way into the town hall. When they reached the magic training room they found that there were already several other people gathered there. Elunduil spied Maria with Daniel and Dave off to one side. The brothers waved over to them and Elunduil nodded in return. Everybody was whispering excitedly and the anticipation in the air was electric. Anguvadel swooped in with Galimere and Cooper following in his wake. It was clear that this test was a big deal to the elves.

  When Angurvadel took his place in front of the crowd the whispers died down and all eyes were on him. “I see that there are many people here today that are normally with Galimere and Cooper. It pleases me to see all of you,” the elder said regally. “Now I will only be able to test one individual at a time so you will all have to be patient. Before I start I would like to explain to you what these tests will reveal and what they mean.” Angurvadel folded his hand together. “As I said to my students yesterday we will be testing your elemental affinities and orientation. I’m sure many of you have heard the term affinity used in this context before but the term orientation is probably new to you. The term affinity in this context means the elements that you are most drawn to. The term orientation in relation to these tests means that your personality is aligned to that element. To put it in simpler terms the orientation is the element that you act like. It is like an instinct that your personality follows. You can have many affinities but only one orientation. You can have an affinity and orientation of the same element and this is very common though sometimes you will have an affinity and orientation of different elements.”

  Angurvadel paused to let his words sink in. “There is also a test to find your spiritual orientation. This test will basically reveal whether you are aligned with light or dark though you are all still young and I wouldn’t be surprised if you did not lean either way. Now are there any questions?” Tanis raised a hand and Angurvadel nodded in his direction.

  “So if our orientation is based upon our personality does that mean it can change if our personality changes?” he asked. Angurvadel smiled and nodded.

  “Yes, since your elemental orientation is a representation of your personality then if your personality shifts enough the orientation will change with it. Any more questions?” Angurvadel looked around the room and when there appeared to be no more questions he said, “Very well then let’s get under way.”

  He started with the people at the front of the room and gradually worked his way back. Those that returned had mixed responses of excitement and disturbed looks. Elunduil could only wonder what kind of rude awakening some of those people had gotten. Despite that he was still eager to find out which element he was most like. He wasn’t so conceited as to think that his orientation was light, but he knew he was strongly drawn to that element.

  “It is time, Elunduil.” Angurvadel’s voice surprised him and he looked about to see the elder standing behind him. He nodded and followed the elf out of the room and into the hallway. Angurvadel led Elunduil to a small chamber nearby. Inside the room there were bookshelves lining the walls filled with a plethora of books. Many of them had titles written in what Elunduil guessed was elvish. Though there were many books that also had titles in Latin and English. In the center of the room there was a table made of a deep, burgundy colored wood. On the table sat three objects: on the left was an orb that had gray clouds swirling about in it, in the middle sat a bowl with what looked to be a fine, white sand, and on the right there was a tome. The room was lit with a cluster of crystals in the ceiling that gave the room an eerie blue glow.

  Angurvadel moved to the other side of the table then spoke, “Alas, it is finally time for your test. We will start with this table here.” he waved an arm towards the table. “All you have to do is inject the substance here that we call Silk with magic it will take the shape of your elemental affinities.” Elunduil raised a brow. What was Silk? “Silk is a rare substance that when touched by something with life energy it will take the shape of their elemental affinities. You can also inject some of your magical energy into it and achieve the same effect,” Angurvadel explained as if reading Elunduil’s mind.

  He nodded and stepped towards the table with hand outstretched. He breathed deeply and gathered his energy. He released the magical energy from his palm and the Silk appeared to absorb it. Almost immediately the sands begin to swirl. It started changing colors and shapes began to appear. A forest began to appear in one corner, and in another an active volcano sprung up. In the other two corners there was a body of water and a raging tornado tearing through some plains. In the middle there was a swirling vortex of light and dark, and above all that there were strange gold clouds.

  “Intriguing,” Angurvadel said which caused Elunduil to break his concentration. The terra the Silk had created returned to its original color and fell back down into the bowl. Elunduil looked inquiringly at the elder. “It would appear that you have affinities towards all the main elements including Aether which is interesting. You must be drawn strongly to things that appear divine. Next I will have you touch this orb. This will tell us your spiritual orientation. Do not be alarmed if it remains grey. Many people your age have yet to find themselves fully.”

  Elunduil nodded and approached the orb. He put his left hand on it and waited. The clouds began to shift move more rapidly. Quickly they changed colors to white and black. The two colors swirled about the orb but the black clouds appeared twisted like a hand towel being wrung out. “Hm, it would appear you have spiritual orientations of light and dark. Though it would seem you are restraining your darkness,” the elder said.

  “What does that mean?” Elunduil asked.

  “It means that you are caring, kind, yet you are ruthless and capable of great destruction. It would appear you are repressing the latter traits.” Elunduil looked down and thought. He always tried to be a good guy, so whenever a dark thought started to enter his mind he blocked it before it fully formed... So what was that thing that happened to him when he fought the Leader? He’d gone completely empty. Was that his dark side? “You seem troubled child” The elder’s words brought Elunduil back to reality.

  “Yeah... I was just thinking about how I went empty when fighting the Leader,” he said. The elder nodded in understanding. “That, I think is something else entirely. You need not worry though. Everyone is capable of good and bad. It is up to you to decide how to use these qualities, but repressing that darkness will only make it stronger until it consumes you. Though because you hold both light and dark you must be able to control when you use these aspects. Otherwise the orb wouldn’t have shown that you have both.” Elunduil nodded.

  “Now we have the final test. Your orientation, the element that you yourself are most in tune with and act as.” Angurvadel picked up the book and opened it to a blank page. “Now this paper here is the reason the test took so long to prepare. This is called Anima Construer. When you touch it, the paper reads your soul and paints a picture of it, but each page here can only be used once.” The elder held the book in his hands for Elunduil. Elunduil touched the blank page and he immediately felt like he was being read by the paper. He pulled away in alarm and looked at his hand to make sure he was alright. When he looked back what he saw was a view that he’d once beheld while in the Internet. In the center of the page there was a small, blue light that shone out and illuminated deep-red clouds. At least they looked like clouds, and they seemed to spiral out from that light... or towards it? it was hard to tell. “I’ve seen this before...” he said to himself with intrigue.

  Angurvadel turned the book towards him and stared at it for a long time. When the silence became almost unbearable he said, “As I suspected your orientation is... void.” Elunduil was at a loss for words. Void? Is that why he went empty fighting the Leader? Is that why no one could sense when he was using magic? Is that why he seemed to skip the steps of switching his conduit on and off? “This is the reason why I,
nor anyone else can sense when you use magic. You have a natural inclination towards nothingness. I’m guessing that the conduits you were born with formed differently than normal and thus your energy is undetectable until it takes form. This is only a theory of course since there is not much known about people aligned with the element void, but the one thing we do know is that people with an orientation of void are driven by a much deeper impulse than what drives your personality. A driving force that you act in harmony with that is followed without thought. Alas the term for this driving force eludes me at the moment, but for now know this: you have a unique gift capable of carving out your own fate. Now let us return.”

  Elunduil quietly followed Angurvadel back to the mage training room. On the way he thought about the things the elder had said and about what he’d learned about himself. What exactly did nothingness mean anyway? It was close to nothing but he felt as if there was a different meaning for the two words. He’d look it up in the dictionary later and he’d go on the Internet and find out more about the void. As for the darkness that he was repressing... Was it really wrong to shut out those emotions and thoughts?

  When they returned to the training room Elunduil quietly returned to his friends. “Well, what did you find out?” Cerra asked knowingly. Her expression turned to mild concern when she saw Elunduil’s contemplative face. “I have an affinity towards the five main elements as well as light and dark and...” Elunduil hesitated. “My orientation is... void.” The others exhibited various levels of confusion and surprise. Tim was the first one to comment. “Well I sort of was expecting you to have an affinity towards all the main elements, but the orientation of void is rather, well I wasn’t even aware void was considered an element,” he said.

  “What so all the main elements include Aether right?” Tanis asked. Elunduil nodded. “Of course you’d have an affinity towards Aether, but what exactly does it mean that you have an orientation of void?” Tanis appeared intrigued.

  “I don’t know. Angurvadel says that I have an inclination towards nothingness. To be honest he doesn’t even have much information about people aligned with the element void because it doesn’t happen very often, but he’s certain that it’s the reason my magical energy is undetectable until it’s taken form. The one thing he does know for certain is that my orientation towards void is a driving force that goes deeper than my personality. Like an instinct that I’m unconsciously following,” Elunduil explained. Tanis nodded.

  “So... does that mean deep down Elunduil wants to destroy things?” Alicia asked. Everyone looked at her with a frown. “What made you think of that?!” Tanis asked in a surprised tone. “Well, I dunno. I mean the void is like death, right? That’s where people go when they die before passing on to heaven,” she said. Tim shrugged.

  “Well if you believe in heaven that is, but I see your point. It’s something to consider.” Everyone agreed and gradually Angurvadel took the others to the chamber with the books. Tim was the first one to go. When he returned he said that his affinities were: Earth, water, metal, and gem. His orientation was Earth and his spiritual orientation was light. Next was Tanis and his affinities were holy, a sub-element of Aether, and light. His spiritual orientation was also light. Alicia’s affinities were water, life, holy, and light. Her orientation was water. Her spiritual orientation was light. And finally there was Felras whose affinities were fire and shadow, and his orientation was water. His spiritual orientation was grey since he was young enough that his identity was still forming. Eventually everyone in the room had undergone the test and Angurvadel stood at the front of the room to say some final words.

  “Today has been a day of revelation for all of you I’m sure,” he said. “I’m sure that many of you will want to reflect on what you’ve discovered about yourself, but for those of you that are ready Ragnarok will now be issuing missions for you young people to undertake. You will have to return to Tel’kedar. I hear that there is a mission board set up in the main lobby. Now for those of you that choose to do these missions, I wish you good luck. For everyone else you are welcome to stay here and hone your skills further if you choose to.” Elunduil found himself intrigued. He wondered what sort of missions would be in store for them. “Heck yeah let’s go!” Tanis said. “It’s time we’ve started putting our skills to a real test!” Tim nodded in agreement. “Well… I guess they won’t make us do anything too difficult, right? And it would be nice to get some real practice with healing magic,” Alicia said. She smiled excitedly. Elunduil looked to Felras who simply nodded. “Okay I guess we’re going then,” he said. “I’d like to go with you if that’s alright.” Cerra said. Everyone nodded.

  “Of course we’d be happy to have you along,” Alicia replied. Cerra smiled warmly and the group made their way outside. Once outside they found that several transports were waiting. Elunduil guessed that they were aware that many people would probably be wanting to go back to Ragnarok very shortly. They decided to drop in on Devin so that Elunduil, Tanis and Tim could pick up their weapons. “Devin!” Tim shouted as they came near the blacksmith. A black-haired elf with blue eyes poked his head out the door. “Tim! Everyone! So good to see you again,” he exclaimed with a warm smile. The group got caught up with Devin then explained that they were going on their first quest. “Ah, you’ll be needing these then.” The elf hurried off to the back of the blacksmith and procured two swords. One was in a green sheath with golden vines on its surface and it had a green pommel and guard, Elunduil’s Sword of Time. The other sword was in a leather sheath and had a bronze guard and pommel, Tanis’ sword, Retribution. Tim grabbed his staff from nearby while Elunduil and Tanis donned their swords.

  “I see there’s someone new here. Is he your brother Elunduil?" Devin asked. Elunduil nodded. “Ah, I shall have to make something for him as well. How about you stop by the next time you’re around and we’ll see what I can do for you." Devin smiled and Felras nodded shyly. The group cheerfully went back to the town hall and boarded the nearest transport and were on their way to Ragnarok. When they arrived a few minutes later they made their way to Tel’kedar and into the main lobby. They quickly located the mission board and took a look at the available missions. “Hm, what about this one? It says here that all we have to do is clear out an infestation of Dahyen from some ruins,” Tim said. Elunduil frowned.

  “What are Dahyen?” he asked. Tim shrugged.

  “Ooo, Dahyen are vulgar little creatures that move about in packs. They’re actually connected to each other like a hive mind so the larger the group the smarter they get. I’m sure the knights wouldn’t let anyone on this mission unless it was just a handful of these creatures. I think we can handle it.” Tim nodded at Cerra’s explanation and the group agreed to take the mission. Tim tapped the accept mission button on the screen and new text appeared that asked everyone to sync up their AP link devices. They followed the instructions and a beep indicated that they had successfully synced the devices with the database. Elunduil looked at his device and saw that there were instructions as to how to get to where their mission was located. After perusing the contents he and the others made their way to the silver obelisk in the center of the room.

  “So, it says here that this is called a Terminus Circuit. Basically it allows for teleportation between itself and other Terminus Circuits on the planet,” Tim said as he read the instructions. “So... I guess we hit this button here and link our devices to it.” Everyone followed Tim’s instructions and hit a button on the screen. A map appeared that showed an overhead layout of all the Terminus Circuits available. Most of them were red except for a few that, judging by the map, were relatively close to Ragnarok. A small distance meter told him that each Terminus was about 5 miles apart. Elunduil saw that one of them was flashing and assumed that it was the one they needed to go to. He noted that there seemed to be some gaps on the map where a Terminus should be as he touched the flashing pillar icon and it asked him if he wanted to go there. He pressed yes and his device beeped in c
onfirmation. The others devices also beeped around him. The glowing white conduits on the Terminus circuit began to shimmer brightly and for a moment all sounds were displaced and distant. Suddenly everything went back to normal and they were standing in the woods next to a black pillar that looked similar in design to the one at Ragnarok. The only other difference was that this Terminus appeared to be made of some kind of stone rather than metal.

  “Ah, good of you to come,” a female voice said from behind them. The group looked about in surprise and saw one of the knights of Ragnarok waiting for them. “So, the whole lot of you are together then? Well then normally I’d help with your first quest but considering the size of your group and the elf I hardly think you need me along,” she said with a shrug. The knight motioned for the group to follow her. Tim took the lead while the others followed behind. While they walked Elunduil decided that he should start wearing his robe so he fiddled with his APL device and hit the button that would manifest his robe. A light shone out of the device and scanned up and down. The blue robe appeared on him. “You’re going to wear it now that nobody can see, huh?” Cerra asked. Elunduil shook his head. “Nah, I don’t care anymore. I’ll be wearing this whenever I come here,” he replied. Musical laughter rose from Cerra’s throat. “I see. Well the rest of us elves will welcome the sight.” Elunduil chuckled.

  A few minutes later the group came to a large, ruined metal building that nature had all but reclaimed. The only reason it stood out at all was because what was left of the structures chrome metal did not appear to have deteriorated with age. It made Elunduil wonder what had created the jagged holes in the walls and the roof. “As you can all see this place is where the Dahyen have nested. We only discovered this place a couple of weeks ago and would’ve investigated it already but we wanted to save it for young adventurers like yourself. We took samples of the metal but thus far have been unable to determine its age. What we can say for certain is that the material is unlike anything we have ever seen before.” The female knight turned to the group. “I’ll remain here while you hunt the Dahyen. If you find anything of interest let me know.” The group nodded and proceeded down a small hill to the ruins.