Meridias

  Elunduil detects a few signatures from somewhere nearby. He hones in his senses around the area until he locks onto the barn. He senses seven separate life forces near the back of the barn. That has to be the others! They must’ve picked up Scott and gotten chased back here! Elunduil makes to descend and then realizes he has no real way of not getting noticed by the people down below. This form is too flashy. As soon as he swoops down the police are bound to investigate where he lands. Well if that is the case then he’ll just have to smash down the front door of the barn!

  He angles his body and shoots through the sky towards the barn. As he gets close he begins to glow brightly as he starts to transform back to a human. He isn’t sure why he is turning back but maybe there is a time limit? Either way he has to make sure he made it into the barn before he becomes a smear on the door! The door is only a few hundred feet in front of him. He can make it! Elunduil feels a twinge of fear as he briefly comes face to face with the barn door before he crashes through it and lands safely on the other side. As the light fades he is greeted by the shocked looks of his friends as they realize he was the source of the light.

  “So, yeah that’s pretty much what happened,” Elunduil said as he finished going over the highlights of his escape. He’d only been able to tell them that Joel had helped him escape and that thanks to Desert Blue he’d been given the knowledge of Earth element and Meridias’ creatures which had let him transform into a phoenix so that he could fly here. He turns towards the half-broken door and jogs towards it. He peers through the cracks to see that several police officers are heading their way. “Sorry, I kind of made them come this way.” He looks back to the others who had followed him. “It’s fine Elunduil. We can still get away in this vehicle if we hurry!” Mr. Elden says waving an arm to the back of the barn.

  Elunduil sees the dark blue truck and nods. He makes to follow the others back to the truck when he hears the sound of jet engines in the sky above. He turns to look and saw a fighter jet coming their way. It passes over them but he can hear it turning around in the distance. “No, he wouldn’t, would he?” Mr. Elden says with fear in his eyes. Before anyone can ask what he means they hear the sound of a rocket from the rear of the barn. There is a loud boom and the earth shakes as the back of the barn rivets with an explosion of heat and light.

  With no time to run all any of them can do is try and cover their heads as the shrapnel rains down upon them. They wait for the impact but it never comes and when they open their eyes to look they see a translucent emerald barrier surrounding the group. Alicia looks to Elunduil whose brows are furrowed in concentration and his eyes hold a chilling gaze. He let the barrier fade and look to Mr. Elden. “The General is a calculating man, right? I bet he expected me to come here once I broke free.” Elunduil looks at the wreckage from the explosion. Most of the barn has been blown to pieces.

  He looks back and sees the police staring towards them in alarm. They raise their guns and cautiously start towards them. Elunduil glances around. There is nowhere left for them to run to. He sees the jet turn in the distance and the police officers start to back away. “It’s heading back!” Tim calls out. Elunduil grimaces. He feels like The General is testing his abilities. He doesn’t like it. There’s no reason for it! He holds up a hand towards the jet as the blood in his veins chill. If that piece of- Elunduil stops himself with a deep breath. He closes his hand into a fist. He doesn’t want to end someone else’s life so callously.

  “There has to be some way to escape!” he murmurs. The jet’s engines whine loudly as it closes in. He sees a salvo of missiles drop from its wings and rocket towards them. Elunduil reaches deep within himself and put everything he has into his magic. A translucent emerald wall appears around the group. Elunduil grunts. He pushes it further out until it envelopes the area the barn had been in. He knows it isn’t strong enough to withstand the missiles the way it is and pours more energy into the barrier. The emerald sheen becomes brighter and its hue shifts to a bright pink. The missiles explode upon the barrier in a brilliant display of red and orange but the barrier holds.

  The barrier has large impact marks that look like semi-transparent craters. Elunduil knows that he can’t hold this barrier much longer. What else can he do though? He looks over to the others and saw them staring at him with looks of shock. He sees Cerra’s worried face and has an idea. There is one way they can escape! “I’m going to make a portal to Meridias!” he says calmly despite his worry. “Wait, what?!” Tanis asks in shock. “Since when can you…” his voice trails off as he notices the look of desperation lurking in his friend’s eyes. “All right. Everyone as soon as the portal is made run through it!” he commands.

  Everyone nods and looks to Elunduil. He ignores the sound of the jet coming back around and focuses with all his might. He imagines the forests of Meridias, a path, his world, and connecting the two places. He will make a tunnel through space and bridge a way between the worlds! With his free hand he pours magical energy into the empty space in front of him. He pushes at the boundary of their world. He’d felt what it was like to walk through a portal many times before. It was like stepping through a doorway. He swirls his energy in the empty place and it starts to form a path. A small blue light starts to appear but it quickly begins to falter.

  He can’t do it! He doesn’t have enough energy left! “Help Elunduil!” Tim shouts as he materializes his staff. He pours his own energy towards the portal Elunduil is making and the others follow him. The portal begins to grow but Elunduil has a feeling that even with the others help it won’t be enough. For a brief moment he sees the flames that had almost engulfed him atop Tel’kedar. The feeling of absolute desperation he’d felt back then is the same feeling he has right now!

  He feels the life force in his body and realizes what he must do. He takes everything he has, everything he doesn’t have, and put it into his magic. The portal grows bigger and bigger until it is large enough for the others to go into. “Hurry!” Tanis calls out as he dashes into the portal. Felras and Cerra follow after with Mr. Elden right behind them. Alicia starts forward but pauses to look back to Elunduil who is struggling to maintain the portal. His haggard figure and the pale blue light reflecting off his glasses frightens her. “Come on!” Tim says and pushes Alicia through the portal before he follows her.

  The portal vanished the moment Tim went through and so did the barrier. The jet pulled away and flew back to base. The police hadn’t been able to tell what had been going on but they got the order to move in. They weren’t sure where the people had disappeared to but approached the remains of the barn with caution. Pieces of burning rubble littered the area and there were even chunks of metal. As one of the offices stepped through what remained of the barn door he heard a soft crunch as he stepped down on something.

  He lifted his foot to see what it was then reached down and carefully pulled the object off the floor. In his hands were a pair of rectangular shaped glasses with a crack in the right lens. The man was about to collect it for evidence when a sudden breeze blew through and the glasses disintegrated into dust as they blew away in the wind. “Did you find something Jack?” said a voice behind him. Officer Jack turned and shook his head. He wasn’t sure what he’d seen but something strange was going on. What was that bright pink light? Why had there been a fighter jet attacking it? He sighed. This was going to turn into one hell of a night.

  On the other side of the portal the others found themselves in a dark forest. Alicia whipped about just in time to see the portal flicker into nothing. She felt as if the bottom of the earth had fallen out beneath her feet as she rushed forward in a panic. “Wait!” she called out and her voice echoed into the forest. Her head whipped about. “Why didn’t he follow us? We need to go back!” Alicia’s voice wavered as her panic took root.

  “Go back? How? We barely managed to make it here in the first place.” Tim said. He felt just as agitated by the situation but there was nothing they could do. “You didn’t see him be
fore we went through. He looked weak. Like a twig that would snap at the slightest wind!” Alicia’s voice raised higher as she spoke. “Okay, but even if we could make it back then we would just get captured again. He chose to sacrifice himself to let us escape!” Tim argued. Alicia glared at Tim with an anger none of them had seen from her before. “They’ll take him away. They’ll lock him up somewhere where we can’t find him and then… we’ll never see him again,” Her voice dropped to a whisper at the end. This was like when her brother had vanished. Why was this happening to her again?

  She clutched the side of her head with her hands. It was clear to the others that she was deeply distressed by the situation but no one knew what to say. Though one of them did have an idea. “Then we’ll just have to rescue Elunduil this time. Remember Mr. Elden and Scott have enough dirt on General Titus to get him removed from his position. If we can get back to Earth then we’ve guaranteed that we can get Elunduil back.” Tanis spoke as calmly as he could. He wasn’t sure if his idea would pan out but it was the only plan they had. Alicia slowly lowered her hands and said, “You’re right. We’ll go back to Ellicia and use the Mt. Hood portal again. Once the data is uploaded Elunduil will be free again.” Alicia seemed a bit calmer but her eyes were wide and her voice was almost monotone.

  Everyone collectively breathed a sigh of relief and looked about. The trees were large here too but they weren’t as spooky as the forest where they’d run across the behemoth had been. Tim and Tanis gathered twigs to start a small fire while Mr. Elden and Scott determined how long their limited provisions would last. Mr. Elden frowned. It didn’t look good. With so many people they would last a couple days with the food they had. They would have to hunt for their meals if they wanted to survive. Felras sat on the ground dumbfounded over the whole situation while Cerra offered what few words of support she could. Alicia sat on the ground with her head resting on her knees and her arms crossed in front of her face. None of them felt any certainty about the future. All they knew was that in the morning they would have to find their way back to Ellicia from wherever they were in Meridias.

  ***

  Joel sat in his prison cell brooding. The sun had to have set by now. He wondered if Elunduil had managed to save everyone. There was a knock at his cell door. He looked up as the door opened and Ashblade stepped in. The door closed behind him and Ashblade gave Joel as questioning glance. He responded by glancing towards the small cot and looking up at the ceiling light. Ashblade drew a deep breath and nodded. “I see then. Well I’ve come to let you know that your friend managed to make it back home. You wouldn’t have known this but it turns out your other friends were being hounded by The General’s men. It appears he found them and they all somehow escaped.” Ashblade let his words sink in.

  “Well good! I don’t want any more of them stuck here like I was,” he replied. Ashblade’s gaze narrowed. Secretly he wanted to praise Joel but since he’d signaled the room was bugged he would have to act disappointed. “I’ll be honest I was starting to like you, but there is no place for traitors here. The only reason you still live is because General Titus has use for your… abilities.” Ashblades gaze was cold and his words harsh. Joel didn’t appear to have a rebuttal so Ashblade whipped around and knocked on the door to be let out. A few moments later the door swung open and Ashblade walked out into the hallway. As soon as he left he felt himself almost grinning. When this was all over he would have to thank Elunduil, but for now he needed to prepare for the next stage of his plan. He had a feeling that Alicia and the others had escaped to the other world. He would go there and try to find her before The General reached the same conclusion.

  Epilogue

  Elunduil found himself… drifting? One moment he had been falling to the ground and the next he’d found himself here in this place. Was this even a place? He gazed about. There was nothing here. Nothing except what appeared to be deep red clouds slowly spiraling outwards from some point in the distance. He could almost make out a faint light. He remembered back to when Tim had been trying to act cool. Spiral of origin is what he’d said back then. For some reason he recalled that he’d briefly seen this place back then.

  He sensed the presence that had appeared in his dreams before it spoke. “At last you have made it here. To the end of all things.” It said. “You are not dead. No, what you did to save your friends went beyond using up your life force. The very weight of your existence has begun to unravel. Before that process is complete you must understand who you are, what you are, if you are to restore yourself.” Elunduil wasn’t sure how to respond. He looked down at his current form. He was ghostly, No, it only made sense. This spiritual form had no use for organs like flesh and blood did. He gazed into the strange abyss he was in.

  His existence was unraveling, and he had to figure out who he was? It didn’t sound very hard, but he had a feeling there was more to it than just his name and age. Who was he? What kind of person was he really? He had no idea the things about him that he hadn’t realized yet, but at the same time he recalled something from the beginning of this tale. That’s right. This story was about my fate. Well there you have it. I did say at the beginning of this tale that you’d see everything. Now here I am drifting in some void with little time left to figure out who I’m supposed to be. I don’t know if I’ll make it in time, but I have no choice. There’s something I still need to do. A terrible future that I must change at all costs.

  Compendium

  Character List

  Mr. Evans: Elunduil’s band teacher.

  Jeremy Elden: A nonchalant man who’s been to another world. He is tall and has light brown hair and wears glasses. He has blue eyes and slightly shallow cheeks. He has an adopted daughter, Cerra, and lives with the elves in a home of his own. He came to Earth from a portal the he discovered to find someone that could help save the elves from black knights that keep attacking the town.

  Cerra Elden: Mr. Elden’s adopted daughter. She is tall, beautiful, has chestnut hair and green eyes. She enjoys creating city layouts in her spare time and dreams of one day helping build a city of her own. She refuses to talk about her parents deaths and keeps the emotions from that day bottled up inside of her.

  Tim Ortire: One of Elunduil’s friends. He is 16. Tim can be a bit cynical and says things how they are, but he looks out for his friends well being. He is almost 6 feet tall and has a lanky appearance. His hair his brown and he has a pale complexion. Tim has a secret that he’s been hiding from his friends.

  Tanis Saidur: One of Elunduil’s friends. The two have similar trains of thought, but Tanis is more bold and cocky than Elunduil. He is 16 years old and is 5‘6“. Tanis has brown hair that is starting to recede and has very pale skin. His arms are quite hairy and it is often joked that he is part werewolf. Tanis has a strong sense of justice and often leaps into the fray. He also has uncanny luck.

  Elunduil Redrilo: A young teen at the age of 15. He is 5‘5“ and has an odd mix of brown-green eyes. He is almost always seen wearing a jacket and has rectangle shaped glasses. His skin is tan in color and his hair is black. He is often reserved except when in the company of friends. He has an analytical personality and tends to notice little things about people or situations. He is also quite apathetic and finds little interest in the world around him unless it involves his interests. Many of natures grand spectacles don’t impress Elunduil unless it is something like the rays of the sun at dusk and dawn.

  Joel Zweihander: One of Elunduil’s friends. They ride the same bus to school. He is 16. He stands at 6‘1“ and has blue eyes and dirty blonde hair. Joel is caring and kind towards his friends but years of being picked on by bullies in middle school has left him a great deal of anger. He can be a bit twitchy and has a psychotic, almost bloodthirsty side to him.

  Alicia Terria: A 15 year old girl in Elunduil’s band class. She is about 5‘4“ and has long orange hair. She is fairly calm and composed and quite smart. She has feelings towards Elunduil and wishes to talk with him about
those feelings.

  Scott Howard: Mr. Elden’s long time friend who acts very similar to Mr. Elden. He wears glasses and has brown hair and brown eyes. He works to try and stop Ragnarok’s plans from building a devastating weapon that will annihilate the elves.

  Galimere: Angurvadel’s second in command. An elf with short blonde hair and dark green eyes. He tends to wear armor even within Ellicia. He is usually tasked with training the town guard.

  Angurvadel: The elder of Ellicia. He is around 900 years old. He wears an elaborate green robe and has long silver hair and a short silver beard. His eyes are vibrant and blue in color. He is wise and has a gaze that can see the hearts of people. He can be stern but only because he is trying to draw out the best in a person.

  Devin: The elf in charge of making weapons for Ellicia. He is as around Tim in height and has short black hair and blue eyes. He is of good humor and is quite close to Tim.

  Alundal: An elf with long blonde hair.

  Elaiye: A female elf with black hair.

  Tilal: A male elf with silver hair.

  Seul: One of the twin elves who use bows.

  Maeul: One of the twin elves who use bows.

  Mayra: An elf with brown hair.