by Karleigh Bon
“They spoke of the men in the harbor at Atto’s Landing past the town of Tethbael. They have an odd ship that sails in and out, but no crew or captain can be seen. I am sorry, milady.”
“Thank you for the news. That was fine work, carry on.” Fionna frowned as the man saluted and stomped away to care for his mount and have a well-deserved rest.
“You are a strong leader,” Eijlam said, “the men respect you.”
“Thank you for the kindness EJ,” she mumbled, her mind on the news. “I am just helping Dakein be more organized in this office while he goes and hits things outside.”
Ej then clarified what they had heard the rider say, “The elves have faded into naked ghosts and still walk the harbor.”
“Yes, that is what I was thinking, too,” she agreed with him.
“What do you want to do about Roe and Naalin? She has managed to send his blade back,” EJ said firmly.
Fionna stiffly looked up into Eijlam’s worried face.
“You know he would not be willingly separated from it,” EJ said softly to her. “He must be under some kind of spell.” He shook his head.
“I understand that,” Fi said, wishfully thinking, “but maybe they just need more time?”
“It was a simple scouting mission, in and out. Why would they be play-acting for goblins? That just does not make sense Fionna,” EJ said, hitting the top of the table loudly, making her jump.
They both had been rationalizing the situation for days, each for the sake of the other, trying not to make themselves frantic with worry.
“We need a clear mind in this,” Fi said, looking down at the desk table that had sadly become hers in Roe’s absence.
"This tall, dark leader. Could it be my brother?" EJ asked already knowing the answer.
Fionna could only frown sadly at EJ. He knew she agreed with his fears. EJ reeled around and went back to the hearth, not wanting to believe it.
“Do you think the tunnel runs through the whole mountain range to the other side,” Fionna asked.
“Like a secret passageway from east to west,” he said thoughtfully.
“So they can avoid being seen on the other two southern passes while they… these goblins, carry out raids on the countryside,” she finished his sentence. “This is why I am writing to their high king, as Dakein has asked.”
Then EJ suggested, “We should go to King Ellinduil. He would know what is going on in the unseen realms. Roe told me he was a known Eldar seer.”
“Lords, not those woodlands again!” Fionna feared the forest there, and she did not like the king much either, with his odd behaviors. She closed the ink and set the writing aside for later, having been overly distracted.
“We do not even know if he can speak to us again,” she said, remembering the skeletal state they last saw him in.” She shook her head but then thought better of it, “... but I suppose we will have to try.”
Sensing her distress, Eijlam volunteered, “I will go alone. You should stay here for the return of my brother and Naalin or word from the other runners. It is important to gather this information.” He crossed the room to be by her side as he spoke.
“We have never been separated since our pledge. I do not know if my heart can stand it.” Fionna already felt pain rising as she clutched her hands together.
“My love, we must master our feelings for one other if we are to get through this alive. There will be many more trials to come, I am sure of it, and you and I need to be strong.”
Her eyes softened to his touch as he took her hand and pressed it on his chest over his heart.
“You are right,” she gave him that.
The uncertainty of what was to come hung heavy in the air as they walked hand in hand to their private room to rest for the night. They were only beginning to understand the full weight of their troubles.
Kingdom of Gods
Chapter Thirty Eight
The misty air of morning was cool and damp on the skin. The sunlit the sky, but had yet to rise beyond the cliffside. Fionna didn’t want to let go of Eijlam’s warm embrace.
“I will miss you,” she sighed in resignation.
“I will move quickly so as not to be gone long. Let Dakein do his own work. You do not have to burden yourself so much,” EJ looked softly into her sad eyes.
“Dakein is the least of my problems right now,” Fionna said.
Eijlam smiled a brilliant smile for her, melting her gloomy expression. After a final kiss, he turned and picked up a quick pace down the road, and ran into the woods. EJ dared not look back, or he’d run into her embrace again, and they had already lingered too long. His destination lay many days south. He couldn’t help but feel sad knowing they recently followed this road as a happy family on their way to their mother’s home. Pangs of worry haunted him as thoughts of his brother festered in his mind.
+++
Surrounded by her appointed servants, Naalin was allowed walk freely around the palace. She was expected to conduct herself as their queen. Her attendants all dressed alike in red silk with emotionless painted faces that looked like masks. It made their daily handling of her impersonal. She supposed this was the reason for it, but really didn’t care. They were just the ever-present mute men of the cult. They bathed and dressed her in beautiful gowns and took care of her hair. They brought her lovely banquets of food.
The queen would say she wanted more light, so they added more torches to the dark hallways. Naalin would parade around with her attendants in tow as she examined every room and corridor, but there were limits to her freedom. The ever present golden shackle that locked around her neck was a grim reminder that she was still just a prisoner.
Naalin breathed what fresh air there was while watching the stars in the night sky by the blood well. Thankfully it lay silent and unused. Her beloved stars twinkled above speaking to her of old stories and long memory that had somehow flown away. Naalin faintly scowled as memories slid along the fringes of her mind. They lingered where she could not quite grasp them as she gazed up into the starry sky in her solitude.
The dragon lord was searching for his queen again. He found it difficult to stay away from her. He discovered her by the well, standing in the starlight. He felt jealousy at finding her alone with her attendants, as his lust grew at the sight of her.
“It is this body’s elven blood,” Surmanos thought, as he reveled in it, “...delicious feelings of the flesh.” The dragon part of him drank in the sensations, letting him feel the numbing excitement as he became engrossed in thoughts of her body.
“How can your king make you happy today?” he asked with a low voice. Lust flashed across his face.
Naalin bid him come near so she could kiss him where she stood. Surmanos let out a deep rush of satisfaction at the touch of her lips. His fingers tangled through her hair in her embrace. He tried to compose himself, but It was not enough. He greedily lifted her face, kissing her again, fully sharing the moistness of her mouth with his long tongue. She gagged and instinctively tried to push away.
Holding her forcibly, he thrust himself deeper down her throat. He wanted her to be grateful and acknowledge his attentions.
Naalin relaxed and stroked his body with a gentle touch. He finally released her before she blacked out from lack of breath. Naalin gasped, falling weak against the stone well where he pushed her. Vomit threatened in her gullet, but she swallowed hard, not wanting to draw any more attention to herself.
The servants huddled together, silently anticipating their fate for having witnessed their lord's private weakness. The dragon turned his fiery eyes upon them.
“You will not look upon your king and queen in such a manner,” he smoothly said. Stricken, the men fell to the ground in excruciating agony, gouging out their own eyes with their fingers. The dragon lord pitilessly glared down at the blinded men.
He turned away and took Naalin by the hand. He smiled at her graciously as he led her away from the bloody scene as if nothing utterly horribl
e had just happened.
“We have many, many more servants,” he placidly said as she floated along, smiling up at him.
Her belly was visibly swollen under her flowing gown. It had become her custom to wear such things.
“I think you like to seduce me with your nakedness,” his voice soothed her troubled mind.
“Why not wear what pleases my lord's eye,” she said.
He could see every part of her body. Her full breasts pleased him, and he burned to take her.
“Come to our chambers,” he whispered, and she followed him obediently.
+++
As EJ walked forward into Autumwood the enchantments fell away. The evening stars had come out and were shining bright and clear above lighting the path. Eijlam had no trouble finding the hidden gate. When the great green doors creaked open, King Ellinduil was waiting inside.
“Hail father. Thank you for receiving me. I require your wisdom and council,” EJ bowed graciously. “It is good to see you well,” he added.
“I knew you would come,” the king said with a calm voice. “Your brother is changed, and you have not realized it yet.”
“What do you mean,” EJ scowled at King Ellinduil’s assertion. Eijlam was led forward into the audience hall as they spoke.
“There is much happening on the horizon,” the seer king looked ominously at Eijlam.
“The Fallen One has returned. He is as a dragon.”
“Yes, we found a dragon in our valley. What does this have to do with Roevash?”
They both sat down at the table that was filled with food and drink. Ellinduil knew this was going to take some time to explain to the young Eijlam, so he motioned to his guest to eat.
“I will first tell you the tale of how it all began as you renew your strength,” he paused as EJ hungrily stacked some food in front of himself.
“Your brother was among the field of men fighting against this same evil when the tower of the mad god, Surmanos, fell. It was incinerated to the ground, and the last of his armies finally destroyed. His body of flesh burned instantly in the fiery blast and scattered into the wind. In that same year, over one-hundred years ago, greedy, clever men, who were promised wealth and power, banded together after the fall of their master’s tower. They decided if there was something they could do to help the fallen one return… they would do it.”
He paused a moment to see if Eijlam could grasp the importance of these words. EJ politely watched the ancient king as he ate.
"Surmanos’s naked ghost, adrift among his ashes, found its way south, where dragons inhabit the lands. Dragon-kind, though receptive to the draw of domination and deceit, unknowingly bore the Fallen One.
The detritus of Lord Surmanos, brought with him whatever left-over power his fallen godhood possessed. It mingled with the substance of life and hatched from a shell in the great dragon’s den. He was tended as a drakling all these hundred years as his dragon body grew. Surmanos is and always will be a sovereign Lord of Ilmatar no matter what you may have heard about him. He is an immortal being.”
Ej was still hungry, but he felt it was more important to listen, so he filled a cup to drink as the king continued.
“The men of the shadow, as they called themselves, set out to find six magical rings that Surmanos had once gathered and possessed. These rings would give them power over evil things of the dark. The humans knew of the tales that the last one discovered was taken from the dwarven monarch from Mount Fierier. They set out to that mountain to search the dwarven ruins thinking the rings were kept there, but they found nothing.
Then they went through the lands of Ajattara to sift through the fallen tower and still found nothing. They had all but given up when a rumor about the fallen goblin ruler’s kingdom in the north caught their ear. They found the magical rings in the abandoned caves at Etten Fields. They assigned the rings to the six most powerful among them and called themselves priests. The rings gave them unnaturally long life and dominion over the wild ogres and goblins. They soon enslaved enough of the vile creatures to build their palace and an altar in the cavern among the ruins. Their religion then began as a secret cult in the shadows of the mountain.
Human initiates came from the darkest corners of the lands to be marked as they vowed to give their blood to their dark master so he could manifest back into this realm. For more than one hundred years ignorant men seeking power over each other worshiped their banished Lord in this thing called shadow cult.”
Eijlam nodded, having heard that term before from the wizard Farghal.
“The indoctrinated men offered up their blood as sacrifices in such a way as to turn his evil eyes upon them. The blood ran into their black well so thick it tainted the water permanently red. Then, as was expected, one day something did appear, but it came to them as a dragon. The monstrous beast dug a tunnel into the mountain. At first, the creature followed the trail of the blood as any animal would. When their fallen lord finally clawed through the rock, he came into the large cavern and there his priests were performing their blackest rituals on his altar.
The dragon, driven by the evil of the fallen Lord, with a sudden new awareness, found he could not speak to mortals. He sought to possess a worthy vessel among the faithful. He tried to talk to them through one of their men, but mortal flesh could not last but only a few moments under his godly possession.
In learning this, the priests devised a test. They sacrificed many more humankind into ruin to keep their Dragon Lord sated with the blood of his followers, until the day your brother found his way into their trap.”
Ellinduil stopped. Eijlam was turning pale at hearing the king’s words.
“Your brother is now the face of the dragon among those men,” the king said more quietly.
“If you kill the beast, he may be freed of this possession, but if the dragon feels its demise, Lord Surmanos will surely flee into Roevash’s body, and your brother may be then entirely lost... He may have suffered so much damage from this imprisonment that he is already gone.” There was sorrow in the king's eyes as he spoke.
“My brother is tougher than most,” Eijlam interjected fully alarmed, his face openly betraying his fear.
“How is it you know all this? Can you truly see through rock and into the minds of men and dragons? How do I know your words are truth,” EJ grasped for some other explanation because his mind did not want to believe the situation was so dire. He wished he was in Fionna’s arms right now, finding blissful comfort, and none of this was happening.
King Ellinduil was not offended by Eijlam’s presumptuous behavior. He knew these elves were all too young and unguided for this heavy burden.
“Your brother Roevash carries the starlight with him. You know of what I speak. He lit it on the path into the cavern. I shared all his thoughts and suffered with him his capture before the light went dark. I know where he is and what he has become...”
Ellinduil let the suffering of Roevash show on his face and in seeing this EJ had to believe.
"He gave the finial over to Naalin, and the rest became clear."
“You see with the star...” EJ’s voice was small and tired.
“Yes.”
“Then, can you tell me if he lives!” EJ felt helpless as he looked at the cup in his hands. He was begging the king for answers that he could not have. Deep in his heart, Eijlam wanted to believe this was going to end well. The king just stared at him.
“You are of divine birth, my son,” Ellinduil said, breaking the silence. He looked at Eijlam curiously.
“You are born from your mother, but you are equal to the highest scions in Ilmatar. You are the begotten son of Lord Lourien. Do you not know yet of your own grace?”
“I know the long elven memory and was schooled in many things as elfling at my mother’s home, and in our Eldar pods...” EJ sputtered a weak explanation in his confusion. “How can I know of this?” his eyes filled with fear, not knowing what to think anymore.
Ellinduil smiled
softly at Thendiel’s youngest.
“You must stay here then and learn what I can teach you.”
“I am running out of time, am I not,” EJ wildly asked as if to escape this madness.
“You will not help those whom you love by being unprepared.”
The king leaned in towards him as he watched EJ struggle to calm himself. Here was the moment that would either destroy the realm or start them on the path towards hope. A heavy burden hung over this young one, as he struggled to make peace with his destiny.
King Ellinduil had a curiously pensive look on his face as he waited for his reply.
“You are right father. I am but an elfling in wisdom. Please, foster me in this,” Eijlam’s eyes pleaded.
King Ellinduil nodded in approval.
Heart of Valor
Chapter Thirty Nine
Elanoreth quickly healed from the blood sickness. The ordeal of being held captive and all that had happened weighed heavy on her mind. Fionna found her walking unaided around the fort and decided to invite herself to walk along with her. The men had shown her the wash facilities, and she was finally been able to do a thorough job cleaning herself of the cavern grime that she had endured. Elanoreth wore one of the clean soldier uniforms she found in a supply building. It was all they had that would fit her taller stature.
By her bearing, and the intelligent, educated way about her, Fionna could see there was more to this girl than common folk. She also had a dignified manner and spoke with authority.
“Is there anything else you can tell me about the caverns,” Fionna asked. “Any small details you may have forgotten. Our scouts are still missing, and I do not want to give up hope,” Fionna tried to sound official and not frantic with worry as she felt.
“I was brought in with a blindfold and found myself chained to a wall. There were hiisi of many sizes. The taller ones were the overseers. They were half-men or ogre-men, I think.” The girl visibly shook, reliving the vile memory. Fionna could tell by her speech she was handling the ordeal better than most.