by Karleigh Bon
“Naalin came to my rescue just before they were going to…” she stopped. She didn’t have to explain further.
“The chamber was open to the distance. Like a whole city inside. Across the way, you could see a wall, the structure was man-made with stone and iron. Like a fortress. They said the king or their lord lived there. That is all I know,” she said calmly.
“I wish it could be more.” She stared at Fionna as if she should know that was the end of the conversation.
They had made their way to the office, and Fionna did the bow and point thing she had seen Roevash do so many times when he wanted you to move forward through the door.
“Where do you live?” Fionna asked. They were finally alone as they sat down at Roevash’s makeshift desk. Fionna shivered to herself, thinking how the room had grown cold without him there.
“I am under obligation to not say. I was an emissary to Northshire for my father’s business. I was to meet with a certain man, but he never showed, and then we were ambushed.”
“We?” Fionna asked.
“Yes, my men were either killed or taken captive as was I.”
“Did they bring you into the mountain from the Etten Fields?” Fionna asked.
“Yes, they would have had to. The entry must be well hidden by magics. There were men there in robes. They looked like wizards at first, but their robes were all wrong. We were blindfolded so as not to find our way back, I suppose.” Elanoreth calmly said as she shrugged her shoulders.
Fionna was becoming frustrated, knowing she was more than she seemed.
“Please, You are among friends. Can you still not trust me yet? Our scouts are in grave danger! Naalin is in danger,” Fionna pleaded with her.
Elanoreth sat up straight, and with a shy look on her face, purposely pulled her hair back over her ears. Fionna could see the slight curve of elven blood.
“You are part, Edhellen,” Fionna said in amazement.
“I am the king’s daughter. Can you see how my being here is not supposed to happen?” Elanoreth said, staring straight into Fionna’s eyes, not expecting an answer.
“Your mother is the half-elven queen,” Fionna realized as the information all fell into place.
“Welcome, Princess Elanoreth,” Fi said officially in Roe’s stead.
“How your scout thought to save me, I do not know.” She looked down at her hands, clearly disturbed.
“Oh, Lords...” Fionna sat back into her chair, fully realizing what was going on.
“You were looking for Atto’s ships,” Fionna stared at her.
“Yes, my mother wishes to find pardon in her mortality.”
Fi’s face went pale as she tried not to look upset in front of the princess, as she explained.
“My aged Darjal’n father, in keeping with his people’s tradition, is going to give up his spirit this very year, and my mother does not wish to stay after he has passed on to his grave.” Princess Elanoreth was obviously distressed and near tears.
Fi looked down at her fingers, frowning, trying to keep her composure. She just learned that soon, Ainghaille's royal family was going to suffer the loss of the king and queen as they both pass away. It would be ruinous to the humans to have such an event befall them at this time. Now she understood why the princess seemed so in control. She had to put this devastating ordeal behind her to focus on her true quest.
“I was just about to send a message to the king about the dragon... should I then request an escort for you?” Fionna tried not to frown as she spoke, but her eyes betrayed her growing sorrow.
“Then my mission has failed,” Elanoreth’s face fell in defeat as she looked down at her hands.
After a moment, Fionna said, “Since we are being candid, I must inform you that we have been looking for any hidden Edhellen for more than nineteen years, and the kingdom seems to have become barren of our kind.” Fionna then pulled back her curly locks and showed her ears.
Elanoreth gasped. “How many have you found?”
“There is myself and my Eijlam, whom you have met already. Naalin and Roevash are my sister and Eijlam’s brother ... we were afraid they are hiding, but thanks to you, we now know they are being held somehow against their will in those accursed caverns. Eijlam has gone to our King Ellinduil for help in this matter.”
“Your sister?” Elanoreth saw the tragedy of her abduction by the dragon more clearly.
“I have riders out across all directions searching. One returned from Northshire and Atto’s Landing just yesterday. We believe Lord Atto still waits, but he is faded. The ships are sailing, but no crew is visible onboard to human eyes.”
“Oh, mother would be pleased to hear it... if there is any hope at all,” Elanoreth said gratefully.
“Then I will send for an escort, and please... tell them what is transpiring here. These are not just scouts that have gone missing here but our own precious family!”
The princess solemnly nodded as she listened to all the final details Fionna could tell her.
+++
King Ellinduil’s voice was not only in the room, but it echoed in his thoughts as EJ attended daily lessons.
“The Fallen One gains power over men by cultivating the malice of his twisted thralls. Know this, Fionna will be used as a weapon against you if she is ever captured. You must protect her at all costs because she is heart bound to you. He may have this knowledge already because of your brother’s captured mind. That can be your advantage, or this information could prove fatal.”
In that fleeting moment, King Ellinduil saw a premonition of the devastation of Eijlam flash through his mind, and he cringed imperceptibly. After a brief pause, he focused himself on continuing.
“You understand the way to Lord Lourien’s gardens and have sipped from the joy of his fountains. It is easy to be there among the immortal Edhellen and forget this realm. You are tethered here, in this place, by her now, and that pain will be yours alone.”
“I will bear any pain for my Fionna,” Eijlam spoke up with the unflinching courage of youthfulness.
Ellinduil’s grim stare pierced Eijlam’s heart into silence.
“Then you must use that as your strength. You may have to realize a sacrifice for the greater good...” Ellinduil strongly lectured.
“You may not be able to save yourself or your loved ones ... you will have to accept this.” The king’s voice trailed off as he realized he too would have to witness the possible loss of both Thendiel’s sons. He solemnly prayed it would not come to that.
“Know this, my son ... above all, dragons are arrogant and hedonistic in their lusts for power and pleasure. They enthrall their prey into complacency with an enchantment that blinds all rational thought. Their cleverness can twist the truth to send even the strongest will into despair.”
Eijlam’s mind grew weary, with too much information. He had been studying for days and felt weaker with each new thing the king told him.
“How can anyone fight such monsters? Is it hopeless that I find myself faced with such treachery?” he bemoaned his fate.
“There will be many things you will have to accept Eijlam,” the king said quietly in his mind, “now is the time to do so.”
+++
Young Roevash was nearly paralyzed in fear as he plunged into the icy ocean. Eijlam had completely disappeared this time into the deeps. His eyes didn’t sting as he opened them wide in the salty brine to search the bubbling underwater current. Surfacing for air, he could not believe his brother could be still alive after all this time. Diving down again he finally saw him, too far away! EJ floated loose; his body had given out from lack of breath.
At that moment a colossal shadow shot past at a blinding speed pushing EJ towards him in its wake.
“Was that a large fish?”
Roe had little time to wonder as he grabbed at his little brother. He found purchase on the material of his clothes as the body slammed into him. The wake from the unknown creature flung them both out of the deep oc
ean river current. Getting his brother to shore was Roe's only concern now.
“Lords let him still be alive!” He swam hard for the sandy beach with one arm. The other was busy holding onto the body. Roe stumbled up out of the waves with EJ slung over his shoulder. Gravity pulled at Roe’s strength as the weightlessness of the ocean buoyancy fell away. He dropped his little brother hard, down onto the sandy ground. The deadweight of it sparked him back, choking and coughing into life. It was the only way Roe knew to knock the water out of his lungs.
Roe felt lucky his brother would always gasp to life again, but there was still the fear that this time would be the last; that this time the technique would prove useless to save him.
Ej sputtered face down. He threw-up his gut content along with ocean water from his lungs. His arms felt weak as he tried to lift himself out of the puddle forming under his face that was soaking into the sand beneath him. He felt bigger hands lift him up over a bent knee where he hung spewing from his nose and mouth in great wrenching spasms.
“Why do you always do this to yourself? Do you have a death wish?”
Roe’s hands held the scrawny elfling firmly, rubbing his back until he stopped.
“Do you even think of the pain your demise would cause your mother…” Roe’s voice was quietly calm, considering he wanted to beat his brother senseless for what he’d just done again. Instead, he firmly patted his back, helping clear out all the saltwater.
When the spasms subsided, Roe turned EJ around in his arms. He gently wiped sand away that was caught under his eyelashes and pale ruddy cheek. The distant mournful eyes on EJ’s face betrayed a haunted expression. Roe had seen it before whenever he got himself into this state.
“When are you going to be too old for these tricks, little one?”
Roe hugged EJ and rocked his brother’s weak body to himself. He silently cried salty tears over EJ’s small shoulder as he hugged his little brother tightly in his arms.
“Please do not tell mother,” EJ whimpered against Roe’s collarbone. He was alive again; he was coming back to his senses.
“Promise not to do this again. I almost could not find you!” The memory of the monstrous dark shadow underwater spooked Roe. “A giant fish almost ate you!”
“It did not,” EJ whined.
“Yes, it did. I saw it...” Roe argued back.
“Lords EJ this time was almost your last,” he hugged his brother even tighter.
Ej stood in front of Roevash who was still kneeling on the beach. He looked him straight in the eyes. “I am sorry,” he said, pouting his lip out trying to prove his sincerity.
Roe brushed the tangled curls out of EJ’s face. He could see he had come back from whatever it was that possessed him.
“I feel such a great loss that I have to find something. I HAVE to breathe the water ... in the cold stream ... it is supposed to work,” EJ cried.
“And ... NEVER does it work,” Roe finished his sentence. His little brother was not making any sense, but he’d heard all this before.
Ej looked hurt at him and down at his shuffling feet in the sand. They both had wet red eyes from the brine. Roe let out a long sigh under his breath and shook his head. EJ smiled weakly at him, and Roe couldn’t help but smile back.
“I promise...” EJ was nose to nose doing his best puppy eyes for Roe.
“You must swear it!” Roe’s voice was harsh as he tried to scowl for better effect.
“Gweston i de cherithon,” EJ blurted out as he put both his hands on Roe’s face and kissed him solidly on the lips.
“You know there will be dire consequences with that vow you just made.” Roe’s eyes went soft as he studied his little brother’s face. He knew it was out of Eijlam’s ability to control himself when this strange possession came over him.
He wished he had not made him speak those words knowing he would only break them.
“It is not good practice to break vows EJ,” Roe said in resignation as he got up and shook the sand from his short trousers.
“Let us go see if there are any eggs... or mushrooms to be found,” Roe redirected his little brother into doing something useful.
“How bout that odd girl we saw. We could go hunt for her.”
Both their eyes narrowed as they agreed on the game.
“Okay, little one,” Roe accepted the challenge. “Keep your eagle eye open because I will spy her first!”
They both smiled as they took off for the forest edge where they last saw her.
“But, wait,” EJ stopped running. “I do not have an eagle’s eye… Rooooe, Roe” he found himself shouting as the veil faded away in his mind.
Ej woke abruptly in a cold sweat. The echo of his brother’s voice sounded like it was still in the room. It was dark outside the window where he was staying in Ellinduil’s palace. A cool breeze felt good on his sweaty skin.
“It was only in my memory… a dream.” He shook his head and rubbed his hand across his right temple as if to wipe away the vision, but he did not want to forget that day. Roe had saved him so many times from some unknown possession that kept driving him into the deeps. The vow did not work as he recalled.
“I know this has become serious,” EJ said out loud as much to himself as to the ghost that haunted him.
“What is it you are trying to tell me, big brother?”
Dragon Flight
Chapter Forty
Eijlam explored the far rooms of the palace, during his rare free time. He looked for books and artifacts he could study. He was allowed to take anything he thought he might need. Ellinduil’s fortress had many full libraries and armories still intact.
He found a small leather-bound poetry book in ancient Elvish that he thought Fionna would like. There were whole rooms of light armor and weapons the likes of which he had never seen before; metal crafting so fine it still shone even after thousands of years. Everything had been carefully stored away since the Edhellen migration.
He filled a pack with several useful things, including armor and equipment for Fionna, as well as his own. He chose another set to wear for now.
“I need to feel its restrictions to be able to move in a fight,” he thought to himself but was pleasantly surprised to find the armor fit well. It was as if the set was tailor-made for his body. Later he realized the armor must be enchanted to do just that. He smiled at the craftsmanship and all that it took to create such a thing.
The king was glad to see Eijlam taking his task to heart. The armors he chose were dark green dragon leathers. They were strong as steel, light enough for deadly movement and colored dark for stealth.
These were once the armors of his fleet-footed assassins. They posed as messengers, but their eyes and ears into the outer realms proved to be their most significant worth to Ellinduil.
He smiled at the sight of Eijlam handsomely fitted into it and gave him his blessing.
“I pray these armors and weapons keep you and yours safe in the days to come.” Ellinduil sat down to share a meal at the grand table with his charge.
“Do not hesitate to come back for replacements if any should be damaged or lost in the future,” the king assured him with a soft voice.
Eijlam thanked him for that.
“How is it you live so easily during my stay here, father,” EJ asked between bites of food.
“You mean, how is it I do not fade away as before?” the king clarified.
Eijlam nodded. The king had grown more settled as the days wore on. He didn’t have that odd edginess Eijlam had witnessed when they first met him.
“One grows weary of long memory, my son,” Ellinduil said, looking suddenly old and tired. “I gather my strength from many sources, but your presence here affords such succor for my mind that I feel like living again.”
Ej could only smile at that. He was always happy to lend aid when he could though he still didn’t understand how just his being there meant so much to the ancient king. Eijlam bit into a small piece of an apple after slici
ng it into thin pieces.
“How are you feeling?” The king asked, not looking directly at him as he buttered some bread.
“At first, I felt weak. There is so much to learn, but as time passes, I feel determined, not so afraid.”
The king smiled at this. Then Eijlam looked at the apple as he chose his words carefully.
“I once made a solemn vow that I could not keep...” He stared down at the table and frowned as if his mind was back in that place.
“I am from this mortal realm. Even with all its failures and suffering, it is still worthy of my best efforts, and wishing it otherwise does not make it so.”
Eijlam looked at Ellinduil, and the king could see his inner strength and maturity had somehow transformed overnight. EJ put another slice of the apple in his mouth and chewed it slowly.
He was changing into a capable thinker and controlling his emotions. The king wished he could teach him more about his lordling half.
"That will come,” Ellinduil thought to himself, as he watched young Eijlam eat his apple.
+++
The debate went on as Ellinduil continued to discuss battle strategies, enemy behaviors, use of traps and weapons, and stealth magics with Eijlam until he was exhausted, and then they started in again the next day. It was as if all of Ellinduil’s fourteen thousand years of experience poured into EJ’s mind.
“This evil is like a leech then, using the dragon and my brother as host,” EJ said between steady, even breaths. He was practicing floor exercises with his short blades in the king’s hall when the truth of the situation came clear to him.
“Once Surmanos has fitted himself into a body, it is easy for him to use that vessel again even if he should leave it for a time. It is as simple to him as putting on or taking off a glove,” Ellinduil whispered in mind-speak as he silently sat on the throne watching EJ practice.
“Then this monster must be taken up from this place to be truly destroyed,” EJ realized as he said it.
“Yes, that might work should the opportunity ever present itself,” the king nodded in approval of EJ’s critical thinking.