by Candy Rae
He didn’t ask him to rise from his bow. The hooded king enjoyed watching trepidation in others.
“I am prepared to forgive you,” the hooded king informed him, “for not bringing Lord Arovan to me when you had the chance.”
The words, “thank you,” stuttered from the bent head.
The hooded king inclined his.
“To obtain complete forgiveness and to evade the punishment that is your due however, I shall require you to perform another small service, successfully this time.”
“Yes sire, anything, anything at all.”
“Naturally and a word of warning my duplicitous elf; if you fail this time the consequences will be dire indeed for yourself and for any of your family living. I rarely award second chances.”
“I consider myself lucky …” Quisil trembled.
“Yes, yes,” the hooded king dismissed his thanks with a negligent wave of his be-ringed hand.
Quisil noticed two rings on the king’s finger; one was blue and the other red. Both had an incised decoration in the middle of their diamond shaped stones. The decorations were both of a quarter moon shape.
“Yes, yes,” the hooded king said again. “You are lucky. You may rise.”
The tall elf, traitor of Tanquelameir, lifted his head and shaking, forced his body into an upright position. He looked at the hooded king’s face.
What he saw there made his normally pale elfin face blanch chalk white.
“You!” he exclaimed, before collapsing to the ground in a dead faint.
The hooded king looked dispassionately at the unconscious figure. He poked at him with his foot.
“Once his task is done,” he instructed the Morityaro leader, “make sure that his survival is not prolonged.”
The Morityaro leader smiled. “It will be my pleasure,” he said to no elf in particular.
The hooded king wasn’t listening. He was standing, looking out over the rocks that marked the end of land and the beginning of sea. All was falling into place.
The Morityaro leader took the hint and with the aid of one of his agents picked up the unconscious elf and carried him out of the room.
* * * * *
In the depths of the forests to the north-east, little packs of waist-sized reptilian creatures were foraging for food. There was plenty to eat. There was cover in which to hide from predators. This was a good place to be.
Also in the depths of these forests, elves were hunting them. One group of elves was trying to find and to kill them before they did any harm. The other group of elves was trying to find and to catch them.
* * * * *
CHAPTER 24
'Hail, king that shalt be!'
(Macbeth – The Scottish Play)
(William Shakespeare (1564-1616))
VALDORAPTORS AND VIKINGS
Wielder Crucius looked down into the enclosure, satisfied with the progress of his magical workings at last. The reptiles could not help but do his bidding now. Whatever he ordered them to do they would do. They would not be able to help themselves, even though his orders brought about their deaths.
Once his elves had caught some of the newly arrived reptiles he would try the same techniques on them.
He wished the prisoners in the other enclosure had proved as receptive to his magic. Unfortunately he would have to find another way to force their compliance.
* * * * *
APPENDICES
The Five Elf Kingdoms of Alfheimr
Wood Elves – The Tauredhel – Friends to the Unicorns – Silver-haired – King Huor – Tall and Willowy – they have a Long-standing, close friendship with the Mountain Elves.
Mountain Elves – The Orodedhel – Friends to the Gryphons – Brown-haired – King Oronar – Tall and Muscular – they have a Long-standing, close friendship with the Wood Elves.
Land Elves – The Ndoredhel – Auburn-haired – High King Calaelen – Tall and Stocky – there are more Land Elves than all the other elven types put together and they believe that they are the superior elves.
Sky Elves – The Meneledhel – Friends to the Dragons – Blue-haired – King Menel – Small and Willowy.
Water Elves – The Aluedhel – Dark-haired – King Jegvran – Dark of Face – secretive and isolationist.
Character List
Afnan, Lady – Wife of Lord Arovan Cuthalion, Lord of Tanquelameir and mother of Chlaricvia and Khirstvain.
Afneil of Sillulion – Famous Magic Whisperer and friend of Lord Arovan.
Alasdair Douglas - Alias of Lord Arovan Cuthalion of Tanqualameir.
Ambisagrus – The present Tathar’s predecessor.
Amras Telemienar – Prince, younger brother of Huor, the King of the Wood Elves and overall commander of the Nosse.
Aranel Cuthalion – Daughter of Lord Arovan by his first wife.
Arovan Cuthalion – Lord of Tanquelameir and father of Aranel.
Ardissurn - Arr-rdissurr-rn – Dragon Lord of Ndorenisgiathatch, commander of the Dragon King’s guard.
Bob – Alias of Lord Oropher, a distant cousin of Lord Arovan.
Boudica – Bulldog and ‘pet’ of Marion and Kirsty Douglas.
Chlaricvia – Aranel’s young stepsister.
Claricva – Aranel’s sister.
Colyne – Enelya’s boyfriend.
Crucius – A very powerful Wielder of magic gone bad.
Earwen – Alias used by Aranel when captured by the Morityaro.
Ellison, Professor – Professor of Early Modern Languages at the University of Oxford, England.
Enelya – Shield partner to Aranel.
Enrais – A Warrior of Aranel’s Nosse.
Fideln – One of Lord Arovan’s karl-elves.
Isil – An elderly Warrior of Aranel’s Nosse.
Jarl Horlf – Commander of the Viking war party.
Khirstvain – Aranel’s young stepsister.
Kirsty Douglas – Daughter of Marion Douglas and half-sister to Aranel.
Kirstvan – Aranel’s half-sister, another name for Kirsty Douglas.
Lenwas – Elderly scholar who taught both King Huor and Lord Arovan’s children their lessons.
Lororsurn - Lorr-rorr-rsurr-rn – Dragon King of Ndorenisgiathatch.
Marian Douglas – Mother of Kirsty Douglas.
Oropher, Karl – Junior Lord, a distant cousin of Lord Arovan and a close friend, in Scotland he is known as Bob.
Quisil – One of Lord Arovan’s karl-elves.
Ramses – A black cat.
Rohir – Lord Arovan Cuthalion’s senior hunts-elf.
Ruac – Leader of the secret society of spies and assassins known as the Morityaro.
Tauvsurn -Tauvsurr-rn – Dragon Prince of Ndorenisgiathatch, son of Lorr-rorsurr-rn.
Tathar, The – The title of the ancient focus of the T’Quel.
Uruin – Leader of the unicorn herd with long-standing ties to the Cuthalion family.
Urieline – A young, black unicorn mare and special friend of Aranel and Aranel’s stepsister.
Ursulaine – A young, black unicorn mare and sister to Urieline.
Woldfrein – The shield partner of Enrais and a member of Aranel’s Nosse.
Zanner – A Wielder of Magic and longtime friend of Lord Arovan.
Character List at the time of the Elf Wars
Alu – Son of King Dinendal – Became King of the Water Elves – The Aluedhel.
Caolifhinn – Vagjyrein – A Guardian of the T’Quel.
Dinendal – King of Alfheimr.
Fheargus – Vagjyrein – A Guardian of the T’Quel.
Kennacna – Vagjyrein – A Guardian of the T’Quel.
Loarn – Vagjyrein – A Guardian of the T’Quel.
Meadghbh – Vagjyrein – A Guardian of the T’Quel.
Menal – Son of King Dinendal – Became King of the Sky Elves – The Meneledhel .
Ndor – Son of King Dinendal – Became King of the Land Elves – The Ndoredhel.
Oenghus – Vag
jyrein – AGuardian of the T’Quel.
Orod – Son of King Dinendal – Became King of the Mountain Elves – The Orodedhel.
Sairalinweila – Daughter of King Dinendal – Lady of the Fortaue. She married Lord Utinu of the Fortaue, distant nephew of King Dinendal.
Sgiathatch – King of the Dragons during the time of the Elf Wars.
Taure – Son of King Dinendal – Became King of the Wood Elves – The Tauredhel.
Glossary
Words from Both Worlds, History and Geography
A
Abelard – Peter (Pierre) Abelard (1079-1142) was a French philosopher and considered by many to be one of the greatest theologians of the twelfth century. Among his works is “ Sic et Non,” containing over a hundred philosophical and theological questions. His teachings were controversial, and he was charged with heresy. Even with the controversy that surrounded him, nothing prepared him for the consequences of his love affair with Heloise.
Acheron - In ancient mythology, primarily Greek, Acheron was known as the river of pain. Homer wrote that it was a river in Hades. According to the Roman poet Virgil, the dead were ferried across the river and on the other side they entered the underworld.
AD – Anno Domini (AD or A.D.) and Before Christ (BC or B.C.) are letters that are used to denote year numbers by the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The time at which it changes from BC to AD is based on the probable birth year of Jesus Christ. AD relates to the years after his birth and BC to the years before. The system was devised in the early sixth century but was not commonly used until the ninth.
Aesop’s Fables – This is a collection of stories supposed to have been written in Greece by a slave called Aesop between around 620 BC and 560 BC.
Adolf Hitler – Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the Nazi Party. Hitler was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945 and Dictator of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945. He committed suicide in Berlin in 1945 at the end of the Second World War (1939-1945).
Alfheimr – The Five Kingdoms of the Elves. It is also used as a term denoting the entire world of the elves.
Allegory – A literary term by which characters or events represent or symbolise ideas and concepts.
Ambrosius Aurelianus – He was a Romano-British tribal/war leader who led his people in their war against the encroaching Anglo-Saxons in the fifth century. There are many legends and stories about him. Some historians have claimed that he was the person on whom the original stories of both Merlin and King Arthur were based.
Ando – (Old Elfish) Gate. It is not known how many ‘gates’ there are in existence. They are the means whereby a traveller in possession of one of the T’Quel (tarna) jewels can travel from Alfheimr and our world and from there to past eras in our world (Earth) and back again.
Andos – Cavern city of the dragons in Ndorenisgiathatch.
Annals of Tigernach – Fergus Mor mac Eirc, with the people of Dal Riata, held part of Britain, and he died there. (Feargus Mor mac Earca cum gente Dal Riada partem Britaniae tenuit, et ibi mortuus est.) The chronicle probably originated in Ireland and was written in a mixture of languages, Latin, Old Irish and Middle Irish.
Arthur – the existence of the persona known as King Arthur is the subject of much historical debate. There is no confirmed, historical evidence about Arthur although current trends in historical thought are bending to the idea that he was in fact a Scottish prince and a son of one of the sixth century kings of Dal Riada, in the south west of Scotland. Many have suggested that Arthur was a mythological or folklore figure and that other mythological figures and historical ones have got caught up in the folklore. There are, however, no more early traces of this fictional Arthur than there are of a historical one. (See next entry.)
Artur mac Aedain - He was the eldest son of Aedan mac Gabrain, the King. He never became king of Dal Riada; there is historical evidence that it was his brother Eochaid Buid who ruled after his father's death. Artur was a war leader, though Aedan was officially king. Artur led the Scotti of Dal Riata in a war against the Picts. He was killed in battle in about 582.
B
Balfaras – (Elfish) A drug with similar attributes and effects as chloroform.
Bede – Bede is also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede. He was an English monk at the monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth in what is now Northumbria and at Saint Paul’s monastery in Jarrow. He was an author and a scholar. His famous work, ‘The Ecclesiastical History of the English People’ gained him the title "The Father of English History".
Beeching Railways Cuts – The Beeching Axe refers to the reduction of the British rail network and restructuring of the railways in the seventh decade of the twentieth century. It was outlined in two reports, ‘The Reshaping of British Railways’ (1963) and ‘The Development of the Major Railway Trunk Routes’ (1965). Richard Beeching was the author.
Black Keep/Black Tower – An old prison tower in Alfheimr.
Boudicca – Boudicca was a ‘queen’ of the Iron Age Iceni people and led an uprising against the Romans in the first century. Boudicca was married to Prasutagus, ruler of the Iceni people. When the Romans occupied southern England in 43 AD, they permitted Prasutagus to continue to rule but when he died the Romans decided to rule the Iceni without a royal house and took over their land and property. It is said that they stripped and flogged Boudicca and raped her two daughters. In 60 or perhaps 61 AD the Iceni rebelled. Other tribes joined the rebellion. Boudicca's army defeated the Roman Ninth Legion and destroyed Colchester and London. Many Romans and pro-Roman British were killed. Boudicca was eventually defeated and rumour has it that she poisoned herself as an alternative to being captured although this has never been confirmed.
Brendan, Saint – Saint Brendan of Clonfert or Breanainn of Clonfert (c.484-c.577), known as ‘the Navigator’ was an early Irish saint. He was famous for his legendary quest to the ‘Isle of the Blessed’, which is also called Saint Brendan’s Island. Brendan travelled to Wales and the Holy Island of Iona, off the coast of Scotland. He founded a monastery on the Holy Isle off the coast of Oban, Argyllshire, Scotland. He was buried in Ireland. Saint Brendan’s Isle, also spelt St Brendan’s Isle, is a mythical island situated in the North Atlantic somewhere west of Northern Africa.
Brimble – (Elfish) A thick, fast-growing bush, giving out tasty, sweet purple berries, much like the Scottish bramble in both taste and looks.
Broch – Iron Age dry-stone hollow-walled structure of a type found only in Scotland.
Bronze Age – The Bronze Age is a term used to describe the age of man immediately before the Iron Age. People started making tools and weapons with bronze instead of stone. Bronze Age Britain lasted from approximately c.2100 to c.750 BC when the Iron Age began.
Burgh - (Scots) A town incorporated by a charter, often a royal charter.
C
Candida Casa - Candida Casa (White House) was the name given to the church established by Saint Ninian in Whithorn, Galloway, Scotland, in the mid-fifth century. The site became important in the early mediaeval period, becoming a cathedral and monastery. It was a pilgrimage centre.
Ceann Mor de tur – Scottish Gaelic for the tower of King Malcolm Canmore. King Malcolm is said to have built the tower about the time he married Margaret Aetheling (Saint Margaret). The tower could, however, have already been in existence. The tower is believed to have consisted of two stories and had a number of small rooms and servant quarters. It was situated on a hill above a little stream, and was accessed by a drawbridge.
Celtic – The Celts were a group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Mediaeval Europe who spoke Celtic languages and had a similar culture.
Chimeran – Elfish for ‘a shadowed one’, an elf whose identity is hidden or unknown.
Cian – About half a league. A league is 3 miles or 4.8 kilometres.
Cicero – Marcus Tullius Cicero (BC 106-43) was a Roman philosopher, orator and statesman. He was a me
mber of one of the wealthy families of Ancient Rome, from the lower of the two aristocratic classes, these two monopolising political power during the republican years.
Claricia of Scotland – Princess, and daughter of King David the First of the Scots. There is debate about exactly when she was born. Some say 1109 and others 1116. However, given that her father married her mother, Maud (Matilda) of Huntingdon in 1113 and not earlier, it must be assumed that c.1116 is the most likely candidate. She is reputed to have died c.1135 but this cannot be confirmed.
Confucius – Confucius (BC 551-479) was a Chinese teacher and philosopher.
Culdees – Celi De or Culdees were originally members of early Christian monasticism in Ireland, Scotland and England. They appeared first in Ireland and then in Scotland. They lived in monastic fashion though not taking monastic vows. They disappeared or were amalgamated into the Roman church around the end of the eleventh and beginning of the twelfth centuries.
D
Dal Riata – Dal Riata was a Gaelic over-kingdom on the western coast of Scotland.
David I – King David the First (1084-1153) was the ninth son of Malcolm Canmore (1058-1093) and inherited the throne in 1124 after a succession of kings including his three elder brothers and an uncle. He ruled for nearly thirty years, bringing many improvements to Scotland. He founded a number of religious houses and cathedrals, including many of the Border abbeys. He had four children, Malcolm (c.1113 – bef. 1153) and Henry (1114-1152), Claricia (b.c.1116) and Hodierna (b.c.1120). He died in 1153, it was said, of a broken heart after the death of his son in 1152. He was succeeded by his young grandson, King Malcolm the Fourth (1153-1165). He was buried in Dunfermline Abbey.
Dawillow Tree – A tree native to Alfheimr, similar to the willow tree of Earth.
Deyr fe, deyja frændr, deyr sjalfr it sama. Ek veit einn at aldri deyr: domr um daudan hvern. – Havamal – (Norse) Viking battle cry that can be translated as Cattle die, kin die, we ourselves die also. I know one thing that never dies: the honours of all the dead.
Dragon – A legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that features in the legends of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and which is ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern mythologies, and the Chinese dragon, with counterparts in Japan, Korea and other East Asian countries. The dragons in Alfheimr are about three metres (just over nine feet) in length, have a scaly, yet smooth skin and breathe fire.