Lineage

The two entered first, unable to see anything because the room was so dark; then, when elder Aterion entered, it's like a switch was flipped and every light crystal in the room turned on. He proceeded to go down the stairs that lead to a circular platform attached to four chains on each side.

An orb glows in the middle in which blood flows through, gushing like a waterfall. The elder approached it with no hesitation. The elder touched the orb, and it glows more shiningly than before—the two men standing at the door motionless as if they saw something out of this world.

"Elder, what is this place for?" Radgroum asked. The elder looked back at them and saw that they were dumbfounded at the situation. "(sigh) What are you standing there for, come closer; this is the blood chamber; this is where the alven kind stored the originals blood" Aterion replied.

Radgroum now realizes what this place is; he read it in an ancient book before. It says there was a vault of the original alven people, who gave birth to the current alven kind. "Youngling, come closer and let me take a sample of your blood" Aterion said.

Sarion seeing an ornate dark dagger and a gold chalice, felt scared of the elder. "umm..(gulp) is that necessary, elder?" Sarion asked. After hearing that, the elder smiled " Radgroum, hold this youngling while i get a sample of his blood" the elder commanded.

"Sorry, Spriteling, Orders are orders" Radgroum said while holding Sarion with a bear hug. The elder immediately took a look at Sarion's right hand and punctured the tip of the pointing finger with the dagger. Sarion screamed like a baby even after the process was over. "It's just a small cut, young one, don't act like it hurts more than it does" the elder said.

After the elder collected enough blood, he immediately went near the orb and poured the sample over it. He cast a small incantation, which made the orb spin vigorously. Shortly after pouring the blood, old alven writings appeared from the orb, making it unreadable for the common folk.

"No way..." the elder said in a surprised manner. The two noticed the elder shaking like he can't believe what's happening right now. "Elder, What does it say?" Radgroum asked. The elder was taken aback by what he read that he was silent for a few minutes, then he took a proper look at Sarion, mainly his facial features.

"Youngling, what is the name of your mother?" the elder asked, playing with his long beard. Sarion, confused with the question, tried to remember, but he can't recall because he grew up on the human continent's streets. "I don't remember because i lived on the streets my whole life" Sarion replied.

The elder, shocked by what he heard, suddenly became furious. "That damn irresponsible brat doesn't even know how to take care of a child" the elder said. Radgroum and Sarion stood there confused and didn't know what to say but desperate to know Sarion mustered all his courage and asked the elder. "So elder, what did those writing say?" Sarion asked.

After hearing that question, the elder calmed down and slowly put his hand on Sarion's shoulder. "Young one, i don't know how to say this, but that writing earlier revealed—" the elder was interrupted by a loud bang outside.

Not long after, a large man whose body resembles rocks found on mountainsides with hands as wide as an anvil came in. "Elder, A thief broke in and stole the dragon egg" the man reported. The elder immediately ordered Radgroum to stay with Sarion until he comes back.

A series of explosions could be heard from the chamber, but even so, Sarion was calm instead of afraid. "Is this normal here?" Sarion asked. After hearing that, Radgroum immediately laughed with his coarse voice. "Hahaha, spriteling people who infiltrate the most secure place in the city are not normal" Radgroum replied.

Screams of pain from soldiers echoed in the hall, and an eerie sensation could be felt. "What in the world is going on up there?" Radgroum asked. Moments after, the same soldier went back to the chamber. "Radgroum! The elder has been taken!!" the soldier shouted.

"What are your soldiers doing?!" Radgroum asked. The soldier, disappointed with what happened, tried to explain the situation to Radgroum. "It's the Ashara tribe you know very well that they are the strongest warriors among alven kind" the soldier replied.

"What! Call my wife and arranged a search party now!!" Radgroum commanded. The soldier immediately ran, following the orders laid out to him while Sarion was standing there, confused about why the soldier followed his orders. "uhmm...why did that soldier follow your orders?" Sarion asked.

"It's because i have this, which makes me an elder when i need to replace one" Radgroum replied, pointing at the necklace he's wearing. Sarion then felt weird as Radgroum did not look much older than the soldier who was there earlier. "How old are you really?" Sarion asked.

Radgroum laughed at the embarrassed Sarion for thinking he was a young adult and made him curious as Sarion does not know that alven kind can live for thousands of years. "Boy, Let me tell you this just once we can live for thousands of years, so you better buckle up; you're just at the starting years of your life" Radgroum replied.

"Anyways, Let's get out of here. We should rendezvous with Aldora since we gotta find the elder" Radgroum said. The two left the tree palace in flames and ruin; as they step out of the door, many onlookers blocked the path they were walking to, so Radgroum used his great shout, which scattered the onlookers. "That was unnecessary, Darling" a voice from their back asked.

"Aldora...you're late, did Ferdan tell you everything?" Radgroum asked. Aldora smiled like she always was, and then she drew a blue glowing sword out of thin air. "Why did you not stop the abduction? Huh?" Aldora asked Radgroum with murderous intent pointing the sword at his neck.

Radgroum stepped back and evaded all the coordinated slash of Aldora. "(sigh) you know that mana blade can't last long" Radgroum said. Radgroum covered his fist with a mystic aura, which he then used to block the sword slash. "Anger won't help you hit me (yawn)" Radgroum said.

"Then let me stab you 100 times" Aldora said while keeping the smiling poker face. Radgroum then became scared as he knew her wife would really do it. "Hey! Aren't we just playing around? It's just an elder, you know" Radgroum said.

"It would be fine if it's just a minor elder, but you let the head elder get abducted, you dumb buffoon!" Aldora shouted. Aldora became angrier than she once was at that moment; Radgroum realized his big mistake and became more scared.

"Wait! Wait! the spriteling is watching; you know violence isn't good for the young!" Radgroum shouted. After saying that, Radgroum made other excuses to escape Aldora's fury. "Wait! Where is the spriteling? He was standing there a minute ago" Aldora asked.

"You dumb buffoon! you even let a child get lost!" Aldora shouted with small tears in his eyes. Radgroum then felt guilty for all the troubles but he was sure the kid's presence was there he thought that maybe he couldn't have gone far.