Erlem & Daisy

They made their way passed the black gate and the entrance, the two mages kept looking over their shoulders at the gate that was quickly fading into the distance. The path climbed up the steepest portions of the cliff until it came to a black archegate with a red crest carved in it. A red bird under a red moon hung on the gate, the craftsmanship of emblem was astounding, seamless and the inlays that made up the red were high polish fire opals magically melded together to make a solid inlay of the house sigil. " this must be elvish craftsmanship, melding opal together is a delicate art that few can master in the citadel" Daisy whispered to Erlem, who was staring deeply into the opal, so deep the reflection of the flames flickering in the opal reflected back in his eyes.

The sigil began to glow and the archegate activated sending ripples across the gate, it shone violet purple before the color disappeared and the gate went black and gave off the air of a deep cave. At least in Erlems mind it was a cave, all of a sudden the calmness and curiosity had before had started to wain and the familiar fear from earlier came creeping back. "After you please." Myrah ushered them through the blackness of the archegate portal, Erlems heart racedas he went through he was now aware that they had no idea how many of these elves were waiting on the other side.

Daisy had a sudden wave of panic hit her as she felt herself get pulled from one side of the gate to the other. The area spun around her violently causing her to stomach to wretch and her to drop to her knees gagging fighting back the urge to be sick. She realized she had her eyes clenched tight and hadn't realized that the ground was no longer dirt and pebbles rather it was stone or tile, cold and smooth. She slowily opened her eyes to see a well lit main hall in front of her, the floor was a polished black marble with black stone walls adorned with black banners trimmed in gold with the house insignia hanging as well as armors and paintings decorated it as well. Her stomach still felt as if giants were hurling boulders in her stomach but it had begun to die down after a few moments and she could finally really look at her surroundings.

Erlem took a bit longer to defeat the queasy feeling from passing through the archegate. He had never felt that sick after passing through an archegate before, he knew Daisy couldn't ignore this event it was way too weird. Erlem was on high alert, he scanned the room his eyes darting from corner to corner prepared to let loose a barrage of spells at a moments notice. It was just him Daisy and the elves they came with.

"Follow us, the lord of this castle has asked you wait for his arrival in the library." Durah said as she escorted them down the hall.

There were many twists and turns as they made their way through the castle(the whole time Erlem just looked at all the armors and weapons that hung in the hallways) so many Daisy thought for sure they'de never find their way out if they needed to escape. This was no doubt the purpose of bringing them so deep into the castle, through the confusion Daisy had failed to notice that they hadn't seen any more elves since they entered the hallways. Erlem on the other hand had begun to notice that the halls were devoid of any other people. "Hey Durah where's all the elves?" She looked over at Erlem with a sort of sadness in her eyes, " when the lord of this castle decided to stay my sister and I and a handful of others stayed behind with him." Her answer didn't slate Erlem's curiosity it only made it worse, " where are the others?" Durah answered again after taking a ragged breathe " over time we have had loses, Elves may be immortal but we are not indestructible. Some of the horrors of the war, left over creatures and abominations took up residence in the lands surrounding the castle and we had to wage our own war with them. Only we are left of the original elves who stayed behind here, which i guess also explains why those putrid goblins were able to take a part of our swamp. There simply isn't enough of us to keep all the evils that still live here and seek to live here, out." Both of the womens faces had become more solemn as Durah finished talking. Only three elves resided in the castle( which explained the dusty armors and blankets of cobwebs in the corners of the ceilings and torch holders) which made both Erlem and Daisy less anxious, it now made sense as to why they were summoner here.

The group came to a large red wood door with a large brass door knob( which was engraved with beautiful flower patterns that stretched over the door knob and onto the brass plate that surrounded it) Myrah opened the door and the other three entered and she behind them closing the door as she entered.

This room was well maintained and had new candles burning in the holders and a fresh fire burning in the hearth. The walls were lined with bookshelves that went from the floor to the ceiling( which was over a hundred feet high) and full end to end with large leather bounds books and well kept scrolls. There were a number of small end tables set between large cushioned chairs in various areas around the room, " please get comfortable, we'll bring some refreshments while you wait for Lord Blu'dheim. He requested cherry cake today I hope you don't mind." Daisy smiled politely " sounds wonderful, we would be delighted. Would your master mind if i stoked my pipe by the hearth?" Durah nodded " just don't set fire to the library and you are welcome." Durah smiled as her and myra made their way out of the room through the door they entered.

Daisy removed her pouch and pipe from her robe pocket and sat in a large red chair in front of the hearth. Erlem climbed into a chair closest to Daisy, a smaller plush black chair with a matching ottoman. A few minutes later Durah returned with a tray of cherry cakes and some tea and took a chair on the opposite side of the hearth( a fat purple chair with mahogany inlays in the arm rests, Durah sank deeply into it when she sat). Erlem looked for Myra as of late she had always followed Durah like a duckling to its mother.

A large grandfather clock off to the back of the room rang out as its hands showed ten o clock. Loud gongs rang out through out the castle as if the clock had its gong amplified magically. " His lordship should be along any moment, he was making himself ready for his visitors and does apologize for his rudeness." Durah said bowing her head as if it was her fault the Lord of the castle had made them wait. " I assure you we are not offended, it has been a long while since either of us has had such company outside of each other. Maybe while we wait you can finish telling us about the Ancient war? All we know is what has been written by men who weren't even alive during the time it happened. Maybe you can give us a better idea of the time before mages." Durah smiled weakly, " what would you like to know?"

Daisy wanted to know who the elves were actually fighting, what they were. All the old texts that referenced the war just called the other side the ancients. "Who were the ancients?" Daisy asked half expecting to hear the same old stories she's read a million times, But to her surprise Durah didn't even stumble in her words as she began to speak as most high magestrates and professors when they mentioned the ancients. "The ancients were once the overseers of thre'a, joyful and good and they were numerous. They helped form the world and kept it ever moving and evolving as the great creator toiled away on other creations. Thre'a thrived and many races appeared in the world, the creator loved them all and gave them great gifts. The ancients meant to protect the infant world began to envy the races of Thre'a and began to use their strength to rule over them and abuse them. Many races were exterminated for fear of their strength and others were corrupted and made into hapless slaves. As time went on the ancients focused on ruling over each other, each vying to be the supreme over all other ancients and the world saw its first war. The ancients spent a thousand years devastating Thre'a with their war, the hundreds of ancients became less than twenty and all the creatures and races of thre'a felt the strain. Then a great ancient called the maw had emerged victorious to the east, rumors that this ancient could twist the creators creations and turn them into twisted versions of their former selves. Within a hundred years the maw had killed fifteen leaving itself and four other powerful ancients to rule Thre'a. " Erlem hung onto her every word, the ancients were terrifying sounding but still a mystery. " who were the ancients though?" Erlem squeaked out completely invested in the recount told by Durah. " They truly had no names just self imposed titles they would change as they grew more and more powerful. The great maw was known as the great corruptor, often tempting its enemies with power that would later corrupt their souls turning them into servants to it. He created the great bane that are the black-fire phoenixes."

" The great maw also managed to influence a small sect of the elves to its cause." A male voice interrupted Durah, her neon green eyes flashed as she noticeably became nervous, from behind them where the voice came the sounds of someone walking followed. Erlem and Daisy craned their necks around the chairs to see a tall handsome man who's skin glowed even under his beautiful purple robes, his eye were the brilliant green that durah and myra had. His hair( what wasn't hidden by the robes) was a shiny silver that was loose around the front but kept in a large braid in the back. He also wore a crown with three pointed tiers each holding a fire opal cabochon as large as a golf ball.

" My lord! I wish you would allow me to do my job an announce your presence!" Durah had jumped to her feet from her chair bowing her head. " Durah my Darling you are too good to me, much better than an old elf like me deserves." He smiled at his servant as he walked towards the cozy spot in the library. " I do hope its ok if i sit and listen, i do enjoy these old stories." Lord Blu'dheim sat in the free chair on the side of Durah. It was a black leather bound chair closest to the fire. He rested his face against the palm of his right hand, Erlem didn't know if he was being sincere or if he was attempting to bully Durah( either way he wasn't sure if he liked this elven lord).