Erlem & Daisy

Daisy awkwardly stood up from her chair and curtsied(feeling silly as she did so) " Lord Blu'dheim it is an honor to meet you, my name is Daisy Oakleaf and this is my son, Erlem." Erlem (trying to be less awkward) gave a great bow flowing his arms in front like a great orchestra's conductor "a great honor." Blu'dheim chuckled at the display and sunk lazily into his chair. " sit sit! Its been so long since i'v had visitors. We must converse and we must have tea and cake while we do so!." He was very charismatic, giving off a youthful tone in his voice. "Please, Lord Blu'dheim is such a mouthful to say among friends. You must call me Direth, i would enjoy the informality. A change of pace would be welcomed after this self imposed isolation." He had a wide grin that showed off his sparkling white teeth, " Durah can you fetch the tea and cakes for our guests please." Durah bowed before exiting the room hastily, Erlem stared at his host intently marveling at this elfen king.

" Little lad do i offend you?" Direth had realized Erlem had been staring at him since he made his presence known to the room, " no m'Lord i just have never met an elf before." Erlem said in a low soft voice, he didn't wish to insult this king and he was afraid he was on the edge of doing so. Direth laughed heartily " I understand my boy, I havn't met an autumn witch in a long time. I remember when the first autumn witch peered her little red head into the world, Agatha stormsdore." Direth spoke in length about how he used to host her and the magestrate during the rise of magic before the elves of Blu'dheim had become just the three of them. "She was such a natural delight, her presence brightened these all halls. Mischievous and full of joy. She had the most wonderful games that she and her daemon would play and i would of course be invited. Such a wonderful time." He looked dreamily on as he told his story. " she spent many holidays on these grounds, she was as close to a daughter an immortal could have. When the war came she joined the fight and turned the tides for the rebellion. Using her power they were able to lock away the ancients. Sadly Agatha wouldn't see this place again, the spell required two souls sacrificed to it and Agatha and her daemon gave up their lives to power the spell that saved the world."

His neon green eyes glistened with tears, he gracefully wiped them away with his hands as he told an interesting story about Agatha and her Daemon hiding in suits of armor and scaring the help. Durah came back a short time later carrying a large silver platter carrying a tea set and small white frosted cakes. She placed them on a small table in between them and poured tea from a yellow tea pot in matching tea cups. " how do you take your tea ?" Durah asked Erlem( but he wasn't sure he had a natural distain for tea) so he just asked for four cubes of sugar and some cream, Daisy had hers that way at the gnob so Erlem went that route out of default.

"You must try these cakes they are to die for." Direth said tossing a little cake into his mouth and offering one of the little cakes to Erlem. He took the cake and gobbled it up it was the most delicious cake he'd ever eaten. He asked for more and Durah obliged giving him a small pile of the cakes (that magically re-appeared as he scarfed them down).

They sat by the fire long into night talking and eating, laughing. The trio saw the sun peek through the windows and decided to retire and get some rest. Offering the pair a room in the castle Daisy and Erlem accepted. Direth sent Erlem with Durah and Daisy with Myra to go direct them to their room. Erlem was confused at first, he thought he would be rooming with his mother but didn't make a big fuss. The elves were strange but overall trustworthy so he shrugged it off as he and Daisy took separate turns and disappeared deeper into the belly of the castle.

After a few minutes of traversing the intercut hallways and passages Erlem noticed that this area of the castle was much less dusty and maintained leading him to believe that one of the girls probably stayed in this area themselves. They came to a beautiful spiral staircase leading up to what was most likely a tower. The staircase showcased a beautifully carved mahogany banister with gold inlays and brackets that spiraled upward for what seemed like forever.

Erlem was instructed to climb the steps alone, he would look behind him every so often to find his guide no longer following him. The mood grew eerie and Erlems heart pounded inside his chest like it was trying to escape. He considered hopping into the shadows and shadow hopping to the top but he soon realized there were no shadows, only darkness. There were torches on the walls and no windows to allow the light in from outside so he just climbed further ignoring his adrenaline stricken brain.

Erlem climbed the spiral staircase for what had to have hours, he had climbed so far up the light at the base of the stairs had become just a speck of flickering candle light. " how far have i gone? Surely i'm to the top..." at that moment Erlem exited the darkness like a thick mist and entered a brightly lit bedroom with a four poster bed and a large fireplace ( equiped with a magical fire one could make hotter or colder based on ones preference) it also had a big comfy chair and ottoman both a batching purple. There were the cakes from earlier on a tray sitting on a small side table. " i wonder what Daisy's room is like?" Erlem thought to himself as he took a small handful of the cakes ( which instantly replaced themselves).

Daisy followed her guide through the maze of hallways and passages of the grand old castle, she had noticed earlier the beautiful tapestries that decorated the hallways were less vibrant and as the progressed further into the stronghold she had begun to feel a chill. The temperature had dropped several degrees quite rapidly and Daisy realized they were going lower into the castle, soon she felt very uncomfortable as she found herself dodging small puddles. She tightened her hood around her and began to feel more alert as fear set in thick like a fog around her. Something wasn't right, her guide hadn't said a word since they separated from Erlem And Durah. "Myrah, how much further?" Daisy asked but what only met with silence. The pace even began to pick up, slowly at first, from a slow stroll to a power walk and before long Daisy was almost jogging to keep up. In her haste she hadn't noticed or realized that she no longer could remember how many turns she had taken and no longer had a sense of where she was. The hallways seemed to change and move behind them in the distance. Creaking and groaning and the sounds of stones scraping against stone would faintly hit Daisy's ears. Again she called out "Myrah, where are we going?" Fear had overtaken Daisy, she spoke again this time with more force in her voice, " Myrah i demand you answer!" Myrah stopped cold in her tracks. Without turning around she stood back facing Daisy. A sound much like a cats hiss rattled from Myrah( the sound sent chills up and down Daisy's body) and a new voice came from her one that resembled nails to a chalk board, " you filthy mortal."

Daisy's heart stopped for a moment " you filthy mortal?" She said to herself, " you are lucky i havn't killed you already. If it weren't for my Lord you'd been seperated from your head hours ago."

Myrah began her rushed walk again, Daisy had begun to cast a spell but stopped when she realized she would not have to fight the elf but she cautiously followed. She remained silent the remainder of the walk to her room, she remained on her toes prepared for a fight that never came. They eventually came down a dimly lit dank hallway, Myrah pointed to a red door and quickly moved her way into the shadows.

She let out a deep sigh of relief, she knew she would lose that fight no matter how hard she fought. As futile as it would have been she may have gotten lucky. She gathered herself and entered her room for the night being sure to lock the door and enchanting the room so she couldn't be disturbed. Her altercation with Myrah had her worried about Erlem, she didn't understand how she could allow them to be separated. She had been in a haze since she had met the elves and now that she was finally free of them she had begun to come to her senses. " these are not normal elves, what have I gotten us into." She lit a candle that rested on a small end table by a raggedy looking bed. The light revealed the rest of the small room, a few bookshelves along the walls no windows and a small desk in the corner. The rug on the floor dirty and the room smelled musty and damp. "I don't know what these things are but they are not elves." Her scarf spoke into her mind, " there is something terribly wrong here in this castle, it seems you have been charmed and this time i cant stop it." Daisy stroked her scarf with a puzzled look " ok at least we know somethings amiss."

"It must be a powerful charm if you can't even protect me from it. Its settled as soon as we get the chance Erlem and I will escape these "elves" and head for the citadel."

"The stress of these recent adventures have surely begun to weaken whatever defenses Erlem has against his omen, I fear anymore and those defenses could shatter and we could lose him."

Daisy decided to get a little sleep, if they were going to get away from these creatures she was certain she would need it.