Erlem

Erlem had spent a week in the castle so far, he had been treated with talks in the library and cakes with the Lord of the castle. During the day he was brought to his room atop the tower to which Erlem couldn't leave until one of the girls came to get him. He had tried one afternoon after waking up abruptly and decided to go look for Daisy.

She hadn't been back to the main part of the castle since their first day there, when he would ask Blu'dheim would say she was helping them with something of the utmost importance and was extremely dangerous. When she returned they would be back on their way on the titan road with fresh supplies and some gold and would go on about whatever they were doing at the time.

As Erlem went to exit the room he would walk right back into it. He tried shadow hopping out only to bounce right back into the room. no matter what he tried he would exit one way but enter right back through the door and into the room. Erlem spent all day one morning trying to leave the room eventually giving up only trying randomly just to see if the enchantment was still there.

It was early into the evening and the light from the sun was beginning to fade into the orange and purples of dusk and Erlem opened his eyes slowly at first, before throwing the covers off of him and hopping out of his giant four poster bed. The floor was cold and sent a shiver up from his feet to his spine and back down again. the marble floors were beautiful but made the castle cold at night, especially since majority of the castle was left without fires going to keep them warm.

He walked over to his desk chair and grabbed his morning robe and put it on, tying his robes tassels tightly around him. He knew Durah would be around soon to bring him his clothes for the day as well as his breakfast. He also couldn't leave the room without Durah either, whatever enchantment keeping him in the room was one that Erlem couldn't figure out. Erlem had spent quite a few hours scouring over the books in his room as well as all over the library, at night when everyone was awake he was aloud to go to any of the recreation areas of the castle if Blu'dheim didn't request him himself.

When the Lord called for Erlem it was always for something different and usually domestic like reading poetry or sharing stories and playing games. He had taught Erlem the game he had once seen on the long road, it was called "scromish" a game that Erlem had recognized. On the long Erlem had seen two children sitting across from each other with a checker patterned box between them.

He learned the elves invented the game after the elves explored all of the known world and writing many many scrolls about the creatures that lived there. There were 100 cards made from a thick paper covered in wax depicting the images of different dangerous beast from across the world. there were five slots on each side of the box. each player draws ten cards and places one card in each slot. when the players finished they would turn a small nob and the box would create a creature on the checkered field. the creatures would battle and the winner was the one who's creature came out alive.

After the elves left all the lands of the world and went back to their homeland the ire it seemed that some of their influence still remained even a few thousand years later. Erlem loved playing Scromish and would often challenge the lord halfway through a poetry reading or tea.

Durah opened his door holding some clothes, her emerald green eyes seemed to pierce through the room, they were the first thing Erlem always noticed.

"Master Erlem, the Lord will see you in his workshop today. He's requested breakfast be served there as well."

Lord Blu'dheim doesn't request anything in this castle, his orders were truly final. Erlem had learned fairly quickly the two female Elves Durah and Myra were devoted completely to him. He seemed to be rather kind compared to his servants who seemed to just tolerate him. He had treated Erlem very well and never once asked for anything.

What was curious to Erlem was his mother, he didn't think Daisy would just leave him in the night and not tell him where she was going.

He still had to cleanse this omen before it overtook him.

His nightmares had calmed as of late, it was like he had some sort of shield over his soul that wouldn't allow the darkness of the omen to break through. he wasn't sure how long this shield would last and knew he would have to leave soon. Maybe Castle Blu'dheim was to thank or maybe it was something else, either way he didn't expect it to last forever.

Durah left the room and Erlem changed into his clothes.

a white cotton shirt with a pair of brown leather like pants. He wore these types of pants quite often in the castle, it was elven fashion. The material was extremely rare in Thre'a since it made by elvish craftsmen. strong like leather by comfortable like cotton, it breathed well on a hot day and kept you warm in the snow. She had brought him shoes to go with the outfit this time. Erlem rarely had a need for shoes in the castle and was very often not given any to wear since he wasn't permitted to leave the grounds while Daisy was away.

He wonder why he was getting shoes, they were extremely well made shoes. Elves really did make the nicest things. these shoes fit him perfectly, They were an olive green, almost like they were woven from leaves and small vines with a deep black soul made from a material similar to the thick black leather they used for the shoes he would get from the orphanage but it seemed much stronger.

He took a quick stroll around the room in them to find them to be the most comfortable shoes he had ever worn. They even gave him and extra inch in height which he appreciated. His stomach growled as he waited for Durah or Myra to come and get him and take him where he was supposed to go.

Erlem began to parous the bookshelves out of boredom looking for anything interesting to read while he waited.

there were mostly poetry collections and cookbooks, a few potions manuals that Erlem memorized his first day in the castle. there were tons of scrolls laying all over the shelves as well but they were written in elvish and Erlem could not read them. He decided to abandon the search nd go sit at his desk and just make shadow dolls when he noticed that his lamp had been sitting on a field guide sized red leather bound book. He decided to move the lamp and check out the small book. the cover had no title so Erlem just opened to the first page.

"The key is in the blood of the user. If the blood is weak so will be the spell, Elves will never be able to properly employ the blood magic the titan lord Usifer commands. His promises are lies and the rewards he offers are tainted."

Erlem wondered who's book this was. It seemed like a journal of some sort but there was no sign anywhere of an owner. He flipped through the pages and looked on the inside of both the font and

back covers of the little book. He heard the door creek open so he stuck the book inside the desk to read later. Durah entered the room carrying a small shoulder bag and handed it to Erlem and directed him out the door.

Erlem was almost running as they went through the maze of hallways, Erlem had to stop and go back and catch up to Durah because he wasn't paying attention and would miss a turn. after a short time they came to a side of the castle that Erlem didn't recognize. There was a set of stars off to the side that led down into the dark. It gave him strange feeling as he passed by.

"where does that go?"

"to an old wing of the castle we no longer use."

They quickly left through a door on the opposite end of the hall that led to more hallways that looked the same. Erlem noticed that every hallway they turned to all looked exactly the same, red wall paper with the blud'heim banner on the walls and suits of old armor places every six feet or so. They even had doors on the same side of the hallways at the exact same spot. This castle was indeed a magical place there was no doubt to Erlem it was an elvish stronghold. He did wonder why it wasn't well known across the realm, how it just sort of disappeared with time.

After another ten or so minutes they came up to a door but unlike the others this door was unique. it was still in the same spot but it was a light brown with a beautiful golden doorknob that had engravings of vines and leaves that also made it look delicate.

Erlem could feel cool air coming from behind the door, he thought maybe they were going to a garden somewhere in the castle until Durah opened the door and he got a whiff of the air as it rushed past him.

Damp and earthy like playing in a puddle after a rainstorm. Erlem entered the room and noticed it was more like a work shop of some sort. It had a long desk with a wide array of odd tools. there was sand all over the floor as well as strips of leather all over the floor with holes worn into them. The room wasn't dark though, which was strange because Erlem couldn't find a single torch or candle in the room.

There was a large pool of water that had a nozzle with a knob on top protruding from the wall. He walked over to check it out and Durah quietly slipped out of the room. He looked into the pool and saw murky gritty water. Erlem wanted to see what the nozzle did but it was too high for him to reach without climbing up the ledge of the pool and trying to balance on one foot. There were a couple stools by the work table but they were not very tall themselves.

"Hello Erlem."

Erlem jumped having thought he was alone in the room. He turned to find Direth standing in the doorway smiling his charming smile.

"always so inquisitive. My boy that's a lapidary pond. Its water is used for jewelcrafting,"

"Jewelcrafting? like jewelery making?"

Certainly they weren't making friendship bracelets like a pair of girls. Erlem's disappointment was hard to suppress, it was written all over his face. Direth was already prepared for this, he pulled a large beautiful opal cabochon out of hi pocket. It was an oval stone shined to a glass like shine about the size of a pocket watch. The light reflected blues and purples over the surface with lightning bolt patterns that would shine gold as the light hit it.

Erlem's eyes locked on the stone he had seen opals before when he had gone to the middle level of Autmunveil for clothes and such when he was at the orphanage. They were very expensive and usually the rich had opal jewelery.

"it's beautiful isn't it."

Erlem mesmerized just nodded.

"you know what this is then?"

"it's an opal. a big one at that."

"its a moonlight opal, though it is beautiful it's much much more.'