Erlem

Direth handed Erlem the stone, it was heavier than it looked and in Erlems tiny hands it look twice as large. Erlem rubbed his hands around the stones surface, it had no facets like a diamond would normally have and it was cold. Not cold like ice but cold like stream water was in the morning in autumn. He began to catch the light and the stones golden lightning bolts flashed across the blues and purples that made a sort of backdrop for the patterns.

" It gives its owner good luck, the better quality the stone the better the luck. Elvish jewelcrafters have been working with opals since the beginning of time and have unlocked their secrets."

Erlem, still mesmerized by the opal couldn't ven remove his eyes from it as Direth took it back and wrapped it in a satin cloth and placed it in a cushioned box. Direth place the box on the long wooden table and pull one of the stools over to him and sit down.

"come over here Erlem and take a stool, I thought tonight we would cut some opals."

Erlem ran as fast as he could over to the table and pulled the last stool over and climbed up it to sit down. Direth had Erlems full attention, he was interested in any magic that he had never heard of before and this gemstone magic was definitely not taught at the magestrate.

"The elves of Blud'heim were the most skilled jewelcrafters in the elven world before the great war. Creating some of the most powerful items ever seen. Of course those are different opals, we are just going to make a couple moon opal cabochons."

That word, Cabochon. It made Erlem giggle when he heard it, it sounded made up to him.

"what's a cabochon?'

"The final form of the opal. when the cabochon is perfect the jewelcrafter can awaken any powers and bind them to their owner."

Direth Reached into his robs, which Erlem had noticed were different than his usual flowing silken robes adorned with different little red jewels in their golden settings. Today he wore a large golden necklace that looked like rope as it hung from his neck. There were many tiny red stones set throughout the chain a that glistened as the chain rested against a brown sort of tunic. the tunic was very similar to the sort of thing low born non magical humans wore. His pants were a match to what Erlem had on except his were obviously old and worn and more comfortable. Direth pulled out a pair of spectacles with many magnifying like lenses installed so they slid down over the lenses.

"these are Jewelcrafters spectacles. they allow the crafter to grade the opal and see what powers it may have after its been cut."

He put them on his face making him look whimsical. Erlem let out another little chuckle before watching Direth pull another brown satchel out of his coat. He opened it up and dumped its contents onto the table. Several chunks of rock laid across the table, at first they looked like normal grey rocks but as Erlem looked closer he noticed that where the rocks had been broken he could see the layers of the sediments that made up the stone and among those layers was a layer of blue glasslike sediments.

"rough opal, just hunks of rock hiding something beautiful inside, something powerful. I see that with you Erlem, I know you have wondered why I have taken to you so. I see something beautiful and powerful in you. I can't figure out what it is but you are much more than an Autumn witch just like these stones are more than stone once we put some work in them."

Direth had a way with words and these words fell heavily on Erlem's ears, his magical energy pulsated uncontrollably. The room which is well lit without any shadows began to have shadows creep up the walls like vines squeezing the light into the middle of the room like an orb. Erlem fell from his chair into the darkness that had now filled the room and begun to suffocate the magical light that had been illuminating the room.

Direth had not moved from his chair, rather he just stared at the orb of light that had almost been completely snuffed out. The little red gems on his necklace began to glow and Direth began muttering a few word before he began to glow with a green aura. He pointed to the orb and unleashed the green aura in its direction.

The green light made contact with the orb causing the darkness to let go of the light and retreat back, as the orb soaked up the green light the stronger it became and further it pushed back the darkness. After a few minutes the orb had expanded and covered the room again and the darknest had retreated back into Erlem.

Erlem had been too afraid to move after he had fallen, the Omen had cast that darkness from him and now that Direth had seen it he wasn't so sure he would keep him there anymore.

"An Omen, you poor boy I knew there was something about you. How long have you been suppressing that?"

"a few months."

Direth gasped and almost fell from his chair. most omens take a few weeks at most to overcome their host and drive them mad or take their life.

" Well this is a serious matter my boy, you've been lucky to not have succumbed to it by now. Lucky you are again to have destiny land you here at Blud'heim."

Erlem got back onto his feet and dusted himself off. "why is that Direth?"

"Elves can cleanse an omen, we created the ritual after all."

Erlem knew he loved this place for a reason, finally he could lose his omen and him and Daisy could just go back to the gnob where its safe. "can we do it now?"

"sadly I will need to prepare the ritual before i can remove the Omen from you, so tonight we will continue with our current activities and i'll have the girls get it ready. Tomorrow night Erlem you will be rid of this burden."

Tears began to fall from Erlems eyes as his happiness spilled out quite literally. It took him a few minutes to collect himself again, Direth reached over and embraced the crying child and gave him a firm hug. "there, there my boy we will sort this all out and when your mother returns we will have a surprise for her." Erlem managed to stop crying and took some deep breaths.

Erlem climbed back onto his stool and wiped the tears from his face and the slime from his nose with the sleeve of his shirt. He had almost forgot the chunks of stones sitting on the work table before his omen reacted.

"pick out one you like then take out the things you have in your shoulder bag. "

The shoulder bag! he had almost forgot about it and its contents. He pulled out the leather and the bags of sand and powder. He looked to make sure there was nothing else hiding in the bag before putting it empty onto the table.

Direth took the items and Erlem watched closely as he began to use them. Direth stretched out the a leather strip and held his hand over the strip for a few seconds. when he raised his palm the leather had become apart of the table. He opened the satchel with the sand in it and began to pour it over the leather. He began using his hands again to rub the sand into the leather until it looked it had become part of the leather.

" Now you try Erlem."

He tossed him the bundle of leathers and the satchel of sand. Erlem inspected them again, they looked like regular objects. They didn't feel enchanted or magical just normal sand and skins.

"you look confused."

"How do they work exactly? Are they enchanted?"

Direth smiled and licked his lips as if he were about to tell a long tale (and he usually did as story telling seemed to be a passion of his).

'normal sand and normal strips of old leather is what your getting from these objects when you touch them right?"

Erlem nodded, he knew Direth had planned to tell this story either way. If Erlem had just copied him without the pause Direth would have gave a history lesson on whatever this was.

"This leather is special but not because its magical but because it can take on the properties of whatever its set placed on or on it. My hand and the table gave it some of their properies, the leather acted as new skin as it joined itself to the table. when i added the sand it took on its properies which now makes it perfect for opals."

"where do you get this leather? what creature possibly had this ability."

" sadly the elves did not create these, the race that created this leather was exterminated during the war of the nine titans. The fae."

"the fae? like fairies, pixes." Erlem knew all about pixies, the fire maple was the centerpiece of Autumnveil, the pixies had powered the city for a thousand years.

" The fae was an immortal race much like the elves. They were charged with caring for creatures that inhabited the world, as the elves were charged with cultivating the fauna of the world. each immortal race had a duty to the world. That was the beginning though, before man and orc and the other mortal races started crawling from the pools of creation."

Direth looked as though he was lost in a memory more so than a story, "The elves were the first to push against the settlements of men. They had no magic but they did have enginuity and began cutting down the forests and killing each other for more lands to destroy."

He continued on as he picked up the stone he had chosen and dropped a couple of the magnifying lenses down as he gazed deeply into the sliver of opal showing on the break in his rock.

"The fae were a beautiful race, their skin would change colors from blues to pinks to yellows and every color in between and sometimes all at once. they had beautiful wings that were like butterfly wings that looked like stained glass windows from the Cathedrals of the old religions. We would host the fae as much as they'd let us, whenever the fae were in these halls and lands prosperity would flourish for hundreds of years at a time."

He finally took his stone and began to rub it against the leather rotating the stone in a circle rounding out its edges. Erlem looked at his own stone as Direth continued his lesson about the fae and jewelcrafting items.

"The fae were innocent and could create creatures both magical and not and would often create creatures just for magical uses. These leathers come from a creature that disappeared when they did. They called it a Shaggle. Later in the war they would create great monsters to battle the titans, some even linger in Thre'a like the Bramble Beast and the Phoenix."

"the fae created the phoenix! Why would they create such horrific creatures?"

"The phoenix was originally created from life fire and created life before they were corrupted by the Ancient ones just like the Bramble beast. The ancients enjoyed corrupting and twisting the creations of the fae, often taunting them with these new twisted versions of their original creations. The titans were jealous of the immortal races for their ability to create life, they were created to protect the newly created world from outside deities influence or interference."

" So the Ancient ones were different than the immortals?"

"Very much so. the immortals are like gardeners and zoo keepers while the Ancient ones were more like great kings who commanded the magic of Thre'a. During this time there were hundreds of Ancient titans all ruling over different territories across the world."

Erlem had made progress on his stone, though it was going much slower as he cleaned the rock sediment from the glassy color bar underneath. Direth took Erlems opal and pulled his magnifying lenses down letting a "hmm" or a small gasp out as he inspected it. There was still some sediment covering the top of the stone but there were no defects that Direth could see.

He handed it back and Erlem went back to his work and Direth back to telling his tale.

" After a few millennia the fragile peace between the ancients had began to break. Each growing hungry for more territory and power they began warring amongst themselves. Destroying whole continents as they battled. The stronger Ancients would begin to amass allies amongst the immortals and other ancients splitting the world in half. As each Ancient would be defeated their power and territories would be split amongst those left. One Ancient realize this and began to kill its own allies and grew powerful from this knowledge. He grew powerful enough to claim the Phoenixes as his own and his power corrupted the once pure creatures."

"who was the ancient?"

The question hung in the air as if it was a physical manifestation, just the recognition of the ancient was enough to add magical pressure to the room and make it hard to breathe.

For the first time fear washed across Direth's face, he wasn't wearing his usually charming smile. He looked serious as if this was no laughing matter.

"The Ancients have no real names, just ones they gave themselves as they solidified their kingdoms. When the war started there were eight immortal races and three hundred ancients. When it was over there were only four immortal races and nine Ancients left. The remaining ancients swore allegiance to the Ancient who claimed the phoenixes and killed the fae. It named itself "The Great Maw eater of worlds" and created a stronghold atop a black volcano to the east."

Erlem had rubbed the opals surface of all the rock sediment and Direth had begun showing him the technique to round the top into a dome like shape. "It's in the wrist my boy. You'll be able to get into the edges tighter if you use your thung and index finger on each side. there you go lad."

His opal had lost much of its mass just as Erlem had lost track of the time. The room had no clocks or windows but he felt tired so he knew they were getting close to morning, he was also very hungry, there was a food tray left on another table but Erlem had forgotten all about food. The story and the stones had kept Erlems attention but his stomach had grown angry and started hurting on top of making all sorts of rude noises.

"Direth can we take a break a breaker for some food, my stomach won't stop complaining and i can't concentrate."

Direth laughed and pulled a pocket watch from his coat pocket. "oh goodness you are right my boy, it is well after midnight, time does fly when you're having fun!" He stood up and stretch his arms and legs encouraging Erlem to do the same. They looked silly walking around like ducks trying to get the feeling back in their legs. Direth pulled a string that hung by the door and shortly after Myra came scurrying into the room.

"Myra bring me some wine and bread and some grape juice for Erlem. I want supper brought in shortly after."

"Yes Lord." Myra bowed her head and scurried back out the door only to return a few short moments later with the items requested. She also brought some jam and honey for the bread and a slab of cheddar cheese.

" what ever happened to the Ancients Direth?" Erlem stuffed his face with thick slice of bread with some of the butter spread across it. Direth had poured himself some win and was nibbling on a small chunk of cheese he had cut himself.

"They were defeated by the elves and mages of thre'a."

It was a quick answer to a long story, Erlem was not satisfied with it, he was surprised Direth didn't go into details but this time he didn't. He pretended to focus on his wine and cheese and change the subject back to the opals they had been working on.

" are you enjoying jewelcrafting?" Direth flashed his usual smile showing his white teeth and dimples.

" Yea, it seems so boring at first but the longer you work the more you're mesmerized by the stone."

"The stones call to you, Autumn witches have a knack for it, the magestrate wanted to add the art to their course list but with so few outside of elves able to do it and our unwillingness to teach it to mages they dropped the idea. Elves do not like to share their magics with lesser beings."