The Elf King (15 page)

Takers
were nowhere in sight.

Chapter 9

T
erill Estrial moved away from his home at the Ailia Court with
his head sunk low. He walked past the endless rows of brightly
colored flowerbeds, past the trimmed shrubs and bushes, along a
narrow walkway leading away from the purest water spring the Lyyn
had to offer, out of his realm with grim reality coming back to
remind him how he let one problem slide so far out of reach. He was
thinking of course of the Dark Elves. Even the name caused an ache
in his troubling mind; a scar on the purest of Races.

He had cast them out of the
Ailia, banned them for life, or until their wickedness stopped
controlling them and they could reason once again. It had been the
right thing to do, he thought. The only thing really. There had to
be a law against what they were doing, a punishment set for anyone
else who sought to travel in their footsteps. Things were so far
out of control that a clean slate was needed. He didn’t wish to
hide the blemish, just remove it until it had diminished on its
own.

But it didn’t.

The problem with the Dark
Elves was their constant need for raw power. Terill Estrial had
been wrong to believe that it was something that the few elves
fallen by its lust could overcome by themselves. Locking them away
did nothing more than kindle the fire into a burning
blaze.

The Dark Elves grew in
power that was frightening. Trapped in the Shade of the Lyyn, with
no supervision, with no one to care enough to prevent them from
destroying themselves, they abused the magic to no end. The
constant feeding of it only allowed them to become more lost within
it; they could not save themselves even if they knew they had to.
Their power had grown so now, that even the magic binding them to
the Shade was not strong enough to keep them. They escaped as often
as needed. This was unthinkable at the time of the Shade’s
creation. The Dark Elves were on the brink of being the most
powerful creatures in existence.

Which is why they had to be
removed.

Terill Estrial reached for
the crystal laced around his neck and clutched it with promise.
There was no other way, he told himself. There must be an end; a
new beginning.

Terill’s head didn’t rise
as he proceeded further away from his sanctuary, heading into a
darkness he could only imagine. Already his skin shivered. They
would be watching for his return, waiting for a chance to make
things even with the Lord of the Elves. Waiting all those days for
revenge.

Terill changed his
thinking, trying to gain control of his emotions. He thought then
of the war coming, of what was needed. Magical instruments could be
created; he had others working on what was needed already, elves
strong enough to create potions and crystals and not lose
themselves in the act. They would be ready for the battle when it
arose. They had no choice.

He let his mind wander, to
think of fonder times, but the troubles weighted too heavy for his
mind to reflect. He was going to see the Dark Elves and it was
something not even he could push aside in thought. It wasn’t going
to be pretty, he knew. He expected a strong confrontation, a battle
perhaps. It was hard telling. The Dark Elves were still very
mysterious to him. He knew what they were and why it was so, but
outside of that, he knew very little. But he did understand that he
had underestimated their hunger for power, and their power itself.
He knew of a few instances where powerful Dark Elves had escaped
their prison, but yet returned.

Have they come to prefer
their dark cell?

His pace slowed then, as he
paused to wonder just how many of them there were now. There could
be dozens, he realized. A small army of the most powerful elves in
existence, perhaps. Perhaps he had overlooked the obvious and his
decision to find them would only end up killing him.

Terill shook his head,
tossing aside the notion. He would not be killed. His plan would
unfold and slowly things would be back to normal. The Dark Elves
will be destroyed. They would play a role in the destruction of
their own creation. It was only fair.

After walking for several
hundred yards, far out of earshot from the Ailia Court, Terill
Estrial slowed his pace, feeling the air about him thicken with
must. He could see the rotting in the trees around him, the moss
browning, branches wilting. The grass was thinning in small pockets
and shallow pools of dark stagnant water were scattered about. It
would be worse the closer he got, he knew. He could only imagine
what lay inside.

With a sigh and a shift to
his posture, holding his head up, forcing himself to not be
affected by the diminishing purity, he pressed on. He wore nothing
to defend himself from an assault; no magic could help him in the
Shade. The crystal necklace was a powerful magic, but he was not to
be wielding it. They were.

As he pressed on, passing
through the dying forest, he kept his focus on the dead trees in
the distance. It was there that the barrier began. Decay and rot
was ever-present now, everywhere; grass and bush alike were gone,
only dirt and swamp thrived. Even this far from the trees, Terill
Estrial could feel the magic in nauseated waves.

It had been decided that a
magical barrier be created and the Dark Elves would be locked
inside, kept away from everything else. Powerful elves joined
Terill as they created the domain, making it invisible to others,
making it forgettable. But not long after the Dark Elves were held
within did their poisoning of the land seep past the barrier,
ruining the area surrounding it. Even from within their prison,
their dark ways were affecting the Elves.

After a hundred yards,
Terill stopped walking. The trees stood only five yards away, their
dead branches streaking out like wicked hands from the grave, their
bark coated in rot with a smell that made Terill cough. Terill took
a deep breath, held it for a few seconds as he gathered his
composure, then entered past the tree-line. He stretched his arms
forth, hands flat, palms exposed, touching the invisible barrier.
Introducing his own magic into the shield, Terill began to open a
portal, allowing entrance.

Terill Estrial took one
last breath of the cleanest air he would be breathing, and then
slowly entered. Seconds later, the door into the Shade of the Lyyn
sealed shut.

Terill Estrial stepped into
the void he had created for the banished and nearly choked on the
pungent air. The Shade of the Lyyn was dark with thin sheets of fog
wisping in no certain direction. Death was clinging to everything
from the dirt, to the air, to the sky. Nothing lived. He didn’t see
how it could. It was the first time Terill had seen it; it would be
the last time as well.

He could feel the Dark
Elves presence threatening him right away. They had known he was
coming, he thought. He expected as much. He stood still, staring
out into the sheets of gloom, wondering how much of the forest the
Dark Elves ruined. The entirety of it, he guessed.
Why would they stop? How would they even know how
to? The purity of this world is as lost as their souls.

Instantly he felt something
brush across the back of his neck, pricking hairs, chilling his
skin. He turned, but saw no one. The presence was there, circling
him. He held his ground, waiting for whomever to show. He could
feel it, standing right in his face; he could almost feel the hot
air breathing back into his nostrils.

“
I need to speak with
Bree.”

Terill did not let on in
any fashion that he was concerned for his well-being. He didn’t
feel a challenge, even though there was one. Standing erect, his
face was nearly expressionless.

Seconds later, whatever was
in front of him growled then disappeared. Without moving his head,
Terill scanned the area, but saw nothing. It was a watchdog
perhaps, set to guard the door against intruders, gone now to tell
its master of his arrival. Maybe, he thought. Maybe it was just
something lurking about. But it didn’t attack him like it wanted
to, so he was under the impression that it served a higher
authority.

“
What do you want?” an
angry voice whispered suddenly.

Terill flinched. He saw no
one, nor felt anything near him. Just as he was about to respond, a
shape began to materialize in front of him. Then more, all around
him. There were several of them, waiting for his reaction. Dark
Elves come to answer his call.

“
I need to—”

A slender girl with long
black hair, pale skin and dark eyes, laughed with the cruelest tone
Terill had ever heard. Her smile was crooked, the twinkle in her
eyes made it appear that she was fantasizing about inflicting him
with a terrible pain. Her dirty cloak was ragged and torn, tied
about her waist, with pockets that hid her hands and a length that
ran down to her muddied boots.

Terill’s head cocked
slightly. “Breedoria?” He stared in vague recognition, his heart
breaking.

“
Old man, you’ve chosen
unwisely.” She hissed in return, standing only feet from him. The
others around her moved in closer like a pack of wolves. “You
should not have dared!”

The stricken girl’s fingers
flinched outwards towards Terill and with it came a thunderous bolt
of green light, freezing Terill where he stood. Terill watched her
pupils brighten for a second; her hair swirling like it had been
caught in the wind. Her faced flushed and the magic squeezed the
Lord of the Elves tight until he gasped. She held him off the
ground for a second, then withdrew the magic. Terill dropped back
to the ground, trying to steady himself.

“
Lord of the Fools! You
dare step into the world of the forsaken? Have you come to release
us from your precious cage?” Breedoria laughed again, wicked and
mockingly. “Or have you come to make sure we’re still
here?”

Terill Estrial could smell
the magic in her breath; she reeked of it. She had lost herself
completely. He remembered her from when she was a girl, vibrant and
young, nothing of what she appeared now.

“
I have come with
information for you of great importance.” Terill tried again,
tucking his emotions out of sight. This wasn’t the same girl he
knew. That girl died a long time ago.

Her smile was nothing more
than an icy line against her pale face. “Important for who? Not
we—the banished. What are your motives, Lord of
Hypocrisy?”

Her voice was like snakes,
coiled and hissing as she stepped closer. Terill began to speak,
but saw the sudden shift in her attention to his
necklace.

“
I’m sure you know the fate
of your love, Dren? The power that they had unleashed was so raw
and the magnitude was on a level un-achievable for Elves. I
have—”

Breedoria moved in only
inches from Terill, cutting him off as she stared fixedly at the
crystal. “Dren was a weak fool!
We
have mastered our ambitions.”

The Dark Elves around her
also began to move in closer, moaning in response to the crystal,
starving to feed themselves its power.

“
Give it to me,” Breedoria
whispered sternly.

Terill hesitated. He could
sense her addiction taking over. She was angry that it wasn’t hers
already, after seeing it for a few seconds.

“
The crystal is a power you
cannot control. It will destroy you.”

“
Give it to me,” she
demanded with an eerie subtly.

Terill began to undo the
fastening, speaking quickly. “Dren is lost. The power they
unleashed has consumed them. His spirit is battling death now
within the spirit of the monster they created.”

He watched her eyes grow as
the necklace was free of his neck. “The crystal was made to counter
the demon’s. It will draw all magic unto it. It may be the only way
to set his spirit free. If you still love him, go to him,
Breedoria. Save him. The magic is too—”

Before he could think of
it, the girl snatched the crystal from his hand. The Dark Elves
around her groaned wildly, howling in agonizing jealousy. Breedoria
danced around as she placed the necklace around her gaunt neck, her
cloak shimmering in the gloom, her shrill voice singing something
of praise.