The Fall of the Elves

by J. J. Thompson

  After a quick meal, everyone retired for the evening. Once Diane and Malfiess had left the main room, Ethmira took Chase aside and spoke to her quietly.

  “I don't feel right about this,” she told her as they stood by the front door of the inn.

  The dining room was empty, but Deakon and his wife and daughter were bustling around, clearing the tables and sweeping up after a busy day. Ethmira kept her voice low.

  “About what?” Chase asked, surprised. “Diane burned off the infestation in the scryers' tower and we saved Callius. Do you worry that there is still a threat?”

  “You don't?” Ethmira replied. “Chase, a few days ago we discovered that evil had entered our world and had already corrupted the village of Othallis under our very noses. It disrupted the planet's ley lines and possessed our greatest keeper. Now it has struck at the very heart of our civilization, here in Alderthal. We have to assume that we are still in danger, because doing anything less would be to fail in our duty as rangers.”

  Chase nodded her understanding.

  “Yes, of course you are right. So what do you want to do?”

  “I know that we are both tired, but while Diane gets some well deserved rest, we need to protect the inn. You go ahead and get some sleep and I will stand first watch. I will wake you up in four or five hours and you can take the second shift.”

  “Sounds good. But if you detect anything out of the ordinary, wake me up immediately. Don't face it alone.”

  Ethmira smiled at her.

  “Of course. Off you go now. Sleep well.”

  A deep silence fell over the village as Ethmira began her watch. She left the inn and walked slowly through Alderthal, weaving in and out of the neat little houses, her senses on full alert. She held her bow loosely in her left hand as she stalked through the darkness, a shadow among shadows. She made no noise as she slipped through the village, listening intensely to every errant sound.

  When she had done several passes through the town, she walked back to the inn and stared at the three spires outlined against one of the two moons of Trillfarness. They looked like black fingers reaching upwards toward the distant stars and Ethmira shivered as she looked up at them.

  “What's next?” she whispered at the night. “Where will the next attack come from? The forces of Darkness aren't finished with us yet, so where will they strike now?”

  The night didn't answer and she rubbed her eyes wearily before beginning another sweep of the village.

  The next morning, Diane and Malfiess met in the main room. They were surprised to see Chase sitting alone by a window, sipping tea and staring blankly at the rising sun.

  “You're up early,” Diane told her as she and the councilor sat down across from the ranger.

  Chase smiled wanly at the pair.

  “I've been up for several hours, actually,” she told them. “Ethmira and I stood watch over the village last night, just in case there were more threats against us.”

  Malfiess frowned at her.

  “You should have told me that you were going to do that,” he said irritably. “I could have taken one shift while you both got more rest.”

  “We're fine, councilor,” Chase assured him. “You know that rangers are trained to go for days without sleep if necessary. I had enough rest and I am sure that Ethmira would say the same. But thank you for your concern.”

  Diane grinned at Malfiess.

  “Let the professionals do what they do best,” she told him. “I am glad that our ranger friends took it upon themselves to safeguard all of us. I assume that you found no threats?” she asked Chase.

  “No, the village was quiet all night,” the ranger replied. “If we were a target of evil intentions, neither Ethmira nor I found any evidence of it.”

  “Good to know,” Malfiess said.

  Deakon appeared at the table with a tray of cups and an urn of hot tea. He beamed at the trio, his clean crisp shirt glowing in the sunlight streaming into the room.

  “Good morning, everyone,” he exclaimed heartily. “I brought enough cups for you and your other companions. I assume that they will be joining you?”

  “Thank you, Deakon,” Malfiess replied. “Yes, I expect they will. We'll wait a while before eating, just in case they come down in the next few minutes.”

  “Yes, of course. There is no hurry, Councilor. Take your time.”

  The innkeeper distributed the cups around the table, set the urn in the center and then bustled off again.

  “Does he ever get tired?” Diane wondered as she watched Deakon disappear into the kitchen.

  “Not as long as he has customers,” Malfiess replied with a smile. “Service is in Deakon's blood, I think. He loves what he does. But it is occasionally exhausting for his guests to watch.”

  He poured tea for himself and Diane. Chase shook her head when he offered to refill her cup.

  “Thank you, but I'm fine for now,” she said. “I'll wait for Ethmira and Mirran to join us.”

  The three of them chatted amiably for a few minutes and then they all looked toward the stairs as they heard footsteps descending from above.

  Ethmira and Mirran came down the stairs together, but what surprised Diane and the others was when they saw a third figure following along slowly behind them.

  “Callius!” Malfiess exclaimed in wonder. “He's awake.”

  “Awake and well, by the looks of him,” Diane observed. “He certainly doesn't look like the same person that we rescued from the scyers' spire last night. Mirran has apparently worked wonders in only a few hours.”

  Malfiess stood up as the three elves approached the table.

  “Good morning, Ethmira and Mirran,” he said warmly. “And Callius. It is good to see you looking so well, young scryer.”

  Callius reddened at the remark and he smiled shyly at Malfiess and the others. His eyes widened as he noticed Diane, but he said nothing to her and focused instead on Malfiess.

  “Thank you, Councilor,” he said softly. “I owe Healer Mirran my life. She brought me back from the brink of death and for that I will always be grateful.”

  Malfiess pulled out a chair for the young elf and he sat down carefully with an audible sigh of relief. Ethmira sat down beside Chase and gave her a surreptitious wink. Chase smiled back and then focused on the healer and her patient.

  “You owe me nothing,” Mirran assured him as she took the seat next to him. “Your spirit is strong and it fought hard to remain in this world. What you need now is food, and lots of it, to recover your strength. So eat a hearty breakfast. Don't pick at your food.”

  “Yes ma'am,” the scryer said self-consciously.

  The others grinned at each other. The elf looked and sounded even younger than he probably was under the stern gaze of the healer.

  Callius was slim and of average height. His hair was very long and dark. It touched his shoulders and gleamed in the sunlight. His face was smooth and unlined, with small features and large blue eyes. He was wearing the red robe of the scyers that he had been wearing the night before, but apparently Deakon's people had washed and dried it overnight and it was clean and neat again.

  Deakon shot out of the kitchen and hurried over to the table.

  “Good morning, all!” he exclaimed with a graceful bow. “Everyone looks well rested. Would you care for some breakfast now?”

  Malfiess chuckled at Callius' startled expression as he stared at the innkeeper. The councilor filled everyone's cup as Ethmira replied to Deakon.

  “We would indeed,” she replied. “I for one am looking forward to your pastries. I find that I miss them when I am away for too long.”

  Deakon looked ecstatic.

  “Oh, Lady Ethmira, you are too kind,” he said breathlessly. “We have a tray of pastries, fresh out of the oven, just cooling now. I shall serve them up immediately.”

  He bustled back to the kitchen and Diane rolled her eyes as she looked over at Ethmira. The ranger grinned back at her.

  “”Simp
le praise and compliments cost nothing,” she told the mage. “And they can often mean the world to others, especially those who work so hard to please us. Deakon has a good heart and he needs to know that he is appreciated, don't you think?”

  “I could not agree more,” Diane replied with a firm nod. “And you aren't wrong. Deakon's food is ridiculously good. If I stayed in Alderthal for any length of time, I would undoubtedly get fat on his pastries. Fortunately we won't be staying much longer.”

  Ethmira's expression darkened and she glanced over at Callius, who was sipping some hot tea as he gazed thoughtfully out of the window.

  “Yes, you're probably right. Callius, are you feeling well enough to talk about what happened to you and your fellow scryers?”

  The young elf put down his cup with a clatter and some of the hot liquid sloshed over the rim onto his fingers. He winced and wiped them off quickly with a napkin, then he stared nervously at Ethmira.

  “Yes, of course, Commander,” he replied with a slight stutter. “What do you wish to know?”

  “Everything, starting from when your tower was attacked. Leave out no details and take your time. Can you do that?”

  “I will try my best,” Callius assured her. “But my memories are very hazy and unfocused. I'm not sure how much I can tell you.”

  “Just do your best.”

  “Well, I was in the main chamber with the senior scryers two nights ago, when we heard a knock on the door,” Callius began. “And that was the beginning of the end, for all of us.”

  Chapter 17

  “As the most junior member of the Circle, I answered the knock on the doors,” Callius told the others, his voice quivering nervously.

  He seemed unable to hold anyone's gaze and instead stared down at his teacup as he spoke. Chase watched the young elf sympathetically, thinking that he looked like a frightened purlet confronted by a pack of predators.

  “Try to relax, Callius,” she told him. “You are among friends here.”

  The scryer looked up and caught her eyes. He let out a long breath and she nodded in approval.

  “Good,” Chase said. “We are in no hurry. Remember that you are safe now.”

  “Yes, Captain,” he replied. “As I was saying, I walked to the doors and opened one to see who was knocking. It was very unusual to have visitors to the spire so late at night, and even more so since the ley energy had dissipated. I wondered what anyone would want with us when we could no longer use our abilities.”

  He frowned for a moment.

  “Now that I think of it, I remember wondering why the two guards stationed outside of the chamber had not opened the doors themselves and announced the visitor. But they simply stood at their posts like statues. Very strange.”

  “And who was it that knocked?” Malfiess asked as he watched the scryer closely.

  “A lady, Councilor,” Callius told him. “Very tall. Her hair hung down loosely to her waist and she stared down at me with the colorless eyes of a keeper.”

  “Kallistra,” Mirran said breathlessly.

  “Yes, that is what she said her name was,” Callius agreed. “She asked me if she could speak with the Circle, and of course I allowed her to enter. How could I not? Keepers and scryers drink from the same stream. We tap into the same power. We are brethren in a way, are we not? I had to permit her to enter the chamber.”

  His voice was rising and Mirran reached out and squeezed his arm.

  “Easy, young one,” she said soothingly. “No one is judging you here. You did what anyone else would have done under the circumstances.”

  “Mirran is correct,” Diane told him. “You are not to blame for anything that happened to the Circle. We simply need to know the details of the attack.”

  Callius finally looked directly at her, his expression intensely curious.

  “You are a human, Lady?” he asked her.

  Diane smiled widely.

  “Does it show?” she replied with amusement.

  The scryer chuckled and seemed to relax a bit at her tone.

  “Just a little,” he told her. “But how does a human come to be on Trillfarness? Especially now, when we have lost contact with the ley lines? Portals cannot be opened between your world and ours.”

  “This is Diane Hastings,” Malfiess told him. “She is a mage who has a particular talent that can help us in these dangerous times.”

  “A particular talent?” Callius repeated curiously. “What kind of talent is that?”

  “I can use ley energy,” Diane told him. “Even now, when your people cannot reach that power, I still can. And I suspect that you can too.”

  Callius paled and his eyes widened in surprise. The others around the table looked from the scryer to Diane and back again.

  “What are you saying?” Malfiess asked her. “You believe that this young fellow can still use the ley lines?”

  “I suspect that he can,” Diane said, keeping her gaze on the scryer. “I cannot think of any other way that he would be able to survive the attack on his people. Am I correct, Callius?”

  “I...I don't know, Lady,” the young elf stuttered. He rubbed his temples and grimaced in pain. “I cannot remember! The keeper entered our chamber and the guards followed her. They moved stiffly, as if under a strange compulsion. And then a moment later the screams began. My mentor, the other scryers and the guards were engulfed in...some sort of growth that seemed to explode from the floor. I can still hear the keeper laughing, but that laughter was drowned out by the screams of horror from my fellows. I retreated to a corner as the corruption swiftly crawled toward me. The woman, Kallistra, left the room and I was alone in the chamber. After that, I have no recollection at all. My first memory after that is waking up this morning and seeing Mirran watching over me. And that is all I can say.”

  He picked up his cup again, his hand shaking, and slowly sipped the hot tea. Diane looked around the table at the group and the others stared back at her.

  “Now what?” Malfiess asked her.

  “I'm not sure,” she replied. “If my suspicions are correct, Callius must be tested to see if his link with the ley is still functioning. And if it is, I need to find out how he used that power to beat back the infestation in the tower. Obviously scryers are not mages and they can only tap into the ley lines to see over long distances and predict the future, or at least possible futures to come. I have never heard of them using the ley energy offensively. Have any of you?”

  “Never,” Ethmira told her. “Neither keepers nor scryers can manipulate the ley energy as you can, for attack or for defense. But perhaps Callius is different. He is very young and the young are much more flexible in their attitudes and preconceptions than more mature elves can be. It is possible that he was able to tap into the ley in a moment of terror and use it to save himself, where the older scryers would never have attempted such a thing.”

  “Now that is a good point,” Malfiess mused. “Obviously such a thought would never have occurred to the other scryers. But Callius is the youngest scryer to ever be invited into the Circle. Did his mentor see something inside him that set him apart from his fellows? A talent that was so unique that he wanted him admitted to the Circle even at his tender age?”

  “Callius?” Diane said gently. “Did your mentor ever talk about your abilities and your potential?”

  The youngster looked at her, his expression touched with grief.

  “Elder Wenden was very kind to me,” he said sadly. “My parents died when I was still a child, you know, from some sort of virulent disease that hit our village very hard. After that, I was orphaned and alone. Our local keeper took an interest in me, though. She said that I might have the ability to use the ley lines.” He smiled briefly. “I think that she wanted me to become a keeper as well, but after being tested, it was determined that I would serve better as a scryer. That was when I met the Elder. He was like a second father to me, taking me under his wing and training me to manipulate the ley. He did say many times th
at he had never met anyone who was so naturally gifted in touching and using ley energy. I always thought that he was just being kind. But now, I don't know. Maybe he was telling the truth and I am different from the other scryers. I cannot say.”

  “I see,” Diane said thoughtfully. “Well, I believe that you must be tested so that we can discover the limits of your powers, whatever they may be.”

  “Tested where?” Mirran asked her. “Here? I don't know if that would be wise. There may still be a threat to us here in Alderthal, even though Keeper Kallistra is now herself again. Callius would be a tempting target for our enemies, if he can indeed use the ley energy as a weapon. Would he be safe here now?”

  “No, I don't think he is safe in Alderthal,” Diane replied. “But I know a place where he could be tested, unnoticed and in perfect safety. With Callius' permission, we will travel there when he is ready and get started.”

  “Safe, Lady?” the young scryer asked hopefully. “I would be safe?”

  “Temporarily,” the mage told him with a rueful smile. “We won't be able to stay there indefinitely, because of the threats to Trillfarness. I am here to fight back against that evil, and I can't hide from it for very long. But time passes in that place at a different rate than it does here, which will allow us to proceed slowly and carefully. Of course, the choice to go is entirely yours, Callius.”

  “I want to know what happened, Lady,” he said anxiously. “Elder Wenden is dead. All of the Circle is dead, and yet I survived. I must know why. And if I can strike back at the evil that killed them, I want to learn how to do that.”

  “Well said, young one,” Malfiess said heartily. “Very well said. But before we leave, let's enjoy Deakon's fine food. You need to regain your strength after such a traumatic event.”