The Fall of the Elves

by J. J. Thompson

Several hours later, the elves met up once again in the main hall. Diane still hadn't returned and they were becoming concerned.

  “Do you think that she's in trouble?” Malfiess asked the rangers as they all sat again in front of the fireplace.

  The fire still burned merrily, apparently not consuming the applewood logs at its heart. Chase stared at it, mystified that the flames seemed to defy the laws of nature.

  Magic, she thought wryly. I will never understand it.

  “I have no idea,” Ethmira replied to Malfiess as she leaned back into her chair and folded her hands on her lap. “Time moves differently here, according to Diane. So how long has she actually been gone in the physical world? Minutes? Hours? Days? I can't say. I do hope that she returns safely. Also, as I just learned when I checked the kitchen cupboards, there is no food here. If something happened and Diane doesn't return, we may starve to death. After all, we have no way of leaving this place.”

  The councilor looked startled.

  “That hadn't occurred to me,” he exclaimed with a quick glance at Chase. “But you have a point. We may be guests here, but we are also prisoners in a way. Well now, that's an uncomfortable realization, isn't it?”

  Chase tried not to smile at his expression. She had never seen Malfiess looking so unsure of himself. That was very uncharacteristic of the elf that she thought she knew.

  “I'm sure that Diane is fine,” she told him. “She is not only very powerful, but very wise as well. I am not worried by her absence. I am much more concerned by the fact that Callius hasn't appeared yet.”

  Malfiess and Ethmira both appeared surprised at her statement.

  “You're worried about Callius?” the councilor asked. “Why? He just needs more rest, don't you think?”

  “Maybe. But my internal clock tells me that we all slept for several hours, even if time does not move at the same pace outside of this bubble as it does inside of it. Callius has been through a lot in a very short space of time. Could you sleep peacefully after that? Could any of us? I think that we should check on him, just to be sure that he is all right.”

  Ethmira quickly stood up.

  “You make a good point. Wait here,” she told them. “I'll go and have a look.”

  She hurried off across the room and through the far door. Malfiess watched her leave and then turned back to Chase.

  “It doesn't feel like we slept very long,” he told her. “Are you certain that we did?”

  “I am,” she assured him. “I have always had a very good sense of time. It has served me well and I trust it.”

  “In that case, I think that your concerns are justified,” he told her. “The nightmare that young elf lived through certainly would not allow me to sleep soundly if I had gone through it. I hope that it's just exhaustion and not something worse that is keeping him in his room.”

  “So do I.”

  They silently waited for Ethmira to return, listening to the snap and hiss of the fire as they did so. Without the sounds of conversation, the large hall was oppressively quiet. More like a tomb that a living space.

  “Do you really think that Diane finds this place comfortable?” Malfiess asked after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. “It is too big to feel cozy, at least to me. Give me a small elven house every time. This place is a mausoleum.”

  “Perhaps she likes the silence,” Chase replied thoughtfully. “Magic-users spend a lot of their time in study and contemplation. Any extraneous noises could be distracting to them.”

  “In that case, I am more thankful than ever that I am not one of them,” Malfiess told her. “I prefer the sounds of music and laughter and the ebb and flow of conversation. A life of quiet study would drive me mad.”

  “You get used to it.”

  Both elves jumped in their seats and turned to see Diane standing a few feet away, a wide smile on her face.

  “A little warning please, Diane,” Malfiess told her with a touch of exasperation. “These surprise entrances are hard on my old heart.”

  The mage laughed at him.

  “You are still quite young for an elf, Malfiess,” she said as she walked over and sat down next to Chase. “Forgive me, but I didn't expect you all to be awake so soon. Did you sleep well?”

  “We did, thank you,” Chase replied. “Did your errand go well?”

  “You could say that. I went back to Alderthal to check on the tower of the scryers. I wanted to be sure that all of the corruption had been burned away. I am happy to report that it has.”

  “Good to know.”

  “Yes. And then I went to Othallis.”

  Both elves stared at her in shock.

  “Othallis?” Malfiess exclaimed. “By the Mother, Diane, that was a risky thing to do.”

  She nodded, a grim expression on her face.

  “I know, but I had to see how far the infestation had spread. Sometimes using a Magic Mirror spell can be misleading. Firsthand observations are very important and I needed to see the full extent of the corruption.”

  “And?” Chase asked her. “How bad is it?”

  “It's worse than I feared,” Diane told them both. “Much worse. I stood on a hilltop miles from the spot where the town used to be and saw only devastation. Twisted forests of pulsing fungus and disgusting pools of green slime as far as the eye can see. It is the very antithesis of the life that used to thrive there. Only minds as perverse as those of the dark gods could infest your world with such a blight.”

  “Horrible,” Chase muttered with a scowl. “What monsters those old gods must be. I pray that the lords of Light can keep them contained within the Void.”

  “So do I,” Diane agreed. “At least until Simon has the chance to destroy them. Now you can see why he wants to do that. The Darkness will never surrender. It will always be a threat to the mortal realm unless it is stopped for good.”

  “A tall order,” Malfiess said dubiously. “But I certainly admire Simon's wish to make the attempt. I hope that he and his allies will succeed.”

  “We will,” Diane told him with a teasing smile. “Because there is simply no alternative.”

  The councilor gaped at her in surprise.

  “That's right,” he exclaimed. “You will be fighting alongside them, won't you? I'd forgotten that.”

  “That is my intention,” Diane replied. “Unless I fall in the fight for Trillfarness. If that happens, well then, I can only hope that Simon succeeds without me. I am, after all, only one person.”

  “But a very important one,” Chase assured her. “I admire your courage and dedication, Diane. Both on our behalf and on behalf of the other mortal races.”

  “Is it courage when you are only doing the right thing?” the mage asked her with a shrug. “I don't know. But I thank you regardless. I appreciate your support.”

  She looked around the hall with a frown.

  “Where are Ethmira and Callius?” she asked. “Still sleeping? That's very unlike an experienced ranger, isn't it?”

  “No, she went to find our young scryer,” Malfiess told her. “It's been several hours since we all separated to get some rest, but we haven't seen Callius since then. Chase was concerned about that and Ethmira has gone to check on him. But considering what he's been through, I suspect that he was more exhausted than even he realized. The youngster probably just needs more sleep.”

  Diane frowned as he spoke and then stood up.

  “Maybe so, but I'd like to make sure of that.”

  She began walking toward the far side of the hall just as Ethmira opened the door and rushed toward them.

  “He's gone,” she called out as she saw Diane.

  “What?” the mage exclaimed as she stopped abruptly and stared at the ranger. “What do you mean, he's gone?”

  Ethmira reached Diane in the center of the hall and Malfiess and Chase hurried over to join them.

  “Just what I said,” Ethmira told the mage. “Callius is gone. His bed is empty and I checked the rest of his suite. There
is no sign of him anywhere.”

  “That is not possible,” Diane said flatly. “No one could enter this place without setting off my wards, and Callius certainly couldn't leave. He must be here somewhere.”

  “Well, if he is, then he's invisible,” Ethmira replied. “I also went through all of the other suites, just to make sure that he hadn't wandered off somewhere. He simply is not in this bubble, as you call it, anymore.”

  The elves watched Diane anxiously as she began muttering a spell. The strange language was unknown to the three of them and they exchanged mystified looks as they waited for the mage to do whatever she was doing.

  Diane stepped away from the group and moved her hands in a complicated series of wide gestures. Blue fire left burning lines in the air that followed her movements until a strange glyph hung suspended in front of her. The elves watched in fascination as she used her powers and Chase felt a sense of awe in the face of such strange magic.

  She really is as powerful as I suspected she was, the ranger thought. I don't know what she will do to fight the evil that is attacking our world, but I cannot think of another person who I would trust more to make the attempt.

  Diane finished her casting and stared intently at the blazing glyph. Then she clapped her hands sharply and the symbol burst apart in a shower of sparks. Left behind there was an image floating in between the mage and the elves. An image out of nightmare.

  A bizarre world presented itself to the group. Hills ascending toward a purple horizon were covered with pulsating, misshapen vines that writhed and twisted around each other in a revolting, unnatural way.

  Flying creatures that looked like immense bats with ragged, torn wings glided across the sky and a weird discordant sound, like screams set to music, echoed out of the image as it floated several feet above the floor.

  Chase winced at the noise and stared in revulsion at the scene. Malfiess and Ethmira gazed at the image in shocked silence, both speechless in the face of something utterly foreign to them.

  “What...what are we seeing, Diane?” the councilor finally stuttered. “What is this place?”

  “I don't know,” the mage replied, her voice strained and shaking. “We are seeing what Callius is seeing. By the gods, it's horrible. But we can't allow ourselves to be distracted right now. I need to know where he is right now and how he got there.”

  “Do you think that one of the old gods discovered this place and snatched Callius away while you were gone?” Chase asked her fearfully. “Are we exposed to them now?”

  “Not possible,” Diane assured her. “Take my word for this, my friends. We are totally invisible to outside forces while we are in the Void. Unless I broadcast my presence to the evil entities that dwell in this place, we cannot be found.”

  “What if Callius did that?” Ethmira asked abruptly. “We don't know what he can do, but he was able to repel the attack on the scryers' spire, which to me means that he has some sort of power. And if that is true, then perhaps while he slept a troubled sleep, he reached out beyond the boundaries of this bubble of yours and caught something's attention. And whatever that was pulled him away from here and into its own sphere of influence.”

  The others stared at her. Diane's eyes widened in horror and she looked back at the image and shook her head.

  “Is that what happened?” she whispered. “Has he opened the door to something twisted and dark? Oh Callius, what have you done?”

  “It doesn't matter how it happened,” Malfiess stated firmly. “What matters now is getting him back safely. Can you do that, Diane?”

  The mage stared at the projection. She clasped her hands together and brought them up to rest her chin on them.

  “I think so,” she said slowly. “But whatever pulled him away from here still does not know where we are, and I'd like to keep it that way.”

  “How do you know that?” Chase asked her.

  “We're still alive,” Diane said simply.

  “Oh. Right.”

  “But if I manage to get Callius away from that horrible place, it will leave a distinct trail that a powerful being could follow back here to my home. I cannot allow that.”

  “So what do we do?” Ethmira asked anxiously. “We can't leave him in the middle of...” She nodded at the grotesque image. “That.”

  “No, we can't,” Diane agreed. She scowled at the image and then straightened her shoulders. “So I will have to do this the hard way and go the long way around.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Diane gestured and the image faded away. Chase sighed with relief as it disappeared and the mage smiled at her.

  “Disturbing, wasn't it?”

  “That is an understatement.” Chase said weakly. “Do you know what exactly that was?”

  “As I told you before, the old gods live in worlds of their own creation here in the Void,” Diane told her. “I have to assume that what we saw was one of those worlds. And as bizarre and horrible as it was, that was one of the more normal ones. There are worse out there. Much worse.”

  “Then how is Callius still alive?” Malfiess asked in confusion. “If he was pulled away from here and into the world of a dark god, wouldn't he be killed out of hand?”

  Diane turned away and walked across the hall to a tall cabinet. She opened it and began rummaging inside.

  “Not necessarily, Malfiess,” she answered loudly as she searched. “His own power may have drawn him away from here, perhaps as he was having a nightmare. Darkness draws darkness to itself. And in the Void, such an attraction can be amplified. If Callius is powerful, as I now believe him to be, his own powers may have been the conduit that transported him there. Whatever being lives in that place may not know that there is an intruder on its world. But that won't last long. We must act quickly.”

  Diane turned around and walked back to the group. They were surprised to see her holding a staff in one hand. None of them had ever seen her using one before.

  “I didn't even know that you owned one of those,” Malfiess said, nodding at the staff.

  “It was a gift,” Diane replied with a smile.

  The rod was as tall as she was, and very slender. It was crafted out of a pale, crystal-like material and capped with a faceted blue gem very similar to the one set in the ring she wore. The gem sparkled and glowed with an inner power that threw shadows across the hall.

  “Simon's air elemental allies found this staff on one of their many expeditions on Earth. He had them searching through old ruins and ancient pagan sites during the war with the dragons. He hoped to discover old tomes of spells, or anything really that would aid him in the fight. And on one of those trips, an elemental brought back this.”

  She held the staff up and the gem blazed even brighter, making the elves wince and cover their eyes.

  “Oh, sorry,” Diane said as she quickly lowered the staff again. “It does that sometimes. It's just enthusiastic, I think. Anyway, Simon already had a staff and even if he hadn't, this one was created by some ancient artisan to channel and shape ley energy, not magic. It would not have helped Simon in the least. That's why he was happy to give it to me. Needless to say, I was thrilled to have it.”

  “So some human being once used ley energy the way that you do?” Chase asked her as she stared at the elegant staff.

  “Apparently. Whoever they were, they must have created this thing to better focus their power. I don't normally use it because my ring does the same thing. But it may take all of my power to reach Callius and get him out of wherever he is.”

  She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. The three elves watched her anxiously and when Diane opened her eyes again and saw their expressions, she smiled reassuringly.

  “Before any of you ask, I'm fine. I used a lot of power on my travels, but just being here helps me recover very quickly. My home focuses and amplifies the traces of ley energy that exist in the Void and it allows me to draw on that energy.”

  “You said you would have to go t
he long way around to rescue Callius. What did you mean?” Ethmira asked her.

  “To avoid leaving a trail for some evil entity to follow, I may have to Gate him out of the Void entirely,” Diane told her. “That will muddy the waters, so to speak, and erase my tracks. Then I can bring him back here safely without fear of something discovering my home. It will be difficult. Traveling through the veil between the Void and the physical realms takes a lot of effort and energy. It is easier for a mortal to do so than one of the old gods, but it is still daunting.”

  “Why can't the old gods do the same thing, if they are so powerful?” Malfiess wondered. “How are they still trapped in the Void after so much time has passed?”

  Diane straightened her robe and adjusted her sleeves. She touched the large gem on her staff and it rang sweetly like the tinkling of a bell.

  “Because the gods are made of the same stuff as the Void,” she told the councilor. “They are a part of it, if you will. We, as members of the mortal races, are not. We are composed of matter and energy. The gods, both good and evil, are made entirely of energy. Void energy. And crossing into the material world when you are made of that kind of energy is incredibly difficult. I don't have the time to get into specifics right now, though. Callius is in great danger and we have to reach him quickly.”

  “You said we,” Ethmira stated. “Does that mean that you want us to go with you?”

  “If you are willing,” Diane said with a slight smile. “It might be dangerous. I can't say. But I may need someone to watch my back while I collect Callius and get him to safety. I cannot order any of you to join me, but if you want to volunteer, I won't say no.”

  “I'll get my weapons,” Ethmira stated immediately.

  She hurried toward the door leading to the private suites. Chase followed her silently.

  Malfiess watched them go and then looked at Diane.

  “I am no warrior, but I do want to accompany you, if you will allow it. I can at least wield my father's staff in your service, awkward though I might be.”

  “I would be honored if you would join us, my friend,” Diane told him warmly. “Go get your staff.”

  He grinned eagerly at her and turned to follow the rangers.