Darkland Elf: The World of Elf, Book 2

by Terry Spear

  Viator couldn’t believe that he was going to lose Eloria again. He needed to accomplish his quests, but he felt that she was the key to his success. Which should have irked him. He should have handled this all on his own.

  He rose from the couch and pulled Eloria to stand. "Go with Balen and learn what you can about the high elves and how you might be one of them." He smiled at her then, pulled her into a hug and kissed her. "If you are, you will be close by. The high elves live in the mountains beyond Darkland Forest where our mountain range is located, called Darkland Mountains. Theirs are the High Mountains where most high elves live." He had every intention of visiting her while she lived with them.

  "You will complete your quest, Prince Viator. I know in my heart that you will," she said.

  His mother scoffed again. "Of course he will. He is the crown prince of the darkland elves. Balen, take the girl now, before I change my mind and send Ren with her instead."

  "Yes, Your Majesty." Balen quickly took Eloria's hand. "We will go the back way while everyone is still enjoying the celebration."

  "Eloria, be safe." Viator squeezed her free hand.

  "And you too, Viator, uh, Prince." Eloria smiled at him, but she looked sad to go. He was certain she wanted to stay with him to help him with his quests, though he needed to do this on his own.

  Yet, in the worst way, he wanted her with him, whether he made his wings transparent or not.

  The music from the great hall flowed throughout the castle, and all he wanted was to dance with the mystery woman the rest of the night through. Though he tried not to worry about it, what if she wasn’t related in any way to Prince Zorak, which Viator considered she might be, and Zorak wanted to court her instead?

  21

  Before Lord Balen flew Eloria to Prince Zorak’s high castle in the mountains, he retrieved the rest of her things, including her stun gun, which she so appreciated. She might not need it, but she was glad to have it for backup, just in case. She was also glad she got to go with Balen because she figured she couldn’t talk about any of this to Lord Ren.

  Balen carried her off the wall surrounding his castle, soaring across Darkland Forest. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to flying like this. They flew high above a snaking river, and she spied what looked like a giant beehive way down below, perched on a massive rock in the middle of the widest part of the river. She thought it looked remarkably like a coiled rope. "Wait, Balen."

  He snorted.

  "Lord Balen. Look down there."

  He glanced down at the thing she was pointing to.

  "A memorial."

  "Doesn't it look like a coiled rope from way up above?"

  Balen hovered over the monument from about hundred and fifty feet high, staring at the object.

  "Goddess, yeah. Uh, oh." Balen glanced back at the darkland elves' castle.

  "You can't check it out without telling Viator."

  "If I return too soon, the queen will know I didn't take you to see the high elves right away."

  "Leave me down there. I'll explore it. You wait until it is safe enough for you to return to your castle, and Viator can join me down there."

  "Are you kidding? You are the one who is always getting into trouble and we have to keep rescuing you. And we don't even get any credit for it. There's no way I'm leaving you down there alone."

  "You have to tell Viator."

  "I will. I'll drop you off with the high elves, return for Viator, and he'll probably tell me to stay behind while he checks the monument out." Balen continued to hover in place as if he was waiting for her agreement, which surprised her.

  "You know I have something to do with the prophecy."

  "You are the prophecy and it only means trouble for my kind."

  "Okay, so you know also that somehow the three of us are tied together in this…conundrum."

  He looked blankly at her.

  "Mystery, challenge."

  "The queen will have my head. She can be quite vocal and physical, well, using her guards' muscle, if she learns I didn’t take you to see the high elves and leave you there."

  They heard wings flapping behind them from some distance and he immediately whipped around to see who, or what, was flying toward them. She’d hoped it was Viator, but feared it was a griffin or another flying creature that ate elves. Instead, she saw it was Lord Ren.

  “The queen had to have told him to follow us and make sure I did what she told me to do.” Balen flew off, not waiting for Ren to catch up. “He’s already going to suspect something’s going on because I didn’t go straight to the high elves’ castle.”

  “Say that I was arguing with you because I decided I wanted to see the shadow elves first. Who is the memorial dedicated to?”

  “The…the green wizard. He was a high elf, but a friend to all elves, no matter their origin. It is said that he was not that way in the beginning. He had a strong dislike for any elf that wasn’t one of his kind. But then something profound happened in his life and he changed his ways. He is the only elf I know of that could be called a friend of the blue elves when he wasn’t of their kind.”

  “You don’t know what changed him?”

  “No. No one does. Scholars have tried to figure it out for centuries, thinking if they could determine what helped him to change, maybe all of us could.”

  She saw a tower of white sitting high on cliffs and thought it reached toward the sky as if they were heavenly beings. Two dragons flew off the wall walk and swooped down, turning well before they were more than specks in the sky. She’d wondered if they were attracted to her or her amulet, but they didn’t seem to take any notice of her.

  Balen finally reached the wall walk and landed on their stone patio, surrounded by the high, crenelated walls. Archers sat atop the wall walk, watching for any dangers. A couple of dragons sitting in the courtyard watched Balen and Eloria as he released her.

  “I’ll wait with you until I’m sure that Prince Zorak is taking you in,” Balen said.

  She appreciated that he hadn’t just flown off.

  “Viator hasn’t given up on seeing you again, but once his father returns home—”

  “He has to finish his quests. So do you. I’m sure we will see each other again.” She had it in mind to ask Prince Zorak to take her to the green wizard’s monument. Then she could join Balen and Viator there.

  “I’m not so sure. If Prince Zorak has his way, you may be staying here. If you’re family.”

  “I’ll have him take me to see the shadow elves so I can speak with Persephonice, which is my quest.” Eloria sure hoped the high elves wouldn’t confine her here. She couldn’t allow it, but they had their own magic skills too.

  Balen inclined his head to her when two royal guards rushed out to join them.

  “This is Eloria. Prince Zorak saved her from the blue elves. Prince Viator took her home with him, but I’ve brought her here to speak with Prince Zorak about her friend Persephonice.”

  She wondered why Balen hadn’t said she might belong here, but maybe he was leaving it to her to explain who she was to Prince Zorak.

  “We’ll escort her to see Prince Zorak, Lord Balen,” one of the guards said.

  Lord Ren landed right after that and said to Balen, “I thought you had changed your mind about bringing the lady here.”

  “I tried to convince him to take me to see the shadow elves,” Eloria said to Ren.

  Balen agreed, then he took a deep breath, looking uneasy about leaving her with the high elves.

  “I’m fine. Tell Viator, Prince Viator, I’m fine.” Then she headed to the hallway leading into the castle and prayed she would be fine. But when she met with Prince Zorak, he was scowling at her.

  She assumed then he was angry that she’d been with Viator for so long, but she hadn’t offered herself as a hostage to the darkland elf!

  “Why have you come here?” Prince Zorak asked. Before she could say anything, he answered for her. “You’ve come here to force Persepho
nice to return with you to rejoin her father?” Prince Zorak asked, sounding surprised and irritated.

  “He’s concerned she’s lost her bracelet, which means her way back. And she’s had no way to communicate with him.”

  “And if I tell you she has no intention of returning with you? That she has married the shadow elf warrior Dracolin, then what do you say to that?” the prince asked.

  She folded her arms. “I would say I’d have to hear it from Persephonice.” No way could she take the word of this prince or anyone else.

  “And when you hear it from her? Then what? Will her father accept this coming from you? Or will he want to hear it from his daughter as well?”

  “If you want to know the truth, he will accept no answer other than the one he wants to hear. Namely that she is eager to return to the ship.”

  “I’m surprised you’re being so honest with me. I cannot imagine her father will be happy when you return to give him the news.”

  “I only want Persephonice to be happy. If she loves Dracolin and wants to stay here, I have no intention of trying to tell her she’s wrong and needs to reconsider.”

  “From what we’ve heard of her father, I don’t imagine he will welcome the news. What will happen if you tell her father she isn’t returning?”

  “I will be set off at the next world they come to. In other words, it won’t go well for me. I had no choice but to come here and try to persuade Persephonice to do what her father bids.”

  “So you do plan to try and convince her to leave.”

  “No. It has to be her choice.”

  Prince Zorak didn’t trust the woman. She was as beautiful as Persephonice. But what he didn’t trust was that she would leave Persephonice here and risk her own safety when she left here. Which meant he had no intention of letting her see her friend. Ever.

  He grabbed her wrist and before she could jerk her arm away, two guards rushed forth and held her still, while Zorak removed the wristband. Now she couldn’t communicate with her commander, nor could she leave, unless the prince said so. He removed her sword and the strange holstered weapon.

  “I would be extremely careful with that if I were you.”

  “What is it?”

  “A stun gun. It stuns the enemy or puts them to sleep, depending on the setting.”

  He took her pack and dumped the contents on the stone floor. When he found another wristband like the one Persephonice had worn, he took that also.

  Then he had one of his men repack the bag. He handed it to Zorak, who said, “We will have your accommodations ready now. You can take this with you.” He handed her the bag. “You’ll have plenty of opportunity to eat, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

  She opened her mouth to mention that she might be half high elf, but her guards hauled her away and she decided right then and there she didn’t care if she was related to any of them or not. She was leaving this place and either rejoining Viator, or heading straight to the shadow elves’ kingdom, hoping she wouldn’t get herself into any more trouble. Getting off the high mountain could be a problem though.

  She started walking down one opulent corridor to another where tapestries hung on the walls and the doors were trimmed in gold gilt. But then she was taken down several flights of stairs and nothing was adorned in these hallways. She was afraid they intended to take her to some kind of dungeon, like solitary confinement on the ship, only darker, scarier.

  She thought of using her magic, but then she decided against it. If they didn’t know she had any, she might be able to get herself out of here more easily.

  They took her to a wooden door and opened it. It was a small cell, like she was worried about, with one window high above and covered in sturdy metal ironwork.

  She pondered whether she should mention to the whiskered, narrow-eyed guards that she might be a high elf too, or keep her secret that she might be one, so they wouldn’t contain her magic somehow. She didn’t know if they could, but she didn’t want them to do that, if so.

  “How long do I have to be in here?”

  “For as long as the prince or his father and mother say. They are away at the moment. Enjoy your stay,” the darker-haired man said, and locked the door.

  She wished she could elevate herself to the window, but she couldn’t. What if she could call Talom, the dragon? What if he could tell Viator that she’d been locked in a dungeon! From what she knew, the winged elves couldn’t communicate with the dragons. She suspected Talom wouldn’t come. It was her amulet that had called him and how would he see it when she was so far away from the window in the dark dungeon?

  Still, she called out to the dragon, just to see what would happen.

  He didn’t come, naturally. But she wasn’t giving up. The thing about her translator was it seemed to work with all kinds of creatures, and she thought maybe she could get word to him through one of the dragons staying at the castle, or visiting, or whatever they were doing here.

  After an hour, she heard fluttering outside her window, but she couldn’t see what it was. It sounded large, like a dragon. But what if it was one of those things that tried to kill her before? Or a griffin?

  She called to Talom that she needed to be set free.

  But whatever creature it was, it went away. She called out over and over again. Then she heard several more fluttering wings and it sounded like a whole swarm of dragons. Or, maybe something deadly.

  Then a dragon poked its nose at the grate and peered into the window, looking down at her.

  Her amulet glowed bright green, but the dragon wasn’t Talom. She swore the dragon smiled, showing off lots of wicked teeth.

  “Can you help me get out of here?”

  The dragon made a funny sound, and then she understood its language. That’s how the translator worked. The creature had to say some “words” and it began translating so she could speak to it.

  “Talon isn’t close by,” the dragon said. “Why are you in here?”

  “Prince Zorak doesn’t want me to see a friend of mine, Persephonice, who now lives among the shadow elves.”

  The dragon shook her head. “Do you not remember me?”

  Eloria shook her head. “I don’t remember anything about being here before.”

  “We were nest mates. I’m Ilea. You have started quite a commotion. All of us are distressed to hear that Zorak has imprisoned you down here. The word is being passed along from dragon to dragon and to those who are carrying high elves who are on quests. They are returning them to the castle, offering no explanation. We won’t have one of our own imprisoned without good cause. Even so, we deal with our own kind ourselves.”

  “But I’m not a dragon.” Eloria had a hard time fathoming the new world she’d found herself in. She wasn’t an outsider like she thought she was, but part of the primitive world. And it wasn’t really so primitive at all. Except for when predators were trying to eat her, or hide her away on an island covered in mists, or elves were trying to kill her, or she was being locked up by other elves, her own kind, it appeared, she loved it here. She wondered if the land held some kind of magic of its own, because she felt totally spellbound with the beauty of the world, and she loved Viator. Even Balen, Lord Balen. But especially Viator.

  And Talom too. And Ilea. This was her home again. She might not remember it at all from her childhood, but she knew she’d never be able to leave. That was okay with her too.

  “We have sent word to Talom. This is a joyous day. I’m returning to the courtyard to let the other dragons there know who you are. I’ll be back.” Ilea smiled again and then swooped off.

  Feeling tension in every pore, Eloria hoped this all didn’t backfire. She didn’t want the dragons to battle the high elves, but she was eager to leave the dungeon. She realized she had accomplished the greatest inspiration of her life, rallying an army of dragons to aid her in her time of need.

  22

  When Viator saw Balen return to the ballroom, a place Viator didn’t want to be, but
his queenly mother insisted on it, he was dancing with Sendal. He hadn't wanted to do that either. But then he saw Balen and Ren return also, and he knew by Balen’s expression that he was peeved that Ren would make sure he carried out the queen’s wishes. Balen tilted his head to the left, indicating he needed a word with Viator. Viator wanted to release Sendal at once, but he finished the dance and abruptly left her standing in the middle of the floor. He joined Balen and said, “What news?”

  “Eloria is a wonder. She saw what looked like the symbol of the coiled rope. It doesn’t look like it from the ground, but from the air, it does. It’s the green wizard’s memorial.”

  Viator grabbed his arm and hauled him out of the great hall. “Why didn’t we think of that!”

  “Because you were right. This has to do with Eloria, and I think she’s right in saying she needs to be with us to complete these quests.”

  Viator looked sharply at Balen.

  Balen shrugged. “That’s what she says, and I tend to agree with her. We’ve been on every mission together with her.”

  Once they were on the wall walk, they saw dragons from all over headed for the high elves’ castle in the mountains, making it look like swarms of giant bees with leathery wings outstretched. They stared at the unusual sight. “What in the world is going on? I’ve never seen them massing like that before.”

  “Any coincidence that Eloria is over there and can call Talom to her?”

  Viator shook his head. “I see even the ones our own people have claimed and tamed as companions. Paying homage to her?”

  “What is going on?” the queen asked, coming up behind them, probably worried Viator was going to seek Eloria out.

  Viator motioned to the dragons, some flying in a v-formation like geese traveling to the south for winter. Others in singles or pairs. They were landing on top of the wall walk and the castle towers, everywhere they could find a spot. They looked like black specks, but they turned the top edges of the castle walls from glistening white to black, though the dragons were all different colors, depending on birth and origin.