Remnant's Past- The Fall of Stoneholt

by Beaux Riley

  "Hey boss, has anyone seen Crowlis around?" Angaea and Jaya both said 'no', in unison. Asa considered this to be odd. Perhaps it was Crowlis that was in danger and not Kimura. The fact remained that Kimura made his trip with what he believed were well trained and powerful soldiers could only mean that they haven't gotten back. They were doing a simple reconnaissance, not an invasion. It was Asa's mistake that he got drunk. He had for the first time, in a long time, gotten some well-deserved rest. Kimura was not wise to have not taken at least one of the paladins with him.

  “Perhaps Crowlis decided to go with him?” Asa thought to himself.

  "I can't rule out Archen going with Kimura at the last moment. It's clear that Kimura wanted us to be here." Said Asa. He paced back and forth. "Why he didn't share the details with us further means there is more going on here. I'm going to see the Princess and we're going to find him. Now." Kilo stood, placing one hand over her breast in a salute, following the others in the same fashion.

  "We'll do this together." Said Cray. "No more gallivanting and going lone hero. We are a team, and we best act like it. I'm not losing anyone of you to this."

  Asa looked for one of the servant elves as he took off ahead of the others. Cray gave him a look of anger as he tried to part from Lizoke, who was still holding onto him. The half-elf followed closely behind with Kilo. As Asa found a royal official he calmly bowed and behind them came the sound of screams and confusion. He ran up the staircase, reaching the top to see several elves, much like the ones who saved his life in Maiden's Point. Asa tried to push through what seemed to be about fifteen or sixteen elves who'd joined in a crowd, curious at the situation. He saw a dwarf, unconscious and what looked to be green tree moss on his chest. Two elves dressed in black armor stood at attention next to another man who was dirty, and the smell of him could be sensed, even as far as the ten feet Asa was from him. The paladin approached ever so much closer, thinking he saw Kimura, but the face was different. The hair was another color. It was not their teacher.

  "What happened here?" Asa asked, looking at whoever would listen to him. One of the elves, a woman whose hair was very brown as he'd noticed came and pulled aside Asa aside. Asa was a bit concerned by this but acknowledged her.

  "You are the current leader?" She had her arms crossed. Asa scratched his head. At this point, several of the paladins were looking to him. It was not as though any of them didn't consider him like their leader. His time in the Zirris did leave him a head of a squad on more than one occasion. He nodded a 'yes', and she brought him close to whisper. "Kimura did not return with us. This man claiming to be his brother, came back with us and Talus." Asa assumed the dwarf was Talus.

  "Why didn't he come back? That has to mean he's in Imrosyn. We need to go get him!" Asa began to turn to call out his paladins when the elf grabbed him and turned him back. Shaeth showed a look of concern. Asa wondered why she stopped him and the means of secrecy in this meeting.

  "This man, Aedrius says that Kimura was taken." Shaeth said to Asa. The name 'Aedrius' came to Asa, realizing that the dirty man brought hope. Asa walked over and knelt to Aedrius.

  "Aedrius?" Said Asa. The man looked up to Asa. His face was of utter despair.

  "Who might you be?" Aedrius looked up at Asa. His eyes were dark, with rings under his eyes. Kimura's brother had to have gone through a great deal of torture on what looked to be his mind and body.

  "I am a student of your brother's. I need to know where he is. Now." Said Asa in an uncharacteristically strong voice. Asa got closer as Aedrius's face as a change in attitude came about the man. "Where is Kimura?"

  "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. But he is in Midian." Said Aedrius. A pause of disbelief swept over Asa. There was no way Kimura could be hundreds of miles away. It took them six days to arrive in Ela'syn on a steady and fast pace. Even pushing a horse to its limit would mean a three day venture. “He told me to ‘find them’. I assume that is his new paladins.”

  "I don't believe you. But-" Asa was interrupted as Illoke made himself known to the group. The people bowed before their King and while the paladins and Aedrius did not, he knew they were not used to the customs of the Ela’syn. Illoke waved acknowledgement at his people and Illoke knelt down beside Asa. Both looked deeply at Aedrius.

  “This man…he’s of a kind I’ve dealt with before.” Said Illoke. “Shadows obey your will.” Aedrius looked up at the King of the elves. A blackish essence seeped from the former paladin. “But now, we face a new threat. If the Darkened have reemerged, even I don’t think I can stop this…”

  “Days like this, I am sure you miss the Order.” Caliya said, standing against the railing outside of the crowd. She stared out at the new day. The multitudes of people who stood unaware of the events transpiring made Caliya frightened and angry.

  “The Order was responsible for the Sorcerer’s War. You weren’t born when that happened. Be glad your mother isn’t here to see her daughter so defiant.” Caliya didn’t face her father and instead came up to Asa.

  “Gryphons.” She stated. Asa stood, coming face to face with the elf. She stood only a few inches shorter than him.

  “Gryphons?” Asked Asa.

  “You need to get to Midian as soon as possible, correct? If there is even a chance you can find your teacher alive, you’ll man these beasts, with me of course.” Said Caliya. She looked at Illoke for a word of defiance of her disobeying, but was met with a grin.

  “I’d have rather not bothered them, but we have to cover distance now. The problem with your solution, daughter, is that there are only twenty gryphons we’ve found and trained.” Said Illoke, standing back and pondering what to do.

  “That is perfect. Asa and I will make our way to Midian.” Said Kilo as more of a statement than a suggestion. Asa considered her idea. The monks of Midian were protectors for thousands of years. Asa hoped they could actually defend their home. The turnaround in this caused him much disdain. Kimura had warned Asa and the others of keeping Midian secret. Bringing war would banish them from the place they’d called home for so many years.

  “You’re walking into their game.” Said Aedrius. “Don’t you think it hurts me as much as anyone else? Serict had to assure I saw that location. This is a trap, and Kimura is the bait.”

  “Let the Char be at Midian. Kimura went alone and we made the mistake of trusting him to go off and do as he pleased. It was clear that he didn’t trust us to come with him. We aren’t going in swords unsheathed.” Kilo argued with Aedrius.

  “Tell yourself whatever you want, lady. Kimura was a better paladin than you ever will be. He was my brother, I knew him better than you ever did.” Aedrius said, not raising his voice. “I am looking at the bigger picture here. Kimura was a proud man and ensured that only he was at risk in travelling into Imrosyn. You all could have died there.” His defeated demeanor was causing Kilo to want to make motions of wanting to behead the passive-aggressive and depressing manner that Aedrius was emulating.

  “You don’t understand. Pate is making his way back to Midian and we can’t exactly follow him into Averia. We’d be setting him up for a suicide if we don’t go now.” Said Kilo. The other paladins considered that right then. With Crowlis missing and Pate soon to return from his trip. Actions had to be made. Asa knew this and it was spreading the Paladine out too much that worried them.

  “How can we quickly move a force to Midian?” Lizoke interjected. She looked over at her elven King and he crossed his arms. And then pulled from his robes what looked to be a very ancient tome, barely the size of his palm. Lizoke approached him, bowing. Illoke motioned to her.

  “You needn’t bow to me child.” He said with a heartfelt smile.

  “But, I...” Lizoke stuttered.

  “You know of the ley lines that course through this world. The Darkened can force themselves through it, like venom into the bloodstream.” Illoke said to Lizoke. She understood the premise of the argument, but not his point. She nodded in a slow, uncertain ma
nner. “To force one’s self through to another part of the world would require great understanding and stamina to muster such strength. They would not simply appear right on the other side like walking through a door. It would distort their time and placement. Kimura might still be traversing this gate with his kidnapper.” The top floor of the stairway was silent, many of the elves dispersed to allow the paladins and officials to converse on the matters involving Aedrius.

  “Then what could have been the sense of dread we felt?” Asa thought to himself. The brown haired paladin looked over at Kilo who was already speaking with Caliya about these mythical ‘gryphons’, he’d barely known anything about. Winged birds with the feet and claws of lions, they couldn’t exist, could they? The strange sights Asa saw during their time mastering the Light, made him realize that many things were possible. Asa approached Kilo, one hand around her as Caliya described the nesting area that the Ela’syn kept the rare beasts.

  “…We’ll be taking the two of you ahead of what my father is planning. To pull open such a rift in a ley line was a common war strategy back when my father was a full time sorcerer, but now it’s so stressful on the body that he could very well pass out from it. I worry for him.” Caliya spoke, looking occasionally at Illoke, who was preoccupied talking to Lizoke. “The nest is by the giant tree right to the east of where we stand. We need to go now.” Before Illoke could give his approval, Asa and Kilo quickly followed the Princess to what looked to be the tallest tree within all of the city. Caliya vaulted right off the side of the staircase to the east most corner and caught a well place rope, allowing her to repel all the way down to a soft grassy patch at the very bottom. The drop looked to have been somewhere near eighty feet and Kilo quickly followed suit. She did not take the rope and simply back flipped off, apparently trying to show off to her lover. Asa turned his head to the others, all waiting for him to leave and caught eye of the four paladins not coming with them.

  “No heroics, we’re leaving it to you to bring our backup to the temple.” Said Asa before jumping off the side and barely catching the rope. He gripped it in his hand and nearly burned the flesh of his hand as he was trying to get a grip. Asa landed less than gracefully on the soft grass and dusted himself off to see the two woman already running towards the tree in the distance. A vanilla colored pathway split in three, one leading to his right that would return him to the stairway, another that lead towards Stoneholt, and the path he had followed dipped down into a large gathering of trees that created a natural circle in the area. He was almost able to slide down this pathway in the way that it arched, and imagined returning up would be a bit annoying for the less than nimble.

  “Rally the guard. Send as many soldiers as we can to escort the paladins and my daughter to Midian. Their protection is of the utmost importance.” Illoke stated to his followers. Groups of elves followed after Caliya and the two paladins to the nesting grounds of the gryphons. Illoke understood that they would have an advantage in the skies. Now the ground was his responsibility. “Lizoke Adestrin.” He turned to the half-elf and motioned her over. She shyly came to the King as so many elves were scrambling about the top of the staircase. The other paladins waited patiently for their orders in this situation.

  “Yes, my King?” Said Lizoke.

  “I need your assistance. We are going to contact some far away friends in Saebel and I need you to watch over me.” Said Illoke as he turned and walked into the palace. She hadn’t time to respond and looked back at Cray as she was motioned by her cousin to move on with Illoke. Jaya was pulled aside at that moment to go with Een. The proficiency that Jaya had demonstrated meant she could be helpful in making healing elixirs for the troops. Angaea and Cray were ordered by Shaeth to follow after the Asa’s group and try to catch a gryphon before they missed their chance, otherwise they would be joining the army at Stoneholt.

  ***

  Illoke’s personal chambers were amazing. In the very heart of the palace, overlooking the entirety of the city was possible from his patio. Lizoke looked around the room as they had travelled over three staircases to reach it. Slightly winded, she realized elves had to be in such good shape for using so many means of climbing stairs, trees and ropes. Around the room she could see various artifacts and relics. Weapons of ancient times hung from the walls. Pictures of elves that Lizoke had no possible idea of who they were had been layered with years and years of dust.

  A portrait that was larger than the length of two people, hung directly the opposite of Illoke’s reasonably sized bed. It featured what she believed were his parents. A woman of a pearly white hair and skin to match, held up a baby boy dressed in what Lizoke knew to be royal dress. This little boy had jewels and gold threading through an oak brown shirt and bottoms to match. He looked happy as he was looking up at his mother. The other person in the portrait was scratched from most of the image. His lower half, in a dress similar to Illoke’s robes had his hand placed firmly on the right shoulder of the woman in the photo.

  “Thousands of years ago…Many people didn’t agree with my father’s ideals. The dark elves wanted to eliminate all of his image from this world and history. They almost succeeded.” Said Illoke to Lizoke as he placed his hand similarly on the exact spot the portrait displayed on Lizoke’s shoulder. She turned her head slightly to see Illoke fully invested in the image. “I don’t remember his face. But I remember his lessons, his voice and his legacy will live on. Some things, like the state of this old family relic always remind me that some things cannot be forgotten. Now, let us get to work.” Lizoke looked a bit concerned at the King. He hadn’t given much insight onto what she was going to do.

  “How can I be of assistance?” She asked quietly looking about.

  “I want you to guard my body and read from these three books.” Illoke placed several tomes on a table near them. They were the same color paper as the portrait that they’d been looking at just then. Lizoke’s concerns of being a body guard were very apparent. She was not much of a fighter and failing to work a sword, meant she was better suited a book worm than an actual warrior. Lizoke believed this comment was to encourage her than to be actually what she was to be.

  “These books are about what?” She looked through some of the pages. Many of the pages were written in old Ela’syn tongue. She only ever saw the eldest elves carrying these rare tomes about and never had the chance to read them. “Hmm, it’ll take me hours just to read a page.”

  “Open your palm.” Said Illoke. She did as instructed. A stone was placed in her hand. It happen to be an emerald the size of a small cherry. “Place that at your temple. It will help you see the books in a language you can understand. Consider it a gift. I’ve memorized those old tomes ten times over.” Lizoke’s interested spiked and she excitedly did as she was told. Immediately she could feel a flooding of knowledge searing passed her eyes. She dropped to her knees, dumbfounded. “Amazing isn’t it? Caliya never took to the books like you have. Perhaps if you were born into our royalty, I’d have known to treat you like you deserved. Our people may have to develop the powers that have long since remained dormant… if the threat of the Char continues. I’ll lose my daughter and my Kingdom to ignorance and selfishness. I understand that now. I am going to go into a deep sleep on my bed here. Please take in this knowledge while I am away.” Lizoke slowly nodded and pulled a chair near the bed as the King lay on it. His powerful eyes looked at her once and then it was as if he were a child that had stayed awake too long and went into a deep trance. His body went limp and a flash of light erupted from his body into the very foundation of his palace room. Lizoke covered her face, feeling what she believed was his essence leaving his body.

  All of the focus that Illoke could muster forced him into a state of complete comatose. He was unable to interact with anything in his trance. His hands upon the fragments of his mother’s tree allowed him to commune with the forest and nearly all plant life within Ethra. To find the right plant, was the true test. He envisioned the tree he
’d given Teravin as a gift for their peace treaty and could slowly feel its presence as he travelled the roots with his thoughts. Slowly his spirit lifted from his body and flowed into the ancient roots of Ela’syn city and pushed outward to Saebel. He tried and tried until the tree was within his sight. His spirit pushed itself into the great oak that stood in the courtyard that Grand Secorim once walked daily. As Illoke continued to remember all his times talking with the old and now dead King of Saebel, did also grow his emotional connection to this particular plant.

  The tree, now fully imbued with his spirit slowly shook and took the outer appearance of Illoke’s elven form. A few guards witnessed the tree coming to life and were dumbfounded. One guard even soiled himself as he watched the tree uplift its roots and make its way to him. The tree spoke into the mind of the embarrassed soldier, now seeing a wooden face of the elven King.

  “Where is Prince Secorim?” Illoke asked through the tree. The guard pointed right down the walkway, into the castle. The tree walked like a man, twigs sprouted where Illoke’s shoulders would be. The guards followed and alerted one another to this unusual guest, not knowing if it were a trick or not. It didn’t take long for word to actually reach Teravin and Stratus that King Dawnsent was in the courtyard, entertaining birds who landed and perched on his fingertips.

  What seemed to be a large commotion was stirring in the castle as Illoke’s wooden ears could hear voices and the soldiers surrounding the Elven King in his current form.

  “Be at ease men. I am here for important business with the Prince and the commander of the Zirris.” He said to each of them. The soldiers did not palm any weapons, but their eyes and faces described more to Illoke than words could. They were simply confused, dumbfounded. One of the older soldiers who had gray hair and a beard saluted Illoke and pointed his attention at the other soldiers.