Elf World Shadows Rising

by Matthew Pequegnat

  Zen also knew that while he himself was indeed a genius, if he said so himself, he was no match for her intelligence. That ability of self evaluation, to know just what his own capabilities were, was one of his greatest strengths. It was an unusual ability in a people who thought that they alone were the greatest in all things. Many Shadow Elves found out only too late, that there was indeed someone more capable than themselves. Unfortunately, for them it was a revelation that came to them along with the shadow of death. Zen knew his strengths, but more importantly he knew his weaknesses as well, and so was truly dangerous.

  Finally, he finished his preparations with the crystals. From a black velvet bag he withdrew a pale pink gem, about the size of an Elf’s child’s heart. Onto a black iron stand, he placed the communication gem. He sat down before the gem, and started to clear his mind before sending himself into the magic.

  “Whoops, blood and death.” He exclaimed, as he popped up and hurried over to the window and threw open the glass.

  “Mistakes like that will just not do, not at all,” Zen told himself as the momentary fright receded.

  Sitting again before the gem, he looked around and rechecked his preparations. Finding all in place this time, he threw his mind into the gem. Zen floated in the void only long enough to feel the presence of the High Priestess.

  “Mistress,--- I - summon - the - Reaver!”

  Quickly he pulled his thoughts from the gem. Sitha would not accidentally allow her magic to kill him, but still, a prudent Elf didn’t take chances.

  Besides, his mistress not only had more than just a slight cruel streak, but she was extremely impulsive. And what whimsy she indulged in might just kill him, or make him wish for death.

  The gem just sat there; nothing happened.

  “Did I do something wrong?”

  He started to sweat at the thought of failing Sitha, she was not a understanding lord.

  “Damn, this will be very unpleasant if-.”

  “WHOOMMPH.”

  The room shook, with the roar of the magic field expanding. A great ball of darkness coalesced above the flaring gem. Purple magical discharges arched around the blackness, and slowly there formed a shape of the creature.

  Suddenly as the magic had flared, it was gone. In its place was a vaguely humanoid shape, covered in dark robes. It hovered above the ground, for it had no legs that Zen could see. Nor did it seem to have a face; under the undead things ragged hood, only two greenish glowing eyes could be seen. From the fold of the cowl, Zen could see dead skeletal arms that ended in elongated hands, tipped with unclean talons.

  The Reaver looked at Colonel Zen, and for the first time in his life, Zen knew real and total fear. The very air seemed to freeze; a very palpable feeling of dread hung in the air.

  “Which--- way-- goes-- it--?” The things heavy dry whisper, was the sound from the grave unnaturally thrust into the realm of the living.

  “WHICH--- WAY-- GOES-- IT--?”

  Zen, near to bolting for fear of the thing, pointed out of the open window.

  “Th, that way, to to to the north, we think.” Zen barely was able to stammer out the answer, his mind shrieking at the presence of the undead.

  The Reaver turned from Zen and floated through the window. Zen collapsed to the floor, shaking with the result of summoning the undead. He felt not only the terror of its presence, but also an unclean feeling, as if his soul had been dipped in slime.

  Zen, not for the first time in his life, felt that the path into darkness that the Shadow Elves had taken was indeed not the correct one. But he was loyal to his people. He would follow orders, but he knew that he would not always approve of them. He watched the Undead as it flew out of sight above the trees of the estate.

  He had learned from that bastard Navdis, that Colonel Myst Sunstar headed the opposition in this operation. Zen owed Myst his life. A few years ago, he was at Myst's mercy, and Myst had let him go. Why he had done so Zen was not sure, but he hoped that one day he could have repaid him for his professional courtesy. Now, it did not look like that would happen; no one escapes from the Reaver.

  The Reaver passed silently through the night, seeking its prey. The smell of all things living the Reaver could track, for it’s hatred for life was absolute. The undead floated above the tree tops of the forest, a creature so evil and malignant that all nearby felt fear. Monkeys and birds alike screeched in terror. The forest came alive as all things bolted or tried to hide from the bringer of death. North and then east it went. The smell of Sun Elven souls, drew it like a magnet. It would complete it’s kills this night before the light of dawn forced it back into the void.

  ~

  Thomas woke Myst a few hours before the dawn.

  “Myst, I feel something coming from town, it---”

  “Undead,” Myst confirmed Thomas’ fear.

  “Ladies, get up please. We are going to have company.”

  Myst drew his sword; the faint blue gleam of it’s magic emanating from the cold steel. He was not sure of the type of creature that was coming for them, but he had faced undead before and this one was extremely powerful, so he knew full well that his own death was most likely at hand.

  The fear, of beings who inhabited the Negative Planes, was already beginning to creep into his heart. Savagely he pushed the fear down; death was not something he would fear. No, he had conquered the fear of death on the battlefield so long ago. What could an undead do to him that an enemy sword could not. Nothing; dead was dead.

  The girls had quickly dressed, and Kayla had started a small fire. The others were hurriedly trying to find dry wood to kindle the fire to a raging blaze. They no longer worried about staying hidden. The creature did not see light as did the living, but it clearly saw the souls of the living.

  Over the trees, on the far side of the small clearing, a shape drifted to the ground. It seemed a greater darkness than the night surrounding it. Fear overwhelmed Willow, and she shank in fear to the ground, whimpering in fright.

  “Lord Creator, God and father to us all, protect your children,” prayed Thomas. “Though we die this night, let us live forever in Your light, oh God.”

  Myst was surprised that Thomas had the self control to even pray aloud. He was not sure that he could even open his mouth.

  Zarra stepped up beside Myst. Her hands glowed pale blue with the power of Air Magic. Before them a shimmering blue shield formed and moved out, to block the undead thing.

  Momentarily, it seemed to stop at the shield. It’s foul hand raised and touched the barrier. Sparks rippled across the shield as it was ripped asunder. Zarra cried out at the back lash of magical energies. She dropped to the ground, unconscious or dead, Myst could not tell.

  Myst leaped forwards to engage the monster. He knew that his limited ability in Earth Magic was useless against a Reaver, just as Zarra’s weak control of her Air Magic had failed to even slow the thing.

  He lunged at the Reaver and his blade pierced the thing, and it howled in fury. Myst could sting it, but his magical blade could not destroy it. Spirit Magic or Fire Magic was needed to fight undead. Unfortunately only Zarra and himself had any magical skills, and weak skills at that, and of course in the wrong types of magic to be of use here and now.

  Again Myst lunged. This time the Reaver backed away from the blade that had hurt it. It’s eyes glowed with evil hate at the living things before it.

  It’s hand shot forward with unnatural speed and struck Myst in the chest. The force of the blow tossed Myst to the ground like a rag doll.

  The Reaver floated over the helplessly stunned Myst. It raised his clawed hand to swipe down and rip the hateful life from Myst.

  “NO,” screamed Kayla, as she flung up her hand as if to protect Myst from the foul thing’s blow.

  A comet of raging fire flew from her hand and struck the Reaver. The blindingly bright magical fire seethed with a vicious burning power as it fed on the undead thing, darkness turned to light, destroying it utterly.

/>   A shocked silence filled the clearing, as everyone turned to look at Kayla. Even Zarra who had just regained her consciousness, stared open mouthed.

  “You never mentioned that you had the Fire Magic ability Kayla,” Myst inquired of her. It sure was not in her dossier…

  “She not only has it, but her power is strong, very strong,” Thomas stated. “A master’s level surely.”

  “I, never knew that I had . . . That I could. . . I never . . ,” responded a very stunned Kayla who stood there staring at her hands...

  “Most people find out if they have the skill when they reach adolescence, or even before that. I have not heard that it could be hidden in a person so long, and never at the power that Kayla possesses,” pondered Thomas. He was, like most Gnomes, a curious academic who loved to ponder arcane puzzles.

  “We have not the time to sit here and discuss magic theory. Let us get as far away from here as we can, before night falls again. Reavers can not exist on this Plane during the daylight, so let’s make tracks. By the way thanks Kayla. I’m glad you hit it, and not me.”

  “Good idea, Myst. So lets get going,” urged Zarra. She was still more than slightly stunned from the encounter. She was also completely terrified of having another powerful undead show up.

  Quickly the group broke camp, and once again Thomas led them through the dark woods and into the mountains. They kept silent and close together, both for the need to keep together in the darkness, as well as for the need to feel the presence of other living beings.

  Dawn broke slowly that morning; a low cloud cover filled the mountains.

  “At least it’s not raining anymore,” thought Myst.

  A flock of Scarlet macaws flew over their heads in the early morning light. Their rich plumes a brilliant flash of color in what was otherwise a very dreary day.

  “What a wonderful sight. I wonder what set them all to flight all at once,” asked Kayla.

  Myst immediately stopped and sent forth a wave of Earth Magic. Silently he stood stiffly for a moment, and then relaxed.

  Walking up to Kayla, he took her shoulder and turned her to face a large Cocobo tree.

  “Look about halfway up on the right, see it?”

  They all had stopped and were looking where Myst had indicated.

  “No, I don’t see anything up there.”

  Just then the Jaguar stood up and moved to the end of the branch. It was a large male, well over two hundred pounds. It’s coat of gold and black gleaming in the soft morning light.

  “He’s beautiful,” Willow exclaimed. “Just don’t let him eat me, ok.”

  “I heard somewhere that Gnomes were one of their favorite foods.”

  “Zarra, you stop that. They most certainly are not,” Scolded an indignant Thomas.

  “Willow, stay close to the group anyway. Can’t have you playing with the wildlife,” Thomas suggested.

  Myst and Kayla both gave Zarra a dirty look. It had been only a few hours since the terror of last night. It was not a good idea to try to frighten the young Gnome lass. Zarra gave them a shrug.

  On through the long days march, they walked up and down the mountains. Nothing happened to them that day, nor the next, or the one after that. They grew tired of the up and down hike that had now become mostly down. The terror of the escape from Tazco quickly faded from their minds. Especially quick to recover were the Gnomes. The Creator had made a tough and resilient little people, in the Gnomes.

  It was Myst who was the most cautious of the group, while Willow was walking and whistling to herself; he was paying a close watch to the landscape. Periodically, he would send out a wave of magic to see if he could pick of any large creatures near by. There were lots of the small forest deer, wild pigs, armadillos, spider monkeys, a few antelopes and the occasional coatis, but no large predators in the area. The biggest predator he came across were some foxes, and a few margay, a tree dwelling version of the Ocelot.

  Thomas was walking at the front of the group, leading the way with his pack laden mule. Kayla was walking with him asking questions about Fire Magic, something that she knew very little about, but that was something that was obviously going to be changing, now that she had it.

  “Well, as you probably already know,” Thomas was in full lecture mode and most happy with his attentive audience. “All sentient beings are tied to one of the four main realms of magic, those being Fire, Earth, Air, and Water."

  "Only priests have access to Spirit or Life Magic, that which is given to them by the God or Goddess that they serve. And only evil can gain access to Death Magic, but for which they had to sell their souls to the Death Goddess.”

  Kayla knew all of this, but she let the kindly Gnome go on, seeing how much he was enjoying teaching her.

  “Now, all sentient beings are tied to one of the four main realms of magic, and they enjoy the benefits of that relationship. For example, Earth Magic gives all Elves a resistance to temperature extremes. That is an innate skill, that all Elves possess. But Myst, as you can see, is able to actually touch the magic and ‘manipulate’ it. You no doubt have noticed him stop occasionally and send out Earth Magic, to find any creatures that might be hiding waiting to ambush us. He has many other skills that-.”

  “Thomas, I think Kayla’s interested in Fire Magic, not in what I can do. So, if you don’t mind, leave my skills out of it.”

  “Yes, of course, sorry there Myst. Where was I again, oh yes, Fire Magic, hum. We Gnomes have it of course, as do the blasted Orcs and Ogres. The innate skills sometimes can vary between the races, as does the intensity of the various skills.”

  “But the most common innate Fire skill is the ‘Heat Vision’, which allows us to see heat as light. Its not like the enhanced night vision that Earth Magic gives, no not at all. That is merely the ability to gather low levels of ambient light and direct that light to marginally see better, and it is of course useless if there is not another light source to draw from, such as the moon. ‘Heat Vision’ on the other hand, works best in complete darkness. You see the heat that all things radiate. Living things radiate a significant amount of heat, and thus can be seen clearly. You should be able to use ‘Heat Vision’, but you will have to actively try to use it, while Willow and myself have it without trying.”

  The group wandered down the trail, all now listening to Thomas as he explained things to Kayla. Thomas was noticeably pleased with his attentive listeners.

  “What other of the innate skills of the Fire Magic that you possess, such as ‘Poison resistance’ is something that we will have to experiment with. Some of them, like the ‘metallurgy skill,’ won’t be of much use to you.”

  Kayla was not at all certain that she wanted to experiment with ‘Poison resistance’, but she kept quiet as Thomas went on.

  “The manipulative skills of Fire Magic all seem to deal with the use of pyrotechnics, and the control of fire and of heat. We all saw an example of that the other night with the undead, and you saw that fire is a very good way of dealing with their kind.”

  “By the way, what you did is called a ‘Flame Strike’. It is the creation of a ball of fire that can be propelled at an object, and then consume that object. It burns at well over two thousand degrees and can melt metal, so do be careful with it, won’t you Miss. Only someone with a master’s level of Fire Magic, should have been able to do what you did.”

  “You are very lucky, you know. Few people have the skill level that you have. Only less than ten percent of people have the ability to manipulate magic. Of those, eighty percent have only a minor skill level, another fifteen percent or more have an adept’s skill, and less than five percent have a master’s skill. And what is even more unusual is a person that crosses Magical Realms. Normally, an Elf who has ‘innate’ Earth Magic, has the ‘manipulative’ skill with that same Earth Magic and not Fire Magic or one of the other Realms, like Myst... Even rarer,” Thomas went on hurriedly as he say Myst looking his way, “is someone who can manipulate more than one Magic
al Realm. Do you think that it’s possible you, hum, well we can test for that too as we go along, I suppose.”

  Kayla was more than a little frightened at her new ability; she didn’t want to go around burning things by accident; what if she got mad at a friend and would end up setting him on fire? Or even worse, could her passion lead to an eruption… er, ah of real fire?”

  Thomas led them to a small clearing near a cool stream. They set up the campsite for the night; it did not look like rain, so they left the tarp packed on the mule. Thomas found some fire wood and set up a fire ring with stones from the stream.

  “Here now, Miss why don’t you sit down over here. Clear your mind, that’s it, now see the fire wood. Think about the wood on fire, see the flames.”

  Nothing seemed to happen. Kayla was sitting thinking about the wood and fire, just like Thomas had told her, but nothing.

  Myst came over to her and Thomas.

  “With your eyes closed, look for the thread. At first you should almost see it, and then you will have to force yourself to see it. Once you think you see it, reach out with your mind, and do with it what you can.”

  “I’m not sure. Yes, there is a red thread just beyond what I can see. It doesn’t make sense, but that is what is seems like.”

  “Good, now grab the thread and do what Thomas told you to do with the wood.”

  Whoosh! The fire not only ignited, but it burst with flames shooting six feet into the air. Thomas and Myst jumped back, but Kayla did not seem to be concerned.

  “Now miss, you just might want to consider a lower intensity. You have burned up all of the firewood it would seem.” They gathered more wood and settled down for dinner and another quiet night. Later on, Myst noticed that Kayla was staring at the fire. Suddenly the fire changed color to a bright pink, then green, blue, and then back to pink.