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'And if I do not release my hold on her spirit and defeat you, then what will you do?' the demon asked slyly.

'Like I have always done, you should see the end is near,' the woman said and then there was a bright flash and the mirror went dark.

Chapter Three

Carmen's eyes went wild with the flash and she found herself on the soft loam breathing heavily from shock and from the weight of her armor. After a minute she removed the chain mail and lied by down in the soft earth. She closed her eyes momentarily wondering if all of these was really a dream and not real life. She opened her light brown orbs and glanced to the right noticing the great white wolf Sabriere laying on the ground staring at the half-elf with her large head resting easily upon her great and powerful paws. Carmen took the chance to study the creature fully for the first time noticing that the wolf's right ear was pierced and a small silver hoop was resting against the side of her ear. The wolf's large crystalline blue orbs gazed intently at the warrior.

You have many questions yes.

"What was that?" Carmen finally asked propping herself up on her right elbow facing the great wolf squarely.

"A memory of mine from a very long time ago, from before even your grandfather was born, of my master," Sabriere answered evenly.

"Why did you show it to me? I don't even know who or what those people or things were? When was that? Who is the elf back in town anyway?" Carmen let her questions come in a flood finally finding someone or at least hoping she had found someone who could finally answer some.

So many questions I should have anticipated that. The reason I am showing you is that you do not know who you really are. Your family's history is rich and very long; longer than most because of the Elven Blood. The demon-like creature is a deity that possessed your ancestor for the entire lifetime of an elf. The one on the ground was your ancestor the one who was possessed. The other woman was a great sorceress who is now the deity of knowledge she tried to free your ancestor but in the attempt, she only managed to get more involved in the curse than she meant to. This particular event took place well over seven millennia ago. That elf is the brother of your ancestor.

"Wait my father never told me anything of our ancestry. I have all ways been curious but I have never known what to ask and I cannot ask Uncle Mycan because he is not even related and my true uncle Dadrio is on the other side of the continent! Wow, cursed by a deity, is you sure that this is real history and not a fairy tale?"

Yes, I fear that your ancestry Zalef has caused much more damage than I first thought. Ask your father about the heirlooms of your house and get the answers before you cannot then you will learn who you are. With that, Sabriere rose to her feet and trotted off leaving a very baffled Carmen to figure out what she was trying to convey while the wolf went in search of her elven companion.

Carmen sat in the loam wondering what the wolf was truly trying to tell her. Her ancestor possessed by a deity; and cursed to live with the deity until the end of her immortal life that meant forever. Carmen shivered at the thought of being possessed but then a thought popped into her head. If she is my ancestor then there is a possibility that this deity possesses me too? She shook her head before gathering her feet beneath her, slipped the chain mail back on, and headed back to the town to finish the competition or at least watch the elf finish.

On the entire walk, back the wolf's words were flittering through her mind and she began to seek out all of the possibilities in her mind. She hardly noticed that she entered into town before that strange not half-breed Lavahar appeared before her.

"Where have you been? You missed the best jousting competition we have seen in years; the Prince was finally defeated by Raven."

"Looking around, I do not really enjoy watching jousting it seems so pathetic. When are the races to begin?"

"Pretty soon I'd imagine," Lavahar answered, "Are you participating? I'd imagine that you would have a chance."

"Nope, I just wanted to watch…I lost my chance to get a decent amount of the prize money a long time ago. I need more practice that much is evident."

"Ah, as long as elves start to participate that is; otherwise you would have won the archery and got second place in the fencing. I so much would like to see a woman win this competition finally, that would make my day indeed! Well I have to go and judge the next one so enjoy the rest of the day." Lavahar turned around and headed back to where all of the others were. Carmen felt like an outsider suddenly since she was the only one who was not over there; she started to walk over to the others when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder.

"I believe this is rightfully yours," a virile but melodic voice said presenting Carmen with a bag of coins when she turned around to face the cloaked elf. She looked at him in disbelief and then shook her head violently sending all of her dark brown hair flying around her shoulders and face.

"No, this would not be a fair exchange. You won that fair and square."

"Well, not really, I have an advantage called old age and a lot of practice," the elf drew the cowl away from his face and his long black locks once again were resting on his shoulders and the golden orbs were striking once again. Carmen could hardly stop herself from reaching out and touching the long hair. The elf smirked when he saw the small smile upon her fair face.

"Well, I think it may help you somewhat at least in your training."

"The wolf said you were related to me. I still have not figured out how."

"Ah yes, that is another place where old age factors in greatly. Yes, I have been around long enough to watch my eldest sister's descendents grow up and live on while she became mad."

"Became mad? So it was not a story it is actually true! Where is she?" Carmen slightly excited now by the prospect that she might be able to meet her ancestor. Her eyes went wide in interest the more that she thought of the possibilities of the idea that she could meet an ancestor!

"Well, you can not meet her now; she is looking for her missing soul. As you know my poor sister's soul is trapped in…." the elf's voice trailed off when he recognized the confusion within the poor girl's brown orbs. His right hand smacked his face and drug his hand down the side of his face in a combination of annoyance and disbelief. Carmen was shocked to watch the graceful creature do such a strange and oddly childish.

"Okay who screwed with the family history?"

"Huh?" Carmen could hardly believe that a different personality appeared suddenly on the graceful yet childish elf.

"If Zalef was here I'd throttle him myself!"

"My great, great, great grandfather, you knew him? No one has seen him in like twenty years!"

"Yeah, I was there when he was born, his poor mother, she was such a small woman. That young elf-ling was such a troublemaker I lost so much hair when he was two…and I am still wondering why I always was stuck watching the little bugger. That and I am still surprised that I still have the amount of hair that I do," the mysterious elf said yanking on various strands of his own hair to reiterate his point about Zalef. Carmen laughed at the carefree elf before her.

"So what did Zalef do that has caused this huge rift in the ancestry? I just know about his greatness during a huge war several generations back." Carmen answered studying the elf before her a little more carefully. He seemed in great pain and she did not know why.

"Yeah he was great up until he destroyed an icon of our heritage. He was meant to be a great leader just like his own ancestor but he killed a member of the family in blind rage, along with her greatest creation, and the history of my race before the Great War nine millennia ago."

"I still do not know who you are," Carmen stated as the suddenly sad elf began to walk away.

"Ask your father," the elf said over his shoulder.

The elf vanished into the dark shadows of the forest as Carmen watched intrigued and yet worried for him. Something had occurred in the past that caused this elf great pain that he could still feel even to this day. Carmen shook her head in sadness wondering what it must be like to be as old as this elf obviously was. Carmen headed towards a large group of people and spotted Uncle Mycan.

"Uncle, I need to ask you a question."

"Sure, shoot."

"Do you know any of our family history before Zalef?" Mycan turned towards his niece, ferried his eyebrows, and looked away in thought. He snapped his fingers and looked around before heading off towards the forest and away from the rest of the crowd.

"The bow above the mantle belonged to Zalef's grandfather, but beyond that I don't know who it belonged to besides someone in the family. There is a marking on the bow but the carvings are so old that I don't think any one today knows what they are or say."

"But, father won't let anyone touch that bow!" Carmen complained loudly enough to draw her father's attention. He turned around and headed towards the pair.

"What are you talking about Mycan?"

"Carmen was wondering who the bow belonged to."

"Why? It is an old weapon that I doubt will work anymore."

"Zalef apparently lost a lot of the family history and I wanted to know if we had any around the house that would help. Uncle Mycan mentioned the bow because it belonged to Zalef's grandfather and that is as much as we know."

"What has suddenly stirred this curiosity?"

"A dream I had last night." Carmen lied knowing that for some reason or another that she could not tell her father about the wolf, the elf, and the vision pool. Her father looked at her skeptically wondering why his daughter was suddenly interested in the past. He shook his head before guiding both his best friend turned family friend and daughter in the direction of the stables where they gathered their horses and paid the stable boy. As they were exiting her father both Mycan and Carmen were looking at the ground all most as if in shame for bringing up the past. Morrant Mysteve stopped suddenly though and his mouth fell open wide when he glanced at the massive and powerful gray steed grazing nearby. He had never seen a stead so powerful and so big! It had to be at least twenty hands! Mycan noticed the sudden stop, glanced at his best friend with curiosity, and frowned at the stunned expression on Morrant's face. He followed Morrant's gaze and Mycan's jaw fell in open astonishment.

Carmen on the other hand continued to walk lost in her own thoughts to even notice that her father and adopted uncle were no longer following her until her horse stopped suddenly. Carmen ran into a thick chest before she realized what was happening around her; she looked up suddenly into silver with gold-flecked orbs and an amused smirk.

"What-" Carmen began before the elf placed a finger over her lips to silence her and pointed toward her father, uncle, and the elf's steed. She smiled slightly.

"Would you like to ride him? He is a gentle beast, Master Mysteve," the elf asked looking directly at Morrant. The surprised man jumped slightly before turning to face the new comer.

"I would but I don't want to intrude." The elf chuckled before whistling and all four watched as the powerful beast trotted over looking quite pleased. He stopped right before the elf and rammed his massive head into the elf's shoulder.

"No apples right now, demanding creature," the elf said rubbing the steed affectionately.

"How did he get so big?" Mycan asked suddenly.

"I'm not quite sure but it is mostly within the breed. He is from the far, far north where the steeds are tall so they can plow through the snow." Morrant approached feeling better about the magnificent creature and he nearly laughed when he realized that for once he might have to actually stand upon a stump to haul his 6'3" frame.