Here we go! Chapter one finally done. I hope people who read this will post some feedback for me to read. If you like it enough that you want to see the next chapter, it should be up here by the end of November. Enjoy! A little disclaimer: this story is not based on any other plot including the "almighty" Forgotten Realms storyline. So pay close attention to differences between this story and what you've read before, and be open-minded. There's no point complaining to me that I've "got it all wrong", since this is meant to be an original story. Also, I may occasionally refer to elves using the words "man, guy, girl, boy, people, or woman". I will treat these words as non-race-specific. In fact, if it doesn't have the word "Human", "Elf", or "Half elf" in it, you may assume all my nouns are non-race-specific. It just makes the writing better that way. Suggestions are welcome although I can't guarantee I can incorporate them into the story. Also, these characters are not necessarily representations of people I know in real life, although my friends might shine through in certain characters from time to time. Okay I'll shut up and let you read now.
Foreward:
In a distant time and place, a world exists that is covered by rugged, snow-capped peaks, vast, grass-covered valleys, and lush, thriving old-growth forests. The planet possesses one great, sparkling blue ocean, which rests amongst the mountains in the northern hemisphere. In this place, the wind is ever blowing and the air is ever filled with the essence of magic and long-forgotten memories. This is a story of the many different creatures that inhabit the strange and beautiful world known as Kieron.
This seemingly perfect world has a complicated and war-filled past. In the beginning, there were only elves, and these were known as the High Elves of Areminn. They had lived in their mighty and beautiful city built with marble and stone for many, many thousands of years. With each generation of powerful young sorcerers, the Elves' magic became more and more powerful, until it finally became a power worth competing for. Only a few elected sorcerers were chosen to possess the most powerful spells, and these Elves were responsible for making sure that the power was used only for good.
However, there were those in the city of Areminn who believed such power should be theirs, and began to think corrupted and covetous thoughts. It was during this time that the humans first appeared on Kieron. Perhaps they had traveled somehow from another plane, or perhaps they had been there all along, but either way the news of their appearance baffled and worried the Elves of Areminn.
Everywhere, talk could be heard of whether the humans were good things or a risk to their long-established peace. The elves became divided amongst themselves as they debated whether to remain hidden in their forests or to go out and meet these strange creatures. This only added fuel to the already growing fire of greed for the powerful Elven magic that was so carefully protected.
The forest goddess Kiana was consulted by the Elven senate, and asked for advice about the humans. Her response was that the humans should be left to themselves, and not disturbed unless they harmed the elven way of life. The senate declared that Areminn would obey Kiana's advice, and the humans would not be attacked. However, not all the elves in Areminn were so quick to ignore this strange new presence, and a group of elves began lobbying that if humans could not be controlled, they must be destroyed.
A week later, for the first time in Kieron's history, a group of elves turned against their brethren and battled. The winners of the battle were the anti-human sect, and the conflict roused a great amount of public attention. Citizens of Areminn slowly began to side with one group or the other, forgetting that the fight had been amongst their own people. The rulers of Areminn declared that anyone who struck out against humans or disobeyed the decisions of Areminn's senate would be labeled as traitors and excommunicated from the city.
Unfortunately, the conflict had already grown much too strong to be stopped by the mere threat of excommunication. Two formal armies were constructed, one being the High Elves of Areminn, and the other calling itself the Champions of Might. A long and bloody war began, with the fate of humankind and Areminn's magical power at stake. The army that finally won was Areminn's, after they were aided by the mysterious forest goddess Kiana.
The rebel army was charged with treason, and banished to a dark underground cave. Areminn's magic was used to create a city of black stone for its outcasts to reside within, and a powerful spell trapped them below Areminn forever. Over thousands of years, the darkness of the rebels' new environment slowly changed their physical features. Their hair became white, their skin grew almost black with a bluish tint, and their keen elven eyesight adapted in a most interesting way. The Dark Elves, as they had come to be called, learned to sense heat in addition to light with their eyes, a skill known as ultravision. Ruby red pupils were the external sign of such a sense, and the Dark Elves' red eyes made them quite a menacing sight in the dark caves where they lived.
Many hundreds of years passed before the humans were again brought to the attention of the high elves. A small group of traveling humans passed by the city, and stopped at the gates to declare to the pointy-eared strangers that they were thoroughly lost in the great elven forest. The elves cautiously welcomed the humans into the city, and learned all they could from the band of travelers about the strange and unfamiliar human race.
After they left, the travelers told their kin what they had seen, and the existence of the elves became a well-known legend among the human settlements. Humans who came looking to see the elves for themselves and managed to find the city were welcomed and taught, to some extent, of the elven customs. The elves were surprised to find that the humans also possessed some small amount of magic, although it was not nearly as powerful as the sorcery the elves had spent so long perfecting.
Eventually, a dirt road was created leading from the prairies and mountains where the humans settled to the city of Areminn, and trade was opened between the high elves and the humans. Relations were not always perfect, but in time the two races became comfortable with each other's presence, and it seemed the days of peace could go on forever.
But all of that ended one day, when a single power-hungry human stole the Mo'suran, the most sacred spellbook the elves had ever created. The Mo'suran was written with the intention of never being used. It contained magic so powerful that even the advanced sorcerers of Areminn were not yet ready for the responsibility of protecting it. Therefore it was kept locked away in a sacred place, waiting for the day it was needed.
The human who stole the Mo'suran might have been forgiven if not for the fact that two high elven officials happened to enter the room as he lifted the heavy book from its golden case. The human feared being apprehended, and so he foolishly stabbed the two Elven witnesses to death with a dagger and fled the scene. This act – the act of murder – was considered an even greater sin by the elves than stealing the Mo'suran, and a distrust instantly formed between the elves and the humans. The human who had stolen the book was apprehended before he could leave Areminn, but the matter was far from ended.
The next shipment of goods that came to Areminn along the dirt road was turned away, and the humans were asked firmly to leave the forest and never come back. The unhappy merchants who had traveled so far with their goods demanded an explanation, or at least a refund for their traveling expenses. This the Elves would not give, and elf-human relationships became hostile thereafter.
Less than a year later, a group of humans were found hunting in Soulshadow forest and were attacked by a squad of Elven guards making their rounds. The skirmish touched off a bloody and serious war. Although the elves had powerful magic to fight the humans, the humans were much stronger at hand to hand combat, and the Elves were hard pressed to defend Areminn's high marble walls.
At this time, the sorcerers joined together to use the powerful magic in the Mo'suran to build a safe haven for the elven race to stay protected from the humans. The chosen location for this haven was a short distance from Areminn, high in the treetops. There, the elven sorcerers created an airborne city of floating platforms, all thriving off the life energy of one great tree. A magical lift platform was created, and enchanted with a spell that prevented any human from passing up to the city. This lofted retreat was aptly named Koeten, which is Elfspeak for Haven.
It would have been easy for the humans to follow the elves and discover Koeten, but the elves traveled only by night, when the forest was darkest, and by luck were never discovered. When the humans found Areminn deserted, they returned to their homelands and went on with their lives. In the meantime, the Mo'suran's magic was sealed away by the sorcerers in a secret location not even known to the elves themselves. This had been done according to the goddess Kiana's instructions, for according to her, the power would be needed again one day, and when that time came, a chosen bearer would receive the key to its location and inherit it.
For a long time, the elves did not return to Areminn. It was almost a thousand years before the great marble city was repopulated and restored to its former greatness.
Many elves opted to remain in the treetops, and over time their physical features became discernable from those of the elves of Areminn (now known as high elves). These "wood elves" retained the fragile figure of the high elves, but became slightly shorter and more agile, and their hair color was darkened in general compared to the almost-white blonde that was dominant among the high elves. Although some prejudices and culture differences formed between the two elven subraces, they always remained allied, and never forgot the dangers involved in dealing with human beings.
During this period of adjustment, dark elves attempted for the first time to return to the world of light. The magic that had sealed them underground had weakened with time, and it was finally possible to step outside of their dark home. Unfortunately for the dark elves, their skin and eyes had become so dependent on total darkness by this time that the pitiable creatures that did leave were burned everywhere the sun touched, and blinded by the heat of the surface world.
The sun drove these creatures mad and deformed their bodies, and the remaining elves opted to remain in their dark home, where society had been reduced to a world of deceit, cruelty and backstabbing in the never ending thirst for more power. In the meantime, the dark elves who had become deformed evolved into the huge, mindless monsters known as orcs, and wreaked havoc on any living things that crossed their path.
While the dark elves underground schemed and plotted revenge on the high elves, the surface elves had forgotten their ancient war against their brethren in the chaos of their conflict with the humans. It is during peacetime, several hundred years after the elf-human war was ended, that this story begins.
1: Fateful Wind
The autumn wind danced with her long blonde hair as the young wood elf sat quietly facing into the breeze. One leg dangled idly off the edge of the Kam'i platform, while the other bent to support her chin lightly against one knee. Her long, delicate arms folded around her knee as she peered off into the distance. The Kam'i she sat upon was perched several thousand feet above the forest floor, one of the highest platforms that made up the magical, lofted city of Koeten.
She closed her eyes and let the breeze caress her young face. It was very rare for such a phenomenon to occur, for the dense forest canopy and endless trunks of great evergreens formed a natural fortress against weather from outside. The elves had a saying that when the wind passed through Koeten, it meant the coming of a fateful change of events. It had been ten years since Maiysokat had felt such a breeze. Ten years since she'd been abandoned… She shook her head defiantly, blocking out the memories that beckoned to her consciousness.
She stood up abruptly, her fine bones giving her the appearance of a frail dancer. The appearance was deceiving, for of course she possessed all the acute balance and agility that her race was known for. She ran five thin fingers through her hair, as if warning the silk-like strands not to be carried away with the spirit of the moment. Her green eyes narrowed as she set her face into an expressionless, hardened gaze. She turned her back to the wind and crossed the Kam'i to her kiba shuttle. The glistening plate of magic responded to her touch immediately, and Maiysokat guided the craft with her will to descend several levels and cross the city in the direction of her home. She balanced perfectly erect, half-standing and half-floating on the kiba as the star-shaped disk cruised past several dozen more of the huge Kam'i platforms.
The magic used to control one's kiba was a craft taught to all young elves upon reaching their twelth birthdays. Prior to that, elves were considered children, and were required to travel with their parents except for visits to train at their guilds. By age twelve, young elves were expected to complete their basic class training. After that point, they struck out on their own to employ their skills through real experience. Maiysokat had undergone the initiation to adulthood early, at the age of six, due to the untimely deaths of both her parents. Although she had been alive for eighteen years, her body had only recently matured to womanhood, for elves were known to age more slowly and live much longer than humans.
The kiba pulled up to a small Kam'i platform and Maiysokat strode without hesitation across its length to a large wooden building. A sign carved above the elaborate, heavy doors read "Druid Guild of Koeten." Opening the gate, she let herself into the large main room and walked confidently in, completely at home within its walls. The hardwood floor felt cool and secure as she approached the lone figure standing so still in the center of the room that one could swear time had stopped.
He was an elf, tall and well-built, but still displaying the delicate frame that was characteristic of his race. His age was twenty-six, but his body resembled that of a human of twenty-one years. He stood, one leg two feet in front of the other, spread a shoulder length apart. He held a shining scimitar with both hands in front of his chest, eyes closed, back perfectly straight, and platinum blonde hair straying in front of his eyes. As if some hidden force had suddenly revitalized him, the young elf suddenly jumped forward into action, cutting and jabbing to the front and back, then parrying an invisible enemy to the left. Another strike to the front, then a hasty jump to the right that sent him rolling over the floor. The roll finished its 360 degrees, and ended with a perfect recovery back onto to the elf's bare feet, balance regained and stance identical to that from which he had started.
The momentary pause was broken once again by a sudden one-handed back handspring which fueled an airborne two-legged kick. He landed in an upright pushup position, resting on his clenched knuckles, but immediately propelled himself upward with his arms, falling into a perfect horse stance, legs bent and calves bulging out with unexpected strength as he turned his head left to face Maiysokat's side of the room. He sliced downward with the scimitar still clenched in his right hand, then brought it up with a sweeping circular motion and drew it back above and behind his head, while his left arm stretched out forward towards Maiysokat. His left palm turned up toward the ceiling, and he curled and uncurled his fingers at Maiysokat mischievously as if to say "bring it on."
His eyes finally focused on hers, brilliant green meeting brilliant green, and a smirk crossed his face. "You want some?" she asked roguishly, reaching to the weapons rack at her side for a steel morning star. A grin crossed her face as she lifted the bulky weapon with ease that defied her slight appearance, and stepped forward to meet her challenger. Her legs set into a matching pose, right arm held tauntingly in front of her while the morning star perched ready above her head. She made the first move, lunging powerfully at the young male and pulling her weapon downward with both hands. He dodged sideways, as she had expected, and swung his scimitar to attack her from behind. She followed all the way through on the downward arc, allowing it to swing in a full circle, parrying his blow, and skipped back to give herself more time to react.
He did not hesitate, facing her and swiping sideways at her open leg. She sprang reflexively into the air, drawing the morning star back behind her head and swinging downward forcefully as she descended toward his position. He stared upward, taken off guard, and gasped as he sought an opening in her defenses. He dropped his weapon to the ground and stepped slightly to the side, then dove upwards, grabbing Maiysokat's shoulders and pushing downward in the direction they were already swinging. She looked back at him with dilated eyes, taken completely off guard, and fell into a forward roll, which he rode out, clinging to her back and ignoring the pinch of the wooden floor against his spine. Maiysokat threw her morning star to the side as she came out of the roll, catching herself with her hands before she spun into a new one. Her opponent rolled off her back and sprawled back to give himself more room. They faced each other, smiling and gasping for breath.
"Tired yet?" he asked coolly.
"Don't get your hopes up!" she countered slyly, lunging forward with a strong back punch which he countered predictably. He returned with a knee kick to her stomach, which sent her staggering back momentarily to catch her breath. She recovered with a flying tornado kick which threw him several feet. She pursued him, throwing several lightning-fast punches which he narrowly escaped. Finally, she made the mistake of over-extending one of her throws, and he clasped her arm while it was extended, pulling her forward and off her balance. She twisted around to throw a knife-hand to his throat as she fell past him, but he cast it off to the side. He moved to step over her to guard himself as she fell, but tripped on her legs, and found himself falling helplessly after her. She landed with a thunk on her back, holding her head up to protect it from contact, and he landed sprawled over her body, catching himself by supporting his upper half on his palms.
"This means I win, right?" he asked tauntingly as he stared down into her shocked eyes. It only took half a second for the surprise to give way to submission as Maiysokat realized she had lost.
She suddenly became overwhelming aware of the heat of his body above hers, the thickness of his breath, the sweat beading down his strong neck, and the smell of his clothes. The expression on her face led the man above her first to confusion, then to sudden arousal as he recognized the glaze in her eyes. He swallowed hard, and stared at a small scar on his hand to avoid looking at her chest.
Just in time, Maiysokat regained control of her hormones and propped herself up on one elbow. "Tenseirod… you need a haircut," she murmured as she noted how long it had grown over the past few weeks. It hung wild and loose over his face, covering his eyes and falling almost to his nose.
"Is that so?" he asked, sitting up and allowing the tension of the moment to dissipate. "I was thinking of just growing it for a while. You're always telling me to, don't tell me you want to disapprove now."
"Fine, grow it out, then. I almost beat you that time. You must be getting rusty."
"You must be getting better," he said. She did not blush. It was true: she had improved immensely through her training with him over the past months, and they both knew it. "If you had been using a scimitar, you would have had me." He eyed her cautiously.
She gave him a sharp glance. He knew how she felt about scimitars. "I'll never use that weapon. Flattery won't change my opinion."
"Have it your way. But you were good. At that time, you had great potentia–"
"That was a long time ago. Don't confuse the past with the present," she snapped angrily.
Tenseirod gave a disappointed sigh and began racking the weapons. "At any rate, are you going to the ceremony?
"Ceremony?" she said, suddenly getting the unpleasant feeling that she had missed something important.
"The Citizen's Day ceremony. Did you seriously forget?"
"Yeah, until just now," she replied idly. Citizen's Day was partly a holiday, but its main purpose was to inspire reverence for Koeten's history, and for the history of the Elven race in general. Maiysokat wasn't surprised that it had slipped her mind: although she respected her ancestors and loved her people, she had never been moved by the festivities of Citizen's Day.
Tenseirod frowned. "Maiy, how can you treat it so lightly. They've been making preparations for the last three weeks. The only way you could have forgotten about today 'until just now' is if you've been hanging around by yourself again."
"Why do you have such a big problem with my independence?" snapped the exasperated young elf at her older friend.
"That's not independence. That's called self-isolation. You didn't have to go on living in that house after they died, you know. You were six. You could have moved in somewhere else. Why can't you just cut yourself some slack, for once. At the very least, stop trying so hard to be alone. You need—
"I need nothing. How many times do I have to say that I don't want help before you'll finally believe it?"
The two sat in silence for a few seconds. Tenseirod could think of nothing to say to her. He knew her better than anyone. In fact, as far as he knew, he was the only one who knew her at all. He knew her eyes, filled with loneliness and a stoic despair ever since the day her mother died. Although he wished he could do something to fill the gap that year had left in her life, she had always politely refused his help. He stared into Maiysokat's eyes, trying to read her. Her face held no expression; she was staring into space again. A grin crossed his face.
"I guess that's just how you are," he laughed to himself. "So, are you going? If you are, let's go together. I want to get there early this year so I can find a good seat," queried Tenseirod.
"Yeah, I'll go," she answered.
"Let's head over now, then. It starts in twenty minutes."
Maiysokat and Tenseirod emerged from the Druid Guild and crossed the Kam'I to their kibas, which were parked next to each other at the edge of the platform. Tenseirod glanced downward from his kiba, at the forest floor hundreds of feet below, and shuddered.
"Don't tell me you're still afraid of heights?" mocked Maiysokat playfully.
Tenseirod smiled. "You have to admit, the ground looks awfully tiny down there."
Maiysokat shook her head in mock embarrassment. "A wood elf afraid of heights. Don't tell me you've got some human in you."
"Tis I, Tenseirod the half-elf!" he announced sarcastically, chuckling.
Maiysokat considered swatting at him for his obscenity, but changed her mind when she considered that he might fall from his kiba in the act of dodging. Half Elves were considered disreputable villains, and casual discussion of them was vulgar and inappropriate. Ever since the elves and humans had parted ways, the half-elven race (the result of rare and pitiable unions between humans and elves) had been excommunicated from elven society.
Tenseirod did not seem to notice Maiysokat's distraught mood, and continued to pursue the subject. "Speaking of half elves," he whispered with the excitement of a young boy who has just heard a juicy piece of gossip, "I heard that there was an arrest last week. Maybe tonight's festivities will include a silencing!"
Maiysokat shuddered at the thought. She had never actually witnessed a silencing, but she had heard stories about the public punishments that were held on Citizen's day. It had been many years since a crime had been committed in Koeten; elves valued honour above all else, and therefore although petty crimes, such as unrepayed loans and occasional breaches of domestic rules, were indeed committed, the elves of Koeten preferred to resolve such issues among themselves rather than risk damaging their reputation with a scandal.
Although the silencing of a criminal was usually accompanied with celebration and great public approval, Maiysokat had never felt compelled to join in the festivities because the culprits were almost always half-elven. Maiysokat had always known that half elves were demons who brought danger and bad luck to her people. Although most elves recognized that bad luck was mere superstition, Maiysokat and most other elves felt that the myths about half elves were at least partly true. Half elves were objects of scorn: symbols of the inappropriate bonding of once-pristine elves to their enemies – the deceitful and imperfect human beings. Presently, Maiysokat began to reconsider whether she really wanted to be present at this year's Citizen's Day festival.
As if reading her mind, Tenseirod interrupted the young elf's thoughts with a reassuring voice. "Haven't you ever been to a silencing before? Don't worry, even though it's sort of creepy being so close to them, there are bars and a big platform between them and the audience. It's exciting! If you've never been to one, all the more reason to come this year. After all, it could be years before there's another one."
Maiysokat's curiosity overruled her anxiety, and she recommitted herself to enjoy the festivities of the evening without reserve. She and Tenseirod's Kibas had reached the center of the city, and currently descended toward the enormous Kam'I platform that supported the city's administrative buildings and was formally known as town square. Unlike the octagonal platforms which held up the rest of the city, town square was actually a circular platform which firmly encircled the Great Tree. The Great Tree was by far the largest in the entire forest, its trunk being greater in diameter than ten elves lying head to toe, and was said to be the dwelling-place of Kiana, the Goddess of nature. This tree's manna was particularly powerful, and for this reason the ancient sorcerers had chosen it as the location of the largest free-floating, magical Kam'I platform of Koeten.
All wood-elven spells required manna, which was possessed by all beings in nature. Elves had the special ability to borrow some manna from a living thing in the casting of a spell to supplement their own power, and it was this skill that had enabled the founding sorcerers of Koeten to construct an entire city floating thousands of feet above the ground. Because the Great Tree had such an unusually large source of manna, the entire city was built in a circular pattern around Town Square. Any Kam'I platforms that were placed too far from the great tree would not have enough manna to remain in the air, so instead of building the city outward from Town Square, it had been built upward.
This layout often resulted in one's destination being several thousand feet below one's starting point, and thus the kibas had been created to make transportation between levels of Koeten faster and less difficult. Even the kibas required a certain vicinity to the Great Tree to float and function properly. There had been rare incidents where an elf had directed his kiba too far from the city, and fallen to his death. However, mistakes were rare, and in general the elves were satisfied and quite proud of their airborne city in the treetops.
Maiysokat and Tenseriod had reached Town Square, and presently they stepped off their kibas and onto the enormous platform. The area was bustling with activity as hundreds of elves ran this way and that making the final preparations for the evening's activities. Banners made of brightly colored cloth hung from every available perch. Merchants joked and argued amongst themselves as they put out their wares on open carts, which cluttered the eastern side of the platform in haphazard arrangements. The merchant carts and stands were covered with every imaginable type of ware: everything from pottery, glittering jewelry, and handmade trinkets to magical items, carpets, and children's toys.
The aromas of many different foods filled Maiysokat's nose as she glanced over at the bakers' carts, which sold every type of candy, pastry, and soup that an elf could name. "First of all, let's get something to eat!" insisted Maiysokat to Tenseirod, having already lost her will power.
"Why did I have a feeling you would go straight for the sweets?" he teased, flinching instinctively in preparation for a smack from his friend. Fortunately for him, Maiysokat had become distracted by something else and hadn't heard his remark.
"Tinarae! Over here!" called Maiysokat to a blonde-haired elf wandering alone nearby.
"Maiysokat!" She shouted happily as she recognized her friend. Her shoulder-length wavy hair flew wildly around her neck as she ran to meet Maiysokat and Tenseirod. She was Maiysokat's age, though she was slightly shorter and her hair was a lighter, almost-white blonde. "Wow, I never thought I'd find you here!"
It was indeed unusual for Maiysokat to bump into Tinarae in Koeten, because Tinarae was not a wood elf. She was a high elf, and like most high elves, she preferred to live in the high-elven city of Areminn, which rested safely on the ground instead of the treetops.
Maiysokat laughed giddily at her high-elven friend. "Did you come all the way to Koeten just to see the Citizen's Day festival? How long has it been? Three years?"
"No, Silly! I came to see you! You never visit Areminn anymore. I was beginning to worry!" The two embraced in a tight hug, laughing and bouncing from side to side like children whose lessons had just been cancelled for the day.
"Uhh…..did I miss something?" implored Tenseirod shakily.
"Oh! You mean you've never met Tinarae? How can that be?! Oh well, Tenseirod, this is Tinarae. She's a student of wizardry in Areminn. We've been friends since we were just little elflings."
"And I already know all about you. You must be Tenseirod. Maiy writes me about you all the time," ragged Tinarae to Tenseirod, who was recovering from his confusion.
The three elves bought a bag full of colorful pastries at one of the food carts, and began to explore the fair. In one area, a colorful blanket had been laid out, and four elves in vibrantly colored costumes sat upon it, playing musical instruments. The smallest one played a wooden flute whose soft, mellow tone made the air feel warm and alive. Another played small drums made of tanned hide stretched over clay pots. The other two musicians played a mysterious instrument with long strings and many knobs. Maiysokat had never seen it before, but thought that it might be an elven harp, which she had heard about in stories.
Next was a miniature stage with hand puppets performing for young children.
"Oh, look Maiy! Remember how much we loved these when we were little?!" cried Tinarae, delighted as always by the poorly-made puppets in the tiny stage.
Maiysokat sighed agreeably, and she and Tinarae stepped up to watch the show with the children. The puppets were re-enacting the main events of the war between the elves and the humans. First the elven and human puppets danced merrily together. The characters spoke of lifelong peace and order for centuries to come. Then, the puppets left the stage except for one human. The human went into a drawer labeled "Lost Elven Magic" and began stashing its invisible contents into his pockets.
Just then, two elves entered the room unsusupectingly, and noticed the human stealing their sacred rituals from the drawer. The taller elf puppet began to explain to the human that the Lost Magic was not to be used, even by elves, until the day their sworn enemies, the dark elves, attacked the city once more. The human puppet cackled greedily and pulled out a dagger, and stabbed the unsuspecting elf puppets to death. He then seized the Lost Magic and ran from the room.
The narrator puppet stepped onto the stage, stepping over the bodies of his lost kin, and began to speak. "And that is how humans and elves parted ways, and the reason that elves should never trust human beings. Because humans are deceitful, we must never allow them into our forest, and we must never let them learn the locations of our great cities. In memory of this horrible crime, elves must never use daggers in combat. They are primitive, unclean tools for use only by humans. And remember always that murder is an unspeakable crime. There is no greater sin than murder. The End."
The children shuddered at the word "murder", then clapped excitedly in gratitude for the performance and the valuable lesson. Of course, they already knew about the way humans had betrayed the elves, and they had all been taught from infancy that murder was an unforgivable act, far worse than any other crime. Although it was a terrible story, the young elves had heard it so many times that its novelty had already worn off, and thus it was suitable as material for entertainment.
To lighten the mood, the puppets came back out on stage and began performing a slapstick comedy about a young elf who had put his clothes on backwards and walked about the city without realizing what was wrong. Maiysokat and Tinarae giggled gleefully at the puppets' clumsy antics. Tenseirod was becoming embarrassed of them and their loud "ooh's" and "aww's", and politely excused himself to enjoy the more masculine elements of the festival.
No sooner had he left, than Tinarae and Maiysokat exchanged mischievious glances. "I thought he'd never leave!" said Tinarae slyly.
"Now then, shall we go have some real fun?" quipped Maiysokat.
"What ever could you mean?" exclaimed Tinarae in mock naïveté.
The two grinned knowingly at each other and exclaimed in unison, "Shopping!"
With that, the two marched off arm-in-arm toward the shops and began examining each merchant's cart with almost disturbing thoroughness. They came to a cart selling hand-crafted jewelry and amulets. Maiysokat glanced over the merchandise, when a shining pendant caught her eye. It featured a pair of leopards curled around each other in a circle, each crafted of solid platinum with amethyst jewels for eyes. It hung from two silver chains on a hook amidst hundreds of other necklaces.
Tinarae noticed Maiysokat's interest and said, "That's the sacred beast of the druids, right? The cat?"
"Yeah," Maiysokat nodded, "It's supposed to be the avatar of Kiana, the guardian of nature."
The perceptive shopkeeper reached for the necklace and lifted it gently from the hook, jangling the other necklaces, which glittered like sunlight. He held it up to show Maiysokat and Tinarae. "You fancy this one? It's quite a treasure. The cats unlock, you see?" He wiggled the two cats gently, and sure enough they came apart. What Maiysokat had thought to be a double chain was actually two separate chains, one for each half of the amulet. "But the interesting thing about this pendant is the back," he said enthusiastically, obviously impressed with the piece himself. He turned the two cats over to reveal strange lines expertly carved into each piece.
"What do those mean?" asked Maiysokat, becoming more and more interested.
The shopkeeper grinned and reunited the two pieces in their original shape, then showed her the back a second time. When they were brought together, the lines formed a set of ancient Elven runes, a written language no longer in use.
"Those runes….what do they stand for?" asked Tinarae.
They say "Eternal Friendship," replied the shopkeeper. "In ancient times, these were quite commonplace. In the time of the Great War (he was referring to the war between elves and the race now known as dark elves), soldiers would share these with their comrades before going to battle, to remember each other. They're quite hard to come by nowadays. I've only seen two or three in my lifetime, despite the fact that it's my trade. This one is by far the most beautiful I've come across. I couldn't let it go for less than eighty gold pieces.
Maiysokat shook her head regretfully and told him, "Oh, I don't think I'll be buying anything today. I haven't brought any money along with me, and I really shouldn't be spending on such ornamental things." She hid her disappointment well.
The shopkeeper nodded understandingly, and bid farewell to the two young elves. Tinarae frowned disapprovingly, and as Maiysokat turned to leave, she whispered to the merchant, "Keep that one off the cart for now. I'll return for it later." With that, she ran to catch up with Maiysokat, and they continued with their browsing.
About ten minutes later, an announcement rang through the air that a silencing was about to take place by the western side of the Great Tree.
"Do you want to go?" asked Tinarae, not seeming particularly interested.
Maiysokat shrugged. "I've never seen one before."
"We might as well check it out. If it gets boring, we'll leave."
The two headed over toward the great tree, where a crowd was beginning to gather. Maiysokat felt strangely uncomfortable, and the comments of the curious crowd growing behind her did not help her mood.
"I hear he's a half elf…"
"Is it true he murdered someone?"
"Yes I heard the whole thing! The elf was out hunting, and then the halfbreed just attacked him! It happened last week."
Maiysokat blocked out the strangers' conversations and tried to avoid the dreadful image of the criminal springing out of a dark shadow and attacking without notice. She had no idea the crime had been so serious. She had heard gossip about many sins, but never a murder.
"Tina, what is the penalty for murder?" she whispered to her friend.
"I don't know…I think it's death?" Tinarae seemed equally uncomfortable with the idea.
Tinarae and Maiysokat had somehow wound up in the front row. Before them was a large raised platform surrounded by metal bars. The mayor of Koeten stepped up onto the stage, followed by two armed guards who walked on either side of the prisoner. The prisoner wore a plain brown robe tied with a rope, and a large hood hid his face in shadows. The crowd fell silent as the mayor raised his arm to indicate he was about to speak.
"This man is hereby charged with the murder of Kanik Musukor, a citizen of Koeten. Kanik was found dead in the forest, and his wounds indicated that he was killed by a strike from a dagger."
The audience crept back at the mention of "dagger", a weapon forbidden to elves.
"Yes, this man is not of elven blood. He is of them, a half-elf." The mayor turned to the prisoner. "Do you confess to this?"
The hooded figure replied, "I am of half-elven descent." Without permission, he continued, "And I am responsible for the death of the elf you named."
Gasps of shock and disapproval ran through the audience. How could the criminal speak so calmly of his deed?
The mayor frowned. "The penalty for what you have done is death. Will you say nothing in your defense?"
"Yes, I will speak," said the prisoner. "I had no choice but to retaliate against that person because when I struck him, he was moments away from killing my comrade."
The mayor listened unhappily, then shook his head. "We have eyewitness testimony from the victim's wife that you were alone at the scene, and that the strike was unprovoked."
The half elf turned to look at the woman who had watched the death of her own husband. She stood on the stage near him, eyeing him cautiously. He stared directly into her eyes, and she stared back with horror and fascination. Nobody else could see what they were doing. "I pity your situation, woman. But even your pain is no excuse for what you have done," he said gently. She turned guiltily away, refusing to look into his condemning eyes.
"You have two options," said the mayor to the prisoner, unaware that he was interrupting anything. "If you choose, you may at least die with honor, by your own hand and with your own weapon." A guard stepped onto the platform, holding out a piece of cloth that contained the half-elf's dagger. "Your other option is to be publicly executed."
The prisoner nodded understandingly. "I feel that what I did was not murder, and therefore I cannot silence myself."
Maiysokat turned to Tinarae, beginning to panic. "What are they going to do?"
"They'll have him kneel down, and cast a sword between his shoulderblades."
Maiysokat shook her head frantically. "No, Tinarae, let's leave. I don't want to watch someone die."
Tinarae nodded understandingly. Ever since Maiysokat had witnessed the death of her own mother, she'd been irrationally afraid of fatality. "Okay, let's go," said Tinarae, taking Maiysokat by the arm.
"If you will not die like a man, you will die like an animal," the mayor was saying as Tinarae tried to lead Maiysokat out of the dense crowd. "Kneel down and prepare yourself."
"You will have to force me," said the prisoner, his voice filled with determination and unexpected stillness. If he was feeling any fear or anger, it was not distinguishable in his words. Maiysokat stopped pushing through the onlookers and looked back at the stage with astonishment. Wasn't he afraid of dying?
"Break his legs," said the mayor to one of the guards in disgust.
The guard took out a large mace and swung it hard and fast into the prisoner's left shin. A loud crack ensured the audience that the swing had served its purpose. The half elf fell down to one knee, clutching the ground intensely with his hands. He gasped, then regained his composure. Maiysokat watched without blinking, sickened but unable to take her eyes off the scene.
The second guard raised a silver sword up above the criminal's shoulderblades, but the mayor gestured for him to hold his strike. "Wait," he said, "Break them both."
The guard with the mace seemed surprised, since the prisoner was already kneeling, but turned obediently and swung his weapon into the other leg. The half elf made no sound this time. He collapsed to his hands and knees, biting his lip to keep from crying out, and took one last glance out into the audience. The faces of the townspeople watching him were filled with hatred and distrust. He spotted one single elven girl in the crowd. She was looking back at him over her shoulder, as if she had turned to leave and reconsidered. Her eyes were not like the rest. They were filled with tears and despair… not for him, but for someone she had lost long ago. Eyes just like his…
He opened his mouth to say something, but was silenced by a killing strike that severed his spinal chord and finished him instantly. Tinarae put her arms around Maiysokat's shoulders and forcibly turned her away from the scene. While the audience cheered in approval, the two young elves escaped from the noise and found a quiet place to sit near the edge of the platform. Maiysokat had stopped crying, but could not make her breath come evenly, and sat red-eyed with her head on Tinarae's shoulder.
Tinarae sighed, pushing some loose hair out of Maiysokat's face. "I'm sorry I let you watch that," she said regretfully. "It was irresponsible of me. I completely forgot about your mo-"
"It's fine," said Maiysokat with surprising cheerfulness. "I shouldn't be dwelling on it. I don't know why it still bothers me."
"If your father were here, I'm sure he'd feel the same way."
Maiysokat frowned. She did not want to worry about that right now. "My father abandoned us. He forgot about my mother even though she was sick. I'll bet he never even tried to find that medicine. He just ran away from everything and probably moved off with some human somewhere," she ranted, not caring whether she meant it or not.
"Do you really believe that?" Tinarae's voice was doubtful.
"What else can I believe? He never came back. I need to justify her death somehow," her eyes moistened again, and she looked at her friend. "She waited so patiently for him…so many months…she believed he would make it back, even on her dying day! How could he fail?"
Tinarae did not argue with her friend. She thought to herself that she would think the same thing if she were in Maiysokat's shoes. "Why don't we head back to your house? The festival is almost over anyway."
"That might be a good idea," conceded Maiysokat. "Let's get out of here."
They walked back past the silencing platform, past the puppet show, past the shops-
"Tinarae!" cried Maiysokat in shock, running over to a cart that sold used weapons. She eyed one weapon in particular: a steel scimitar with a silver handle, cradled in a gold-plated sheath. "No…this can't be. It's not possible…"
"What is it, Maiy?" asked Tinarae, who had never seen the weapon before.
Maiysokat took the scimitar out of its sheath. The steel blade had rivulets of gold and silver coursing down its edge, and sure enough, there just below the hilt were the inscribed initials of Maiysokat's father. "This is my father's scimitar...," said Maiysokat shakily, certain now that it could be no other. "My lord, where did you find this?" she implored the shopkeeper, holding out the weapon to him.
The shopkeeper's lazy eyes glanced at the weapon, then at the elf, then the weapon again. "Oh, that? I got that from a traveling salesman I sometimes meet at Areminn. He didn't say where it came from."
Maiysokat overcame her shock, and carefully returned the weapon to its rack. "Only he would sell his own weapon. How shameful," she denounced, walking away from the cart.
Tinarae followed her reluctantly, casting an apologetic glance at the merchant as the two headed back to their kibas.
The evening was very quiet for Tinarae and Maiysokat. They lay on their backs in Maiysokat's small home, staring up at the ceiling. It's possible that they dozed off at one time or another, but for the most part they lay silently, thinking. Maiysokat regretted not being a more cheerful host for her friend, but was glad nonetheless to have company. Finally, Tinarae stood up and announced that she had to go back to the fair for something. She left the hut, her friend watching curiously as she departed.
While Tinarae was gone, Maiysokat thought about her father, and about the scimitar she had seen at the fair. Was it really possible that he had sold it? Or perhaps he was robbed by bandits. Could it be that she was wrong about what he had done to her mother? She told herself that it was pointless to worry about it, that she preferred to have the story her way, because it allowed her to explain why her mother had to waste away in a bed at such a young age, instead of living for hundreds of years like elves are meant to do. There was no point debating or thinking about how much she'd loved her father before he left. She had already made her decision.
An hour passed before a knock came on the door and Tinarae let herself in. She walked into the room where Maiysokat was still pondering, and sat on her knees in front of her. Maiysokat looked up at Tinarae, waiting for an explanation of where she had been. Tinarae's hand reached into her backpack and emerged with the pendant they had seen at the jeweler's shop. Maiysokat gasped with delight, then immediately cast Tinarae a disapproving glare.
"This is too expensive! What have you done?" she protested half-heartedly.
"Don't be so polite! Come on, put your half on. I'll hate you if you don't!" said Tinarae playfully.
Maiysokat smiled gratefully and allowed Tinarae to separate the two cats and fasten one around Maiysokat's neck, and the other to her own.
"I don't know what to say!" said Maiysokat gleefully, throwing her arms around Tinarae and embracing her in a hug that would make a boa constrictor jealous.
"Dnnnt…..thnk…..meh……yet………..," choked Tinarae, struggling to escape her friend's death grip.
"Eh?" said Maiysokat, releasing her captive and eyeing her curiously.
Tinarae coughed and laughed at her friend's whimsical mood. "I said don't thank me yet. I brought something else." She reached back into her bag, and drew out the scimitar they had seen earlier. Maiysokat just stared at it, baffled, wondering what her friend was up to. "You want to know where it came from, right?"
"I…." Maiysokat's voice trailed off uncertainly. She could not take her eyes off her father's scimitar. "You want to go now?"
"Do I ever like to wait? Of course now." Tinarae began to gather Maiysokat's stuff together and throw it into her canvas bag. She paused and looked over her shoulder at her friend, who was still sitting dumbfounded on the floor, staring at the weapon Tinarae had delivered to her. "Come on. It's time to find out what really happened."