Chapter Two: The Council of Ill’karren
The information given by Redlic had reached the elvish agent Vessuur, and with it, he rode into the deep, snowy lands of the Sarke region, where few dare to venture into. Those who do, rarely return, either due to the weather itself, or the leary and unwelcoming nature of the snow elves within them. Once he arrived, he was escorted through the main city, Ill’karren and into the main chamber of the council for the clan meetings. His presence was expected by the council.
Annastaria and Ellumar both arrived by now, clean-dressed in the attire of the Ladies of the Leaf Order, wearing special, female-made robes that were to distinguish them as women, but nimble, fierce warriors as well. Ellumar’s red hair was half tied in a bun, and the lower half loose, covering her neck and shoulder area. Annastaria had her caramel-colored hair in a bun behind her head, but with her wavy bangs resting over her forehead and sides of her face. The two of them carried small elvish blades in scabbards made into the robes they wore, resting on their backs. They walked on the two sides of their father, whose title and name was elder and high priest Clorrdes, representing the clan Juresh’durr.
“Lord chief Uramuun tells me that a special young lady has achieved a remarkable feat this morning.” said Clorrdes, smiling at Annastaria. She felt cold to smile back, but his own smile, proud as ever of his daughter, was too powerful to prevent her from smiling back at him. Ellumar smiled as well, glad to see her sister gain recognition that she certainly deserved for her dedication to the clan, and tribe. “You must show the hide to me when we are done here.” he said, “It will take all the energy I can muster to not speak of it to all in the chamber.”
“Father,” Annastaria said, “you must be calm. We have a great matter to discuss; what my sister and I have done in the wilderness cannot be more urgent than this.”
“To you, perhaps. For me, it is a thing to be proud of.”
Annastaria wanted to know more about the meeting itself, hoping to be rid of having to think about this terrible lie her sister had brought upon them both. “What do we know so far?” she asked, “About Dredok Skies?”
Clorrdes’s smile faded. “I know as much as you two do, I am afraid.” he said, “Everyone knows that the readings are confirmed. What we are here to decide is what to do with it.”
“Can it be possible that he is real?” Ellumar asked.
“That is not the concern of this operation. Dredok Skies was only meant to detect the dark magic that we found in our lands four years ago. Now that we have found it, we must decide whether to pursue this phantom haunting the north, or to wait for more information.”
“Would not waiting be more costly?” asked Annastaria.
“It certainly could be. It may risk allowing whatever evil this is to strike again more grievously. On the other hand, however, acting so quickly and harshly may have consequences of its own.”
“I think that we cannot wait for him, or it or… them to strike again.” Annastaria insisted, “We must look into this at once.”
“That is not as easy as it sounds, my dear. As I said, there are consequences to that. The readings came from aenman lands and we are not on particularly good standings to one another. Should we act, and become exposed, the aenmen will likely see it as an invasion and retaliate, and trust me when I tell you, a war such as that has not been fought in almost a thousand years, and such a war would prove costly to both our sides. One that may not be recoverable, least of all to us.”
Annastaria and Ellumar went quiet. Their father’s tone dropped the further he went into the statement, until he uttered the last sentence in a kind of whisper, as though it got heavier and heavier.
Despite the difficulty of the issue, something had to be done, before this heretic struck again, and killed more of their people, or worse, took possession of one of their artifacts. She could only hope and pray the council saw the same thing.
Entering the chamber, the meeting began. Four main council members representing the four clans of the Ina’Kadai tribe. Of the first, was elder Svennediel, the second, elder Innadur, the third being elder Clorrdes, and the fourth being elder Gennades.
“The Norlan lands?” asked Gennades, as the information had been given by Vessuur, “Are you certain?”
“I have the information on record, elder Gennades.” Vessuur answered.
“But for what purpose would he be there? Or at any of these locations, for that matter?”
“Does it matter?” said Svennediel, “We’re not concerned with his motives, or where he may take holidays, after all.”
“We would do well to be concerned with his motives.” replied Innadur, “Knowing what he seeks helps us to predict where he will go next.”
“But we have not the smallest clue as to what it is he seeks…” Svennediel said, “Or that he really exists. For all intents and purposes, it seems best we treat these as random incidents, none of which are linked to each other.”
“Are you suggesting that dark magic infiltrations into our lands is something we should allow to go unchallenged, lord Svennediel?”
“And not only that,” said Clorrdes, “but we have readings that have appeared all in the matter of hours to one another. That is hardly random, even if the Black Priest were not involved. These are the same readings we found in the Sarke lands four years ago, by agents connected to the Black Priest. Are you suggesting we ignore this?”
“No, lord Clorrdes.” answered Svennediel, “I am simply asking if this is but some form of play on us. We do not know anything about this ‘Black Priest’ other than that he is likely some aenman sorcerer, a heretic of the highest regard, and that he likes to hide in the dark and attack random places. I think it is unwise to do what I think the large portion of this body is likely thinking.”
“And what might that be?”
Svennediel looked around for a moment, while everyone had their eyes on him, waiting for him to say what they were all interested in hearing be said. “I think that you all wish to send agents, spies and assassins on him. End his presence for good. I think that given we know little else about him, we cannot risk such an operation. The readings came from three puny villages in the Febian and Oenian lands that no one is interested in. What purpose would he have for being there?”
“I think that you may be putting more thought into his motives than you initially implied we ought, Svennediel.” said Gennades.
“I am simply saying that we must consider the possibility that this is but a distraction, trying to take our attention away to something else. Can any one of you think of why these three places?”
“And what would he be distracting us for?” Innadur asked.
“To infiltrate our lands again. We must consider the possibility that this is an attempt to take us away from what we should be guarding–the archore.”
Another moment of silence followed. Annastaria and Ellumar looked at each other for a moment, and then around the room, not only at the four council leaders, but their respective guards and close advisors with them. Annastaria noticed behind Gennades, one of his own sons, and an elite guard to his clan, whose name was Errnos. He had many achievements, including the slaying of a paragott, and he was a zealot among zealots for the glory of the wood elves.
“If what you are saying is true,” said Gennades, “then it can only mean that we have a traitor in our midst. There is no other way that he can even know about the archore and its function.”
“Or,” said Innadur, “he knows how to intercept messages himself, and has been infiltrating our entire operation this whole time.”
“Hmph!” Gennades scoffed, “Impossible! Even our southern elvish friends know nothing of this operation; its most key elements are known only to the body in this room. If Svennediel’s suspicion is true, then it can only be treachery.”
“Surely we are not suggesting that someone in this very council is a traitor, are we?” Innadur asked. The question was like a jab that silenced everyone. Eyes darted to and fro at one another, with unsettling doubt and curiosity in everyone’s faces, even among the elders.
“Of course I’m not.” Gennades said, “But what I am suggesting is that it may be likely that our aenman proxies have succumbed to their usual routine of speculation and wild fantasies regarding us. Then they gave away that information for a nice sum of money. One more reason why we should never have agreed to their usage. But I was overruled in that matter, and it is no longer relevant. The bottom line is that we must investigate the aenmen agents we have used and see if they have divulged, or perhaps even inquired too much information about what we are doing.”
“I can see to that, my lord.” answered Vessuur, “It would be most convenient for all of us. I must return to my post anyway.”
“See that it is done, Vessuur.” Gennades commanded, “Now back to the matter at hand… Svennediel is right, we know very little about this… Black Priest. So little that risking a direct and covert assault upon him may prove far too risky and foolish. So, I propose that we shall send agents to investigate.”
Another moment of silence filled the room. “That may be reasonable.” said a pondering Innadur, “As much as I dislike Svennediel’s skepticism, he makes a valid point. We know next to nothing about this ‘Black Priest’ other than what the legends and stories say.”
“Stories that come from the aenmen.” said Gennades, with contempt in his voice, “Hardly anything worth trusting in. The aenmen are filled with godless fairy tales, reflective of their godless fantasies in sin.”
“And should we risk a possible encounter?” said Svennediel.
“Then perhaps we should prepare for it,” answered Innadur, “should the need arise. Our agents, whoever they may be, will be ready.”
“This is not a simple troublemaker we are dealing with. It is a terrible man, or a terrible something.”
“Then we shall increase our agent presence.”
“Greater numbers of agents in the field risk a greater chance of being exposed.” said Clorrdes, “These are aenman lands we are talking about.”
“Not if we send our agents in a network of support; spread them about.” Innadur said, silencing everyone, “If they are all together, that will raise suspicion. But separately, they can easily pass as travelers.”
“Provided they can pretend well enough not to be from the clans.” noted Vessuur.
“Our agents can approach through different routes, and support one another.” continued Innadur, “Their spread may also allow for gathered intelligence in the area… Perhaps we may gather more information as to what might be so important in that area of Febia and Oenkev that might cause a black magic incident. We can have some investigate Mennix, and others investigate Aorling and Bokshaer. But Bokshaer must be the primary target.”
“Perhaps so,” said Svennediel, “but we are not considering one other important thing: we will be infiltrating aenman lands. It is a thing we must consider.”
“And what would you consider we should do, Svennediel?” Gennades challenged, “It seems as though you are insisting that we do nothing about this. You don’t seem to grasp the gravity of what we have found in this operation.”
“I am not against sending agents to investigate, but our own? Far too risky.”
“Do you mean then that we should send our aenman proxies?”
“That is precisely what I am saying. We’re using their resources already to make Dredok Skies possible; let’s use them for this. It’s far more safe, and yet still achieves the task we are moving towards.”
“It will take far too much time.” an impatient Gennades rebuked, “It will take time enough for us to send our own agents, which will be far more efficient at gathering intelligence, mind you. In order for your idea to work, Svennediel, we would have to have Vessuur extend his intelligence network to such a capacity that by the time we attain the information from the three villages, the Black Priest threat will have vanished and laughed us half-across the world as he picks off six or more targets. Besides, I am already uneased enough with the aenman involvement in this operation. I am much more comfortable sending our own to handle this affair.”
“And if our agents are caught or discovered, it may risk greater consequences with the aenman. The high council has already strictly forbidden us from provoking conflict with them.”
Gennades chuckled, drawing attention to himself. “Don’t tell me you are concerned about a coordinated aenman retaliation. Those fools cannot keep their own society together. The entire Enussian realm, for the past one-thousand years has been plagued by corrupt aenman kings and religious heretics, and now, in the midst of their so-called glorious Industrial era, the aenman nations are tearing themselves apart in their pitiful fights for democracy or monarchy. Wars have plagued Enussia in ways we’ve not seen for thousands of years, all in only a matter of decades; the last attempt at an empire only more than a decade ago collapsed, and now the nations battle for greed and power in their corrupt Industrial Era.”
“True as that may be,” Svennediel replied, “we must remain cautious. While the aenman corruption tears its own people apart, we must not allow that to make us forget that we ourselves are vulnerable right now.”
“Before we continue any further,” said Clorrdes, “I believe we should now vote on whether we are going to proceed with sending agents, and if so, whether we will send assassins or reconnaissance.”
The four of them looked around, and the spectators as well, including Annastaria. The vote had to be unanimous. Innadur, who was clearly in favor of the option of moving ahead with the plan to infiltrate aenman lands, predictably voted in favor of sending agents. Gennades pondered a moment, rubbing his clean-shaven, bony chin as he always did, but agreed.
“I don’t like this,” Svennediel said, “but if we are simply to gather intelligence that may help us understand this threat more, then I will accept.”
All eyes were on Clorrdes now. He knew his daughters were waiting for him to give the final verdict, though he did not look up at either of them. He sighed and cast his vote. “I agree to this action as well.”
A moment of silence followed, and in her head, Annastaria prepared herself for what this meant for them. Among this room, it meant that some were going to be sent out themselves; only those in the room itself knew about the operation. She looked at Errnos, who happened to make eye-contact with her. They locked in the moment, as if the two of them were linked in mind as well, wondering if one or the other would be sent on this mission. But they broke eye contact with Clorrdes’ next statement, “Now we must decide what kind of mission this will be. Shall we provide mere reconnaissance, or attempt to eliminate the target?”
“This I do not think I can support,” said Svennediel, “It’s far too risky. Not knowing whether this is a trap or not, we can’t afford to go that far.”
“Why not one and possibly the other?” Innadur said, drawing eyes from everyone, “We could send our agents with the express and clear intent on reconnaissance, and if the opportunity should arise, we may execute the second proposition.”
Everyone looked around at each other for a moment of pause. “I’m not sure,” said Clorrdes, hesitating in thought as the words left his lips, “that’s far too liberal of an idea… At what point are we to know if we can make an assassination order?”
“With enough intelligence gathering, and proper organization, it can work. We’ve done it before.”
“I will do it.” intervened Errnos, surprising the council. Only the high priests were to speak, and anyone else by granted audience only. But Errnos already commanded respect, and his confident assertion silenced everyone, drawing all eyes upon himself. He continued, “I can fulfill the order, my elders, should the opportunity arise.”
“My son is more than prepared for this task,” Gennades said, proud of his son, “he will go and be prepared to make his move.”
“I still don’t like this,” Clorrdes said, “it’s not safe for any of our agents to make critical, mission-changing decisions in the middle of a mission.”
“If it were any average elven warrior, you may be correct, elder Clorrdes… But my son is none of this. Send your best agents to draw pictures of the land for him, and he will take care of the rest.”
Clorrdes glared at Gennades’s condescension, and his boast of his son over the others’ children and students, which included Clorrdes’s own standing next to him. “Are you suggesting this is exclusively an assassination mission, Gennades?” he snarked back.
“If need-be, of course.”
“That was not what we previously agreed to.”
“Of course not. But when the time comes that you need to do the more important task of all, you will do well to let Errnos do the rest.”
Annastaria glared at Gennades. But she could say nothing to him, unless she wanted to be scorned by the tribe for her blatant disrespect of hierarchy. Still, hierarchy should respect its own, as well as their posterity. She looked at Errnos, who was again, looking at her in patient silence. His glare towards her competed with hers. She knew what he was thinking, or at least, she knew it wasn’t friendly. Gennades was an intelligent man, but that intelligence did not grant him humility, and he boasted in his son more than he ought on more than one occasion, something Errnos didn’t seem to oppose.
“In any case,” intervened Innadur, “if Errnos will be so brave and noble as to undertake such an important task, that still means we must select agents of reconnaissance. Who shall we send?”
They suggested names of fellow elvish warriors, particularly those who were special agents to the tribe, ones uniquely trained for stealth and rogue operations. Annastaria was one of those, training under the Ladies of the Leaf Order all her life. But she was a special kind of master, and she knew this was the reason that of all the names that were nominated, hers was not.
“I vote my daughter, Annastaria.” Clorrdes said amidst the discussions. His words silenced everyone, even Annastaria, who was already quiet.
“Why on Eldreon would you ever suggest that?” said Gennades.
“Because she can do this… I know it.”
“Clorrdes, you should know better than to make such a suggestion.” said Innadur.
“She knows the aenman languages, and can mask her accent to match that of the elves living in their lands. She has studied their ways enough to be able to pass as a traveler.” He looked at Annastaria for a moment, who was still in a state of shock that he suggested her, and said with a gentle and proud smile, “And my daughter here has slain a paragott this very morning.” Annastaria dreaded the smile, and next to it, the words he confessed. The others began to whisper among themselves, and based on what her ears could hear, Annastaria sensed they were impressed by it, while some questioned.
“A paragott, you say?” said Innadur, “Well, that is impressive.”
“It’s true,” interjected Ellumar, “I witnessed it myself. I was originally the one to kill it, but it slipped from my grasp. Anne was quick, and adaptive and managed to kill it. She has earned this chance.”
“That is entirely beside the point!” objected Gennades, turning his eyes on Clorrdes, “You know that this cannot be done. Surely you have not forgotten that your ‘daughter’, as you call her, is not a simple master, but a prime. What she is cannot be risked falling into the aenman hands–least of all that wretched Black Priest heretic should he exist!” Gennades’s dogmatic objection sent silence through the room for several seconds. But more than that, Annastaria could sense anger in the words, as though Gennades hated that she even existed.
“I am afraid,” said Innadur, breaking the silence, “Gennades has a point, Clorrdes. The high council forbids this… Annastaria cannot be recommended under any circumstances due to who and what she is.”
Annastaria tried not to look at them with contempt in her heart as the words came out of Innadur, seemingly in slow, agonizing fashion, as if every syllable was a whip to her back and shoulders, lashing and cursing her for something that wasn’t her fault. She was sick of being treated as an object of holiness, reverence, and utter pampering. Ellumar knew that her sister was sick of this behavior towards her. She knew she had to do something, or say something; she didn’t let her sister take the glory of the paragott for nothing. But before she could, Clorrdes spoke up, “This is why I propose we consider Svennediel’s comments a few moments ago… As he himself has said, perhaps this entire thing is a setup to get us to expose ourselves to a counter attack from the Black Priest. Maybe he wants more than the archore.”
“Are you suggesting he may want Annastaria?” said Gennades, “How can he know about her?”
“If we are to consider whether he even knows of this operation to intercept it, we should also consider that he knows more than simply of the archore… And if he does, and is hoping to get us to leave ourselves vulnerable, to leave Anne vulnerable, then maybe she should be far from here.”
“So your solution to this possible ploy,” said Innadur, “is to expose the world’s first prime in centuries to the cruelty of the aenmen? And worse, to have her walk straight and directly to the worst of them all?”
“I prefer to see it as the element of surprise. The least he will expect is for one such as Anne to come straight to him. Perhaps she may catch him off guard.”
“And should she, I hope she’ll be ready for him.”
Clorrdes looked at Annastaria, wanting her to respond to this. She looked at the other three council members and answered, “I will be ready, my elders… I will not fail you.”
The other three looked at each other, and of the three, Annastaria had a hard time taking her eyes off Gennades, who was staring at her with that look he always made when he was trying to analyze a person, rubbing his chin with his right hand, which was anchored by his armchair. Then he and the other council members looked at each other, leaving Annastaria to look at Errnos, who was curiously keeping his eyes on her, quietly, observing the whole situation unfold. She wasn’t sure what was going through his mind at that point, as he did well to mask it from his body language.
After a few anxious moments, Innadur stood up, revealing a significant moment, possibly a closing statement to the meeting. “Brothers and sisters,” he said, “we are grateful for all of you being here, and for Vessuur for providing us this weighty, but very crucial information… Given the recent developments,” he said, looking at Clorrdes and Annastaria, “we find ourselves in a difficult situation to decide… For that, we must end this immediate council, and consult in more private conversation between the four of us. You are all dismissed as of now.”
The meeting was finished, and the members rose up and disassembled from the chamber, leaving the four elders to continue their discussion in private. Ellumar felt compelled immediately to see her sister after the meeting. Outside the chamber in one of the halls, others from the chamber gathered in groups or pairs, and discussed matters related to the meeting, or other things.
“How are you feeling?” Ellumar asked.
Annastaria didn’t answer immediately, and looked out a window to the mountains beyond, to the west. She gave a sigh to relieve her tense body. “I can do this.” she said, looking at Ellumar.
Ellumar smiled. “I know you can, sis.”
Another thought occurred to Annastaria when Ellumar said those words, and it concerned her. The paragott kill was not hers, it was Ellumar’s. Annastaria could not live with this burden. Ellumar should be the one to go on the mission. But Annastaria wanted it more than anything.
“But…” she began, “what about the paragott? You shouldn’t have said what you said.”
“I thought it would work to your favor, sister, and it has.”
“It wasn’t right, Ellumar… I can’t take credit for what you have done.”
“It’s done now, sister… Perhaps it was a mistake, but it certainly isn’t the worst.”
“I can’t imagine anything that we’ve done that was worse.”
Ellumar began to smile, arousing Annastaria’s curiosity. “I think I can…” she said, “Do you remember when we managed to sneak some of the horses out a few years ago? And take them out across the Adonian hills?”
Annastaria tried not to, but couldn’t help but smile as the story was recalled. “I do.” she replied, “I can’t believe we were able to get that far.”
“What a mess that was. All we intended was to get two horses and ride for a little bit.”
“I believe the plan was to get only one horse.” Annastaria corrected with a smirk on her face, “It was to be you who rode the both of us. But you managed to let loose all of them for the sake of just one.”
“True… But you went and took a horse of your own anyway… You rode well for the first time, sister.”
Annastaria chuckled, as did Ellumar. “We did get into great trouble then.” she said. A moment of silence followed as they pondered on their childhood. “The others,” recalled Annastaria, “they tried to use that as a reason that I was far too much trouble, cursed with aenian blood.”
Ellumar nearly burst out in laughter then. “They actually believed it was you who poisoned my mind to commit to such rebellion because of your aenman origins. What a dumb idea! I began the whole thing, and even besides that, how many of the other peers, like Geldren and Banneri, Stenuur and Jassen have had their own fair share of rebellious acts? We’ve all done foolish things.”
Ellumar was right, but it was the fact that she was right that Annastaria, for a moment, lost her humor in the thing. She was always treated with a double standard among the others. Becoming a Leaf was something that earned her much honor, but especially with Gennades and his school of young elven warriors, there was always a judgmental look about him towards her. She had heard on more than one occasion that he believed Errnos was to be the crowning achievement of the tribe. No doubt he wanted this quest to show it for the young elvish master. Annastaria looked at Ellumar. “And even then,” she said, “you were always willing to lie if it got me out of trouble.”
Ellumar’s smile grew at the compliment. “You’re my baby sister… I will always look out for you. It’s what father told me the day we brought you into our home.”
But as quick as the smile of comfort came, it faded as the conversation dispersed between them. Ellumar feared Annastaria’s worry once again haunted her. “Come on, sis,” she complained to Annastaria, “it’s going to be fine. You were far more brave than I was against that paragott.”
“That’s not what’s troubling me right now.” Annastaria retorted.
The comment startled Ellumar. “What do you mean?”
Annastaria hesitated to speak what was lingering on her mind. It was a thought she didn’t want to think, but she couldn’t ignore it, like an itch in her brain that needed to be scratched. “During the meeting,” she finally confessed, quietly, and after looking around, “When Svennediel suggested that the Black Priest may be luring us out so that he may acquire the archore… Gennades rightly concluded that it meant that he would know about it’s secrecy.”
“Yes?” said Ellumar, following Annastaria’s logic carefully.
“That can only mean treachery, can’t it?”
“Or, as Innadur suggested, he has information that has managed to leak.”
Annastaria paused, wanting that to be the truth. But the question wouldn’t be satisfied. “But if he knows of the archore, then that can’t simply be a leak of information. Gennades suggested it was just aenmen speculation that leads to wild theories.”
“Of course.”
“What if that isn’t the case? What if he does know about it? What if he knows about me?”
Ellumar smiled, “Anne, that’s impossible. Don’t talk like that; no one in that council would betray us to the enemy. As Gennades said, our aenman proxies probably went off on one of their theories that leaked, and the Black Priest likely heard about it.”
Annastaria wasn’t convinced, but she felt like she was picking at a scab more than just an itch that needed itching at this point. She wanted to believe Ellumar, and made herself believe her. But the fact that she had to try was unsettling. Did the truth need to ‘try’ to be true? A moment of pause came between them, and it seemed almost too well placed that that was the time another pair of young elves came to them both.
“Where is the kill?” asked an enthused Ladrell to Annastaria, “I want to see it!”
Ellumar smiled at him. “We couldn’t bring the carcass, but we have the hide. It’s on the back of her horse. We can show you later.”
“We can’t go see it now?” asked the other accompanying Ladrell, named Idris.
“Unlike the two of you,” Ellumar replied with a kind snark, “we both have a father who happens to be part of the council. We can’t simply leave until he is done with official meetings.”
“Ah, of course.” said Ladrell, “You must always hold that over us.” He looked at Annastaria then to speak, “How did you kill it, exactly?”
Annastaria went silent, trying to speak, but could not allow the lie to proceed, and Ellumar began to panic. “If you can believe it,” she intervened, “it was with her own blade.”
“Impossible!” Ladrell objected, “Now you must be deceiving me!”
“When we’re done here, I can take you to where the carcass still lays. You’ll see a nice hole right in its face, and another in its head. That was the arrow that she shot into it before she finished it off.”
“I want to see the body myself.” Idris said, “No offense to you, Annastaria, but you’re only half-elvish, after all. It’s incredible enough to know that you were able to kill it at all. But with bare hands carrying only a blade? Quite difficult–not simply any elf can do that.”
“Except she is not simply any elf.” a voice said, intruding on their conversation. Off to the side came Errnos, with two of his own fellow clan-members. He had a towering and stoic presence that gave no apologies towards its invasion of their conversation. “She is a prime.” Errnos continued, “Which means that she likely slew the creature with her unique capabilities.”
Annastaria glared back at him, and the two engaged in a battle of stares, while Ellumar retained a casual appearance. Everyone else turned their eyes to her to see what she would respond with. She wasn’t going to carry Ellumar’s lie, but she was going to show that she battled hand-to-hand with the creature. She pulled her gloves from her hands and showed them bare to the others. Her hands were bandaged and had faint patches of blood coming through them. “This was caused by me trying to keep the paragott’s antlers from tearing me into pieces.” she scorned, “Is that proof enough for you?”
Errnos went silent, but he kept his stoic and unwelcome stare upon her. Ladrell and Idris were both mesmerized by the sight. “Wow.” Idris said with a hushed voice, “How did you survive that?”
“The sheer grace of Kai, I suppose.” answered Annastaria.
Before another word could be spoken, a messenger came to the two of them, taking their attention. “Annastaria,” he said, “the council has asked for you.”
An awkward silence followed. “Will the council allow you to go?” Errnos said, “I would certainly hope not. The aenman blood that you can’t deny will surely tempt you back to where you came from.”
Annastaria had a reply ready for him, but she kept her mind focused on taking on the quest, and tucked it away. The reply would have been far too personal to him. Even one such as Errnos didn’t deserve such an insult that she conjured in her mind. Not yet at least. Errnos gave her one more glare and departed with his two other clan members.
Ellumar watched him leave, and she couldn’t help but smirk. “I’m telling you, Anne,” she said, “I really think he likes you.”
Annastaria sighed away the laugh she almost gave out to Ellumar’s comment. “Please,” Annastaria began, “don’t ever say that again.”
Ladrell and Idris chuckled as well. “Come on, Anne,” Ellumar continued, “he’s always had eyes for you. And you must confess, he is quite handsome with his long, black hair and his silly attempts to seem confident in front of you. He only wishes you not to go because he doesn’t want you to be hurt.”
“By the gods,” Annastaria interrupted, rolling her eyes, “I must go and see the council now.”
Annastaria followed the messenger through the crowds of people, many of whom looked at her. They always looked, but this time, things seemed different. They entered the first room to go into the chamber, and then into the chamber itself. The messenger didn’t follow Annastaria in, and instead left her to speak to what was supposed to be the four members, but instead was only her father, who stood behind his chair, and Innadur sitting in his seat at the round table. “Father?” Annastaria asked, “Where are the others?”
Clorrdes didn’t speak, turning the moment awkward, and he knew Innadur was looking at him. There was something on his mind, that much seemed clear to her. “They have other matters to tend to,” he said, “Please come in, my dear, we haven’t much time.”
Annastaria looked around. There was something out of place. Even for a special, private meeting such as this, why were the others not here? This couldn’t be what she thought it was. “What is this about?” she asked, her eyes unable to fix on either of them, searching for answers in the room.
“The decision is set.” Clorrdes replied, “And so that means that we four have much to do. Gennades is going to prepare his part, as well as Svennediel and Innadur, and so he can’t stay here long… So too must I.” He paused, and hesitated to talk further.
Innadur saw it, and stepped out of his chair to speak, “The council has decided, through a technicality, to give you the opportunity to undertake this quest.” Annastaria nearly gasped, gulping it down instead, feeling the weight of those words almost immediately upon her mind. “We need the right people for this quest,” Innadur continued, “And your father has insisted that you are one of those few agents. You know the aenman languages in Enussia, particularly Durish, and you can mask your eastern elvish accent. And I’ve heard that you know something of their culture.”
“I do, elder Innadur.” she replied.
“Then you are in an excellent position to be on this mission, should you choose to undertake it.”
Annastaria looked at her father, who stood silent. She tried to read whether he was hopeful or scared, or perhaps something of both. She forced herself to look back at Innadur, “If the council needs this, I will undertake this quest. It would be my honor, Elder Innadur.”
Innadur paused, as if he had to take in her answer slowly, unprepared. “… So be it then.” he said, strangely ominous-like, “Your task will be to investigate the coordinates that we will provide to you in your full briefing.”
“Will I be aided by anyone? Who else will be going?”
“That, I’m afraid, must remain secret, even to you. You will go to Mennix, and investigate what we found there. Once finished, go south and wait in Forik for instructions and your return home strategy.”
Annastaria’s stream of both excitement and anxiety suddenly ran into a wall. “My… return home?” she asked, hesitating, and looking at her father once.
“I’m afraid so.” replied Innadur, “Mennix was disturbed but only slightly so. It seems the safest to send you there.”
Annastaria couldn’t help but step forward, “But… my lord, I was told there were three places to look into. Why am I only to see Mennix?”
“Because we can’t risk you falling into the wrong hands.”
“But my lord, I–”
She stopped herself the instant Clorrdes’s hand flung up and his face stiffened. Innadur sighed then, “Anne… I understand your frustration. I wish things were better, but… right now we are in the dark, and we don’t know fully well who this Black Priest is. Until we do, we cannot risk you in such a way.”
Annastaria had to gulp again, but now it was the boiling anger within her she had to swallow. “Yes, my lord.” she replied, holding back the outburst with with all her strength.
“Good. Go there, and see what you can find about what caught our networks. From there, go to Forik and wait for the others to return. By the time you get there, you should only be waiting a day.”
“The others?” Annastaria said, “You mean… the others accompanying me on this quest?”
“Yes. By the time you reach Forik, your secrecy to one another will not be necessary any longer.”
“I know you wish to go to Bokshaer,” said Clorrdes, “but for now, please, I ask that you trust us.”
Annastaria hesitated, forced once more to keep what her heart wanted to say inside. “I am grateful that you have given me this opportunity.” she said, still containing her anger.
“The tribe commends you, Annastaria,” said Innadur, “for this brave undertaking. May the goddess Kai, to the glory of Artharos watch over you with grace and divine protection.”
Innadur looked at Clorrdes. His part in this was finished. He said his goodbye and departed, leaving Clorrdes and Annastaria alone. Clorrdes stood in front of Annastaria, taking a moment to grasp the situation.
“I am proud of you, Anne.” he said with a smile.
“But you’re also scared.” she said back, startling her father.
“Don’t mind me… It’s just a father thing.” The two of them smiled at each other. Clorrdes suddenly had so many memories go through his mind, codifying into one big statement he felt weighing on his heart. “From the day they brought you to us, I always knew you were special… And it wasn’t because of your gift. They brought you to me and the first time you looked at me… I will not forget it… You looked at me with these curious eyes, as if you knew in that moment a new world was opening to you. Most children would have been frightened at such a change… But not you. You were curious, learned, and you could already speak clearly.”
“It’s not as if I was a toddler, father.” Annastaria said with a small smile, “I was six years old.”
“But for a child who grew up with no parents, with the education that most orphans get, you were remarkably well-spoken, and a natural learner. You always have been. You learned our language, and then other, more ancient elvish languages so quickly… I’ve tried to protect you here, over and over and over again. I tried to protect you from the truth of your parents, but you discovered it on your own, and to my surprise, you were not broken over it. It only pushed you more to be part of us. I tried to protect you from the struggles of becoming part of the clan warriors, but you pushed through, giving it your all… And now, I’ve tried to protect you, since you were a little girl, from the outside world. I was afraid this day would come… And here it is.”
Annastaria paused for a moment, reflecting on everything that Clorrdes was saying to her. How could she describe the gratitude she had for him? Yet she could not find herself able to embrace this important moment for her. She still knew she was hiding a lie from him. What would come of it, she did not know, but the truth had to be spoken.
“Father,” she began. She paused again, and he could see there was something weighty on her mind. She continued, “… There is something you must know… The paragott that we killed this morning… I didn’t do it… It was Ellumar, father. She slew it. She said what she said because she thought it would help me.”
A stillness followed. He swallowed and looked as if he had been struck in the jaw. His facial expression sank slowly, and his green eyes seemed to pale more than normal. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he said to her.
“I wanted to… I didn’t approve of her doing it, father. She insisted that I take the glory… That it might help me.”
“With what? Earning my approval? Earning the clan’s?” he fired back, raising his voice with each question.
Annastaria stood silently and in shame. Clorrdes broke eye contact, looking away at nothing in particular, taking another moment to think. Could this jeopardize her quest? She couldn’t let that happen. “Father, I’m sorry.” she said, stepping forward once, “I didn’t know what to do.”
He began to speak, but stopped and changed his words again, and then paused completely to reset his words. “I am glad,” he finally said, “that you came to me and confessed this… I will have to have a word with your sister.” Annastaria went silent, sensing the anger in his voice. “Go,” he continued, “and get some rest… You will need it, for tomorrow you will set off.”
Annastaria hesitated. She knew she had to say something, but lost any words, and the moment slipped away. Reluctantly, she did as he asked, and left him alone. She came back outside, to people still there. Ellumar was among them, waiting for her, with excitement and anxiety in her face. She was sure that Annastaria would be able to go, and come out joyful for the opportunity, but that’s not what she saw. “What’s wrong, sister?” she asked, her smile fading.
Annastaria tried to walk past her, but couldn’t. “Nothing.” she said, hesitantly, “I’m still on the mission…” she wouldn’t make eye-contact with Ellumar, “But father has some things to say to you.” She didn’t wait for a following question from her sister, and walked away. Ellumar watched Annastaria hastily for a moment, wondering if she should follow her. But a thought came quickly to her mind: Annastaria couldn’t hold the truth in.
Masters of Eldreon 