Whispers Between Worlds

Chapter Four: Theres blood on the crown (go and take it)

Rule #4 of traveling to another universe: Don't ask too many questions

Lysandra knew what elves looked like. She read her fair share of Lord of the rings and she'd watched her brother play enough medieval video-games to know an elf when she saw one. Yet, her brain could not quite wrap her head around it.

With shoulder-length blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, he stood unassuming in appearance, yet radiated an aura both shadowed and shining. His elongated, pointed ears stuck out from the side of his head like...

"Oh my god, am I in the Legend of Zelda? Link, is that you?"

"Ah," The man cocked his head. "No, I have not heard of this 'Link' you speak of." He had a slight Welsh accent, different from Vittoria's, but unfamiliar all the same.

Shaking her head, Lysandra tried to focus. "What did you do?"

He continued studying her with piercing blue eyes, responding, "I did nothing. That was all you."

"Oh..." she stared at the burn, which had shrunk significantly. It almost resembled a tattoo on the back of her hand. A really ugly tattoo. She traced it lightly, feeling the burnt edges of her own skin. "I'm not sure what just happened though?"

The elf turned to stare at Vittoria, he raised a brow quizzically. "I would have thought you'd take the time to explain everything to her Ser Vittoria?"

Vittoria sighed, pushing a gloved palm to her face, when she removed it left a small streak of dirt. Lysandra had half the mind to point it out. "Josie and I did not have enough time, the abyss was growing and..." she sighed. "She's also clueless. Has no idea what is going on."

The elf man frowned, flicking a few stray strands of hair away fro his face. "Clueless? Did she lose her memory," Lysandra made to speak, before she was abruptly cut off. "No matter, we can explain everything to her after we close the abyss."

"Excuse me," Lysandra squeaked. "Did we not just do that? What was that giant demon...demon hole."

"That was just a warm up" another voice chimed in. This one had a deep, rumbling quality, like stone rising from the depths. "The real fun starts further down the mountain."

Lysandra turned to see a short, robust figure clad in rugged armor, his chestplate adorned with a weathered insignia. A menacing broadsword was strapped to his back and he appeared to have old scars all over his hands. He exuded a sense of sturdiness, as if carved from the very rock. It wasn't as conspicuous as the other man's aura, but something about him felt off. "Darak Stoneshaper—Sentinel in training, twin brother to Marak, and your new favorite person. " he introduced himself.

"Oh," Lysandra said, staring down at the man in front of her, who gazed back with a wide grin. "Hi. What's a sentinel? Who's Marak?" She paused for another beat. "I'm Lysandra, you can call me Sandra."

He jutted his thumb to other man, er, elf-man. "That's Marak."

Her eyes widened. "Twins? But–" she sputtered. "How–" They most definitely did not look alike. Darak was shorter and stockier, while Marak was leaner, and while he wasn't extremely tall he still stood taller than Lysandra and a great bit taller than Darak.

"Ugh," Vittoria complained. "We don't have time for this."

"Triplets, actually" The elf quipped in with a humorous dazzle in his eyes. Lysandra could tell he was doing this to irritate Vittoria further. "Our third brother did not have the luxury of tagging along for the fun."

He turned to face Lysandra. "Is there something that caught your eye?" Lysandra blushed—she had been glanced between the two, um, twins.

"I just... pardon me... but... what are you?" she blurted out.