The Elf Thief

Chapter 41: The Queen of Dusk

By the One, he hoped not.

He hoped that he had experienced and lived through every second of his time with the elf. He did not wish for things to return to the way they were. The fay, the dwarves, Eron, Enoka, Sonya…he wouldn’t trade his experiences with them for the world. How he had changed since he was that lost little prince, hunting elves for sport.

But as much as he loved his friends and his adventures, he did wish for this war to be over. He wished to live in peace instead of on the run, constantly looking over his shoulder to see if they were followed. He wished for all races to be free, free from tyranny and prejudice. So, while looking at the Queen of Dusk, the question slipped out his mouth before he could stop it:
            “What would you have me do?”

Huge smile on her face, Healith walked behind the half-elf and placed her hands on his shoulders. Turning him a bit, Dearekk then found himself standing in a cavern. In a way, it looked much like the cavern in the Lover’s Tunnel. On the far wall, a word was written, but the letters swam before his eyes, making it impossible to read.

As he squinted to try to make out the word, the dragon-woman leaned in close and whispered, “Say the word. Say the word and you will have the powers of the heavens. Nothing will be able to stop you. You will bring the dead to life, you will destroy kings and castles with a swing of your hand and you will create worlds with the blink of your eye. Nothing will be impossible. Say the word and thousands of new paths will open.”

As the word on the wall became clearer, Dearekk found himself being drawn to it. He could not pull away. He could not escape. It lured him in like a moth to a light and it intoxicated him like the finest of wines. He opened his mouth to say the word, to let the power fill his body, but then something stopped him.

It was a whisper on a summer breeze. It was a breath of salty ocean air. It was a cool fountain of water, rushing over him and clearing his mind. It was indescribable.

I am all you will ever need.

With those words, Dearekk found himself jerked out of the trance he was in. The mysterious wind blew a tune through his mind, the tune to an old rhyme. A rhyme he did not know he had heard before, yet the words were as clear as if he had learned it yesterday.

“Beings of power,

            Lives forever long;

            No longer dwell in towers,

            But trapped in unending song.”

 

            “A whispered thought

            In the summer rains,

            When dragons cannot 

           Break the shortest of chains.”

“The shortest of chains,” Dearekk whispered to himself, amazed. Whirling around to face the dragon-woman, he exclaimed, “The Broken are beings over power, who cannot break the shortest of chains.” Angrily pointing towards the wall, the Rebel Prince nearly yelled, “You are trapped in that word, aren’t you? And when I said it, you would be released and you would try to possess me!”

Fangs appeared in the woman’s mouth as she hissed. “Impossible!” she shrieked. “No one has been able to resist a word of the Broken! How did you do it, boy?”

Furious, Dearekk only spat out, “That is not something that you must know. Answer this question: Were you trying to possess me?”

Letting out a maniacal laugh, Healith screeched, “Trying to possess you? I am the ruler of my kind. I am the Queen of Dusk, the Slayer of a Thousand Souls, She Who Wears the Skin of Kings. My little, weak prince, I would not have tried. I would have succeeded! But you have left me trapped here! Trapped in a prison of mist, in a world where I cannot create. And for that I will kill you!”

As she lunged at him, Dearekk rolled out of the way. “Sonya!” he called out into the mist as he and Healith circled each other slowly. “Sonya, now would be a wonderful time for you to wake me!”

“You will never wake again!” Healith screamed. “You have condemned me to an eternity in this living hell!” A single tear streamed down the dragon-woman’s face and she leapt at the half-elf, claws extended towards his neck.

Throwing his hand up and closing his eyes in one final attempt to block the queen’s attack, surprised and fearful thoughts ran through Dearekk’s mind as the expected pain did not come. Opening his grey eyes, the Blade-Bearer saw the dragon-woman impaled upon the Sword of Mist and Fire.

With one last hiss of anger and despair, the dragon-woman faded into dust upon his sword. His breathing heavy, Dearekk could only stare at the glowing sword in his hand, pulsating with light.

“You didn’t kill her,” came a voice behind him.

Whirling around, Dearekk saw a man, about Rith’s age, dressed in full battle armor, standing behind him. When Dearekk dropped into a fighting stance, the man threw up his hands to show he hand no weapon.

“Easy, boy!” he said. “Look into my eyes. You know me.”

 Peering closely at the strange man, Dearekk saw a pair of clever, glowing blue eyes and a cheeky grin.

His own grey eyes growing wide, Dearekk asked, “Revolaton?”

A chuckle escaped the man. “So you are smarter than you look,” he said. Holding up a finger to stop the onslaught of questions, he continued, “And before you ask, in this world I can appear as any form I choose. This form is more suitable now.”

Pausing and looking down at the pile of dust that was once his queen, the Broken man said absentmindedly, “Don’t tell her I said this, but I’m honestly a bit happy you dispersed her. If she kills you, I get trapped again. It’s not very pleasant, being trapped in a word, that is. And a word of warning, you didn’t kill her. It takes much more than a single stab with a magic sword to slay She Who Wears the Skin of Kings. But you did send her away long enough for me to send you back to the realm of the living.”

Skeptically, Dearekk asked, “Why would you do that? Why would you rob your queen of vengeance on me?”

A loud resounding laugh came from the man. “Because in a few millennia, another being will come along.  Perhaps she will deem him worthy, perhaps she’ll kill him before he has the chance to speak. And if he falls into her trap and frees her, the world will face a war so terrible, no one will survive. I think the end of Zauluke can wait a few thousand more years, don’t you?” Revolaton winked at the half-elf. “Now, come on,” he said. “It’s time you returned to your elf.”

As Revolaton placed his hand on Dearekk’s forehead, the Rebel Prince’s world flashed white, and then there was nothing but darkness.

(Well, I wrote most of this chapter sitting alone in the dark. Why was I in the dark, you ask? Probably because the wonderful weather in the Middle of Nowhere decides to give us all a lovely snowstorm in the MIDDLE OF FREAKING APRIL, which then results in the power going out and me sitting there with a few candles as my only light source. What a beautiful night. I will have you know that the ice was so thick on my car, that it broke my scraper and I had to get a bunch of older guys to come and help me de-ice it! Why do I live here again???

I’m sorry for any spelling and/or grammatical errors, but with a broken branch resting on our main power line, the power could go out any minute, and with it, the Internet. O.o Terrifying, right?

Any ways, remember to vote and comment and make me feel even more guilty about have a two month hiatus…sheesh. There’s just no way to make that sound better. Sorry, guys! Updates will hopefully be closer together in the near future, but no promises. Please keep me inspired by voting and commenting! And I have to say THANK YOU SO MUCH MY LITTLE NINJAS!!!! 10,000 reads to 16,000????? You guys are the best!! And 500 votes!! Ahhhhhh!!! I love you so much! :D Suggests, critics, and complements are welcome!!! Oh and the picture on the side is of Healith in her creature/dragon form. That’s all for now!~*~*~Ninja Out~*~*~)