Wayward Tail: The Mortal Realms Trilogy, Book 1

The Star Scion

Artifax didn't sleep well that night. When he finally conceeded to his insomnia, it was dawn. The sun was creeping up over the eastern sky. Artifax heard the soft singing of an elven lullaby. He turned. Oriander was on was alert and sitting not far away. She knew he was awake but continued quietly singing until he spoke. "How long have you been awake," Artifax asked her.

"About as long as you," She replied between verses.

"Then you didn't sleep well either..." Artifax thought about the short and disjointed dreams he had been diving into throughout the night. He saw Layla dancing before a hideous giant-like creature wearing a crown. He saw her on an alter before a well of some kind. The giant held a blade and was walking toward her... He had awoken after that point.

Oriander broke the silence. "No... not at all. But my thoughts, they kept me company."

Artifax was again amazed at this elven woman. He had met her once before in the north of the country. Indeed, she had aided his friends during his recovery from resurrection. She appeared the most noble of elves, from her facial features to the formal way she spoke the common tongue. Yet Artifax had seen Oriander in battle, and that person she became then, well... she was vicious.

Artifax wondered what such a woman thought about in the morning hours. He knew little to nothing about her past. "Care to share?"

Oriander continued to scan the hills and trees for danger as she spoke, but her song ceased. "It is a very long and complicated story my friend."

"I've got time. The others are still sleeping. Please."

She hesitated, but complied. "It seems my origins in Faerun are as complicated a thing as your origins. I am both elf and pixie. Material and Fey. My people once called me the Star Scion, and they said I had a dualist soul."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me." Artifax quipped as he sat up and warmed himself by the small fire. The morning was brisk in the mountains that day.

"My flesh belongs to the pixie. My mind is that of the wood elf. Together they mix and meld into who you see before you. I was given this gift by the Fey Summer Queen, Tiandra, of the Court of Stars. Out of death, twice told, I have become what you see. Now, I seek to go home, to the Feywild."

"You know that we seek Shinaelestra. You must know of this place then?"

"I do," she replied. "My search has led me to this place, just as it has you. It was fortune that made our purposes align. You seek the Moonwell of Thray inside of Shinaelestra because it transcends distance. I seek the the shining city of Shinaelestra because it also transcends worlds."

"So you will not come with us to Oman Isle?" Artifax knew that having Oriander with them would increase their likelihood of success against the giants holding Layla hostage.

Oriander brought her eyes back to Artifax. "That is not my path, little dragon."

"Little dragon?" Artifax rolled his eyes. "Not you too!"

She finished her thought, "Let us prepare ourselves for the day to come. Wake your friends. For we will soon face the rangers of Lord Calenon Thray, who protect Sinaelestra." Then her gaze returned to the treeline as she stood. "We must go now. We have an hour before the others are upon us."