September 31st
Sygnet
Sygnet's ship docked in Dolonde's harbor. As she climbed down the ramp to the docks, a Nyx soldier approached and asked to see her bag. She handed it over, presumably as she had nothing to hide from them. Seemingly, he found nothing and sent her on her way. It was odd. Security was never this tight, especially by the Nyx, who had evidently made themselves at home here. She was exhausted from the long trip. It had been diplomatic, of course, strictly business with the guards, not for the assassins. However, she had requested a few days off of work to spend with the assassins below the city. A dragon flew low overhead, coming to perch on the roof of a house. Its black, soulless eyes gazed at her with curiosity as she passed below.
She picked the entrance into the tunnels in the far corner of the slums, a hole behind a large house, hidden from sight between the wall of the city and that of the house. She jumped down and made her way through the tunnels that she had been forced to memorize years ago.
The door that led to the tunnels near Commons was closed. Unusual, really. It was always kept propped open.
Frowning, she slowly pushed on it and the stench hit her like a brick wall. She doubled over, retching as she leaned against the door for support.
It was then she noticed a bloody boot-print on the floor. It was silver, like Thälor's blood had been the night she arrived. Panic filled her face as her eyes traveled upwards, towards Commons. The bodies of Nyx lay scattered about, many of which bore gruesome injuries. She broke into a run, abandoning her bag by the door. Upon entering Commons, she found more bodies and burn marks against the stone.
Two large pools of blood lay before the fireplace. This blood was red.
It swirled with the blood of a nearby Nyx, creating a morbidly beautiful pattern on the stone. The dining hall and the rooms behind were clear, apart from the pile of dust that was all that remained of Mortie, and a few leaves that were the now-deceased nymphs. The rooms had been thoroughly ransacked, including her own, her dresser had been tipped over and her bedsheets torn to shreds. She turned around and ran towards the Second Commons, passing more Nyx bodies as she went. There was more red blood by the archery target, another spattered along the bookshelves near the entrance below the abandoned house.
Two more in the infirmary, a bright red stain splashed along the beds and another leaving its mark on the cabinets where the healing potions had been kept but were now broken glass on the floor. She found another in the library, where the books had been ripped apart, pages lying in the silver and red stains, and bookshelves lay splintered throughout the room. Burn marks were all over the walls.
The garden was the last place she checked and there, she found the remains of a great battle. The grass was dead and the flowers wilting. The artificial torches on the wall were dimly lit but, in that light, she could see the largest bloodstain yet, right near the opposite side. A bloody streak lead to the pond and stopped on the stone bridge over the center. The crystal-clear water was now a slight shade of pink.
Sygnet couldn't bear to do anything but run away from the smell of death in the room. Tears filled her eyes and it looked as if it took great control not to scream out in anger.
She began to run through the halls, towards the spring where she felt most at peace. She collapsed on the grass by the water, tears streaming down her face and into the dirt, her sobs overtaking her and she vomited in the grass.
Suddenly, the sounds of digging reached her ears and she looked up, sniffing, towards the graveyard. Someone was alive. In her desperation to find the hint of someone, friend or Nyx, she clambered to her feet and sprinted as fast as she could up the stairs.
It was Kodi.
He hadn't heard her approach and his voice was low as he mumbled to himself incoherently. He was covering a freshly dug grave with earth. Actually, seven freshly dug graves.
"Kodi?" she began, her voice apprehensive and uneasy.
He spun around, his shovel held up as if it were a weapon, his violet-colored eyes were blazing. As he saw her his eyes focused and his face relaxed then, he ran forward to wrap his arms around her.
"Is everyone..." She couldn't get over the rest of the sentence.
He nodded solemnly.
"I came as fast as I could. I heard in Narya that the High King had been killed by one of The Blades, it can't have been true." She paused, "Right?" she looked up at him as she held him at arm's length, searching his face.
"It's true, he is dead, but it is not by one of us. Someone—we don't know who—framed us and," he took a deep breath to collect himself, "they came 2 nights ago. Hundreds of Nyx stormed the tunnels and killed all of us that were left."
"Left? What do you—"
"Atla was framed for his murder. Gossamer banished her and Airys, Bayah, Flax, Thälor, and Tercet went with her. They believed she was innocent. I do too but..." he swallowed hard.
"Kodi, did you stay for X?" Sygnet asked, her eyebrows were raised in an apologetic expression.
He nodded again, looking down at his feet. He turned to face the freshly dug graves and he could no longer speak. He gasped for air and went on, "He told me to run! I turned into a mouse and," tears were falling now, "I watched him die a-and when he was lying on the ground, he told me to leave him and not get myself killed," he turned back to Sygnet, "that my debt would be f-forgiven—" that was all he could get out before he couldn't speak again. Sygnet wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug.
Atla
September 30th
Dawn arose the morning after the massacre that Airys, Bayah, Flax, Tercet, Thälor, and I hadn't known had happened.
I awoke but kept my eyes closed. That was some nightmare. I thought to myself, reminiscing about the dream I had the night before. In it, I had been banished from the assassins forever. I took a deep breath and felt the cool, fresh air enter my lungs. I opened my eyes to gaze at a gray sky, instead of the familiar ceiling in the Sanctuary and I felt a heavyweight sink into my chest.
It had been real.
I sat up on my bedroll and stretched out my body that was not used to sleeping on solid ground. Looking around, I saw our surroundings clearly—well, as clearly as I could through the fog. It hung so heavily over the ground that anything farther than one hundred feet was invisible. Beside me was Bayah's empty bedroll on my left and a snoring Thälor on my right with Ealonë sleeping soundly beside her. The ground was damp with morning dew and the air was crisp and cool as winter approached. The fire we had set the night before had long since burned out.
"Good morning," a low voice said and I turned. Airys was awake, sitting on a log, keeping watch over us while we slept.
"Good morning. Where's Bayah?" I asked, getting to my feet and moving to go sit beside him quietly. He looked exhausted as if he hadn't slept at all. His eyes were brighter than usual, complimented by the bloodshot around them.
"Hunting," he said, "how did you sleep?" I noticed that his hair was sprinkled with dew like snowflakes had landed on him in the night.
"Not as good as I would have hoped." I looked over at the others. Thälor had slept every night since the trip for Farkeep and I was a little worried. I didn't know what this much sleep did to a Nyx.
Airys sighed, "So, this is Pureacre?" He looked around what abandoned and broken-down buildings and desolate streets he could see. The burned fields were beyond the fog.
I nodded, "It was."
"When I found out that you had come here, I went to get information on what happened. After you escaped the dungeon, Alekai ordered the village searched on the grounds of harboring a dangerous fugitive. Then, it was sacked and destroyed." He glanced at me. I could see that he pitied me.
So, I had been right, "I had no ties here. I doubt my parents still lived here. So, it's not like I lost anything." I looked off, into the distance at the house with the small bed and the broken beam. It might have been mine.
"Do you miss them?" he asked, his voice seemed so innocent and quiet with the question.
I smiled a little to myself, "No." I responded plainly, "How could I miss someone I never knew?" Then I changed the subject as Airys' shoulders dropped, "Do you have any idea of who framed me for King Vornath's murder?"
Airys shook his head, "No." then he sighed, "I mean, it's a pity to lose such a fine ruler. I mean, what year is it? 3850? That's a lot of years to rule with almost complete peace."
I nodded, not quite sure what to say, "Well, the prince couldn't have killed him, right?" I suggested, attempting to move on the conversation from politics.
"No. He's too young and innocent." Bayah said as she returned from her hunting trip with a couple of rabbits in hand. She set them down and came over to sit beside us.
Airys barely acknowledged her arrival, "No, but I would hazard a guess at his right-hand man, Alekai. As Jayr's tutor, he has the ear of the prince and eventually the king. He just had to remove the man in power and he's got total control." He was just talking to himself at this point.
I looked at Bayah, who shrugged and said, "So we know our bad guy—"
"It's a hunch," he corrected.
"So, we think we know our bad guy," she continued, "How do we proceed?"
"We need help, that's for sure. Alekai has always wanted war when it came to the elves and dwarves. You've noticed the increase in the Nyxian guards at the city gates, right? They aren't letting in any without express permission from the Prince," Airys told Bayah.
I had no idea what was happening in the conversation. They seemed to know a lot more about this than I did, "So, what do we do?" I asked.
Bayah pursed her lips, "Well, we could—"
Suddenly, Thälor let out a slight gasp as she sat bolt upright in her bedroll, eyes filled with fear for a split second until it was gone. The cat mewed indignantly as it was awoken from the sudden movement.
"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked, moving cautiously closer to her.
She looked at me with her bright, widened eyes, "They are dead," she whispered.
"Who?" asked Bayah.
"Gossamer and the twins. All of them," she mumbled, looked around at the ground, as if expecting to see something lying there in place of grass.
We traded glances, "What do you mean?" Airys asked, his eyebrows raised curiously.
"I had a dream. But it was not a dream. It was more than that. Someone told the Prince of our hideout. The soldiers—Nyx soldiers, came in the night..." Her voice faded.
"It was just a dream," Bayah told her.
"Kodi." She looked at me.
"He's fine," I said but my mind couldn't shake off the fear I had seen in her eyes, "He is still with Gossamer and the Twins and they are all still alive."
Thälor took a deep breath. She still looked apprehensive as she didn't believe me and she picked up Ealonë to stroke gently as she calmed herself. Bayah dug in her bag and unearthed a loaf of bread, handing a small torn-off bit to each of us, "We should probably get moving," she said.
We nodded silently and Bayah went to wake up Flax and Tercet from their deepened sleep.
"Wait, where are we going?" I asked.
"The elves, I think. Atredhel is closer than Yarrin and time is of the essence." Airys said and Bayah nodded in agreement as Tercet sat up, her hair disheveled.
"All right!" I said enthusiastically, getting to my feet, "Let's go fight a war!"
We set off, packing up the camp. We dismantled the fire and made it look undisturbed before we left the area, taking the southern path out of the city and moving across the aged stones in almost total silence. Travelers along the road were few. The fall crops had already been taken to market and the far-out merchants and farmers were beginning to settle in for winter.
We passed over a bridge around mid-morning and we all agreed not to stop in Hazelacre and just continue southeast to Ambor, the harbor city, where we could take a ship to the elven capital.
This trip took all day and into the night. Tercet was exhausted by then and Flax allowed her to ride on his back while she slept soundly. When we passed Hazelacre at about eleven o'clock—according to Bayah—we entered a forest of pines. These trees were thicker than those that used to surround Dolonde.
The port city of Ambor was small and the streets were patrolled by the lightweight drunks and the night-shift guards. It smelled vaguely of fish.
We agreed to do our investigating in the morning so we headed to the tavern. The Inn attached to it was called The Sleeping Troll. There, the six of us rented two rooms on the top floor for the night, and Thälor, Tercet, Bayah, and I took the larger of the two, and sleep came swiftly.
September 31st
Bayah woke us up at dawn and Airys knocked on the door a few minutes later. The fog had settled heavily over the ground as I looked through the glass. The air was thick from the sea as I opened the window and looked outside, across the rooftops, to the bright crystal-clear ocean peeking through the fog. The smell of the breeze was gentle and relaxing. Quite the change from the damp sanctuary.
Flax and Airys waited for us outside the tavern, bags packed and ready to go. Airys huddled us in a circle, "All right, here's the plan: Bayah, Flax. You two are in charge of getting supplies for the trip to Atredhel. Tercet, you do what you do best and go get us some money. Thälor, you're a Nyx and can get information better than any of us. Atla and I will go get us a ship. Meet at the docks in half an hour." He broke down the plan for us and then we split off, doing as he said.
The two of us headed towards the docks, Airys talking to several people along the way, all of which were unhelpful in finding us a boat to Atredhel.
Finally, a large, burly man was able to help us, "Aye, tha' man there'll get ya a boat, sure." He pointed to a dark-haired man carrying barrels onto the deck of a ship.
"Thank you," Airys told him quietly but as we turned to leave, the man caught his arm and yanked him close. I reached back for my katanas but Airys shot me a look as I made the move. He didn't want me to interfere and he was right. We shouldn't cause trouble here.
Leaning into Airys' ear, the man spoke, "Information's gonna cost ya'," he hissed, his voice dripping with a threat.
Airys nodded slightly, pulled out a gold coin, and pressed it into the man's palm. The sailor grinned and released the hold he had on his arm as he took the coin, "Thank ya'. You know, a man's gotta eat." He chuckled to himself and walked away.
"You shouldn't have paid him," I whispered to my companion as we walked away.
He shrugged slightly, grinning, "I couldn't just leave him penniless, now could I?" he asked innocently as pulled a coin purse from his pocket, clearly cut away from a belt.
"Where did you—" I began and then laughed because it was no use to ask how he had pickpocketed that sailor of his hefty coin purse.
We spoke to the man with the barrel on the dock and he directed us to the Captain, who said that they were planning on taking a few crates and shipments of supplies to Atheria later that morning. He told us that they took people with them all the time, as long as we paid for it with coins or labor.
With this new information, we went back up the hill to the Inn and waited for everyone else to return from their jobs, hopefully with as much success as us.
Thälor returned shortly with information on the Nyx and the Prince, "Not here, Thälor. Later tonight," Airys told her as she started to explain. The Nyx nodded and fell silent.
Flax and Bayah returned with their bags full of food and snacks and Tercet emerged from the crowd carrying four of five large coin purses she had nicked.
"How long is the trip there?" she asked as we set off for the docks once more.
"About a day," I said before anyone had time to think about it. Everyone looked at me. "I traveled a lot." I reminded them and they all nodded quickly as they recalled my years as a vagabond.
Airys and I greeted the Captain on the docks and he pointed to a pile of crates, "Get to work." He grinned toothily and picked one up as well.
Airys shouldered his bag and picked up two medium-sized crates and walked up the plank to the deck of the ship. The rest of us followed as well. Tercet carried a smaller box packed tightly with apples.
September 32nd
Over the next day, we sailed. Flax was seasick most of the time and spent all day on a barrel on the deck, leaning over the railing, ready to vomit at a moment's notice. Tercet would entertain herself by playing cards with the crew. She was quite good at gambling away their money. From what the Quartermaster had told me, she'd made herself quite a stockpile of money. Thälor had gotten into a habit of throwing small apples across the deck, whereupon her kitten would run and bring them back to her. It was an interesting game for the two of them. Airys spent most of his time on the upper deck, watching the sea float by. Bayah enjoyed climbing up to the Crow's Nest and keeping a lookout. I spent a lot of my time with the crew as well, learning different aspects of the ship and helping out where I could. Being as good as I was at climbing, they used that to their advantage. Goddess, when did I turn into someone who actually wanted to learn something for once. I thought to myself, shaking my head as I wrapped a rope around a support beam below deck.
We docked later in the morning. Atheria was a beautiful city. Carved from marble, the walls were smooth and white, almost like a city of clouds. The water was crystal clear and as I looked over the side of the ship, I saw huge fish that glimmered in every shade of color, some even had all of them. It was like stepping into another world. Beyond the giant walls surrounding the city were these enormous trees that towered higher than the church in Dolonde. It was daunting. Behind the white buildings lay the palace, shimmering in the distance.
We left the ship, helping the crew upload their trade. We thanked the captain for his hospitality as we descended to the dock. Standing on wooden planks, we saw elves roaming the streets, bustling about through the crowd. Shop owners were tending their stalls and passersby admired the fine wares available for sale. Every time I came here, I was blown away by the beauty of it all.
Airys led the way through the marketplace, towards the main city gates. We stopped as we were told to halt by the elven guards that flanked it, "What is your business here?" one of them asked, his voice monotonous and commanding. From behind his helmet, he eyed our weapons. This guy was taller than Flax by several inches so it was honestly quite intimidating. And there were two of them.
"We are travelers from Dolonde and we bring important news to the Lord and Lady of the Elves," Airys said, stepping forward to look up at him.
The elf paused, looked at his companion, and nodded, allowing us to enter. The sparkling gates swung open and we entered the ancient city of magic.
As we moved through the streets, I saw elves using magic to carve designs into the marble on the walls. Others used theirs to construct the building itself, heaving heavy bricks into the air and stacking them neatly to build a small house.
The only building taller than the palace was a large tower. From the balcony that wrapped around the top, I was sure that you could probably see Ambor from there. It was a grand sight to see and from our place on the ground, I could see that the tower glowed a bright, sparkling blue.
We came to the palace gates and stopped. The elves here drew their weapons aggressively. From my view, I could see a garden and that surrounded the inner part of the palace. An elven woman was tending to the plants within and I immediately thought of Gossamer. She would have loved the beautiful flowers there. They grew in a vast array of types and colors. There was a blue one that would bob ever so slightly, sprinkling snow on the ground nearby. A red one with a large blossom played a lovely song with its neighbors as its leaves danced to the rhythm. There was a bright green one that sprayed water from the center of petals into the center of another one and then this flower did the same right back. It was quite funny to watch flowers spit at each other.
Airys stepped up to the gate and spoke to the guard, using the same speech he used on the ones at the city gates.
"I am sorry," the elf replied in a deep voice, "I cannot allow any visitors at this time."
The elven woman tending the plants looked up from her work, "Fasuna, let them enter, but check them and have them leave their weapons at the gate." She approached.
Both guards addressed her formally with, "Yes, milady." and opened the gate. Before we entered the gates, a light pink barrier shimmered into existence. We passed through and it emitted a shimmering sound as we crossed. The light felt warm and gentle, like stepping into the sun on a chilly day.
We were asked to pass over our weapons and leave them at the gate. They eyed the crimson color of the blades as we handed them to the elven guard. "These two have magic, milady," Fasuna told the elven woman, pointing to Thälor and Airys.
"That will be fine. Just make sure you do not use it," she added, looking between the two of them, who both nodded. Ealonë mewed gently as she passed through the barrier, shaking herself and leaning against Thälor's neck.
"Is that a Felictus?" the elven woman asked, looking at the cat.
Thälor shrugged, "I do not know. I found her."
"They bond with a single person and when the time comes, they will grow in size and strength. You ought to look them up." She turned and led the way to the palace doors.
Her hair fell to her waist, retained with a braid, the color was a shiny, chocolate brown, that faded to blonde at the ends. Pointed ears stuck out through her thick sheen of hair. She wore the traditional brown and green of the elves. A tattoo of a dragon stretched the length of her back and the head snaked over her shoulder to her chest. The tail wrapped around most of her torso and down her leg. It was satisfyingly beautiful to see the colors meld with her skin and ripple as she moved. Unakin to elves, she had a light dusting of freckles across her nose, much like Bayah's, apart from the difference in their skin tone. Her eyes were a smooth hazel with a light shimmer that reminded me of a crystal. Small streaks of green and yellow pushed towards the edge of her iris, almost like rays of sunshine.
She led us through the grand doors of the palace and into the Great Hall. It was designed with white marble like the rest of the city and designs were carved with magic, giving it a clean look. The smell of the pine trees of Atheria wafted through the air. Stained glass all along the walls stretched from almost floor to ceiling, bathing the carved stone at our feet in a rainbow of light and color. The room was empty except for elven guards stationed at intervals along the wall, motionless, their eyes watching our every move. Green banners, crested with the silver tree—the symbol of the elves—lined the walls between the windows. The room was quiet but for the sound of our boots hitting the stone.
The she-elf led us to the end of the hall, stopping about halfway to the end, "Wait here," she told us and we did as she said. She ventured down the hall and through a side door. The thrones at the end of the room were vacant. I looked at the guards stationed at the sides. They wore armor that was green, brown, and silver. The leather breastplate was gilded with silver for added protection over their green tunics. Their helmets were likely made of leather and we could see nothing but their eyes and their mouths. They all carried bows and arrows with swords strapped to their hips. It was all very uniform and intimidating.
As the creepy stares of the guards became more apparent, the brunette elf returned.
"The King and Queen will be with you shortly. They are just finishing up their tea," she told us with a bright smile.
Airys gave her a smile to thank her and we stood there, awkwardly with the woman, who was looking at all of us with a bright smile that made me believe she knew something we didn't, "So," she broke the silence, "what brings you to Atheria?"
"We bring news from Dolonde," Bayah said.
"Mm. Is it the King or the Prince?" she asked, pursing her lips.
"The King is dead and we think the Prince is being brainwashed by his father's right-hand man. He's letting Nyxian soldiers prowl the city like stray dogs." Airys sighed heavily, shaking his head.
"Uh-huh," she didn't look convinced, "Tell me: Why would a small group of unwashed assassins come to the elves?" she smirked.
We tensed and glanced at each other, instinctively stepping inwards to form a tight circle. My hand automatically moved to behind my head, reaching for a weapon that wasn't there.
The she-elf laughed, "It's all right. You Blades only do what you can to survive. Your business affairs happened outside of Atredhel, so we have no control over those matters. As long as no...incidents happened within our borders, you have nothing to fear from us."
I quietly thanked Gossamer for never sending me on a mission to Atheria.
Suddenly, the doors on the side of the hall opened with a deep groan, and in waltzed the Lord and Lady of the elves, accompanied by their steward and advisor. The elven guards along the hall snapped to attention and two broke ranks to stand on either side of the thrones. The two royals seated themselves on the empty chairs at the end of the hall and the she-elf told us to approach them slowly and to kneel before the throne.
I didn't like kneeling for someone but did it anyway as Airys approached them. It wouldn't do us any good to be disrespectful at this time.
"At ease, young ones," the King said, his voice smooth. As we got to our feet, the guards along the side of the hall relaxed ever so slightly. The King was a pleasant-looking man with long, sunshine-colored hair and light blue eyes that looked at us with curiosity.
"I see you have met our daughter, Rosheni," the Queen spoke, waving a hand at the brunette elf standing beside us. She grinned at us as we traded questioning looks. This elf looked nothing like her parents.
"My name is Kydr and this is my Queen, Idondi. Rosheni tells us that you have important information regarding Dolonde. Do tell and please, try to make it interesting." Maybe he's not as pleasant as I thought. The Queen gently touched his arm when he spoke. It was a quiet warning to keep his tone and he turned to give her a loving smile.
Airys took a small step forward and the guards beside the thrones took a defensive step towards him. He put his hands up as a gesture of submission and he spoke, "My Lord and Lady, as you are well aware, the High King has been assassinated. But we have reason to believe that it was not by the hands of...well, an assassin. More importantly, one of our assassins."
"Who then?" the Queen asked, genuinely curious, looking between all of us standing before her. I was pleased that she didn't write us off completely.
"His Right-Hand, Alekai," Airys said, his voice bouncing off the walls of the stone.
"That is a serious accusation, boy," the steward snipped, taking a small step towards him, eyebrows creased slightly.
"At ease, Ialdis. These people seek nothing but the truth." The Queen held up a hand and Ialdis stepped back to his place beside the throne, head bowed slightly. She went on, "Why do you believe it is Alekai? What does he have to gain?"
"Power, milady," Airys explained, "With the death of the High King, our most beloved ruler of all sixteen Ultimatums, the citizens become outraged. The royal court, in order to restore order to the city, crowns the Prince before his coming of age. This allows Alekai, the steward, to become newly appointed as an advisor to watch over and guide him in his first few years. A perfect opportunity to corrupt the new High King. We need to stop him," Airys ended his monologue and looked up at the two elven royals, who traded looks.
"A fascinating theory, assassin, but how do you know this is the truth?" the King asked. He was clearly a very optimistic and trusting person when faced with six dirty assassins who come in to claim they didn't actually murder his High King.
"I don't expect you to believe me, my lord." Airys bowed slightly to him.
"I believe him, my love." Idondi looked at her husband, who looked back at her, his eyes were suddenly soft. The cold, rigidness was suddenly gone from his expression.
"You do?" Ialdis raised both of his eyebrows.
"I do," she said and all of us looked at each other in bewilderment, "This human is responsible for the murder of the High King," she pointed at me and I panicked slightly, backing up, "But I happen to know that she was not in Dolonde when he was murdered." Idondi smiled at me softly and I frowned. She believes me?
"How?" I blurted and Bayah stepped on my foot to silence me.
Idondi laughed lightly and reached to the table beside her throne and she showed the cover to me. It was a book with familiar leather binding and green letters, "Do you remember this?" she asked. Something in the back of my mind recognized it but I couldn't place where I had seen it. It's not like I touch books all the time. I saw Thälor nod in the corner of my eye and it clicked.
"Farkeep. You were the—"
"Anonymous client, indeed, I was. I have always had a fascination for your vocation, Atla and I had the bookkeeper attach a spell to it." She opened the pages, placed a hand on the ancient texts, and swiped forward as if cleaning away dust. Instead of dust floating through the air, what looked like little flurries of bright blue snow descended to the ground and began to weave their way across the stone, hovering about a foot off the ground. The flurries became a translucent, rectangular sheet. On it, green lines began to form, making obscure shapes across the blue. It was a moment before I realized that this was a map of Eravith. Red dots appeared at points on the map and I could see the cities. As this spell continued to form, the shutters on the windows began to slowly close and the torches went out, throwing the whole hall into pitch black but for the glowing blue aura surrounding the newly-made map.
"Here is the book now." The Queen waved her hand and a white dot appeared in Atredhel, right where Atheria would be. "The spell tracks wherever the book is." She stood from her seat and went down the steps, moving through the blue and green sheet to stand off the East coast of Skystead.
"But how does that prove our innocence?" I asked.
"Patience, young one. The yellow area over there would be Farkeep." She pointed to the location, "This is the route you took back home. I can only assume you kept the book in your saddlebag, Atla, as upon the second day, the line shows you went to Pureacre," she said and I looked at my feet.
Airys didn't look back at me when he discovered this information had been true and I quietly thanked him for his discretion about my family.
"Then back to the river by Fairwell and finally to Dolonde, where the book was then sent to me." She smiled at all of us in turn and closed the book. The spell broke and the map died. As the shutters and torches slowly lit themselves, Idondi went on, "I checked the time it would have taken to do all this and murder the King and determined that it couldn't have possibly been you. Even if you had left the book at the camp."
I heaved a sigh of relief as Bayah gently patted me on the back. My innocence had been proven, sadly, it was too late. The damage had been done.
"We will take all this into account and determine the next course of action. The guards will show you to your rooms where you can clean yourselves up and later go shopping. Your clothes are horrendous and you smell like sailors," the King said. He wasn't wrong. Being on a boat for days did make you smell pretty bad. All we could do was wait for their response to our call for help.
The city proved to be a beautiful place. The doors were made of aspen so they blended seamlessly with the marble walls. The shops carried beautiful clothes where Rosheni explained at all elven clothing was as light as air and made by the finest artisans. Bayah and Flax were more interested in the chocolate stand next to the clothes shop but the highlight for me was the giant sapphire ball in the center of the city, in the large spire I had seen when coming in.
Rosheni took us to the very top, where the energy radiated strongest from the huge orb. It was very large, taller than me, and about six times as wide. Upon closer inspection, we could see a ball of light inside the beautifully smooth sapphire stone, almost like a fire, blazing. The air around us was positively jumping with energy and Ealonë mewed and squirmed with excitement.
"A Firestone?" Airys asked, his mouth open in awe and Rosheni nodded in response.
"The source of all magic in the world comes from these. There is only one other we know of and it is in Kilearth with the Nyx," She reached out to touch the surface and looked at Thälor who was nodding in agreement, "That is how they procreate: with the magic of the stone. Our philosophers theorize that there are more, hidden somewhere in each region of Eravith. We have yet to come close to finding any proof of this," She sighed heavily but went on, "While you are here, your magic will be more potent, I suggest caution until you are able to control it," she warned Airys and Thälor, who both nodded. Thälor would likely be better at controlling it since she'd been born near one.
Ealonë mewed,signaling her discomfort with being near the stone, so Rosheni led us back downthe stairs to continue our tour until we were summoned.