Emerald Estates: The Three Books

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Alais d Nitesong
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Mirror Images

Post by Alais d Nitesong »

After returning from Rhaine's, exhaustion crept at the periphery of my mind. I was tired, so very tired. As I passed the quicksilver mirror in my rooms, something flashed, catching my attention. Curiosity being an intrinsic part of my nature, I went closer for a look.

The image within was a man of golden hair, pale, pale skin, and a burning determination in his eyes. Overlaid in shadow behind him was a golden dragon, wings spread wide, and clutched in it's talons a small black book. MY book.

I went utterly still. A blade was held by the pale man, it's jewel encrusted hilt glittered in the gathering blackness. Twin black stones were suspended from one ear, and a black stone was set in a simple ring, and then all was cloaked in blackness so deep, it changed the surface of the mirror.

One name slipped from my lips, "Khirsah!"

Then blackness crept from the mirror, encircling me where I stood.
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Post by Khirsah »

He watched from behind the mirror. He knew she would come. Her estates on the Isles were, for the moment, closed to her, as the barriers were closed.

It was only a matter of time.

The time had come.

She stepped infront of the mirror, and her look spoke volumes. One of shock... one of fear.

So she had come to seek him before. Then she shall see what death is like.

He reached out, and the darkness enveloped her. Almost with a lover's touch, he pulled her into the mirror, and away from the worlds she knew.
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Post by Alais d Nitesong »

The darkness swept out of the quicksilver, curling around me as I watched the image that was Khirsah fade into the mists. In an instant, the darkness enveloped me with a caress so gentle at first I thought it imagined, and then, it pulled me into the mirror. Into a darkness unimaginable.

I clung to the image of Khirsah. "Where dae ye take me, 'n why m'lord?"

The black stones I'd seen in the mirror glittered in the blackness, and I could sense there were more upon his person. They drew power to them. They drew life and energy, and in that moment, I knew the book had changed the Elder.
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Post by Xenograg »

Alais is late.

Xenograg had run into Alais in the Arena the previous night. Their friendship is one that survives the time and distance each person frequently puts between the other. They sat and talked, but there was more than could be covered in one evening -- or in public. Xenograg offered to go to I'Taurn the next day, but Alais begged off due to guests there. They agreed to meet at Dojo Darelir in midmorning.

It is now noon, and Alais has yet to arrive. Xenograg waits patiently. Most likely, her houseguests have caused a change in plan. Such things happen.
"The stupidest creative act is still a creative act, and that the real gap isn't between the mediocre and great work. The real gap is between getting started and doing nothing. If you've created something, even if it's stupid, you've put yourself in a position to do more." - Clay Shirky
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Post by Khirsah »

His hand held tightly to hers as they once more were wrapped in the nothingness. He felt her stiffen, and even struggle a little, but his grip, void of all warmth, kept tight on her. He knew that it would only take a matter of moments to convey what was needed.

"Where dae ye take me, 'n why m'lord?"

His voice was soft, cold… “Was it not you who sought me?” He gave a tight smile, knowing her answer before it came, and thus, did not allow her to answer. “You were brought here to understand what is going on with my younger brother. He is brave, but often times, his heart gets in the way of his knowledge. This is the case this time. He has sought to protect you, and in so doing, has laid waste to his body.

As you know, he is still there, within. He has grow stronger because of this, but there is still a risk that when he finally makes his presence known that the bloodspeaker will still snuff him out. I will be there to see that this does not happen. But that is a matter which need not worry you.

This does…” As his voice trailed, the blackness around them vanished, and was replaced by a sight which Alais knew well. It was the keystone of her new manor, and the blade that was held enthralled there. Tass had marked a blazing path that encircled the blade, and stood before it. Then his hands moved, one wrapping around the blade at his side, and another around Daemonbane.

Then the image froze…

He turned and looked upon Alais’ face, and waited for what he knew was coming.
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Troubling Images

Post by Alais d Nitesong »

I stood beside the altered Khirsah in that place of beginning. This image of Tass taking hold of Daemonbane has shaken me deeply, for death awaits my old friend. None have ever survived. None.

I glanced at Khirsah. His demeanor one of unyielding granite that I could not fathom. "The shrine, that is what is locked away behind the dragon's blood wards." It was a statement rather than a question as realization dawned on me.

Home. We needed to return home, with Tass and Khirsah. "Khirsah, we need to go home. You would not come before - please tell me you will come now. We need you. Tass needs you."
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Post by Khirsah »

He looked over and set his eyes upon Alais. She had finally come up with the answer that she sought.

“Yes, Lady d’Nitesong. The blade is locked within the ‘dragon’s blood wards’. It must remain there, for now. Do not seek it. Do not let any know that you know it is there. It is guarded by the oldest lore there is. It must remain that way until the time comes that is must be removed. You will know that time when it comes.”

He lifted a hand and the scene shifted. Soon they were standing before the desolation and destruction which was being waged upon the Isles at the same moment that they were. The scene shifted violently and they rushed across the land of Matlal to the keep that was being built there. It eased to a stop at the front gate. There, before the gate stood the corrupted dragon’s who had become the enemy’s guards.

He let the scene linger for a moment. She would need to know this information. Then, he lifted his hand, and Matlal vanished, to be replaced by a large dragon held in limbo within the ether of the night. That image too lingered for a moment, then it too was replaced by that of Sai Jon being tended to by his friends.

There the image froze. He turned to her and looked into her eyes. “Lady, my time has come, so has yours. Go, heal the Guardian. You know the magic which threatens his body. It is not the pure corruption which came upon the Younger. He has purified it, but has not cleansed it. It is, however, too much for the Guardian to battle alone. Go, and heal him, and prepare those with him for the battle to come. Make sure you are at your strongest, for there will be rest and no quarter given for us.”

Lifting a hand, he let the darkness abate, returning to that of a normal night. She was now free to go when she was ready.
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Alais d Nitesong
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Images of Ruin

Post by Alais d Nitesong »

Khirsah brought forth images of Matlal that made my blood run cold. The entire island was over-run by the armies we'd seen when Sai Jon and I had both been in Riverbend. They had come through, and now, the once beautiful emerald green of my new home was being laid to waste by hordes of dead and daemon kind. Rael had corrupted not only the islands, but he'd gained some of the dragons of my home for his guards, and now, the structure I'd put such careful planning into before building was being guarded and defiled by dracoliches created from the very dragons who'd been helping me build on Matlal.

Khirsah bade me go heal Sai Jon, who apparently had drawn the taint of Daemonbane from Tass, and who now suffered the effects of the Annaran curse because according to Khirsah, we would need the Guardian for the battle we were facing. My focus however remained riveted on the image of the dragon turned dracolich guarding the despoiled remains of my home. Denial of what I saw roiled in my stomach. Garl would never willingly join Rael. NEVER!

The images faded away and the blackness turned into the normal darkness of night. I looked at Khirsah, "th' wards tae th' Emerald Isles 're closed Khirsah, Ah've need o' yer 'elp tae r'turn tae 'em."

He'd never answered my questions. The always enigmatic Khirsah kept his own counsel despite my elven curiosity.
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Out of the Dark

Post by Alais d Nitesong »

They stood in the darkness. One step more would take her back into her world, and out of this place Khirsah has been for all the months since the Books had gone to the Emerald Isle’s. This place where Tass’ brother has changed his outward form so drastically.

So many questions remained unanswered. So much to ask him and yet, the two remained in silence for long moments, suspended in that darkness looking out into a different world. She was unwilling to leave him in this darkness now that she’d finally found him.

“Khirsah, prithee why dae ye r’main ‘ere whence yer oon people haff need o’ ye? Whence Ah’d sought ye ‘n this place after ye’d touched me tha’ day ‘pon th’ black sand o’ Matlal?” She continued in elven softness, “r’jectin’ mine attempts tae tell ye aught was ‘appenin’ tae yer brother?”

She did not look up at the dragon. Pain laced her words as she vividly recalled the day he’d slammed the doors to his place in the Primordial Darkness, and without meaning to, she raised her hand, open palm to study the red line slashed across her palm from that day and her attempt to reach him. The magic she’d drawn upon would forever leave that scar as a reminder of how much of herself she’d given in that attempt to reach Khirsah.

“Ye’ve still possession o’ th’ Third book Khirsah – Ah’ve need o’ ‘t fer th’ battle ahead. Ah dinnae ken ‘f th’ changes ‘n ye ‘re froom th’ Book – Ah dae pray wha’ ye’ve b’come ist nae o’ th’ makin’ o’ th’ tome.”

Finally she looked up at his altered features.

“Wilst ye be coomin’ wi’ me tae th’ Emerald Isles Khirsah? Whilst ye ‘elp ‘s ge’ through th’ closed wards tae fight wha’ hath invaded yer ‘ome?”

There in the blackness, the black gems glittered faintly. She’d never seen Khirsah wear such before he’d left, and something cold whispered down her spine about then, as well as the sword the man now carried at his side. A sword she’d never seen before, a sword that held more of the black gems.

In silence, with her breath held, she hoped he would join them, and return the Third to her. Return from the darkness into the world of light once more.
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Post by Khirsah »

He stood there quietly as she bombarded him with the questions that he knew were boiling at the top. There were many more questions that she held in check. He still found it perplexing that she still had not understood that she had the answer to most of these questions herself. But, if she was to ask them…

“Lady d’Nitesong, you, among all those around you, should know that I know and understand what has, and is, happening to the Younger. There is nothing that has happened that I do not know about when it concerns him. It would…” he stopped suddenly, and blinked. Then he chuckled softly. “...actually, it is the same for the Second.”

He stood there a moment, quietly, musing over this new information. It was information that was very useful, considering the Younger’s influence with their sister. After a few minutes, he turned once again to Alais.

“The book? Oh, yes, the Third. You seek to finally embrace your inheritance?” He looked her over, weighting each feature of her. Then, he finally shook his head. “No, you do not seek to do that. You are still haunted by the past.” He watched her face shift to one of anger, and her mouth opened to protest, but he lifted a finger to forestall her. “You are not ready because you have not accepted your past. You have been giving a charge, and a test, if you will. You must embrace your past to succeed in the test. That is all I can tell you. When the book feels you are ready, it will come to you.”

He knew she would not like, nor probably accept this answer, but was the answer that she needed, and the only answer which he could give. She would just have to understand. His hand came to rest upon the sword that adorned his him, and his gaze caught hers, and the slits of his eyes narrowed, drawing her into them.

“I will not be coming with you to the Isle’s. The Younger is now back. You have no need to use me to open the wards.”

He broke his gaze from her, and turned to look out the portal at those before them. “Your time grows short here, and you are needed elsewhere.”

He turned then, and started to walk off into the darkness.
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Needed

Post by Alais d Nitesong »

His answers were enigmatic. Frustration rose sharply at his words.

And then, he simply turned to walk back into the darkness.

In an elven soft whisper, "Khirsah? Ye ARE needed. Ye dae ken tha', neh?"

She turned and walked into her own world, leaving behind the darkness, and the dragon she knew she would need for the battle ahead.
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Painful Darkness

Post by Alais d Nitesong »

Khirsah’s words replayed in my thoughts as I found myself walking the sand on Twilight Isle. Memories flooded my thoughts as I paused in the shadows of the tree line. Shadows that fall not only on my body and the ground, but they seem to reach right into my very soul. Darkness and shadows. I know now how Morrin suffered. I understand better the shadows I’d seen in his eyes, for were I to look into a mirror, I am certain I would find those shadows in my own eyes.

Sylus approached me on nearly silent feet as I studied the red line in my hand.

“Alais?”

Slowly, as though it were difficult to drag my attention away from the scar that would forever remain, I looked at him, simply saying, “it has begun”.

He stepped closer, it was as though his wolven half were on intense alert, “Tell me what you have seen.”

What have I seen? How do you put words to such things as I have seen standing in that darkness beside the oldest dragon? Closing my eyes brought the images into crystal clarity, and I related to him what I’d seen – “The Isles are over run with them, turning the green to utter ruination. They do hold my home, some of the dragons have been turned into dracoliches, so many others are dead.” My voice lowered in pain, “Khirsah. Khirsah has remained in the darkness.” I stopped. Pain radiated through my essence.

Sy’s words were distant as he said, “this fight is beyond my skills Lais. I do not know how I can aid you, but I will do what I can.”

‘Lais’, he’d called me that since the night of the meteor shower, and I focused now on that variant of my name, pulling my thoughts back from the dark pain sitting at the edge of thought. “The sheer numbers Sy – Sai Jon and I did see them in Riverbend, but here they’re destroying everything.” I paused. My next words were too horrible to contemplate, and yet I have been ever since Khirsah had come for me. “I may have to take up Daemonbane, it may be the only way.”

Sylus took that news better than I expected, but perhaps he does not reckon the import of that action as clearly as I do.

He asked me if there was any other way, another choice, but his words and tone to not convey the true horror of such an action on my part. “I do not know, but it may come to that,” was all I could tell him.

He frowned, “They are far more evil now, than when they were alive. Though Daemonbane will influence them, they will kill any who are not of their numbers who try to claim it.” He has a good grasp of the Annarans, better than he may realize, and yet the Annaran’s are only a portion of the horde now destroying Matlal.

I kept my gaze focused on a distant point, “some may be foolish enough to try to claim it, but it is behind wards they cannot breach. Rael has laid claim to Garl, and the dead are everywhere. Garl. Sylus could have no way of knowing how special that dragon was to me. I would find a way to avenge what Rael has done to my friend, with the Valar as my witness, I shall.

Sy waited patiently as my thoughts formed, “is there any way to slay them? Or is that not your desire?” he queried me.

Uncurling my fingers, and studying the long red line once more, “there are many ways to slay them, but I’d rather send them back.”

He slowly took my scarred hand in his, “and should they break free again? Remember Alais, you are the last of the Annaran rulers. You take up Daemonbane, the game changes completely.”

My gaze slowly focused on his hand, startled to find it wrapped around my own. “I know, but they’ve already died once, and been banished. The tear was opened by Tass, by accident. We must sent them back and seal the tear.”

He brought his other hand up, holding mine between both of his, “it will take a lot of power Alais, maybe more than you have. It took two of you to banish them the first time. There is only one of you this time.”

“I know, and that is why I do believe it may take accepting Daemonbane to accomplish it.”

He reached up and lifted my chin, forcing me to look into his amber eyes, “no matter what you decide, I will stand by it. I may not like it, but I will stand by it.”

Silence enveloped us for long seconds, “we may not survive this, you do realize that?” That thought did not seem to trouble him.

Slowly pulling my hand free, I wrapped both around the staff, “Khirsah will not come Sylus. He is needed.”

Sy frowned slightly, “He is still in the Darkness?”

I nodded once, “yes, he did take me there, to show me several things, but something is bothering him. He will not tell me what it is, but I think the Third has done something to him and that he cannot return right now.” I did not tell him how much the oldest dragon’s human form has changed, nor about the mysterious black gems that radiate power that he now wears. They seem unimportant to Khirsah’s failure to leave the darkness.

Sylus mused regarding Khirsah’s actions as I told him that Khirsah believes I have the answers I do not yet see. That I must embrace my past.

Sy frowned, “then perhaps you need to delve into your mind, search your memories. Just because you are not aware of it does not mean it is not there in your subconscious.” He abruptly noticed the stain etched into the Rouwanwood staff, “how did you receive the injury on your hand?”

Opening my hand, I glanced again at the angry line, “The first time I did seek to find Khirsah in the Primordial Darkness, the containment ward was a blood ward, but….” My voice trailed off – Khirsah had rejected me, and that still stung.

Sy wasn’t going to let it go just yet, “but……?”

“I did touch the darkness, but Khirsah would not permit me to enter. The sorceries were for nothing and still he would not come.” He could not know the anguish, nor how many hours I’d knelt in the black sand before Garl had come for me.

His frown deepened, “So you received that injury from touching the boundaries?”

“No, the cut I did inflict upon myself to create the ward, to contain the power, but the power it took to form such a ward will leave a scar even upon elves.” My thoughts drifted again, “I have a need to heal Sai Jon. We do not know where Tass is, and while Khirsah tells me that Sai Jon did draw the curse from Tass, he now suffers the effects of Daemonbane’s curse.” I have to pray he does not inquire how Tass had become afflicted with that particular curse, because I should have recognized what Tass was capable of doing, and stopped him. This should never have befallen my old friend.

But, now it was time to return to I’ Taurn and see what I can do for Sai Jon before we make our return to Matlal and face what awaits us there.
Lady Alais d' Arma Graham d' Nitesong Sidhe
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