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Princess Vailadriel

The beauty of the valley below had always inspired me with a great awe, especially in autumn. For most of my life, I watched the leaves change from their summertime green to the vibrant and colorful reds, yellows, and oranges, painting the world below the palace balconies of Rainhaven.

Now, the leaves had fallen, and left behind the skeletons of trees below, like a thousand wooden stakes thrusting up to impale the cooling sky. Winter was now here.

I could see the light flurry of the first snows as they descended about me, the cold winds blowing from the northern seas.

Icy tears stung my face, but I refused to return to the warmth of my chamber. Servants had lit fires in hope I would be turned away from my perch, but how could I abandon my post?

It was nearly the end of the season now, and last word held that Rekkdyr and the company that set off for Manir had met with trouble. Rumors of the dead walking once more.

I shivered, at the thought of the undead, as much as the cold.

I clasped my eyes shut, feeling the wind burn against the moisture forming in them. An image of the gnoll drifted into my minds eye. I could see his well groomed mohawk, the fur with which he had to spend hours brushing and bathing to keep as well as he did. His powerful height, and immense strength. Finally, I could see his large, sincere eyes, the usual brown and black of his kin, but somehow, different. Those eyes that carried with them so much unfounded guilt, and sorrow.

My chest heaved with sobs now, and I pulled my cloak tighter about myself.

A gentle hand rested on my shoulder, and I jumped in surprise, turning to see Lord Aquilis behind me.

He had remained behind when the other lords and ladies sailed for Manir, to see to the rule of Rainhaven alone in their absence.

"My Lord." I said, giving a slight bow.

"Come, now." He said, pulling me in for a hug. "You weep for the gnoll?"

My heart sank, afraid of the conversation that was approaching. How an elven princess and a gnoll could never be together. How it was just a childish fantasy. I knew that. I did. I also knew that Rekkdyr was far too honorable to break tradition. And foolhardy. No matter what title we could bestow upon him, he would deny his worthiness for it.

With a quivering sigh, I nodded into Aquilis chest.

"Shhhh." He whispered, stroking my hair. Though not actually a blood relative, Lord Aquilis felt like a close uncle.

"Strange times are these. When gnolls defend maidenhood, and fight in the name of the elves. Naettura once again walking alongside mortals. Talk of the dead rising from their graves. Strange times indeed." He stated.

"Even darker times lie ahead," he continued, " and I'm afraid. Truly afraid."

I pulled away from our embrace, looking into the Lord of Winter's face. He was gazing off, beyond the valley below, and farther still, beyond the distant northern seas.

"I'm unsure Rainhaven can stand against this darkness. Everything happened so quickly, and it seems we alone are to face the shadow. Dark times..." He trailed off, falling silent.

"My lord?" I asked.

He broke his distant gaze, glancing down into my face.

"Uncertain is the future. It is the way it has always been. There is one thing that is certain, though, Vail. Love. It is not an easy thing to find, or to understand. The sad truth is, far too many go through life never really experiencing the absolute beauty in love. It's worse for those who will rule the fates of many. Kings, Queens. Lords, and Ladies. Eternal damnation that marriage is not done for love, but for politics. It's not done for the heart of one, but for the lives of many. The Lords and Ladies of Rainhaven are cursed to give themselves to the will of their people."

Tears rolled freely down my cheeks, and lowered my gaze from the lords face. The light flurry turned into substantial snowfall now. It was beginning to collect on the balcony about us, soon to shroud the entirety of the palace in white, just like hauberk Lord Aquilis' always wore.

I felt his hand gently cuff my chin, bringing my gaze back to his. Those black eyes held a sorrow I'd never seen before.

"You have found love, stronger than any I've witnessed in a long time. Do not despair. You will need it in the coming days. True love is capable of crossing any obstacle, including that of race, it seems. Listen to your heart, like I wish I had." He said, moisture now gleaming in his usually stern eyes.

I realized I had been holding my breath as he spoke, and exhaled with a quiver. I was trembling, more from emotion than the cold.

He draped his cloak about me, and lead me inside, leaving the balcony to collect snow were we stood.

Ciara

We stood at the base of the wall, that revealed a slight crack in it's foundation. The unobservant viewer would only see a small alcove where the foundation had crumbled away, but on closer inspection, one could see a small wooden door hidden far back in it's depths. Above us, the great Hall of Manir towering above, the sounds of muffled shouts drifting down to us. Still, Lord Livillios refused to enter the secret passage.

True, the story he spoke of was troubling, but I couldn't help but feel as if fear lead the Lord now. In our short journey to this spot, he told us of what Eava and Aralyn had discovered in their research.

The seals laid down by the Naettura were all that separated the world of the living from the land of the dead. If the dead rose once more, It could only mean that one, or all, of the seals were broken.

"Malmyrkris?" Aatu asked him.

"The Lord of the Shadowlands. He may as well be a god. He was charged long ago with the rule over the land of the dead." Lord Livillios replied. "It was he that lead the invasion of Ryze so long ago. When demons and undead swarmed through the land. He had sundered the veil between the worlds, seeking to bring darkness to our realm. It was only through the actions of the Naettura that he was unsuccessful."

"And you say that his champion has been freed?" I asked.

Lord Livillios nodded, a look of worry on his face.

"Never have I seen Lady Eava appear so frightened. When she sensed his entry into our world, she was stricken with pure fear. If you've seen what the woman is capable of, you would understand the true impact of that."

"He is here, in the palace?" Aatu asked, eyeing the hidden passage again.

"That's what Eava and my sister believe." he said. At that moment, he shrugged his bow off his shoulder, and drew an arrow.

He seemed extremely uneasy so close to the city wall.

A thought crossed my mind.

"How did you know about this passage?" I asked suddenly.

"Eava senses that your companions are on the path to safety, and that path will lead them here. I've long since stopped questioning their reasoning." he said, keen eyes scanning the night about us.

"Why can't we go and aid them? This inaction is making me restless." Aatu said, calmer than his words made it seem. His tail did flick with a strange impatience, however.

"I cannot enter a place with such evil. The Lords and Ladies of Rainhaven are barred from such a place." he said, but left it at that.

I wanted to ask why, as such a rule seemed crippling, but could tell by the look on his face that he was in mood to discuss it.

So, I turned, drawing an arrow of my own, to wait beside a lord, and a wolf.

Rekkdyr

The spear head struck stone, right where I had just been. I lunged forward with an upward swing of Silvernight, slamming his shield powerfully with my large bastard sword. The wood splintered under the force of the blow, but held firm.

The teal-bearded orc snarled, slamming forward with his shield high, forcing me to duck, into another spear thrust. I managed to deflect the spear wide with my weapon, before leaping forward under the shield slam, skull bashing him in the jaw. He backpedaled, just in time to slam my thrust low, safely away from his gut.

We went on like this for a while, exchanging blows. The occasional blast of fire erupting from Camden whenever he could get a clear shot. The unfortunate thing was the lack of space in the corridor, and Drangis' ability to keep me between himself and my companion.

The spear whirled high, towards my shoulder, which I deflected easily. Drangis roared suddenly, lunging forward with his shield, slamming me with the full force of the bulwark. The thrust had been a decoy, I realized, as I slammed hard into the stone wall.

A roar of agony blasted from my lips as he thrust his wicked short spear through my forearm. Silvernight clattered to the ground.

He roared with laughter, pulling the weapon up, forcing my arm to follow painfully. His shield arm punched out, catching me in the stomach, and blasting the wind from me.

"This is the great gnoll knight?" He laughed, pinning my arm up against the wall over my head with his spear. "I had expected better from you."

Fire burst into the back of his head, slamming him toward me. I kicked out, both from the wall, and from him, pulling his spear with me.

Drangis stumbled back, snarling. He slammed Camden full force with his shield, sending the tiny Halfling crashing against the opposite wall, where he crumpled to a heap.

I had managed to tear my arm free of his weapon, and thrust it forward, catching the orc in the side, but my one handed grip could not muster enough force to deliver a killing blow.

The orc moved to slam the spear away, but only succeeded in snapping it in two, leaving a broken shaft in my hands, and a spear head in his side.

He roared in anger, rushing forward, and drawing a familiar dagger, the same one the lords of Rainhaven had given Skempta. I clubbed at the orc, but he deflected the spear shaft with his shield, driving the dagger deep into my side.

I roared in agony as he twisted the blade in place, a ferocious snarling grin spreading across his face.

Throwing down his shield, he grabbed my heavily damaged arm with his other hand, driving his thumb into the wound.

I roared, punching out with my other arm, but he moved quicker than I could react, ripping the dagger free of my side, and chopping at my sloppy assault.

A blinding pain shot through my left arm, and the orc let me collapse to the ground at his feet, gripping my bloody stump where a hand should have been.

"Beg, now, gnoll. Beg for your life, and I may give it to you. After I have made you truly submit. After I've truly dominated you." He grinned, holding the dagger up to my throat.

My vision blurred from the pain, but I somehow still noticed antlers rise up behind him, and a strange greenish-purple glow growing from Skempta's eyes. She suddenly slammed down with a broken spearhead, driving it deep into Drangis' throat.

He stumbled back, tearing the dagger with him. Skempta pulled it from his hand. Almost immediately, the dagger began to hum with the sound of a crackling fire. A green and purple flame grew around the blade, matching the strange glow in Skempta's eyes, as she followed the orc to the ground, driving the dagger into his heart.

The glow in her eyes disappeared, and she suddenly collapsed on top of the dead orc, exhaustion taking hold.

I was beginning to suspect we would not make it out of this dungeon.

"Skempta." I said pulling the orc from Drangis, and into my lap with great pain. This was extremely difficult, due to my only hand remaining being so heavily injured.

"I-it's about t-time." She coughed, trying to appear her usual lighthearted self. Blood lined her lips from the effort.

"What evils have befallen you?" I asked the orc, seeing her bruised and broken body. The bone in her leg was clearly shattered, and I was surprised she could stand on it at all. Her face was swollen and bloody, and one of the prongs in her antler had been snapped. I could see one of her lungs were collapsed by the way she was breathing very labored.

"S-suppose w-we shouldn't h-have spared them?" She said, with a weak nod toward the corpse.

"Even when I'm trying to do right, it seems someone is doomed to suffer." I whispered to myself more than to her.

"Shhh. Y-you s-still don't g-get it Gn-noll." Her voice was quivering terribly. "I-I st-stayed your h-hand."

Just then, noise sounded from around the corner. The large set of double doors from the central corridor swung open, and I could hear the sound of hooves and feet coming down the corridor.

_Hestross, we are here._Aklys voice called weakly in my mind.

The large centaur rounded the bend, followed shortly by his brother, and the snow elf from earlier.

"Come, we must go." Hestross stated. I pulled Skempta up with much difficulty, and he helped me raise her onto his back. She still clung tightly to the dagger, Wildfire.

"Can you walk?" Riddaris asked me.

"There's no chance of me catching a ride. I'll be fine. See to Camden and Aklys." I stated through gritted teeth.

"Here, I can see to your wounds." The snow elf said, coming forward.

"No," I interrupted her. "We may need your magic yet." I added, retrieving Silvernight. "besides, she needs it more than I do." I nodded to Skempta.

She nodded in reply, though looked surprised at my refusal for aid. "Perhaps after."

Grab the book that the prince had. Aklys said, and I turned to see the large Tome across the corridor.

"I can take that." The snow elf, Eluniss, said.

I looked at the cat, who was now slumped over Riddaris beside the unconscious Halfling.

She nodded. Eluniss quickly retrieved the large tome.

A small Otter wearing a strange black robe rushed around the corner suddenly.

"Come quickly, the way out is over here." She said impatiently.

I was much to weary and sore to argue, setting off behind the centaurs and the nude snow elf.

We returned to the central connecting corridor, and the double doors that now stood open at their center. The room beyond was a large stone chamber with staircases ascending to the level above on either side, easily large enough to fit a full grown centaur down, as well as a great many other things.

There was a large crowd gathered there, and I could tell from the various familiar faces that they were a mixture of freed prisoners. Among them stood Ivaylis and the centaurs sister.

At the opposite end of the room stood a small door.

"The corridor is here. It leads to outside the city." The otter stated, rushing through the crowd.

"Who is this?" I asked Hestross, nodding at the strange creature."

"Her name is Silence." He shrugged.

"She helped me upstairs." Riddaris stated, pushing his way through the crowd.

Just then, the torches in the room extinguished all at once, much to the sudden fright of the crowd.

A raspy, deep laugh boomed throughout the chamber, chilling the blood in my veins. A voice that brought memories of a willow tree, and hordes of undead.

"Aklys!" It growled from the darkness. "There is nowhere to run to now, Last of the Naettura!"

The runes on Silvernight sprang to life, burning with a fierce silver fire.

A great evil was near.