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Clash of the Swords: The Power of Darkness and Light.

Chapter 2

By: Faraz "f_4ever" Hussain

NOTE: All characters in this story are fictional and have nothing to do with anything/anyone in reality.  This is my first actual optional piece of writing…. Please do not copy it and say that it's your work.  This story may not be published on any site other than Elfwood, Forever’s Realm and affiliates of Forever’s Realm.  The ideas for this chapter might seem a little offensive to some if they bother to read between the lines. I originally didn’t plan to have Firestar in the story, but after reading a few stories about people’s lives on myecamp.com, I decided that I should make a statement about how powerful someone who is different could be. You may also notice a non spell word that is not explained in the story (Keysheyer), it is a mild oath. Send comments to f4ever@foreversrealm.cjb.net (flames will be ignored).  Last of all, enjoy.  

“Now, Step…. Lunge…. Faint…. Jab.  Step-lunge, drawback, jab…” Winterdoe said in a slightly commanding voice as she clasped her hands in time with the beat of a drum.  After what seemed like an hour of repeating the same steps over and over again, she finally called for a break and sat down.

She’d been teaching the journeymen mages the techniques of close range combat for many years now, but this year was different; this year, her granddaughter was in the group of adolescent mages.

Journeymen mages were minor magic users who had been practicing innate skills of spell casting for many years and were nearly ready to take the test that was required for journeymen to become masters; all they needed to learn before taking the test was to fight with the common weapons.  Mages needed to have some skill with close range weapons, for if they didn’t they’d be a predicament when the enemy came to close for the mage to cast offensive magic without hurting themselves.

Winterdoe sighed gently as her hands fingered the soft, blue-white, shoulder length hair that covered her head.  She still hadn’t recovered from her most recent loss; her daughter.  Winterdoe constantly went over what had happened in her head, hoping that she might be able to find a point where she could have done something, but hadn’t.  She wanted to blame herself for her daughter’s death, but couldn’t, for there was nothing that she could have done to prevent it. 

Winterdoe’s daughter, Vien had died a few months back, when she had tried to keep the shield around the elven village from falling to pieces.  The large, pure black Magestone that powered the shield had ruptured and Vien had tried to seal up the fracture that had formed within the stone.  While Vien was working on closing the hole in the stone, the energy had broken loose and had killed her.

Winterdoe still blamed the elven council for Vien’s death, for Vien had gone up to the council and had pleaded for support; the only members that had supported her were Winterdoe and Vien’s husband, but their votes weren’t enough to overrule the council.  The other members of the council claimed that all other master mages had been called away by Shinavar to battle the Novarians.  So Vien had gone by herself to fix the Magestone, for only master mages could get through the shield protected the stone.

Both Winterdoe’s daughter and granddaughter had the courage to fight against incredible odds.  Neither was a lady who was willing to sit at home all her life; in fact Winderdoe’s granddaughter, Starice had already signed up for the guard post furthest away from the village.  She was an adventurous one; she only needed to pass the Deus test, which would make her a master mage, before she could go out on her own.  Winterdoe had done her best at delaying Starice’s trial, but she as running out of ideas.

Winterdoe stood up and walked over to a large window on the northern side of the room.  She looked upon the fair elven city of Silviar with wonder.  Even though the rest of the country was in winter, the city flourished with the activity and the warmth of spring.  Bright multicolored birds flew in the air, playing joyfully.  The flowers were in bloom and gave off pleasing fragrances.  The trees still had their green leaves and small animals ran about the city, collecting food for a winter that wouldn’t come anytime soon; the reason, the shield that Vien had died saving.

The shield kept the city at a pleasant, and warm temperature year round.  It protected the city from the harsh winds and snow of the winter and it shed rain once every few days to keep the people, the trees, plants and other creatures from dehydrating.

A slight tap on Winterdoe’s shoulder caused her to turn around and face her granddaughter.

“Grandmother, father requests that you come to an emergency council meeting!” Starice said as her long, light-blue hair fell across her smooth, lightly tanned face.  She brushed it behind her pointed ears and waited for a reply; gently tapping her left foot impatiently.

“Your father always calls for ‘emergency council’ meetings and he always requests for me to be there,” Winterdoe grumbled as she walked over to a large chest and drew a out a large bottle of freshly pressed juices.  She quickly filed two slender glasses with the liquid and handed one of them to Starice.  She took a sip from the other before continuing.  “He thinks that the day to day affairs call for my supervision; he must learn how to make decisions on his own. I am not the leader of the city, he is.”

“Should I tell him that you are not coming?” Starice asked as she pressed the glass against her slender lips.

“No.” Winterdoe replied and then sighed softly as she put her glass down on top of a small table near a corner of the room.  “What is the meeting about?” she questioned as she walked back to the window and rested her forehead against the cool glass.

“It has something to do with the invasions of the barbaric village to the south a few weeks back,” Starice responded after finishing her drink and setting the glass on the same table as her grandmother’s.   She walked over to the window and looked at the setting sun.

“Look at it,” Winterdoe said as her figure brushed against the window, as if hoping to touch the entire city at once.  “It’s so beautiful and calm.  It’s a wonder that this city has had so many bad relations with its sister!” she continued as she glanced at the now red-orange colored trees.  “Why do we have to fight with everyone so much?”

Winterdoe opened the window with words of magic.  Se let the cool, night air play with her hair before continuing.  “You know, if it weren’t for my father, Karreth, we’d still be with the elves of Siviar.  He had to go and muddle with the dark magic of Novar.  If he hadn’t then the city would not have been split in half by the mountains,” she said as she picked her glass up and drained it’s contents.  “But without the mountains, the dwarves wouldn’t be here and we wouldn’t have the fine luxury of filling hot water into tubs by just pulling on thin rope.  But what compensation are luxuries for losing your family?”  A single tear streamed down her cheek and she quietly brushed it away.

“So you say that my son is holding a council,” Winterdoe stated as she closed the windows and walked over to a large, green sofa on top of which rested a purple, silk and cotton coat.  She picked it up, placed it on her shoulders and strode towards the door with the grace of a young court lady.  “Come along now Starice, we don’t want to keep your father waiting.”

Wondering at the change of subject, Starice followed her grandmother out of the room. They walked down the hall and knocked on a large wooden door.

The elves loved life and would never kill plants or animals unless they could do nothing to save them.  So they used their magic to coax the trees into growing along a certain path.  The finished product was something that looked very much like a wooden house in the canopy of the trees.  They used messenger birds to communicate and would occasionally train some of the larger birds to be their eyes and ears in the outside world.  The elves that mentally bonded with their birds in order to do this were called Havarians.

The door opened revealing a bland room with a large, still-living wooden table within.  Around the low table lay large velvet coushins with various aged elves seated upon them.

“So, you’ve decided to come!” a middle aged elf with red-brown braided hair said.  His scarlet-blue eyes lay within a soft, place face.  His nose had been broken many times and resembled the tentacles of an octopus, for it had never been reset.

“How could I not,” Winterdoe responded as she walked past the man and sat down.  “I’m an elder,” she continued, “and it is my duty to come to such meetings as this one.”  She shifted her weight and her tone changed to one of humor as she continued.  “After all, I am your mother and I have to keep you out of trouble.”

The comment was answered by snickers from some of the elder men, Winterdoe’s sons blushed a bright red.

“You’ve gone and picked another fight, now your mommy has to come and save you from getting hurt by a butterfly!” one of the slightly younger elves said humorously as the assembled elves erupted into laughter.  His entire body was nearly as white as chalk from hair, to skin, to eyes.  The only color to his skin was a small red symbol that resembled two dragons entwined with each other on his forehead.

“At least my mother doesn’t still change me!” Winterdoe’s son retorted humorously and was rewarded by laughter from all of the assembled elves.

“Ay, Snowice got you on that one lad!” and older elf with gentle, gray eyes said to the elf who had the dragon symbol.

The insults continued for about half a candle mark and after the last retort, all of the elves in the room were hurting rather badly from laughing; all of them that is but one.  The young elf sat in the corner of the room hidden by shadows.  He hadn’t even cracked a smile.

“You don’t realize the seriousness of the situation do you?” the elf asked in a harsh, raspy voice; his words were as low as a whisper, yet they caught the attention of even the deafest ears as he stepped out of the shadows and into the glow of the mage lit room.

His raven black hair was cropped down to the size of half a finger length and stood up in small spiked clumps along the top of his scalp.  His skin appeared to be deeply tanned, but after close examination of the neck, it was suggested that his skin tone had been permanently altered to this state by magic.  His eyes were golden in color and had a cat-like appearance.  His clawed hands showed further evidence that magic had corrupted his body; they weren’t claws as such, but they were sharper at the tips than other elves.

He wore fairly tight, black leather-like pants that seemed to merge with his body, as did his dark red, silken, short-sleeved shirt.  Around his neck, held together by a small silver chain hung two water drop shaped medallions that when put together formed a circle. One medallion was made from lightweight obsidian and the other from a pure white stone that resembled ivory.  The tips of his ears were silver in color and around his wrists were thin, black runes that appeared to be permanently tattooed into his body.

“Why does it matter?” one of the younger elves with blond hair asked.  He was known for his speedy assumptions; this ability usually resulted in him getting into more trouble than he could handle.  “We’ve fended off invaders for the past two hundred years, we’ll do it again!”

Before the elf had a chance to blink more than a few times, the black-haired elf had leaped across the room, grabbed the elf by the neck, and held him struggling a few inches off the floor.

“Fool!” the black haired elf rasped in a low voice, “they have more power than you can only dream of!”

“Firestar k’ Enilegna, that is enough!” Snowice all but shouted.  “Now put him down,” he paused as Firestar dropped the elf and waited for the blond elf to catch his breath.  “Now,” he continued. “Do you know something that we don’t?”

Firestar mumbled a few words and the runes on his wrists flared briefly.  An image of a map appeared on the table and Firestar pointed towards the bottom left corner of the kingdom.  “This is the furthermost village of the kingdom Flamehawk,” he said scornfully.  “As you know,” he continued. “It was recently invaded by the barbarians of the south.”  He paused, mumbled a few more words and the map zoomed in on a small dot o a continent a little further to the south.  The dot materialized into a city as small people became visible.  Nearly every person had a sword or knife attached to their clothing; some people even had numerous weapons drawn.

“This is the capital of Rafghai; the country where the raiders come from.  Now,” Firestar said as a cough escaped from his mouth.  His body convulsed and Starice rose to help him; he rose his hand, motioning for her to back off and covered his mouth with a small cloth.  He coughed a little more and his body relaxed.  He quickly hid the piece of cloth from view, but Starice managed to get a glimpse of freshly spewed blood dotting the threads.

Firestar straightened and walked over to a small table partially hidden in the shadows. He lifted a small metal canteen and poured its contents into a small, tin cup.  He took a sip of the dark liquid before continuing as if nothing had happened.  “I suspect that some outside force has driven these so called barbarians to come and attempt an invasion.”

“That’s no big deal,” the blond haired elf sneered, as if reassured of his strength by the recent display of Firestar’s sickness.  “After all, their government could have ordered the men to come up north in hope of adding more land to their country and offering it to the leaders of the revolt.”  He walked over to the door as if he were leaving, for he had solved the issue at hand.  But at a raised eyebrow fro Snowice, he grumbled and sat down on a cushion near the door. 

“There’s only one problem with your theory,” Firestar said as he took a seat next to the southern edge of the large table.  “The country is in utter chaos, there’s nobody in charge, and nobody knows who started the war in the first place.”  He paused and drank the rest of the liquid in the cup before setting it down on the table and continuing. “The generals of the armies get their instructions from a black envelope that materializes before them whenever they need it.”  He raised his hand to block of the retort that was bout to escape from the blond elf’s lips.  “Many people have tried to trace the magic to the source, but there appears to be none.  The residue from the magical transportation of the envelopes leads the person trying to find the source around in circles.  And no, the captains aren’t casting the spell, the men of the country don’t even know who or what the mage is!”

“So what has that got to do with the men coming up here?  Couldn’t they just be settlers coming to the north in hopes of escaping form the war?” Winterdoe asked politely and there was a murmur of agreement before she continued.  “And, what has that got to do with how much power these man have backing them?”

“The thing is,” Firestar responded.  “None of the raiders have brought their families along with them.  Nor have they brought any belongings other than the clothes on their backs and their weapons.  They aren’t sailors; even the Rafghais know that the ocean is almost impossible to cross this late in the winter.  There was defiantly some sort of magic guiding them and protecting their ship until it reached the shore of our country.”

“Suppose that you are correct,” Winterdoe said as she stood up and paced back and forth across the room.  “What do you propose we do about this threat?”

“Our shield has held through many assaults; a little bit of magic won’t really make a difference!” the blond haired elf half shouted as he stood up.  “Besides, why do we need his help?  Why are you asking for his help?  After all, we do have the best mages in our country.  Well at least we did, but the elders still have the knowledge and the younger elves have the power.” He continued, as his voice gradually grew louder.  “And, how can we trust him?  He’s one of the elves from Golviar, he could be a spy that is trying to sabotage our city.  Just look at him, he doesn’t even look like an elf… He’s some sort of… creature!”

Firestar stood absolutely still, his hands clenched and unclenched as his eyes burned with anger.  Snowice stood up and struck the blond haired elf across the face.

“NEVER,” Snowice shouted at the elf.  “Never insult him again!” he continued, his eyes alight with cold hatred.  “He is quite possibly one of the most powerful mages that has ever lived.  He was shunned for how he looked back in Golviar; it’s not his fault he was born right when their mage stone ruptured.”

“Second off, he came here seeking refuge from people that would try to harm him; he didn’t come here because he was afraid that they might hurt him, he feared that he would accidentally harm them.  I gave him my word that I would protect him and I intend to do so.  Finally he is second in line to the throne; unless of course Shinavar’s daughter produced a male child, which is highly unlikely.  If that isn’t enough for you, then you defiantly don’t deserve to be here!” Snowice shouted.

The blond elf glared at both Firestar and Snowice, then while rubbing his cheek, he sat down.

“Please restate your question my lady.  I think that I forgot what you were asking right when Snowice revealed to everyone in this room who I was.”  Firestar said rather coldly, his voice dropped to a whisper and he flexed his clawed hands slowly.  “And if anone in this room tells anyone else who I am, I’ll be sure to take care of them personally!”

The blond haired elf blanched at this remark; even Snowice looked a bit pale.

“I just wanted to know what you plan on doing to prevent this city from being destroyed.  Provided of course that the shield doesn’t hold out.”  Winterdoe said carefully as she sat down wearily.  Snowice followed her example and sat down as well.

“I don’t plan on doing,” Firestar said as he turned towards the corner of the room that was hidden by shadows.

The elves sat still, stunned for a moment.  Then Snowice stood up I rage.  “What do you mean you won’t do anything?” he chocked.  “I’ve provided you with food, protection and care, and this is how you repay me?”

The blond haired elf stood up and addressed the elves in a loud voice.  “See,” he said as he reached into his sleeve and drew out a knife with runes of power engraved on it.  “I was right.  He is a traitor!”  The other elves started to shout. 

The elf with the rune on his head stood up and asked for silence; seeing that he wouldn’t be getting any, he cast a small light spell that erupted into sparks right above the table.  This got the elves attention and they sat down quietly.  “Surely Firestar has a reason for not helping us.  Maybe his powers are locked, or maybe he hasn’t learned how to tap into the mage stone yet.” He said.

“My reason is that I know more than you do,” Firestar stated bluntly as he stepped closer to the shadows.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Snowice asked.

“Who cares, he’s a traitor and he needs to be punished,” the blond haired elf said as he threw the knife at Firestar.

Starice let out a cry and hastily erected a shield of energy around Firestar.  But she was too late, the knife had already pierced Firestar’s shoulder and the runes on the knife flared as a blue poison washed into the gash in his shoulder.

Firestar shouted in pain and anger.  “You foolish mortal.  Didn’t you listen to what Snowice said?  I am one of the most powerful mages.  No, not one of the most powerful mages now, for the shield around this country made by the legendary Firesky dulls the amount of mage energy given off by living things.  But I am one of the most powerful mages ever!”  He raged as he ripped the knife out of his shoulder and snapped it in two.   He muttered a few words and the runes around his wrists flared as the blue poison fled from his body and hung in a small sphere circling above his head.

Firestar leaped up onto the table as sparks flew from his hair and he grabbed the blond haired elf by the neck.  The blond elf let out a whimper of fear as he gazed into Firestar’s buring eyes.  They were the color of a scarlet rose and dark flames literally blazed out of his eyes.   Firestar motioned with his free hand and the ball flew into the blond elf’s mouth.  The elf let out a scream as Firestar threw him across the room and into the western wall with such force that the thick wood splintered.

Later, as soon as the elves calmed down, the survivors recalled that after the elf was thrown against the wall, all he** broke loose.

Many of the elves were helping the blond elf while others were fighting amongst themselves.  Others sat quietly and watched as the skirmish raged and still others talked to their friends as if nothing had happened.

Firestar raised his hands and extended them to his sides, so that his arms were in a straight, horizontal line.  The black runes of his wrists flared a bright neon green and changed to a dull red as he rose into the air and floated towards the blond haired elf.

Snowice shouted something that was drowned out by the wind that had suddenly picked up around Firestar.  Snowice knew that if he didn’t do something, Firestar might loose control completely and would end up destroying the entire city (the shield protected from outside attacks, not an assault from the inside).  He placed his arms in front of him and pointed them face down towards the floor.

“Duesa defe winera,” Snowice shouted as a wind blew from underneath him, catching his cloak and blowing it upwards in the air.  His hair was standing straight up in the air and a wind started to whip up around his hands. 

“Heed my plea, wrap the violent one in they gentle wings.”

The wind around Firestar slowed to a stop and he landed with his left hand and both feet on the table.  A small translucent creature quickly flew around Firestar, trailing a thin strand of magic that resembled wool.  Firestar thrashed and attempted to bat the sprite away, but it was no use.  Now Firestar was angry, “what are you doing?” he shouted at Snowice.  “The Keysheyer tried to kill me!”

“Ay and therefore he should be tried and convicted by the council, not you!” Snowice said sternly as he wove his hands in the air, leaving a trail of shimmering, silverfish, light thread along the patterns that he had drawn.  “Relavé,” Snowice mumbled as golden threads of energy leapt from the table and attached to Firestar, making it so that it was very difficult for him to move.”

“Starice, Winterdoe,” Snowice cried out as Firestart strugled to break free from the bonds restraining him.  “Help me bind him to the table!” he shouted as sweat dripped off his forehead.  Winterdoe and Starice rushed to comply and soon bright blue and bright green threads of power assisted the golden threads of energy.

Firestar’s face twisted in fury, “I don’t need this treatment!” he cried out as blood red threads leapt from his body and shredded the restraining threads to pieces.  Starice let out a cry out agony as the energy split in tow, for she had not yet learnt how to tie the energy to the mage stone; she still relied on her own energy for spells, and she had just felt the affects of backlash.  The blood read threads turned to black as they encased Firestar’s body in a cocoon, then he suddenly vanished.

Snowice let out a curse and quickly cast a spell to see if he could trace Firestar’s magic to his location; but luck was not with him today, for he found no traces of Firestar’s energy whatsoever.  “Let’s just hope he doesn’t let the anger control him and it doesn’t cause him to do something foolish,” Snowice whispered as he stared blankly at the fight raging within the room.

***

I should destroy this pathetic city for how they treat me, Firestar thought as his body appeared on a small cliff overlooking the city.  Small sparks of lightning danced around his hair as the runes on his right hand flared a bright blue.  His body levitated into the air and floated towards the center of the city; his goal, the temple dedicated to Starblaze.

A shriek pierced the relatively calm air and Firestar quickly reached into his shirt and pulled out a large leather glove.  He fitted it on his right hand, held it up and waited.

A blue-white ball of light streaked across the sky and stopped a few arm lengths away from Firestar.  The image of the ball shimmered as it grew wings and materialized into a light blue hawk.

“What brings you to my wonderful abode, Alaba?” Firestar asked the hawk as it langed on his gloved hand.  It opened its beak as if laughing and Firestar gently stroked it’s feathered head.

I’ve come to stop you from blundering into yet another problematic situation.  The bird projected telepathically into Firestar’s head.

Firestar let out a laugh that sounded very much like a bark of a dog, “And what do you think I should do?” he asked the bird.  “Should I just forgive them so easily?  If I were the old me, I would have destroyed the city when the elf first insulted me!”

Yes you would have, but things have changed….  The bird projected and then as an afterthought added, besides, you wouldn’t want to hurt Starice would you?  Firestar blushed at that remark and received a mental chuckle from Alaba.

Firestar let out a sigh and the lightning around his hair disappeared.  The runes flashed a deep brown and then changed to a black color.  His anger was in control and he wasn’t casting anything, so the runes became dormant, waiting until he wished to use them again.  He floated towards the ground and let out a gasp as he caught the scent of garlic in the air.

You better go warn them! Alaba projected.  I have to go, I’m needed elsewhere.  With that, the hawk let out a shriek, fanned out its wings and leapt into the air.  It made a graceful ark, and then sped off towards the rising sun.

Firestar mumbled a few words under his breath and he appeared in the center of the council room, causing a few of the elves to gasp in surprise.  By now, the elves had calmed down and were discussing possible defensive formations if the shield failed.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything important,” Firestar said calmly, his face impassive.

“Go ahead, we’re only discussing how to drive off the barbarians!” the blond haired elf responded as he threw a venomous stare at Firestar.

“I apologize for what happened earlier, it was wrong of me to let my hatred overrule my judgment.”  Firestar said to the elf, showing sings of happiness that might have been considered genuine if one didn’t kook straight into his hate filled eyes.  “The barbarians are within a days travel of here,” he paused and mumbled a few words and arched his eyebrows in surprise.  “Let me correct that, they’re within an hour’s travel of here!”

“Are you sure?” Snowice asked and after a reluctant nod from Firestar, he continued.  “Okay, we’ve got to work quickly,” he said as calmly as he could, but his voice betrayed his panic.  “Quienon, get all but a few of the archers to the southern edge of the city.  Spread the rest out throughout the other edges of the city!”  He paused and paced around the room for a few moments before continuing.  “Karveth, get all of the spare weapons that aren’t been used by the guard and give them to the scouts.  If there are any left, give them to the Havarians; they shouldn’t need then, but give to them just in case.”

Snowice look questioningly at Firestar and after Firestar shook his head, he continued, a troubled expression on his face.  “Dargoth, send about half of our most powerful mages to the southern port of the city, keep the others around the mage stone!”

Dargoth was about to protest, but Snowice cut him off.  “I know that you think I’m a little paranoid, but if what Firestar told us about the mage is correct, then he may be able to get around the shield and would then be able to tap into the stone’s energy.”  The elves given missions rushed to obey as Starice continued.  “Shivan, see if you can get the children and the women to evacuated.  All youths under the age of 30 are to leave with them.”

The blond haired elf let out a shout of anger.  “And what about the adolescents?  Are you just going to let them get slaughtered?” he cried out, hi face livid with unbridled rage.

“We’ll keep them near the back,” Snowice responded, his voice sounded as if his patience was wearing thin.  “We won’t let them fight if we still have enough able men.  As for the rest of you, see what you can do to fortify the defenses and help with the evacuation.”

“Where are we supposed to evacuate to?  This has been out home for hundreds of years.  Our great grandfathers came here to seek refuge from Afiral, where do we go?” one of the younger elves asked in a very panicked voice; he as on the verge of braking down.

Snowice handed him a small gourd of water.  “We have no choice but to go to Golviar.”  He said calmly as he looked upon the shocked faces of those assembled; even Firestar seemed startled by this revelation.  “We have no choice,” Snowice continued.  “Let’s just hope that they’re willing to forgive us.”

***

The first attack came before midday and the shield held; the elves, proud that their city was safe, failed to notice the sky turn a sudden black.  A cry pierced the air and the elves realized that something was wrong.

“Send one to the Havarians to the evacuation area, it seems as if the cry came from there!” Snowice shouted above the sudden wind that had suddenly picked up around the city.

He looked at Starice, then at Winterdoe; bother were casting spells of fire and lightning, trying to discourage the raiders from attempting another attack.  Firestar stood as still as a statue behind Starice, he stared blankly at the raiders and sighed.  “What’s wrong Firestar?” Snowice asked as he notched an arrow to his bow and let it fly into the midst of the raiders.

“I wish that I could help, but a higher authority is preventing me from taking any action,” Firestar responded as he shifted his gaze to Starice’s back.  He knew that he cared for her, but he didn’t know about anything else.  Did he love her? Or did he just care for her as a sibling cares for another.  He didn’t know, he’d never cared for anyone before.

The Havarian came back, panic and fear on his face.  He gasped for breath as he pointed towards the sky.  A moment later, he let out a cry of horror as lightning split the air directly above the city.  “The mage… He’s killed everyone but us!” he managed weakly as his eyes rolled back and he shook violently from shock.

“What?” Snowice screamed as rage filled his normally calm body.  His eyes held pure anger and his veins were full of a sweet, hot energy that spread throughout his body and gave him power beyond belief.  “How’d he manage to do that?  The shield is still up.”

“It’s the lightning.  It goes through the shield and scorches the ground, setting entire buildings ablaze!” the Havarian said with a detached voice.  He’d never been in battle before and was scared that everything he knew would be destroyed.

“Firestar, are you sure you can’t do anything?” Snowice shouted.

“I’m sorry,” Firestar responded sorrowfully.  “I can’t do anything at all… I would help if I could, but my hands are tied.”

The shield flickered and died out.  The raiders rushed onward.

“Fine!” Snowice cried out.  “Firestar, take Starice to the temple, there is a hidden wall in the basement, stay there until the raiders leave!”

“What about you?” Firestar asked, his voice betrayed fear and worry.

“I’m already lost, there’s nothing left for any of us… Just keep Starice safe!” Snowice said as he drew a sword from a scabbard on his back.  “Farewell.  Tell Starice I love her!”  He said as he backed up a few paces.  He ran to the edge of the building that they were standing on and leapt off the edge and into the midst of the raiders.  Many of the elves followed him and fought hand to hand against the barbarians, hoping to buy time for any survivors.

Winterdoe walked over to Starice and unclasped a pendant that hung around her neck.  The chain appeared to be made of gold and had runes of power inscribed upon it.  A small, almost cylindrical pendant that tapered to a sharp point hung from the chain.  It didn’t really have a color, but appeared to grab the light and reflect it in a lighter shade.  She gave it to Starice and said with great sorrow, “Keep the pendant hidden, show it to no one, and keep it safe at all costs!”

Winterblaze turned around, not wanting her granddaughter to see the tears streaming from her eyes.  She joined the rest of the battling mages in a semi-circle and continued to cast destructive spells.

Firestar led Starice away, one hand over her shoulder.  She didn’t need to go through this, Firestar thought to himself as he led her towards the now black, ash covered temple. 

Only this morning, the temple had been magnificent, the pride and joy of the city.  With large, circular, white columns holding up a beautiful slab of pure opal with carved images of the infamous battle between Starblaze and Novar, the temple looked as if the gods themselves had built it.  Of course, nobody knew just how Starblaze had defeated Novar, but a famous bard had written what he thought the battle was like about a year after Novar had been defeated.  Nobody had argued then, for people were to busy rebuilding their lives to listen to the tales of a bard.  It had become accepted as a fact a few years later and was commonly told in taverns all across the world.  But now the temple appeared to be a place of foreboding, a place that told of life’s end.  It was no longer the lovely place where families went to get their worries off their minds.  It was no longer a place of peace and solitude.  Its like a crypt, Firestar thought to himself as he reached the front steps of the temple.

Suddenly, Starice turned around and let out a cry of dismay.  She saw the raiders closing in on Winterdoe and tired to go to help her, but Firestar held her back.  He was determined to let her live and he would put up with whatever Starice would do.

“Noooo!” she screamed as she tried to rush past Firestar; he stood in front of her, blocking her way.  She clawed at him, beat her arms against his chest, tried to cast a spell of fire, and tried any number of different ways to get Firestar out of her way, but her attempts were futile.

Firestar picked her up and slung her over his shoulder and walked in throught the open doors of the temple.  He walked past the statue of Starblaze in the center of the room and reached a door that led to the basement.  He gasped in pain from Starice’s constant beating of his back as he opened the door and walked down a flight of stairs that led into the darkness. 

He paused a few feet through the doorway and cast a minor light spell.  Over the fire and lightning spells that had recently been cast by the elves, this small spell would be undetectable.  He continued down the steps and eventually reached a small, pretty much barren room with a small table against one of the walls.  After many minutes of searching and fear of being caught, Firestar found what he was looking for.  He picked a small black stone out of the wall of brambles and watched as a small door that seemed to appear out of the wood opened. 

All elves of the city of Silviar knew of the hidden room inside the temple.  It had been designed as a place of refuge in case an invasion occurred long before the shield had been put up.  The small room contained little more than a cot and a small barrel of well preserves ale and blended seamlessly into the wall.  Even a mage with great power wouldn’t think of searching through the basement of a temple for a hidden room; even if they did, they wouldn’t find the small room for it had been enchanted by Flamehawk himself and would appear as solid wood to any mage probes.

Firestar gently laid Starice on the cot and looked down sorrowfully upon her as she lightly beat her arms against his chest.  She called him many names that would make the worst drunk pale and after a while just lay her head against his chest.  As soon as she let up the wailing and started to cry to herself silently, he heard the raiders coming down the steps.  This mage seems to be more powerful that I thought, Firestar thought to himself as he adjusted his brace of knives round his waist and fingered the hilt of the sword that hung across his back; then he pulled out a pair of gloves from one of him many hidden shirt pockets and placed one on each hand.  He clenched his fists and twisted both hands slightly and watched in satisfaction as a blade slid out of a concealed hole that lay directly above each of his middle knuckles.  He twisted both hands in the opposite direction and the blades slid back in.  Good, they’re well oiled, he thought to himself as he softly told Starice that he’d be back.  He wasn’t sure if she hear him or not, but touched a small panel that lay well out of Starice’s reach.  The door slid open and he slid out of the room quietly as he drew two of the knives that hung at his waist.  He flipped them over, sot that the knife blades were pointed towards his elbow on the outsides of his arms.

The door closed just as the first pair of raider reached the floor of the basement.  With a flick of his wrist, Firestar released one of the knives and it buried itself in one of the raiders’ neck, causing him to crumple to the floor with as surprised stare on his dead face.  Before the other man had a chance to react, Firestar spun around in a circle and let the other knife fly into the living raider’s chest.  He too fell to the floor, dead.

Firestar calmly walked over to the dead bodies and aggressively pulled the knives out of the bodies.  He wiped the knives clean on the clothing of the dead, then put the knives back in the same position that they were in before he threw them.  He leapt up the stairs, taking them three at a time.  When he reached the top, he opened the door carefully and appeared to be somewhat relieved.  None of the other raiders had made it to the temple yet; they were too busy looting and burning the houses to their foundations.

Firestar’s relief was short lived as about a dozen of the living three-dozen raiders turned to see him standing in the doorway of the temple.  They all laughed as one of the raiders made a comment about Firestar’s claws and drew their curved swords.  They advanced on him casually, looking for the telltale signs of panic.  When they saw none, they charged at Firestar, angered that he wasn’t scared of them.  Without emotion he waited until one of the raiders reached the first of the steps that led to the temple before releasing both knives.  Two of the raiders fell to the floor, clutching their necks for much needed air.

He met the other two raiders on the stairs; he kicked one in the stomach, sending him flying and punched the other in the chest and a surprised expression crossed his face for the rider was unhurt.  The raider grinned and started to swing his sword as Firestar pushed further with his hand, making the raider’s feet leave the floor.  The raider was about to hit Firestar’s neck with the sword as he felt a cold blade pierce his heart.   The blade slid back into it’s hole as Firestar twisted his hand and threw the dead man at the next two raiders.

Firestar drew his rune-covered sword and mumbled the words for activation in the language of the Ancients.  The blade let out a hum and turned a light blue in color.  He turned the blade so that it rested parallel to his chest and brought two of his fingers from his free hand to the blade.  He rested them vertically at the edge of the blade and in one fluid motion, moved both his fingers and his sword to his side.  A translucent blue curved beam of energy shot out of where the blade and his fingers had just been and sliced one of the raiders in half.  He quickly spun the blade down and brought it up in a vertical line and another beam of energy lanced through the air and cut both a raider’s sword and it’s wielder in two.  He spun around in a circle and shot two more bolts of energy.

By the time the first of the raiders reached Firestar, only five of the original dozen were left.  The others had taken notice and they started to head towards the temple.  Now the group of five and Firestar were close enough for hand to hand, or in this case, sword to sword combat.  Firestar parried a blow from one of the raiders and sliced his head off.  He flipped over the remaining four and on his way down, cut one of the raiders into two identical halves.  He thrust his blade into the chest of one of the raiders and used his feet to help him remove the sword from the corpse.  He tripped one of the remaining two raiders and drove his sword into the raider’s throat, then as the remaining man lunged at Firestar, he jumped onto the blat of the blade, causing his opponent to drop the weapon and spun in a circle before kicking the man in the stomach; the raider literally flew back and lay impaled upon the statue’s sword.  Firestar mumbled a hasty apology to Starblaze for defiling the statue with filth and levitated into the air.  He placed both arms in front of him, palms facing the raiders and great balls of fire leapt from his hands and consumed a dozen of the remaining raiders.  He raised his hands and the runes on his hands flared as huge chunks of rock lifted off the floor and killed the remaining raiders.

Firestar slowly landed on the steps of the temple, battle lust still in his eyes and spun in a circle after hearing applause behind him.

A young half-elf with light red, shoulder length hair leapt off of the statue of Starblaze and landed on the temple floor.  His irises were green in color and the pupil constantly flickered between a deep red and a light yellow color.  He was dressed in a crimson-red shirt and a very dark pair of loose pants.  His shoeless feet were clawed, as were his hands.  His feathery wings were a deep shade of red and had light yellow tips.  When extended to their full length as they were right now, the wings were a combined twenty or so hand spans long.

“What, I don’t scare you?” the half-elf asked as his clawed hands clenched and unclenched repetitively.

Firestar launched himself at him and tried to kick the half-elf in the air, but the half-elf parried the kick with an upraised hand and flung Firestar back; Firestar landed hunched over with both feet on the dusty floor.  His hands seemed to grow slightly larger as a pair of soft, feathery, blue wings with brown tips sprouted from his back with a gut wrenching crackle.

The half elf tilted his head to the side.  “Well, then; I’m glad that we can talk as one brother to anoth-“ the half-elf said humorously, but appeared to be fairly annoyed as Firestar cut him off.

“I’m no brother of yours,” Firestar spat.  “I’d gladly get rid of these runes, the power and the wings as well as the claws if I could live a normal life; but I’ve already tried that and nothing short of my much wanted death will get rid of these horrendous abnormalities.”

“We both know that you’d rather live with your given gifts than die.  Ever since we were banished from our home planet, I’ve come to accept this form as a useful tool.  After all, we are more powerful than anyone else here!” the half-elf said as he walked over to Firestar.  “But enough of this, where is the key?” he asked in a serious voice.

“What key?” Firestar asked and was punched in the face.

“What key…. You know what I’m talking about,” the half-elf said.

“I seriously don’t know what you’re talking about,” Firestar responded as he licked his lips, tasting blood.

“Fine, if you won’t tell me, I’ll rip it out of you!” the half-elf said as a bolt of lightning burst out of his right eye.

Firestar barely had time to move out of the way before a ball of fire leapt out of the half-elf’s hand.  Firestar quickly raised his hand and shot a jet of water from his right hand, neutralizing the fireball.  Firestar’s eyes rolled back into his head as he extended his hands, palms facing towards the ground.

The earth shook and opened up underneath the half-elf, but the elf was too quick.  He flew up into the air and drew a sword from his back.  Firestar wrenched his sword out of the bloody carcass and flew up to meet the half-elf.

“Before I finish you off, may I know who my worthless opponent is?” the half-elf jeered as the two clashed their blades together, sending sparks flying.
”The name’s Firestar, not that it’ll help you to know it after today.”  Firestar replied as both winged creatures broke off and clashed again.  “I hear that knowing names is pretty much useless when you’re dead.  But then again, I do need to know who you are, so that I can give you the proper burial rights.”

The half-elf let out a laugh and then lunged at Firestar’s chest; Firestar brought up his blade and parried the blow.  Then he fainted and slashed at the half-elf’s head.  The half-elf blocked the slash and flew back.

“Tell whoever it is you meet after you die that Snowkire sent you!” the half elf howled as thunder rolled in the distance.  Lightning flashed and set the temple in flames.  Snowkire then raised hp his right hand and a lightning bolt from the sky arched towards Firestar.

Firestar dodged the bolt, but was momentarily blinded by the brightness of the lightning.  Snowkire, sensing that Firestar could not see, shot a bolt of fire at Firestar.  The elf felt coming towards him and risked a desperate gamble.  He spun around in a circle and then extended his arms so that they were perpendicular to each other.  He folded his wings inward and while still spinning, fell towards the ground.  Right before he hit the floor, he banked to the right, opened up his wings, flew back up and let his energy flow.

A great cyclone appeared around Firestar and he sent it swirling towards Snowkire.  If the fire had been lightning; it would have sent its charge into the water and would have ended up shocking Firestar; but since the energy released by Snowkire was fire, the cyclone neutralized the fire and continued on its rampage towards the half-elf.

Snowkire seeing that the cyclone was coming after him flew up towards the clouds and let a bolt of lightning fly into the epicenter of the cyclone’s maw.  Firestar barely had time to get away from the cyclone before it became electrically charged.  He brought his hand up and the cyclone turned into a small puddle of water.

He then twisted his other hand and the earth opened up and swallowed the puddle, a moment later, the earth closed up again.

Firestar spun his sword in a circle and a discus of blue-white energy shot out of the blade’s tip and sped towards Snowkire.  Snowkire brought up his blade and a beam of dark red energy shot at the disk.  When both beams of energy hit each other, they cancelled each other out.  Snowkire floated back down to where Firestar was and slashed at Firestar’s neck.  Firestar blocked the blow and cried out in horror, for he had just remembered that Starice was inside the temple.  He raised his free hand and pointed his hand at the temple.  A jet of water flowed from his hand and put out the fire in the temple.

Meanwhile, Snowkire had been gathering his energy and sent a ball of fire that easily dwarfed the elven houses towards Firestar.  H then chased after it, hoping to catch Firestar by surprise.  Firestar grinned at what he saw and flew back as the runes on his hands flared.  The earth groaned as a pillar of pure granite rose out of the ground and hit the ball of fire with such force that it sent the fire backwards.

Snowkire muttered a curse and pointed the palm of his free hand at the fireball that was now speeding towards him.  The ball of fire broke up into many hand sized circular disks and shot towards the pillar.  Firestar raised his hand and made a circle with two of his fingers.  The pillar lifted off of the ground and started to spin in a circle clockwise in front of Firestar, creating a shield of granite.

The disks of fire hit the wall and were sent flying in diffused in random directions.  Firestar swung his sword in an arc and a blade of energy cut through the air.  Snokire spun in a circle, sent his own blade of energy to counter Firestar’s attack and flew as his up into the clouds as he dared.  He glided to where he thought Firestar would be and plunged towards the ground in tight miniature swoops.

Firestar had been relatively close to where Snowkire thought he was, but he had enough time to react before Snowkire attempted to cut him in half.  He leaned back and raised his sword horizontally and as Snowkire’s sword made perpendicular contact with Firestar’s, he kicked upwards with his clawed feet and caught Snowkire in the stomach.  Before Snowkire could recover, Firestar raised his left hand and the pillar of granite swung around and hit Snowkire in the back, sending him flying into the pillars of the temple.

Firestar now had the offensive and took full advantage of it.  He swung the pillar at Snowkire, forcing the half-elf to dodge it.  While the pillar preoccupied Snowkire, Firestar shot blades of energy out of his sword, which was still being held by his right hand.

Soon both Firestar and Snowkire were panting from exhaustion, but half-elf was in much worse shape.  Snowkire, realizing this, took a risk of his own.  He raised both clawed hands and placed them so that there was a small amount of space between his hands.  His eyes rolled back as a semi-transparent shield erected itself around Snowkire.  Small flickers of flame danced around his pure white eyes and his hair stood straight up.

“Dragons of sorrow, rage of the lost souls,” Snowkire cried out as small sparks of energy gathered in his hands.  “Pain of martyrs, tears of hate,” he paused as the energy lashed out and threatened to make Snowkire loose control.  “Feed thy anger and fear upon the foe of thine and mine.  Let our paths merge and become one.  Zelfire Roete!”

A shadow fell upon the city of Silviar as a small, bright dot appeared to streak across the sky.  The closer it got, the larger the shadow and the dot became, the warmer and more lifeless the city appeared to become.

Firestar stood still, shocked for a moment, not truly comprehending what had just been called upon; but as realization dawned upon his face, he let out a cry of horror.

“Meteor!” Firestar screamed at Snowkire.  “What kind of fool are you?” he shouted at the hunched figure of Snowkire.  “You’re going get us both killed… After what you just called upon, you don’t even have enough power to get away from the city!”  He raged as the runes around his wrists lit up and glowed a bright red.

“That’s the point brother mine,” Snowkire laughed weakly.  “If I can’t beat you, then we can both die!”

“Relavé,” Firestar shouted as threads of energy bound themselves around Snowkire, preventing him from casting spells, let alone moving.  Firestar muttered a curse under his breath as adrenaline coursed through his veins.  The elf quickly fell to the floor and drew a circle around his body in the dirt.  He sketched symbols of amplification at four points around the edge of the circle, and then he grew amplification symbols in the air that appeared to be a bright green in color.

“Hope of the living, life giving substance, power of light,” Firestar cried out as small dots of white light appeared floating around the circle.  “Heed my call and save the life of the Silviaran race,” he shouted above the sudden wind that had picked p around the city.  The meteor was clearly visible now and Firestar was sweating from strain, exhaustion, and the heat that the meteor was giving off.  “Gaia!”

The white dots landed of Firestar’s body as the meteor broke through the clouds.  Firestar’s body arched backwards and his veins burned with an energy overload.  He slipped into a detached state as great beams of pure, white light shot out of his fingers, his eyes and his chest. 

The beams towards the meteor and were joined by a stream of energy that resembled a lady garbed in black leather from shoulder to toe.  Her eyes were a soft brown in color and her deep brown, shoulder length hair clung to her sweat ridden face.  They were joined by another stream of energy; its source, the ground.  A cry pierced the air and a muddy blue beam of energy escaped form Firestar’s body and joined the other stands of power.  They all sped off to meet the meteor.

The image of the women and the bluish energy seemed to join hands and led the way to the meteor.  When they reached it, they pushed against it with superhuman strength and let the other streams get to work.  The other energy bolts lashed onto the meteor and started to slowly compress it.  The meteor suddenly flared and wrenched itself out of the energy beams’ grasp and tried to continue it’s descent; but the bluish beam stretched itself out and formed a miniature web that halted the meteor’s progression towards the ground.  The other energy beams lashed onto the meteor, swung the meteor around in a circle and sent it back into orbit.

The energies fled back to their original state, all except for the muddy blue energy beam and the energy that resembled a woman.  The bluish energy appeared to mumble thanks and then fled back into Firestar’s body.  The other energy beam seemed to hang in the air for a minute, as if trying to decide what to do; then it turned into a small, blue-white bird and sped off into the blackness of the now night sky.

Firestar’s eyes flickered open and he gasped for air.  He dizzily felt his forehead, as if not sure whether or not he still had a body; then crawled out of the circle and fell down, to weak to move.

The white energy dots slowly spread out and away from the circle, then shimmered and disappeared.  Both winged creatures lay in front of the temple, exhausted and oblivious of the city that was burning around them.  The bonds around Snowkire disappeared and Firestar let out a small sigh as the sky released a soft drizzle or rain.  Both winged creatures instantly fell into the warm embrace of unconsciousness.

It was well past noon when Firestar awoke.  He let out a groan as he tried to move.  His body was cold and his head felt as if it had been split into many pieces.  He slowly stood up and noticed that Snowkire lay against a pillar of the temple with is eyes closed.  Why not finish him off now?  Firestar thought to as he searched for his sword and after finding it walked over to Snowkire.

He raised his blade and was about to slice off Snowkire’s head, when he saw Snowkire’s eyes flicker open and felt a cold metal enter his stomach.  Firestar let out a gasp of pain and fell to the floor.  He looked down and saw a small knife handle protruding from his stomach.  He wrenched it free and lay for a moment, gasping in pain.

“It’s poisoned, you know?” Snowkire laughed weakly as he slowly raised his right hand.  “I’d finish you off, but I’m too drained to move very much at all.”  He muttered a few words under his breath and his image blurred, and then it melted and disappeared.

Firestar lay gasping on the ground and then remembered Starice.  He slowly opened a small pouch that lay along is belt and drew a small empty vial out of the pouch.  He wiped his fingers along the flat edge of the poisoned knife and looked at the poison on his fingers.  He didn’t know what it was, but he did know someone who might.  He rubbed the liquid poison against the inside of the vial and sealed its lid.  He slowly put it back in the pouch, put one of his hands on his stomach to control the bleeding and used his other arm to help him try and stand up.  He reached a sitting position, but nearly blacked out and fell down again.

After about half a dozen tries, he finally succeeded in standing up.  He slowly walked over to the temple steps and leaned against one of the pillars.  He stood there for a moment, then inhaled sharply and started to mount the steps one at a time, wincing in pain as he did so.  A few minutes later, he reached the front door.  When he felt that he could move without blacking out, he slowly made his way to the basement door.  He opened it and took a step down the stairs and almost blacked out.  If was only his love for Starice that kept him going and he eventually reached the end of the stairs.  He walked over to the wall that concealed the room that Starice was in and triggered the mechanism that opened the door.

The young elf had been sitting on the cot in a slumped position, crying silently.  As the door slid open, she grabbed the jug feebly, in the hopes that she would be able to hurt whoever came in if it was an invader.  As Firestar shuffled into view, Starice let out a cry.  She dropped the jug and it shattered, splattering ale all over the floor.  She rushed over to Firestar and tore the hem of her robe and tried to make it into a bandage.  Firestar gently pushed her hand aside and walked past her to the cot.  He sat down, extreme pain visible on his face.

“What happened?” Starice asked worriedly as she leaned against one ft he walls.  She was extremely exhausted after the invaders had appeared.

“Its noth-“ Whatever he was going to say was interrupted by a loud cry of pain that escaped form his lips.  He gritted his teeth and he stifled an urge to let out another howl of pain.  After a few long moments, his body visibly calmed down and he spoke in a near whisper.  “I know of someone who might be able to banish the poison.  I’ve used magic to block off whatever it is from getting any deeper into my body; but I fear that it won’t last.  The poison has already started to eat away the barrier!”

“Then lets go and get you cured!” Starice said with a little enthusiasm.  There was a glimmer of hope in her eyes; she hoped that he would survive, for he was the only person that she knew.

“I- I can’t” Firestar said mournfully.

Starice burst into hysterics.  “Why? Why can’t I come along? Is it because you don’t like me?  Do you think I’ll weigh you down? As you’ve seen in the past, I can easily keep up with you!  Is it because-” she cut short abruptly as she started to cry.

Firestar gently cupper her hands in his and looked into her tear streaked eyes.  “It’s none of those,” he said lovingly.  “As long as there is breath within this body, I’ll never abandon you!”

“So,” she said and paused before continuing quietly.  “You’re going to leave me here by myself?”

Firestar sighed and slowly stood up.  H