Erlem & Daisy

"From what remember reading the ancient elves are believed to have appeared first in the world, before the orcs and man; the only known immortal race and the keepers of the great fey tree. They cultivated the great titan trees and created the citadel even. They ruled over the continents of Thre'a for thousands of years. According to the reports a great war between ancient devils and the elves ended with the elvish population decimated and the remaining taking the smallest continent to the west for themselves." Daisy recalled all she knew about elves to Erlem, him listening wide eyed as a young boy would hearing about the legendary ancient elves. " The elves created elvish silk; lighter than wool and stronger than armor, greatest archers in the world. The elves do not reproduce, they have males and females but do not lay together." Daisy spoke a bit uncomfortably as she tried to explain what "lay together" meant to Erlem. " We don't really know if they can't have children or simply won't. That's really not important, what is important is there is only one remaining piece of the elves ruling Thre'a which was the Autumnveil fey tree, now we discover there's a titan wood road swathed right in the middle of the plague swamps."

Erlem wanted to know more about the elves "what do they look like?" Daisy smiled " i'v never had the pleasure of going to the ire to meet one so i'm not really sure. I know in the books I read about them they were supposed to be beautiful beings covered in light and always wore beautiful elvish silk robes, both men and women were adorned in and carried bows or swords, they were great artists, poets and musicians, i like to believe the streets of their cities are filled with music and without the grime of the cities here."

" I'm going to see the elves one day and im gonna learn elvish magic!" Erlem said excitedly, " trust me Daisy i'll be the first mage to master elvish magic in a billion years." Erlem puffed out his chest and strutted around the room " then i'll be the most powerful person in the world And no one will be able to destroy people homes!" Daisy smiled at Erlem, such a noble pursuit power to protect the weak. " well you gotta master arcane an elemental magic first!" She laughed " come on now, the sun is coming up and we need to leave. Pack up your things." He followed Daisy's suit and began to put away all of the books he had taken out back into his bag and walked over to the door. The door knob had appeared unnoticed while they were occupied with the thought of elves.

They exited their little hut and walked the road once more, it was daylight now and the two decided to look in the distance and admire some of the scenery. They saw the birds nesting in the canopy of the swamps forest, the outlines of mountains in the distance to the east. The wind was strong but not unbearable, the warm air was nice and left the pair not needing some of the extra clothes they had on.

The titan tree road reflected silver in the sunlight, it was beautifully crafted and Daisy often found herself looking at the craftsmanship admiring the creators and looking for any runes or artifacts they may have left behind. Sadly enough for her the road was spotless as if it had been cared for on a regular basis. Every few miles there was a rest house equipped with a hearth and a pantry stocked with dry goods for travelers, but no sign of any outposts or structures to house workers nor had there been any other living creature on the road since they started traveling it.

Erlem stayed towards the right side of the road peering off into the distance imagining what he thought elves would look like and then imagined elvish heroes committing great deeds. He pretending to shoot arrows at imaginary flying beasts that carried evil warriors on their backs.

" Daisy, who made up the ancient titans armies? Who fought for them?" Erlem figured the ancients had to have an army like everyone else, all the rulers of the world had armies even the citadel.

" well alot of races were wiped off Thre'a during that time, the ones we know of that were recorded were the goblins and the giants, but there are accounts of many of races and creatures were aligned with them which is why the elves were nearly destroyed themselves fighting, it was said to last for hundreds of years before the elves emerged the victors." Erlem swung an imaginary sword and pretended to kill an invisible foe, "When i go to the citadel im going to study the ancient elves and the ancient titans."

They walked for a few more hours, the sun had started to sink into the horizon and daylight had started to fade. Daisy had begun to look forward the next rest house that was due to be near and wouldn't mind a warm hearth and a few strips of meat with bread along with her pipe. Her body had grown tired for the day and she new Erlem had to be exhausted, the traveled through lunch. They couldn't shadow hop on the titan road, the walls didn't cast shadows onto the road, without shadows the spell didn't work.

They came around a bend in the road that seemed to go on for miles and miles, around a large swath of trees that gave Daisy the impression they were leaving the swamp itself and would soon be able to leave the road. As the rounded the tree line the noticed something peaking around the bend in the distance between trees.

The pointed red roof of a castle tower stopd valiantly against the tree line, Erlem noticed it first as he had decided to run ahead out of boredom. The road had been un eventful and mostly carefree which they had begun to find more and more peculiar. The plague swamp was crawling with dangers, their months at the gnob had taught them to stay away from the swamp, just the little swath of it they had stepped into prior had them set upon by blood thirsty viper hornets and nearly eaten by a Crognile pair in the middle of a mating dance.

A large black castle with many spires and towers adorned in a red roof was nestled in a rocky thicket, a blanket of fog wrapped itself around it like a mote. Even the road had begun to change, its flawless appearance and ambiance had begun to feel more eerie, the closer they got to the castle the more wear the road began to show.

Eventually they came to an area that no longer felt inviting, there were places where the walls had been melted and burned, arrows and bones laid astrew for miles ahead.

Erlem ran to Daisy and grabbed her hand, he didn't like this place and wanted to hurry passed the castle and the stretch of road they had before them. "What is this place?" Erlem looked up at Daisy, who was just as lost as he was at that moment. Daisy didn't know of any castles or cities in the swamp, she was certain it was ruled by nature rather than a race of any kind.

A large section of the road was missing on the side the castle was on, the section was melted like metal rather than burned like wood. It lefts a small section just wide enough for them cross single file along the other side. They were more aware of how high they really were above the swamp as they were able to clearly see directly below them, the wind felt harsher than it had earlier as well making them feel as though they would be flung off the road to their deaths below.

The road had been broken for a mile or so before slowly returning back to its normal self, the bones and remnants of a battle long forgotten disappeared into the distance behind them as a the moon rose above. They came to a usable rest house after previously passing two that had been destroyed and one that had a few too many skeletons in the closet for comfort. They settled on this one since neither wanted to sleep in a tent on the road, Erlem already had terrible nightmares and didn't like adding alcohol to the fire.

They flipped the vacant sign to occupied and entered the rest house. This one was basically a direct copy of the previous one they had occupied earlier so Daisy was somewhat sure she knew where the kitchen supplies should be, she and Erlem needed to eat and get some rest. Their bellies growled and rumbled as their bodies ached and burned from being beaten by the winds. The temperature had begun to drop and a chill crept through the little house.

She lit the stove with a spell and began working on some dinner while Erlem worked on a hearth fire.

"I wonder about that castle we passed, do you think its abandoned?" Erlem hadn't seen any movement around it, no lights in the windows or evidence of occupants. "I honestly have no clue but I do know you need to eat and get some rest and try not to fixate on what we passed. We don't need to deviate from our current quest your life depends on us getting you to the citadel." Erlem almost forgot this whole trip was to rid himself of the omen plaguing his destiny.

The next morning came and went and the two slept soundly in there pallets next to the hearth as the embers of the fire shined a brilliant red and some of the embers crackled. Life had returned to the forest below, bustling and chirps even the sounds of bard owl bands playing could be heard long into the morning. Still the two slept as the morning became the afternoon, the sounds of their bellies moaning pierced the silence. The light began to fade and the sun began to fall as noon shifted into the night.

*knock knock knock*

Daisy grunted as an unexpected knocking came from the outside of the rest house. Daisy shrugged it off as the wind at first, until another three loud knocks, harder than before, the door shook from the force behind them. Daisy jumped to her feet, she summoned fire in her right palm as she slowly creeped up to the door.

*knock knock knock*

Erlem awoke, his heart pumping hard against his chest, " whats that!" He stuttered as he looked at Daisy with a flaming hand and a frightened look on her face. " who could possibly be out there? The plague swamp was devoid of human life, and no known races otherwise called the swamp its home. Unless the goblins finally hunted us down, we should be safe in here no one can enter an occupied hut remember." Daisy looked through the peep hole and saw two thin women standing behind the door, both dressed in black robes and were incredibly beautiful. Silver hair and bright green eyes that almost glowed, they had long pointed ears and beautiful black opal gemstones hanging from them. They knocked again and this time spoke " travelers we wish you no ill will, we come from the castle in the distance, the castle Blu'dheim."