The fire crackled as he turned over the rabbit he had caught earlier. Thank the Lady the rain had stopped earlier that afternoon. The smell of the cooking meat was very good indeed. His stomach was rumbling from too long of a trip. Too long. His thoughts start to drift back when the times were a little better.
Growing up near the shores of the Great Sea was a time of mostly enjoyment and play. His hunting took place on the seas after fish and other creatures of the deep. He was much younger then. The memories of these times were very bleak and incomplete. The smell of salt water, and feeling of the cool breeze that can only come from the sea are two of his early memories.Most of my memories were of running and hiding. My father and mother, both followers of the Lady themselves, had told me the stories of a Great conflict preparing to occur in a far off land. They spoke of trying to get home. My father had taken the name of Georan Ebonfyre, a ranger of no little skill, and my mother was called Ralinai, a healer of the natural arts. We lived in the wilds mostly. Traveling from settlement to settlement. Never staying too long. Every place we were called upon to aid the elves that lived in that area. This is how we paid for most things. Having grown up in the wilds, I placed my path along that of my father. "The ways of a ranger are lonely indeed," my father used to say. "It is only by finding family and protecting them at all costs will you be able to find happiness." This is where we were heading. HOME. My mother had an unusual ability to speak to the various creatures we came across on our journeys. It was one such night that she was aroused by the sound of an owl outside our dwelling. It was in the village of Sunderain. A small village of Twathedilion, that lived in the Great Forest of Fir'sigh. We had come to the village on an errand of great importance, or so the wolf, that spoke to my mother called it. During our stay here, we were able to uncover a path that led us to a hidden den of thieves that had stolen an elven artifact of Sunderain. This den was well guarded, but nothing could stand up to my father. Especially with my mother's healing arts supporting him. I was as much help as I could be, but he took most of the force. His t'lenarians, were passed down through his family. They were very unique in that their blades curved up to the points and their hilts were made up of bone and metal. The bone and metal of the hilts twisted together from the bottom of the hilt to the void in the center of the pommel. Something was missing from this spot. A gem. A crest. Something. When asked about the void, my father used to say, the less I knew the better I was off. I had learned to obey my father and mother without question. Their word was final. My mother seemed to speak from the Lady herself. My father would do anything she said for this is what he truly believed. My mother approached the owl and listened to it intently. When the owl finished my mother looked like the palest of Dar Khelegurs. She turned to my father and said, "The Lady has sent us her messenger with a warning, 'They've found us!!!'" With that she turned and ran for her pack. My father jumped to his feet and put out the fire we were cooking our meal with. "Drayke, we must leave with haste! Gather what you can carry; the rest will just have to go to the Sunders for their hospitality. We must get away before "they" find us and jeopardize this village!"Just then the forest went quiet. The birds were silent. The animals, ever so noisy, were silent. Everything. It was my father's voice that came next in a whisper. "Listen to my words and do exactly what I say. Flee my son. Go north and never turn back. There will be a stream of golden water that flows into an emerald waterfall and then down into a black pool that looks as dark as night. When you find this place, there will be a cave behind a large boulder. You will need to go to the right of that boulder and pull down on a vine that is located under the water at its base. Stay there until we meet you. I know. Don't be frightened; you are well trained in the ways of the forest. Avoid contact with any that are not an ally. With the times as these that is a very large range. Do as I say and now!!"With that I raced off to the north. I wish I could say that I obeyed my father's words. I actually did, except for one thing. I turned around to see them before I left. I saw my father grab his t'lenarians and disappear into the woods. My mother grabbed her staff and stopped. With a second sense that only mother's have, turned towards me enough for me to see the tears run down her face. With that she said some words I didn't understand, pointed in my direction, and disappeared after my father. I so wanted to chase after them and help them in whatever they were up against. It was the last time that I chose not to help an elf. This all occurred a second before the ball of fire hit the area. I still remember that smell.
The smell. The smell of burnt flesh. The smell of... Snapping back to the present day, Drayke pulls the now ruined rabbit out of the flames that was his campfire. The meal was so ruined that Nightstar wanted nothing to do with it. With an anger screech, the bird was up it he air, hunting this night for her own food. How long has it been my friend? When will we finally reach our journey's end? With a quick intake of breath, the thinker turned into the hunter that he had become. Off into the darkness to find another meal, and with it, Braialla's blessings of another day, the hunter stalked for prey.After a short time, Drayke had another meal on his campfire. This time Braialla blessed him with a wild pig. They were fierce combatants. However, Drayke was also, at home in the forest. It had been almost a century since he parted ways with his mother and father. A century since he had waited within that cave for weeks on end. Almost a century before he was greeted with the messenger.
There was a scratching outside of the boulder that was the door to my house; the boulder that kept me protected from the evil monsters of the surrounding area and the elements alike. Braialla was tearing apart. The storms that rocked the land made traveling almost impossible. The constant shifting of the earth itself made staying in one place almost as deadly. Last week the east side of the cave collapsed. If it weren't for the wind blowing against the reeds of the pool outside causing me to wake up and move to the other side of the cave, I would have been crushed. The Lady had taken care of me on my journey to "my cave". Many times did I "feel" the need to turn one way or the other; to hide in brush or to dive into an icy cold stream and swim to the bottom for what seemed like eternity in order to avoid certain death. She was the one that "showed" me the small stream. The stream, no more than two feet deep, was filled with small round stones, that when the sunlight bathed down upon them, seemed to be filled with heaps of gold coins. The problem was with the storms was, sunlight was nowhere to be found. It was only when the lone column of light broke through the clouds for a couple minutes, did I find my way along the stream of gold. After several days of following this seemingly endless shallow stream, did I find the emerald waterfall. This waterfall dropped about 10 feet. The emerald color coming for all the moss that covered the stones behind it, gave it its name. The most fascinating part of the area, however, was the pool that the fall poured into. During the several weeks that led up to this point, I had yet to find the bottom of it. With no other person to speak to, Braialla was my only companion. She was my protector, my confidant, my friend. She told me that one-day I would be reunited with my family. Maybe this was that time. With that I snapped back to the scratching at the door.Jumping up and racing to the door, I moved the small stone that served me as a viewing hole. "Never jumped into the fire without knowing how hot it is going to be once you get there," my father had always said. As I looked outside of the cave, the sight was not what was expected. Quickly I jumped down from the perch and threw the boulder to the side with strength I didn't know I had. Standing outside. No slouching outside was a faun of white fur. This creature was magnificent to behold. Except for one thing. The two-foot long gaping wound in its left flank. The wound ended in a blackened patch of flesh that was about foot in diameter and about two inches in depth at its center. How the faun made it this far without falling over only Braialla would know. It immediately collapsed upon seeing me standing in the doorway, its eyes going as white as its beautiful fur. This wasn't the most frightening, horrifying sight however. Lying on top of the now deceased creature was his father's great quiver. This quiver was able to hold three or four times the number of arrows that a normal quiver held. The bottom and up one side was completely burned away. Bending down to pick up the quiver, a mostly burned up piece of rolled parchment falls out the bottom of it. Pulling the faun into the cave in order to not attract predators, I picked up the quiver and parchment and headed over to the fire to examine the package from this most unusual messenger.Breaking the mostly melted seal and unrolling the parchment, I read:My son. I wish I could be there in person, but alas we are no more. Your mother and I have written this note in case the Lady calls us home before we were able to reach the rest of our family. Take this note and continue on your way. I know. I know. But remember, you are my son, and more importantly, a Son of the Most High Lady, The Lady of the Forest, Mother of Elves everywhere, the Goddess Braialla. She will continue to be with you when we cannot. Take this to our family. Show this to the Thaelostor. He will take you in as one of his own. Our family is a noble and strong one. We were sent on a mission of utmost importance as Executives by the Thaelostor. With the many rumors circulating about a Great War brewing, our wise Thaelostor sent me, and some of my cousins, to far reaches of the world to gather whatever information we could and return. It was my decision to take you and your mother with me. It was a decision that I both regret and cherish. These long years decades have been filled with both fear and pride. We have been away from our family for most of your lifetime. What are even centuries to the long living elves? You are strong my son and the Lady is strong within you. Your mother's touch with other of the Lady's children is within you as well. I have seen it. Use whatever means necessary to get to our family. Enough rambling, let me tell you about the history that you will now be apart of. My name is not Georen. Your mother is not named Ralinai. And most importantly, you are not a member of the house Ebonfyre. These names were used to cover our presence from the many enemies of our House. I know this is hard to understand, but understand you must. You are indeed Drayke. It was a name your mother thought up when you were born. Your last name for now keep as Ebonfyre. However, when you reach our. your. family will b.. Only a few tattered pieces were left semi readable.proud, noble house of the sea. ..was sent by Spym....Qui.The rest of the parchment is a crumbled mess of charred ash. With that, I collapsed backward in grief. All I felt was sadness and pain of the loss of my parents. That was, until the pain in the back of my head erupted from striking the stone lying on the ground behind me.After a while, I came back to consciousness. My head was throbbing and the blood lay caked onto the side of my face. Sitting up, I noticed the faun was beginning to fester and decay. It must have been several days that I lay there unconscious. The cave would soon become unlivable due to the flies and bugs already gathering to the now rotten body. Trying to gather up my belongings through a haze of red pain, I noticed the quiver still in the same spot I left it when he collapsed. Picking it up gently, so that not to damage it further, I looked inside. Within the hollow that once held my father's arrows, I saw something that almost caused the ground to rush up to me again. Staring back at me were the same two bone and metal hilts that I had seen just about a month ago. They were my father's t'lenarians. Pulling them out to check if they were also damaged, I breathed a sigh of relief and thanks to Braialla that they, although blackened, had survived the journey. Only one other thing was left inside the quiver, the head of my mother's staff. The staff looks as if it had all but burned away. The charred wood of its head was damaged beyond repair. With the weapons of my parents in my hands, I knew that they had indeed passed onto the Lady's caring. Taking a moment to gather up what supplies I could, I strolled over to the boulder, opened it, and walked into the world to begin my quest for my family.
Snapping back to reality again, this time narrowly avoiding destroying the meal he had been cooking, Drayke sat against a large rock, spinning the wooden leaf that hung on a chain around his neck. The same leaf he had carved from the ruined charred head of his mother's staff. Pulling the boar towards him, he carved off a piece. Soon he will come within sight of the place that he had searched for for as far back as he could remember. The journey had been long. But hopefully it was coming to an end. Hopefully. As he continued to chew on the boar, while spinning the wooden leaf on his necklace, he thought back to the day the Lady finally let him know where to go to find his answers.
The days and nights were long working the mines of the Irekei that had enslaved me. The once proud Gwaridom ranger had survived many adventures for the Lady of the Forest. This one adventure seemed to finally take its toll. A rumor led me to an outpost bordering the Ghae'sh'onei Desert. Rumor had it that there were constant raids on a small elven settlement there. Of most importance was an artifact that was said to have been stored in the family's wine cellars. The artifact was of the seed of a Tree of Life. This family was the protectorate of this seed, so that when called upon the Tree of Life would allow the settlement to grow. The Irekei that had set the trap for me, knew exactly which rumors to spread. I was able to almost find out flush out the Devil, but his minions would always get in the way. I remember the Lady would constantly said visions and other opportunities to help her children, but I was so focused on getting to my family that if I came across an Elven family in need, I was almost relentless in trying to aid them, not knowing if they were of my blood or not. I was a zealot for my own pity. I soon was looking to myself for answers instead of the Lady. This is why I think she allowed me to go through this plight.Every day was the same in the sapphire mines. The heat was unbearable. The constant attacks by the Minotaur guards that the Irekei kept made anything that seemed "out of line" virtual suicide. The chains attached to your wrists and ankles made your skin split open with any movement. It was miserable. Worse still, my possessions, including my t'lenarians and necklace, were stolen from me and taken into the manor of the wretched creature. Only once did draw one of the blades. He was forbidden to use weapons according to his "order." He only kept them to spite me. The necklace however, he wore openly. Each passing day, my hatred of him and his kind grew and grew. If I could just get past the Minotaur guards. I shouldn't have tried on my own. However, I had been on my own for most of my life. I had to try. It was better to be dead than to serve one more day in this dungeon. In my weakened state and unarmed, saved for my pick, I was quickly over whelmed. I did manage to take the right eye of the one guard that had given me the most pain. That was until that night. I was tortured and beaten for days and days; until I was senseless and on the brink of going to meet my Lady for good.I was lying in a corner, while rats and other vermin took nibbles from my exposed flesh when the vision came to me. I don't know how it came to me, but I saw a great Oak before me. As I approached it, the tree melted away into the form of a beautiful woman. This woman reached her hand down to me and took me up. "Come back to me, my child. You journeys are almost at an end. If you do not wake you will miss it. Wake up! Wake up!" I then remember opening my eyes and in my "cell" was an elf standing before me. This elf was tall, bold and strong. He was standing on a large boulder as it jutted out into the sea. The sea foam was spraying around him as he put his hands to his mouth. There he stood for ages, shouting the same three words, "Come to me!!" Reaching up into the air with one of my bloodied hands, I called out to Braialla. "How can I go to this elf when I am like this? I am worthless! He does not know who I am." "Speak through my Voice. She will allow you invitation to their lands." As I stared at the male elf shouting from the rocks, a beautiful female elf walks up behind him and places a hand on his shoulder. Her hair blowing to and fro, the Voice looked like she was one with the wind and with nature, gentle, and kind, yet powerful. "M'lady, I will go. If you bid me so, I will go, just help me get out of these bonds." Just then one of the rats bit off a large piece of my wrist. With my life energy all but gone, my arm fell limp, right out of the shackle hanging me to the ceiling. That is the way I stayed for the next two weeks. They had left me to die. During those two weeks, I dug at my flesh and allowed the rodents to wear away enough away to escape each of my three other bonds. I fed off of the rodents that were feeding off of me. It was at the end of the two weeks that the master decided to get one last look at me, before he fed my remains to his Minotaur guards. The door swung open and in came the Irekei, with my t'lenarians drawn, tips first. Thinking that he would either get one last taunt at me, or find me dead half eaten by the vermin he stuck me with, he came alone. I waited in the corner of the dark cell. Having only very dim light to go by, my vision had grown accustomed to my living quarters. His, unfortunately for him, had not. As soon as he stepped all the way in the cell, I lunged. I kicked with all my might at his right wrist. The blow though weak compared to his abilities (and believe me I know), was enough to send one of my t'lenarians spinning into the air. Grabbing for the hilt, I had already begun my backspin at him. As I caught the blade, I finish my stroke severing his head and killing him where he stood. The move, led by the Lady's grace, was almost perfect, the only thing I didn't succeed in was avoiding my other t'lenarian as his body in shock threw the weapon up, causing a vicious slash across the left side of my face.
The scar, running from his chin to just under his left eye in a slight circular pattern, still aches on cold wintery days. Or when the temperature changes unnaturally. He noticed he was unconsciously rubbing the side of his face. It was the only time that his t'lenarians had ever tasted Elven blood. If it were up to him, it would be the last time. Looking through the uppermost branches of his forest camp, he saw the cold breeze, blowing the clouds in circles. It was time for his journey to continue, before he gets caught in another storm.Standing up and gathering the things he'll need for the final part of his journey, Drayke tosses a piece of meat up to Nightstar. "Well my friend, lets go meet see if the fires are burning bright in the Lok-ri Keep. Lady, I still remember you promising me that I would once again be reunited with my family." Lok-ri. The name means a lot of different things to a lot of different peoples. To this one ranger, could it mean the end or a new beginning? Or, the Lady forbid, another of a long life of disappointment and tragedy. Only time will tell.