City of Fate

Answers

"There is a brief, historical account that I would like to relay to you before you ask any questions." Galadon said around a mouthful of what could only be described as a burrito the length and breadth of Bouldar's forearm. He relayed the story of Alana and Krabloch The Troll king and the death of the dragon Duggor, the disappearance of the dragon scale and the death of the elf queen Alana.

"As she died Alana and her top Channeller, Verasai, created The Blind. It is a spell that blurs the boundaries between dimensions and was meant to hide all the light creatures from the dark ones, but because of an unexpected pulse in Alana's Lifestream, that's the power used to create the Powers, the spell ended up hiding all the Fae from the Normals, or Norms. So to this day there are still tensions between the dark ones and the creatures of the light." Galadon took another bite of his comically oversized burrito.

"The spell hides us from the Norms, but it only blurs the boundaries. You can still see us but only as we want you to." Bouldar grumbled as he sipped what looked to Emelia like a "flagon of ale" from the fantasy novel she has read. "We are all taught, when we are just babes, the incantation to show Norms our personal appearance if we want to, if a Norm is brought through the Blind then they can see the world as we do."

"Human, whoever, have shown themselves, throughout history and with few exceptions, to be underhanded and corrupt. The first human civilization was called The Union. Their army was led by a General McDaniel. The leader of the Union army and possibly the worst human to ever walk this planet. He hid his army just beyond the Battle of the Troll King, killed the already wounded and dying Krabloch, then stole the dragon scale. They used  their Channellers to create a powerful artifact and used the power it held, to defeat or enslave all the creatures of inferior power." Galadon continued. "I believe that is why, following the Lifestream pulse, the blind hid us from them." 

"Humans were able to enslave the goblins and trolls and many other dark creatures." Bouldar stated as he tore at what looked like a turkey leg. "They also used there power to trick and take political power over many of the light creatures." Pieces of food sprayed from his mouth as he talked, he took another swig from his flagon. "Elves and Dwarves and Dragons, the Halflings and any mixture of the higher light creatures were able to keep their power and are now, thousands of years later, in a sociopolitical war for power over the present world."

"Ok, can we stop here for just one question?" Emelia said

"Ok." Galadon stated.

"This is really cool and all, but what the hell has it got to do with me?"

"We're getting to that." Galadon said pointing his burrito back and forth between Bouldar and himself. "Anyway, hundreds of years ago the Elf queen  married one of her daughters to a human Prince to infiltrate the human hierarchy. The Elf princess stole the talisman from under the kings nose and escaped. That is one of our greatest stories passed down through the generations, a story for another time." Galadon explained. "The Prophecy says a daughter of an Elf queen would bring the world back into balance. Soooo, every queen since, hands the artifact down to the first born daughter."

Something Galadon said triggered an image in Emelia's mind. An ethereal image of a beautiful woman dressed in a white gown studded with pearls and embroidered in gold with flowers of every kind. Rays of light seemed to emanate directly from the woman, she was speaking softly and Emelia could not understand the words. The woman held in her hand, dangling in front of Emelia, an object on a chain. She could not make out what it was, the memory, or whatever it was, seemed to be missing something, it was blurry and disjointed. The light seemed to brighten and Emelia felt a distinct feeling for pure love. The light began to fade and at the same moment that all went black she heard the women say, clear as a mountain spring and just as soothing, " I love you my daughter."

She came out of the daydream, her eyes blurry with tears and both men staring at her. She felt a sense of understanding. " I'm the daughter." She said, quietly.

Emelia reached under her shirt and pulled out the talisman she wore around her neck. Then unclasped the chain and held it in front of her companions.

Bouldar reach over and lay his hand on Emelia's leg, something Carol would always do when she was trying to soothe Emelia in times of emotional stress, and nodded his head.

Galadon stood and picked up his plate. " Well, that went as well as I could have hoped. There is a lot more to fill you in on, but I think its time, if you feel up to it, to have some fun and finish the tour."

"Yeah I'm down, I need to blow off some steam and if I am correct about what was behind that other door, I feel like there is a perfect place for me to do just that." Emelia surmised and picked up her plate, scraped it into the trash, brought it to the drop off spot. She walked over to the door and turned to her companions. "You coming?" She stated and walked out the door.