Keeper of the Lost Cities: Elysian: How She Was Taken Out of History

Chapter One

The crowd appeared to be making a serious campaign to murder Audrey Kerlof's eardrums. She kept a smile plastered to her face, keeping on waving even though her hand was starting to get a serious cramp. Why, oh why, had her fellow Councillors decided that giving this speech in front of the entire populations of multiple species was a good idea?

Audrey rolled her eyes and answered her own question. Because if they wanted to do their duty to help the world, they needed everyone to be on their side, not just the elves, and not just the leaders of the other species.

Beside her, Councillor Fallon called for silence. "Peace," he said, his voice echoing around the city, ricocheting off the shimmering buildings, traveling back through the hundreds of thousands of creatures gathered around the stage. "That is what we are fighting for. Our world is in a tumultuous time, but we shall not despair. We shall rebuild. We shall negotiate treaties that will allow us to keep the peace. And most important, we shall stand united. The threats we are facing are not from each other, but from within. We are choosing to walk the path of violence - why are we when we can choose to walk the path of peace? That will be the Elvin Council's purpose: negotiate peace, keep the peace, and keep the balance, making sure our worlds will be safe for future generations.

"We shall do our best to rebuild our worlds. We shall rebuild them better, stronger, mightier than they were before. We know that the damage is terrible. We know that your worlds have lost much of their population, their lands, their civilizations - our world has too. But we shall rebuild with what we have, pooling our resources to build a stronger, better, and brighter future."

Councillor Fallon paused as the applause sounded. After a minute, he raised a hand for silence. When the crowd had quieted, he continued. "But we cannot do it alone. We shall need the help of all of you, ogres, trolls, gnomes, dwarves, goblins, and humans. We shall need your cooperation and encouragement, as well as the help of your workforces as we rebuild our civilizations.

"In addition, we would like to invite all of the leaders of our worlds to a summit at Lumenaria the night of the next blood moon. There, we shall work out our differences and negotiate official treaties, as equals. In the outcomes of all our efforts, our hope is that our worlds will rebuild stronger, better, and brighter than before."

Councillor Fallon stepped back with a sweeping bow. The applause was louder than ever this time, loud enough to make the buildings sway.

With one final bow, Audrey, Fintan, and the third Councillor, Fintan, raised their starstones, catching a beam of light which they used to hitch a ride and leap away.