Chronicles Of Ilani

Prologue

The land of Xervies is split up into many different parts. Many races populated the lands, and most of them did not associate with the others. The High Elves of the Eastern Mountains were one of those races. Fairer than the others, and immortal in all their beauty, they refused to mingle with "lesser races". And although they were immortal, they had no magic.

Their cousins, the Dark Elves of the Woodlands, lived for the earth. They mined the purest ore, and used it in their forges. Their weapons were the finest, rivaled only by the dwarves. They were mortal, but lived much longer than any man, for the magic they had in their blood was strong.

The dwarves lived in the Western Mountains, mining and forging, and building their grand cities.

Merfolk lived in the oceans surrounding Xervies, but since they cannot breathe air for long, they have never been seen above the waves, yet their lovely singing has brought more than one ship to its doom.

Djinn lived in the volcanoes to the north, for fire and heat powered their magic. Djinn kept the balance between good and bad luck, so one was never more powerful than the other. Legends say that if you survived the climb up a fire mountain to a djinn's lair, their ancient laws said they had to grant you three wishes.

In the south, there were several nomadic tribes of ancient beasts known as the Nagris. They killed anything, even the other tribes. They cared nothing for the workings of life, and most of their spawn died young.

This was how it was in the beginning. Eventually, men sailed across the seas to this land. They befriended the Djinn, Dark Elves and dwarves. For a time, there was peace, but mankind became violent, as men are wont to do. They cut down the beloved trees of the Dark Elves' forest for their cities. The elves saw this as an unpardonable act, and declared war on mankind. The dwarves did not want to choose sides between their friends, so they retreated to their ancient homes in the mountains, and haven't been seen since. The Djinn had to keep the universe in balance, and could not do so if influenced by either side, so they went back to their volcanoes.

This war went on for centuries, and while mankind were ever growing more numerous; the elves did not have a fertility rate as high as them, and so their numbers dwindled. The elves fell back into their forest, and sealed the borders with magic, so no man could ever enter again. Some renegade elves came out from the forest, and slaughtered the young children of man, in the cities nearby, so that they could not mass another army for an attack. The king and queen of the elves did not condone this, and they forbid their people to leave the forest.

This lasted ten years, before the elves began to revolt against the law, and the queen soon after found that she was with child. The king had to recall the law, so that he and his family would remain safe. Murder of human children became a daily occurrence, and even the youngest elves had the crimson stain of blood on their hands. The king and queen could not bear the thought of their child being raised amongst these murderers, so they decided that as soon as the child was born, it would be spirited away by a servant, to live in the world of man, far from the forest.

The child was born, a little girl, and immediately the king took his daughter and used magic to change the features that distinguished her as an elf. The point and slant of her eyes and ears were rounded, and the sharp edges of her chin and lips were softened. Lastly, he placed a spell on her, which would make the family she was given to think that she was their own daughter. And with a great burden on his heart, the king sent his only daughter away with a servant, knowing that he might not see her again.

The servant placed the babe on the doorstep of a powerful lord that had a son and wife, far away from the forest. Little did the servant know, was that the lord beat his family, horribly. But he left the babe, and disappeared back into the woodlands, never to return. The lord's son, a young boy named Oliver, heard the babe's wails, and took her inside, thinking that she was his sister. And there, in his room, he laid the baby girl down on his bed, and watched over her till morn.

Thus began the life of Ilani, heir to the throne of the Dark Elves in the Forest of Dúnmharú.

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"Elizabeth..." I whispered, shaking the sleeping form on the bed. "Wake up!" Elizabeth rolled over and moaned.

"Do I have to?" she mumbled. "It's so nice here... we should stay here..."

"Yes, you have to!" I said. "Your father is waiting in the dining hall for you!"

"And?" she grumbled, pushing herself up into a sitting position. "It's not like he ever notices me anyway."

"Of course he notices you!" I said, and under my breath added, "You're kind of hard to miss."

"I heard that," Elizabeth frowned.

"Of course you did. Now, come on. You need to get dressed."

Elizabeth slid off the bed and promptly walked into the wall. "Where is that darn closet? I swear Ilani; you change it every morning just to make it difficult for me."

"I didn't do that," I said. I took Elizabeth's hand and led her to the closet. "It's in the same place it has always been." Elizabeth reached out her hand and stroked the fabric of each dress hanging in the alcove. After a few moments, she selected a hunting frock made of dark green linen.

"This one, please," Elizabeth said, holding out the dress towards Ilani. "It's green right?"

"Of course," I replied, starting to dress Elizabeth. "Sometimes you could tell me you weren't blind, and I'd half believe it."

"Aw..." Elizabeth cooed. "If you told me that you could talk the sun down from the sky, I would believe it wholeheartedly, because you have such a way with words. You would be able to convince the Lord of the Djinn himself that his skin was blue."

"I wouldn't go as far to say that!" I laughed. "For all we puny humans know, their skin is blue."

"Nah," Elizabeth countered. "Their skin is red, from being in those fire mountains all the time."

"I am sure that you are right," I said, straightening from buttoning Elizabeth's gown. "Would you like me to find the matching fold, or do you want to try and guess?"

"You go ahead and find it," Elizabeth replied. "I don't feel like the guessing game today."

I went to the cherry wood armoire resting against one of the walls of the room. I opened the lid and pulled out a green blindfold matching the fabric of Elizabeth's dress. The fabric passed hands between the servant and the noblewoman, and Elizabeth firmly secured the blindfold over the scarred tissue of her eyes.