The Chronicles of Earth and Time

Chapter 16

Once Aevum and Terra arrived back to the palace, they found the entire elven staff waiting for them in the throne room. Terra and Aevum crossed the room toward the two thrones as the eyes of the elves followed them watching their every movement. "What's going on?" Terra asked trying to ignore the awkwardness that was flooding the room.

"We want to know what is going on." Renna the medical elf stated as she stepped forward to address Terra and Aevum. Terra stared at the elven staff for a moment realizing that they had absolutely no idea what was going on. As far as they knew, Aion and Gaia left to save Ustrina, Aura, and Aqua from the rising threat that was holding them hostage. Suddenly, all the elves starting voicing their question filling the entire room with so much noise that she could no longer understand what they were asking or saying. Aevum stepped in front of Terra and slammed his staff on the ground creating a sand explosion. All the elves stopped talking and focused their attention on Aevum.

"I will explain what is going on." He announced as he raised his hand to calm the elves down. He them leaned toward Terra. "I will take care of the elves. You get the stones. They should be in the infirmary where we left them." Aevum whispered as Terra nodded in understanding. As Aevum turned his attention back toward the crowd, Terra was able to quickly make her way up the stairs and toward the infirmary. Terra then entered the recovery room of the infirmary. She did not notice before, but there were actually two rows of beds lined up against either side of the room. Everything in the room was rather plain except for the walls. The wallpaper in the room was light blue with white intricate designs that was meant to make one feel at peace as they recovered from whatever sickness or injury they might have had. The beds had plain white sheets that stood out brightly against the dark hardwood of the bed frame. Next to each bed sat a dark table and some chairs for the patient's visitors. She even noticed that there was a couple of dressers in the room as she looked around the room for the stones. Terra made her way over toward the small table where the two stones were sitting. Terra sighed as she picked up the stones and looked into the reflective surfaces imagining that she could see the smiling faces of her sisters within them. She smiled back at them as she cradled the stones in her arms. She began to wonder how exactly she was supposed to access Aura and Aqua's elemental powers when her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden sound of rushing movement from outside the recovery room. Terra exited the room and entered the hallway to find the elves running up and down the halls seemingly preparing for something. They almost seemed panicked except for the fact that they also seemed somewhat organized. Terra quickly made her way back to the throne room dodging elves along the way. She found Aevum standing near the thrones in the throne room and approached him quickly.

"What is going on?" Terra asked in confusion as another elf ran by them.

"They want to help us defeat Ustrina." Aevum explained seriously. "They are preparing for war."

"War?" Terra question as she tried to wrap her mind around what was going on.

"Gaia didn't just create you she created the elves as well. They feel like they need to avenge her death. They want to help you and me defeat Ustrina and stop her from ultimately destroying the world." Aevum observed as Terra watched the elves scatter around in every direction throughout the palace. "However, I am worried about them." He confessed as he looked at her in concern.

"It's their choice, Aevum, but that doesn't mean we can protect them as much as we can." Terra suggested with a smile. Aevum noticed this and smiled back.

"Your right!" Aevum agreed as he grabbed her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "We can tell the elves to stay here and defend the palace in case Ustrina is able to get through us."