Aetherian(Part 1): A War Begins

Blake

 What stood between them and the Fae jungle was a huge maze of brush. It was a maze of tall hedges with green leaves and black thorns on its vines. Julien had said it was some kind of Fae defense system in case anyone got past the tichaski as if the huge monster wasn't enough. Blake could swear that some of the thorns cut through her jacket a few times after an hour of dreading through the maze of thorns.

"I'll need a new jacket after this," she complained.

"Or maybe a full suit of armor," Julien mocked, chuckling.

"I don't know what you two are complaining about," said Tessa, who had no cuts on her at all. "Maybe the damn thorns would be less annoying if both of you would stay close together like I said to."

"Maybe," agreed Blake. Tessa was right. The paths between the spike-like thorns were only wide enough to walk single file, but even when they walked sideways, the thorns dented Julien's already damaged armor, and there must have been a dozen tears in Blake's jacket. Maybe she would get a new suit of armor when they got back to Dragonbarrow, and Julien should, too. Soon, they entered a small grove where the sand ended, and a field of green grass was in between three other mouths of pathways.

"Three more ways to go," said Tessa. "Should we split up?"

"No way," answered Blake. "We don't know what's in here."

"We won't be finding anything else at the rate we're going," Tessa argued.

"No, Blake's right," said Julien. "There's no telling what could be waiting for us." Suddenly, a growl came from the path they came from. Blake looked back to see what it was, and nothing was there, but when she looked forward again, Tessa and Julien were both gone.

"Guys?" she called out. "Julien? Tessa?" Suddenly, the same growl came from all four entrances to the grove.

"Oh, come on," Blake muttered, igniting her silver lightsword. From each of the paths of the hedge maze came a wolf with gray fur, snarling with their teeth showing. It was strange to see wolves in the deserts of the Sandlands, but these ones had green, glowing eyes.

Oh, that's right, Blake thought to herself. The wolves must have been under some kind of Fae enthrallment spell, left to guard the ruins for ten thousand years after the Dragon War. The wolves continued to growl at her until one of them lunged, and she stabbed it through the neck with her silver blade. When another one of them lashed at her, she took its head off, then slashed the last two. Julien had said that there were other animals that the Fae had enthralled over the thousands of years before and during the Dragon War. Blake could only imagine what else she would find in the maze, but she hoped she found Julien and Tessa before anything else. The last thing she wanted was to run into an enthralled sand dweller.

"Julien!" she called out, as she chose one of the paths to walk through. "Tessa!"

Maybe I shouldn't yell like this, she began to think. All she could think was that her friends would keep moving towards the center of the maze, following the aura of the Fae fortress. It was the only thing Blake could do at the moment. As she crept across the sand between the brush, she could suddenly feel herself sinking. When she tried to lift her feet above the ground, she was suddenly pulled through it. She landed on her feet, in a dark cave. There were long, thick roots on the walls and ceiling. The ground Blake landed on looked like the huge root of a tree that led down a tunnel with a faint, green glow at the end. She began to follow it, and it slowly grew brighter, with the Fae aura growing stronger with each step she took. The tunnel became wider as well until she was soon blinded by the green glow. Suddenly, she heard a woman's deep, and ethereal voice echo through the tunnel.

"This place has gone undisturbed for ten thousand years," it said. Blake stopped where she was, covering her eyes from the green light.

"Sorry to intrude," said Blake, assuming the green light was the one speaking. "I fell down a hole."

"What is your purpose here?" the woman's voice demanded. "There is nothing for you in this long forgotten place."

"I'm looking for something," answered Blake.

"I would be amazed if you weren't," said the ethereal voice.

"Not for treasure," assured Blake. "I'm a Guardian." The green light dimmed, revealing a tall woman. She wore a long white dress with a train of green leaves and had long, silver hair that was tied behind pointed ears.

"A Guardian?" she said. "You look different from the last Guardian I met."

"Who are you?" Blake asked.

"My name is Elathae." the woman answered. "I am the Queen of this kingdom."

"So, you're a Fae?" said Blake.

"Well, there's different types of Fae, Guardian," Elathae corrected. "I am a Nymph. Walk with me." Queen Elathae turned around, walking towards the roots that made up the wall. The roots shrunk, revealing a new tunnel of roots for walls. Elathae walked into the tunnel, and Blake followed her.

"You never told me what you were doing here," said Elathae.

"I'm in a bit of trouble, Your Grace," Blake answered, showing the Fae Queen the tear in her jacket. "I was bitten."

"Yes, I can tell," said the Queen.

"My friends and I were hoping there was something here that could help me," Blake added. "Where are my friends, anyway?"

"The other Guardian and the Epsilon girl?" asked Elathae. "I will send you and them back to the entrance of the maze when we are done here. I have something to show you." The Fae Queen showed her a massive library that was lit with hundreds of fireflies swarming around an orb on the ceiling. There were thousands of ancient books stored on what looked like shrubs that sprouted from the ground. There were more books stored in hanging boxes that hung from the limbs of trees.

"Nice place," Blake complimented.

"I might have what you are looking for," said Elathae.

"A cure for a sand dweller's venom?" asked Blake.

"Possibly," answered the Fae Queen, then she waved her hand towards the limb of one of the trees. The limb quickly grew longer, until the tip touched Elathae's finger, and it stopped. The branches that the boxes hung on then grew longer, lowering themselves to their level. Elathae then looked into one of the boxes and pulled out a book bound with green leather. It had a green, glowing symbol on it in the shape of a branch with a small cluster of flower petals on the end. Julien had said it was a branch of green grapes, which was the symbol of health and curing disease for the Fae.

"This will help you," said Queen Elathae, handing Blake the book. "It has recipes for antidotes and remedies for venom and poisons."

"Is it written in...?" Blake started, suspecting it was written in Fae, but when she opened the book, she saw that it was written in Common.

"Anyone can read it," said Elathae. "Whoever reads it sees the language that they are the most fluent in. Humans see Common, dragons and Draconians see Draconic, and Fae see Fae."

"Thank you, Your Grace," said Blake. Something still bothered her. Queen Elathae was an all-powerful Nymph Queen, who was supposedly more than ten thousand years old, so why would she give an ancient book to a girl with no ties to nobility or royalty.

"I know what you are thinking, Blake," the Fae Queen admitted. "I know what you saw the night you were bit, in that tomb. I have felt a dark presence rising again in Aetherian, more powerful than anything I have felt before, and it troubles me. This country will need every Guardian it can get for the next few years." Before Blake could ask another question, Elathae snapped her fingers, then she found herself in Dragonbarrow with Julien and Tessa.