Master's Mind (The Dagger of Dragon Rose Book 1)
Dark Elves

We are not what you think. - Shalarandra Kaardrannan

The difference between the dark elf village and the forest surrounding it was amazing. In the forest they traveled in darkness, the only light being given off by their weapons.

As they entered the village, the canopy of leaves opened up and the sun shone brightly. Birds twittered in the green trees throughout the village. In the center of the village stood a large fountain that gurgled as the water shot into the air, then rained back to the stone surface to replace its way back to the earth whence it came.

The buildings were of curious workmanship. The public buildings consisted of several earth dome structures that were spread throughout the clearing that held the fountain. The residential buildings were all built in the trees surrounding the clearing, but well inside the wall that marked where the village began. The houses were all identical in layout and luxury, showing that this part of the elf family didn’t suffer from the vanity that their pale-skinned cousins did. Everything in the dark elf world was simple, from the building of their homes to the manner of their dress.

When they arrived at the dark elf village, a large crowd was gathered to see them. Apparently word had spread very quickly that the son of Paron Elloy had come at last to the dark elf village. For twelve years it had been feared that the Elloy children had perished in the attack that stole Taren’s and Shaunna’s parents from them.

Taren noticed that the people of the dark elf village dressed in the same simple way that Shaunna did. The women wore blouses of either green or brown with brown skirts. The men wore shirts of the same colors and brown pants. The children under the age of transition all wore simple tunics that were colored in various earth tones. Very few, if any, were wearing shoes.

With the appearance of the young elf king, new hope arose among the Dark Elves. His father had been trying to stem the racial prejudices against them. They hoped the son would choose to take the same fight into his rule. The fact that he had arrived in the company of the Nightshade was mildly encouraging, while at the same time highly disconcerting.

The remaining three members of the party walked through the crowded streets of the village, dodging conversation and contact with the local people. They did not want to be pressed about the details of their travels. They followed Kairu to the far side of the village, where they stopped at a large tree that held a magnificent house. (Apparently there was vanity among the Dark Elves after all.) The male dark elf paused for a moment before the tree, as if trying to remember what he was supposed to do, and then knocked on the trunk three times. A small door swung open, revealing a spiral staircase that wound up the inside of the giant tree.

The trio continued up the steps unchaperoned; the male elf looked nervous as he stood at the foot of the steps and refused to go with them. To their tired minds, the stairs seemed to go on forever . One foot after another, step by step was all they were able to do to keep themselves moving. It had been over forty-eight hours since they had last slept, and the lack of rest was beginning to take its toll on them.

Taren once again thought over the events that had taken place over the course of his journey. The battles won, the companions lost - it was almost too much for his tired mind to bear. He closed his eyes, shaking his head at the thoughts that were springing into his mind, and stumbled on the step in front of him.

Before he had fallen far a powerful hand closed over the top of Taren’s arm. “We’re almost there, Majesty. We will replace rest at the home of Shaunna’s grandmother.” Hope’s voice was soothing to Taren’s tired mind.

Hope assisted his king to the top of the stairs and across the short expanse that led to the front door of the magnificent house. Nobody met them as they walked across the wood platform towards the house, nor did anyone answer when Shaunna knocked on the ornately carved wood of the door.

“Stay here for a bit.” Shaunna gestured to two chairs near the door. “I need to see what’s going on.”

Without waiting for an answer Shaunna, opened the door and walked into the building. Hope helped Taren into one of the chairs, and then situated himself in the other one. Exhaustion overtook Taren as soon as he came to rest. He slipped easily into the realm of dreams.

Shaunna entered the dark house and her heart sunk. There were no lights on in any of the rooms. No servants prowled the halls as had been the case the last time she had been here. The house seemed deserted.

Hopes of getting the information they were looking for began to wane as she searched the house for signs of life. If her grandmother were not here, then she probably took the secret of the whereabouts of the Sun Fire orb to her grave, and without that information, the hope of Taren replaceing it was gone.

She searched the house thoroughly searching for any signs of her grandmother. After several hours of searching, she was beginning to despair, and almost didn’t check the last room in the house.

In the rear of the house was the servants’ quarters, where those young ones who had come of age would live in their one year service to the secret keeper. The accommodations weren’t luxurious, but they were comfortable for the young elves.

Why would grandmother be in the servants’ quarters, Shaunna thought to herself, but she checked them all the same, just to be thorough.

A low moan caught her ear as she slid the door silently open. Shoving the door open, she burst into the room to see where the sound was coming from. She found the source in the bed closest to the back wall.

Shaunna’s grandmother was lying in the bed, barely conscious. Red sores covered her entire body. A heavy sheen of sweat glistened on her in the half light, soaking the sheets and blankets on the bed. Her eyes held a distant, far off look. If she saw Shaunna, there was no hint of recognition in her face.

Shaunna turned and rushed to the front of the house. “HOPE!”

Ularen Hope sat up straight at the urgency in her voice as she burst through the door.

“Please, my grandmother is very sick.” Fear shone brightly in Shaunna’s eyes as she was speaking. “I need you to see if you can heal her.”

“Show me the way.”

Shaunna and Hope walked into the house, leaving Taren to sleep on the front porch. When they entered the servants’ quarters, Hope set right to work. he quickly examined the old woman with the expert hands of a healer. He removed a white salve from his pouch and slathered it heavily on the wounds. He then placed his hand on the flesh of her face and let the strange blue healing light flow into her body.

The body of Sharlandarya Kaardrannan glowed with an otherworldly light for about an hour as the healing properties of the salve and the light itself healed the wounds on her body as much as was possible. The only light in the dark room came from the body lying on the bed, casting the room into different color shadows as the light faded slowly from a dark blood red to deep purple to a kind of lavender and went out. When the room went dark, the sound of the old elf’s breath told the other two that she was asleep.

“We need to get her out of the servants quarters.” Shaunna’s voice shook with the tears that were falling from her eyes. “She doesn’t belong here.”

Despite his fatigue, Hope easily lifted the old woman from the bed, with his good arm, and followed Shaunna through the house to the master bedroom. Shaunna drew the covers back so Hope could lay her on the bed. After relieving himself of the body he had been carrying, he did another quick check of her. The temperature had gone down the red sores were not gone, but they were definitely better, and the slumbering woman wore a look of peace on her face now.

“What happened to her?” Shaunna asked. “Why are the sores still there?”

Hope shook his head sadly, not sure how to break the news to Shaunna. “I have only bought her a little time. I am not able to cure her.”

“What? Why?, But...” Shaunna wasn’t quite sure what to say. She had been under the impression that he could cure anything, especially after the time she had spent in his clinic.

“She is not sick; she has been poisoned.” He turned to look directly into Shaunna’s tear filled eyes. “There is no antidote for this particular poison.”

Poisons were Shaunna’s specialty, and she knew that there were no poisons that had no antidote. “What is it? I’m sure I have an antidote.”

Hope shook his head again. “I assure you that there is no antidote for dragon’s blood.”

Shaunna went rigid. She had heard of dragon’s blood being used as a poison, and was vaguely familiar with the method of its killing. Dragon’s blood was extremely acidic, and literally ate the victim from the inside out.

“She is an exceptional woman.” Hope’s voice interrupted Shaunna’s silent musings. “She should have been dead about a week ago, based on the damage that has been done by the poison. I don’t know how much time I have given her. The fact that she is still alive is a miracle.”

Shaunna smiled weakly as she sat in the chair next to her grandmother’s bed to wait for her to wake up.

Hope went back to the front porch to stay by his king’s side until he should awaken. It had been late afternoon when they had arrived in the village. The sun was just sinking below the horizon when Hope stepped out onto the front porch of the secret keeper’s mansion. A magnificent sunset was painted across the canvas that was the sky in every hue of pink and yellow imaginable. One or two clouds floated lazily across the sky, reflecting the last rays of the sun into the blackness of the forest around the village.

It had been a long time since Hope had seen a sunset such as this one and he thought it would be a long time before he saw one again, if he ever saw one again. He sat in the chair next to Taren and listened to the night sounds that surrounded him in this peaceful place. The crickets and small frogs filled the dusk air with a beautiful duet that lulled the tired elf healer to sleep.

The dream was different this time.

He’d been tracking his prey through the impenetrable darkness for three days now. He wasn’t used to not being able to see. It seemed strange that he had never been blinded by darkness before.He even tried pulling out the Sunfire Orb, but it didn’t help. Fortunately, he found he didn’t need to see to track his prey. All he needed to do was follow the disturbing sound of the beast feeding.

He was unprepared as he passed through a patch of putrid air. The stench of the area causing him to wretch. He didn’t know why, but the experience brought an entirely unpleasant thought to his mind.

The world is dying.

He redoubled his efforts, and surged forward. He passed through several more spots where the stench of death and decay assaulted him.

“How am I going to fight what I can’t see?” He wondered allowed.

As if in answer to his question, a light appeared in front of him. It was dim and unclear, but it did illuminate the immediate surroundings. He suddenly wished he still couldn’t see.

Fleshless bones littered the ground as far as he could see. Black, withered, husks of plants drooped lifelessly to the ground. The whole seen was fascinating, in a grizzly sort of way.

He shook his head at the sight. “How am I supposed to fight something that can do this?”

In response to the question, the light became brighter and an object appeared in the center. It was a dagger, he thought.. A golden dragon and a rose intertwined to make the weapon.The dragons wings pointed down, creating a handle, of sorts. The dragon’s head and the bud of the rose extended away from each other, creating a cross-bar. The rose’s stem and the dragon’s tail wound around each other in a loose crisscross pattern to form the blade.

As his hand came in contact with the weapon, he was surprised as he sensed three intelligences flow into him. They seemed familiar, and friendly, so he wasn’t too alarmed.

“He has brought it.” A strange triple toned voice echoed through the darkness. “Give us the orb, boy.”

Without understanding he just stared at the enormous silhouette in the distant light from the dagger.

“Give us the orb, child.” The voice was more dangerous this time.

Comprehension dawned. “Never!”

Without another word, he raised the Sunfire Orb high above his head, and threw it down as hard as he could. The orb shattered silently, but the light from the explosion lit the area more completely than the dagger could.

“NOOOOO, We will kill you for this” The creature wailed

He brandished the dagger at the monster.

“You come at us with such toys?” The triple voice mocked. “The dagger will never be able to kill us, the blade is to short to reach our heart.”

He looked at the blade and knew that the words were true. He shook his head, resigning himself to the inevitable.

“I have to try.” He said as he flew towards the beast

Taren was awakened the next morning by the most brilliant sun he had ever seen. The light hit him directly in the face as it crested the horizon. The light seemed purer here than any other place he’d ever been. The tree leaves and grass were greener than anything he had ever seen before. A deep pond on the far side of the village glittered in the light, blue as the reflection from the sky. The birds were unlike any that he knew existed. It seemed as if he had entered a different world all together.

He rose from his chair, stiff from sleeping sitting up all night, stretched, and looked around his immediate surroundings. Hope was asleep in the chair next to him. He stood in front of a majestic house (the one they had climbed to yesterday) with a magnificently carved front door. Images of ivy had been carved on the pillars that supported the awning. The door itself was emblazoned with the image of a magnificent castle that seemed to almost shimmer in the early morning sun. There were no windows visible on this side of he house, which seemed odd to Taren. Houses in Brightbay almost always had windows on the side of the house that the morning sun first touched.

His gaze returned to where Hope was sleeping, only to see the healer looking at him with an amused look on his face.

“Nice place, isn’t it?”

Taren grinned. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s like nature is still young here.”

Hope nodded. “The Dark Elves have kept their pact with Cerethe. They guard nature well.”

He paused long enough to yawn. “Come on. We need to go see Shaunna’s grandmother.” Hope rose from his seat and walked into the house so quickly that Taren almost had to run to keep up with him. Within moments the two were quietly walking into the master bedroom of the house where the two women still slept, Shaunna in the chair next to her grandmother’s bed. Hope quickly set about his work, checking the old dark elf to make sure she was doing well.

The touch of Hope’s hand roused Shaunna’s grandmother from her sleep. She looked up at the healer with a mixture of surprise and trepidation in her eyes.

“Who are you? Do you work for them?”

Hope was taken aback by the abruptness of the question. “I am Ularen Hope. I work for no one but myself.”

“Hope, Are you Sareth’s boy?” The old woman showed no signs of relaxing.

Hope nodded. “Yes, Sareth Hope is my mother”

Seeing the truth in the healer’s eyes, Shaunna’s grandmother relaxed. “I was afraid they had come back to try again.”

The brief exchange had awakened Shaunna. “Afraid who had returned, grandmother?”

Sharlandarya Kaardrannan smiled as she looked at her grand daughter. “Shaunna, you have taken the oath?”

“Yes, I have no need to kill to survive any more.” Shaunna was getting tired of explaining this to the people of the village.

“I am glad you are here.” Sharlandarya looked tired as she spoke. “The poison has been eating at me, slowed by the magic of one of the servants.”

“What happened to you?” Shaunna stepped forward and laid her hand on her grandmother’s arm. She could feel the temperature beginning to rise in her grandmother’s body again.

“The three brothers came to see me a few weeks ago. They tried to persuade me to tell them the secret of where Ahlana hid the Sun Fire Orb.”

Shaunna’s eyes went wide. “The three brothers? The Dark lords?”

The old woman nodded silently.

“Did you tell them anything?

“No, that’s why they poisoned me.” Sharlandarya paused for a moment, it was hard to speak. “When the sores appeared on my body, most of the servants fled. There was one, however, who recognized the symptoms for what they were. She hid me in the servants’ quarters and used her magic to slow the poison’s advance.” She closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again she fixed her gaze on Shaunna. “I am dying, child. It is time for me to pass on the secret that I have guarded for so long.”

Sudden elation filled Shaunna’s bosom. “No grandmother, the time of the promised fulfillment has arrived. I have brought the child master with me.”

The old woman furled her brow. “Are you sure? Does he bear the tokens?”

Shaunna was fairly certain she knew what the second token was now. “Yes.”

The old face looked intently at her grand-daughter. “Does he bear both of them? Can he wield them?”

Shaunna almost laughed. “Yes, he can. I have seen him use them.”

“Who is he?”

Shaunna gestured to where Taren stood as she answered. “Taren Elloy, son of Paron Elloy, rightful heir to the throne.”

The intense look that had been in the old eyes instantly disappeared as she beheld Taren standing there.

“My goodness boy, you look just like your father.”

Taren blushed. “So I’ve been told.”

She continued as if she hadn’t heard him speak. “Do you have the ambition to gain the throne that is yours by birth?”

Taren stepped back trying to put some distance between himself and her scrutiny. “That’s what I’m trying to do. I was sent on a quest to gain my throne.”

Sharlandarya’s expression became more serious, if it were possible. “Do you respect the oath made by your father?”

Here it was again, the oath. He was starting to get really curious about what this oath was. The ghost he had spoken with was the first to mention it, Shaunna knew something about it, and here was an old lady asking him if he respected it.

“I imagine I would, if I knew what it was.” Taren shrugged slightly as he gave the answer.

He wasn’t expecting in response to his comment.

“You don’t know?” She looked at Shaunna. “You didn’t tell him?”

“Grandmother, please don’t.”

Taren had only seen Shaunna look this scared one time before. It was the night she had explained Narissa’s disappearance.

“He must know the truth.” She turned back to Taren. “Do you know why my daughter and her husband were at the castle that fateful day when your father was killed?”

“No, I didn’t know they were there until Shaunna told me the other day. In fact, I didn’t even know who I was until I was sent on this quest.”

A maternal smile spread across the weathered face of the old dark elf, making her look less intimidating. “My daughter, may her soul rest in peace, was at the castle of the king of the elves, arranging the marriage of her daughter to the king’s son.”

It took a moment for the fact to sink in. “You mean Shaunna and I are...”

“Betrothed,” the old woman finished for him.

The poison was still working its way through the old body of the dark elf. She could feel it slowly eating away at her insides.

“I don’t have much time left. The Sun Fire Orb was given to Cera to keep it safe.”

“Cera?” Shaunna fingered a small glowing crystal that hung around her neck. “We can be there in a few minutes.”

Sharlandarya closed her eyes against the pain. “Think child. What would happen if you just appeared there?” She gestured in the direction of Hope. “Especially in your present company.”

Shaunna let her hand drop. “You’re right.” She turned to Taren, who was watching the exchange in silence. “We have our next destination.”

Taren just looked back, mildly puzzled.

“We’re going to the Crystal Cavern to negotiate with the Crystal Blades.”

“Negotiate?” Taren didn’t like the sound of that.

“They won’t let us near her otherwise, isn’t that right, grandmother?”

No answer was given to the question. Shaunna looked at her grandmother just in time to see her complexion turn grey and her breathing stop.

Sharlandarya Kaardrannan was dead.