Part One ~ Identity

The walls gave off an eerie blue light. Elrion walked through the halls quietly, trying to keep her boots from clicking on the stone floor. Her purple eyes flicked back and forth nervously. She just wanted to find her mother and go. She hated this place.

Elrion glanced in one of the rooms. A dark elf grinned in pleasure as he skinned another elf alive. Immediately she wished she had kept her eyes on the floor.

She looked up and saw the huge double doors that led to the sacrificial chamber. She carefully cracked one open and looked in. Dezerielle, her mother, was talking to the current High Priestess, Shavile. Behind them on the far wall she saw several other dark elves chained up. They weren’t moving at all.

Dezerielle and Shavile were now holding hands over the altar, whispering. The once white stone slowly became black. Blood began to leak out of the sides and pooled on the ground. The two women got louder and Elrion could hear their chant.

“Bones crack.
Blood boils.
Skinned alive.
And burned with oil!”

One elf’s chains broke and he slumped to the ground. Elrion stared at him, wondering what was coming next. Then, he stood up. His eyes were still closed and his movements were jerky. It was if he were being pulled like a puppet on strings.

His eyes opened, and he looked around, obviously unaware of what was going on. He got to the altar, and the two women put him on it, still chanting. They chained him to the stone. It was completely quiet for a moment, and then Elrion heard a bell in the distance.

Dezerielle and the Priestess took up the chant again, but slower this time.

“Bones crack!”

The elf on the altar screamed as his leg broke. More blood poured from the altar.

“Blood boils!”

His purple skin began writhing, and the elf screamed louder. Then she realized what was happening; his blood was bubbling.

She ran from that place, unable to watch more. But his screams followed, and haunted her forever.

* * * * *

The clang of steel on steel jolted Elrion out of her reminiscing. She was supervising a sparring match between a couple of dark elves. She sighed; it had been twenty years since Shavile had been High Priestess. Elrion was 86, still considered a child, but wise beyond her years. She had mastered the proper use of many different swords and the dagger. She rose in the ranks of the warrior class quickly.

Elrion lifted her hand, signaling the two to stop practicing. They both left to go back home. “How can they stand it?” she whispered softly.

“They were taught to stand it, to love it.”

She turned and saw Zakari standing there, smiling at her. His dark blue eyes seemed to see right through her. “How can you smile at a time like this, Zak? We are taught to hate, never to love or to even care for anything other than ourselves.”

“And the well-being of our world, can’t forget that,” he sighed. “It’s just the way it is. I can smile because I’m me.”

“I don’t think this is what I was meant for, Zakari. I don’t like hating, I’m just tired of it.”

He nodded and looked at the ground. “I don’t know what to say. There isn’t much you can do about it. Especially you. Your mother is the High Priestess.”

Elrion winced and turned away. Zak put his hand on her shoulder, “I’m sorry, but it’s true.”

She looked up at him, her eyes glistening. “You don’t understand what that means. My own mother doing all those horrible things,” she blinked back her tears.

“I have to get out of here. I have to leave this place, this horrible society we’ve created for ourselves. I know that I am next in line to become Priestess, I can’t…I just can’t anymore.”

Elrion began sobbing and looked around for others, but they were alone for the moment. He pulled her close and hugged her. “You can get out of here, I can tell you how,” he whispered in her ear.

She looked up at him. “You know how?”

A smile came to his face and he nodded. “Yes, someone told me when I was in the army. I can help you escape.”

She kissed him softly, but he pushed her away quickly as he saw several people come around the corner. “Not here, it isn’t proper, Elrion.”

She nodded and he smiled. “Come to my house and I will tell you everything you need to know.”

* * * * *

Quietly she sneaked around the buildings, trying not to be seen. If any of the other elves caught her in this area and found out what she was trying to do, she would be dead. Elrion took a deep breath and closed her eyes. I can do this, she thought to herself. It’s okay, just be natural. Act like nothing’s wrong.

She merged with the other dark elves, trying to look as unassuming as possible. Elrion took a deep breath and headed toward the underground pathway that Zakari showed to her. She had to go all the way across the span of the city to find this path. Shutting her eyes for a moment, she prayed to the gods that they would see her through this safely. No one seemed to notice her. She had expected at least a couple of questions because she was not supposed to be over here. She looked around before walking through the wall into a small alcove.

To those that did not know about this place, it looked like a small niche in the wall. But to people who knew, it was the most elaborate illusion spell created by the exiled High Priestess Merkili. Precious few knew this place even existed, and still fewer knew how to access it. Elrion was fortunate that Zak knew the way.

She whispered a few words and glyphs appeared on the ceiling. She touched her finger to several of them, then they disappeared. She reached up to touch the ceiling, but her hand went right through. She heaved a sigh of relief. I did it right, she thought excitedly.

She ran her hands along the wall until she found the ladder. She was finally going to be free, this was her moment. She shifted her backpack so she could climb easier. She made it to the top. There was a covering over the hole to the upper world so no one would be able to figure out the secret entrance into the Dark Elf City. She whispered a few more words, and she saw glyphs glow on the covering. Glancing down, she saw the illusion of the ceiling, now floor, harden back into reality.

She touched all the glyphs and the top of the tunnel vanished. A soft, white light poured through the hole. She quickly hopped out and looked around. She was about half a mile away from a medium-sized city. She looked up, and there was the moon, just as Zak had said. Only half of it was there now, but she knew that it slowly got smaller, then bigger again.

She looked back at the hole, but it was gone. Elrion pulled the hood of her robe up and covered her scimitar before she walked to the gates of the city. She tried to appear as casual as possible when she knocked on the wooden gate. A man who appeared to be human opened a sliding panel and looked at her.

She was fairly fluent in the human tongue. She just hoped that no one would pay attention to her accent. “I need a place to stay,” she said softly.

He grinned, there were black holes where teeth should have been. She barely kept herself from recoiling. “Ya ain’t from ‘round here, are ya, little lady?”

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

“Well, since ya’re gonna be that way ‘bout it,” he shut the panel.

Elrion panicked. Maybe I was too harsh. When she heard the gates start to move slowly, she relaxed. The man she had talked to was waiting for her. He bowed to her mockingly. “I ‘pologize for my intrusion, m’Lady.”

She walked in, ignoring his comment. She looked back at him and bowed her head slightly. Some of her white hair fell out of her robe. The man’s eyes widened and he took a couple steps back. “I-I’m sorry. I did na mean ta offend ya. I’m truly sorry.”

Elrion brushed her hair back. “Remember that and tell no one of this.”

The man nodded vigorously as she turned and walked into the busy city.

* * * * *

Elrion had to shield her eyes. Underground, the light was dim and came from the very earth. The light down there was soft and blue, whereas the light up here was harsh, bright, and red. It was loud and unorganized. She didn’t understand how humans could live like this. They were animals, so uncivilized.

She chuckled softly to herself. Like the dark elves are all that civilized. She tried to get away from the sound as fast as she could. She found a part of the city that wasn’t so loud and looking at a sign, she found an inn. She strolled in casually, trying not to draw attention. So, of course, everyone looked at her. She pulled her hood more over her face as she went up to the innkeeper. “I need a room.”

“Well, I need money, muffin. No money, no—”

She cut him off by dumping a dozen gold coins onto the bar. “Will that do? Or will it take more to shut you up?” Zak had taught her to be assertive with humans.

He greedily took up the money and showed her to the room. She lay down on the hard bed and stared up at the ceiling. Her head was swimming with thoughts. “I actually did it. This is reality. I escaped from my destiny.”

Her eyes closed slowly and she dreamt of her home and all the heinous crimes that her people had committed.

* * * * *

Her eyes fluttered open to see Zakari staring at her. “Elrion, you have to get up,” he whispered.

She stood up and got all her equipment together. “What is it? Why are you here? Did something happen?”

He grabbed her by the arm. “Don’t make a scene, just come with me. It will all be clear soon.”

It was still dark outside; the sun was nowhere in sight, yet. He led her to the woods outside the city, then to a clearing. She saw someone standing in the shadows. “Who is that?”

Zak grinned at her. It was horrible. Elrion wrenched her arm away from him. “What is this?”

She looked at the shadow and saw a young dark elf walk out. He had the same deep purple eyes as she. His smile was as hers, except twisted with the cruelty of their race.

She rarely saw Rionel, her twin brother, because he was always in training. He was also one of the worst people she knew. He loved to torture and scar people for life. He was everything a dark elf should be. Elrion backed away from him. She prepared herself for a fight. “My dearest sister, why do you try to run? I merely wish to speak with you.”

“Get away from me, you disgusting pig. I know what you want and you won’t get it. Not from me. I will never scream for you. Just leave now, before you do something that you’ll regret.”

He laughed evilly, and she cringed. It was such an awful sound. “I won’t regret anything I do to you. It will be one of my most cherished memories.”

He walked calmly to her while Zak circled around the back. He grabbed her arms while Rionel grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her hard. Elrion tried to break free of them, but they were too strong. She went completely limp, remembering an old trick that her father taught her.

They lost their grip on her and she dropped to the ground. She had just enough time to stand up and draw her scimitar. She pointed it at Rionel’s throat. “You,” she was shaking. “You bastard. I can’t believe you, even you, would do this to me, your own sister.”

A wind picked up, and her hood blew back, taking her hair with it. She stood there, completely still. A drop of blood started to form where her sword touched her brother’s throat. He smiled at her; she wanted to be sick. This man, her brother, had tried to use her. She would have preferred torture than what he had in mind. What he did, that was just sick.

Still pointing the scimitar at Rionel's neck, she was so wrapped up in her thoughts of disgust and hatred that she didn’t notice Zak moving behind her. He grabbed her around the waist causing her arm to turn and slash deeply across the left side of Rionel’s throat. Her eyes widened as blood gushed over her blade. Her brother fell to the ground, clutching at his neck.

Zak set her down, and she turned around and pointed her bloody sword at him. “What are you doing? What is all this?”

She was no longer shaking, or scared. “I had to make sure you would kill him. It had to be you to do it. You had to pay him back for what he did, Elrion.”

A puzzled expression crossed her face before being replaced with anger. “What did he do, Zakari? What are you talking about, and why shouldn’t I just kill you right now?”

“During the night, I saw him slip into your room to stare at you while you slept. He also talked with his training partners about how he was going to rape you one of these days,” Zak shuddered. “I couldn’t do anything about it, but I knew you could. It was your place to pay him back. And now he can’t hurt anyone el—”

Elrion’s sword plunged through his stomach as Rionel pushed her onto Zak. Bright red blood spilled on the ground and Elrion quickly stood up to face her brother. His neck no longer had a wound, but there was an awful scar that would never go away. He smiled at her. “Surprised, Elrion?”

Her face was expressionless. She stuck her sword into his belly and twisted it around before going to Zak. “Elrion…”

She knelt beside him. His breathing was labored; she knew he would die. “I’m here Zak, I’m here.”

Elrion took his hand and kissed it softly. He caressed her face. “I…love you, Elrion.”

A tear fell on his hand. “Please, Zak, stay with me. It’ll be okay…I promise. You’re going to be okay, please.”

He smiled softly at her before coughing up blood. “I always loved you. Always…”

His breathing stopped and his muscles went limp. “No…Zak…please.” Elrion collapsed on him, sobbing uncontrollably. “Come back! You can’t be dead, this isn’t fair!”

Finally, she stood up and stared down at his lifeless body. She closed his eyes and kissed him one last time. She collected leaves and branches from the woods and covered him with them. She found a single red rose and placed it on top of his lifeless corpse. She bowed her head in silence for a moment, then walked back over to her brother’s corpse. She looked down at his mangled body and thought about the life she had chosen. She gazed into his dead eyes; the eyes of their mother, but she did not close them. “You and I are the same, yet completely different. Am I going to have to fight all of our people, Rionel?”

The sun at last lifted itself over the horizon. Elrion was bathed in the early morning light. “Is this what it’s going to take to be free?”

From The Darkness Index