DESTRUCTIVE MYTH
Talgrim

“Drathis?” A muffled voice called through the door after another knock. He opened his eyes slowly blinking away the bright light seeping through a gap in the curtain, its warm rays pooling on his face. Rolling onto his side, he rubbed his head in the soft pillow breathing out, opening his eyes again taking in the room.

Above him, a high raised ceiling held a chandelier decorated with small crystals, only a few candles on it were lit, their flames reflecting a gold pattern on the walls right down to the well-polished wooden skirtings. The room was decorated with lavish couches, a table with four chairs, and a fireplace framed with more books than was necessary.

Another knock came from the door with a muffled call of his name. He frowned sitting up gingerly recognizing the voice calling, it was the bald man he had met by the pit. The pit, he thought recalling Sinira’s face, her scream. Clutching his head, he hissed as the pain threatened to explode from within him again. The inside of his eyelids lit up and he jerked his hands away looking at them covered in vibrant green flames. Shaking his hands vigorously, the flames vanished leaving him alone and out of breath.

Clearing his dry throat Drathis looked to the side table next to the bed, it had his coat and sword on it.

He recalled the quick introduction as to who they were, the zoning in and out of consciousness as they neared the Talgrim gates. The way something had touched his mind as if to read his thoughts, Blue telling him they were just ensuring he wasn’t a danger to the crown. The brief glimpse he had gotten of the impossibly high walls, random roads, loads of people. He was sure through his brief moments of consciousness that he had even spotted a few flying pixies, impossible. The castle they had arrived at, many hands fussing over him, servants assisting with undress right to the end when the blue warlock had informed him to rest, he was safe.

The doors lock clicked as the handle moved, the door sliding open slowly. Drathis looked around the room again recalling how friendly they had been. There was no threat here, if anything they had promised he would be welcomed and be able to meet more of his kind, or had he dreamt it.

“Drathis?” Blue’s head popped in first before the rest of his body. He saw Drathis sitting up still covered by the blankets and stepped in. “You alright?”

“I’m still alive if that’s what you asking.” Drathis grumbled.

“Well then good morning to you.” Blue smiled closing the door behind him stepping in nearer.

“Nothing good about it, but yeah, morning.” Drathis cleared his throat looking towards the table with a jug of water on it.

“Want some?” Blue asked following his eyes walking over to the table. Drathis instant reaction was to reject it fearing poison, till he saw the warlock pour himself one as well, handing Drathis the other than taking a seat on the couch nearest to the bed. He watched the man take a sip then sigh leaning back making himself comfortable.

“You been out for the past three days, feeling more yourself?” Blue asked.

“Three days?” Drathis frowned downing the glass of cooled water. it had felt like just yesterday he had been brought here.

“Yup, so you ready to talk? We would all love to hear what happened.” Blue asked leaning forward, eyes focused. “Take it slow though, you nearly killed yourself out there.”

“Yet I’m the only one that seems to have survived.”

“You mentioned you lost your woman?” He asked softly. “My deepest condolences.”

Drathis shot him a look and held it for a moment. “I told you, don’t.” He warned looking back to the yellow curtains still spilling in rays of light.

“You don’t have to talk about her, but you do have to inform me as to what happened.”

“Why? I recall my mind being read as we entered the main gates, I may not have been fully conscious, but I remember that much, ask them to tell you what you need to know.” Drathis growled

“If only it were that simple. The oracles that live in the towers above the gates look for threats, they do not dig deep to see who you are, you did not present a threat so your life was spared.” Blue answered watching Drathis snort a laugh.

“Spared my life? Yeah, seems to be a lot of that happening lately.” Drathis grumbled to himself before looking up at Blue “So, I’m not a threat? A rogue elf wonders near your empire and you guess, yeah he’s fine, let him in.” Drathis mocked with a small smile.

“I do not make the decisions, but the oracles have never been wrong before.” Blue answered moving to the edge of his seat. “But I do desperately need to know what we are up against, as much as you seem to be the only survivor, which is strange in itself for elves to even be that side of the world.” Blue clasped his hands before continuing taking a deep breath to replace the right words. “Whatever happened out there, is or will be known knowledge to the families that lost their loved ones to the titan and pit. I need as much information from you in order to protect our ways, as much as we are a powerful nation and unbreakable, your party still managed to disturb a titan that hasn’t moved in over a thousand years. If that is any indication as to how much power was used through the titan pass, then we have a serious situation and we need to know everything, we need to be prepared to stop whatever is to follow, should anything.” Blue said watching Drathis intensely.

Sighing Drathis lay back down throwing an arm over his face, Blue didn’t move waiting patiently.

“I fear I do not know where to begin, how much do you know of Relangathian and the other kingdoms?”

“Enough, we have a vast library with more history than any other.” Blue boasted proudly.

“I’m sure that’s all good and well, but that helps nothing with your current threats.”

“And what are our current threats?”

Drathis pulled his arm back looking at Blue with a deep frown, “Our threats?”

“You are in our protection now; we face whatever it is together.” Blue nodded holding his fist showing the symbol of unity. Drathis sat up looking at the warlock, sure now more than ever he had lost his mind.

“You don’t even know me, yet are willing to fight my battle?” Drathis huffed a laugh shaking his head. “I could be the worst kind of elf, the darkest you have ever seen, yet you wish to help.” He chuckled to himself. “Stop playing nice, apart from wanting to know how I ended up in your mountain range, what do you want from me? I’ll give you this, it’s a new tactic from all the past kingdoms that have outright just tried to kill me for my power.”

Blue stood up slowly never breaking eye contact, his face serious. “You honestly don’t know who you are do you?”

* * *

The next few hours had been filled with Blue convincing Drathis he was indeed in the crown's trusted circle and having been the one to replace him, it was only right he helped assess the situation. With nothing left to lose Drathis had agreed to letting Blue use a reader’s spell to allow him to access Drathis’s mind and see all he needed.

Blue had finally pulled back with tears in his indigo eyes and Drathis had shook his head warning him again to not pity him. After the tears were wiped, he had practically dragged Drathis out of bed and forced him to dress.

“Wait right here.” Blue said racing out the door leaving Drathis alone.

A bone-weary exhaustion ran through him as he turned to face the lavish room again, drawn to the yellow curtains hearing the sounds of birds. He pulled the drapes back and found two robins fighting over a lizard on his windowsill. After a short flutter of wings and high-pitched chirps they parted ways leaving the lizard. A third hopped down and grabbed the lizard before hopping off again. He followed it till his vision focused on the view.

Goosebumps ran over his entire body as he saw a city, no a nation, down below, spread out in the most unnatural forms across the ground. He looked closer noticing that the spaces between the buildings were not empty but rather an entire other city lay beneath it, puffing up smoke from its daily works. Drathis unlatched the windows pushing them open to lean out viewing a world greater than any, unstoppable moving with rhythm and power. He looked up into the sky and noticed unnaturally tall towers positioned all around, some covered with nature, others sticking out of mountains with waterfalls, but all reached high up into the sky meeting at the same height. He leaned out further looking up, spotting more movement above him were the tops of the towers stopped. It was another whole nation, another level of living up in the sky as the two down below. Drathis stood immobile examining it as he felt his jaw slack in shock.

“This is it…” Drathis whispered feeling excited. A whole new world and start, a promise of more elves actually alive with knowledge as to what happened. He turned with the need to tell Sinira, hold her and show her the life they could finally have, but she wasn’t there. He closed his eyes standing still, trying to swallow the anguish.

* * *

Blue rushed down the passage, and two flights of stairs stopping on his mission hearing Bronsons voice.

“Yeah, if it wasn’t for us the elf would never have made it out alive.”

“Wow, were there really that many?” A breathless female asked.

“We were all outnumbered ten to one, if not for us, all would have been lost.” Brody chipped in. Blue turned the corner to see the brothers encircled by a few women draping themselves over the boasting men.

“We assured the titan and the elf all was right, there was no need for them to fear anymore.” Bronson smiled down at a lady holding his bicep as he flexed it.

“So brave, so courageous.” Another cooed.

“Brave? Who backed up like scared rabbits when they saw the power in the elf’s eyes?” Blue giggled stepping into the hall to join in on the fun.

“We, were,” Brody looked to his brother in a small panic.

“We were, just backing up, out of respect.” Bronson helped with a grin.

“Aren’t they bravest men you have ever seen?” A lady let go of Brody’s arm turning to look at Blue.

“My cat is braver.” Blue smirked

“Blue.” Bronson objected as one of the women let go of him.

“But they saved Talgrim, and an elf.” A lady said turning to face Blue.

“They did hey? And how many men were you up against again Bronson?” Blue mocked trying to hide his smile.

“I take it we are needed somewhere else?” Bronson smiled ignoring the question knowing he would fail to answer the lied upon amount again correctly.

“Their majesties need to be updated, now that we have the answers.” Blue dipped his head in respect turning to leave hearing the women sigh disappointedly as the men said good bye.

“Why you always got to crush our vibes.” Brody nudged Blue as they caught up to him heading down the hall.

“Those women were fine.” Bronson agreed looking behind them to see if any were following.

“Because you two can do better than common attention seekers.” Blue smiled nodding greetings to the busy staff they passed through the castle walls.

Within a few minutes they were before the king and queen accounting for all that had happened, Blue updated the king on all his reading spell had seen, skipping parts that he would guess Drathis would like to keep private.

“Thank you, Bronson and Brody, once again you have proved yourselves by coming to our aid, please allow us to have a moment alone with Blue.” The King said dismissing the brothers, once alone Blue watched him squeeze the queens hand affectionately before standing. “You mentioned the elf, Drathis? Had a brother that was trying to kill him, are we sure he is dead?”

“I am unable to confirm that, we scanned the area thoroughly though and there were no signs of life.” Blue confirmed.

“And what of the other?” The King looked down knowingly.

“What other?” Blue shrugged feeling his cheeks burn.

“Blue, how many years have we known each other? I think you can give me some credit to know when my best man is lying.” The king smiled.

“I ah,” Blue hesitated looking around them to ensure they were truly alone. “The third was an elven woman known as Sinira, I believe she was with Drathis from what I could pull from his mind, I saw her being pushed off the pit’s edge, I believe her parents are here, the image I pulled from his mind of how she looked was too familiar to doubt it.”

“And?” The king asked rolling his hand for him to go on, waiting for him to get to the point.

“And,” Blue looked around again, “I believe she is still alive.”

“And this is important why?” The queen finally spoke rising to stand next to her king.

“Your majesty,” Blue bowed towards her before speaking, “As much as the titans are home to the Dwarfs, the pit that runs along it, is also home to their biggest clan, Dullsdrum. Most parts of the inside of the pit, where she was pushed off are built out, I’m curious, with her having just being pushed perhaps she might have landed on a ledge, or been caught. The tremors from the titan would not have gone unnoticed to Dullsdrum.”

“Perhaps a scout from their clans saw something.” The king said thoughtfully looking back toward his queen.

“I still don’t see why when Blue has already got all the info needed from the elf’s mind.” The queen queried.

“This brother of the elf, Galaleiath seems to be a threat, Queen Dimas and he seem to have recently conquered the kingdom of Zitex and plan to take over more in the years to come.”

“We are aware,” The king frowned, “Where are you going with this?”

“They both seem to stop at nothing to get him in their grasp.” Blue said looking at the king and queen exchanged a look.

“And we are unable to confirm if he fell into the pit as well without Dullsdrums help. Right, send a messenger through to them asap. If we have a threat lurking around our walls especially with the powers they possess, we need to eliminate asap.”

“Consider it done my king.” Blue bowed leaving the room.

* * *

“Evokes quite a feeling, doesn’t it?”

Drathis stood up from leaning on the windowsill to see Blue enter the room.

“Yeah,” Drathis marveled.

“Ready for a tour?” Blue clapped his hands rubbing them together with excitement. “Not often I get to do this around here, besides it must be great seeing our world from fresh eyes.”

“A tour? Aren’t I needed for questioning or something? What about the king?” Drathis frowned folding his arms.

“No need, I have debriefed their majesties on all they need to know, thought I’d save you the trouble, after all, I’m sure you are eager to meet more of your kind?”

Drathis looked back out the window, everything he had hoped for was right at his fingertips, yet an unease seemed to hang over him, had his brother really gone into the pit?

“What you said earlier about battles being fought together, would you really help me?” Drathis said softly, “I have offered you nothing.” And he knew he still couldn’t, he had nothing to lose now though if they betrayed him.

“You mean your brother and the dark queen? What if they knock at our gates for you?”

Drathis nodded slowly watching Blue carefully.

“Do you recall your house name?”

Drathis blinked frowning with confusion, “No.”

“Your birthmark, I recognize it, just can’t place it, but I know who can, come.” Blue said walking out the door, Drathis followed him through the castle passing many servants decorating and cleaning, all stopping to greet them before continuing on their missions.

Drathis stopped in his tracks looking at the hallway they had just entered, it was massive, big enough to fit Gozza’s town center in for a great feast. Blue looked over his shoulder to see Drathis standing still.

“What?” Blue asked puzzled. Drathis didn’t answer as he took a step forward marveling over the place, filled with life, servants entering in and out of doors some flying. Decorating with banners and flowers bringing a sense of excitement. The walls were slowly changing color thanks to flying little people with colorful wings hanging a sea of flowers and lights draped over massive chandeliers.

“We preparing for Aralanie.” Blue smiled patting his shoulder.

“What’s Aralanie?” Drathis asked focusing on fluttering wings

“It’s a celebration held this time every year. It celebrates another year our kingdom still stands strong, united.”

“United?” Drathis asked looking from him to a dwarf handing him a flower consisting of three different colors, purple, pink, and red. “Um, thanks.” Drathis said taking it looking at Blue.

“They just welcoming you.” He said starting to walk off.

“Wait! Those are pixies!” Drathis half-whispered to Blue pointing to four winged creatures draping cloth across the roof in front of them.

“Yes. They are why?”

“No, just thought, they had,” Died, Drathis thought silently.

“We are a united nation of many races, including yours, well come along now or you will never get outside.”

“Your alive!” Bronson clapped Drathis’s shoulder with a smile as they stepped outside.

“Indeed.” Drathis stepped back sizing him up.

“Ah, yeah you might have forgotten, sorry about that. I’m Bronson, this is Brody.” They introduced themselves again, “We found you with Blue here.”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but do you know what happened to Galaxy?” Drathis’s question was hardly finished when he spotted her in the yard peacefully strolling around. “Thank you.” He breathed turning back to them.

“Come.” Blue nodded accepting the thanks as they walked out towards the gardens. Drathis admired the spacious gardens decorated with large fountains, flower beds as far as the eye could see set in a background of waterfalls and forest trails. Blue lead them to one of the many wooden pergolas intertwined with creepers and lilies.

“Namárië” He heard a couple say to them as they neared.

Drathis felt the color drain from his face as he realized what was happening.

“Is this the one that has rumors circling?” An elegantly tall woman said, with golden long hair half pinned back with a delicate clip, displaying her pointed ear holding a few dangling diamonds. Drathis noticed the curls of a tattooed birthmark lick at her neck. He looked past her to an elder gentleman reading, not focused on them but his ears were on display as well, his hair pulled back into stylish braids. Focusing back on the woman he noticed her wise copper eyes smiling as she glided forward. “Namárië” The elven woman said touching her forehead in greeting to Drathis. “I am Ikeshia from house Chaethana.”

“Namárië, I am Drathis.” He said battling to take in all he had seen in this day, he truly was in a whole new world.

“Ikeshia has been with Talgrim since before the fall of Althahim, if anyone is able to answer all you need, Is Ikeshia.” Blue bowed to her then turned to leave with Bronson and Brody. “I have to attend to a few matters, but I promise, you are in safe hands till I return.”

“Drathis? Is that short for something?” Ikeshia said turning back to the shade of the pergola palm up showing him to follow, at the table, she reached for a glass jug on the table to pour them a drink.

“Dracanaeth, but I prefer Drathis.” He said taking a seat not missing her hand hesitate mid pour, and the other elven gentlemen he did not know yet, put down his book suddenly interested.