Darkness....

Darkness stretched out before Arjana.

"Papa! Papa!"

She calls out. No one answers,

"I've been waiting for you, new queen"

A feminine voice says in the dark. Arjana looks around quickly to find its source, but nothing. Suddenly, piercing red eyes cut through the dark and glare right at her, menacingly. Arjana screams.

—----

Arjana awakes covered in sweat and panting heavily. Birger, who was asleep in a chair, was at her side with a wet rag sabbing her forehead.

"Youngin' you, okay?! You fainted yesterday... and bumped your head. Tell me, do you remember anything?",

Arjana is too stunned to even speak. She slumps back into her pillow, as tears start to fall. "I fainted...I'll never get better...I'll never get home..."  

But as the tears fall, Arjana remembers something strange. The blue light coming from Birger's room, and the cold chill it emanated. What was even peculiar, was the word he shouted upon seeing her faint, 'Kyunda'. 

".... Mister Birger...", she managed. 

Birger stops rummaging through the workbench, noticing her shaky voice. Setting aside his tools, he walks over and sits by her bed.

"When I passed out, you...said something...'kyunda' I believe."

"Oh, yes well, that's the god I prayed to, I was...in shock." 

He gets up and starts rummaging around the workbench, accidentally knocking one of the jars off the edge.

 "The glow-", he spots the jar about to hit the floor before catching it swiftly and placing it back on the bench. "I was working on a... medicine for a patient. The...components are a bit unstable, so they must remain in my room. Exposure to them must've rendered you unconscious."

"But that couldn't be it...", Arjana thought, thinking back to yesterday. "Something about him was different.", she thinks, trying to remember what she saw upon standing in the doorframe of Birger's room. Frustrated, Arjana whines and stares at the ceiling, huffing as tears welled in her eyes.

"I'll never get better...I keep getting sicker and sicker! I want to go home! I want my father!" she cries. "...I don't even know how I got sick...Why can't I remember...?" 

Birger grabs a cloth from his belt and wipes her tears away. "You'll get better, young one, I promise.".he hesitated, then brightened. "Youngin. Would you like to hear a story?"

".... How...would that help...?", 

"Bedside manners," he says with a small grin before leaving to grab a book from his room. Quickly, he returned with a very large book in hand covered in an old ivy pattern, with a strange large tree in the center of it. 

"So, Arjana, have you ever heard of Tir Na Nog?"

"Tir Na Nog?"

"It's a place where elves are said to live."

"What's an elf?

"......You... don't know what an elf is? "He asks, completely bewildered. 

"No."

 Birger goes quiet as if he's having a bit of a time processing the girl's confusion. His silence makes Arjana slightly annoyed before she tugs on his sleeve to get his attention.

"Tell me, what is an elf?"

"Oh yes, well an elf is a creature that is born either of the light or of the dark.", Birger answered, "But the gist of it is, they are creatures a part of nature in its rawest form. Most elves have horns and pointed ears, others have wings or tails and some have tusks. Elves come in many different variations, but one thing remains the same about them is their allegiance to the balance of nature."

"Have you seen one, Mister Birger?"

He goes silent, pausing to reflect on a long-lost memory. "Yes, in fact.... I married an elf, her name was Katrin."

Arjana gets a bit too excited, sitting up and bombarding him with questions about her ears and beauty. He gives a nervous chuckle as he sits her back down.  

"She was amazing.... I'll leave it at that.". 

Birger coughs slightly to change the subject.

"Now, let's get on with the story. This story is going to be about elves and Tir Na Nog and a forbidden clan of elves, called the umbran elves."

"Umbran?"

"Yes, these elves serve the darkness."

"Are they evil...?", she asks nervously.

"Well, that's for you to decide. Let's get into the story."

"Hold on." she interrupts before she gets up to grab Izzimar's letter off the workbench before sitting back down as Birger began: The Fall of Two Clans

----

"Years ago, a human man was outside desperately looking for herbs. You see, he was attempting to make medicine for his sick wife. They were a poor couple, and couldn't afford a physician, so he had to be the one to take care of her. He tried everything, leeches, maggots, bloodletting, but nothing would work. She only got sicker and sicker, and soon, she was unable to even utter a sound near the final stages of her illness.

One day, while he was taking a break from gathering herbs, an umbran elf approached him for help. The old elf was injured and in need of blood, urgently. The elf had been shot accidentally in his wing with an arrow at the hands of a hunter. The elf needed blood so that he wouldn't be stranded in the human plane. Sensing an opportunity, the human man agreed to help the umbran elf. He knew that by aiding an elf, he would be bestowed a gift fitting of the elf's nature."

----

"What does that mean?", Arjana interrupts

"It really depends on the elf species."

"That sounds...fascinating. ", she whispers, "And... elves are real?"

Birger lets out a chuckle, "Yes, they are real. My wife was an elf, remember?", he teased, poking Arjana's nose. "Shall I continue?", he asks with newfound mirth.

"Oh yes! Sorry!", she replies, sitting up straight with attention.

----

"The man, desperate for a blessing, decided to give his blood to the elf. And thankfully, the umbran elf made an instant recovery. When the elf healed, he revealed himself to be the king of the umbran elves, King Dinet'o. Beside himself, the man begged and pleaded with King Dinet'o to save his wife.

King Dinet'o pondered before asking," Are you sure you want the aid of an umbran elf?".

The man pleaded," Yes, if you can save my wife, I promise that I shall give my life to you! "."

"And so, a promise was made, and the man swore his allegiance to King Dinet'o. He took the elven king to his home and showed him the condition his wife was in. 

The man requested, "I don't want her to be in pain anymore. Please, take away her suffering."

With a wave of his hand, the king conjured a small statue of a goddess. He placed the goddess' statue on the table beside the wife's bed. King Dinet'o turned to the man and said,

"Keep this statue by her at all costs, she won't be in any pain anymore as long as she is near it."

Finished with his task, King Dinet'o returned to Tir Na Nog, and the man would remain by his wife's side. In the coming days, the wife would get better and would even be well enough to speak to her husband. Grateful for the progress in his wife's healing, the man decided to build more of the goddess' statue around his home to give his wife freedom to move around."

"For a while, the statues worked, as it had been four whole months since the encounter with the king. Things were looking bright for the couple, but one day without warning, the wife fell to the floor dead."

"The man was in anguish, he had thought his wife was cured, but that wasn't the case. Her autopsy had revealed that she was still sick when she had passed but showed no symptoms. Demanding answers, he scoured the forest from top to bottom until he found King Dinet'o again. The man raged at the king, saying that he deceived him, that he killed his wife, but the king had an explanation.

"The blessing she received was a painless death, there was no curing her.", he said to the ailing man.

"I wanted you to cure her! You deceived me, you wretched elf!", the man yelled as he raised his fists and attacked the king.

 In the fight, when the Dinet'o was killed, the man had destroyed his amulet of the goddess cursing him with the powers of chaos."

"Upon doing this, he would use his cursed powers to go to Tir Na Nog and suppress the Umbran elves. He forced them to destroy all the statues of the goddess and pray to a new deity, Ataxi."

---

"Who...is Ataxi?", she whimpers.

"Ataxi is a god of chaos, a harbinger of the end of all ends." Birger explains. "A god rumored to bring about the end of all realms."

---

"When the umbran elves started praying to Ataxi, the balance in Tir Na Nog was broken, and all of the elves within the realm became cursed. The man was getting his power from the land, and with the aid of the umbran elves, he nearly subjugated all the elves and attempted to kill the king of the realm, King Oberon. When all seemed lost, a feral group of elves rose up, the Lumen Elves."

----

"Lumen elves, what did they do? What made them different?"

"Well, unlike regular elves, lumen elves don't rely heavily on magic.", he explained, "Katrin was one of them."

"What was being married to a lumen elf like?"

"It was heaven. She and I made medicine together.", Birger reminisced as he went back to a time long ago. "Her family welcomed me with open arms. We hunted together and sparred together..."

Arjana smiles at Birger's happy demeanor before noticing him get carried away when he starts up again.

"I missed going to the Hunter's Lodge with Katrin, the food was hearty, and don't get me started on the mead that was never ending.", he laughs

"Um... Mister Birger? The story!"

"Oh, forgive me, child.", Birger responded sheepishly, "Now, back to the story...Ah! Right, the lumen elves...."

-----

"The Lumen elves opposed him and fought back, casting the man and his traitorous umbran elf followers out of Tir Na Nog. The Lumen elves were victorious, but the victory was short-lived. The elves were still cursed, and now they waited for their remaining umbran elf brethren to return. But that day has yet to come. Until then, elves have sought out a new home, The Promised Land, in order to survive."

-----

Arjana sits in silence, processing the story. She has heard stories without happy endings before, but this one just left her empty. 

"Any thoughts or questions?", Birger, asked, closing the book. 

"Yes. I thought the king helped the man, why would the wife still die?"

"Umbran mercy is different. They view death as a mercy since their goddess bestows it to those who are suffering."

Arjana thinks, trying to make sense of the goddess and her rules. She didn't like death, but with the way the wife's illness was described, maybe she was suffering. Still, she had more questions to ask.

"What is the Promised Land?"

"Elves believe that there will be a kingdom run by humans who will allow them in, so they don't starve to death. The curse prevents elves from providing for themselves without the aid of humans, that includes hunting and cultivating crops. Many Kingdoms don't trust the elves and either enslave them or kill them on sight. So, elves are looking for the Promised Land to live alongside humans peacefully."

"...What could the husband have done differently?"

Birger stops to think for a minute before giving his answer. "If it were me...I would have accepted her death.".

"What? That doesn't seem like you Birger, you're a doctor."

"King Dinet'o helped the man the only way he knew how."

"Why!? I don't know any man who would accept his wife dying! ... Didn't you love Katrin!?" Arjana cried out, slightly upset. Birger slams the book on the counter, before trying to calm himself. He tries to gather himself, but even an accusation like that is too much.

"I would rather my wife had dropped dead, than die the agonizing death that she got!", he shouted

Arjana, realizing her mistake, goes silent. 

"Katrin... died during childbirth ...after I told her that our little one was a still born...she died...with a lot of sadness and pain. It was my fault; I was the one delivering our child..."

Before Arjana could apologize, Birger gets up and walks over to the work bench. 

Arjana sits in silence, listening to his tragic loss. She can't remember much of her mother, but she did know that when her mother disappeared, her father was a mess. Reflecting on this, Arjana realizes that she can't possibly imagine what Birger is going through, given that he had lost his wife and his child.

"I was trying everything to save her... But she...begged me to let her die...But at the time, why- no... how could I?", he whimpers, ".... How could I possibly let go of the best years of my life...with my best friend?...Oh,Katty..."

There is a deafening silence, the type of silence, that you can hear a pin drop. Arjana was deeply saddened for judging him, she had no way of knowing. 

"...I'm sorry, Mister Birger, I didn't mean to make you upset.", She apologized sincerely, but Birger changed the subject.

"Youngin', promise me this...You won't tell anyone what I told you about Katrin...",  

She looks up at him to protest, but he interrupts her. "Please, it's the least you could do for me. After her death, her family shunned me, they forbade me from speaking about her death... It's my punishment...I have been trying to honor it, to honor her.", he explained. "But...sometimes...it's too much..."

".... How do you feel now? Talking about her...?", Arjana asks as he sits her down in bed.

"So many memories....", he breathed out, "I feel...as if I am... lifting a small burden off of me.", 

"If you want, we can talk abo—

"Adults are not supposed to seek advice from children.", Birger stated plainly

"No, I meant...you could just...tell me about Katrin. And your life with her.", she corrected.

".... Why would you even wish to know?"

"...Well, years ago, when my mom disappeared.", Arjana began, "Papa, refused to talk about her. He made it forbidden to even say her name. Sadly, because of this, I hardly remember her. I don't even remember any of the time we spent together."

" Arjana, Just...keep my promise, okay?"

Arjana doesn't know what to say, but she nods in agreement, promising to keep his secret. Not sure of what to do, or how to make things better, Arjana reaches over and gives him a hug. He sighs before gently moving her away, 

"Youngin' I'll be fine... I should be the one comforting you. I'm sorry this story didn't have a happy ending." He says before getting up to leave. Just as he reaches the door handle, he stops.

"Arjana, have you truly never seen an elf? They've been around for hundreds of years."

"No, my kingdom is closed off by plateaus, and the kingdom is in a very dense jungle. We've never seen elves."

"Well, what do you think of them, do you hate them?"

"No... But I'd like to be friends if we could."

He gives a lighthearted smile before leaving, closing the door behind him. Carefully getting out of bed, Arjana stretches slowly to not disturb her bandages. While she waits, she can't help but wonder if there will ever be a day where she meets an elf.