Chapter 3

"How much longer is this going to take?" thought Tarin. He was sitting at his desk back at his apartment. He sat and reviewed in his mind what had previously happened after the surviving mage was discovered. He had to answer a barrage of questions and once the elders found out that their families were dead there had been an annoying mixture of questions and crying. He had been dismissed by the distraught elders to go and wait in his apartment for further information. He had been waiting for a couple hours now. The demons that were throwing themselves at the barrier in an attempt to gain entry into Corilius had vanished. They just simply vanished. On his way to his apartment he could see scouts going out of the barrier to retrieve the dead that had not been eaten by the demons. Tarin simply sat with his head down on his desk waiting and waiting for some kind of information that would tell him what the hell was going on in this city. He couldn't help to think about what Yaoson the mercenary and provoker of this whole situation had said. Could this man be the one who killed his father? There came a knock at the door and Tarin jumped up and raced over to open it. Standing in the door was none other than his ancient weapons training master Rioka. He stood aside and she walked in. she sat down at Tarin's desk and placed a withered hand on her head. "The mages deaths will not cancel the ancient magic that sustains the barrier as long as that girl remains alive," she said. She looked at tarin as if waiting for him to ask a question. When he didn't she continued

"The elders have decided that a visit to the surface is needed," she said. Tarin got very excited. "Am I going on this visit?" said Tarin. He knew that no one from the city of Corilius had been to the surface world in Millennia. Master Rioka shook her old head.

"Yes you are to go on this visit. You are to meet up with the other selected elves and continue on to the surface world and speak with our cousins of the forest and find out if all is well in the world. For too long have we sea elves remained ignorant of the outside world. We long ago cut our ties with the trading cities of dry land and in doing so cut off our ties with the world. By this visit we plan to correct this and reestablish connections with the land elves and perhaps unite against this evil that we have just faced. Get prepared now for in an hour your transportation will depart for the surface," she said this and then stood and walked slowly out of the room. Tarin stood still for awhile trying to take in all of this new information, then he started rushing around the room gathering spell components and a couple spell books. He would need all the materials he could carry for he did not know the next chance he would get to return and restock his supplies. Satisfied with his inventory he walked out of his room. He walked down the empty streets down to the entrance of the city. He knew the reason for the emptiness of the streets. Many elves had lost their lives in that battle and the families were now praying and mourning for their lost ones. Came upon the gate and gazed at the small band of people. Master Rioka was present as well as the fat elder. Behind the elder and teacher were a three people. There stood two male elves and one female. The males were talking to each other while the girl stood apart gazing at a spot on the ground. The elder looked at Tarin.

"Ah, you made it," he said. Tarin was not surprised that he was not mourning. It was quite obvious that he would not have a family because of his weight an odd nature. "You have made it just in time. I expect that you would like to get to know your fellow travelers but that will just have to wait," he said. He wiped a small beefy hand across his forever sweating forehead. "You know your assignments now board your transportation and get on your way," he said. He then turned and walked away towards the palace and Tarin was pretty sure a plate of food as well. Master Rioka walked closer to the small group. Tarin walked over and stood next to the girl who's gaze was still lingering on the ground. "You are about to embark on a dangerous mission. I do not pretend to not know that there is some hidden reason for this visit to the surface world but I do ask that you all do what you have been told to do. Do not forget you training and do not let your guards down for I fear that just as we have problems other races of this world do to," she said this and like the elder walked away but her path was pointed in the direction of the arena. Tarin smiled, Rioka may be old but she was as sharp as a blade. Tarin had previously wondered the same. Why had this little visit been hastily made? There had to be some reason for this visit to the elves of the surface and Tarin would soon find out but at what cost.

Tarin turned towards the others. The two male elves stopped talking and looked at him. The tallest of the two walked up to him. His hair was flowed down to his shoulders and he had two braids on the side of his face. He's massive, thought tarin. Tarin could see the muscles all over his body. He wore a warrior outfit of black with red lining .On his back he had a small trident and at his waist a short sword along with two daggers at his side. "Well met young mage. My name is Kiaro. I am leading this "visit" to the surface world. Our transportation should be arriving momentarily. I suggest that you familiarize yourself with your team," he said. His voice was rough and deep. Kiaro walked away and sat on a rock close to the gate. The other male stood watching and when kiaro walked away he approached tarin. This elf looked way different than kiaro. He walked grazefully. He was not teaming with muscles like kiaro but muscles bulged on his arms. He wore black armor that hugged his skin. Tarin also noticed the presences of magic on him and quickly noticed that his boots were enchanted so that he could walk on any surface and not slip or make and noise at all. He had a shortsword at his belt and across his back a bow and a quiver full of arrows. "My name is balanthalis. You may refer to me as balan. I will be this team's long range support. Nothing more and nothing less," he said this and walked back to where he was previously standing and turned his back on tarin. He had a calm voice but with an icy edge hidden underneath. Tarin dusted off his vest and walked over to the female elf. She wore a white vest with a white cloak went all the way down to her feet. He could not detect any visible weapons but experience told him to not let his guard down when dealing with mysterious elves. The girl looked up from the ground and gazed direct at tarin. "What is your name girl?" said tarin. The elf girl blushed and looked back at the ground. "She is very shy. Her name is Katalina," said Kiaro who had been watching tarin as he approached the girl. Tarin turned around closed his eyes and messaged his temple. He hated having to deal with others. He could just barely stand talking to other mages. He preferred to work alone. He knew that when danger arrived that they were more than likely going to look to the mage to fix everything. "Our ride is here," said kiaro. Tarin turned around to look at what vessel would be taking them to the mysterious surface world. Tarin's mouth fell at what he saw. From the distant ocean he could see a large ship approaching. Tarin had heard of the vessels that the barbarian humans used sometimes to cross the waters of the world, but had not ever seen one before. The ship came upon the entrance to the city. It simply floated outside the gate. It was tall and the sails had holes in them and the mass was broken at the top. Various holes were visible in the side of the ship. Magic thought tarin. Someone is bewitching this vessel to move. He could see a light white glow around the whole ship that to the trained mages eyes revealed the presence of magic. He walked over to the others and together they walked through the gate and prepared to board the ship. Once outside they swam up to the deck. An old elf walked up to them. He had sea weed braided into his beard and he was missing several teeth. His skin looked like it could be blown off with the slightest sea current. He had to be really old for sea elves typically don't grow facial hair. He walked up to Kiaro and they shook hands. "Please make yourselves at home. We should make it to the surface in an hour or so. Call me victor. That's the name of the skeleton I found in the captains bunk so that's the name I'm keeping at the moment," said the old elf. He wheezed off a crackly old laugh and limped away towards the steering mechanism. The old man turned the wheel and the ship sped up at an incline. Kiaro and Balan resumed their previous conversation and Katalina went to the very front of the ship. Tarin walked over to the cabin and leaned against it while reading a book. Thirty minutes passed and with it came a shriek. Tarin looked over his book to see what was wrong. Katalina was backing away from the front of the ship. She was shaking and pointing her finger into distance ahead of the ship. Balan walked over to her. "What is the matter Katalina?" he said. "Demons" she said. Everyone looked into the distance. There was nothing to see. The water was getting steadily light and a couple of dark specks could be seen in the distance. Balan looked at Katalina and smirked. "It is only seaweed" he said. He then turned his back. Katalina shook her head and frantically ran into the cabin and slammed the door. Kiaro walked up to the front of the ship. Something swished through the water and slammed into him. Kiaro went flying backwards and smashed into the cabin. Inside Katalina gave a whimper. From the front of the ship rose a giant serpent. Its body rose up into the water above the ship. Its skin was the color of dark green with specks of black. Only the top half was visible. It opened its giant mouth and gave a loud hiss that made everyone clasp their ears. Its giant eyes scanned the ship for a victim. The ship came to a complete stop. The old elf jumped down onto the deck from the steering wheel. "OH look at that beauty" he said. The old elf started making signs with his hands and made glyphs in the space in front of him with a orange glow that came from his hands. Finally he brought his hands together in a clap and off to the side of the ship a dark portal opened. Out swam a large shark. Its skeleton tarin realized was all that remained of the great shark. Tarin put a piece of coral into his book to mark his place and closed it. This battle had gotten interesting. The old guy pointed at the serpent. "Attack him" he said. The shark burst forward and slammed into the serpent. The shark's jaws snapped at the serpent. The two beasts fought each other savagely. The old elf hopped up and down obviously excited. Tarin made a mental note that this elf was nuts. Kiaro who had regained to his feet yelled to balan. "Help the shark defeat the serpent or we'll never get to the surface" he said. Balan who had been watching the fight sprang into action. He grabbed the bow from his back and quickly launched three arrows. The arrows embedded themselves in the serpents face. The serpent gave a hiss but continued to fight the shark. Kiaro looked at Tarin. "Help them mage, I know you have a spell or two that could give us the winning edge," he said. Tarin rolled his eyes. He then stood straight and rolled up his sleeves. He knew that they would need him to save the day.