Relaen, a teenage girl, walked through the lush, green forest that she knew
so well. As she walked, her eyes wandered, overlooking every leaf, branch,
rock, and beetle that was in her eye's path. As she walked, her eyes fell
upon a sight that they had never before seen. About thirty feet in front of
her, she noticed that in a ring of thirteen trees, there was nothing but
darkness. She stood for a moment and looked at it, inspecting it from a
distance. As she stood there, the sun grew hotter and perspiration began to
gather on her brow.
Soon, her curiosity got a hold of her and she began to slowly move towards the dark circle. She kept her eyes on the circle of trees, but kept her other senses on alert. In a matter of moments, she had reached the ominous circle. As she moved her hand in front of her, it was pushed to the side by a fierce wind. The wind stood between her and the dark ring, as if forbidding her to enter.
Being the stubborn teenager that she was, Relaen forced her way through the tornado-like wind. As she went through, the wind blew her golden hair in front of her emerald eyes, keeping her from seeing what lay before her. As she walked, she grabbed onto branches and trees around her, to keep herself on the ground. After a few moments of struggling through the hurricane-like wind, Relaen finally reached the interior of the circle.
As she entered the darkness, the wind ceased. She could no longer feel the warmth of the sun on her skin. A chill ran down her spine as she realized that coming here was not the brightest of ideas. Without hesitating, Relaen turned to leave the ring of trees, only to be faced with a wall that felt like the bark of a tree. Terrified, she frantically followed the wall around, but found no openings. For the first time since she could remember, Relaen did not know what to do.
The young girl just stood there, her hands caressing the wall that kept her from her freedom. As she did so, she tried to calm herself. She stood against the wall for what seemed like hours, to scared to move from that spot. After thinking, Relaen decided to try to reach the middle of the room, in hopes that there might be something there to help her. She turned around until her back was against the course wall and then started walking as straight as she could.
Relaen kept her hands in front of her, to keep from bumping into anything that might be there. She walked in as straight of a line that could be followed in the powerful darkness, and never ran into anything. On the contrary, she just continued walking. The path that she was on slowly began to ascend. After walking for about half-an-hour, Relaen finally put her hands down and walked slightly more cautiously.
Soon after this, the utter blackness became an utter grayness. This meant one of two things; one-her eyes were adjusting to the darkness, or two- somewhere far ahead of her, a light was piercing the black. At realizing this, Relaen whispered a prayer of thanks and began running ahead in the twilight.
As she ran, Relaen saw the darkness become thinner and thinner. In a few minutes, she could see the sides of the tunnel, for now it was obvious that that was what she was walking through. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, until she saw the light.
There was a whole in the top of the tunnel that light was pouring through. Now Relaen decided that caution was again necessary. Carefully she arranged herself so that she could see through the whole, but nobody would be able to see her. She looked up through the whole, but the light was so bright that she could see nothing. She moved around the hole to the other side to try to peer up, but again, the light blocked her sight.
Wary of what, or who, may be beyond the light, Relaen eased her way around it so that she may look out. When she did, she saw that it was not the sun that lead her through the darkness, but the moon. Where she looked, she saw trees all around her. Hoping that the tunnel had lead her in a circle and that she was actually looking at her beloved home, Relaen jumped from the whole and looked around, searching for any signs of familiarity.
Sadly, Relaen found none. As she searched the areas near the trees, her eyes met a sight she had never seen. The world around her, wherever it may be, was dark and desolate. The group of trees that she was standing in appeared to be the only vegetation that her Elvin eyes could see. The ground was nothing but sand, like a never-ending desert. Even the trees that she was near looked dry and near death.
As she stared at the poor condition of the land, she heard a rustle from behind her. With ease, she jumped into the branches of the trees, cursing at herself for letting down her guard. She watched with anticipation as a young-looking woman who was slightly leaning on a walking staff came through the trees. The girl had black hair and fair skin. Her skin was so pale that she looked deathly ill. The girl's eyes were closed, but she walked through the green patch without err.
"Whose here?" the girl asked aloud. "I can hear and smell you, but see you I cannot. Who is here?" Relaen watched as the girl walked to the tree that she was in and looked up. Her visionless eyes fell upon Relaen, who now trembled in fear. "Who are you? Why do you hide yourself from me?" the girl asked in a demanding tone.
As quietly as an elf could go, Relaen jumped to another tree, hoping to confuse the strange creature. Nevertheless, as soon as Relaen left one tree for another, the blind woman followed her.
"Announce yourself. I do not wish to climb this tree, but I will if it is the only way to get to you." Now fearing for her life, Relaen jumped to every tree in the small wood, but the girl followed her to every one. Finally, Relaen gave up and jumped down from the boughs, landing right in front of the young woman.
"That is better. Now, who are you and what business do you have here?" the woman asked, her tone softening slightly.
"I am from another place and have stumbled upon this land. Can you tell me where I am?" Relaen asked, her voice slightly shaking. She was careful not to mention her name.
"Why, you are on earth." the woman answered with a small laugh.
"Earth!" Relaen said in dismay. "What could have been done to this land to make it look like this?"
"Come. I will tell you all you wish to know." With that, the woman turned around and started walking out of the clump of trees. Having no where else to turn, Relaen followed the woman, trying to figure out what she meant.
After walking in silence for about fifteen minutes, the two girls came to a cliff wall. Without speaking, the young woman began to climb the wall with ease, as if she has done it for years. Relaen looked on in wonder as the blind girl nimbly grabbed each handhold and found each foothold with no difficulties. Relaen followed with slightly more difficulty. They climbed for about one hundred feet until the woman pulled herself up on an overhang that lead to a large cave.
"Welcome." the girl said as she sat at a table and placed her staff against her chair. She pointed to the chair across from her and said, "Please, sit." With a slight hesitation, Relaen sat in the designated chair. "Now, you say you are not from here, please tell me about yourself." When the woman said this, a smile came across her face for the first time since Relaen met her earlier that night and Relaen noticed that the woman had fangs.
"Well, why don't you tell me about you and this place first." Relaen said, trying to avoid telling about herself. "You are wise to not speak of yourself before you know more about me." The girl said, smiling wider. "Especially since you appear to be alone and I am surrounded by friends, though you may not have noticed. My name is Aset, and whether you know it or not, you are in the presence of one of the oldest vampires that the world has ever seen."
"Vampires?" Relaen asked in shock. She had never heard of vampires living. She only knew them from stories told when she was growing up.
"Yes. Why are you so surprised? This world belongs to the vampires, though others are here as well."
"Others?" Relaen asked timidly. She was afraid to hear the answer.
"Yes. Werewolves, ogres, giants, trolls, y'know, normal things. Now you must tell me of yourself."
"Very well. I guess you deserve to hear about the person you are hosting. My name is Relaen and as I said before, I am not from here. My world does not have vampires except in stories. The same with werewolves and ogres. We have elves and humans and dwarves, amongst other things."
"What world is this that we do not exist?" Aset asked, taken aback.
"It is a place far different than here. In my home, we have lush, green woods and valleys of tall grass. Mountains that take you to the top of the world. Rolling hills and farmland. This desolate desert is quite a change for me."
"Did you also say you had humans in your world?" Aset asked, her interest peaking.
"Yes. Why do you ask?" Relaen replied with suspicion in her voice.
"Long ago, a prophesy was said, claiming that the blood of a human would be the death of us on this world, so the vampires killed all of the humans so that they might live a little longer. There haven't been humans here for nearly a millennia."
"But, how did there come to be vampires here?" Relaen asked, leaning forward on the table.
"When humans were at their prime, they used nuclear power for everything. One day there was a war between two of the most powerful countries in the world. They used nuclear weapons to blow up the nuclear plants. Radiation spread across the earth rapidly.
"Slowly, through the next few generations, children being born had odd capabilities. Some were vampires with fangs and pointy ears, some were werewolves with fur growing all over their bodies, some were ogres and were horribly deformed, while others were just very large for their age. These poor children were thrown out to fend for themselves. After about ten years, they formed an alliance. They started businesses and hired only the deformed children. They basically started treating the normal humans the same way they were treated. Eventually, the abuse between the two people was so bad, that they created different countries. The deformed children took over Europe and Asia while the humans took over the Americas.
"After about a century of this, a prophesy came around: "The blood of a foreigner is the key to sealing the entrance". Everyone became fearful. As soon as they could, the deformed children killed all of the humans on earth because they were the only foreigners. It has been a millennia since the last human was killed on our world."
"Wow." Relaen said in shock. "I never thought a world could do that to itself."
"And now it is time. I must know if you are indeed a human." Aset said after a moment of silence. "Come stand beside me." She said. Aset got up and stood in the middle of the cave, where a single thread of light seeped in through the stone roof.
Reluctantly Relaen got up and stood next to the vampire. The morning sun was just about to rise, so Aset positioned Relaen directly under the beam of light. Using the magic that was taught to her when she was little, Aset used the sun for her eyes. Through the light of the sun, she saw Relaen for the first time: a young elf with long blonde hair and emerald green eyes. As she looked at her, she felt something odd. Something did not seem completely right, but she could not tell what it was by looking at her.
"Well, you are no human, but I do not know what you are. The likes of you have not been seen here. Could you enlighten me?"
"I am an elf." She replied simply. She felt uncomfortable being watched by the blind woman. For though it was obvious that her eyes could not see, it was also obvious that she had some power that gave her that ability.
"Since you are not human I guess I do not have to turn you over to the Lord."
"The Lord?" Relaen asked with a confused look
"Yes. He is the ruler of this world. We are supposed to bring any strangers to him."
"Then why won't you bring me?"
"Trust me elf, you do not want to go."
Relaen went and sat opposite of Aset, letting her last comment hang in the air for a little while. Finally, she said, "Why are you being nice to me?"
"What do you mean by that?" Aset asked with a slight chuckle.
"You said the prophecy mentioned a foreigner, not a human. I am a foreigner in this land. Why do you not fear that I will 'seal the entrance'?" Aset sat for a moment, considering what Relaen said. Before Aset could reply, Relaen threw out another series of questions. "What entrance anyways? What does that even mean? What happens if it is sealed?"
Aset sat back to consider the young elf's questions. "Well, if it is sealed then the world will change. All of the creatures here would be destroyed. I would assume the entrance would be what you came through. As to you being a foreigner, I do not know. Perhaps the prophecies did mean you. If that is the case, you will have to be destroyed immediately."
Relaen looked at Aset in shock. "You would really kill me?" she stuttered. A chill ran down her spine as she saw the female vampire's head slowly nod. The two girls sat and stared at each other, both fearing what would happen if Relaen really did come to fulfill the prophecy. To both, it meant their deaths.
As Relaen watched the vampire, the fear inside of her grew. She watched the vampire as she decided what to do with this newfound information. Slowly, Aset stood and started pacing around the room. In a fit of anger, she threw the table that stood in the middle of the cavern onto the floor. As if a great struggle was finally over, Aset yelled, "The prophecy will come no matter what I do!"
Relaen stood from her chair and slowly started backing up towards the door. Aset turned and saw her intentions. "If you leave now, you will be seen and killed. The others will not take the chance that I did. If the prophecy is to be fulfilled by you, then it will be done no matter what anyone does."
"Listen, I don't want to fulfill any prophecy. I just want to go home. If you can help me do that, then I will be eternally grateful." Relaen said, coming back towards the middle of the room.
"I will help you find your way home. For now we both must rest. Come, I will show you where to sleep." Aset said, leading Relaen towards the back of the grotto. Relaen reluctantly followed. She was still weary of whether or not to trust the estranged vampire.
Aset lead her to a small room that had nothing but a hard mattress and a rough blanket. "I am sorry it is not better. I am sure you are used to much different accommodations."
"Actually elves can sleep anywhere. I normally sleep standing up or walking around the forest. We can rest and still do normal things at the same time. So this will do fine." Relaen reassured her.
"Very well. I rest down the tunnel. If you need anything you can help yourself." Aset said as she left Relaen to herself.
The next few days seemed a blur to Relaen. She rested during the day in Aset's cave and went out with her at night. The few times that she did leave Aset's abode, it was covered in a hood and cape so that the others of earth did not see that she was not one of them.
After a few days of wandering the earth in the shadow of her hood, Relaen began to miss the sun and her home. Once again, she was going to attempt to convince her sharp-toothed friend to allow her to leave the cave without her cloak, not only to feel the warmth of the sun on her skin, but to see clearly and hopefully find the entrance to her world.
"If you leave, you will be captured and killed. I cannot let that happen to you." Aset argued.
"Why am I suddenly your responsibility? I am nearly five thousand years old and I think I can care for myself." Relaen countered.
"You do not know what is out there! Someone will discover you and bring you to the Lord. He will command your death! And I guarantee you that it will not be pretty. He will demand to know who helped you and he is just begging for an excuse to get rid of me!"
"You say that like I would turn you in. Besides, I won't get caught! Elves don't get caught. Not where I'm from."
"Well this isn't where you are from! I don't like that fact that you are going to bring the end of my world, but you've started to grow on me and I don't want you to die a painful and agonizing death."
"I won't be caught! I keep telling you this, but for some strange reason, you won't believe me!"
"Fine! Do whatever you want. But your arrogance is going to be the end of you." Aset finished as she stormed off to her room.
With Aset gone, Relaen decided to take her leave. She placed Aset's cloak on one of the chairs in the main room of the cave and went to the exit. Using all that she had been taught about sneaking around, she started heading in the direction that she originally came from. She used her keen Elvin sight to spot the clump of trees that surrounded her when she first exited the dark tunnel.
After about twenty minutes of sneaking through the desolate desert, she finally reached the small oasis. Carefully, Relaen wound her way through the clump of foliage. Unfortunately, it was not carefully enough. As she reached the area that should have held the entrance to her world, she found three vampires (in cloaks) and two werewolves.
"Who are you?" one of the cloaked vampires demanded.
"Oh, just a friend taking a walk through this lovely oasis." Relaen replied, the shock still slightly showing in her voice.
"You do not look to be from here! What is your name?" he demanded again.
"Oh, why do you need to know a silly little thing like that?" she asked as she slowly began to back away from the group of guards.
"I bet you were thinking of trying to get to the entrance, weren't you?" another vampire said as he came up from behind her, grabbing her arm. He was tall and strong. His dark hair fell from his hood as he glared down at the elf. The other vampires and werewolves in the area fell prostrate in front of the noble looking vampire.
"And you must be the Lord." Relaen said weakly. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." she said as she put her other hand out for the man to shake.
"It will not be a pleasure once I am finished with you." He replied angrily, ignoring Relaen's extended hand.
"Let the young one go Derain. She has nothing to do with you." a familiar voice said from atop one of the trees.
The Lord raised his eyes to see Aset jumping down from the top of the tree nearest them. "Aset, what are you doing here?" he demanded. "Just because you took away my sight, does not mean you took away my right to be about in the world." She replied with a smug grin. "Now let the elf go. She has done you no harm."
"So you are the one to allow her into our world." Derain said. "I should have known that you would have had something to do with the end of our world." As he said this, his eyes made a fleeting glance to the guards. Aset, being blind, could not notice his eye's movement, but Relaen did. With a shout, Relaen made Aset aware of the Lord's intentions-then the battle began.
Aset took her walking stick and aimed towards the most noise, the Lord. With the staff, she hit him on the back of his head. In a fit of anger, he lunged toward the blind vampire, releasing Relaen from his grasp. Every time he lunged at Aset, she either countered his move with a swift hit of her staff or jumped nimbly away from the long knife he was now frantically swinging at her.
As soon as Relaen was freed from Derain's grasp, she kicked one of the guards in the face, picking up his dropped sword. With swift, elegant movements, Relaen fought the other guard. In a matter of a few strokes, the vampire lay dead at her feet. By this time, the other guard was on his feet and began to move towards Derain and Aset. As soon as Relaen saw his intentions, she jumped in front of him, blocking his path. The sharp- toothed guard began to claw at Relaen's face and arm, trying to take back his weapon.
Relaen swiftly cut off the guard's hands, so the he could no longer claw at her face and then she thrust her sword into his stomach. He fell to the floor with an agonizing yell. When Relaen turned around, Aset had drawn the Lord away from the entrance. Realizing that Aset's intention had been for Relaen to get away, she began to fun for the entrance. As she got there, the young elf realized that she could not leave her friend to be prosecuted for assisting her escape, so she ran back to help Aset finish off the Lord, but not before some of her blood from the claw wounds had fallen by the entrance.
Relaen ran back towards Aset. As she reached her, she saw that the Lord lay on the ground, knocked out cold.
"Come!" Aset said hurriedly. "You must get through the entrance!"
"No, not without you." Relaen said as they reached the familiar hole in the ground. "Come with me Aset. You will die an agonizing death here. You will be safe on my world!"
Without thinking much about the decision, Aset nodded her head in agreement. "But we must go now, for I hear the entrance closing!" When Aset said this, Relaen looked down and did see that the hole was already half gone.
"You first Relaen. Go!" Aset said with a push.
"No, you!" Relaen replied, wanting to get Aset away from the terrible world.
"If it closes while you are still here, who knows what will happen to you! Go!" Aset said again, this time pushing Relaen into the hole. After Relaen had landed, she looked up in just enough time to see he hole before it snap closed and the darkness engulfed engulf her.
Relaen jumped up with a start. She looked around her and found that she was still in her room, lying on her bed that was drenched in sweat.
Relaen let out a sigh of relief. It was just a dream. She got out of bed and began getting dressed for the day that lay ahead of her. After she was dressed, she sat down on her bed to put her shoes on. When she did, she let out a scream. Scribbled in blood on her floor was written: "The blood of a foreigner is the key to sealing the entrance".
Soon, her curiosity got a hold of her and she began to slowly move towards the dark circle. She kept her eyes on the circle of trees, but kept her other senses on alert. In a matter of moments, she had reached the ominous circle. As she moved her hand in front of her, it was pushed to the side by a fierce wind. The wind stood between her and the dark ring, as if forbidding her to enter.
Being the stubborn teenager that she was, Relaen forced her way through the tornado-like wind. As she went through, the wind blew her golden hair in front of her emerald eyes, keeping her from seeing what lay before her. As she walked, she grabbed onto branches and trees around her, to keep herself on the ground. After a few moments of struggling through the hurricane-like wind, Relaen finally reached the interior of the circle.
As she entered the darkness, the wind ceased. She could no longer feel the warmth of the sun on her skin. A chill ran down her spine as she realized that coming here was not the brightest of ideas. Without hesitating, Relaen turned to leave the ring of trees, only to be faced with a wall that felt like the bark of a tree. Terrified, she frantically followed the wall around, but found no openings. For the first time since she could remember, Relaen did not know what to do.
The young girl just stood there, her hands caressing the wall that kept her from her freedom. As she did so, she tried to calm herself. She stood against the wall for what seemed like hours, to scared to move from that spot. After thinking, Relaen decided to try to reach the middle of the room, in hopes that there might be something there to help her. She turned around until her back was against the course wall and then started walking as straight as she could.
Relaen kept her hands in front of her, to keep from bumping into anything that might be there. She walked in as straight of a line that could be followed in the powerful darkness, and never ran into anything. On the contrary, she just continued walking. The path that she was on slowly began to ascend. After walking for about half-an-hour, Relaen finally put her hands down and walked slightly more cautiously.
Soon after this, the utter blackness became an utter grayness. This meant one of two things; one-her eyes were adjusting to the darkness, or two- somewhere far ahead of her, a light was piercing the black. At realizing this, Relaen whispered a prayer of thanks and began running ahead in the twilight.
As she ran, Relaen saw the darkness become thinner and thinner. In a few minutes, she could see the sides of the tunnel, for now it was obvious that that was what she was walking through. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, until she saw the light.
There was a whole in the top of the tunnel that light was pouring through. Now Relaen decided that caution was again necessary. Carefully she arranged herself so that she could see through the whole, but nobody would be able to see her. She looked up through the whole, but the light was so bright that she could see nothing. She moved around the hole to the other side to try to peer up, but again, the light blocked her sight.
Wary of what, or who, may be beyond the light, Relaen eased her way around it so that she may look out. When she did, she saw that it was not the sun that lead her through the darkness, but the moon. Where she looked, she saw trees all around her. Hoping that the tunnel had lead her in a circle and that she was actually looking at her beloved home, Relaen jumped from the whole and looked around, searching for any signs of familiarity.
Sadly, Relaen found none. As she searched the areas near the trees, her eyes met a sight she had never seen. The world around her, wherever it may be, was dark and desolate. The group of trees that she was standing in appeared to be the only vegetation that her Elvin eyes could see. The ground was nothing but sand, like a never-ending desert. Even the trees that she was near looked dry and near death.
As she stared at the poor condition of the land, she heard a rustle from behind her. With ease, she jumped into the branches of the trees, cursing at herself for letting down her guard. She watched with anticipation as a young-looking woman who was slightly leaning on a walking staff came through the trees. The girl had black hair and fair skin. Her skin was so pale that she looked deathly ill. The girl's eyes were closed, but she walked through the green patch without err.
"Whose here?" the girl asked aloud. "I can hear and smell you, but see you I cannot. Who is here?" Relaen watched as the girl walked to the tree that she was in and looked up. Her visionless eyes fell upon Relaen, who now trembled in fear. "Who are you? Why do you hide yourself from me?" the girl asked in a demanding tone.
As quietly as an elf could go, Relaen jumped to another tree, hoping to confuse the strange creature. Nevertheless, as soon as Relaen left one tree for another, the blind woman followed her.
"Announce yourself. I do not wish to climb this tree, but I will if it is the only way to get to you." Now fearing for her life, Relaen jumped to every tree in the small wood, but the girl followed her to every one. Finally, Relaen gave up and jumped down from the boughs, landing right in front of the young woman.
"That is better. Now, who are you and what business do you have here?" the woman asked, her tone softening slightly.
"I am from another place and have stumbled upon this land. Can you tell me where I am?" Relaen asked, her voice slightly shaking. She was careful not to mention her name.
"Why, you are on earth." the woman answered with a small laugh.
"Earth!" Relaen said in dismay. "What could have been done to this land to make it look like this?"
"Come. I will tell you all you wish to know." With that, the woman turned around and started walking out of the clump of trees. Having no where else to turn, Relaen followed the woman, trying to figure out what she meant.
After walking in silence for about fifteen minutes, the two girls came to a cliff wall. Without speaking, the young woman began to climb the wall with ease, as if she has done it for years. Relaen looked on in wonder as the blind girl nimbly grabbed each handhold and found each foothold with no difficulties. Relaen followed with slightly more difficulty. They climbed for about one hundred feet until the woman pulled herself up on an overhang that lead to a large cave.
"Welcome." the girl said as she sat at a table and placed her staff against her chair. She pointed to the chair across from her and said, "Please, sit." With a slight hesitation, Relaen sat in the designated chair. "Now, you say you are not from here, please tell me about yourself." When the woman said this, a smile came across her face for the first time since Relaen met her earlier that night and Relaen noticed that the woman had fangs.
"Well, why don't you tell me about you and this place first." Relaen said, trying to avoid telling about herself. "You are wise to not speak of yourself before you know more about me." The girl said, smiling wider. "Especially since you appear to be alone and I am surrounded by friends, though you may not have noticed. My name is Aset, and whether you know it or not, you are in the presence of one of the oldest vampires that the world has ever seen."
"Vampires?" Relaen asked in shock. She had never heard of vampires living. She only knew them from stories told when she was growing up.
"Yes. Why are you so surprised? This world belongs to the vampires, though others are here as well."
"Others?" Relaen asked timidly. She was afraid to hear the answer.
"Yes. Werewolves, ogres, giants, trolls, y'know, normal things. Now you must tell me of yourself."
"Very well. I guess you deserve to hear about the person you are hosting. My name is Relaen and as I said before, I am not from here. My world does not have vampires except in stories. The same with werewolves and ogres. We have elves and humans and dwarves, amongst other things."
"What world is this that we do not exist?" Aset asked, taken aback.
"It is a place far different than here. In my home, we have lush, green woods and valleys of tall grass. Mountains that take you to the top of the world. Rolling hills and farmland. This desolate desert is quite a change for me."
"Did you also say you had humans in your world?" Aset asked, her interest peaking.
"Yes. Why do you ask?" Relaen replied with suspicion in her voice.
"Long ago, a prophesy was said, claiming that the blood of a human would be the death of us on this world, so the vampires killed all of the humans so that they might live a little longer. There haven't been humans here for nearly a millennia."
"But, how did there come to be vampires here?" Relaen asked, leaning forward on the table.
"When humans were at their prime, they used nuclear power for everything. One day there was a war between two of the most powerful countries in the world. They used nuclear weapons to blow up the nuclear plants. Radiation spread across the earth rapidly.
"Slowly, through the next few generations, children being born had odd capabilities. Some were vampires with fangs and pointy ears, some were werewolves with fur growing all over their bodies, some were ogres and were horribly deformed, while others were just very large for their age. These poor children were thrown out to fend for themselves. After about ten years, they formed an alliance. They started businesses and hired only the deformed children. They basically started treating the normal humans the same way they were treated. Eventually, the abuse between the two people was so bad, that they created different countries. The deformed children took over Europe and Asia while the humans took over the Americas.
"After about a century of this, a prophesy came around: "The blood of a foreigner is the key to sealing the entrance". Everyone became fearful. As soon as they could, the deformed children killed all of the humans on earth because they were the only foreigners. It has been a millennia since the last human was killed on our world."
"Wow." Relaen said in shock. "I never thought a world could do that to itself."
"And now it is time. I must know if you are indeed a human." Aset said after a moment of silence. "Come stand beside me." She said. Aset got up and stood in the middle of the cave, where a single thread of light seeped in through the stone roof.
Reluctantly Relaen got up and stood next to the vampire. The morning sun was just about to rise, so Aset positioned Relaen directly under the beam of light. Using the magic that was taught to her when she was little, Aset used the sun for her eyes. Through the light of the sun, she saw Relaen for the first time: a young elf with long blonde hair and emerald green eyes. As she looked at her, she felt something odd. Something did not seem completely right, but she could not tell what it was by looking at her.
"Well, you are no human, but I do not know what you are. The likes of you have not been seen here. Could you enlighten me?"
"I am an elf." She replied simply. She felt uncomfortable being watched by the blind woman. For though it was obvious that her eyes could not see, it was also obvious that she had some power that gave her that ability.
"Since you are not human I guess I do not have to turn you over to the Lord."
"The Lord?" Relaen asked with a confused look
"Yes. He is the ruler of this world. We are supposed to bring any strangers to him."
"Then why won't you bring me?"
"Trust me elf, you do not want to go."
Relaen went and sat opposite of Aset, letting her last comment hang in the air for a little while. Finally, she said, "Why are you being nice to me?"
"What do you mean by that?" Aset asked with a slight chuckle.
"You said the prophecy mentioned a foreigner, not a human. I am a foreigner in this land. Why do you not fear that I will 'seal the entrance'?" Aset sat for a moment, considering what Relaen said. Before Aset could reply, Relaen threw out another series of questions. "What entrance anyways? What does that even mean? What happens if it is sealed?"
Aset sat back to consider the young elf's questions. "Well, if it is sealed then the world will change. All of the creatures here would be destroyed. I would assume the entrance would be what you came through. As to you being a foreigner, I do not know. Perhaps the prophecies did mean you. If that is the case, you will have to be destroyed immediately."
Relaen looked at Aset in shock. "You would really kill me?" she stuttered. A chill ran down her spine as she saw the female vampire's head slowly nod. The two girls sat and stared at each other, both fearing what would happen if Relaen really did come to fulfill the prophecy. To both, it meant their deaths.
As Relaen watched the vampire, the fear inside of her grew. She watched the vampire as she decided what to do with this newfound information. Slowly, Aset stood and started pacing around the room. In a fit of anger, she threw the table that stood in the middle of the cavern onto the floor. As if a great struggle was finally over, Aset yelled, "The prophecy will come no matter what I do!"
Relaen stood from her chair and slowly started backing up towards the door. Aset turned and saw her intentions. "If you leave now, you will be seen and killed. The others will not take the chance that I did. If the prophecy is to be fulfilled by you, then it will be done no matter what anyone does."
"Listen, I don't want to fulfill any prophecy. I just want to go home. If you can help me do that, then I will be eternally grateful." Relaen said, coming back towards the middle of the room.
"I will help you find your way home. For now we both must rest. Come, I will show you where to sleep." Aset said, leading Relaen towards the back of the grotto. Relaen reluctantly followed. She was still weary of whether or not to trust the estranged vampire.
Aset lead her to a small room that had nothing but a hard mattress and a rough blanket. "I am sorry it is not better. I am sure you are used to much different accommodations."
"Actually elves can sleep anywhere. I normally sleep standing up or walking around the forest. We can rest and still do normal things at the same time. So this will do fine." Relaen reassured her.
"Very well. I rest down the tunnel. If you need anything you can help yourself." Aset said as she left Relaen to herself.
The next few days seemed a blur to Relaen. She rested during the day in Aset's cave and went out with her at night. The few times that she did leave Aset's abode, it was covered in a hood and cape so that the others of earth did not see that she was not one of them.
After a few days of wandering the earth in the shadow of her hood, Relaen began to miss the sun and her home. Once again, she was going to attempt to convince her sharp-toothed friend to allow her to leave the cave without her cloak, not only to feel the warmth of the sun on her skin, but to see clearly and hopefully find the entrance to her world.
"If you leave, you will be captured and killed. I cannot let that happen to you." Aset argued.
"Why am I suddenly your responsibility? I am nearly five thousand years old and I think I can care for myself." Relaen countered.
"You do not know what is out there! Someone will discover you and bring you to the Lord. He will command your death! And I guarantee you that it will not be pretty. He will demand to know who helped you and he is just begging for an excuse to get rid of me!"
"You say that like I would turn you in. Besides, I won't get caught! Elves don't get caught. Not where I'm from."
"Well this isn't where you are from! I don't like that fact that you are going to bring the end of my world, but you've started to grow on me and I don't want you to die a painful and agonizing death."
"I won't be caught! I keep telling you this, but for some strange reason, you won't believe me!"
"Fine! Do whatever you want. But your arrogance is going to be the end of you." Aset finished as she stormed off to her room.
With Aset gone, Relaen decided to take her leave. She placed Aset's cloak on one of the chairs in the main room of the cave and went to the exit. Using all that she had been taught about sneaking around, she started heading in the direction that she originally came from. She used her keen Elvin sight to spot the clump of trees that surrounded her when she first exited the dark tunnel.
After about twenty minutes of sneaking through the desolate desert, she finally reached the small oasis. Carefully, Relaen wound her way through the clump of foliage. Unfortunately, it was not carefully enough. As she reached the area that should have held the entrance to her world, she found three vampires (in cloaks) and two werewolves.
"Who are you?" one of the cloaked vampires demanded.
"Oh, just a friend taking a walk through this lovely oasis." Relaen replied, the shock still slightly showing in her voice.
"You do not look to be from here! What is your name?" he demanded again.
"Oh, why do you need to know a silly little thing like that?" she asked as she slowly began to back away from the group of guards.
"I bet you were thinking of trying to get to the entrance, weren't you?" another vampire said as he came up from behind her, grabbing her arm. He was tall and strong. His dark hair fell from his hood as he glared down at the elf. The other vampires and werewolves in the area fell prostrate in front of the noble looking vampire.
"And you must be the Lord." Relaen said weakly. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." she said as she put her other hand out for the man to shake.
"It will not be a pleasure once I am finished with you." He replied angrily, ignoring Relaen's extended hand.
"Let the young one go Derain. She has nothing to do with you." a familiar voice said from atop one of the trees.
The Lord raised his eyes to see Aset jumping down from the top of the tree nearest them. "Aset, what are you doing here?" he demanded. "Just because you took away my sight, does not mean you took away my right to be about in the world." She replied with a smug grin. "Now let the elf go. She has done you no harm."
"So you are the one to allow her into our world." Derain said. "I should have known that you would have had something to do with the end of our world." As he said this, his eyes made a fleeting glance to the guards. Aset, being blind, could not notice his eye's movement, but Relaen did. With a shout, Relaen made Aset aware of the Lord's intentions-then the battle began.
Aset took her walking stick and aimed towards the most noise, the Lord. With the staff, she hit him on the back of his head. In a fit of anger, he lunged toward the blind vampire, releasing Relaen from his grasp. Every time he lunged at Aset, she either countered his move with a swift hit of her staff or jumped nimbly away from the long knife he was now frantically swinging at her.
As soon as Relaen was freed from Derain's grasp, she kicked one of the guards in the face, picking up his dropped sword. With swift, elegant movements, Relaen fought the other guard. In a matter of a few strokes, the vampire lay dead at her feet. By this time, the other guard was on his feet and began to move towards Derain and Aset. As soon as Relaen saw his intentions, she jumped in front of him, blocking his path. The sharp- toothed guard began to claw at Relaen's face and arm, trying to take back his weapon.
Relaen swiftly cut off the guard's hands, so the he could no longer claw at her face and then she thrust her sword into his stomach. He fell to the floor with an agonizing yell. When Relaen turned around, Aset had drawn the Lord away from the entrance. Realizing that Aset's intention had been for Relaen to get away, she began to fun for the entrance. As she got there, the young elf realized that she could not leave her friend to be prosecuted for assisting her escape, so she ran back to help Aset finish off the Lord, but not before some of her blood from the claw wounds had fallen by the entrance.
Relaen ran back towards Aset. As she reached her, she saw that the Lord lay on the ground, knocked out cold.
"Come!" Aset said hurriedly. "You must get through the entrance!"
"No, not without you." Relaen said as they reached the familiar hole in the ground. "Come with me Aset. You will die an agonizing death here. You will be safe on my world!"
Without thinking much about the decision, Aset nodded her head in agreement. "But we must go now, for I hear the entrance closing!" When Aset said this, Relaen looked down and did see that the hole was already half gone.
"You first Relaen. Go!" Aset said with a push.
"No, you!" Relaen replied, wanting to get Aset away from the terrible world.
"If it closes while you are still here, who knows what will happen to you! Go!" Aset said again, this time pushing Relaen into the hole. After Relaen had landed, she looked up in just enough time to see he hole before it snap closed and the darkness engulfed engulf her.
Relaen jumped up with a start. She looked around her and found that she was still in her room, lying on her bed that was drenched in sweat.
Relaen let out a sigh of relief. It was just a dream. She got out of bed and began getting dressed for the day that lay ahead of her. After she was dressed, she sat down on her bed to put her shoes on. When she did, she let out a scream. Scribbled in blood on her floor was written: "The blood of a foreigner is the key to sealing the entrance".