I felt my back hit stone cold floor. I didn't want to open my eyes afraid
of what I might see. I could feel the weather ball, surprisingly still
intact in my hands. Blindly, I ran my fingers up and down the spout to
make sure it hadn't chipped when I hit the floor. Nope. Still smooth as
silk. "I wonder where I am.Well, wherever it is, it's cold. That's for
sure." I thought. I decided to open my eyes and at least see where I was.
I creaked them open, little by little, letting little slits of light into
my eyes until they were open and bright. I wasn't staring at a wall as I
expected, but a painting. Not a normal painting, either. It seemed to be
a large drapery cloth with a masterpiece painted onto its' surface. The
edges were elegantly tasseled and the cloth was fine woven silk canvas.
The picture on the material was of a girl and the look on her face of
uttermost importance. The realism was absolutely magnificent. "Actually,
she looks incredibly familiar." I thought. Being careful not to drop the
weather ball, I pushed myself off the ground, massaging my upper back from
the pain that was still there. I walked towards the drapery, my eyes
transfixed upon the girl's face. I placed one finger on her cheek half
expecting her to jump out at me or something it looked so real. As soon as
my finger touched the cloth, an instant thought rammed into my brain.
Carefully, I set the weather ball on the ground and made sure it was
properly balanced. I put my finger back onto the cloth, then took my other
finger, and placed it directly on my own face in the exact spot as the
cloth. Then I knew.
"It's me..The picture-it's of me." I said with a shaky voice.
For what seemed like hours and hours, I just stood there, staring at her. I knew she was supposed to be me, but why? With much acquired effort, I tore my eyes away. I needed to find out where I was, and why this picture was here. I picked the weather ball back up off the ground and tightly secured my hands around it. Because of the drapery, I had failed to notice that I was in a well-lit corridor with candelabras all along the walls. The walls happened to be engraved delicately with images of knights on their horses. There was a another painting too, now that I was seeing the rest of the area around me. This one, however, wasn't on cloth. It was painted directly onto the wall itself. The detail and masterwork was still the same though. "Whoever panted these must be extremely good. They must have taken hours of time to paint." I thought. I looked closer at the one on the wall, and checked the lower right hand corner for an artist's signature. To my surprise, there was. Not only that, but a title for the piece. It was named "LORD DAELONEIL" I gasped. "LORD DAELONEIL?!?!" I ran back to the one that looked like me, and it was named, Ms. Nerwen Sirfalas of the Elvin Empire. "Elvin Empire?!!? What in the world?"
With these new thoughts, I looked at the artist. Both of them were signed: Lord Daeloniel?? Elvish. Then it came to me. I remembered my wish from earlier that night. It had come true. I was now in the story of Lord Daeloneil.
I stared down the corridor, now realizing what my situation was. I was in a new world, completely out of my normal life. No Mom or Dad. I was now going to see what was to happen in the story. Clutching the weather ball, with high hopes, I set off down the corridor. There were many doors along the walls and I tried each in turn only find that they were locked. After a few minutes of this, I came about twenty feet from another door. This one was open with a dim golden glare coming from it. The kind of glow you get from a fire. Then I heard voices. I took a few steps towards the door and the voices stopped abruptly. I considered turning around and going the other way, not wanting to interrupt their conversation. Before I had time to, though, a man stepped out from the room. He was now looking directly at my hand which was still holding my weather ball. A smile spread across his face and he beckoned me to accompany him into the room with the other man. There was nothing else I could do. I followed him into the room. He closed the door behind me so we were alone in the room with the other man by the fire. In the light, I could properly study the attire of the both of them. Both of them were Elvish, I could tell because of their ears. Elves always had pointy ears. They wore that of royalty, with many elegant colors and velvety textures. The man who had let me in seemed a bit higher class than the other one. This was easy to tell, since a large staff was in his hand, the tip encrusted with diamonds. He wore a dark ocean blue tunic, the strands to tie it looked of the finest leather. His boots looked like dragon hide, and he wore a cloak of black velvet, trimmed with a light layer of black fur. He only looked to be in his late thirties and a mustache and small beard were visible. His eyes were open, though. They were stern, but at the same time gentle enough to play with a child. There was no gray in his hair whatsoever. Actually, he looked like he had been that age for a very long time. The other man looked much older. His clothes were a little more tired looking. They were much the same, except his tunic was brown and the cloak a bright white. And instead of a staff, he held a rolled up piece of parchment in his hands.
The younger looking man pulled up a soft cushioned chair next to the fire and motioned for me to sit down. As I was doing so, I couldn't help but notice the older man looking at me, and in a way I didn't particularly like. His look was scornful, as if I was someone not capable of completing a simple task. I decided to ignore it and sat myself down in the chair.
"Welcome, we have been expecting you." The young man said. His voice was deep and confident. "My name is Daeloneil and my friend here is Minister Ancalime. Please feel free to." but I was only half listening now. Did he just say he was the Lord Daeloneil? The one who all the stories were about? I looked at him and then realized, that yes it must be him. The descriptions from the book fit him perfectly.
"Do you understand now what it is you are supposed to do?" Daeloneil said to me.
"Wha-what?" I asked in a puzzled sort of way. After all, I was only half listening.
"Do you understand why you are here?"
"No."
"Then I will explain," said Daelondeil. "Please listen closely. About a month ago, our beloved daughter of the Elvin Empire, Nerwen, was killed. By whom, we do not know. It was believed that a stranger entered the kingdom not long ago and that they had something to do with it. When Nerwen was found, this was clenched in her hand":
I looked at the parchment, and tried to look at it like I knew what it said. I looked up at Daelondeil as if I had read it. But he only replied,
"You do not fool me. I know you cannot read elvish. It says:
"She is coming, and she
will find her
treasure to save us
all."
"That She is you, Jennifer." He said, and lowered his head as if in sadness. "You are to finish what she could not. You see Jennifer, she could see visions. She saw her own death before it happened. She knew you were going to come, because when you find your treasure, we all do. She died so you could save us all from our state and put us into the lives that we wanted. We do not want to be the same anymore. There are no differences in our community. We are all alike. She tried to change that.but as you see, she failed." He brought his head back up, and had a pleading look in his eyes. "So, we ask of you to fulfill her task and find your treasure." I didn't say anything. I understood, but I had no idea what he meant by "treasure."
"What do you mean my treasure? What treasure?" I said.
"The treasure you are supposed to find. Nerwen said you had a treasure." He replied.
"Well, I don't know of any treasure. And I'm not sure how I'm supposed to find it, anyway.
"That's because she doesn't have one." The minister spoke. He turned to Lord Daeloneil and started to explain. "Nerwen had no idea what she was thinking. We don't even know if her visions were real. She could have been lying. Don't pull this thing," he said and pointed at me, "into this. We don't need her help. She's not even one of us." He finished with a snarl.
"That's just it though," said Daeloneil, "she's not one of us. That's what makes her the perfect person to do the job. She can't get sucked back into our way of life. She has no feeling for it." Ancalime grunted, and turned to the fire, staring into it with rage. I had the feeling he knew Daeloneil was right.
"Jennifer, you understand now, what your task is? To find your treasure?" He asked.
"I still don't know what my treasure is. What IS it?" I asked a little impatiently.
"That, I am afraid, I cannot help you with. That is for you to find out for yourself." Daeloneil said. "I can, however set you on a path towards it. You see that mountain, over there, out the window?" he said, pointing out a window that strangely wasn't there a few seconds ago. "Over that mountain, there will be a path for you. From what Nerwen said, there are 5 obstacles, or trials, you must complete before you can have your treasure. She said by then, you will have an understanding. But what that is, I do not know." I looked out the window again and stared at the mountain. "5 trials.to find my treasure? To find an understanding? Of what? What do I not understand already?"
"You may stay here in the castle for the night. Tomorrow, the village will be open for you to gather anything you might need. The day after that, you will leave for the mountain." Daeloneil said. "It is time for me to leave. I will see you in the morning. Please sleep well." And Lord Daeloneil left the room, followed by the minister, his facial expression unchanged. He closed the door behind him, and I was left alone in the room. I gazed down at the weather ball, now remembering I still had it. And strangely, I felt very comforted knowing it was in my hands.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
"It's me..The picture-it's of me." I said with a shaky voice.
For what seemed like hours and hours, I just stood there, staring at her. I knew she was supposed to be me, but why? With much acquired effort, I tore my eyes away. I needed to find out where I was, and why this picture was here. I picked the weather ball back up off the ground and tightly secured my hands around it. Because of the drapery, I had failed to notice that I was in a well-lit corridor with candelabras all along the walls. The walls happened to be engraved delicately with images of knights on their horses. There was a another painting too, now that I was seeing the rest of the area around me. This one, however, wasn't on cloth. It was painted directly onto the wall itself. The detail and masterwork was still the same though. "Whoever panted these must be extremely good. They must have taken hours of time to paint." I thought. I looked closer at the one on the wall, and checked the lower right hand corner for an artist's signature. To my surprise, there was. Not only that, but a title for the piece. It was named "LORD DAELONEIL" I gasped. "LORD DAELONEIL?!?!" I ran back to the one that looked like me, and it was named, Ms. Nerwen Sirfalas of the Elvin Empire. "Elvin Empire?!!? What in the world?"
With these new thoughts, I looked at the artist. Both of them were signed: Lord Daeloniel?? Elvish. Then it came to me. I remembered my wish from earlier that night. It had come true. I was now in the story of Lord Daeloneil.
I stared down the corridor, now realizing what my situation was. I was in a new world, completely out of my normal life. No Mom or Dad. I was now going to see what was to happen in the story. Clutching the weather ball, with high hopes, I set off down the corridor. There were many doors along the walls and I tried each in turn only find that they were locked. After a few minutes of this, I came about twenty feet from another door. This one was open with a dim golden glare coming from it. The kind of glow you get from a fire. Then I heard voices. I took a few steps towards the door and the voices stopped abruptly. I considered turning around and going the other way, not wanting to interrupt their conversation. Before I had time to, though, a man stepped out from the room. He was now looking directly at my hand which was still holding my weather ball. A smile spread across his face and he beckoned me to accompany him into the room with the other man. There was nothing else I could do. I followed him into the room. He closed the door behind me so we were alone in the room with the other man by the fire. In the light, I could properly study the attire of the both of them. Both of them were Elvish, I could tell because of their ears. Elves always had pointy ears. They wore that of royalty, with many elegant colors and velvety textures. The man who had let me in seemed a bit higher class than the other one. This was easy to tell, since a large staff was in his hand, the tip encrusted with diamonds. He wore a dark ocean blue tunic, the strands to tie it looked of the finest leather. His boots looked like dragon hide, and he wore a cloak of black velvet, trimmed with a light layer of black fur. He only looked to be in his late thirties and a mustache and small beard were visible. His eyes were open, though. They were stern, but at the same time gentle enough to play with a child. There was no gray in his hair whatsoever. Actually, he looked like he had been that age for a very long time. The other man looked much older. His clothes were a little more tired looking. They were much the same, except his tunic was brown and the cloak a bright white. And instead of a staff, he held a rolled up piece of parchment in his hands.
The younger looking man pulled up a soft cushioned chair next to the fire and motioned for me to sit down. As I was doing so, I couldn't help but notice the older man looking at me, and in a way I didn't particularly like. His look was scornful, as if I was someone not capable of completing a simple task. I decided to ignore it and sat myself down in the chair.
"Welcome, we have been expecting you." The young man said. His voice was deep and confident. "My name is Daeloneil and my friend here is Minister Ancalime. Please feel free to." but I was only half listening now. Did he just say he was the Lord Daeloneil? The one who all the stories were about? I looked at him and then realized, that yes it must be him. The descriptions from the book fit him perfectly.
"Do you understand now what it is you are supposed to do?" Daeloneil said to me.
"Wha-what?" I asked in a puzzled sort of way. After all, I was only half listening.
"Do you understand why you are here?"
"No."
"Then I will explain," said Daelondeil. "Please listen closely. About a month ago, our beloved daughter of the Elvin Empire, Nerwen, was killed. By whom, we do not know. It was believed that a stranger entered the kingdom not long ago and that they had something to do with it. When Nerwen was found, this was clenched in her hand":
I looked at the parchment, and tried to look at it like I knew what it said. I looked up at Daelondeil as if I had read it. But he only replied,
"You do not fool me. I know you cannot read elvish. It says:
"She is coming, and she
will find her
treasure to save us
all."
"That She is you, Jennifer." He said, and lowered his head as if in sadness. "You are to finish what she could not. You see Jennifer, she could see visions. She saw her own death before it happened. She knew you were going to come, because when you find your treasure, we all do. She died so you could save us all from our state and put us into the lives that we wanted. We do not want to be the same anymore. There are no differences in our community. We are all alike. She tried to change that.but as you see, she failed." He brought his head back up, and had a pleading look in his eyes. "So, we ask of you to fulfill her task and find your treasure." I didn't say anything. I understood, but I had no idea what he meant by "treasure."
"What do you mean my treasure? What treasure?" I said.
"The treasure you are supposed to find. Nerwen said you had a treasure." He replied.
"Well, I don't know of any treasure. And I'm not sure how I'm supposed to find it, anyway.
"That's because she doesn't have one." The minister spoke. He turned to Lord Daeloneil and started to explain. "Nerwen had no idea what she was thinking. We don't even know if her visions were real. She could have been lying. Don't pull this thing," he said and pointed at me, "into this. We don't need her help. She's not even one of us." He finished with a snarl.
"That's just it though," said Daeloneil, "she's not one of us. That's what makes her the perfect person to do the job. She can't get sucked back into our way of life. She has no feeling for it." Ancalime grunted, and turned to the fire, staring into it with rage. I had the feeling he knew Daeloneil was right.
"Jennifer, you understand now, what your task is? To find your treasure?" He asked.
"I still don't know what my treasure is. What IS it?" I asked a little impatiently.
"That, I am afraid, I cannot help you with. That is for you to find out for yourself." Daeloneil said. "I can, however set you on a path towards it. You see that mountain, over there, out the window?" he said, pointing out a window that strangely wasn't there a few seconds ago. "Over that mountain, there will be a path for you. From what Nerwen said, there are 5 obstacles, or trials, you must complete before you can have your treasure. She said by then, you will have an understanding. But what that is, I do not know." I looked out the window again and stared at the mountain. "5 trials.to find my treasure? To find an understanding? Of what? What do I not understand already?"
"You may stay here in the castle for the night. Tomorrow, the village will be open for you to gather anything you might need. The day after that, you will leave for the mountain." Daeloneil said. "It is time for me to leave. I will see you in the morning. Please sleep well." And Lord Daeloneil left the room, followed by the minister, his facial expression unchanged. He closed the door behind him, and I was left alone in the room. I gazed down at the weather ball, now remembering I still had it. And strangely, I felt very comforted knowing it was in my hands.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *