Chapter 5

Trance

Funny thing about elves is that we don't sleep. We do rest, but we don't sleep. The closest we elves come to sleep is a self-induced catatonic state, being knocked unconscious, as well as falling into a catatonic state due to sickness or injury.

I have fallen into a catatonic state, and it is nothing like trance. I am aware of the world around me, I can hear voices, but I can never tell what time it is. What could be days to me, could be minutes or perhaps even years in reality.

No, we elves enter a trance. In this trance we are fully aware of everything around us, but we also dream. These dreams are both mental exercises which we can control, while others are visions or simply dreams. Not just that, but a four hour trance is equivalent to eight hours of human sleep. So my six hour trance was equivalent to twelve hours of sleep.

In my six hour trance I dreamt of thieving, a life in Osilon had I supplied my brother with what he wanted and, a vision.

In the vision I saw my brother. He was older, his hair was longer, he wore an elven shirt and pants. He carried a sword, which he had unsheathed, he had a pack on his back, and he had a wand sticking out of his pack. He was in a dark cave, deep in the earth. I could tell it was deep in the earth because it was hot. He was sweating. He wasn't facing me. Instead he was looking out over a cliff into a massive cavern.

"We meet again Irigorn." He was obviously addressing me. I stayed silent. "Well? Won't you answer your brother?"

"Yes Foror. I hear you, but I do not wish to speak to you. I do not wish to dream of this." I closed my eyes and willed the dream to change. When I opened my eyes it had not changed.

"My power over your dream is too great for you to change. I have cast the dream spell. We will speak for as long as I like. Tell me Irigorn, what are you doing? You are on the edge, you are in the Borderlands. Why are you there?" he asked me. He was still looking out into the massive cavern. A noticed a faint red light came out of the opening my brother was standing on the edge of.

"I am here to stop you. I believe there is knowledge here regarding what you seek. I will not let you win."

"I told you my goal, destroy the monsters, unite the races. I never said I was going to be king. I forgive you for the misunderstanding. But truth is, you cannot defeat me. I am so experienced in the ways of magic that I am little more than a godling. I will reform this world into my form of heaven. I shall destroy the monsters and unite the races. My goal is simple and beautiful. And I do it all in the name of Corellon Larethian. In the name of the elves, and they will agree with me. I understand you search for the same secret I do."

"Yes brother, I am. But I will use it to stop you."

"Why would you stop me Thaan? Why?"

"My name is Irigorn, call me anything, but not Thaan. Because you killed our family, you plan on killing trillions of creatures, not to mention that you cannot kill all monsters. A wizard can summon one from another plane. The world will become utter chaos."

"I understand brother. That is why I will also destroy all portals in and out of this plane. My plan is to destroy them all, with a few words. Now, do you know where I am brother?"

"No, I do not. Perhaps deep under our feet."

"Indeed. I am very deep. In fact, I might be right underneath you." He turned around. I saw his eyes for the first time in years. They were not my brother's eyes, they were something else. They were the eyes of a monster. They were full of greed and hatred. But a hatred and greed for what? His eyes looked as though they burned. His irises were no longer leaf green as they used to be, but they looked as though they were made of fire. His skin was darker than I remembered and when he smiled, he showed sharp teeth. "This, is deep under the earth. Look with me brother, look at the underworld with me. For this is the stuff of legend."

I walked over to the edge of the cliff and saw a great expanse in front of me. It must have gone down thousands of feet, because I saw mountains spewing lava, waterfalls of steaming water coming down from the ceiling, and a strange, but beautiful, array of river of lava and water. I saw forests of silver trunks and black leaves. I saw what could have been elf villages, but I knew that was impossible.

"This is the land of legend. Our brethren live here. They come from a day and age before Gruumsh had one eye. They are living relics. Here, the Dark Elves have discovered some powerful secrets of magic. I have learned many things from them. But they tell me that there is much more that they do not know. For this is a race of gods, but gods are not omniscient. No, gods are anything but omniscient. I just wanted to talk to you brother. Now that I have, good-bye."

Suddenly I was awake. It was dark out still, I estimated it was four in the morning. I dressed into traveling clothes, put on my armor, equipped my gear, put on my robe, twisted my sword out of it's sheath, checked it out, put it away. I put on my boots, I washed my face and hands. I pulled my knife out of my boot, polished that as well, then sharpened it. Then I put it away and opened the door.

Not all dreams in trance are lucid. Sometimes we can't control them. Yet, these dreams are about as common as a human's lucid dreams. For some elves, these non-lucid dreams are common and to others they almost never happened. I was someone where it happened a few times a month. I ignored the dream, as I had had a similar dream a few months earlier.

The smell of huckleberry juice, pancakes, beer and many other delights hit me like a wall. I stopped for a second and allowed my nose to adjust. Once adjusted, I walked down the stair. Once I reached the bottom, I saw a silver piece. I bent down and picked it and put it into my money pouch.

I looked around. The fire was lit, candles were lit all around the room. The smell of food smelled delicious. In front of the fire was our friend Thoros. He threw some bread into the fire, then through a gold piece in. He then poured some huckleberry juice into the fire. I walked over, grabbed a piece of bread and a cup of huckleberry juice, and sat down beside Thoros.

"Pelor requires sacrifice. I pray to him every morning when I wake up. On the road I relight the fire and pray to him. This morning all I see our flames."

At that moment Adamis came down. He was wearing his chainmail armor, his helmet was on his hand. He had his pack on his back, his two handed sword on his side, and his long sword on a sheath on his back. He also carried a war hammer on his right side. He grabbed a four pancakes the size of his head, cup of huckleberry juice, three pieces of bread and came sat by us. "I forgot to ask," he said, "What are you?"

Thoros was insulted by the question. Anyone would be. "I am a human! What else would I be? A elf has pointed ears, a half-elf has smaller, but pointy ears, a half-orc is brawny and ugly, a dwarf is four feet tall, a gnome is three and a half and a Halfling stands at three feet. Isn't it obvious I am human?"

"Yes." Adamis said, "Forgive me. What I meant was what are you? Cleric, bard, sorcerer?"

"A Cleric of Pelor the One True God."

"I am a Paladin of Herioneus."

"There is no point in arguing over this. Where is your magic user?"

"Cynwyd is probably preparing her spells."

"So have I. Have you Paladin?"

"I cannot cast spells yet," Adamis said, "I have spell-like abilities granted to me by my god. But right now I can't cast spells."

"I see."

"What spells do you have?" Adamis asked Thoros.

"That is a personal question!" Thoros growled at Adamis. "Are all Paladins like you?"

"In some ways, yes." I answered. I stared into the fire, I remembered the one time I fight beside a paladin. It was so long ago, and he was just a few years older than Adamis. I had watched him die.

"What? You mean you've met more?" Adamis said.

"Yes, but I do not wish to speak of my past. To anyone. What matters is the present." I finished my bread and took a sip of juice.

Cynwyd came down, in her decorative boots, her grey and green cloak and her staff. She had her pack. I could tell she was low on money. I tend to look to the spot where people put their money pouches. It helps me determine who is worth stealing from. She grabbed a plate of food and a glass of water. She then asked the innkeeper to fill her water skin.

I walked up and asked the innkeeper is if he could fill my water skin as well. He did. I walked back over.

"Sleep well?" Adamis asked.

She paused a moment, then said, "I suppose."

"Elves don't sleep Adamis." I told him.

Thoros scrunched his eyebrows together, forming a unibrow. He asked, "How do elves get their rest?"

"We enter a trance. We are fully aware of our surroundings in this trance." I said.

"Do you dream?" Adamis asked.

"Yes. But most dreams are of our own making, they are mental exercises to keep our minds sharp and nimble. They happen whether or not we want them to." I explained.

"I see." Thors said, nodding his head.

We finished breakfast. We left the Red Dragon when it was dawn. We went to a different gate than we entered the city by.

"Where are you going?" The man asked us. He untied my bag with my knife, bow and arrows in it.

"The Caves of Chaos." Thoros answered.

"Well, I hear there is treasure there. Every few days or weeks adventurers come through here, gather provisions, get a shield, buy a horse. Then they leave saying they are going to the Caves of Chaos. Very rarely do they come back. So am serious when I say this, stay to the lower caves. That is where the minor monsters are. The higher caves are full of orcs, bugbears, slime and many other nasty creatures. Most of the people who come back say they entered the lower caves. But even then, not many of them come back either."

"Well," Adamis started, "We will come back. I bet my hammer and my two handed sword I would."

"He also bet two silver pieces." I mumbled.

"Well! There are people coming in. Thank you." He didn't say anything like 'Come again' or 'Good luck.' I began to wonder just how many people survived this.