Never Let an Elf Steal Your Heart

Lady Krista sat on the bed beside her son. She kissed his forehead, it'd been a long day and his fever had yet to break. She had to pass most of her responsibilities to others but she still had to tend to the young lord. There were just some things she could not avoid forever. 

"Momma, please tell me a story," Markos asked tugging on his mother's tunic, looking up at her with dark gold eyes. 

She smiled down at him, smoothing his hair away from his face. She had to go but still she lingered. With a soft chuckle, relented.

"Listen closely, child. I will tell you what the Church of the Holy Sword has taught us about the beginning. You will need to seek the wisdom of Teiwaz in your heart to determine where the truth lies." She spoke in a stuffy voice, making him giggle as she winked at him.

Markos started to speak but she gently placed a finger over his lips.

"Shush now. No questions. You know I have but a moment before I must go to tend the little Lord." 

Markos nodded and wriggled deeper into his blanket and pillow. He waited eagerly for his mother to begin. Her raven black hair fell in a long braid over her shoulder as she looked down at him. Her golden eyes sparkled in the candlelight like the sun had been captured in them. She traced a wooden pendant in the shape of a hammer around his neck idly for a moment.

She took a breath and began, her voice dramatic and soft as velvet. "In the beginning, there was nothing but darkness. An endless void that expanded and sighed. It was alone but knew nothing but the nothingness until the Word came. It was a whisper on the sighing wind that whirled inside the void. Its soft voice echoed and filled the darkness with its song. The words illuminated the darkness, each note taking form and substance to bring forth light.

The Word looked upon the endless expanse and saw the potential of the void. Rocks devoid of life. It felt a deep sorrow from being alone. Its despair brushed against the lifeless rocks and took on the guise of life forms. These companions saved the Word from its eternal loneliness and became the First gods.

The gods were children and played across the barren lands; new life springing forth in their footsteps to make them happy. Life was new and bright- the Word had banished the darkness with the light of its song, but it still was not enough. The children of the Word created new life forms to fill the earth- some in their own image with the same ability to control the power of the Word and others to feed their new creations.

The Second Children of the Word were the elder beings that we came to call "Elves". The elves frolicked and created without a care and eventually forgot how to hear the Word's voice. The world became too full, as there was no death and no darkness to stop it. The fullness caused the elves to turn on one another for space and war filled the lands. They used the power of the Word to destroy the beauty of the world but there was no such thing as death, and chaos and violence reigned.

The Word despaired and its voice no longer reached the ears of its beloved children.

The gods became enraged at what their children had done. Mara's heart grew cold, and she ripped the life from the warring elves as she roamed invisible across the endless battlefields. Saule in her kindness begged Mara to stop and tried to warm her sister's frozen heart but it was no use. The goddesses went to war for the fate of the elves, and it caused the world to crack apart.

Their powers clashed and Jord cried out in response to their rage and despair. The gods were conflicted, only Meneo, Saule's husband reveled in the death and destruction, but they were unsure of how to end the suffering of their creations when they could not stop their sisters from fighting each other. The other gods knew that something had to be done but they were not sure what. It was Laima that ran from the conflict and sought out the Word.

Laima's journey took her across off the planet and into the heavens. She traveled until her body ached and her light, her power threatened to flicker out. It was only when Laima feared her own death that she found the Word. It had never left her and had been beside her the entire time. She could not see the Word in the glare of her own light.

"My child," the Word said, "I know what troubles you. What do you wish to do?"

"I want the power to stop it. Please, help us!" Laima cried.

There was silence as the Word's light enveloped Laima and blinded her.

Laima awoke, not aware of ever sleeping back on Jord. The Word spoke and all of the children of the Word stopped to listen. "My children and grandchildren, this must stop. You cannot walk along the same path any longer. My children- you will go to the heavens to fill the darkness with your light. I will only leave Laima and Mara to walk among the Second born. There is too much danger in leaving the world filled with my power- so many of the grandchildren have died but I will not see it empty. New children will be born to walk the earth and live in the light but not to ever wield it. The First will guide the Second and the Third so that they may not lose their way again."

The gods vanished from Jord, Saule's compassion became the guiding light of day while Meneo remains her counterpart as the guiding light of the night. Mara's light shines no more, and she is our death. The elves tried to make amends for the damage they had caused by teaching the Third and helping them grow.

Mankind grew quickly and their numbers outmatched the elves. They lacked the ability to use the power of the Word, what they called "magic", but they were imaginative and created marvelous things to compensate. They worshiped the First but knew nothing of the Word as a being and thought of it only as magic. They eventually became arrogant and distrustful of the elves. Their distrust drove the elves away and began to manifest as an aphotic, a monster that destroyed everything in its path.

Saule watched on from the heavens and despaired. She reached out in her desire to save her children and managed to touch a few beings with her power. These beings wielded the magical embers of creation and fought the aphotics. But no beings were truly meant to carry the holy fires of the Word within them- many burned out or became aphotics themselves.

The aphotics grew into a horde that destroyed everything in its wake, led by a great Aphotic that had taken the form of a great dragon. Rivers dried up and the land stripped of left turned to dry wastes. Only blood flowed from the North as the horde swarmed south. Humans fled south of the mountains and prayed for salvation.

Saint Fleur prayed at the foot of the Havador Mountains despite the howling winds and chilling rain for 6 days and 6 nights. It was Perkons, the father of the storms, that interceded to our Holy Father Saint Fleur and told him the way to salvation. He was told to go into the Northern Wastes to the heart of Jord where the god, Teiwaz slumbered after forging a sword powerful enough to slay the great Aphotic dragon.

The Holy Father gathered a party of warriors with him and ventured north. After a perilous journey in the Heart of Jord, they gained the Holy Sword of Teiwaz and slew the great dragon. But the peace is only temporary. The wickedness of the Great Dragon could only be halted for 100 years. It was then that the Holy Father swore that another would return as the Pillar of the peace to slay the Great Dragon for as long as the light of the Last Star burned in the sky.

Every 100 years, a new Dragon slayer rises from the ranks of the Templars of the Holy Sword to take on the mantle of Pillar as he slays the Great Dragon. Elves were banished from the lands for their destruction of the old world but still, some linger despite being hunted by the Templars.

It has been 60 years since the last Dragon slayer has proved himself. Dare you dream to be the next?" 

"But we're not nobles, momma." Markos sleepily protested. His eyes heavy as his mother's figure grew fainter.

"Not a noble? Hush. Like such things matter to the gods." She paused, hearing something that Markos couldn't. Her shoulders were tense as she leaned forward, her voice a whisper against his cheek. "Listen to the wind and the whispers of Laima, when the goddess of fate calls for you, follow her. Promise me, Markos."

Markos nodded. "Yes, momma." Krista leaned forward and gave her son a quick kiss. 

"Sleep well. Remember that no matter what, momma loves you." She slowly withdrew from the bed, grabbing her sheathe from where she set it to tuck her son in. She hurried to the door, glancing back over her shoulder at her son one last time before she hurried off - her sword in hand.