The Gate of Haisherom

Chapter 10

They took the secret passageway out of the city of Negathor. It led to an abandoned and decrepit house inside Negathors sister city that fell into ruin from unknown causes long ago. As they exited the passageway they found themselves surrounded by rubble and fallen debris.

They made their way over and under the forgotten stone and stopped at the edge of the ruined city to rest their feet.

Yokig clutched the compass in his hands during the entire journey. He felt a need- an urge- to keep it close and keep it safe. He was worried that if he took his eyes off of it -even for a second-the compass would choose to leave him.

"Yokig!" Redbeard tried to get Yokigs attention but the boys eyes remained glued to the shiny silver in his hand. The giant placed his hand on the relic, snapping Yokig out of his unresponsive trance.

"Yokig."The giant removed his hand and pointed at the compass.

"Oh, yeah...yeah" Yokig had been so distracted by the current events that had just transpired that he forgot to use the compass to guide his friends in the right direction. He held the silver compass up to his eyes and focused intensely on its silver hands. The triangular point on its center ring whirled around, spinning like a top. Gradually its rotations slowed and when it came to a stop it was pointing to the northwest.

"I have to be honest with you boy, it's been a long time since I've traveled in that direction." The giant rustled Yokigs hair and reminisced on his travels in his mind. "Good memories my boy, good memories."

What memories? Yokig thought. The giant's words piqued his interest. He hadn't had much time to explore Negathor. He wanted to see the city, to soak in its beauty; but the nature of his current status as a fugitive prevented him from doing so. Yokig was still thirsty for adventure, and tales of it. He was curious about what the giant knew about what lay northwest. "Whats northwest?"

"The Vendelon Mountains my boy." The giant let out a grunt and grinned. "And beyond that the port city of Endeloin."

"There's this beautiful lake nestled in the Vendelon mountains my mother used to take me to. It was right next to..." The giant paused as his eyes started to well up with tears from the memories. Yokig could see that whatever the giant was remembering was a painful experience for him that brought him sadness and grief. The giant continued despite the pain, "Right next to the town I was raised it."

"Oh, maybe we could visit!?" Yokig tried his hardest to consol the giant but the giant brushed his attempt off with a wave of his hand.

"No, I couldn't possibly bear it." The giant sobbed.

Dresmael huddled in the corner of the broken wall reading out of her little green book. Blackpaw chased a bug around, leaping up as high as she possibly could as she attempted over and over again to catch it in her tiny cute cat paws.

It was Redbeard that noticed the dove flying above them as he brushed the last tear from his eye with his massive finger. "Look, over there!" He motioned to the bird as it flew so everyone could see.

"We have to hurry, they know we're gone. Quick, into the forest!"Redbeard commanded as he rushed the group into quickly packing their things and hurried them off into the dense cover of the forest.

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They travelled along the river in the dense woods for a few days making small shelters every few miles to stop and rest. On the third day Yokig decided to go hunting with Redbeard to catch something to eat for dinner. As they hunched under the cover of the bush, they waited for a deer to approach. The bristles of the thick brush poked at Yokigs hands and feet and make his skin feel itchy. He struggled to remain still and fought hard against the desire to scratch.

Redbeard had sharpened a stick on a few rocks to make a makeshift spear. Redbeard wet his finger with his tongue and held it up into the wind. "We should be ok." he whispered a few moments later. "The wind is blowing in our direction."

They waited for a few hours before a deer cautiously strolled into view. It slowly walked to the stream, looking around as it took each step, making sure it was alone.

When it finally felt it was safe, it bowed its head and leaned down to take a drink of the cool water below its feet.

Redbeard motioned for Yokig to stay down as he rose up as quietly as he could, holding the wooden spear tightly in his hand and raising it above his head, being careful to take precise aim. Yokig knew that they only had one chance to hit the deer, otherwise they would spend yet another day eating unfulfilling edible shrubbery. Yokig wanted something more than the scavenged greenery, he wanted meat.

As Redbeard pulled his arm back to ready for his throw, something shot through his extended arm past the two hunters, and lodged itself into the deer's eye.

Yokig was in disbelief as he saw the deer stumble and almost fall as it struggled to remain standing, desperately trying to make its futile escape with an arrow lodged in its eye.

The first thing Yokig thought was that the kingsmen had finally found them. Wouldn't they arrest us instead of shooting past us? He rationalized.

Another arrow hit the deer's neck, causing it to finally fall to the ground, its breathing becoming labored and heavy.

"What the hell!" Redbeard covered yokig with his body and kept yokig low to the ground.

The bushes behind the two hunters rustled and two creatures sprang out, rushing to the deers side. Their ears were pointed at the tips, their chins were angular, but strong. Their skin was fair and they had a sort of magical beauty surrounding them. From what Yokig could see, they were two male elves naked from the waist up.

One of the elves shot another arrow into the still breathing deer, putting it out of its misery.

A high pitched laugh came from behind them. Yokig and Redbeard turned to see a voluptuous female elf , her body in the shape of a gentle hourglass, wearing a bow around her shoulder and sporting a quiver of arrows behind her back. Like the male elves, she was naked from the waist up.

"Sorry friends, I dont think your little stick would have done much" She howled. Her eyes fell onto the compass around Yokigs neck. "Well, isn't that interesting!"

Yokig slid the compass defensively into his shirt to hide it.

"You don't have to worry about us friends, you should worry about the kingsmen that have been trailing you for the past few days"

"Who are you!" Redbeard demanded, still shielding Yokig under his burly arm.

"Really, you honestly don't know? I thought the ears would give it away." The female elf chuckled as if she were telling a really funny joke. "Calm down, my name is Milahai princess of Haisherom. Those two are my brother Zamelhai and my husband Shrilhai." She pointed at the two elves as they tied up the deer with a rope they fished out of the bottom of one of their quivers, tying up the deer to a long piece of sturdy wood. "Don't worry, boy with dreams, we already know who you are. We caught your friends camping about forty yards from here."

"Hey Milahai!" Zamelhai called from the stream. "That's one point for me! You're losing you're touch! The married life has softened you!" Zamelhai was shorter than his sister but was still in good shape. His long black hair covered his ears, a single braid of it wrapped around his head. Like his sister, he wore nothing but a loincloth.

"It is not marriage, my brother, it was the wind that blew my arrow off course!"She jokingly replied back. "That hardly counts!"

"The wind?" He replied. "What a convenient excuse!"

Milahai dismissively waved her brother off and turned her attention back to Yokig and Redbeard. "He's just upset because I'm winning the game. Its four hundred and six to his now four hundred and two." She smiled and continued, "How about you two join us for dinner, mother would be so happy to meet you."

Yokig and Redbeard followed the elves through the forest. The elves made sure to walk fast but carefully through the dirt. They covered their tracks and followed natural markers that only they could identify, until they led the travelers to a small clearing.

Zamelhai and Shilhai set the deer down on the ground and rolled their shoulders while Milahai searched the surrounding trees.

"Stay behind me!" Redbeard commanded Yokig in a low voice gently pushing the boy behind him.

Milahai found what she was looking for. She pushed a hidden spot on a tree causing a beam of golden light to shoot out of the middle of the clearing and into the sky above. The beam of light made a loud hum as it touched the sky.

"It's beautiful, isn't it! Boy with dreams!" Milahai spoke over the hum. The golden beam separated into two beams of light, pulling away from each other, revealing a glowing golden doorway of pure light that stretched into the clouds above.

Yokig was partly amazed and partly afraid at the spectacle taking place in front of him. He didn't know if he should run or stay in place. The doorway emitted a sort of warmth to Yokig that reminded him of home, of sitting next to a warm friendly fire in the herth. He wanted to touch the light, it begged for him to touch it. Suddenly he felt his feet instinctively walk towards it. Redbeard grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"What is this!?" The Giant demanded. He pulled the boy with him as he backed away from the light.

"This friends, is the gate of Haisherom!" The elf laughed at their unnecessary caution. " Your caution is amusing to me giant, You'll be safe from your enemies here."

Shilhai and Zamelhai picked the deer up and slung it over their shoulders, carrying it into the light, leaving Milahai and the travelers in the clearing. Milahai beckoned to the travelers, urging them to follow her as she entered the gate.

The giant waited until they were alone in the clearing. "I don't like this," Rebeard muttered.

"What choice do we have?" Yokig pleaded with him. Yokig really wanted to follow the elves, to get away from the kingsmen, if only for a little while. He wanted to get out of that forest.

The giant reached out and touched the light barrier, his hand disappeared within its warm glow. He looked at Yokig.

"I know, I'll stay behind you."Yokig trusted the giant with his life. Redbeard gave the boy a small nod and they both entered the gate.

As they passed through the golden light they found themselves standing under a stone archway. Ahead of them stretched out as far as Yokig could see, lay a beautiful elven city. Its gentle marble archways and curved circular rooftops stretched out into the distant horizon. The city felt enchanted, it had a mystical and beautiful glow surrounding its every stone. In the center of the city stood a tall castle consisting of three watchtowers placed in a triangular shape around a larger and taller circular dome. Its windows were visible from where Yokig stood; he could see the sparkling golden arches of its entrances.

It was toward this castle that Milahai, her husband and her brother were headed. The travelers, now over the initial shock of the spectacle, ran to catch up.

"What is this place?" Yokigs eyes filled with amazement and wonder.

Milahai draped her arm around the boy and motioned to the city with her other hand. "This -boy with dreams- Is the last great elven city. The great and hidden Haisherom." She grinned from ear to ear with pride. "Come friends, we must hurry. The others are waiting for us in the grand palace."

They quickened their pace as they walked through the glittering streets, passing by elven shops selling their wares and curious elven passerbys stretching their beautiful necks to get a better view of the foreigners. They all dressed like Milahai and her comrades, naked from the waist up with nothing but loincloths covering their bottom halves.

As he waited for the drawbridge to the castle to be lowered down, Yokig looked at the elven architecture. In the archways to the tower, carved in gold, was a mosaic of a group of primitive looking elves, receiving filled bowls from twelve giant looking figures emerging out of a sphere. Yokig was in awe at the beauty of the etchings.

They were led on the stone path through the gardens, past the gates and into the great main building of the castle. She led them down the golden corridor past the kitchen, to a set of wooden stairs where her husband and brother split off from the group to take the deceased deer to be cooked for dinner. They ascended the stairs and entered another corridor, where they were ushered into a large lounge room. A roaring fire burned in the herth. Dresmael sat on one of the wooden benches with her nose glued to a book while Blackpaw slept soundly in a tightly curled ball on a bed in the corner of the grand room. They didn't notice Yokig and Redbeard walk in.

Yokig was in awe of the room, the bed looked soft with its red satin sheets. Its velvet curtains with gold trim hung loosely around it, swinging from carved oak bars of wood. The hearth was made with marble and lined with gold that seemed impervious to the fire's heat. Surrounding the hearth were wooden benches that could fit about two people each. The walls were painted with murals of golden roses, weaving and intertwining around the room from one wall to the next on a background of royal violet.

Dresmael looked up from her book and rushed towards Yokig, flinging her arms around him and tackling him to the ground. Her book lay abandoned on the bench. "You're here!" She exclaimed as she released the boy from her iron grip.

Yokig had no idea of how strong Dresmael really was until this point, her hug hurt the sides of his body a little. "This place is amazing!" Yokig remarked, looking around the room.

"We thought we were dead for sure, but it turned out to be just the elves. They took us through the gate and I was like, wow. They led us here, and the magical library they have has such a great selection of books. I found some more spells that I want to try and…"Dresmael blurted out. Yokig could tell she was happy to see him. He felt like she had been waiting to tell him what had happened after they split up to go hunting. Her experiences had built up inside of her like water in a clogged tap waiting for the drain to be unclogged so it could spew forth and finally run through.

A servant ran up to Milahai and whispered something in her ear before returning the way she came.

"The queen has some matters that she needs to attend to but she promised she would join us in the royal dining hall for supper." Milahai spoke up to address the room. "Mother is most excited to meet you, boy with dreams." She gave Yokig a wink before continuing. "Anyway; I have been ordered to summon someone from within the city to join us tonight, so I must go attend to that at once."

With that Milahai turned on her heels and left the room, leaving the travelers to themselves inside.