The Test

The rest of the morning I spent looking through Wizzal's books. there were books about medical plant, animals and magic. He has books on everything. Even history, art and culture of many different races. I found one book that says "Elves". This peaks my interest and it is nothing like I expected.

The Elf is a deadly humanoid creature with long ears, sharp teeth and long claws. They use magic to kill and hang out high in the trees of the forests to the south. They wear clothing made of plants and items they steal from travelers. They have long arms and long legs almost like a grasshopper. Lite almost white colored skin and attack victims from above. They eat victims alive or raw.

The butt dog turns out to be called a SURa. I still prefer the name Buttdog but whatever. After the rain stops I head out to see about identifying plants. I grab a basket just incase. As I head out the hole in the wall. Wizzal comes at me looking angry.

When he is in front of me he starts shaking a book under my nose and yelling. It is one of the books I had hit when I had attacked his house. The cover is black and the edges of the pages are charred. "Do you have any idea what you have done? Ruined, so many book are ruined. This book alone can not be replaced. It's on spirit summoning. Do you have any idea how rare a book like this is. If you had destroyed it I'd never be able to replace it. People don't just write books like this."

He hits the cover with his hand for emphasis as he continues, "It covers over 100 summons. It is unheard of because every summon is different. The same kind of beasts can't just be summoned the same way as someone else. Over 30 years of research almost gone." He finally stops to catch his breath. I smile and head out the hole saying, "Lucky for you. You happen to be useful."

I head into the forest books in hand looking around for plants. I collect a few after comparing the different books. Some are healing plants others for weapons and I also collect some Lizeli plants to test.

After awhile I bring the plants to the tower and set them out to dry in the hot sun. The humidity is climbing as the sun elaborates the rain.

The Lizeli are a different story. I look around and get a cloth to put around my face and some yellow crystal dust. Reading from the book I grind up the Lizeli to a fine powder(more like a mush) then add the crystal dust in equal parts grinding it again. After that I leave it in the sun to dry for a few hours. Then I head out and take a sniff. "Hmmmm don't seem to bother." Thats not the real test. I take a small breath and a spark flies from my mouth no sooner has the spark hit the dust then smoke fills the air and all goes black.

When I open my eyes they burn and my head is screaming I pick myself off the floor of the balcony holding my head. That really is a beast knock out dust. That also confirms my theory I'm classified as a beast.

The sun has gone down so I've been out for hours. The book says it is used to subdue beasts for capture and renders most unconscious and others sick. "I can believe that," I think as my stomach turns. I didn't think it would actually affect me this much. I definitely underestimated the strength of the plant. "I need to find out more about this plant and preventative measures fast," I think as I use the wall to stand up. There is no way a thing like that can be of uses unless you can protect the beasts you have with you.

I head back inside and sit down my head pounding. I lay my head back on the cold stone wall. I stay like that for hours before I can get back to looking for a preventative.

When morning comes Wizzal finds me pouring over books deep in thought. He asks me about coming to eat and I just flick him away with my hand and continue reading. "5 years and I've never run into this kind of plant, Why?" Before Wizzal vanishes I ask him as I still look at the book in my hand. "Those plants Lizeli. The first time I saw them was at this village. Why is that?"

Wizzal stops for a minute and says, "oh yes the Lizeli are the greatest accomplishment in the last 200 years. They are a magical plant cultivated under the spirit stones until they sprout. So you will not find them growing anywhere in the wild. They also bring a high price sense many villages can't afford barrier stones to protect their villages.

They are another reason why we Florensin are in such high demand as slaves. We can grow them and find the spirit crystals. The only other race that can find spirit stones are the elves and sense the Dark War sadly they are few and..." he goes silent before continuing, " They are not of mind anymore." He pulls a book from the shelves pass it to me and silently walks to the door. "Pausing he says softly, "I just pray it doesn't happen to us as well."

I look at the title on the book and start reading.

"The Dark War and the magic of the Elves"

The book is pretty simple. The three human powers of this kingdom once lived in peace, they each followed a different god. The three gods were:

Nillver God Of Death and Birth

Suma God Of War and Power

Tala God Of Wealth and Joy

Needless to say a huge war broke out each one saying they served the one true god. "Can't say that surprises me" The elves were fought over cause they had so much power and could find the spirit stones that could summon huge beasts destroying everything in their path. The kingdom was getting destroyed. So the Tala and Suma Temple decided to join forces.

They enslaved the Elves forcing them to work for them and build a huge magic generator on a natural and strong energy line in the earth. They were planning to unleash the power on the Temple of Nullver. They hooked thousands of elves to this generator. As the energy increased the elves screamed in pain and the magic went out of control. Dark clouds filled the air and everything thing it touched appeared to die. It spread without any sign of stopping. The only hope came when the Temple of Nullver created the Lizeli flowers.

They were able to contain the dark cloud and stop the spreading with the flowers. When the cloud disappeared after many years all that was left was blackened. The Temple of Suma and Tala were gone, the elves were forever changed and the beasts filled the area. After many years the people grew lax and the flower barrier wasn't cared for so the flowers started to wilt and die. The beasts were freed and spread across the land.

I put the book down in thought as I look at the last paragraph. "The windshield was then created to make use of the beasts and capture others, but it was to late they had spread to far."

I click my tongue and look around, sighing I start my search for how to make a windshield and protect myself from the devastating affects of the Lizeli flowers.