The Tome of Agrimar

Chapter Thirteen

Darkness surrounded her and encroached upon her. Looking around, Kendra found herself swallowed up in a blackness so thick and complete she could not even see her hand in front of her face. Time did not exist. She did not know how long she sat in the nothingness, straining to see something, before a light became visible. It grew slowly upon her vision, becoming more and more apparent, lighting her way like gentle embers slowly forming into a roaring fire.

The young woman was in a small tunnel that seemed to go on forever toward the red light in the distance. Curious, she began crawling toward the crimson globe, and found that the air grew thicker and warmer the closer she came. The tunnel seemed to reach on and on forever and ever, the light always seeming to be just as far as it had been when she’d started crawling.

She went on and on, growing warmth the only evidence that she was making any progress. Finally, the circle began growing, filling her field of vision as if it was moving closer to her instead of her moving closer to it. It was as if time, space, and distance all stood still then decided to spiral around her, confusing her perception of her surroundings. Then it was Kendra who stood still as the red fiery light descended upon her.

When she was fully in its clutches, Kendra realized it to be an opening into a great molten cavern. She was on a ledge far above the red, bright, bubbly, liquid heat, which flowed in a circular pattern as if being drained into a central hole. Any hole that may have been was hidden from view, for in the center of the enormous underground cavern was an island of black rock, towering above the molten mass. Atop the island lay a dazzling array of golden riches and sparkling jewels, atop of which lay a sleeping giant of a dragon.

Kendra took a deep breath of admiration, awestruck by the size and beauty of the beast before her and its wondrous lair. She looked desperately around for some form of passage from her ledge across the moat to the dragon’s horde and found a treacherous looking arch making its way over the molten heat below. No sooner had she noticed it than she was bounding across. She wondered if she should wake the dragon. Would it be angry with her? Would it torch her in its anger? Such thoughts sent a chill down her spine, but she just could not shake off her desire to wake the dragon. Adrenaline coursed through her body with the excitement of her encounter.

As she began making her tentative approach, the gleam of all the gold and gems surrounding her glared far too brightly. She reached up to shade her eyes and found her brow was covered in sweat. Though the great scaly beast before her seemed to be in absolute comfort, she could not handle the heat. The closer she drew to the dragon, the more stifled her breath became, but she pressed on. As she reached its side, she was able to see just how terribly large the great red was. Her own body was not even the size of one massive claw.

Before she could move any closer, a bright glinting caught her eye and she turned to find a ring standing out from all the many collected sparkling items in the hoard. Kendra was surprised to find it was Talon’s ring. How had it gotten here? The silver band set with the simple blue sapphire eyes and tiny ruby claws was unmistakably familiar. The young woman reached down to pick it up, and despite the surrounding heat it was cool to the touch.

A deep rumbling brought her attention back to the dragon. Tendrils of smoky breath curled up from the creature’s nostrils and one great eye opened, its bright searing orange color a reflection of the golden pile at Kendra’s feet. The beautiful monstrosity lifted its head and looked directly at her. Kendra’s mouth opened wide as she became lost in the gaze of that enormous amber eye, but the heat was now far too much for her to bear. Her head began swirling, the image before her swimming, and she could no longer tell which way was up.

Then she could feel a cool, damp rag on her forehead and she slowly blinked her eyes open. She had been dreaming, she was certain, but then why was she still staring into golden eyes? The connection between her brain and sensory organs slowly roused into wakefulness and she could feel a great weight pressed down on her chest. At first she thought her body was vibrating, but then she realized the mass on top of her was purring and everything suddenly made sense as her eyes adjusted to the dark of the night. It was the cat! That reddish cat with the black tufted ears was lying on her chest staring at her. It was at least twice the size of a house cat and applied heavy pressure to her chest. The rag on her forehead, though, could not have come from the cat. Who else was with her? Why was she lying on the ground with a cloth on her head anyway?

Her memory came flooding back and a sudden shock jolted through her body. She tried to rise only to have her vision swirl out of focus. “Talon!” she called, desperately. Where was the druid? Was he okay?

“Shhh, shh,” a familiar voice murmured out of the darkness. “Calm down. Don’t get up. You’ve got quite a nasty bump on your head and a slight fever. Just take it easy.”

The voice was not Talon’s and panic started to set in as she searched for the source. Random thoughts flitted through her mind. Why was it dark? Had she slept through the entire day? Talon could be anywhere by now. The moon-elves would have taken him into the Silver Wood, and she was still lying on the ground by the creek where her assailants had abandoned her. So who…

Finally, her eyes were able to set on a dark figure practically invisible in the shadows of the trees. The darkness of his skin made him even harder to pinpoint, but now she knew why the voice had sounded familiar.

“Riel!” She tried to rise again and found the cat pressing down on her. She glared at those golden-amber eyes with stiff determination. “Get your cat off of me.”

Kendra could barely see his head tilt to the side. “The cat is not mine,” he said. “I thought it was yours. It led me to you.”

The cat continued to stare at Kendra, and its rumbling purr sounded like laughter in her throbbing ears. “You brought help to me?” she asked it, and though everything still seemed to be swimming before her eyes she could have sworn it winked. “Then thank you, but now we need to go help Talon!” The large furry creature glanced to the side as if something in the wood had drawn its attention and Kendra let out a sigh, not sure if the cat had understood anything. Was she to be trapped here while the druid was dragged further and further into the Silver Wood? Surely she could not be held hostage by a mere cat, no matter how enormous it was!

Then, the beast rose and trotted off into the woods, its movements languid and purposeful as if it had not a care in the world. So strange… but Kendra did not have time to worry about that. She sought out the faint glow of Melonzriel’s bright blue eyes in the darkness of the night, now desperate for his aid. “Please, we have to help Talon!”

“Your wolf?” Riel asked, handing Kendra a cup of water as she rose to a sitting position.

“Yes,” Kendra answered, then shook her head and immediately wished she hadn’t. “No. I told you, he’s not a wolf. He’s a druid. He was captured by the moon-elves. I don’t know what they plan on doing with him, but I think something awful might happen if we don’t find him! That man from the potion shop is looking for him and seems to be after his dragon statue, and the Darkwalker killed his father and—“

“The Darkwalker?”

That voice. Melonzriel had not answered her. That voice had come from further in the darkness, somewhere behind the night-elf. The voice was similar but deeper, and it sounded hollow and tainted. It was a haunted voice, and Kendra felt an involuntary shiver run down her spine. She could not locate the source, but she could guess…

“Th-Thradris?” she asked the empty air. Then two burning red globes revealed themselves like pinpricks in the dark.

“What do you know of the Darkwalker?” the voice asked.

Kendra found herself shivering all the more as the disembodied eyes locked on her. It was as if she was speaking to nothing more than a shadow. Had this dark elf really killed Talon’s father? Was he the Darkwalker? Had she only put Talon in more danger by revealing his location? But how could Thradris be the Darkwalker if he’d always been here with his son, Melonzriel? Talon had to be mistaken, but both the moon-elf and Thradris had reacted to her use of the name. Clearly they knew something… Though Talon had cautioned her against telling everything she knew to strangers, she decided it was time to tell the whole truth.

“I don’t know anything about the Darkwalker,” she said. “I’d never even heard the name until I bumped into Talon. There’s very little that I do know, but I’ve been trying to piece it all together. Talon told me some man had come to his home, asking about his father. Talon’s father was away researching the elves for some history he was working on, and Talon found the man’s interest suspicious. So, Talon snuck away to go find his father and warn him. When he found him, he was dead. Talon said he asked the trees who had killed him. The trees said ‘The Darkwalker’. Talon thought…” Kendra blushed in embarrassment, looking between the two dark figures before her. “Well, he thought it was… you, Thradris. He came looking for you to… avenge his father.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Melonzriel shouted, glancing back at the older elf with exasperation. “What about all that stuff you told me in the garden about the ring and the statue? Was it all a lie? You said you were just looking for a dragon sword, not that this supposed druid is out to settle some family feud that couldn’t even have happened. Thradris hasn’t killed anyone!”

Kendra frowned. “I know I misled you,” she said. “Talon made me promise not to tell you why he wanted to find Thradris. He was afraid you wouldn’t lead us to him if I did. I’m sorry. I didn’t lie though. We are looking for a dragon sword.”

Melonzriel’s eyes narrowed, and Kendra felt as though she’d been stung by a dagger. It hurt to see someone filled with distrust because she had withheld information. She despised liars herself, and now it felt as though she had become one.

“I don’t buy it,” Melonzriel growled. “If you’re really here because of some druid, then why have we not seen him at all? First you were with a wolf and a raven. Now a cat. Do you have some kind of connection with the animals you aren’t telling us about? And you think you have to make up a story about a druid to cover it up?” The young night-elf looked back at his father once again who had remained quiet through their conversation. “I think there may be something wrong with her mentally. Nothing she’s saying makes any sense.”

Kendra had folded her arms across her chest and started scowling at Melonzriel. She wanted to give him a few choice words about her mentality, but was interrupted before she could even open her mouth. Thradris planted a firm hand on his son’s shoulder, and Riel glanced at his father’s smoldering eyes and instantly quieted. The older elf now knelt down next to Kendra and met her eyes with a look of deep interest.

“And how did you become mixed up in all this, little one?” he asked.

Kendra’s mouth gaped open, her own thoughts now lost on the wind at the interruption. “I, uh.. I, oh um, I bumped into Talon on the road a few days back. Someone had stabbed him with a poisoned knife and I tried to help him. I had found a statue on the road just before him that was carved like a dragon.”

Kendra glanced around and spied her bag against the trunk of a tree. She tried to stand, but decided against it as her legs wobbled and she motioned to it. “It’s in my bag now,” she explained. “When I told Talon about the statue, he showed me his ring that matches. He thought it meant we were fated to travel together, so I’ve been helping him look for you in the town. I think there’s something important about these, and Talon said the Darkwalker was a night-elf who had a dragon sword that matched these, so there’s some kind of connection, though I haven’t the slightest clue what it could be.”

Thradris let a silence build while he sorted his thoughts and asked almost absentmindedly, “May I see the statue?”

“Y-yes, of course,” Kendra answered.

It was hard to follow his movements in the dark, but Kendra saw him rifle through her bag and draw out the statue. Melonzriel seemed unable to watch quietly.

“Thradris, you don’t believe this nonsense do you?” he asked.

The mysterious elf did not answer. He just thoroughly examined the statue then carefully replaced it in Kendra’s bag. “You said the moon-elves have your friend?” Thradris asked Kendra.

She nodded.

“We will help you.”

Melonzriel looked about to protest, but a glare from his companion left anything he would have said caught in his throat. Instead, the moment Thradris’ back was turned he extended his own glare toward Kendra. Kendra had no idea what to think about the whole ordeal. She was so very confused. She had come here expecting to find a murderer or at the very least a misunderstanding that could be explained. Instead, she found only more questions, and with how much her head was swimming she wasn’t sure she’d be able to sort anything out.

“That concussion should clear up shortly,” Thradris spoke from somewhere in the dark. “In the meantime, replenish yourself. We will be off as soon as you are able.”

At the mention of food, Kendra noticed the cool white ashes of an extinguished fire between her and the dark elves. Resting on some curled leaves next to it was a roasted rabbit. Her stomach growled at the mere prospect of real meat. She must have slept through the entire day and her stomach was now very empty. She could not, however, bring herself to dive right into satisfying her hunger when Talon was in immediate danger.

“But… what about Talon?” she asked. “We have to get moving now. The moon-elves already have a whole day’s head start. Who knows what they’ve done with Talon by now? I mean, granted moon-elves are supposed to be peaceful, but then why did they take Talon captive and leave me here? We’ll never find them if we don’t—“

“You are in no condition to go anywhere, Farvel,” Kendra was surprised to hear Thradris call her by her clan name. She hadn’t even mentioned it to him… “Once your head clears, we will go. No sooner.”

“How do you know-“

Another glare quieted her. How did he do that? All it took was a glimpse at those old crimson eyes, and she knew she had to stop talking.

“You will learn better through quiet observation than you will through questions, young one,” Thradris said softly.

Kendra nodded mutely and accepted the rabbit leg Melonzriel offered her, though she was secretly disagreeing with him. How was she supposed to learn anything if she didn’t ask questions? When she looked up again, Thradris was gone. “Where did he--?” her question trailed off on the night air, and the remaining dark elf looked as unwilling to answer her questions as Thradris had been. So she was left to her own musings. A simple bite of the food seemed to awaken her stomach, and Kendra realized just how hungry she was. It wasn’t until she’d eaten two rabbit legs and an accompanying dish of roasted mushrooms that she was even able to come back to logical thought. The pain and haziness in her head was now slowly receding, and she found herself wondering if the mushrooms had some healing property within them. She did not recognize them despite everything her father had taught her.

Riel sat quietly next to her the entire time she ate, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. Kendra had so many questions, but would he have the answers? He had seemed surprised by her tale and disbelieving. Her lip curled into a frown as she recalled his hostility, but could she really blame him? Though she had not lied, she had indeed misled him. Based on her observations, she was now certain Thradris was not the one who had killed Talon’s father. But then, why would Talon have believed Thradris was the Darkwalker? And why did both the moon-elf and Thradris react so adversely to that name? Without more information, Kendra found herself desperately trying to piece together clues that seemed to have no connection.

Until Thradris returned, it seemed her only outlet was Melonzriel. At some point as she’d been thinking, he’d risen from his seat next to her and was now practicing sword maneuvers against some invisible foe in the clearing. The potions master had been right about his skill. His movements were intricate and graceful. It was more than just the waving about of his sword or the speed of his hands. His feet took fluid purposeful steps, his whole body wrapped in a dance that was the art of the sword. Though Kendra considered herself a skilled fighter, she knew she could never match such mastery. Her own tactics seemed clumsy in comparison. A part of her wondered why he would waste such time in training when he seemed to live a peaceful existence in the woods. Watching him though, she simply could not consider it a waste.

As if he felt her eyes on him, Riel brought the dance to an end, sheathing his sword as he came once again to her side. “If you are ready, we will head out now,” his voice held no emotion, and she could tell he’d distanced himself from her. For some reason, she felt a pang in her chest at that notion. She did not like thinking that she had caused him pain.

“What about Thradris?” she asked.

Melonzriel tilted his head forward, as if indicating a position ahead of them. “He leads the way.”

Kendra squinted with the attempt to see him, but could pinpoint nothing in the still dark night. “Don’t worry,” Riel assured her. “I can see him.”

“How?” Kendra asked.

“Our vision is different from your own,” he explained. “I can see the heat of his body. Just as I can see the heat of your own, the heat of the ground, the trees. Our vision guides us better at night than during the day. This is why we are called night-elves.”

“Oh,” was all she could think to reply.

Melonzriel moved forward, and if Kendra did not want to be left behind, she had no choice but to follow. Though she could not pick Thradris out among the shadows, the younger elf remained in her sights and glanced back often to make sure she was keeping pace. The going was difficult in the dark, and Kendra found herself often stubbing her toes on roots and hidden debris or smacking her face into nearly invisible branches or filmy spider webs. With the number of webs she seemed to walk through, she wondered if the occupants would be upset about their wasted work or simply take it in stride. How many times did they respin their webs before catching a morsel to eat?

As they moved further into the woods, the canopy became denser and her blunderings continued to increase. It was amazing how quietly the elves could move through the trees in the dark when her own movements produced such a terrible ruckus that the night creatures quieted as if watching her passing with amusement. She hurried her steps, bumping her shin against a shadowy stump for her efforts, and came to measure her strides next to Riel’s longer steps. With her short legs, she had to take at least two steps to his one.

“So, you can see heat?” Kendra asked.

The night-elf looked down at her, and Kendra wondered if his expression was one of annoyance, amusement, disinterest, or something else entirely. She couldn’t tell. He nodded.

“Is that why Thradris’ eyes are red?” she probed. “Why aren’t your eyes red? Can you see heat as well as he does, or does having blue eyes make it harder? Someone once told me that people who are born with blue eyes grow up to be blind, but that can’t be right. That lady from the potion shop had milky eyes, and your eyes are blue and you see just fine. Plus, that would mean that moon-elves are blind, because most moon-elves have blue eyes. Though I did meet a little girl once who had blue eyes and was blind, and every horse I’ve ever seen with blue eyes was blind. Horses don’t really need to see all that well though. They rely on hearing more than anything else. Like owls. Did you know owls can hear a mouse underground? And they’re silent flyers. That’s how they’re able to hunt so well, because they can sneak up on their prey real easy and can pinpoint right where their prey is with their ears. Ouch.”

Kendra found that her conversation had distracted her, and she stumbled into a sink hole that had been hidden by the layer of fallen leaves. She quickly righted herself and brushed her pants off, though she felt fairly certain she was going to have another bruise to go along with her bumped shin. Melonzriel hardly slowed for her to catch up.

“You talk too much,” he said softly as she reached his side again.

“I’m sorry,” Kendra said. “I don’t mean to bother you. My mouth just runs away with me like that sometimes.”

Kendra was quiet again for a time as she tried to keep up with Melonzriel. She decided to turn her eyes ahead and see if she could catch any glimpses of Thradris as they walked. How did he even know where they were going? There was hardly a trail. Sometimes they seemed to be walking along a deer or rabbit trail, but other times they passed through areas so thick with underbrush she couldn’t understand how he made it through so silently. Now and then she saw a flicker in the shadows that could have been him, but it could also have been nothing more than a trick of her eyes.

“Why doesn’t he walk with us?” Kendra asked.

Melonzriel glanced down at her and Kendra found herself once again wishing she could read his expression. She loved mystery, but she was beginning to think she’d found herself far too many mysterious people. “He doesn’t like people,” he replied.

“Why not?” Kendra asked, managing to swat away a branch before it hit her in the face.

“Most people are afraid of him,” Riel explained. “We help keep the streets clear of highwaymen, but most are still convinced we’re evil. Thradris prefers to just avoid them.”

“Well, I don’t think you’re evil,” Kendra replied. “I mean, I thought you might be when we were coming to find you, but I obviously didn’t have accurate information. See, I always thought night-elves lived underground, and you live in the woods. And I always thought you were magic users, but you two are clearly swordmasters. I guess people usually think you are evil, because the histories of the elvin wars say you turned against your kin. Maybe the first night-elves were evil, but that was such a long time ago. Now that I’ve met you, I know you aren’t evil. It’s not like everyone in an entire race is going to be exactly the same. Some people are evil and some are good. It’s not about how we were born. It’s about the choices we make.”

There was a moment of silence in which Kendra felt it was important she say nothing. Melonzriel seemed to be mulling over her words.

“You know, that is something Valorie said to me once,” he said quietly. Kendra held her silence and was rewarded with a gentle smile. At least, she assumed it was gentle. She could tell he was smiling, because his bright white teeth were exposed in the dark air. “It would be nice if all people think as you do.”

Kendra smiled back at him, glad to have made a most wonderful friend. He seemed to have forgiven her for misleading him at their first encounter, and that gave her a sense of relief. “I just hope Talon realizes the mistake he made when we show up to save him,” she said.

“Yes,” Riel replied thoughtfully. “Talon… He is truly a druid, as you said?”

Kendra nodded emphatically. “Yes. I’m sorry for not telling you why he really wanted to find your father, but there’s no way Thradris could be the one who killed his father since you two have been around here for so long and Thradris doesn’t even have the dragon sword. I’m sure there’s some kind of connection with these things, but Talon didn’t seem all that interested in finding out. He must miss his own father very much. I’ve heard of people going on quests for vengeance, but this is the first time I’ve ever met one. I wonder who the Darkwalker must be then, and why Talon thought it was Thradris? He didn’t tell me how he figured it out, but both Thradris and that moon-elf acted like they recognized the name. Do you know who the Darkwalker is?”

Melonzriel shook his head. “Like you, I’ve never even heard the name until now.” He looked ahead, probably watching Thradris as he led them through the woods. “It must be something important, because Thradris has never traveled this far from home for anyone.”

Kendra tried to follow Melonzriel’s gaze but still found her own night vision lacking. Her body was aching with the effort to keep the rigid pace set by her elvin companions, but she found that she was running into things less often now. Her footing had become surer, for the way had certainly not become any clearer. What was it that Thradris knew about the Darkwalker? Was he some legend known only to the elves? Someone who brought some terrible contribution to the Elvin Wars? Kendra could only speculate, as Thradris seemed set on avoiding her and her questions. If only she could unravel this amazing mystery.