One

     Malachi stood in the far corner of the room, observing it's occupants with a keen eye. He had devoted himself to memorizing every inch of the room, and from where he stood there was not an inch left unseen to him. They stood in the throne room where the queen awaited the last of her audience. The king's throne was left empty due to his recent passing. The walls were paper-white with darkwood trimmings, meeting at the floor with white marble. There were windows every few feet along the side walls that reached from floor to cieling, each a painted glass portrait of past rulers and heroes. From the cieling hung crystal chandeliers that spread light throughout the room. All in all the windows and the chandeliers gave the room a very elegant mix of color that was much needed because of the dull white and grey that the walls were made of.

     Today, men from throughout all the elven kingdoms flooded the room to try their hand at becoming the next king of Anatria, the great elven capital. One man in particular, though, had caught Malachi's eye. There were about twenty men in all, all elves except this one. The human stood with his chin held high, his posture was proud and confident, yet he did not speak or mingle. He seemed determined, set on his goal. He wore a fine wool vest over a light cloth shirt. His breeches were finely knit cloth as well, his shoes a very fine leather. His hair was about shoulder length, straightened and pulled back over his ears, his face clean shaven. He had to have been well recognized among his people to fit in with the elves so well. Malachi scowled. He had never argued with the queen's judgement before, but to allow a human to even have a shot at becoming the king of the elven capital was absurd. He forced his gaze to leave the human and observe the rest of the group. They too seemed proud compared to human standards, but they were just everyday men amongst the elves.

     His eyes averted to the queen as she stood, clearing her throat. Every man in the room turned to face her, falling to their right knee. All except the human, who instead looked around the room for a few seconds before reluctantly falling to his knee as well, falling in line with the elves. Malachi's sneer turned into a smile as he thought to himself. 'This may actually turn out to be more entertaining than I thought.'

     "I'm going to get right to the point," the queen started. "No point in saying what should already be known to you all. As are our customs, each of you will face trials of strength, wisdom, obediance, skill, and cunning. There will be a knight of the Legion assigned to each of you as a guide throughout your trials. They will inform you of the customs and laws here in Anatria for those of you who do not already know. Once you leave this room, the trials will begin. The timing is completely random for each task, and you will not be informed that it even is your task until you complete it. Only those true at heart, and willing to do what is best for this kingdom will pass. Should more than one contestant win, you will all face one last trial before me. In the end, only one will remain, and he will have the opportunity to take my hand in marriage, and rule over Anatria with me." As the last words fell from her lips, she turned her gaze to the Legion captain and gave a slight nod.

     Malachi made his way from the perch he had chosen near the back of the room up to the throne to take count and give his orders. There were a total of twenty men; nineteen elves and the one human. "Right then, if you will all follow me, I will lead you to the grand hall where your guide will be appointed to you. If you have your own equipment, inform your guide so that it may be inspected, and whatever you lack he or she will provide. If you do not have your own equipment, well, that goes without saying. Once you have been eliminated from the contest, you are to report back here where you will return whatever equipment was loaned to you, and be escorted back to your ships. Am I understood?" Malachi smiled as he recieved the synced "Sir!" from each of the elven men. His smile faded into a slight sneer as his eye fell on the human who had made no response at all. His face remained toward the floor, his hair had fallen from behind his ears and now covered his eyes, giving him a shadowy appearance. Malachi turned on his heel toward the entrance to the grand hall. The men slowly rose, individually bowing before the queen before following Malachi through the large wooden doors that lead to the grand hall.

     The room they entered was easily three times the size of the throne room. The architecture in the room was not much different from the throne room, the ruby, emerald, and topaz colors from the windows painted the marble floors, giving it the same elegance. At the very back of the room was a single round window that bore the crest that represented the kingdom of Anatria. There were marble pillars on either side of the hall with ancient elven armor decorating the large spaces between each one. A single golden-brown carpet ran along the center of the walkway leading to a long polished wood table that held six high-backed chairs behind it. In front of the table stood nineteen elven knights in silver elven scale with golden steel trim. They wore helmets that covered most of their face, only their eyes, mouth and chin visible below the top. A single strip pointed from the bottom of the helmet with an arrowhead point that covered the bridge of their noses. Wings with detailed engraved feathers, made of the same silver and gold as their armor, stood out on the back of their helms. It was quite a sight to behold with the bright colors playing out over them. They seemed to shine, their presence filling the room. Malachi led the large group to where the knights stood, taking his place among their ranks, facing the twenty men before him.

     "From here, your trials begin. As you may have noticed, there are nineteen knights behind me. As are our customs, there is an elven knight placed as a guide to each elven contestant. As you may also have noticed, there is an...oddball...among yourselves," his eyes rested on the human. "It would seem her majesty has made an exception to her own laws. So, as captain of the Legion, I will take the human and be his guide. More to ensure the queen's safety than because of his racial differences," He almost sneered as he spoke the words. He had never showed much appreciation for the human race, mostly because of their crude nature, and barbaric ways. 'They are nothing but power-hungry, overly proud beasts.' He thought. "The rest of you are to make yourself acquainted with your guides." He motioned for the human to stand before him. The man showed no hesitation nor fear as he took long strides, taking his place before the elven knight-captain. "I'm going to be very frank with you, human. I don't know exactly why the queen found you so worthy to take part in this event, nor do I care. I don't trust you, and until you can prove you are better than the rest of your destructive race, I will not. You will be lucky to make it past the first trial..." Malachi sneered as he finished speaking, resisting the urge to spit at the human's feet.

     The human did not so much as flinch as Malachi spoke. He simply stood straight, looked the knight-captain in the eys and said, "Aye, sir, my name is Caine, and I understand your...hostility...towards my race, as we have not proved to be the best we are capable of being. I am simply here in an attempt to amend the damage we have caused with our lack of regard for the lands and it's inhabitants. I also seek to unite the races and create what I hope will be an era of peace. So, if you so please, I would like to get moving with my trials, as time is of the essence."

     Caine's face never showed signs of disdain, pride, or fear as he spoke, leaving Malachi almost bewildered for a short time. It did not take long for him to shake off the look of disbelief and reclaim his sneer. But the human was right, they needed to be on their way. Malachi turned on his heel and began to walk toward the door that would lead to the courtyard, glancing back to make sure the human was following him. He was, nearly matching his stride and posture. 'This is indeed interesting. I have never met a human with such form and posture. Something is different about him...' He thought. He wasn't going to let the human see his change in opinion, however, as he dared not show any sign of weakness. He was not going to let some human, regardless of his demeanor, be regarded as one of his own without putting up a fight.

     As they stepped out onto the soft, vibrant grass of the courtyard, Malachi swirled around, swinging his fist in a hook aimed at Caine's head. Caine quickly ducked, sliding his feet to his left before raising back up, now in a defensive stance. His right hand hand over his abdomen, his left up by his chin. Malachi immediately followed the hook with a kick, planting the bottom of his boot into Caine's sternum. The human clenched his upper body so as to absorb the worst of the impact, and grabbed a hold of Malachi's ankle, pushed forward and threw the elf onto his back, and planted his own foot under Malachi's chin. Malachi's eyes widened in genuine surprise as the human bested him, not expecting him to be much of a challenge. He quickly chopped at the human's ankle, pulling his own leg at the same time. Caine stumbled to his right, but never let his guard down. His usually hardened expression was gone, now replaced by one of pleasure. Not at the elf's failure, but the thrill of battle. Malachi turned with the motion of his leg and spun onto his feet, facing Caine once more. However, he did not attack or take a defensive stance. He dropped his guard and stood at attention, bowing to Caine. The human raised an eyebrow, dropped his own guard and returned the gesture. "You have proven you are alert, and well equipped to defend yourself in unarmed combat," Malachi stated, rising up to look the human in the eyes. "That is the first part of your first trial, and you have passed with honor."

Reviews

[H-Jonesy]

A nice, slow introduction here. Thought out, and well played. I have to admire how you move into discriptions of things, and seem to keep the mood alive while you do that. I can never seem to accomplish suck a task.
The human, seems interesting. I find my self wanting to know more about him, his name, who he is, why he's there. You did a good job at capturing the readers attention at the begining , and bringing a air of mystery to the story.
The plot reminds me of a old movie or book, and i like that. I remember scribling down epic tales of good guys and bad guys only two years ago. Your tale brings me back to those days.

Great job, i cant wait to read more. :)
-Harmony/Roxy