Chapters 24-27

Chapter 24: Christopher

I think awkward was perhaps the best way to describe how I felt as I stood up from behind the parted shrubs and approached Violet and her two council members. The human and the chameleon looked at each other as I approached. Violet just gave one of her classic cynical smiles.

"Kind of you to join us Christopher," she said as I stood still several feet away from the three of them. "Well don't be shy, you might as well learn about what the Order of the Skull is all about."

As I approached the edge of the pool I asked bluntly, "What are you summoning?"

Violet chuckled, "So you've been here a while I see. Impressive."

I repeated my question again, "What are you summoning?"

"Christopher, come here." Violet said to me and grabbed me by the arm, dragging me to the edge of the pool. "You've noticed dragons and magic and whatnot returning have you not?" I nodded and Violet continued, "It's perhaps signs of dark magic on the rise." I nodded and Violet repeated more confidently this time, "It's the return of dark magic. Ever since the elven kingdom was destroyed, there hasn't been enough light magic to stop it from returning."

"Wait a second," I interrupted her, "don't you wield dark magic?" I paused for a second and thought about my own powers, "Don't I wield dark magic?"

"You confuse affinities, with forces." Violet responded to me, "While the way you and I channel our magic comes from the darker realm, we bend that magic to our will." Violet paused for a second and took a long breath before continuing, "Forces refer to the raw magic surrounding us. Traditionally, the elves consolidated light magic in order to keep dark magic at bay, but now that they're gone, the dark magic has been building up for years and is soon to unleash its forces upon us. That's why the Order of the Skull is here, to push these dark forces back into oblivion, at least temporarily. Due to the nature of dark magic, having an affinity for raw dark magic, like you and I, can help us understand these forces in our struggle."

"Alright," I nodded. I would have to take Violet's word in terms of magic, I had little to no idea about its nature. "What about the Longevity you keep mentioning?"

"An ancient elven religious organization." She replied matter-of-factly. "We've scoured tombs, temples, and anything related to the organization in hope of acquiring a group of what are called steps."

Steps, I remembered Cynthia had found something called a step in some sort of tomb north of the orc kingdom. I opened my mouth to mention something about Cynthia and the steps, but thought it best not to. Violet still hadn't explained why they were occupying Evanuan. "What are steps?" It was a genuine question. Despite what Cynthia, Darkeen, and I found, I still had no idea what purpose they served.

Violet seemed to show a look of excitement on her face as she explained, "They're supposedly ancient elven blessings of light magic that can... interfere with dark magic."

If Violet was telling the truth, I felt obligated to inform her about Cynthia and the step she carried. I opened my mouth but then decided against it, I didn't want to put Cynthia's life at risk considering she was an elf and the Order of the Skull seemed very accepting of all chammelons. Violet asked me excitedly, "What is it Christopher? Do you know something about the steps?" I held my tongue nervously and Violet continued, "Why don't you tell us what you know?"

I shook my head, "Only if you explain to me how the Order of the Skull ended up in a city that was supposed to be destroyed by the Chammelons."

Violet laughed softly, "You must trust me more Christopher. We are here to do good. A few years previously, we discovered that the majority of the city center was left untouched. Sensing the rising forces of dark magic, we made some... negotiations... with the Chammelon forces and they agreed to hand control of Evanuan to the Order of the Skull until we had dealt with the dark forces on the rise. Since then the Chammelon forces retreated back north and we haven't heard anything from them." The story seemed sound to me, and Violet didn't have any reason to lie to me. Besides, Violet herself was an elf, or at least something similar. She had no reason to want to kill Cynthia, right? Violet called my name and my attention snapped back to her. "The steps," she demanded, "What do you know about them?"

I took a deep breath and told Violet what I knew, "Before I came here with you, I was travelling with two others, along our way we found something in a tomb called 'step one'. I have no idea if she's found any other steps since then however." I mumbled to myself, "I've no idea where they are."

The two other council members whispered excitingly amongst each other and a look of excitement, or maybe cunning sparked in Violet's eyes, "Was it Cynthia? Where were you headed?"

I nodded, "Yeah I was. We were headed south."

"South, as in towards St. Cory?" One of the councilmen asked.

"Yeah I suppose we were headed that direction."

Violet nodded and spoke, although it seemed she was half talking to herself, "If the elf has been to St. Cory, I doubt it will be long before she finds her way here."

I peered at Violet, "What's so important about me traveling with Cynthia?" I asked.

Violet shook her head, "It's nothing Christopher. I just had heard stories of a powerful elf who might still be able to wield light magic. It's part of the rumors I told you about. Sometimes I wonder perhaps if it could be Cynthia." Violet paused for a moment, "I suppose it's just because there aren't many of the elves left." I nodded, I don't think I could even try to understand what it was like to belong to a race of people who had no home and were forced to live in fear. Violet resumed speaking and broke my train of thought, "Anyway, we've been gathering the steps in order to create a portal to harness the light magic to beat back the darkness. Although we don't have the steps, we've harnessed the power of many sites belonging to the Longevity, and as you might have heard from behind the bushes, in 48 hours we will have the power to interact with the growing dark magic and hopefully beat it back."

I finally felt like I could trust the Order of the Skull and Violet. It was a small bridge of trust, but I wanted to use my magic gift for good. I remembered the horrors of battle in the vision Violet had shown me when I first met her and felt as if I must do what I can to prevent that from becoming a reality. Violet spoke again, "The Order of the Skull is this land's best chance at a prosperous future, will you join me Christopher?"

She reached out her hand and I took it, "Yes I will."

Violet turned to the other two council members, still holding my hand, and asked, "Is there anything else we should know?"

Both shook their heads and muttered, "No." Quietly.

"Meeting adjourned then." Violet commanded and both council members quickly disappeared back into the buildings shadow. She then turned towards me and took both of my hands in hers and smiled, "Christopher I'm so glad you can work with me, in order to bring peace and order to this land."

I smiled back at her, the glowing pool reflected beautifully off of her eyes, "Me too, Violet."

"You know," Violet said, her voice moved from cynical to a lower, seductive tone, "I sometimes get the feeling there could be something here, between you and me I mean."

I slowly nodded, and moved myself closer to her and whispered in her ear, "I think it'd be hard to deny."

"Remember after you came out of the mountain?" Violet whispered back, "You said I couldn't get enough of you... I think you might be right." She tilted her head slightly and pressed her lips against mine for several seconds before pulling away. We made eye contact and she gave me a half-smirk, perhaps embarrassment, something I'd never seen in Violet before. I didn't know what to think, I simply wrapped my arms around her waist, pulled her against me, and kissed her back passionately.

When I pulled my lips away we looked into each other's eyes and Violet smiled, happily, not cynically, and hugged me tightly, "I knew you'd come around, Christopher."

I smiled, "I'm glad you brought me here, Violet. I don't know quite how I got involved in all this, but I'm glad I did."

Violet laughed, "No need to be so sappy." She then smirked at me, "Although it is a little cold outside don't you think? Perhaps we should walk."

I nodded, "Sounds like a plan." We smiled at each other and together we ran through the streets of Evanuan, hand in hand, like two kids.

We found ourselves leaning against the wall of an ancient building. The alleyway we stood in was thin, but managed to block the wind. Violet half grinned at me and pulled my lips towards her. Instantly I felt a surge of energy rush through me and it erupted out of me into the wall behind us.

I coughed as the light dissipated into small traces of smoke. I looked around to see the fencing behind us half-vaporized, and Violet lying on the ground across from me. I rushed over to her and shouted, "Violet are you okay?"

She turned herself over and stood up, "Yeah I'm fine, thanks." She glanced at the fence, or what was left of it, "I will say that I've never had that happen to me before." I laughed softly at her comment and she continued to speak, "I hadn't realized how advanced your magic was Christopher."

"Advanced?" I laughed, "If beating back darkness involves destroying the fencing to Darkness's yard, then maybe its advanced."

"Christopher, this is incredible." Violet said in a tone of amazement. She grabbed my hand and we walked back outside into the plaza outside the palace. "Summon a storm." She commanded.

"Controlling the weather." I said amused, "This isn't exactly where I thought this was going when we were in that alleyway."

Violet smiled, "It's more important you learn to control magic this powerful. Besides, who lives here that needs a fence?"

I bit my cheek and focused my energy into the powerful magic I felt coursing through my veins. I closed my eyes and waved my hands slowly in a circular motion above my head. I heard a crack of lightning and opened my eyes. Above my head I had summoned a spiral like storm cloud, similar to the one above the mountain where we fought the dragon. Purple streaks of lightning darted back and forth through the cloud.

"You can control the lightning!" Violet shouted to me through the artificial wind. I concentrated and pointed at a spot on the ground to the left of me. The purple bolt streaked down from the sky and landed just to the right of where I was pointing, right in front of Violet. Violet jumped and shouted, "Perhaps don't kill me?"

"Sorry!" I shouted, but couldn't help myself but to smile a little bit, playing with the lightning and my magic. After about thirty minutes I felt a small pain in my head begin to grow and I allowed the storm's energy to dissipate. The stars shown again and the wind died down to once again allow the air to be silent and stagnant.

Violet ran to me and we swung around as she hugged me. "That's amazing Christopher! Most mages would kill to have the power you've obtained in your short time here! Together we'll be unstoppable!"

I looked into her eyes and smiled, "I'm sure we will be."

Violet let go of me and collected herself, "Well, we should probably head to bed. Tomorrow we'll see what you're capable of for when the portal opens the day after."

"Let's go then." I said and began to follow Violet.

Violet turned around and chuckled, "We should head to bed separately." I opened my mouth but Violet pressed a finger against my lips, "You need your rest for tomorrow, there'll be plenty of time for us after the portal." I nodded, she was right. Violet looked at the moon in the sky, "They're changing shifts for guards now, so you should be fine to just slip into your room. Tomorrow I'll call off the guards posted outside your room, it seems we can trust you."

"You certainly can." I said, "Guess I should get to my room before the next guards get to their post, huh."

Violet nodded at me, "You certainly should." She cupped the side of my neck with her hand and kissed me, "See you bright and early tomorrow."

I bid Violet farewell and quickly crept inside my room, there were no guards outside, as Violet predicted. Inside I slipped off my shoes and climbed into bed. Summoning the storm had taken a lot of work and I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

...

Violet was waiting for me when I left my room in the morning. She looked at the sun, "38 more hours I'd say. We better get started."

After we left breakfast, we ventured back out into the field beyond the city walls and began training. I summoned another storm even more easily this time which excited Violet. In a matter of hours, I learned I could very easily bend the magic to my will. I fired purple bolts of energy across the field, and called strikes of energy down from the sky even in absence of a storm.

Soon Violet brought me to a large rock, "Jump on it."

I looked up at the surface perhaps twenty feet above me, "I didn't know magic could make me fly."

"It can't," Violet responded calmly, "However, you can use it to thrust yourself up from the ground."

That sounded pretty cool to me, "Alright let's give it a try." I jumped and thrust my hands to the ground releasing bits of purple magic, but not nearly enough to accelerate myself to the top of the boulder.

"Give it another try." Violet said with a smile, "I'm sure if you can interact with the weather, you can climb a rock." I nodded and jumped again, I felt myself accelerate upward and as I began to slow I grabbed a handhold about three-quarters of the way up the rock. I breathed hard and pushed myself up from the handhold and accelerated upward, I flew up and came down hard on the rock, falling to my knees as I impacted the rock. Violet jumped and landed softly in front of me, "Well you made it, I'll give you that."

I laughed, "I didn't even know I could do that!" I leapt up twenty feet in the air and set myself down a little more gracefully this time.

"Well you learn quickly." Violet said, and chuckled softly. "You can use this use of magic in many short bursts to give the look of levitation. However, levitation is generally just used for fun or as a fear tactic. It's a waste of energy to levitate when you can just stand on the ground."

I nodded in understanding and we continued to jump up and down rocks for about an hour. After, Violet continued to teach me to maximize my efficiency with magic. Several hours later, after firing countless bolts of energy and summoning several storms, I had a growing headache and was also physically exhausted.

As we walked back to the city, we found ourselves staring at another sunset, "I feel like we always end up facing west at the right time." I said to Violet with a half-smirk.

"Yes, we do." Violet looked at me, "But what's so wrong about that?" I stayed silent and we just stared into the sunset, "We should enjoy this moment Christopher, this moment of peace." Violet paused for a moment and we continued to stare into the sunset, "Tomorrow will not be so peaceful. If things go wrong, even if things go right, we won't be staring at the sunset. It'll be dangerous."

"Dangerous?" I asked, "I thought we were just pushing a force away."

Violet frowned, "If it were so simple, I wouldn't have gathered all these mages. We honestly have little clue what will happen when we try to interface directly with dark magic. Something dark, and dangerous could emerge, but we will fight, and we will win. We don't have another choice."

I took a deep breath and repeated what Violet said, "We don't have another choice. However, once this is over, we'll be able to live more peacefully."

There was something sad in Violet's eyes as she took my hand, "I suppose you're right." She rested her head on my shoulder and we continued to stare into the distance as the sun retreated beyond the horizon.

Chapter 25: Cynthia

Darkeen woke me up early in the morning and we packed quickly, since then we had been riding hard, east through the jungle, towards Evanuan. I prayed Darkeen knew where we were going. We rode in silence, concentrated on the task at hand. While we packed I had told Darkeen about my meeting with my mother. While he seemed a little surprised my mother knew about the steps, he seemed rather non-chelate at the fact that she had managed to interface with magic in the real world, or that she was caught in limbo. I thought it odd that he was unconcerned by it, but didn't press the issue. All of my mind was now focused on getting to Evanuan, and getting that last step. Darkeen shouted to me that we still had several hours to go. I simply nodded, trying to prepare myself to keep calm and collected for when we arrived.

...

I thought I would feel I wide range of emotions, but rather I just felt empty as I gazed through the trees at the emerald palace, surrounded by the beautiful green field, and Mt. Epsilon behind it. All of the structures that once surrounded the inner-city wall were destroyed, but beyond the wall everything appeared untouched.

"How are we going to sneak in there?" Darkeen asked, breaking my train of thought, "It's surrounded by hundreds of yards of open meadow on all sides."

I nodded and thought about the night of the attack, "It was supposed to be advantageous defensively." I looked at the ramparts around the city, "There doesn't seem to be anyone on the guard posts, we could probably sneak through the back once the sun sets."

"Why wouldn't they have any guards?" Darkeen thought aloud.

"They probably want the city to appear dead and ruined, so no one interrupts them." I said guessing. "If it works to our advantage than who cares?"

Darkeen looked at the sun that was beginning to set, "It won't be too long until it's dark." It seemed like a situation similar to the one in St. Cory, just this time Darkeen was coming with me, and we were in Evanuan, not St. Cory. I guess that's kind of obvious though.

We moved through the forest to the opposite side of where we currently were, this way the Emerald Palace faced away from us. Once the sun went down we emerged from the shadows and ran across the field unnoticed. I knew no one was watching us, but the feeling of being exposed and out in the open sends shivers down my spine. Darkeen and I pressed ourselves against the wall of the city and slowly scooted our way around.

"I know there should be a sewer drain around here somewhere." I muttered as we scooted along. It took about five minutes of slowly scooting our way along the wall to hear the rushing water and see the sewer entrance.

The entrance was barred with several corroded metal bars. Darkeen crouched down and studied them, "How do you think we get these open?"

Scanning each bar, it looked like they hadn't been replaced since before the attack on Evanuan many years ago. I saw one on the left that was particularly corroded. "Like this!" I said to Darkeen and took a running start. I leapt and lunged with one of my feet at the metal bar. The metal bar snapped off and sent a jarring force up my leg and bit my cheek in an effort not to make any sound.

Darkeen looked to be holding in a laugh and whispered, "Thanks, Cynthia!" I got up and easily slipped through the open space. As for Darkeen, he had to hold his breath and suck in his stomach to just barely get through the grate.

We walked along a narrow pathway on the left side of the sewer tunnel. We could have walked down the middle if we wanted, the tunnels had dried out ages ago; But maybe just by principle neither of us was interested in stepping off the maintenance pathway. I had little clue where we were walking. Although I'd once explored the city's underground network as a young child, it had been years since I had stepped foot near my home.

"What's the plan?" Darkeen asked, breaking my train of thought.

I closed my eyes for a second and tried to visualize where in Evanuan we were, "We need to find the final step." I pointed in the direction I thought was east, "If the step is anywhere in this city, it'll be protected in the emerald palace."

Darkeen nodded, "You're sure it's that way?"

I shrugged, "Who knows really. I'm was bad at directions in Cyphol when I was above ground and had lived there in the past several years."

Darkeen chuckled softly but he had a grim look on his face, "I suppose we have to start somewhere."

We turned and walked east, or what I thought was east, until we came to a rusty, half broken ladder that led to a grate on the street surface. I took a deep breath and looked at Darkeen, "You ready?"

He nodded and replied, "Of course. I just worry you may not be ready." I stuck my tongue out at him, like a child, and began to climb the ladder, but felt Darkeen grab my ankle. I looked over my shoulder and made eye contact. "Cynthia listen to me for a second."

"I'm listening." I said in an annoyed tone. I wasn't really annoyed with Darkeen, I was more worried than anything. Worried about what we would find on the city surface. Worried we would be too late. Worried I could watch my homeland be torn apart right in front of me once again.

He sighed, and spoke again, "I just want to say, I'm proud of what we've accomplished. And no matter what happens in these next few hours, we've come so far, and I'm glad we have this opportunity to save the world."

Darkeen's soft words came as a surprise, all I could do was nod, "Me too." I climbed the rest of the way up the ladder. Slowly, I lifted the grate upwards and pushed it to the side. We climbed out into a short alleyway that was surprisingly clean considering the city was mostly empty, to my knowledge at least. I hoped we wouldn't end up fighting an entire army through the streets of Evanuan, I'd already seen that happen before.

I crept to the edge of the alleyway and peered around the corner. The first thing I noticed is how quiet the streets were. I remember when I was little, weaving left and right around all the people who hurried back and forth all around the city. Now I looked out and all I could hear was the sound of the wind.

I quickly glanced at the rooftops around me and spotted the sparkling towers of the emerald palace. I pointed towards it, "That's where we're going."

Darkeen squinted his eyes and looked towards the palace and asked, "What're we going to do once we get there?" I blinked at him slowly and he continued, "Well, they're probably not just going to welcome us into the palace with open arms, right?"

I shrugged, "If the palace streets are as quiet as these streets, getting inside shouldn't be a problem at all."

Darkeen looked annoyed with my answer, but before he could say anything else I dashed across the road and into an adjacent alley. Darkeen followed me and we began to carefully make our way towards the palace. "Is it like you remember it?" He asked me as we walked through the backroads, "the city I mean."

I pondered his question for a moment. I wasn't sure how to respond. Yes, the city looked almost identical to how it was when I left. But the lack of people and the knowledge of what happened at this place, made it feel more like a graveyard than a home. I glanced at Darkeen and replied, "It certainly looks the same."

"I've never been to Evanuan until now." He spoke again.

I motioned to the empty streets around us, "Well it's not exactly high season for tourism at the moment, but here you are." Darkeen chuckled at my comment and we continued moving forward.

Soon I saw the alleyway was coming to an end, I looked around the corner to see the steps to the palace a short distance away. Even in the dead of night, the fountains on the steps and even the palace itself seemed to give off a faint glow. What didn't make sense to me, is why the streets were still silent as a graveyard. Surely this close to the emerald palace there would be some guards, or at least a few people. I began to worry that we had been led astray and that Evanuan was simply dead and abandoned as it had been. However, if there was truly no one in the city, it leads to the question of why the Chammelon's abandoned the city.

"Let's move into the palace," Darkeen said in a grim tone, the look on his face told me he was thinking something similar to I was. Although the streets appeared dead, we were still careful and kept to the shadows as we moved towards the palace. We got to the door and I pressed myself to the side of the door and took a dagger from its sheathe, Darkeen held his war-axe and crouched across from me. I took a deep breath and burst through the door. Someone near the entrance turned around surprised and her hands began to glow with... something... magic! I sprinted towards her and lunged forward, I wrapped one hand around her lower neck and vaulted over her, landing behind her and placing my dagger against her throat, the glow in her hands vanished.

"You're a mage!" I exclaimed. I hadn't seen anyone truly wield magic since, well since last time I was in Evanuan.

The woman laughed, "Yeah me and pretty much everyone else in this building."

I was stunned by what she said, "The Order of the Skull is an order of mages? But how? There's no magic?"

The woman chuckled again, "There's certainly magic, elf." She glanced towards me over her shoulder, "And judging by your ears, in this place you can channel the magic as well."

I barred my teeth as I spoke, "If I had magic I think I would have noticed by now."

"You just haven't tried." The woman spoke, "Or the time is not quite right."

I rolled my eyes, "Well this would be a wonderful time to get some magic abilities."

The woman ignored my sarcasm, "What do you want, elf. You can't just hold me here forever."

"We're looking for a step." Darkeen said bluntly, towering over the mage.

She looked conflicted about what we asked, "Well it's not in this building if you're looking for it."

I swore and pressed my dagger more tightly against her throat, "Where is it then?"

"It's with the council, they're preparing for the summoning." The mage smiled slightly.

"Preparing?" I asked worriedly, "Preparing to summon what? Dark magic?"

The mage scoffed, "The Order of the Skull is here to stop dark magic." I wanted to shout liar! but she continued speaking, "If you need the step you're going to have to hurry. That's why the streets are empty. Everyone is preparing at the city ruins at the north end of the city."

I wanted to rush towards northern Evanuan but I had one more question for the mage, "If everyone is at the summoning, why are you here?" She blushed which told me that whatever the reason, it wasn't important to the Order of the Skull or the summoning. "Never mind." I muttered and removed my dagger from against her neck.

She quickly turned around, energy glowing through her fingertips and smirked, "You're not going to interrupt the work of the Order of the Skull, elf."

S**t. I forgot that mages can simply kill you with their minds. The mage launched a ball of blue energy at the ground that threw back Darkeen and I. I picked myself off of the ground and began to move towards the mage. She smirked and launched a blinding ball of energy towards me. I brought my hands up to my face and closed my eyes. Instantly I felt a surge of energy course through my hands. When I opened my eyes, my hands were glowing a bright golden color that illuminated the room. I saw the mage pick herself off of the floor and I thrust my hands towards her and a bolt of light was launched at the mage, throwing her hard against the wall, knocking her out cold.

The glow began to fade as Darkeen picked himself up and looked at me in amazement. I shrugged at him. I didn't know how I was using magic, but I felt good, I felt powerful. I motioned to Darkeen, "We have to get to northern Evanuan now!" Darkeen quickly picked his war axe up from the ground and we quickly began moving north towards the summoning.

Chapter 26: Christopher

"So, today's the day." I said to Violet as we sat down for breakfast.

"Yes, today is indeed the day." Violet smiled at me but in her eyes, I could tell she was stressed out and worried.

I moved one of my hands across the table and placed it on top of hers, "It'll be okay, we can do it."

Violet nodded, "Yes we can. I've just dedicated so much of my life to the Order of the Skull, dedicated to this day, that I can't bear to think about what would happen if we failed."

"We won't fail." I said confidently, although I had no clue what we were truly up against.

"Sometimes I wish I had your confidence," Violet smiled, "Then I realize it's just a mixture of arrogance and ignorance."

I held my tongue and chuckled softly, "It's good to laugh while we can."

"While we can..." Violet muttered, "Way to lighten the mood, Christopher." She handed me several old books, bound with leather covers. "I was hoping you could return these to the library for me. I'm going to be extremely busy today, organizing the city an all the mages for midnight."

I nodded, "Yeah no problem, I'll take them. See you later then."

Violet nodded back at me, "I'll try to meet you for training in the afternoon if there's time." She waved at me as I walked out the door and down the steps to the main road. There were a few people walking up and down the road, but I paid them no attention as I set out towards the library. I had passed the building a few times, but had never actually gone inside and I was slightly curious to see what was inside.

When I walked through the wooden doors, I was a little disappointed to see what looked like a normal library. The walls were lined with thousands of old books, and a small man... no a dwarf, sat behind a desk, there was a name stand on the desk that read 'Engel Quinn' and he was studying something on a piece of parchment.

I approached him and set the books on his desk. "I'm here to return these books for Violet."

Engel looked up at me, "Ah, yes of course, you can just leave those here."

I peered over the desk at him, "You know, I haven't seen any other dwarves here."

Engel replied monotonously, "Dwarves are usually resistant to magic, therefore few of us become mages. Lucky me."

I looked at the covers of the books I was returning. 'Elven Tomes', 'A History of the Longevity', and 'A Narrative on the Speculations of Necromancy and Other Cross-Dimensional Magic'. I opened 'A History of the Longevity' to the prologue and began to read.

The Longevity was established by ancient Elven mages with three main goals in mind

1. Monitor the levels of magic and the balance between types of magic throughout the continent.

2. Implement programs and other passive actions to maintain a balance of magic.

3. Intervene and actively fight if the need arises, in order to maintain balance of magical forces in the continent.

The Longevity sounded like they were created to deal with situations like the Order of the Skull was dealing with right now. I couldn't help but wonder where the hell they were right now. I remember Violet mentioning something about Temples of Longevity throughout the continent. Even though a large portion of the Elves were purged during the war with the Chammelons, I didn't think the whole longevity could just vanish without anyone noticing.

"Engle?" I asked and the dwarf pushed up his glasses and looked at me, "Do you know what happened to the Longevity?"

The dwarf scrunched his eyebrows together seemingly in thought before replying, "It's mostly speculation at this- point." His voice was high and his speech threw me off at first because he would pause after random words before continuing. "They were created- thousands of years ago. No one is- really sure why they- suddenly vanished."

I raised an eyebrow, "There are temples dedicated to the Longevity all around the continent aren't there? How could such a large organization, dedicated to keeping a balance of magic, simply disappear?"

"You're asking a question- that I have long pondered." Engel snapped back at me in an annoyed tone. "Perhaps it's better that we not know. Perhaps we should just be grateful that the Order of the Skull is here now."

I nodded and set the book down. I didn't want to anger the dwarf anymore. I wasn't sure what it was I said to him that turned the mood sour, but it just made me more curious about the Longevity. I didn't know very much about them, just what I'd heard from Violet and what I skimmed through this book and saw, but from what I'd learned, it didn't make sense for the organization to disappear at a moment like this. I'd have to learn more about the organization and what happened before I could draw a conclusion. I paced back and forth through the library, thinking about the Longevity, until I noticed Engel giving me a nasty look. I wanted to further study the Longevity but I knew it would have to wait for another day. I nodded at Engel and headed out the library door.

I had the rest of the morning to myself and I spent it walking through the streets of Evanuan. The city itself was breathtaking compared to Cyphol, where I'd spent the majority of my life. Fountains and statues of different elves (Although it seemed it has been a while since they had been cleaned) lined the long open boulevards. I could just imagine what it was like with different merchants selling items and street performers playing all kinds of music. The fountains were built to reflect the light in such a way you could see different images at different times of the day, like an eagle, or an elven warrior. After a few hours, I ran into Violet who insisted we get some training in before the sun goes down.

"What exciting activities do you have planned for me today?" I smirked at Violet as we made the familiar walk into the field outside the city wall.

"I just want to see you utilize your full potential, Christopher." Violet replied to me, the stress in her voice told me her mood had changed little since this morning. "More and more do I worry what we are going to face. I want to be certain you're going to be prepared."

I nodded, "I'm sure I will be, let's train." I spent the rest of the day summoning storms and casting bolts of energy, then listening to Violet's aid and instruction before trying again.

Soon enough the sun began to dip below the horizon and we walked west into the sunset, towards the city. "There it is." I said to Violet and pointed towards the sunset.

Violet laughed and we paused for a second to look before she started walking again. "Now we must finish preparing for the summoning, Christopher! We have little time to waste!" her voice had lost its worry, which had been replaced with excitement as we walked towards the north side of the city.

The north part of the city was hardly a city, it was a ruin. Collapsed buildings, broken statues, and rubble littered the area, unmoved since the city was stormed. The buildings that still stood were full of holes and most were missing roofs and parts of the walls. "Why here?" I asked Violet whose eyes were darting back and forth, all across the field, "and what are you looking for?" Then I remembered that Violet had mentioned that Cynthia was likely heading for the city and Violet was probably looking for her. Although I had come to mostly trust Violet and the Order of the Skull, I wasn't sure I wanted Violet to find Cynthia, I didn't think it would end well for her.

"We're preforming the ceremony here because it has the safest open space still contained by the city walls." Violet replied, "If something extremely dangerous exits the portal, the hope is that it can be contained in Northern Evanuan until it can be dealt with." She paused for a brief second, "Also, I'm not looking for anything. I'm just a bit anxious is all."

We continued to walk through the ruins of the city, until we came over the horizon of a small hill and found what looked like the entire Order of the Skull gathered around a platform in a very cultish manner. The crowd of mages seemed abuzz with a range of emotions, from excitement to terror. On top of the platform the two other members of Violet's council stood very still, not displaying any emotion. The crowd around us grew quieter as Violet's intimidating aura moved through the gathered mages. I paused at the steps of the platform, unsure whether I should follow Violet to the top.

Violet looked back at me and smiled, motioning me to follow her. From the top of the platform I could more clearly see the expressions on all the mage's faces. Some seemed to be in a violent bloodlust, others looked like they were struggling just to keep standing. As we walked across the platform, the Violet's council members approached her and began to speak in a low tone.

The Chammelon council member spoke first, "Everything has been prepared, in a little over an hour, we can begin the summoning!"

"Do you have the step with you?" Violet asked the Chammelon who removed a small piece of paper, nearly identical to the one Cynthia had recovered in the north-west, and handed it to Violet who took it cautiously, "And the elf?" Violet motioned towards Taylor, the human council member, "Has there been any sign of her?"

"None, Violet." Taylor replied quickly, "However we've magically sealed all entrances through the wall, and with all these mages gathered here, she wouldn't be able to disrupt the summoning."

Violet nodded in agreement, "Still watch the north part of the city, I don't want any of our mages to travel to far from the summoning, in case they're needed, however if we could find the elf and get the rest of the steps, this might be a hell of a lot easier."

The Chammelon sighed and spoke, "How do we know the elf is even here? There's been no sign of her what so ever."

Violet grimaced, "I know she'll be here." Her words made me worried for Cynthia, but I understood for the most part why Violet wanted the steps.

Violet continued to walk towards the edge of the platform and began to address the gathered crowd. "Mages of the Order of the Skull!" She began and was met with a cultish roar of excitement. "Today, we are gathered, as a unified, unyielding force! A force capable or bringing balance to the land! A force capable of providing order for the people of this land!" Violet's oration was enchanting, the way she spoke inspired everyone around her. It was easy to see how she'd managed to amass and command such a large group. "We've had to sacrifice and leave behind, what lives we had lived before, in order to accomplish something great! Each and every one of you, could have sat back and watched. But you all were able to rise up to the challenge! Rise up to seize the opportunity to bring good to this world!" She motioned to the large pool of water, complete with a fountain spraying water several feet in the air, behind her. "And now, the time has come to finish what we came here to do. No matter what the summoning releases when we unleash the excess dark magic, we will stand together, and we will control it! Who will stand with me!" The whole crowd cheered shouts of "Yes!"

Violet turned to me and smiled, "Are you prepared, Christopher?"

I nodded and smiled back, "Of course." Violet turned towards the fountain and raised a hand. Channels of bright white magic, harvested from the temples of Longevity, were released and a spiral shaped portal appeared over the pool, presumably allowing a gateway to balance the dark magic. An inhuman shrieking came from within the portal and I drew my sword, bracing myself for whatever comes through.

Chapter 27: Cynthia

I had to raise my hands up to my face to shield my eyes from the blinding white light that exploded like a thousand fireworks, a short distance away. "What the hell is that?" Darkeen shouted, his voice a mixture of fear and anger. I shrugged, not daring to speak. Worried we had once again come all this was only to be beaten so easily.

We continued moving forward, towards the army of hooded figures that were now illuminated by a blinding light that seemed to float over a large black platform that must have been recently constructed. The oval shaped light shook and an ear-piercing scream echoed throughout the ruins of northern Evanuan. The screaming sounded again and I couldn't help but shudder as we continued to creep towards the cultish gathering ahead of us.

We had nearly reached the group when they started coming. From the portal, dozens of creatures emerged that I had never even imagined. Wolf like creatures with ruby eyes towered above the mages and quickly began to rip several of them apart. Creatures without skin, that seemed purely of either ice or fire, launched bolts of ice and fire, freezing and igniting mages alike. Several of the mages were taken by surprise, but they quickly regrouped and rallied, launching spells of all kinds at the creatures.

One of the wolves looked in our direction and snarled. I swore loudly as the wolf began to charge our position. The wolf raised a paw to swipe at Darkeen, who let out a war cry and met the side of the wolf's paw with his battle axe. The wolf snarled growled in anger as Darkeen's axe cleaved through the majority of its massive paw. The wolf opened its mouth and flame erupted towards Darkeen. Almost instinctively I jumped in front of him and spread my hands out in front of me. A bright golden shield stopped the flame dead in its tracks. When the wolf paused to catch its breath, I dissipated the shield and made a darting motion with my hands. A bolt of golden light smashed through the wolf's neck, sending it crashing to the ground. It tried to stand up and reclaim its balance, but Darkeen swung his axe over his head, and brought it down into the head of the beast with a crushing blow. We were both panting hard as Darkeen ripped his now crimson axe from the head of the wolf.

"Forgive me if I'm wrong," I said, breathing heavily, "But I think this qualifies as chaos, or dark magic, or whatever."

Darkeen grimaced as he replied, "You're definitely right, Cynthia." He pointed towards the portal, "We need to acquire that last step before it's too late!"

I nodded in agreement and we began to run towards the platform, mage's spells and shrieks from the beasts echoed around us as if hell itself had arrived in this world. One of the ice creatures turned towards me and I quickly jumped and threw a dagger, shattering part of its neck. It raised its hands and began to summon a crystal blue ball of energy, but before it let the energy fly, I raised my hands above my head and brought them down hard, a sheet of golden light crashed down on the ice creature, shattering it completely.

The fighting just before the platform was the most brutal. Hellish creatures tore through the ranks of the Order of the Skull, mangled bodies, some in mere pieces, lay all around us. Another wolf charged us and was hit with a ball of flame from another mage. The wolf snarled and sunk its teeth into the mage as he screamed. Using a combination of magic and steel, Darkeen and I managed to bring the wolf crashing down.

I jumped up and grabbed the edge of the platform and lifted myself up. I had a clear view of the surrounding area from the platform. It seemed like the majority of the hellish creatures had been brought down, however the ranks of the Order of the Skull had been decimated, and a sick number of mutilated bodies dotted the ruins all around. On top of the platform I saw a dead Chammelon a few yards away, shards of ice piercing multiple parts of his chest. On the other side of the platform a human slumped against the back side of the fountain, clutching his stomach and grimacing in pain. Just in front of the platform, two figures stood back to back, cracks of lightning and bolts of purple magic were launched like clockwork as they faced off against several creatures of fire and ice. I recognized the pale face and black eyes of the figure facing me immediately, summoning strikes of lightning and magic just like she had been when she's conquered Evanuan. When she turned the other figure turned towards me and I swore as I saw Christopher, fear and determination in his eyes as he summoned several different spells at the creatures surrounding him. I released a bolt of golden energy that struck down one of the creatures in front of him. His eyes went wide when he made eye contact with me, but he quickly broke his gaze as another wolf charged.

Darkeen and I began fighting our way towards Christopher, Darkeen wickedly striking down enemies with his axe, and me violently throwing magic and dagger alike at the creatures around me. I summoned another bolt of energy and struck down another creature when I saw Christopher get turned around again, the fanged woman made eye contact with me and smirked, it sent shivers down my spine.

I had fought my way into earshot of the woman and Christopher, "Give me the step!" I demanded, shouting over the sounds of the wind and battle.

The woman turned two creatures into ash with one spell and laughed, "I was about to tell you the same thing!" Darkeen struck down the final creature on the platform and the portal began to vibrate and fade to a gray color. "Don't you see, Cynthia, this is where we can stop the chaos! Give me the rest of the steps and I can stop this!"

"Shut up!" I screamed at the woman and launched a wave of golden energy which she parried with a flick of her wrist, "You murdered my entire people! You watched this city burn! And now you expect me to believe you're here to be some sort of hero?"

Christopher stiffened up and turned towards the woman, "What is she saying, Violet? You killed all the elves."

"It's not quite that simple," Violet sighed, "There's still a decent amount of them left scattered throughout the continent."

"Holy s**t!" Christopher dropped his sword, "You lied to me! I trusted you."

Violet rolled her eyes, "I never lied to you Christopher, I just never told you. But I'm sure you're a supporter of the Longevity, that's what Engel told me anyway."

"The Longevity!" I shouted, "Are they here? What do they have to do with this?"

"Alright, Cynthia, Let me piece it together for you." Violet spoke to me as if I were a child. "Christopher, can you tell these fine people what the purpose of the Longevity is."

Christopher coughed nervously before speaking, "They're supposed to keep a magical balance between light and dark magic I think."

Violet smiled, "Very good. The Longevity was given authority to do this by force if necessary. Balance between forces is key, while it isn't always as obvious, too much light magic can have effects as drastic as too much dark magic. Now where does light magic originate from?"

I started to realize where this was going and I began to feel sick. "Elves, mostly ancient elves." Darkeen replied lowly.

"Precisely." Violet responded, "So the easiest way to deal with an overabundance of light magic would be to?" She smiled at me and then answered her own question, "It would be to massacre the elven kingdom. I knew that if enough of the elves were killed that dark magic would rise again and we could summon a portal, using the portal I could take control of the dark dimension and use my power to stop an imbalance in magic from occurring ever again. If you've been searching for the Longevity, here it is. The Order of the Skull, me, we are what remains of the Longevity."

I shook my head, "No! It doesn't add up! I was in one of the temples of the Longevity and a spirit told me to beware the Order of the Skull!" My stomach was sick, if she was telling the truth it meant an elf, one of my own, had launched the invasion on my home, had killed my friends and family.

"Granted it was a difficult decision and much of the Longevity abandoned the cause after the decision I had made." Violet said in a very non-chelate manner, "Those who left used magic to hide the majority of the Longevity's ancient sites, making it difficult to acquire all the steps. I used the rest of my political clout to convince the Chammelon kingdom to go to war against the elves with us. However, the Chammelons became bloodthirsty and killed far too many elves, though I suppose with less elves it made opening the portal easier. We were recently able to beat back the remainder of the Chammelon forces, however the mass overkilling of the elves resulted in a rise of dark magic, as I predicted. I'm sorry your people had to die Cynthia, not nearly as many should have died. Now we can make sure it wasn't for nothing, give me the steps."

"No." I said softly, all my anger had faded away, replaced with a feeling of emptiness now that I knew I had watched my family die, just to fuel Violet's 'heroic' agenda. "So now what? You're going to stop the dark magic from rising and then what? There's no more elves for you to kill!"

"Cynthia, please." Violet said softly, "I know it sounds horrible, but really it was only supposed to be a few elven villages and towns, Evanuan was supposed to stay untouched. Now if we stop this now there won't be any more changes in magic, the reason I summoned this portal; I believe that with the steps, I can transcend this realm and directly balance both forces directly."

"Great," said Darkeen, "Just what we need, a psycho killer transcending to godhood."

"How about you give me the last step," I demanded, "and I'll fix it myself." I turned towards Christopher, "Christopher, we need that last step, you know what she is now, you can help us! She may be a powerful mage, but there's no feasible way she can take both of us. We'll take the last step from her and end this, we can bring justice to the Elven people and recreate Evanuan as a safe haven for the elven people! I know that you'll see it's the right thing to do."

"Christopher!" Violet shouted and placed a hand tenderly on his shoulder. "You've learned that the Longevity has to do what is necessary, you know I've dedicated the majority of my life to bringing a balance to magic! Right now, we have to stand together and take the other steps, to save the lands from submitting to an eternal chaos!"

Christopher looked conflicted, he looked at me in desperation, then spun his head around and faced Violet. From what I knew of Christopher, I felt he'd be compelled to act against her, after learning what she'd done. However, as my gaze darted back and forth between the both of them, it seemed they had some sort of connection or friendship. I started to question how far I would be willing to go. Would I be willing to kill Christopher? Would Darkeen and I even be able to take on and defeat two powerful mages. Even with my magic, I haven't been training to use it for years like Violet probably had, and I had no idea how long Christopher has had magic affinities.

Finally, Christopher turned to Violet, "Can I trust what you've said? After you weren't honest with me."

Violetgave a devilish smile and dashed forward, disarming Christopher and putting himin a choke hold in front of her like a meat shield. "I was afraid you'd saysomething like that. No matter, I shall not be stopped, while I hoped to gather everyone's cooperation and use all the steps from this realm, I will be able still to perform the task from the dark dimension itself." She slowly moved backwards towards the portal, taking Christopher with her. "I'll simply harvest Christopher's potential, considering his affinities for both ends of the spectrum, combined with the one step. From inside the dark realm, I'll still accomplish what I've set out to do. This world needs me to save it from chaos. Try to stop me if you can, elf. You won't be able to stop me." Violet leaned backwards with Christopher, falling backwards through the portal, leaving Darkeen and I to contemplate whether or not to follow Violet through the gates of hell.