Reluctantly, Leona mounted Jarael. The horse slowly trotted off behind some silent houses and found out that the alley led straight up with a ramp at the end of the street which allowed the guards to go up and down the battlements swiftly.

“Jarael, what are you planning to do?” Leona said tensely. Her head whipped back as she heard a clattering of metal out on the main streets. “They’ve found out about us!”

Jarael snorted and broke into a run. Leona was thrown back a bit and struggled as she grabbed the reins.

He’s going to crash us into a wall! Leona thought frantically. She closed her eyes as she expected the crash. Instead, she felt them go up, then go into a steep dip down and heard shouts far from the battlements behind them. Flaming arrows missed them by mere inches.

She stared at Jarael’s outstretched wings on either side of her.

Jarael bolted away, galloping on air. Leona opened her eyes and could see that they were thousands of feet up in the air. Fighting back nausea, she saw various landscapes and bodies of water flash before them.

Underneath, she could see the great Tu’uhn Lake like a large droplet of water where the Gleiss connected to the Harrel River down the southeast portion of Ramorgra.

“Where are we going?” Leona screamed at Jarael amidst the thundering rush of wind in her ears.

“We’re landing in Amera. It’s far enough from the capital. We can’t risk going to Faimeh. They would’ve alerted the garrisons there by now. They’ll think we’ll be going south.”

Leona bit her lip and hung on tight. She saw the Harrel like a silver snake underneath them, and glimpsed the Rillions like giants on her right. They flew over the desert city of Mu’rgith, passed the lake of Dru’v va Imrath, which meant ‘the gift of Imrath’, which led out to sea and finally, after what felt like hours, she saw the plains of Amera, just opposite the Gleiss from Glavonica.

“Leona,” Jarael said finally, exhaustion evident in his voice, his breath came in gasps, “I’ll have to land now, that glamour sapped my strength for flying.”

Leona braced herself as Jarael took another dip and plummeted at breakneck speed from the sky. The plains beneath them suddenly became bigger as they neared the ground. Jarael lost his balance and crashed head-on in the ground. Leona tumbled off into the dirt as well.

Wincing as she felt the wound on her shoulder open at the fall, she heaved herself up with difficulty and collected the saddlebags that were thrown as well as Jarael fell. She sighed in relief as she found them intact. She scanned the area where they had landed.

They were in Amera as Jarael indicated. Amera translated literally into ‘plains’ in elvish. The vast flatlands provided little protection from attacks from above save except for the huge boulders of sandstone that littered the area. The Rillions stretched far into the distance that hid another city in its many valleys. The Gleiss flowed some way off to the west and the Dru’v va Imrath somewhere in the south.

Leona dusted off her clothes, shouldered the bags and went to look for Jarael.

She found him a few meters away from where she landed; lying on the ground, eyes closed and chest still heaving. The glamour he was talking about and the almost five-hour flight at that great altitude and distance took a great toll on his strength.

Leona gasped and ran over to him, helped him sit up and offered him a drink from one of the water skins.

“Thanks,” he murmured, taking the water skin and drinking deeply.

“I’m sorry for the rough landing,” he apologized when he finished drinking. Leona smiled briefly and shook her head.

“There’s nothing for you to apologize for. I’m partly responsible for this hasty escape anyway,” she said. Jarael smiled.

“I’m just concerned how that glamour that you say took a lot of your energy,” Leona said frowning, Jarael’s face had gone from pallid to ghostly. The latter laughed bitterly.

“It’s because we elves don’t use glamour that often, not that we need it to use it, anyway. But it’s extremely useful especially in desperate times when I need to escape unnoticed. I’ve learned it from the faeries when I was traveling with them. They taught it to goad and weaken me enough for them to kill me. I was stupid enough to heed them.”

“Why is that? Faeries get along well enough with elves, though they don’t really see eye to eye,” Leona said.

“With elves, yes, quite, with Giraj that’s another thing altogether. They say we’re blood traitors fraternizing with mortals…” Jarael said bleakly, his voice trailing off as he suddenly became engrossed in his thoughts.

Leona pondered on this thoughtfully before asking, “What’s glamour?”

“It’s using magic to create a different appearance, an illusion that tricks the normal eye. The names I gave that man, Torv, were glamoured, too, since I can’t lie.”

Leona became more interested with every bit of information that she was receiving. “What are you really? You haven’t really explained it to me. And how did all this start? Where and when do I come in?” she asked.

Jarael laughed heartily, a first time since they’ve met. “So many questions, and in not the best of times, it’s better if we make ourselves comfortable, first. And it’s late.”

They built a fire, spread their blankets around it, and ate their first meal as outcasts in silence. Leona shivered at the thought.

Dread clawed at her inside as her thoughts went back to her grandparents imprisoned somewhere that even the authorities didn’t and won’t say where. She shook her head and said indifferently to Jarael, “Since we have nowhere to neither go nor hide at the moment, why don’t you get talking.”

Jarael looked up at her. Leona was staring up at the stars that littered the night sky above them. “Persistent, aren’t you?”

“I have a right to be,” Leona said, without looking down, “this is my life we’re talking about.”

“I would’ve told you if we weren’t in such a tight situation.”

“We’ll never be out of danger now that this is happening. It’s either we solve all of this or I’ll just surrender myself to Ramadak and get my grandparents back,” Leona said casually, ignoring Jarael’s look of horror.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. If you do, I sure that you’ll never see them again,” he said icily.

“Exactly. Explain things to me now before I go insane in the future trying to figure things out myself.”

Jarael stopped and glared at Leona. A few moments later, his expression softened and said to Leona, “Make yourself comfortable, this may take long. And no questions until I’ve finished.”

Leona smiled and nodded contentedly. She shifted on her seat and looked at Jarael, eager for him to start.

“Ramorgra and its neighboring provinces more than nine hundred years ago, weren’t like the place we live in now. Before, mortals lived exceptionally long lives, partly because it was more peaceful back then, ruled by a just mortal king chosen personally by the gods, and also because every mortal had a guardian, a Giraj just like me. We, the Giraj, are elves born and raised under the gods of the sacred mountain, the Erwaddi. We lived alongside the humans, and when they died, we did, too. And the Giraj would lead the mortal to eternal life in the Erwaddi’s many summits. The gods themselves, had guardians like us. They served as counselors and personal advisers. In a way, the Giraj had an influence on the mortals.

“Mirath, the Supreme Being, led the pantheon of gods as they held their power over Ramorgra and maintaining balance.

“Now, several years before the Fall, a mortal woman conceived and gave birth to a boy: half-Giraj, half-mortal. Horrified, the mother abandoned the child to sorcerers and then hung herself afterwards. The child stayed with the sorcerers, never knowing his true nature and those of his parents. The sorcerers raised him and gave him the name, Ramadak, which means ‘fallen from above’ in Erwaddian Elvish.

“Ramadak grew up to be a strong young man: brilliant, and skilled in every known type of physical combat. Some said that he learned magic, too. It remained that way, until the boy was in his second year of manhood, and he overheard the sorcerers who raised him talk about him and he learned of his second nature.

“Enraged at having the secret hidden from him for so long, he murdered the sorcerers, covered up his deed, and even kept the house where he killed those men. Still, he didn’t escape the wrath of the gods. They found him and he was cursed; never to set foot inside the holy mountain, because Giraj cannot ever kill humans.

“He argued with the gods that he didn’t know of the fact that he was different and that there were rules governing his existence. But the gods, for all their might and goodwill, had their flaws and shortcomings and stayed firm in their decision. So Ramadak plotted his revenge.

“With his knowledge of black magic, he stumbled upon an experiment and thus from that he bred the first of the T’lakr, which means ‘night assassins’. As he grew in years so did the number of T’lakr. He trained all of them to be skilled killers and on one fateful day, when his forces grew strong enough, he waged war against the gods.

“Ramadak and his army ravaged every province of Ramorgra, almost wiping out entire tribes, cities, and villages; killing those who wouldn’t join him and forcing the rest to submit to his will.

“He got to the foot of the Erwaddi and began bombarding the battlements of the fair folk who guarded the path to access the mountain. With dwindling forces, the gods knew that something has to be done to save the future of Ramorgra. Thus, they dispatched Shaeryva, goddess of life as I’ve told you, to be taken away from the Erwaddi to save her from the onslaught. Because if Shaeryva dies, all beings: mortal or not, divine or otherwise, will die and the world will perish.

“It just so happened that Shaeryva was my charge. A frail girl of only eight years since her predecessor died. Mirath, the almighty, told me to transport the goddess to mainland Ramorgra because she was too young to protect herself and was vulnerable to any form of attack. It was a difficult decision, and Shaeryva was reluctant to leave the mountains because it was her home and her parents, gods themselves, will have to be left there. But in the end she gave in. After she had gone, I heard that Ramadak was already at the gates of the Erwaddi.

“The gods, who wanted to be sure of Ramorgra’s future aside from the assurance of Shaeryva’s safety, took their weapons, froze time in their chambers, casting them in a deep slumber, unable to be reached by anybody or anything, because gods will only live as long as their own blade doesn’t kill them. Mirath gave an order that in the end of a thousand years and Shaeryva doesn’t come back, they’ll be forced to end the world.

“They were locked away with the help of the four races of Ramorgra: the mortals, the fey, the elves, and the dwarves. The key was divided between the four until such time that Shaeryva’s return gave them a reason to reveal them. Because only through the keys, and the goddess’ breath of life, can the gods be aroused from their slumber and to continue the battle. They, along with some minor gods and healers, escaped from the mountain and has hidden themselves ever since.

“Ramadak hasn’t heard of the keys just yet, which is a good thing. But he’s bound to know about them sooner or later and begin to search for them. Right now, he thinks that he has complete control of the gods and of the land. He crowned himself the King of Ramorgra, and has been ruling ever since.

“Until he found out about Shaeryva returning, that was when he started following me. Through the long years, they’ve been chasing me in the desire that if they follow me, they will find Shaeryva. They know that by tracking down Shaeryva’s trace memories through me, they will have her for good.

“As time passes, they’ve become harder and harder to evade. So when I saw you in Haikhan, I followed you in the forest and they ambushed me. That’s when you and your Tavus found me. I didn’t even have the idea that they were following you already. Ramadak has employed seriously powerful seers…”

Leona stared at Jarael, fascinated and disturbed by his words. Her grandfather did mention the Fall to her when she was younger, she knew the legend had a terrible and bloody past.

“So, you knew it was me when my bed told you my memories?” she asked.

“How can you be so sure that I’m Shaeryva? What did my memories tell you?”

Jarael shook his head. “I’m not allowed to reveal them, even to you, because there are some aspects of a person’s life that is supposed to be hidden from him. There is one way to find out if you really are the one. I’ll be calling on the attention of the Chawall, divine healers, exiles of the Fall, they can determine whether you are Shaeryva or not. The sooner we know the better.”

Jarael was silent for a moment, and then he added, “Besides, as far as I am concerned, I know that you are that little goddess I carried all those years ago. Our hearts had a special bond not even time, magic, or chaos can break.”

Leona smiled quietly, though she was still confused.

Jarael says it so sincerely that I’m ready to believe it myself. She thought, but how can I bring about all this? Was there something grandma and grandpa didn’t tell me about? They didn’t mention my parents much, not unless I asked them. And they’d been giving me the same answers…Who were my real parents? They could be gods, too… but there will be a war in my future… Oh, I just want to find my grandparents and head home.

“Are we supposed to find the keys to Erwaddi, too?” Leona asked finally, she was surprised to see the sudden somber look on Jarael’s face.

“Yes, of course. In the nine or so centuries you were gone, to tell you the truth, we only have three years until the end of the world.”

Leona blanched, “Three years?” she repeated apprehensively.

“Yes, but we can do that after we find your grandparents. I owe them my life.”

“Possibly, but we can amend that once we’ve spoken to the Chawall. But you are Shaeryva. Your memories themselves are telling me. I’ve been taking different girls to the Chawall through the years. But their memories were not vivid like yours and theirs did not contain the trace memories that I had been looking for. You may not remember the exact events that I’m talking about, Leona, but once we find the keys, you will,” Jarael said with conviction. He then took out the crystalline dagger and tossed it to Leona.

Leona caught it and studied it curiously, “What’s this for?”

“I give you my sword, as a promise that we’ll go through this together and that my trust and loyalty are yours. Also, you’ll have to practice your skills in swordplay, archery, and if possible, magic. You can’t go to war with not enough training.”

Leona paled and said quietly, “Jarael, I don’t know how to fight.”

Jarael’s face broke into a grin, “Really? Excellent! We’ll start your training at the crack of dawn tomorrow.”

“But –” Leona started; Jarael silenced her and extinguished the fire with a wave of his hand.

“We’ve had enough talk, Leona. Get to sleep. We have a lot to do in the morning.”

Reluctantly, Leona snuggled into her blankets, trying to warm herself. She wished Jarael had left the fire burning, it felt depressingly cold.

In the sudden exhaustion that took over her, she vaguely saw Jarael standing with his back towards her in a distance. He was whispering something in his fist like he was saying a prayer. She thought she saw a small orb of light like a blue firefly leave his hand when he opened his fist.

Leona turned her back on him and pondered on their conversation and asked herself if it made any sense to her.

It seems so hard to believe in all this. I don’t know where to put myself or what to think. With no other person to trust, it feels like I’m throwing myself into the fire. But if what Jarael says is true, I just hope someone will confirm it for me…

She thought about her life in Haikhan and of her friends especially of Tavus. Leona felt a pang of homesickness even though she’d only left Haikhan some hours ago.

She wearily closed her eyes. Some mess I’ve gotten myself into.