Attack of the Unknown.

And there she was.. standing at the gates of the keep. Her long black hair dancing in the wind while softly caressing her pale skin, her bordeaux dress draping over the stone floor, the gold lining glittering in the sunlight. She was beautiful, like a Queen should be. 'Are you alright my Queen?' asked the knight kneeling at her feet. 'Yes... but i have this strange feeling when I look at the sky, almost as if this age that we know will come to an end.' The knight looked up at his queen with a slight smile on his face. 'My lady, please do not worry. Whatever the times might bring towards this kingdom, we have the strongest army ever to have walked the earths! Nothing will stand in the way of our glory.' The Queen looked at the knight and released a small sigh. 'I guess you are right Argo, I probably worry for naught. Let us go inside and prepare for tonight.' 'Yes my Lady!' The knight replied and guided her inside.
It was a warm mid-summer day, the Queen loved this time of year. From her room she could hear the villagers work and celebrate, the birds sing and the troops train. She was preparing a feast this day. The kingdom's armies just returned from yet another victorious battle against rival armies and that would make their total victories a thousand! The King was very pleased and asked his wife to make it a grand celebration where everyone in the kingdom was invited. Of course the Queen agreed; Not because of the thousand victories, but because she loved her people and always enjoyed spending time with them and as they did with her. Their beloved Queen, always there for the people and very protective of them. The King was different though. He was a rough man, tall, sturdy and a big white beard. He was always working on new military exploits, wanting to become the strongest leader ever known and at that he had very well succeeded. With this new victory, totaling to a thousand, every other country feared him and his army; but unknown to him, events were about to unfold that he never expected.

It was almost evening, the Queen was still in the middle of finishing the preparations while there was a sudden deafening roar coming from outside the castle. 'What was that?!' The Queen looked outside the windows but did not see anything. Suddenly some knights ran into the hall and stopped in front of the Queen, kneeling down. 'My Queen! Something terrible is happening. You have to come with us immediately by order of the King!' 'What?!' she said surprised. 'What is going on? Tell me now!' but the knights had no time to explain and pulled the Queen with them towards the war room. 'Sorry my Queen, we have no time to explain, please hurry!'. As the knights led the Queen through the corridors, she heard another roar but this time further away. 'Please hurry my Queen there is no time to waste.' said Argo as they rushed through the war room doors. 'What is going on Leo?' asked the Queen to her husband. 'What was that noise outside and why did you order the knights to bring me here?' The King was standing at his tactical table with his most trusted generals and raised his hand, signaling her to come stand next to him. 'I am sorry Esmara my love, I know you were busy with the preparations but we are under attack. Please stand here and listen to what my generals have to say.' She looked surprised when the King said 'under attack' but she dare not ask him more at this time and stood there silently waiting to hear what the generals were saying. 'Big flying serpents have swept over the land my King. It seemed as someone was riding these beasts and controlling them, but we could not get any confirmations on who they are.' The King, though visibly worried, had dealt with such surprises more often. 'Send some scouts out to where they were headed and find out who or what they are. Send out a call to arms and put our archers on the walls; we need to be prepared for when they return.' The generals nodded and left to make preparations. 'I am sorry my love, there is a good chance that the feast will have to wait with this turn of events.' said the King as he turned to his wife, kissing her forehead. 'Worry not, we are the strongest in the lands, there is nothing we can't deal with.' The Queen looked at the King and felt she had to tell him about her feelings of this afternoon, but knowing her husband he would just laugh and say it will all be alright. 'If you say so Leo... is it alright with you if I resume preparations for the feast? There is always a chance nothing else will happen and I want our people to enjoy themselves when they can.' The King looked at her and let out a sigh. 'I actually want you safe in your chambers, but you know that I can never deny you your requests. Take Argo with you to watch over you and go to your chambers at the first sign of trouble.' The Queen smiled and gave the King a kiss on his cheek. 'Thank you my love, I will be careful.'

Giza stood at the southern gates, backpack ready and orders in hand. 'I shall return as soon as i have information Sir. Please keep the castle safe while I am gone.' The general laughed at Giza. 'Don't you worry about us, just find out what those beasts were and who are controlling them. You are our best scout and I believe in you Giza.'
He saluted the scout and returned to the castle.
Giza walked through the forest to where the beasts were heading while mumbling to himself 'Giant serpents, unknown enemies... why me? Why do I have to do something this scary. This isn't the same as checking out an enemy camp or keep... this is almost demonic!' Suddenly he heard something around him. 'Who is there?! Show yourself!' Giza said in a slightly raised voice. Again he heard leafs rustle. 'It may just be a squirrel but I'd better check it out.' As he turns around to trace the source of the sound, his alert eyes saw an arrow soaring straight at him. His lightning reflexes, which had saved his skin on so many such occasions, took over and Giza dove to the ground, pulling out his knives in a single motion. 'Show yourself, why are you shooting at me!' Out of the trees in front of him a tall woman appears. Giza his eyes widen as she comes closer and he takes in all of her at once; she's dressed in a green outfit, similar to the leaves of the forest, with a finely decorated longbow in her hands and a quiver on her back, long hair as brown as the bark of a tree, with an exquisitely elegant demeanor, she radiates a calmness he never felt before. 'W-w-who are you?' he stuttered. As she came closer he crawled backwards and suddenly bumped into a tree with his back. 'Stay away! What do you want from me? Please.. say something!' As she came closer to him he noticed something very strange about her... her ears! They were strangely shaped with the tips ending in long tapering points; this woman wasn't human! 'Why are you here human?' asked the woman in a soft, rich voice. 'Return to where you came from and you will not get hurt, we do not believe in violence.' Giza could not help but gaze at her and shook his head to gather himself. 'I am a scout from the kingdom of Draconia and I am here on a mission, could you kindly let me go and let me resume what i came here to do?' She stared at him for a brief moment. 'No, that is something I can not allow. You either return to where you came from, or you will be my captive. Choose now.' Giza felt he had to run, but he did not want the dishonor of returning without information. 'Then I will be your captive. I can not return without information.' The woman looked at him with surprise and smiled slightly 'You are more brave than you look young human. Very well.' She closed her eyes and started chanting some ancient words, suddenly Giza was bound by leaves and vines.
'Stand up and walk with me. If you try to escape I WILL kill you.' Giza nodded and stood up. 'May I ask you something Miss... ehhm..' The woman looked at him with questioning eyes. 'Yes you may.. and my name is Aeltae. What is yours young human?' 'Giza.' he answered quickly. 'Well Giza, what is your question?' she asked him while walking up front. 'Well.. What are you?' Aeltae suddenly stopped. 'What? I am a woman of course, isn't that obvious? I would take it you have never seen an elf, but that doesn't mean that you can be disrespectful.' Giza lowered his head 'I am s-s-sorry.. it's just that, indeed, I never met an elf. I thought they were only myths and I never have even seen any pictures or descriptions.' Aeltae pulled the vines forward and started walking again. 'Your apology is accepted. Now.. we do not have all day, let us move on.'

After walking for half a day they arrived at the deepest part of the forest, a place where humans never ventured due to the dangers lurking there. As they continued walking, Giza suddenly noticed that they had come upon a clearing and as his eyes adjusted to the bright light from the morning sun, he beheld a whole elven community! Houses in the trees, wild animals assisting them in daily chores, elven warriors training their archery. 'T-this.. this is amazing!' he said without thinking. 'You are my captive Giza, be silent and follow me. My brethren aren't fond of humans and at this point my protection is the only thing keeping you alive.' Giza dropped his head and followed her towards a big house in the middle of the clearing. 'Father I have returned and I brought a human.' Aeltae her father looked up and greeted his daughter. 'Welcome back Aeltae. Now... please explain to me why you have brought this destroyer of nature to our camp.' Aeltae told Giza to sit in a corner and sat down across her father. 'He intrigued me father. I offered him a chance to return from where he came, but he choose to be a captive.' Her father looked at Giza. 'This human choose to be captured? I see. So human, why did you wander the forest all alone and why did you not return to your own place when offered?' Giza looked up at the elder elf and felt overwhelmed by his appearance. His long white hair draped around his shoulders, his face looked like he was a few hundred years old but yet he moved with the energy of a child and like Aeltae he had this unexplainable calmness radiating from him. 'I am a scout Sir. My mission is to find out information about the giant serpents that flew over the kingdom of Draconia. If I would return without any information, my honor as a scout would be tarnished. I would rather die than let that happen.' The old elf looked at Giza and nodded. 'I see. Now I understand why my daughter brought you here.'
The old elf stood up and walked towards a window, gazing out. 'It does not happen often that a human shows such determination about protecting their honor and it does not happen often that humans get to see our village, but for now you will be under my protection. I will make sure that the other elves will not attack you, but you are still a prisoner. One wrong move and you will be fed to the dragons.'
Upon hearing the word Dragons, Giza got startled and suddenly stood up. 'Dragons?! You mean they are real?' The elder looked at Giza. 'Yes, they are and the things you are looking for are right here.' The elder walked to the entrance of the house and closed the curtains. 'Please sit down young human and tell me your name.' The elder moved his hand through the air and the vines that bound Giza were released. 'My name is Giza Sir. I am sorry to have invaded your forest, but I was just doing my job.' The elder looked at Giza and smiled gently. 'Giza.. that is a fine name young human and please do not worry about it. We are a peace loving race. Please know that any hostility towards you humans comes out of your destructive force towards nature. We are doing our best to keep the world's balance in order, but lately the armies of the Draconia Kingdom have been destroying more and more of our forest. Attacking anyone that they see as a threat, even if that is false. We can not allow this to continue.' The old elf sighed and sat down. 'Aeltae, can you please tell the rest of the village of our guest and my orders that he is not to be harmed as long as he shows respect to our ways.' Aeltae stood up and bowed to her father. 'Yes father right away.' As Aeltae walked out, the old elf his face turned serious. 'Now then Giza, I have a lot to tell you so I hope you would not mind to just sit there and listen to me.' The old elf gave Giza some nectar and sighed again. 'You will probably not like what you are about to hear, but I am afraid that there is no other solution left. Tonight we will attack the Kingdom of Draconia and put an end to the injustice and destruction that place brings to our fair world....'

Esmara woke up to the morning sun and got ready for breakfast. 'Good morning my Queen, did you have a good nights rest?' asked a servant. 'Yes Melody, thank you. Can you please get a bath ready for me?' she replied smiling. 'Of course my Queen.' After her bath and getting dressed Esmara walked towards the dining hall. 'Good morning Leo, how was your night? Did you enjoy the festivities yesterday?' The King sat at the long table and grunted a bit to himself. 'Hm? Ohw yes, sorry my love... I have been so busy with the whole situation that came up yesterday that I did not get much sleep.' Esmara walked towards the King and gave him a kiss on his forehead. 'Please do not worry so much my love. Those creatures did not return and the kingdom enjoyed themselves at the festivities. It is a new day so let us start anew.' The King looked up at his wife and softly smiled. 'As usual you are right my love. I am sorry but I have to head to the war room and see if we have any news from our scouts yet.' The Queen bowed slightly and nodded. 'Of course, I will keep Argo near me today as well to calm your mind about my safety.' The King nodded back at her and walked off to his meeting.
As the King entered the war room, his generals were already there. 'Good morning my King, we have some disturbing news to report.' The King sat down at his chair and signed that he was ready. 'From the scouts we have send out one did not return. Giza is still missing even though he should have been back already. The other scouts have returned without any news. The threat did not come from our neighboring Kingdoms so that only leaves the forests in the south.' The King looked up surprised. 'The southern forests? There is nothing in those expansive forests aside from wild animals... I would doubt that Giza of all people was killed by a wild animal.' The general agreed. 'It is as you say Sir, he is the best we have. I fear he might have been taken captive by whoever controls those beasts; If that is true then our enemy is a formidable foe. I would suggest that we rally the army and march into the forest to clear out every threat.' The King pondered for a while and agreed. 'Yes you are right, we can not allow this insult to our kingdom to persist any longer. Prepare the men for battle, we ride tonight.'

Dharion A. Drahl - July 31st 2010