THE QUEST FOR THE SCEPTER SWORD OF

  DANARIA

  ***

  BOOK TWO:

  TO THE TOWER OF MYSTICS AND MAGIC

  ***

  PROLOGUE:

  WHEN CERELENE LEFT THE ELVEN FOREST

  As she looked at Azure in her enclosure, Cerelene knew what she had to do, even if it scared her. The elf maiden touched the door and her falcon flew towards her, ready as always to follow her wherever she went. When Cerelene lifted the door, she suddenly felt a brisk wind pass her ear. Then as she turned, her sleeve was jerked and stuck to the wall by an arrow.

  It was only a matter of seconds. Cerelene pulled the arrow out of the wall, and after that the one that had just missed her ear. Then she sighed as Azure flew back away from the door. It was then the elf maiden looked up to see Leti Lightshower, captain of the Royal Archer Brigade in front of her.

  “What are you doing?” probed Leti, as she returned her bow to her back.

  It was the middle of the night, but she was still in her uniform with her bow and a full quiver. She rarely had to use her bow in her elven homeland, but it still gave her comfort having it near.

  “I am taking Azure for some air. I need... I need to think.” It wasn’t a total lie, thought Cerelene. Perhaps Leti would buy it.

  Leti walked forward and took the arrows from Cerelene, impatiently. “You were leaving. Do not try to deny it.”

  Cerelene looked down at the floor. Not only was Leti one of the mightiest warriors in the elven kingdom, she was also her aunt.

  “What if I was? I am of age! And it will be more on my terms now! I do not care...” began Cerelene angrily.

  Having heard enough, Leti cut Cerelene off. “You rashly criticize the queen in front of the human and dwarven dignitaries, and now you will exacerbate the situation by leaving in the middle of the night without even telling your parents! You are lucky the queen only banished you for a year. You are lucky she is allowing your parents to send you somewhere, instead of just throwing you out permanently the very instant you did not keep quiet. Let alone the second or even the third time. You are lucky you are the queen’s niece. Even if you disagree with her, she is your queen!”

  Stolen story; please report.

  Though she loved her aunt, Cerelene could not help but speak out again. “King Brock is a good man, and if the dwarves will help him then we should as well. I know that it was his general that has allied himself with the goblins, but if Landon Rosser takes Brock’s kingdom, the repercussions could be disastrous. I am tired of our isolationism! If King Dormir Ironhearth and the dwarves will ally with the humans to fight, so should Queen Ilsa Lightshower and her elven kingdom!”

  Leti sighed. Then looked at Cerelene with kind eyes as her anger fleeted. “You are right. You are right. I did not spill much blood in the goblin wars just to have those vile creatures regain more power. But leaving now? Where will you go? You have scarcely been outside this forest and have only been to other kingdoms as part of the royal party. Never have you been on your own. Do not act as rashly as you did today.”

  Cerelene turned away from Leti and looked at Azure in her enclosure. “I need to be truly free. Maybe this is happening for a reason.”

  “Perhaps it is,” replied Leti, as she touched Cerelene’s cheek. “Elion is a god of wonders, but he is mysterious all the same. Talk to Luminan. He has never steered you wrong, and there is no one better to discuss this than the the high priest of our kingdom.”

  Though it wasn’t a bad idea, Cerelene knew it was Leti’s way to keep her from leaving. If there was one person in The Elven Forest that could rival Leti in persuasion, it was Luminan. He was intelligent and kind. He listened more than he spoke. But most interesting, was that when he could have been king after his brother died, Luminan decided to remain the high priest instead of taking the throne. Elion did work in mysterious ways, thought Cerelene.

  Still, she would not give him the chance to talk her out of what her heart was telling her. With her mind now made up, Cerelene opened the door to release Azure. Then Leti watched as the falcon flew screeching toward her niece.

  “I assume you were going through the hidden waterfall tunnel? I will escort you. You owe me that much if I am to keep this secret,” spoke Leti with a disappointed sigh.

  Cerelene hugged Leti. Then whispered in her ear.

  “Thank you.”

  Holding back tears, the captain of The Royal Archer Brigade straightened up and took off her bow and quiver. “I have taught you all I know from this. Take it. You are my best student.” A single tear fell from Leti’s eye. Then she laughed, wiping the tear away. “Do not tell Luminan. He thinks he is.”

  Then it was Cerelene’s turn to shed a tear. Looking into Leti’s eyes she laughed. “I will not tell him. Not even when I return.” As the smile faded, Cerelene continued in a more serious tone. “Tell him when he offers his daily prayers to Elion, not to forget me.” A second later she placed the quiver of arrows on her back and looked down at the bow.

  “I cannot take this,” argued Cerelene, thinking of her cousins. “This should go to Grenos or Vasillir before me. I will make my own. You taught me well.”

  A serious look came over Leti. Then she grabbed Cerelene’s chin with her right hand and pointed at her with her left.

  “Oh, one of my sons will get it, because you are coming back!” commanded Leti, sweetly but sternly.

  Cerelene smiled and nodded.

  “Azure, it is time to go!” commanded the elf maiden, and the falcon followed.

  When they reached the waterfall, Cerelene and Leti embraced a final time. Soon it would be daybreak. It was now or never, and they both knew it.

  “Now, I know this is your journey, but if you do not know just now where to go, go to the high priest of The Human Kingdom Lands. You would stick out too easily at King Brock’s castle, for sure,” began Leti. “Liam Jarstinian will take you in, I am sure of it. He is a good man, with an even greater heart.” Then the captain of The Royal Archer Brigade stopped for a moment as she caressed Cerelen’s red, braided hair. “In their Holy City, you can think about what you truly want and you can be our eyes and ears, since the queen will not move.”

  After nodding back at her aunt, Cerelene pulled Leti’s bow tightly against her shoulder, and with her other hand covered Azure’s face as they passed through the heavy flowing water. The sound was deafening, but they couldn’t drown out Leti’s final words. The words Cerelene knew she would never forget.

  “May Elion guard and guide you, child!”

  And with those words in her head, down a ways from the waterfall, Cerelene took her first real steps outside The Elven Forest, unsupervised. She thought then that the journey to The Holy City would be her greatest adventure. However, it wouldn’t be until the royal elf maiden met a human mercenary there, that she would realize that the greatest adventure of her life was truly about to begin.