Elf World Shadows Rising Page 25

  "Ok, everyone, let's get our things together, time to go as soon as the sun clears the horizon,” Myst ordered.

  “After a spot of coffee,” Thomas scurried to put a pot of water on the fire.

  "Aye, Myst, let's be gone from this accursed place." Dwarves particularly dislike undead. Why that was Myst did not know, but you never told a Dwarf a ghost story. They never saw the humor in your doing so, and frequently let you know their displeasure with a thump on the head.

  An hour later, they had made it out of the city without any further problems. The caravan trail climbed cold and dusty to the east and into the rising sun. Both moons were low in the sky, but the sun lit the landscape in a soft dawn glow. The cold air seemed to bite at everyone in this early hour as the sun peeking above the barren mountains to the east and cast it's weak winter warmth across the world.

  CHAPTER 21

  Elise had been lying on a soft white sandy beach, her dark amethyst eyes closed to the sun’s warming rays. The soft sound of the waves as they died upon the shore, relaxing her into a gentle sleep. A cool trade wind blew its gentle kiss across her naked skin. She was covered in warm tropical oils, that one of the resort slaves had firmly massaged into her flesh. He had also brought her a wonderful local drink made with coconut milk and dark rum, somehow mixed with ice and pineapple juice to create the most delicious taste Elise had ever known, “why yes I will have another....”

  She stretched her five foot six inch athletic frame and rolled over onto her back, eyes still closed, and felt two sets of hands begin to work the tropical oil into her legs. "Ah, this is paradise," Elise thought to herself. And so the resort located on the main beach at Koa, was known as, 'The Koa Paradise', for good reason, she could not think of a better name if she owned the place....

  Koa was the name of the town, island, and country, that was semi-independent but with syndicate of Star Elves controlling it. It was some three hundred or so miles off the southern shore of the Empire of the Sun. An archipelago with Koa the largest island by far, over a hundred miles long and nearly fifty miles wide. Volcanic and tropical, full of palm forest and flowers, tropical birds, and waterfalls, but most of all some of the best beaches in the known world.

  How Elise had been lucky enough to have her boss send her here, she had not a clue, “never question good luck…”. She had even looked around the port city for the first few days she had been here, but no sign of the kidnapped ambassador could she find. And look she did, and some good bargaining on new clothing she found plenty of… Since then, she had spent much of her time investigating the beach, and the willing slaves the resort provided for the enjoyment of their guest. Every few days she would check with her sources around the city, but too much time had passed with no sign of anything worth looking into.

  Her smooth creamy Moon Elf skin had taken on a wonderful light tan; her dark auburn hair now had more light reddish highlights, and the daily massages had left her completely relaxed. Perhaps she should retire from the ISS and move down here and live full time. It was a tempting thought, but she somehow had never been able to save any money, and to live here cost a fortune. It was certainly nice of the Sun Elf military to pay for her extended stay at 'The Paradise', so she really should think about doing her job and check the city once again, "But not just right now," she told herself.

  She was a Moon Elf after all, and there were no more hedonistic Elves, than her father’s people. True, she had been raised by her mother’s race, the Sun Elves, but Elves breed true to their father’s side so they say and who was she to go against tradition.... While her loyalties were firmly with the Sun Elves; not that there was ever any conflict between Sun and Moon Elves, they had been allied people for tens of tens of thousands of years. But she thought of herself as a Sun Elf, who just looked more like a Moon Elf. It worked for her…and that was all she cared about.

  This heritage and her fantastic ability with bows and lock picking, made her an attractive agent for the Sun Elf's, Intelligence and Security Service, when she wanted to be at least.

  She had spent her whole adult life as an intelligent agent, been all over the world, and faced death a score of times. It was the perfect life for a Moon Elf, travel and adventure, these were by far the greatest aspirations of most Moon Elves.

  "Well," she reconsidered, "travel and adventure, food and wine, parties and dancing, and sex and more sex. Those were the Moon Elves greatest aspirations, and not necessarily in that order!"

  A dark shape floated across her face between her and the sun, but Elise was too involved in her massage, to notice the shadow.

  Suddenly, people started shouting, and the two slaves jumped up and ran away. Elise heard the rush of wings, as she looked up to see what all of the commotion was about.

  "Oh, damn!"

  "* Not happy to see me I take it? *"

  "No, not in the least happy…(sigh), Where to?"

  "* No beach, *" it laughed.

  Elise picked up her beach bag. She kept her clothes and weapons with her, never knowing when something like this would turn up. Finding her dark green pants laced them up, she then fastened a gold belt, on her hip road her sword. A few seconds searching the bag produced the matching top which she quickly donned.

  Plopping on the ground, she pulled out a pair of soft black ankle boots, and dusting off a coating of sand, pulled them on her delicate feet.

  "* I see you picked up some boots, but there also won't be any cactus where you're going little Elf. *"

  Climbing up onto it's back she asked, "And where is it that I'm going dragon?"

  The dragon sprang from the ground, its wings beating the sky as it quickly gained altitude to fly over the island’s mountain range. The white crescent sand beach quickly dropped away, as Elise looked back fondly. The blue sea rolled out into the long bay, and other islands on the far end of the bay seemed to sit atop its vast expanse. The emerald green forest and spraying waterfalls seemed to be even more beautiful, as she flew away. The white washed buildings, with pastel trim and shutters, marched up the hillsides in an artful display of Elven grace and form. Multi color silk awnings of the market, and colorful display of boats in the harbor, shone in the brilliant sunlight.

  With a sigh of regret, Elise repeated her question, "And where is it that I'm going dragon?"

  "* East, far east. *"

  ~

  That night they came to one of the deserted desert cities of the old Star Elf Empire. Dachron, it had been called once, long ago in another age of the world, an age that had passed with the death of millions of Elves and the creation of the Waste. Still it sat in splendor, as if only yesterday its crowds had wandered the open streets. Golden towers and minarets reached for the heavens in a glorious display of polished gold marble. A vast wall encircled the empty city, that had once held a quarter million Star Elves. It looked almost the same as it had once, in its glory, but now the fountains were dry, the pleasure gardens and tree lined streets were gone, replaced by the dry desert sand. Most said that Dachron, like the other fallen cities of the Waste, were now haunted. Elise did not know if this was true, but few came here and fewer would spend the night. The northern caravan trail passed not more than a dozen miles south of the city, but no caravan would stop here.

  But as the dragon dropped to the top of one of the tallest towers, it seemed that they would partake of the empty city’s hospitality.

  "Why are we stopping here, Dragon?"

  "* I have flown as far as I will this day, Elf. If you wish to fly on, on your own, don’t let me stop you. *" An amused rumble seemed to percolate up from the beast.

  "Very funny, wurm, ha ha. But are we safe up here? I hear that there are undead in these lost cities?"

  "* I am not concerned, Elf, *" the dragon thought at her.

  "I'm happy for you, wurm," Elise thought. The dragon did not respond, so perhaps it was true that dragons could only project their thoughts to others, and not read what other beings thought in return.

  It
was a cold sleepless night on the tower top for Elise. The rising of the sun was a welcome sight. The red ball of fire quickly rose above the mountains, casting its feeble winter warmth across the cold desert landscape. How much farther they had to go today, she did not now, as long as it was far away from here. She had not slept well if at all. The whispers of the dead had kept her alert throughout the night. The dragon had slept like a rock; this did not improve Elise's disposition in the slightest.

  "* Are you ready Elf? *"

  "Let's get on with it."

  High over the desert they soared; the sun baked land was almost attractive in the early morning light. Into sight came a large band of soldiers marching east along the caravan road.

  "Orcs," Elise thought, "lot's of them. Nearly two thousand, maybe more. I wonder what they are up to?"

  Elise did not much like Orcs. They were much too ugly, and they had no sense of humor.

  Soon, the Orcs were out of sight behind them, and Elise grew bored of the flight. Below the desert suddenly seemed to give way to hills and woods made up of oaks and southern yellow pine. It was a dramatic change of climate, not found in nature, but the result of powerful magic destruction whose effect was still felt today.

  They followed a beautiful river valley, filled with teeming wildlife. The river soon emptied into a large lake in the midst of the hill country. The city of Dara was nestled into the southern shore of the lake; it's wooded lovely parks and flower gardens run wild with Earth Magic created beauty.

  “We Moon Elves, can make beautiful and sophisticated cities to rival the Sun Elves, and indeed that was particularly true of her father’s city of Florenta, the capital of Moon Elven Kingdom of Ferinzia, the only real rival of Panantar for world's chicest city, Elise thought, and Moon Elves have more fun than the rest of the Elven peoples put together!”

  Down below, Dara was a city of sylvan garden estates, each compound the pride of the clans that created them. Each clan had its own estate where all of it's members lived in a communal setting, frequently in rambling villas of multiple buildings. The clans were mostly self-sufficient, producing its own food and basic goods, but then having a special financial production as well, be it wine making, leather goods, jewelers, furriers, blacksmithing, textiles, import-exporting, and so on.

  As a half Moon Elf, Elise was proud of the greatest Moon Elf city on the Eastern Continent. More than one hundred thousand elves lived within it's high gray walls. Only the city of Port Orland, just a little more than a hundred miles downriver, was larger than Dara. But Port Orland was not the capital city of Tuscan, with Dara's grand palace and magical clan garden estates. Port Orland was a large commercial port, set in the middle of a great black water cypress swamp. While Dara was cool up high in the hills, Port Orland steamed like cooked crayfish on a hot July afternoon. Port Orland was full of thieves and vices beyond count; Dara was the city of artists and music. In Dara, the air smelled of the millions of flowers in lush gardens; Port Orland smelled like a swamp that had a problem with it's sewers. But the thing about Port Orland, was not that the people were just very strange, they were completely mad.

  The Elves of Port Orland, like most Moon Elves, were concerned mostly with the pursuit of self-indulgent enjoyment and adventure. This outweighed even the concern of the large merchant class’s usual worship of money. The strange things they did made normal elves wonder, and the blood feuds that seemed to develop faster than the air moss that covered everything.

  Maybe the humidity, heat, and constant rainfall explained the short tempers and eccentricities. But people did things, like stuff their dead pets, and take them for walks! In their homes, they built third story doors that opened outside, into thin air. They even had witches cast spells on their homes to attract ghosts, if they were so unfortunate not to be haunted… Yes, and unhealthy fascination with the un-dead, ‎Lycanthropy, and anything occult was very trendy in Port Orland.

  To Elise, the most unusual passion that all of Port Orland seemed to suffer from, was their version of gourmet cooking. They were mad for outrageous, and usually extremely spicy, haute cuisine. They stewed, they gumboed, they fricasseed, and they even ettufaied food to a temperature that had to be unhealthy for sane Elves to eat.

  Worst of all about Port Orland in Elise's opinion, was that the city was also inhabited by the scum of the world, outcast elves, dwarf thieves, gnome gamblers, and dirty half-orcs. Especially the Half-Orcs thieves, whores or mercenaries, a nasty lot...

  And so, it did not really surprise Elise that the stupid dragon, flew over lovely Dara, and headed straight for swampy Port Orland.

  It did not take long for the cool hills to give way to the vast coastal swamp. This great wetland stretched from Tuscan in the north, where the cypress swamp was barely subtropical, south through the whole coast of Naya, where it turned very tropical, all the way to the great jungle swamp the Elves called Samarna, and the main residence of Goblins, who knew it as the Goblin Marsh.

  It seemed strange to Elise, that one continent would have both the greatest wetland in the known world, and the only true desert.

  "And lucky me I'm getting to see both on one trip, yuck!"

  "* Did you say something? *"

  "Where do I get off?"

  "* You can jump anytime you like, or there's the Swan Court Inn. They have a large courtyard, and I can put you down there. It's kind of expensive from what I hear. Maybe you should just jump and save the taxpayers... *"

  Elise sighed to herself, "How lucky she was to get stuck on a dragon

  with a strange sense of humor."

  "I'll take the inn, thanks!"

  Port Orland was unusual for Moon Elf cities, in that it had many normal buildings built close together. Usually, Moon Elves live in lush verdant garden estates, behind hidden walls. And that was true for some of Port Orland, but by no means most of it. This was one of the great port cities, and there was a need for wharves, warehouses, trading rooms, markets centers, inns, taverns, and housing for the large number of non Moon Elves that lived here, but dry buildable land was in short supply. It made for a very eclectic city, with a wild and dangerous reputation. They were also the world’s largest supplier of paper, and the smell of that process was more hideous to Elise than even the smell of the swamps.

  “How could I have forgotten the smell, yuck, like a haze over everything when the wind was not blowing from the sea. Like now…”

  Suddenly, they dragon pitched forward and dove for the riverfront of Port Orland's east bank. Quickly, too quickly for Elise, they seemed to race to meet the large moss covered cypresses and stone buildings. The dragon aimed for a large property right on the water, which had it's own private garden and stone boat dock.

  The dragon landed by the dock, and she hopped off. As soon as her feet had hit the ground, the dragon took off down the river and quickly disappeared from sight.

  Looking around the garden, Elise had to admit that the place was indeed lovely, elegant, and very expensive. It was a garden of at least four acres of green manicured lawns, flowers exploding with color, gray marble fountains of nymphs frolicking in the water, and grand old moss covered oak trees. A stone wall, covered in moss and ivy, encircled the property and gave it a cozy privacy. The inn itself, was a large three storied building with a grayish red slate roof. Matching shutters were set into the windows, and black wrought iron balconies extended from the suites at the corners of the building.

  "Not bad, maybe my original observation of Port Orland was not wholly accurate."

  The last time she had been in the city, more than twenty years ago, she had spent the whole time in the lower class dock quarter. That had been a very unpleasant time for Elise, and one she did not like to dwell on.

  Coming to her from the large double glass doors set in the middle of the building, was a very well dressed Moon Elf in richly brocaded but muted maroon and gold long coat, tunic, and matching trousers.

  He walked down a path of gray stone to where Elise was standing.


  "Good afternoon miss. I am Roarc, the General Manager of the Swan Court Inn, welcome. Will you be staying with us?"

  Elise looked at the distinguished looking Moon Elf standing before her.

  "Does the phrase, 'Rising Dawn', mean anything to you Master Roarc?"

  "But of course, Miss…,"

  "Elise Starwood," Elise offered.

  It looked to Elise as if this month’s recognition code worked; she had not been all too sure if this was one of the ISS operations or not. “The stupid dragon knew alright, but purposely left her in the dark. Stupid dragons!”

  "You are in room fifteen, Miss Starwood. I hope you will enjoy your stay with us, oh by the way, I have a letter for you."

  He reached into a inner pocket of his short cloak and pulled out a small sealed letter, and gave it to her.

  "Now if you will allow, this is Fallen," he indicated a young Moon Elf girl who had just walked up behind him. "She will take you to your room if you need anything,.. Don’t hesitate to ask."

  "Thank you Mister Roarc, just my room." Was that an offer of clandestine assistance or a romantic come on? Elise was not sure, but him being a Moon Elf and all, meant that it probably was both.

  Once alone in her room, she opened the letter.

  "Find a boat to sail home, coming your way, be ready for anything." It was signed Moss.

  ~

  The party was in full swing. Nobles, clan chiefs, and Matriarchs, all dressed or undressed according to your point of view, for a gala celebration. The royal palace of the Queen of Tuscan was lit up with thousands of magical lights. Giant colored paper globes filled with magic gasses floated above the crowd, and shone like beacons.

  Like most Moon Elf buildings, the Tuscan royal palace, was not just a building in the normal sense of the word, certainly at its heart was a grand marble palace done in the Florentine school, with a massive red high dome. It was also thirty densely wooded acres of enchanted gardens in the heart of the city of Dara. A ten foot high wall of magically shaped stone, of a dark gray, encircled the perimeter of the palace. Inside the wall, was a wild garden filled with courtyards and grottos, formed by open sided covered patios. They were made of overgrown fantastic curving stone roofs, overhanging delicate columns. Silk curtains or fine tapestries were suspended to add more color than privacy to the rooms. The privacy of each of these pavilions, was provided by walls of vegetation, and not stone. Wild gardens hid paths that connected the various pavilions to each other, designed as an outdoor living and party places, they were separated from each other by lush vegetation. High above in magically enhanced massive oaks, additional private rooms were hidden in small, interconnected, elegant tree houses.