Elven Chronicles Book 1: Into the Shadows

I am finally got of bed and was able to sit in the backyard. I was watched like a hawk because everyone was afraid that something was going to go wrong at any minute. It had been eight days since the attack, and I am still wrapped in gauze and constantly checked by the doc. For now, nothing was wrong besides the fact I hurt like hell, and I sat with my teacher who I called Teach. He didn't mind, and I had him call me Kida. No Princess crap, just Kida.

"Well Kida," he said. "I have brought some history books over for you to start reading. You have worked hard on the langauge, and you can start trying to decipher what is written here."

"Cool. What am I learning today?"

"I will be talking a lot. I am going to tell you the history of the elves. It is long and important so just sit back and listen while I tell you the most important parts. While you read this week, you will learn all the rest ."

I got comfortable as he started to speak.

"When the elves first came into existence, there were four powerful elves. They each could bend all four elements, a feat that has not been matched. These four all specialized in one element and that is how they established their kingdoms.They were the for major elements of earth, wind, water, and fire. The Earth King and Air Queen fell in love and had numerous children. They, the Water Queen and Fire Queen all made elves out of their elements, and joined with others to make children. Thus, the elven kingdoms had begun. At first, elves lived for thousands of years, and we ruled the forest and were friends with all the creatures.

Then they came. We call them the Dark creatures. They were the ones in your village the other day attacking you. They were the lesser ones those, when the earth formed in the beginning, did not form along with it and inherited the evil of the earth. Their job is to fight and kill. The higher up creatures can bend the elements, take control of the weather, tear down forests and rip open mountains. They have not been seen since the first age of the elves. There were four greats all with their own special abilities. Only three of them are left, the elves were able to destroy one of them."

"Excuse me," I had to interrupt. "What was the first age?"

"The first age of the elves was when we prospered. Elves lived for a minimum of three thousand years and everyone could bend an element. There were tens of thousands of elves running all over. They ruled from the northern sea to the edge of the great desert. Then elves started to live for shorter times in the second age. There were many, but the eldest age was about one thousand five hundred years. This was gradual, it happened over a time period of about ten thousand years."

"What happened?" I asked. "Not everything could have just started slowing down like that. Are we in the third age? Why can't everyone bend?"

"Slow down Kida," Teach continued with a chuckle. "No one is sure why the age has gone down, although there are a couple different theories. Yes, we are in the third age of the elves. No one is sure how that happened either. Not everyone can bend because that art was lost. People do not care as much as they used to. In your case, there are only fourteen known air benders. There are four earth benders, including Elwen, sixty-five fire benders, and forty water benders. The arts are being lost, sadly. Along with this the ages of elves have gone down since the beginning. Elves now live to be five hundred years old at the most. The kingdoms are now down to two because they are easier to defend that way and there are not enough elves for four different kingdoms."

"This happened about four thousand years ago when humans started to come across the desert looking for new lands. The elves worked with them for a while and then we realized how far thewe had falled from original greatness. The kingdoms decided to all come together for the common cause and we broke contact with the humans after a while only assisting them in a time of need."

That was a lot to take in and my fatigue was starting to set in from trying to keep everything straight. "Wow. This lesson has been awesome. Thank you so much for coming. Hopefully, I'll be able to come to the kingdom soon, and start reading more of the books.I have one here that I wanted you to start reading first and tell me what you think."

He handed me an old leatherbound book that smelled like mold. I took it and started flipping through some of the pages, and several felt like they were going to fall apart in my fingers.

"Thanks, sir. I will start reading this in the next couple of days," I told him and he left for the Air kingdom.

After he left, I joined my family for dinner and crashed as usual. This injured stuff still sucked. Then, I started to dream.

In the dream I was walking through a forest toward two elves, a man and woman. They were talking quietly as if afraid that someone would find them. I looked through the leaves and saw that they were from two different kingdoms according to the marks on their wrists. One of them had the leaf mark like me and the other had one that I did not recognize. Then, I heard them speak.

"What if someone objects?" the woman said. "We could be banished."

"The elves of the different kingdoms have been kept separate long enough. We are going to end that. Tomorrow morning we are going to see my king and ask to be pardoned. I love you and that will never change," the man finished speaking and kissed her.

Then, I was flung to a different place in the forest to see the beautiful woman that I have seen before. Only, this time I knew who she was.

"Hello, First Queen of the Air."

"Greetings Princess. You may call me Queen. That is all. I am pleased that we may get to speak to each other now that you are proficient in elven. Great job and you should be very proud that you learned it so quickly."

"What was that in the forest that I just saw?"

"That was the falling of the elves. What you saw was the woman Ella and her man Clive. They were from the air and fire kingdoms. They started the third age. Before their marriage, it was forbidden to marry outside of your kingdom. This law was made because the bending had to be protected and the genes passed on. The Kings let them marry and that started marriages all over the kingdoms."

"Wow. That is crazy. Why are you telling me all of this?" I was curious to know why I would get a visit from a powerful queen.

"I am talking to you because you are a distant descendant of mine and I expect great things out of you."

"Like what?"

"Well, you are a very powerful bender. I have not seen that much power in hundreds of years. The forest is changing now that you have become one of the elves."

Okay, just a little pressure. "Oh..um...okay. I'll try to live up to your expectations. Thanks for talking to me."

"Of course little one. Now just go with the flow for the next couple of days. And when you are better, try to bend some of the other elements. You may be surprised."

Then, I woke up. It was light outside and my left side hurt sharply as I sat up too quickly. I was back in reality. I was curious about what I have learned in the past few days. I feel like the info is going to change my life. What on earth did she mean by bending other elements?

So the next day I started to read that old smelly book, and I came across one page that remained untouched and undamaged. It had what looked like a poem in eleven, but when I started to read it, I realized it was not a poem at all. It read;

A girl with unseen beauty will come by surprise,
and with her all the forest will come alive.
Old powers will be awoken and trouble will stir,
She will combine the old and the new.
The wolves will bow to her every request,
she will carry the elves to a new era.
All the elements will combine,
and her powers will make all the elven cities shine.
Her choices will doom her and save the rest,
unless the old intervne at their own behest.
She will conquer all the great darkness lurking in the forest,
and after her death the forest shall flourish.

I thought it interesting and did not think anything else of it at the time. I marked the page and went back to sleep for a while dreaming of nothing for once.