An Unlikely Alliance (Closed for CoSurvivor)

[CoSurvivor]

Chance braced himself, he heard Ana plead with him and as she concentrated, he could feel the warmth of the amulet surround them both. It wasn't a landing the likes of which stories or tall tales could be written about where the glided to the ground as if taking one long step out the window. No, it was better than that as they fell, they stopped in midair and glided, slowing to a crawl as if they'd been caught like a leaf on a breeze.

When they touched the ground Chance didn't hesitate, he didn't look back, the groaning that the old castle gave out as she collapsed, echoed behind them spewing out a massive dust cloud that threatened to engulf them both. Chand ran, pulling Ana along only for a moment before he was sure she'd outrun him, they had to put distance between them and the castle.

They'd ran, ran till Chance's lungs burned, till his heart felt like it would give out, collapsing on the cavern floor. only then did he look back to see what was left of his ancestral home.

Nothing.... the castle was gone, crumbled into so much dust and rubble there was little evidence that at one time there'd been a grand residence.

"The Tower... We need to get to the Tower..."

 

[BlondeAmbition4RP]

Ana could feel the magic of the amulet catch herself and Chance, could feel when their feet finally set upon the ground. She opened her eyes and let out a breath of relief, but it was short lived as she heard the groans of the castle giving out behind them and felt Chance pulling her onward.

She ran, not looking backward and not letting go. She didn't stop until she felt the pull of him collapsing onto the cavern floor and she fell with him, both of them looking back as the dust of what had once been the castle settled behind them.

"The Tower... We need to get to the Tower..."

She nodded, her breathing heavy, her heart racing within her chest. Even so she began to rise again, pulling him up with her.

"Come on, we have to keep going..." she urged him.

As if on cue another terrifying scream echoed out around them and shaking the cavern, making her flinch and then her eyes widen as she realized...

"The tremors..."

Had Tiberius been the cause of them? If he didn't stop he could very well bring the rest of the cavern down around them!

Her hand going around the amulet again, she tried to focus her thoughts once more.

"Hold on, just a little longer," she whispered, imagining her voice somehow finding its way to him and reaching him within the void, not knowing if it was even possible, "We're coming!"

 

[CoSurvivor]

Chance stumbled, again and got up, nodded to Ana that he was good to go and they were off again, the long trail that had once been there to lead the way to the tower of magic was gone, but they knew which way to go. How could you not? The tower was massive, it's physical form at least from Chance's visions made the thing look majestic, covered in layers of runes from top to bottom, a steady stream of magic seemed to pulse through the building in his vision. Now it looked much much different.

The spire had become twisted, evil and corrupted, parts of the spire looked to be peeling out and away from the building as if it was shaking off old skin. Where the walls of the spire had been smooth, with carefully written runes, now.. those runes were broken and twisted. Making their way around the tower, Chance looked for what he thought might be an entrance, or what was at one time had been.* Two massive doors had been twisted, miss shapen by whatever curse was held within these walls, he reached out to try and pull on the door handle, but a voice of caution in his head told him no... don't touch the door. Don't open it. But how were the two of them going to try and get in? And what were they going to do once they did get in there?

"if I touch that door, I'm not sure what'll happen but nothing good surely. There's a battle going on in there that's been raging for hundreds of years now. The screams, the tremors are his torture. Tiberius is losing, I can feel it in the air. Ideas Ana? I don't see another way in."

 

[BlondeAmbition4RP]

Ana could feel it as well. The closer they had gotten to the spire, the denser and more oppressive the air had seemed to grow around them, like it had been the previous day as they'd descended down the grand staircase in the underground Elven palace. The powerful magical energy that she'd felt radiating from the tower in their shared vision before was worn thin now, no longer able to keep the dark energy within from bleeding through. She could sense that what was left of it was no longer a match for the Darkness inside. It must be Tiberius that was keeping it from escaping completely, but for how long? They had to get inside and help him before it was too late, but how?

Remembering how she had been able to use the amulet to force back the darkness and cleanse the bedroom they had taken refuge in the night before she turned to Chance, an idea having come to her.

"Perhaps I can form a barrier around us as I did last night, cleanse a pathway for us to reach Tiberius and the box," she told him, her gaze turning towards the door as she gripped the amulet tightly and stretched out her hand towards it, focusing her thoughts upon it.

Like the previous night, she felt a resistance, the Darkness pressing back against her will, but she persisted, and as she focused her gaze and her thoughts upon the door she saw a small spot upon the handle begin to glow... and grow.

 

[CoSurvivor]

When Chance pushed forward, trying to reach the doorway, He could see the struggle Ana was having trying to create the doorway, a portal to try and get into the tower. As the door frame started to take shape, Chance could see long coiled tendrils start to extend from the corners of the portal that Ana was trying to create. He saw it, a moment before it happened and with reflexes faster than he knew he had, Chance brought his sword up, blocking an attack from the tendrils that now stretched from the edge of the ancient door frame like menacing teeth, alive and moving as if protecting what was happening within from any interference. The mouth of the tower, now looked as if it might just eat them both alive.
"Ana!, Break the spell!"
As Chance yelled to her, he blocked one, then another tendril as each lashed out at them both. Backing away, Chance took Ana out of their reach and sighed.

'There's no going in that way..."

Looking up at the wall of the spire, Chance's heart began to sink. He could see the walls cracking, as if a seam in the side of the tower was beginning to peel away, and release the evil and madness that lay within.

A thrashing scream of agony blew the doors off the side of the tower, shattered stone scattered around them like so much rain, large pieces flew over their heads, Surely if the two had been any closer they'd have been killed. With the massive doors gone, the pair could see clearly inside. A massive open room lay within, at the center, the box they'd seen taken to the tower so long ago sitting on a raised pedestal. However, time had allowed for the evil within to spill out into the tower. Long threads of black oil covered the floor, as Chance watched, they pulsed as if alive. The box also, wept, bleeding a black ooze. The oily substance flowed from the box didn't just create the coils upon the floor but it dripped upward to the ceiling of the tower far out of view. From his current position Chance thought he could see shapes flowing around the room as if in some sort of battle. Chance was certain of it, it must be the prince, and*

They looked like ghosts, except these dance about, one attacking the other

He saw further in, a body, old, mummified and now decayed. but he could recognize it, Tiberius. His body rested in a stone encasement, The black oil had covered every surface but his soul, his life force somehow tied to it as well. it seemed the battle within the spire was lost before it had actually begun.

Another scream, this time louder, more amplified by the doors being blown off the spire, Chance could clearly see the box was now ruptured, whatever was in there, was now going to get out.*

Chance could feel the air getting sucked into the tower just as he could see a bubble of raw power begin to build from the box itself. The resulting explosion was massive. Doing what he could to protect Ana, Chance threw them both to the floor of the cavern, covering her as much as he could, mumbling to himself

"We're too late... all of this.. for nothing...."

 

[BlondeAmbition4RP]

For a moment the horror had overwhelmed Ana as she had taken in the sights before her, immobilizing her for a time in her fear and disbelief at the terrible scene that had unfolded in front of her very eyes, like a nightmare but real. The sudden explosion and the feel of hitting the ground as Chance threw himself over her to shield her body with his own jolted her back into the present.

"We're too late... all of this.. for nothing...."

"No..."

Knocked on her back, looking up at him she could hear the whirl of a sudden wind rushing over them and filling the cavern, could hear the sound of rocks cracking, and shaking, and crumbling all around, reminding her of when he had protected her from the cave in at the very start of their journey together.

"No, this is not how it ends," she told him with certainty as she looked up into his eyes.

She had not seen exactly what the end of their quest would be, for she refused to believe that the vision she had seen of his death was truly it, but she knew at the least that there was more to come for them both... the battlefield.

Shutting her eyes, she focused her thoughts on the amulet, and instantly it began to glow again. She reached one of her arms upward to wrap around him and grip him to her and it seemed to glow even more brightly, a pulse of energy suddenly flowing from around them both and pushing back at the wind and debris, then a glowing dome shimmered into view surrounding them both, the falling rock and pieces of the tower melting away as they touched it. There was a sudden roar then, causing Ana to open her eyes once more... just in time to see the black oil like substance that had been filling the tower go shooting straight upward through the mass of rubble where the top of the tower had once been and blasting right through the roof of the cavern.

"No!" she cried, intuitively knowing where it was headed.

They had to stop it!

The amulet, sensing her thoughts, her will, instantly glowed brighter, and to her shock and amazement, she and Chance began to rise as well.

 

[CoSurvivor]

Holding on to Ana, Chance could feel them leave the ground, looking up he could see the black ink, the blood of the entity that was pure evil head for the top of the caver. When it hit he ceiling, a reverberating echo of the impact shook the whole area, parts of the cavern started to fall in on itself, and looking below, Chance could see what was left of the grand castle.

The grand castle, or what was left of it which they'd seen coming in was now reduced to rubble. across the massive cavern, he could see what was left of the old mage's tower, it had cracked and peeled back like some massive flower, exposing a center that contained what had been sealed within. The destruction below was catastrophic. if Ana hadn't acted when she did, they'd both be dead down there.

Turning his head above them up to the ceiling they followed where the entity had crashed through the ceiling. It created a tunnel, smooth to the sides a perfectly circular it was headed for the surface.. but where?? Where would they end up?

The closer they got to the top the more the pinprick of daylight grew until suddenly they were out, back above ground for the first time in what felt like ages.. but had only been a few days. They were in a meadow, looking around he could see they were encircled by trees on every side. Chance should have been pleased to be above ground, the scents and smells of the forest, what he'd come to be used to cover the long years he'd spent above ground had made him grateful each time he returned. Only the longer he was above ground, an overwhelming stench took over.

Death.. He could smell it, the air around them reeked of it. There were bodies everywhere in the tall grasses, Human.. he could see men of his father's army, and Elves?? NO....

"Ana... do you know where we are? do you recognize this place?" Chance began to say searching around looking for the entity, in whatever form it had taken on. There.. not more than 100 yards away he could see it. A man, completely covered in a black ooze, as if he'd taken a bath in black tar. it slicked off him covering anything he touched. What was even more shocking, was he thought he recognized the man.

'It's using the prince.. as a vessel, occupying his body to keep it here in this world. I don't trust my father, but maybe if we can reach yours, he might be persuaded to stop the fighting and fight the entity instead?"

 

[BlondeAmbition4RP]

Ana hadn't dared look down, not once, not even as she'd heard the cavern falling in and the ancient ruins being decimated below. Especially not then. She feared that if she did she would lose her concentration and she and Chance would go crashing down as well. She kept her gaze fixed above, focusing on the small dot of light as it grew bigger and brighter, her thoughts on reaching the surface.

Finally, after what had seemed like an eternity of soaring upward through the tunnel that the dark entity had made, they reached the surface. She breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short lived as her blinking eyes finally adjusted to the sudden brightness of the daylight and took in the horrifying scene of carnage and bloodshed all around her.

Oh gods... Oh please! Please, NO!!

"Ana... do you know where we are? do you recognize this place?"

She knew exactly where they were. This was the battlefield that she had seen in her visions. She had hoped to somehow prevent this horrible scene from occurring, had hoped that her and Chance's actions down in the tunnels might have altered it somehow, but here she was all the same.

'It's using the prince.. as a vessel, occupying his body to keep it here in this world. I don't trust my father, but maybe if we can reach yours, he might be persuaded to stop the fighting and fight the entity instead?"

"No!" she blurted out, her hands reaching out and gripping him to hold him in place as his words jolted her from her thoughts in a panic, "No, you can't come with me!"

She had seen what would happen to him if he did, and she would NOT allow that part of the vision to come to pass! There had to be another way.

 

[CoSurvivor]

Chance looked at Ana, her words jolted him to the core.

"Wha? Ana, I don't understand..."

He thought it would be their best chance, reach her father, explain what happened, what they saw, and how they'd have to work together to defeat the creature, the 'thing' that was now released upon the surface. Now, up here with the worry of getting crushed to death something he didn't have to readily worry about, Chance was in a word, Lost.

"I... I don't know what else to do Ana, I never thought we'd get this far. Never figured we'd have to face whatever it was above ground. I always thought it would be a one way trip, at least for me. Now, with that thing released upon the world we have to try anything."

scanning beyond Ana he could see a black line across the ground, as if someone had taken a barrel of oil and let it leak across the ground. Long oily tendrels spread across the forest ground taking out trees breaking them like twigs, and off in the distance Chance could see a black clad figure, the prince.. he was doing battle with someone, whom Chance wasn't quite sure.

"You have to go then, find your father, tell him the truth, I'll find mine, and pay the consequences. Bring him to where the battle is, as it looks like the entity is making it's way deep into my father's troops. Go quickly Ana... Go!"

Turning, Chance could hear screams of agony from the battle, as well as the sounds of magic being let loose against the entity. Unsheathing his sword, feeling the natural power embued from within it, Chance raced to meet it, hoping his strength and skill would buy him time before Ana brought her father.

Looking beyond Ana he could see what he thought were his father's troops,

 

[BlondeAmbition4RP]

"You have to go then, find your father, tell him the truth, I'll find mine, and pay the consequences. Bring him to where the battle is, as it looks like the entity is making it's way deep into my father's troops. Go quickly Ana... Go!"

Ana had quickly nodded her agreement to this plan.

"Be careful, Chance," she told them before they both turned and parted ways, him hurrying towards his father's troops and she hurrying towards hers.

She rushed as quickly as she was able in the direction upon the battlefield that she knew her father would be, dodging the already fallen bodies of those that had already been defeated in the fight, as well as the inky black and oil like tendrils of the Darkness that were now spreading out upon the ground. She heard the snap of a truck and quickly dodged away just in time to escape one of the falling trees as it came crashing down.

"Father!!" she cried out as she continued to run, hoping against reason that he would hear and come to her.

She was drawing near now to the area where the battle between the elves and the humans was still taking place. She had her bow and a dagger, but did not know how useful they would be if someone with a battle sword should rush upon her, and knowing what she did now she did not want to use them to harm any of the human soldiers anyway.

Using the crystal, which she still held in her hand, she manifested a glowing circular shield which she held out before her for protection as she ran towards the elven army's banners that she could now see waving ahead of her.

"FATHER! It's ME!!"

 

[CoSurvivor]

Looking around the battlefield, Chance could hear the moans in agony of soldiers both elf and human struggling on the field of battle to stay alive. He thought for a moment, this could have been him... If he'd stayed home been a good son and become the next king, he'd have pushed for this, his own ignorance of the world around him would have blinded him from the beauty that his world had to offer. For Ana, for this world around him, Chand had to find his father and make him listen.

Following the trail, the oily sludge that followed the entity where ever it went, he knew he wouldn't have a hard time finding it, only, what Chance found when he finally caught up with it, was a bit more surprising than he'd thought possible.

The Prince, or the entity that looked like the prince was growing in height, was at least 10 feet tall now, empty eyes, dead to the world gazed out at all of him, Archers peppered it with arrows, which only seemed to be swallowed by whatever powers that be, and in waves, the prince would wave his hands and shoot those same arrows back at the archers who'd launched them at him. Knights tried to attack but their swords seemed to shatter like glass, and he could see a number of them, the king's royal guardsmen crumpled like cans killed by their own armor as the prince had squeezed the armor in, blood oozing out from every crack, their screams of agony only making the prince smile. As Chance grew closer he could see his father, was currently defended by four wizards, their cloaks billowing about them as they worked together to try and hold off the prince, All of them in deep concentration. But where was his brother? his sister? Gazing around the battlefield he could see both of them in hand-to-hand combat with elf warriors, His brother, youngest of the three of them had grown since Chance left, his armor shining, blood-spattered against it, his face and hair matted by sweat. He was in a duel against two elf warriors, fighting them both as they pressed an attack.
His sister, however, was impressive, she was in a pitched battle with an elfin warrior woman, both pitched against each other swords defending and parrying, each pushing the other until his sister pressed one more time and her attacker fell over backward over the body of a fallen comrade, stumbling, the elf made a backward roll, right across the oily trail left by the Prince. A blood-curdling scream came from the warrior woman, her left arm scorched to a cinder, the skin crack like a piece of firewood left to burn, she was out of the fight certainly, and as she knelt, Chance's sister Zenada pressed, prepared to take the elfin woman's head.

Seeing his sister as always the level-headed of the three of them Chance rushed the distance, closing in and calling out, "STOP this MADNESS!" Both his sister, and the wounded elfin warrior looked at him, as chance drew within a few feet.

Both women looked at him as if he was crazy, he'd just interrupted a duel to the death something neither of them would have done. Chance called to both of them. "If* we don't stop fighting each other, and fight that 'thing' we'll all be dead." Chance immediately knelt, pulled a bottle of salve from his bag, and doused the warrior woman's arm, before she had time to recoil from his advances, her arm was no longer puffy, painful yes, but the immediate pain was gone.

Zenaida looking on, still with her swords drawn still had a look about her as if she was going to kill Chance, and then the elfin warrior. "You have no place here... you gave that up the day you left..."

"I know that Z, but if we don't stop this... none of us will be alive, It will kill father, and then, it will come for the elf king. and then it will devour this world ."
Zenaida, thought for but a moment, and pointed a sword at Chance, "So you disappear for years and reappear now, and we're just supposed to 'listen' to you?" she twirled it at him and the elfin warrior who he'd helped. "What you just did, to help her.. that's treason."
"Search your thoughts Z, remember why I left, I left to find out why the tremors started, why I lost...." His voice trailed off and Z dropped her sword just an inch.

"I remember Chance, she was my friend too." Zenaida dropped her sword down and looked at the warrior elf who'd by this time stood up looking inquisitively at both of them.

"My brother, ever the fool saved your life if he'd been anyone else I'd have killed him where he stands, but... he's not.. and for that, I urge you to return to your King, tell him, tell him what he did."

In a silky voice, a naturally seductive voice for an elf, the woman held her wounded arm, wiggling her fingers as if life was returning to them. "And who are you?"

"He's a prince.. heir to the throne. Because he spared your life I'll do the same. One life saved between the two of our people just might be the start of something."

The woman, nodded, "I am Minaria, and I hope your king listens.. I will attempt to reach my own, although he may be too angry to listen, his daughter has been missing. "

'No, she was with me, down in the caverns deep in the world, we both were,* we both know what created this, we both still seek to stop this. She's out there now, looking for her father." Chance said, his voice pleading with Minaria, and as he explained she nodded, something clicked, as if a piece fell into place.

"Then I will find her, and get her to her father." Turning, the elf warrior ran, faster than Chance thought possible.

The warrior elf gone, Chance turned to his sister, looking over her shoulder to see his younger brother start to lose his battle against his attackers, Both siblings yelled, and charged, closing the distance as the elf warriors wounded, and drove him to one knee. Chance Tackled one, throwing him to the ground while Zenada disarmed the other forcing him to retreat, picking up his fellow warrior, and retreating.

"Chance?? It can't be...." The young knight staggered to his feet, resting an arm on his sister's shoulder.* "What are you doing here?"

"He's a fool Eric, a fool who thinks he can save us all." She smirked at her older brother, the kind of affection that he'd thought had been long buried. and it made Chance smile. While Chance had made his first success on getting close to his father, he still had to persuade him to listen, to hear is side.. and realize what they'd been living with for centuries was a lie, on both sides. He only hoped Ana was going to be as successful

 

[BlondeAmbition4RP]

“FATHER! IT’S ME!” she shouted again, this time in their own ancient tongue.

He was far away from her yet as she ran and dodged and blocked her way through the throng, trying to reach where he was. She felt like she was back in one of her dreams, running and running to no avail, but she could see those vibrant banners emblazoned with their family's royal crest growing nearer now and it urged her on, gave her hope, even as she had to quickly leap out of the way as another human fighter swiped at her in attack. She made a jump to the side out of the way and kept on running.

She was deep in the thick of it all now, but she kept her gazed fixed on her goal. She could see them off ahead of her, the markings of them clear to her keen Elven eyes. Banners of silver and deep royal blue, blue like the feathers she could now make out adorning the top of the shining silver helmet that she knew her father wore when he went into battle. She could spot the silver gleaming now, poking out just a bit higher than the rest of the crowd as he stood upon his chariot.

There he was!

“FATHER, IT’S LARIANA! I’M HERE!” she cried, shouting to him in Elvish once again, hoping that with his sharp hearing he would somehow be able to make out her voice despite the sound of war raging all around her.

She thought she’d seen that gleaming helmet turning in her direction, but then had to take her eyes off it as she suddenly had to stop and block another blow of a sword. Unfortunately her shouts and glowing, obviously magically formed, shield had attracted the attention of others as well.

"This one's wielding magic, stop her!!" she heard one of the human knights cry out nearby, a group of them moving in on her.

 

[CoSurvivor]

Chance could hear the screams of warriors, both elf and human as they killed each other in mortal combat fighting a battle that neither side originally knew why it had started in the first place. As his siblings forced their way through the battle protecting Chance as they made their way past the four mages who were protecting him from the entity, the being that looked to be the prince from their broken history.

Chance screamed out for his father barely heard above the crackle of energy that all four wizards were bringing to bear. The entity laughed, as it swung out taking a grasp of two royal guardsmen, crushing them with its oily hand. The creature screamed in an ancient language Chance couldn't understand. "IT'S ENCHANTING!!" yelled one of the wizards, Chance wasn't sure of his name, but he wore the robes of his father's council. Another screamed out, "We can't keep this up, we'll have to retreat and return to the castle, The Elven king has won this day.. "

The entity laughed maddeningly as it finished its incantation, and it stopped trying to attack the mages and instead started to glow a deep red, shooting out several bolts of lightning touching any dead warrior, elven or human. Animating them. As each corpse rose from where it fell, some grouped together, others looked for the nearest ‘live’ enemy and attacked, it didn’t matter if it was human or Elven. The Entity now had an army of its own, now standing back watching as hundreds of dead soldiers rose to its spell. The scene became pure chaos, warriors who’d seen their comrades fall in the battle were deeply confused by the enchantment, unprepared to for this turn, and in that confusion either the dead might kill them or their enemy would. A handful of warriors both Elven and Human quickly figured it out, teaming up to kill those who’d fallen and now turned against them all. Word began to spread and while the numbers were even, one could see that the living were slowly losing to the dead.

The mages, realizing what happened, turned to protect the king pushing everyone further back away from the chaos. With his sister and brother leading the way Chance shouted. "FATHER!! We must fight together! If both kingdoms don’t find a way to fight together there will be nothing left to fight over!" King Whitestone had been talking with one of his after they’d been repositioned, all eyes turned to Chance as the king turned his head and looked upon him.

"Chancellor. Here to fight in our time of need? Or have you come spouting lies? I knew your love’s death hit you hard but not to the point of complete madness. You gave us up when you ventured to the surface. If you’ve come to spout more about the quakes I will not listen to such distractions in the heat of battle."

Chance shook his head. "For once will you please listen!” Chance pleaded. “THAT..." He pointed toward the entity, "THAT is prince Gabriel... our ancestor. I know what really happened. I know why we left our ancestral home deep in the caves. I know why we’ve been fighting each other for so long neither of us know why.”

The King for the first time in a long time looked upon his son with no shock, or disgrace, but curiosity. “How do you know that name…”

“Because I went down to the old castle and found the black tower. That obelisk that was supposed to keep ‘that’ from killing us all. The tremors, the quakes… have been ‘it’ fighting to break its restraints. And now it’s out…angry that it’s been kept in prison for hundreds of years. If you’ve seen what I have, you’d know our ’best’ will only delay it. Until they become like them, or worse, like it.

“Our mages will stop it, they’ve created advanced spells, Our best are here..” The King said.

“No, I’ve seen it, our best were there then when it wasn’t cooped up for 500 years. They couldn’t contain it.”

“What you mean you’ve seen what happened?” His father demanded.

“It’s hard to explain, and if we survive this, I’ll tell you every detail. But by magic, we were somehow allowed to watch it all unfold like some, out of body experience. We watched Prince Gabriel, his best friend Tiberius, and the Elven princess. We watched the Prince cast a spell that opened a portal he didn’t intend to.” Chance spoke with a measure of regret, watching everything happen, the screams of anguish that ended not long ago. Looking at his father, he said, “We’ve been lied to all these years. There was no war, there was no murder. The prince wasn’t killed by an Elven princess. He made a fatal mistake, and his best friends tried to save him. The result has been hundreds of years of killing, all for what? So we can end up like this?”

With a sense of finality, and desperation in his voice he looked at his sister, his brother, and back to the king. “We have to work with the elves to defeat it. Ana can do it. I know she can.”

“Who is this ‘Ana’” he said almost knowing the answer but refusing to believe it. “She’s the Elven princess the Elven king is accusing us of kidnapping. Isn’t she?”

“She is, but she went down there on her own, it was only by chance that we met. You have to believe me.”

“I believe you… “Eric, his younger brother spoke out, stepping closer, just as his sister did the same. They both nodded to his father who shook his head. “You’re all fools. The elves will kill us all, They don’t care… They never cared. Even when we reach out…”

“What do you mean you reach out?” Chance asked quickly, his suspicions regarding who started it all coming back to him. The book of magic that Prince Gabriel came from somewhere, he was hoping to find out, just where he got it from.

“Every 50 years, our mage’s council is supposed to meet at an enclave. They haven’t met for almost 200 years… Chance thought to what he’d remembered seeing in the caverns. Nothing specifically pointed to the Elves or Humans, but something was telling him to dig into this, but they had more pressing matters.

“Father, You have to tell the Army to fight the Prince and not the Elves. It’ll give me time to get to Ana. Lead it back toward the clearing, That should allow me time to find her.”

Nodding, before their father could stop her, Zenada agreed. “We’ll make it happen, now go!”

Chance looked over his family, knowing it might be the last time he’d see any of them alive, but trusting they’d buy him enough time. Without another word, Chance left, rushing to find Ana, and hopefully bring their forces together.