Gloryteller

Rhylie’s Chronicle Part Three

RHYLIE’S CHRONICLE

THE LAW OF THR33S

Part Three

        I, Elflen, am writing this journal entry under duress.  May the reader please forgive, for the enemy is near and I, in remembering that harsh cave, am hard-pressed, exhausted, hungry and in pain.  And let me tell you, what energy I have left is spent raging at the air in anger.
This next I hesitate to delve into, yet it must be told as a bridge into the next parts of Rhylie’s Story.
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When Elflen awoke, he found that he had been covered by a blanket and he was grateful.  The evening warmth was long gone by morning.  Addy was already awake, had built a fire, and was  staring at him in a way that he had never before been studied.  Not that he knew of, at any rate, but it made him feel good and he decided it was a girl thing and it was alright.
Their next days were spent exploring the region of Kandarin and living off the land.  After three weeks on their own, they both finally relented and returned to visit their respective homes .  Even though their home lives were not ideal, they found that they were, nevertheless attached to their families. Yet, it was not long before they were back together. They wandered Kandarin, then traveled into the regions of Asgarnia and even Misthalin.  They went west, deep into the Elvenrealms, all the while meeting and interacting with the residents of each region of the Land. In Seers’ Village, in Draynor, and in Lletya they learned all the three styles of the fighting arts.  The bow, the sword, and the staff, came to fit well in their hands as they grew not only in skill but in stature.
Each evening they would hold each other for hours. Each night they looked into each-other’s eyes and smiled. “I See You” they would say, like the elves who had taught them to “see” deeply into one-another.  Creatures such as gnomes, ogres, giants, dark elves and dwarves, became their friendly adversaries in games of “Mock Battles” even to the point of pretending to expire under particularly impressive displays of combat skill.  The pair fought side-by-side and back-to-back, sometimes even hand-in-hand, circling, revolving, leaping, throwing each other into the air, and tumbling – always moving.  When their adversaries gained their feet, everyone laughed and celebrated together, only to rejoin combat until all were exhausted.  Other creatures were not so accepting. Among them, the demons, the shades, the dragons, and the evil mages, were vicious, cunning, mean, and to be avoided.  Addy and Elflen, needless to say, became adventurers well-known throughout the land.
They also met Wizards, Seers, and even Kings and Queens during their travels.  Some of those powerful men and women hired the pair to do small jobs and even to quest for them.  They were, as always, self-sufficient and inseparable……. and followed……. and and spied-upon.
The chief Seer, Scryafar warned them about their over-exposure, as did the Wise Old Man of Draynor, and also  Arianwyn of Lletya-Elvenrealms. Of course, they, being young, …….

Now, I, Reldo, must record this next section based on personal discussions and interviews, for Elflen is loathe to touch upon it, for it still pains him to this day.
It came to pass that Addy became beautiful and smart. Elflen became handsome and wise. Both became agile, skillful with weaponry, and lore-wise, and the evil-one began to fear them.
“They are twoooo of the threeeeee, I’m certainnn of that!” he rasped to the captains of his minions. “We need not killl them, for they are of more use to usss alive, yet we need to ssseparate their heartsss from one-anotherrrr, he hisssed.  Together, they are dangerousss to usss according to the prophesiesss! We mussst end thisss hideousss reignnn of goodnessss in the Lannnd before the real truthhh isss dissscovered. And find the third, you idiotsss! Now, heresss what you are to do……..”
The young couple gradually spent more time apart in their respective homelands.  It was upon one of those times, returning to Elf from her home in Kandarin, that Addy was approached by a young, powerful mage who managed to turn her head ever so slightly from Elflen.  Behind Elflen’s back, she met with Aztrono in secret and, day after day, he taught her arcane magicks, secretly bending her will to his, for he wanted her for his own. She was gradually enthralled and enchanted without knowing it.
Elflen could see in her eyes that she was conflicted.  She still professed her love for him, but he sensed something very wrong happening.  He saw the mage and Addy together sometimes, yet upon asking her what was going on, she would look away and say that the magician was merely training her.

“Don’t interfere with my Magic Arts training!” she would say, angrily. He knew to do so would only drive her away completely, so he decided to hang on and hope for a miracle.
“This is dangerous,” he would tell her.  “Not only our ‘we’ and ‘us’ could be compromised, but something is dreadfully wrong here.  My senses smell evil in this.”
“Pfffffffffft”  she would say, “You are the one I have chosen and Az knows that. There’s nothing wrong. I just want to learn what he knows.” All Elf could say was “Az? Now you call him Az?”
Elflen could see the changes in her. She spent more and more time away from him.  She ran from place to place seemingly obsessed over magic, and over Aztrono, who had a hold over Addy that Elflen tried to, but could not understand.  The elf could not sleep, nor eat, nor even see his surroundings in the special light in which he had always seen things.  She said she was happy, and revitalized, yet the light in her eyes had turned darker.  Worst of all, she could not ‘see him’ with her heart like before.
Our Elf was reaching the end of his rope. He was not sure he could watch this happen any longer.  Addy was blatantly accompanying Aztrono everywhere now, even to places which had been exclusively ‘theirs’.  He hardly saw her anymore. It felt like she was dying to him and he knew that if he didn’t let his longing for her go, he might very well die himself. The numbness began in his feet, traveled to his head and lodged in his heart.  One evening, head hanging in heartache, he dragged his bow as he walked back to Addy’s rock, where he had been camping, nights.  Occasionally he would pull arrows from his quiver, snap them into two, and throw them on the ground, stomping them viciously into the soil.  The trail was muddy from his tears, for, when elves do cry, they cry rivers. “Ohhhh, if ever i needed a miracle, it is now,” he wept to the trees and to any creature who could hear him.

“Hahahaaaaaa it’s worrrking betterrr  than III had thhhoughttt,”  said the black-one in a loud whisper.
The next day, after sleeping fitfully with dark dreams, the elf awoke to the sounds of birds. Something warm lay next to him. He saw it was Addy.
“What the…….”  He gained his feet, grabbed his pack and weapons, and began to walk away in disgust as she slept.

“Where you going, Elf?  Stay here awhile, what’s your hurry?”

” I can’t stay and watch you go around with that mage any longer.”

” Do I look like I’m going anywhere?”

He whirled and looked at her. Something about her had changed. And beside her were all the arrows he had dropped, completely repaired and better than new. “I lost my senses, my Elf.” Somehow some of them have returned.”

Hesitantly, he stayed.  They sat and ate and talked all that day.  It was the first full day she had spent with him in a season. She expressed her sorrow over what she had done.  She knew she had been blinded somehow.
“Milady Addy, I forgive you, I’m just glad you’re back,” he said bowing sincerely.
“Thank you, Milord Elf, I’m very happy to be back,” she said with a heartfelt curtsey.
That night they looked at one-another and said together in unison “I SEE YOU”…….
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{ Footnote: I, Reldo, am here to tell you that I’ve seen it in historical records many times. I cannot hold this in!  Our gods, Saradomin, Guthix, and Zamorak, wait until the last possible moment to intervene and to save a situation with miracles that only they can perform.  Then they have solid proof of their existence, though no mortal has seen them.  I believe completely in their miracles as I do completely in them, my creators.  Elf and Addy need no convincing on this point either. Praises be to our gods!}

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Ups and downs. Downs and ups. Dear reader, do not forget the song within you.  It got you this far, didnt it?  You will absolutely need it henceforth! One week until Part Four.  We promisssesss……..          And it is right here!