Begining

by Paige in my world of make-believe

Mistress Elana's inn was full. A bard's voice sang the melancholy tale of The Sea Folks, and men laughed and drank their fill. Serving girls cleaned mugs dreamily. It was a good night at The Golden Cup. --Kati

Or, at least it was for her. Outside the inn, peasants slept in the cold, sick, tired. Elana sighed. She remembered when her life had been like that. She felt sorry for the peasants, and stepped outside. --Gabby

The cool fresh air hit her face and she in-hailed deeply. The fresh air smelt and felt so good. She wished she could become part of it. --RIP

It was night and Elana stood a moment to let her eyes get used to the darkness. She heard
someone cough and someone else sob. She walked through many smelly alleys, through stinking heaps of trash, through bunches of people, wide-eyed and dirty. Suddenly she stopped. "Braden?" she called. No one answered, but there was a quiet rustle. --Sophie

At the inn, there was a crackle and smoke met the people's eyes. The inn was on fire. Elana ran back, not noticing the shadowy presence that followed her. --Lauren

"RUN!"

"FIRE!"

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

Screaming filled Elana's head. How could this have happened? She was only gone for about 2 minutes! --RIP

Elana stopped and stared left, then right. Which way was the inn? She tried to remember, but all she could think about was her lovely inn on fire, and the fact that she was lost. She wandered through a few more alleys, and stopped in front of a dumpster. ““Come here!”” called a gruff voice. --Sophie

Elana's heart thumped hard in her chest and the air caught in her breath; somehow it didn't seem so sweet anymore more. She bent forward, willing her eyes to see through the darkness. Suddenly, she heard a sigh and felt a warm breath of air on her face; a breath that stank of whiskey and rum. Who ever had let out that sigh must have been so close, if Elana reached out, she would surely touch them. "Hello?" Elana whispered, stretching out her long white fingers in the black, darkness pressing in from all sides. There was a glint of bright eyes in the gloom, inches from Elana's fingertips. Another rustle and then, something darted forward out of the black and grabbed for Elana, gripping her wrist tightly in dirty, bony fingers. Whoever it was had caught Elana in fatally deadly trap. ---- EllyMae

Elana screamed as the fingers enclosed her. The moon had extinguished, light had gone out. But as she gave herself up for dead, something large and black rushed through the air, tackling the thing. She crumpled on the ground, and saw nothing but that shape in front of her. "What was that? Who are you?" she whispered.

"My name is Tyrwel, and that was a Skyr. Quiet now, and I'll tell more in the morning." ----Lauren.

Elana woke up to darkness. Why must it be so dark all the time? She thought. I remember when my brother Zackaria and I would play out on the bright flowery fields in the early morning. Why must everything be so dark?

"Because my dear, this is the age of darkness . . ." --RIP

Elana turned to Tyrwel, wondering how he could’’ve read her mind. He was up and grinning at her in the most awful way, with his yellow and black teeth showing and his coal black eyes gleaming in the light. --Sophie

"What, what do you mean by, The Age Of Darkness?" Elana asked. -- RIP

"I mean, my dear, the time when all sinners must go and live in times of Darkness while all others go up to Heaven. I have come to you, because I know you are no sinner, but for some raeson The Lord has chosen to keep you down hear. He is testing you, along with 5 others, who you will soon meet." Tywrel explained.

"Testing me? HOW?!" Elana asked. "Who are these OTHERS?"

"The OTHERS you shall meet momentarrily. The Lord is testing your beliefs. If you complete the un-known challenges that he has made, you shall spend the rest of your days in the Mansions of Heaven." (sorry for adding so much 'Godly' stuff, I feel though that (hopefully) none of you will mind. (I know you won't Kati). -- RIP

This has to be a dream, Elana though feverishly, I haven't woken up yet... it's all a dream.

"This is no dream, Elana," Tywrel said, "This is real. Now, come with me. It is time for you to meet, the others." He pulled Elana to her feet and led her blindly through the darkness. She heard the scrape of a key in the door and the next thing she knew, she was squinting against the light of day. -- EllyMae

The first thing she saw was the inn. The Golden Cup had been right next to her all that time. Now it was just a pile of rubble, smoking and blackened. Elana felt her eyes prickle as she stared at he inn. It had been her father’s before hers, and she had treasured it greatly. “Come, quickly now!” Tywrel said impatiently. He led her straight to the biggest pile of wood, which Elana recognized as the counter, and pushed open a piece of wood. It swung open like a door, and Elana stepped in. “We have arrived!” Tywrel called out. --Sophie

"Who have you brought to us nowssss." hissed a voice from Elana's far right.

"WE THOUGHT THERE WAS ONLY 6." Boomed a loud voice to her right.

"There is only 6 you idiot, we're 5 this is the 6th one." a snotty 15 girl's voice came from in front of her.

"What is her name?" 2 voices ecoed at the same time. Elana could tell that these we not ordinary people. And that was fine with her, becuase she herself, is not NORMAL. -- RIP

“Her name is Elana.” Tywrel said. Elana wished she could see the people around her. Reading her thoughts once again, Tywrel snapped to the voice to Elana’s right, “Light those matches, Branden!” There was a fumbling and suddenly a bright light flared in front of Elana’s face. She could see all the people around her and now could see how unordinary they were. They gasped as she stared at her, realizing that this time Tywrel had brought someone different, unlike them. . . --Sophie

One of the 5, make it 4, had TWO heads. The one to her left had a snake-like tongue that kept popping out of it's mouth. The one to her left was at least 16ft tall, but the girl who had spoken was, or seemed, to be almost just like Elana. She had dark black hair, light green eyes and a solem face. Only that is when Elana saw the mark on the girl's lower neck. The sign like a SS. She was a Shape Shifter. . . -- RIP

They were all gaping at her. Elana was like a regular human to regular humans, but magic creatures could see the real her, just like she could see the real them. She had almond shaped emerald eyes that slanted downwards, black hair that framed her rounded face, a nose that was similar to a cat’s (though she would never admit that), and ears that were right on top of her head with an emerald ring on it. She was a Triz, a magic species that was know for their similarity to cats. Half human, half-cat. She had a long tail and a long emerald robe that reached her feet.

“Sssssso. I guessss they are not all gone.” Said the snake-like one.

“No. They are not. But I am one of the last.” Elana said and switched off her hologram of a human. Now anyone who saw her would see a Triz, the one species almost gone. Seeing the others and being in her regular body, Elana felt more confident. That is, until she saw the real Tywrel… --Sophie

"I, like you Elana, hid my real apperence." Tywrel replied taking off his black hood to reveal a hiddouse face. 2 scars were down both sides of his face, his lips were puffy, he had whiskers, onlt those of a dog, and black fur covering his head. He was a Dogrith. A vertual enemy to the Trizes. -- RIP