Beginning

by Paige in my world of make-believe

M istress 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.

“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

A hiss escaped Elana's lips before she could stop it. Almost by instict, her
nails elongated into claws and her ears flattened on her head.
"Calm yourself, Elana," the girl who was a shape shifter said, laying an arm
on Elana's shoulder, "You are in no danger here." But Elana couldn't relax.
There was something about Tywrel that was unsettlingly familiar, something
she didn't like. --- EllyMae

Then she remebered, a vivid picture flashed in her mind. Her brother
Zackaria and her were running on fields. Then, a loud boom, a growl of
attack, a cry of pain and her brother, covered in blood, on the grass. A
hunched hooded figure running away. Then she knew, Tywrel was the
attacker.

"YOU!" -- RIP

Warning: Not quite kid friendly!)

"Dogrith," Elana breathed. "YOU KILLED MY BROTHER!" She lunged at him
and dug her claws deep into his face. Tyrwel clubbed her in the head and
they rolled on the ground.

"Stop!" the shape shifter cried. The five rushed forward and pulled them
apart. "You were brought here to be judged, and you shall be punished for
this disgrace. You are sentenced to the duty of defeating the demons that are
plaguing our lands."

"Take her away." --£auren

“NO! No you can’t! He killed him! Take him! He killed my brother!” But
it was no use.

“We thought you could handle it, but now you must face the challenges
alone!” The Shape Shifter said sadly.

“NO! No! You don’t understand! HE killed him! HE KILLED MY BROTHER!!"

The Shape Shifter just sadly shook her head. "I'm sorry Elana, I's so sorry."

Elana was thrust into a room. It was pitch black, once again, except for a red light to her left. She approched it caushisly. It shone brighter with every step she took. 'What in the world?' she asked herself.

Suddenly, 'BBBOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!' the red light blew up in her face. Heat, oh the heat, burning pain! Burning pain everywhere!

"HEELLLPPPP!!!!!" Elana shielded her face with her hands, but the pain was growing worse. This must be the first challenge! -- RIP