"The Second Gate War" by Christie Lovat

Five years have come and gone since the Gate War ravaged the lands and Dragons flew through the skies. 10 years of war left the world closer to the brink of destruction then it has ever been before and it has yet to fully recover. People still fear the night and travelers are looked upon with hatred and resentment, those few who do travel. It is an age when no one but one's self may be trusted. It is an age to end ages. But it is not yet over, and there are still those few in the world who look beyond themselves and their pitiful lives. This is a story, a tale, a myth, of perhaps the last of those people in a dying land. This is a legend, a legend of the Second Gate War.

***

Ekips regarded her tankard of ale with mild interest; she hadn't come here to drink. Tonight was a special night, though you wouldn't know it with the way the rain came down. Didn't the weather know? Tonight was very special. They were coming tonight. They said they would but… that was so long ago, was she the only one who remembered? They wouldn't be this late, not on purpose but then again the weather… it had to be the weather, yes that was what was holding them up, the weather. They were still coming, they had promised. At the end of the War they had all promised, in that very Inn. They would come, though Hell should bar the way, they would come. Hadn't those been Sessalg's words? She didn't know, she couldn't remember. She went to take another drink from her tankard but found it empty. How had that happened? It had been full the last time she looked.

"Will you have another Lass?"

Ekips looked up to see the rounded face of the innkeeper smiling down at her. "Would you like another drink?"

"Oh… yes, I would…by the way, where is the best place to acquire a horse for cheap?"

"Why that would be Dell's Lass, down by the Mill. He's hard to miss. He's an elf you know, damned little buggers but I guess I can't hold that against his horses can I?" The innkeeper's laughter filled the empty tavern and Ekips suddenly became very aware of where she was. She pulled her hood tighter around her head. "Yes, well thank you."

The innkeeper smiled down at her again before heading off behind the counter to get her another tankard. Dell… that name sounded familiar, maybe the elf had been there five years ago, yes that must be it. Where else would she know him from? Ekips didn't notice when the innkeeper brought her the drink, nor did she notice when her hand found it's way on to the mug. Sometime during the night, she wasn't sure when, her memories turned into dreams and the tankard silently slipped out of her hand onto the floor, empty.

***

When Ekips awoke, Sessalg was standing in front of her, covered in blood. The sounds of battle raged around her and the smell of death and fear filled the heavy air. Dragons soared in the skies and fire raged over head as the dying cried for help and the dead lay still. The ground was red with blood and near by a Dragon fell from the sky, the earth shuddered as the great lord hit the ground. Sessalg motioned for her to follow but she didn't. This couldn't be real, it couldn't! But her mind screamed at her, of course it's real, War isn't a dream! No, it's a nightmare. Sessalg pulled her forward when she didn't come but as she did a giant Black Dragon, the biggest Ekips had ever seen, appeared behind Sessalg. And on the Black's back rode an elf. An elf, whose body was twisted and maimed and waved a sword in the air before driving it into the dragon's skull, but the beast did not bleed. Then the Black let forth a stream of acid and it all went dark, but not before she could feel her own skin melt from her bones.

She awoke with a scream. Franticly, she looked around and realized that she was still in the tavern. She must have fallen asleep; it was just a dream. But since when were dreams so real? No, it was a dream; it just had to be. Then she realized that the tavern was no longer empty. About a dozen large man sat around one of the bigger tables at the inn, apparently having a drink and playing a few games of Stones. At least they were, now they were all staring at her. Hastily she pulled her hood tighter around her head and moved to the other end of the tavern, away form their stares and the smell of unwashed bodies. It was still night, the rain still poured and her friends weren't there.

" I thought you'd never wake up. You snore just as loud as you scream, you know. Has anyone ever told you that?"

Ekips looked back at the men in the corner and noticed one of them whose hood was drawn forward like hers. She could here the clink of heavy chain mail under his cloak and he wore a large two-handed sword at his hip. If not for the sword Ekips was sure she would never have recognized her friend.

"Sessalg, I thought you'd never get here. What took you so long?"

"Oh these boys got their cart stuck in all that mud out there. Can you believe it? I had to get out and push."

Ekips laughed, "Oh yes Sessalg I can just see you out there, knee deep in mud. You know you really look like a man under there. I hardly recognized you."

"That's the idea Ekips."

She was almost too afraid to ask but she did. "Are… Kaeris, Telgip and the others here?"

"Yes, and they're all in your room sleeping. We had a long trip here and didn't feel like waking you."

"Then why are you still awake?"

"I can never get to sleep without a bit of ale first. You know me."

"Ha, I guess I do."

The two talked long into the night, their quiet laughter echoing off the tavern walls until all but the Inn keeper had fallen asleep. And then he to drifted to the land of dreams, lulled by the quiet voices echoing off the walls and into his thoughts where Dragons flew.

***

Ekips awoke with a start when she nearly fell out of the over-stuffed chair she had fallen asleep in. Sessalg muttered in her sleep next to her but did not wake. She was surprised to see that it was still dark outside although the rain had stopped. The Inn was dark also and it appeared that everyone else had gone to sleep long ago. Just as I should be. She thought to herself grimly. How many times can a person wake up in a single night? Just then a soft cough came from one of the dark corners of the common room. Ekips peered over the edge of her chair and saw a dark figure outlined by the moonlight streaming in from a window. She could not see who it was because of the thick cloak that was wrapped around the body, but she knew that no woman could have made a cough like the one she just heard. The figure coughed again before rising from the chair he sat in. He looked around the common room for a long moment and Ekips ducked behind her chair to avoid being seen. When she built up the courage to peek over her chair again, she stifled a cry. The figure had taken off his hood and she could see two pointed ears highlighted against the fading moonlight. The elf took two long strides towards the Inn door and was gone before she could even catch her breath.

After that, Ekips spent a long time laying awake thinking about the strange elf that would dare venture into a land as resentful as Hasam, before sleep finally took her. And this time, she didn't wake up.

***

When the sun was still struggled over the horizon, Sessalg was already awake and cleaning her sword. She did that every morning, weather it was dirty or not. The morning was still young but it was hot and getting hotter. She could almost feel it, almost. Elves could. Nature spoke to them, even in a city as dirty as Austin. But she had never heard that. She was a half-elf. All she ever heard were whispers too loud to be ignored and too soft to understand. And she hated them for it. She hated them all.

Humans.

She hated them for who they were, for who she was, for what they had done. For a brief second fire danced before her once again but she quickly shut that out of her head. That's the past now. I'm not that person, she died that night with the rest of them. Without another thought, she put it all out of her head.

Telgip, Seria and Kaeris sat bleary eyed around the inn's counter warming their hands and minds on a few mugs of ale. They were humans but they were her friends. And only because they were women, she would never trust a man till the day she died. It was them who had done it after all, there were no women in that mob. Sessalg cursed herself and put it out of her mind.

Her sword reflected her angled smile and deep green eyes as she slid it back into its seath. Nice and clean, all ready for blood.

Ekips was outside the Inn practicing her sword work and waiting for her. It was tradition to have a sword fight whenever they met to see just who had gotten a bit better. This time it would be her. She made her way to the heavy oak doors of The White Dragon Inn but before she got there, they swung open and Ekips barreled in right on top of her.

"Ekips? What-" Sessalg began, but Ekips looked at her with wide eyes and cut her off.

"Dragons Sessalg! Dragons! I… they… hundreds of them Sessalg. Dragons!" She exclaimed breathlessly.

"What? Dragons? Ha! Have you been into the wine again Ekips?" But as Sessalg laughed at her friend, screams erupted from outside The White Dragon. A man came rushing through the doors yelling that the Dark Lords were alive and that the world was coming to an end. Instantly the common room was thrown into chaos. But she didn't stay to see what happened after that; she was running after Ekips out into the streets. If there were Dragons, then a battle was not far behind. And she had just cleaned she sword.

When they got outside, she saw that Ekips was right. Hundreds maybe thousands of Dragons filled the skies, but none were attacking. They did not even so mush as glance down at the pathetic people below them. Although the way the humans were acting, you would have thought that the Dragon Lord himself was chasing them. "Humans are so excitable." She muttered to herself.

Dragons of every color and every size blocked out the sun with their numbers, and the sound of their wings filled the air till they were all that you could hear. And then as abruptly as they had come, they were gone.

"What was that?" She asked, turning to Ekips.

"I… don't know." Ekips muttered. An eerie silence had blanked the town now that the Dragons had left. The streets were deserted. It amused Sessalg slightly that the humans thought they were safer in a wooded box then out in the streets. Dragon fire would reach you no matter where you hid.

"Telgip!" Ekips exclaimed suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Telgip! She'll know! Her specialty is dragons." Ekips exclaimed as she made her way to the door but stopped when Sessalg did not follow. "Uh… Aren't you coming Sessalg?"

"No Ekips, I think I'll enjoy this quiet while it lasts" Her friend laughed as she went back inside the busy Inn but Sessalg didn't understand why. She was serious. The silence was short lived though, soon enough Sessalg could hear the sound of a horse galloping in the distance and coming closer. She adjusted the headband around her ears just to make sure they were hidden, and watched as the rider approached. He was a young man, probably about 20 or so in human years. Sessalg could see deep blue eyes hidden beneath a grimace of pain and his dark orange hair nearly hid the blood that flowed down his face and soaked his shirt. He held his side in pain and was barely hanging on to the charging horse with his one free arm. But that's not what Sessalg saw. He was human. She turned her back and started to head back to the inn when she heard the man call out to her in a voice laced with pain.

"Please… please… M'Lady, help me… you must… must… Take me to the L-Lord form… Austin. I… must… I must! A message… I have a message."

Sessalg stopped dead in her tracks. Austin?! Not it couldn't be… She turned around sharply and came face to face with the horse that the man was riding. Its mouth foamed with exhaustion and its body was covered with lacerations, just like it's rider. The bloody man slipped off the horses back and would have crumpled to the ground if he had not grabbed Sessalg's arm. He looked strait into Sessalg's face and exclaimed "Please… a message… I have a message…" And then he collapsed into a pool of his own blood.

***

As soon as the common room had been thrown into chaos, Telgip had silently slipped away and upstairs. Dragons, that isn't good. She thought to herself as she crept into the room she shared with Kerias and Seria. She had to make sure it was alright. They couldn't get it, she had sacrificed too much to loose it now to some flying lizards with egos.

She threw open her bag and was relieved to see the round shape covered in her winter cloak. She carefully lifted the heavy object and unwrapped the woolen coat from carefully from the top. Beneath it lay a sphere of pure crystal the size of her fist. At first glance the crystal appeared clear, but if you looked closely you could just make out the smoky images that moved between shadows. She smiled in satisfaction to herself and carefully re-wrapped the orb in her cloak and placed it back into her pack. She was just about to leave the room when she heard harried footsteps crash up the old Inn's steps. Hastily, she closed her pack just in case it was Kerias or Seria. The thief and healer sometimes became too curious for her liking.

She was quite surprised however, when Ekips came bursting through her door.

"Telgip… Telgip did you see them? The Dragons, did you see them?" She exclaimed between gasps.

"How could I not Ekips." She replied calmly.

"Why would they do that? Gather in such numbers and not attack."

"It is my guess that we were not their target."

"Then what was?"

The two argued as Telgip tacitly lead them out of her room and back to the common room. It had calmed down considerably since she had left. Kerias and Seria sat at the same table they had before, but it appeared that Kerias had taken advantage of the confusion. The thief's purse was a bit fatter then before. Ekips took no notice, or she would have been lecturing the thief on taking advantage of others. Telgip smiled to herself, if someone couldn't even keep track of their purses, then they deserved to be relieved of their gold. Hey, if she didn't steal it then someone else would. Kerias often said that when Ekips tried to corner her about her "occupation". It always worked too, Ekips hadn't won an argument yet. Kerias's tongue was just as slippery as her hands.

She was about to join the two at the table when suddenly the heavy oak door of the Inn swung open and Sessalg came crashing in. Her shirt was soaked with blood and there was an expression of fear on her face. That surprised Telgip, she had never seen the half-elf without her face of stone.

"Help… help me! There's a man in the street… he's dying! Austin! Is there someone here from Austin?! Seria… Seria, help me!" Sessalg exclaimed breathlessly.

The healer was on her feet immediately and rushed ahead of the men that were already heading out the door. Nothing stood between Seria and her duty. Except maybe a cute man. Telgip wasn't one of those women who acted more like girls, fawning over a cute face wherever they could find one. In fact she disgusted Seria for it, but that didn't change the fact that she was running as fast as Seria. That man might effect her plan, she had to know about him. Wasn't Austin one of those towns that crazy wizard had mentioned? She pushed his words out of her mind and rushed outside ahead of Seria. Outside, there was indeed a man bleeding in the street, but at one glance Telgip knew it wasn't the man she had to worry about. He was a human and Telgip was looking for an elf. But that brought another question to her mind, why was Sessalg helping a human?

She didn't have time to ponder this however as Seria reached the man and pushed her out of the way. In the confusion that followed, no one noticed the witch as she silently slipped back into the Inn.

***

His dream was a strange one. His consciousness floated above a forest where his lord was talking to a woman he couldn't clearly see. This was a strange dream indeed for as he watched, they became small children of about 10 or 11 years. His Lord kissed the woman, no more then a child now, and for some reason this angered him. But why? Shouldn't he be happy for his Lord if he found a love? Then suddenly they were back to the age they had been before and he felt a great alarm. As he watched, his lord drew a knife from his boot and stabbed the young woman quickly in the chest. As the woman lay dying, her hot blood spilling across the floor, his lord knelt over and whispered, "I've won again, Arin Skylar."

Then the woman died.

His consciousness slipped from his grasp once again and he returned to his restless sleep.

***

At the time Sessalg entered the common room most of the Inn's customers had left, despite the oblivious excitement of the wounded stranger. Only a few of the Inn regulars and her friends remained. Asmim, Kerias and Ekips sat at a table in the corner of the room talking quietly but Sessalg did not join them. She had too much to think about now. Seria tended to the wounded man on a cot the Inn keeper had fashioned in the kitchen. He wouldn't let Seria take the man to her room or any room for that matter. Something about bleeding all over his clean floors, but Sessalg doubted that his floors had ever been clean period. That just left Telgip missing but Sessalg didn't see that as unusual. The witch often disappeared, although she seemed to be the only one who took notice. She didn't entirely trust her; she didn't trust magic period. "Might and Magic never mix," her brother used to tell her, back… then. Her mind wandered back and forth between time and she found herself thinking about her old house in the forest and her old life. Then she remembered how it had ended and she shut it out of her mind.

Suddenly Seria emerged from the kitchen, covered in the man's blood. "Is… is there a man named Arios here? He demands to see a man named Arios, he won't let me heal him until he's delivered a message." Seria asked quietly across the empty room. From the shadows in a far corner of the room a lone figure sat up and answered her. " I am lord Arios from Austin M'Lady. I would like to talk to my servant now." Not waiting for a reply, the man brushed Seria aside and entered the kitchen's shadows. Seria followed in a huff, apparently not appreciating the man's actions. Sessalg was struck quiet speechless. She had known a boy named Arios when she lived in Austin, could it be…? No it just couldn't, what were the odds? And besides, the Arios that she knew was an elf. This was definitely a man. A human. What self-respecting elf would come to Hasam, the center of elf hatred worldwide?

But still, despite all her doubt, her curiosity overcame her as she walked over to the kitchen and peeked into the doorway. She could just make out the mystery "Arios" standing over the bleeding man and nodding his head to the other man's apparent speech. She could only catch a few words of what was being said but what she heard chilled her to her ironclad heart.

"Dragons……….. It was horrible……….. we tried……… A siege, a siege of Austin………… like the Gate War……….. we need……….. Lord Arrowstone……… help us."

"Can I help you?"

Sessalg looked up startled to find the shadowed man standing in front of her and watching her curiously. Apparently while she had been lost in her daydreams the man had finished listening to his message and had left the room to find her staring blindly into space like one of those drugged clerics from Tanir. She cursed herself and her ancestors for her stupidity. But what she did next could not fully be explained through reasoning, it fact it had nothing to do with reasoning. It was as if her soul spoke for her instead of her mind for once, or perhaps she just needed a reason not to look stupid. In any case, the next moment she stood up and met Arios' gaze squarely as she pulled off her leather head band that was like a noose around her dignity.

"My lord Arrowstone, I may be mistaken but haven't we met before? In Austin perhaps?"

Arios looked hard at her for a moment, his eyes darting to her pointed ears revealed from under the headband to her emerald eyes. Then it must have clicked because just then he spread his arms wide in an embracing hug and yelled "Sessalg! Sessalg it's you! I mean…. Isn't it? I… I thought you had died… that fire… but that doesn't matter now. Come, you must tell me where you've been all these years. Why didn't you come to see me in Austin? Do you know how boring it was there without you? But then again you must have, that's probably why you stayed away! Oh but we have so much to talk about, come to my room with me and we can talk over a tankard of ale. Although knowing you it will probably be more like a barrel!" His laughter filled the common room and followed them as they headed up the stairs, and for once, Sessalg felt like she was home.

***