Finished at the temple, Telvin headed home. Stepping inside he found Riley was sitting at the kitchen table having breakfast. "Good morning." He said and kissed her cheek. Then he sat down next to her and pulled out the bouquet of flowers, and handed them to Riley.

"Thank you Telvin; they are beautiful." Riley said smiling.

"Your welcome, I wanted to make sure the new flower in my life had company."

Rabica came by with a large plate of food and handed it to him. "Did you get everything you needed son?"

"Yeah, we should be set for the trip." Telvin said earnestly to Rabica.

"Speaking of the Trip, I got a message from Jack, he says he will be coming over soon. He also mentioned that if we require anything extra, we will be able to get it at Taras."

Diasne came down with matted up dishevelled hair, and took a seat across from them. "Morning," She said sleepily.

"How are you feeling sis?" Telvin said sympathetically.

"I ate too much last night." She moaned and placed her head on the table.

Shaking his head Telvin said,"I warned you."

"ugh." She grunted.

"Jack said he wanted to meet outside Petele's place. Apparently he is bringing someone to meet him."

Diasne perked up at that and said "Your going to Petele's? Can I come with?"

"Are you sure you want to go with us looking like that sis?"

Diasne frowned and said "Argh stomach why you betray me?!"

"Sorry honey, I actually require you to help me out for a bit. I'm planning a surprise for Mianda, and I need some help to set it up." Rabica said patting Diasne's back.

Telvin finished the meal and said "Thank you for the meal. When we are done with the expedition, I will stop by again."

"Don't be a stranger Telving." Rabica went around the table and hugged Telvin in a deep hug. Telvin hugged back for a bit till she broke the hug.

Diasne had got up and hugged Telvin as well as saying "Don't make me have to stalk you down in a cabin again bro."

"I won't." Telvin said.

Rabica looked amiably at Riley and said "Make sure you properly take care of him. Don't let his ill temper get the best of him okay?"

Riley said, "Of course." Riley stood and took Telvins hand in her own. "Goodbye Rabica, Diasne."

They left taking the packs they had prepared to place them into their inventory they began to head to the healers. They stopped at the field near the healers cottage. "Is he coming?"

Riley nodded and said,"He said he would be here any moment."

Looking down the road both ways and not seeing anyone coming, "I don't see anyone coming." Just then there was a loud thud behind Telvin. Turning around, he saw a man suddenly standing in the middle of the field. There was something large and black attached to his back. To his surpise it unwrapped itself from the man and climbed down, revealing it to be a large spider.

The spider looked a bit woozy, but seemed to get better when the man handed the spider a sword. Which the spider swung around for a bit before calming down. The man looked at them and headed towards them. He was wearing a set of blue pants, a white under shirt, and a brown jacket.

When he got closer, Telvin realized the man was slightly taller then him and was giving off a strange aura. The man smiled gently and said "It's a pleasure to meet the both of you in person. I'm Jack, how are the two of you?"

Feeling a bit skeptical at this, Telvin said "You are Jack?" This Jack was not what he was picturing when he naturally thought about a god. "You don't seem very, godlike I guess, maybe less imposing?"

"I wouldn't as I am a system. The only system in this world at the moment. I'm trying to keep a low profile, so no imposing aura for me." Jack said offering his hand to Telvin.

Telvin ignored it and said "I owe you for helping me save my sister."

"No problem, I'm grateful that you became my User." Jack said turning towards Riley and she shook his hand.

Riley said, "What's with the spider?"

The spider was now watching them holding a very sharp sword aloft. It scuttled closer to them, and Jack said "Let me introduce Princess Ritalassa to you, Ritalassa this is Telvin and Riley, two of my other Users."

The spider did a little bow with the gleaming sword and a feminine voice intoned in Telvin's head "We greet thee Telvin and Riley."

"I was unaware you could take a spider as a User?" Riley asked Jack.

Jack coughed, "Actually dear Princess Ritalassa is the sword. The spider is Inky her summons."

Stunned Telvin carefully took a more thorough look at the sword and found he could tell it was looking at him. Several tentacles popped out of the sword and gently waved at them. "I was unaware weapons could be sentient." Telvin said.

"Princess Ritalassa's soul was intimately bound to the sword actually. She was originally a Dark Elf Princess."

"Oh is that why you wish to visit Petele?" Riley asked.

"Yes, he's the only Dark Elf my Users are familiar with at the moment, so I thought it might be an opportunity for her to learn what happened with her race while she was asleep."

"Indeed. I am saddened to find the loss of my country."

Scratching his head, "I was unaware the Dark Elves had a kingdom. They don't have a presence on the council of Elves."

"What is this council of Elves?" Ritalassa asked.

"Well on this continent there is one large kingdom of Elves and several smaller citys and villages of elves. The council oversees them all. There are four races of elves represented on the council, Light Elves, Normal Elves, Wood Elves, and finally Mountain elves. I've never thought about it, but it is weird that Dark Elves are not included." Telvin said.

Jack said "It looks like most of the Dark Elves live in the Empire. It is possible that is the reason why they are not in the Council."

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"This is bizarre, when I was awake there was only two races of elves. The Dark and the Light elves. Where did these other races appear?" Ritalassa said.

"Since Telvin is a Half-elf, I would assume they mated with other species, and recent races developed from that." Riley said.

"Is Ritalassa coming with us on the Expedition?" Telvin asked.

"Yes, she wishes to examine the ruins to see if she can find out any clue to what happened to her kingdom." Jack said.

"Speaking of Clues, I wish to speak with this Dark Elf Healer." Ritalassa said, and Inky scuttled towards the cottage. Telvin followed along with her. The spider went to the door and gave it a few knocks. A few seconds later, Mianda opened the door and looked at the spider that was nearly chest height with her.

Her face went white, and she let out a piercing shriek and slammed the door closed. Telvin could hear her screaming for several more seconds. "How Rude!" Ritalassa said. The door was thrown open, and Carol was standing with a large crackling blade emerging from her hand. Before she slashed down at Inky, she had spotted Telvin and the others.

"What is this?" Carol said pointing at the spider with her blade.

"This is Princess Ritalassa. I have come to see the Dark Elf known as Petele" Ritalassa said being waved around by Inky again.

Carol frowned and looked at Telvin, "Please wait here. I will inform him of your arrival. I do not appreciate you scaring my charge." Carol left the door open, and a few minutes later Petele came out and greeted them. "Telvin have you come to pay for the services I have performed?"

Pointing at Jack, Telvin said "Look at him for the coin."

Jack coughed in surprise and glanced at Telvin before saying "How much does Telvin owe you?"

"For the Healing of Carol, Two small gold. For his other healing, I will hold him to later."

Jack pulled out the coins and promptly handed them to Petele.

"How dare you charge for your divine services? Why I never, how can you face your noble ancestors with such dishonor!" Ritalassa said angrily. Inky waved Ritalassa in Petele's face.

Petele frowned fiercely and said "How I manage my private business is no concern of yours spider."

"I'm Princess Ritalassa, A Dark Elf Princess of Loas the Kingdom of Elves. I'm the sword by the way."

He snorted and said "As far as I know, there has never been a kingdom of Dark Elves. I don't help with mental problems. You need to go get checked out elsewhere."

The two of them continued to bicker back and forth, till Carol had come back with a much calmer Mianda. The girl's face lit up when she saw Telvin and carefully skirted around the spider to leap into Telvins arms. "Sir Telvin! The spider gave me a tremendous fright."

Telvin patted her head and said "Don't worry, the Spider is just a pet of the Princess Ritalassa. It won't harm you."

"Princess? Where is she?"

"She's in the sword."

"Oh no has she been cursed? Carol has told me several stories of the princess who get cursed. Perhaps she needs to be kissed by her true love to be cured." Mianda said matter of factly.

Telvin coughed and said "Maybe. Anyway, I will be heading out on a Journey, so I came to say goodbye. When I come back, I will take you to go to see your father."

"Can I come with you?"

"No, it will be dangerous. I need you stay here and help keep my mother and sister happy okay?"

"Okay." Mianda said a bit sad. Telvin stroked her head and looked up at Carol.

"I've asked my father to keep an eye over her. No trouble should happen to Mianda while she is in the village." Telvin said to Carol.

"Thank you." Carol said then looked at Jack "Are you Jack?"

"I am. It is a genuine pleasure to meet you in person Carol."

Carol nodded then went to Jack and gripped him into a hug. "Bless you, Jack, for aiding me."

Jack hugged her back and said "You helped yourself, You are stronger then you will ever recognize Carol."

Breaking the hug and wiping her gentle eyes Carol said "I'm sorry I couldn't go with you. I need to stay with my Charge."

"It is alright. In fact there is something you can support me with. Another of my Users will be coming by tomorrow. They will require a bit of help. It's near the village, so you won't need to travel far." Jack notified her.

"I will aid them then." Carol said waving good bye to them. "Farewell, experience a good journey."

"Farewell Sir Telvin." Mianda said waving excitedly "Come back soon!"

Going back to the field, Ritalassa was complaining about Petele. When Jack said "I need to pick up two other Users as well, then I will take you outside of Taras."

"How will you take us?" Riley asked.

"I would just carry you there, but with so many people it would be a hassle. So I'm going to try this method." Jack waved his hand, and a large window appeared on the ground. Stepping on the window, Jack tested it and said "All on board. I recommend not looking down. Keep away from the edges."

Telvin stepped on the blue window and found Riley grasped his hand. Inky scurried on as well and curled into a ball. There was a mysterious hum and then the window lifted off the ground. There was a unusual sense of moving through the air, and Telvin made the terrible mistake of looking down. They had already ascended several miles into the air.

He could feel his knees start to buckle, and he grasped Riley's hand in a death grip. She looked affectionately at Telvin and said "Oh your not good with heights are you."

"Who the hell would be at this height!" Telvin said as the window flew over the lush forest.

"Don't worry, we can't be perceived, I'm using a bit of power to camouflage us." Jack called out. "Hold on, I'm going to speed up."

"What? Oh gods!" Telvin started to screech in genuine terror as the Window started to really fly. He perceived his conscious dim and then he passed out.