Elvenshore: 03 - Elf's Bane by Clark Graham Page B

smiled, “That’s sounds nice.”
    Amlius walked up while they were talking. “I will spend the night here at South Fort and then will accompany you back as far as the Ornomac tree,” he said to Fawn.
    "Yes, I will enjoy your company," Fawn said.
    Amlius went on,“I have been having a reoccurring dream of Valkyrie and singing. Perhaps you can explain it all to me on our journey home?”
    “Perhaps not,” came her short reply.
    He was not surprised by her answer. By her refusal to talk, she had told him as much as if she had explained the whole story in detail. He smiled and walked away. There had been a time when he had lead the Valkyrie on an expedition and often wondered if he had been seduced in his sleep by one of them.
    “Don’t you think you should tell him”? Sarchise asked.
    “Some secrets you don’t tell. Besides when I saw the look in his eyes at my answer, I realized he has guessed it anyway,” she said.
    “I would have liked to know if it was me.”
    Changing the subject she said, “I will go and visit the Hidden City while you are away, my mother is ill and I want to visit her.”
    “I hear the Queen is also ill, maybe you can visit her while you are there?” Sarchise commented.
    She had not yet told him that the Queen and her mother were one and the same. He had enough to deal with being a Prince to the Dwarves; that little piece of knowledge would have to wait. “Perhaps,” she replied.
    While Amlius was walking away, an Elf stopped him . “My Captain would like to speak with you, “ the Elf said.
    Amlius recognized the Elf as one of the guards that had helped Fannor into the room at the meeting. When they arrived at Fannor’s tent, he was laying down. It had been really stressful for Fannor to go to the meeting.
    Fannor looked up at Amlius and smiled, “I am glad you came.”
    “I didn’t think any of you would be allowed to talk to me ,” Amlius responded.
    “I was against your banishment, but I was only a Sub Captain at the time. Those in power don’t listen to Sub Captains. You did what you had to do. Your brother was developing even more creatures and the creatures he had developed had turned against the Elf and were killing us.”
    “I understand,” Amlius said, “After that ‘Elf Slayer’ comment from Gilead, I thought that everyone returning would have the same attitude.”
    “Gilead is not patient, that is why I was felt I had to show up at the meeting. It is good I did, especially because you were baiting him.”  
    “I was,” Amlius admitted.
    “You mentioned the Lost City. Was it found?” Fannor asked.
    “Yes, the Lost City of the Valkyrie has been found. The evil inside of it has been destroyed and the Valkyrie have moved back in to it.”
    Fannor then asked, “What of the secrets of the Elves?”
    “We were searched to find the answer to what evil possessed the Lost City. The true secret of the Elves is that the history of the Dwarf and Elf wars is a lie. The Elves found Vil Loree and attacked it along with a group of Gremlins. They killed the Dwarf King, but they also killed two Elves that lived in the city. When they realized they had killed their fellow Elves, they left the city untouched. They then signed a peace treaty with the Dwarves and the Valkyrie that had them delete their history of the wars. The Elves then changed the Elf history. All this was done to cover up the deaths of the two Elves,” Amlius explained.
    Fannor had a look of disbelief on his face, “How could you possibly know this?”
    “We have found the graves of the two Elves that were killed,” Amlius said simply.
    “Where are these graves?”
    “Vil Loree,” Amlius knew that there was going to be a reaction to that remark.
    Fannor eyes went open wide, “The Golden City? They found the Golden City? Tell me, have you been there?”
    There was a big smile on Amlius’ face, “Yes, the Golden City has been found, and yes, I have seen it. I was allowed to help look for it and I