“No!” the Elf shouted. Nenva Darkstar sat in a dark chamber in Elsiel, an Elven city.
“Nenva Darkstar, you are to be banished from Elsiel. Accept it. Your Banishing Ceremony will be tomorrow morning. Gather your things.” The Elf councilor turned and walked out of the chamber. Nenva buried her head in her hands. She could care less that she would be leaving Elsiel. What she was worried about was the Ceremony. She shivered at the thought of it. One of the Elf guards grabbed Nenva’s arm and led her out of the chamber and into the forest of Elsiel. She took her last look around the forest.
The trees were so high that it seemed that they would rip the sky open if they grew any more. They didn’t have so many leaves as to block the sunlight so many sunrays shone through their green leaves onto Elsiel. All the Elves lived in big huts all over the forest. Elsiel also had a plain to the east where the fair Elven horses were trained and raised.
In the center of town was the Council Hall. That was were all the councils and courts and such were held. Nenva walked into her hut, which was nearby the jail. She opened the door and grabbed a pack to put her things in. She grabbed some cooking supplies, a blanket, a flask, some potion making supplies, a few gems that she cherished, some books, some money and some clothes along with a few items that she was fond of. She also took her bow, a quiver, many arrows, her twin throwing daggers, and a short sword.
She sighed and said goodbye to her house before the guard rushed her out. Nenva would sleep in the jail this night. The guard slammed the jailhouse door closed and threw Nenva into her cell. She landed with a bang and stood up. She put her pack down and sat down on the bed. Nenva wore a black long sleeved shirt with a high collar that had red decorations. Under the shirt was a silver mithril shirt. Her pants were also black but were leather. She wore silver gauntlets with rubies in the middle. Her brown boots stopped halfway up her shin.
She kicked off her boots and lay down in the bed, trying not to think of what would happen to her tomorrow.

Nenva woke to the sound of a cell door closing. It was hers. A guard had just come in and was telling Nenva to get up and follow him. Nenva stood up, grabbed her pack, boots, and weapons, and followed the guard out the door and to the Council Hall. The Council Hall was beautiful on the outside. It was made of a mystical substance called ivade. The ivade was white with hints of green. Many windows dotted the building.
The guard opened the large doors of the Council Hall and led Nenva in. The inside was beautiful too. Large bookcases lined the walls. Small tables held flowerpots and other artifacts. Nenva was led into a large room were the Elven King, Halaer, stood surrounded by guards and Councilors. One of the town Dragon Trainers stood off to the side, holding Nenva’s large black dragon by a chain. The dragon let out a terrible roar full of anger and sadness. Nenva let out a cry and ran over to him.
Her dragon, Valiar, was a large dragon. He was mostly black with a few blue and red stripes. His teeth and claws were silver. Valiar’s majestic wings were folded by his side. His powerful tail thrashed wildly and his gray eyes looked around in panic. Guards surrounded her.
“You’re hurting him!” she screamed. The guards drug her in front of King Halaer.
“Nenva Darkstar, you are accused of thievery, murder, and being a Drow elf. You shall be removed as your position as Dragon Speaker, cast out from Elsiel, and your dragon will be taken and kept in Elsiel.” It was all true. Nenva had recently killed an Elf who had opposed her Dragon Speaking abilities and she had a nasty hobby of stealing gems from other Elves.
Nenva had dark gray skin and waist-long snow-white hair. Her eyes were bright red and a silver moon sat on her forehead, her birthmark. She was around thirty years old and was surprised that she hadn’t been accused at a Drow earlier in her life.
“You will be made unconscious then taken far away to live on your own. Guards?” Two of the guards walked over to Nenva. One held her hands tightly to make sure she didn’t get away. The other was given a needle filled with black liquid by the King. As he approached, Nenva took one last look at Valiar and closed her eyes.
She felt the tip of the needle against her arm. The next minute, the needle was being pushed slowly into her arm. She let out a cry. She opened her eyes and found that everything was blurry. She felt herself go limp and everything went black.

Nenva’s eyes fluttered open. She sat up and found that she had a horrible pain in her arm. Suddenly everything came back to her. A tear formed in her eye. Valiar was given to her when she was five years old and had been best friends ever since. Now she would never see him again.
Nenva looked around. She could see a Councilor riding away on his white dragon. She cursed the King under her breath. She seemed to be on top of a large mountain that was above a long plain. Where the plain stopped, there was a thick forest. The sun was setting. Nenva felt miserable. She took her bow from off her back and looked at it. The bow was dark brown and was carved with Drow runes. The string was made from a single unicorn hair. Next, she unsheathed her short sword. The blade was lightweight silver and the hilt was dark gray and a sapphire sat in the center. Then she drew her prized twin throwing daggers. Both had curved, jagged blades and long, light hilts, which had emeralds, set in the middle.
Nenva put her weapons back and sat down, mourning her loss of Valiar. She fell asleep on the rocky ground eventually.

Nenva woke to the sound of birds crying. She opened her eyes and sat up. She sat on the ground for half an hour, doing nothing. She sighed and told herself that a real Drow wouldn’t just sit around and do nothing. She took her pack off her back and rummaged around in it. She gasped. Nenva hadn’t packed a tent. She would just have to find shelter.
The Drow stood up. She walked around, looking for somewhere to make shelter. She spotted a rock overhang about half a mile away and started to run towards it. She reached the overhang and looked around. The rock would shield rain and snow, which was good. It was also very unnoticeable so she couldn’t be spotted easily. Nenva started to make camp. She set out a sleeping pad and a blanket and put out logs for a fire. When she had piled up a few logs and leaves, she started to ignite a flame. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the fire. She felt a burst of warmth and opened her eyes to a bright fire.
Nenva caught her breath; the spell had taken some energy from her. She took out a pot, filled it with water, and set it over the fire. She took her bow from her back and strung an arrow with deadly grace. She aimed at a bird high in the sky and shot. The bird fell to the ground a few feet away.
After a few minutes of preparing and cooking the bird, Nenva had a medium sized meal.
When Nenva was done eating, she put away her cooking supplies and thought of where she should go.
“I am a Drow,” she said to herself, “I should go to the Drow city, Blacktree. Or maybe I should go to Elsiel and get Valiar…” She closed her eyes and pictured Blacktree in her mind. She had been there in her dreams and in the dreams of dragons. Her eyes shot open.

Dragons!

She could try and see if there were any dragons nearby! Nenva closed her eyes again and concentrated. She searched around, looking for any mind to probe. She had sometimes felt the presence of the mind but sigh upon finding that it was only a bird or a fish. She concentrated harder. Suddenly, she felt a force that almost knocked her over. She opened her eyes and looked around, but saw nothing. She closed them again and tried to find the presence.
Nenva found the mind again and started to probe it. She knew it wasn’t a dragon because it was very hard for her to search this mind. She gathered little bits of information but none of it told her what this thing was. The presence suddenly went away. Nenva opened her eyes. She knew she had lost it this time. But where had it gone? She looked to the sky. Nenva saw a small figure flying around. She could tell it wasn’t a dragon but had no idea what it could be.
The thing started to hurdle towards the ground. Nenva drew her throwing daggers. The creature hit the ground and lay motionless. Nenva slowly approached it. The thing suddenly sprang up and drew its sword. Nenva readied her daggers. The creature ran forward, sword aimed at Nenva’s throat. The Drow blocked the sword. Nenva maneuvered her daggers with deadly grace. She tried to attack the thing but it kept flying away. It slashed her arm and knocked her to the ground. Nenva held back a cry. She stabbed at the thing and punctured its leg, which sent it to the ground. Nenva staggered up.
She leaned over the unconscious creature. It was a male with bright red, shoulder length hair with black streaks. Sharp, curved horns spiraled out of his flaming hair. Two fangs came from his mouth. It had pale skin and clawed hands. He wore a gray armor shirt with a red, scaly chest plate and brown leather pants. Two black and red wings sprouted from his back. They looked like dragon wings and had a few white feathers here and there. It looked like a creature from the Abyss.

He stirred.

Nenva backed away and aimed her daggers.
The creature groaned and collapsed again.
“Can you understand me?” Nenva asked in Elven. He nodded.
“Yes,” he croaked in Elven.
“Do you need help?” she asked.
“No, I’ll be fine,” he said. The creature tried to get up but failed. Nenva narrowed her eyes.
“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” she said and turned to walk away. The thing closed his eyes in pain.
“No, come back,” it managed. Nenva stopped but did not turn around.
“First, tell me who and what you are and why you are here.”
“Alright. My name is Velin and I am a Shasa Hha, or in your language, a grey. I had to come here to escape. There are a group of wizards named the Violet Council who are after me. They wish to lock me away for eternity because of my greyness. And you?”
“I am called Nenva Darkstar. I am a Drow, or dark elf. I was cast out from Elsiel and sent here, never to return there. I am an outcast of my kind, a disgrace. I am also a Dragon Speaker.” She didn’t tell him of Valiar or her thievery hobbies. This creature must have some valuables, she thought to herself. She held back a grin. Velin tried to get up again but fell.
“I’m stranded here unless you can fix this leg that you planted your dagger in,” Nenva knelt down and examined his leg. She held her hand over it and muttered a Drow spell.
“A’aik lolith’ik morivier,” she said. A grey mist fell from her hand and surrounded his leg. The wound started to close and the skin around it returned to normal. Velin sat up and rubbed his leg.
“Thank you,” he muttered. Nenva did nothing.
“What are you doing out here anyway?” Velin asked, standing up.
“I am on a quest,” she said.
“Oh?”
“Yes,”
“Where are you heading?” he asked.
“Elsiel,” Nenva replied. She paused and thought a minute.
“Why don’t you come with me?”
“Why?” Velin asked, puzzled.
“You are powerful, are you not?” He nodded. “Well, I can’t go all the way to Elsiel by myself. I’ll be killed.”
“I’ll only put you in more danger,” Velin stated.
“I’ll need some help and you seem to be the only one in the world who isn’t scared of me,” Velin sighed.
“Fine,”
“Alright, get some rest. We leave in the evening,” Velin found a spot to sleep a few yards away under a rock. Nenva sat down and got a quill and some parchment. She closed her eyes and pictured the shortest and safest route to Blacktree and Elsiel. She started to draw the route to Elsiel on the paper. She would have to pass through several human villages. She would have to go around them. She sighed. The shortest route would take them at least a month or more to get there from where she thought she was: Emen’s Hill. She then plotted out the shortest route to Blacktree from Elsiel. That trip would take a long time also.
Nenva sighed. She had to find out where she was currently. Nenva stood up and looked around. She tried to spot a village or at least a house on the long, mountainous terrain. Nenva’s elven eyes could see something from far away. Finally, she saw a small group of houses on the horizon. Nenva looked at the sun’s position. It was a couple of hours past noon. She hoped Velin would get finished resting quickly.

Velin soon appeared standing beside Nenva.
“So,” she said, “Are you ready? I spotted a village on the horizon. I want to stop by there and buy a map.”
“Yes, I’m ready,” Velin replied.
“Do you have a dragon or a horse or anything we could ride on?”
“I have a small griffin. We might be able to both fit on him,” Velin said. He whistled loudly and said a few words in a language Nenva didn’t know. She soon spotted a shape in the sky. The shape got bigger and bigger then finally she could make out the shape of a bird-like griffin.
The griffin landed with a thump. He was a deep turquoise color with a black belly. Its claws and beak were midnight black. Its eyes were piercing violet and the tip of its tail was a burning flame that singed the grass. His large wings were deep turquoise also and the undersides of the wings were black.
Velin walked over to his griffin and rubbed its neck.
“He’s beautiful. What’s his name?” Nenva asked.
“Shorel,” Velin replied.
“Hello, Shorel,” Nenva said. She walked over to him and tenderly rubbed his neck. The feathers were as soft as down. Velin stood by Nenva, watching her rub his griffin lovingly with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. Nenva eventually stopped and turned to Velin.
“What?” she said defensively. She grinned. “I’ve always had a thing for griffins.” Velin just shook his head. He closed his eyes and a saddle appeared on Shorel. It was large enough for a griffin and made of tough leather. He jumped on Shorel and settled into the saddle. Nenva did the same. She sat behind Velin.
“Put your arms around me so you don’t fall off,” he said. She wrapped her arms around him tightly. His armor was radiating heat. Probably some warming spell, she thought. Velin clicked his tongue and said something to Shorel in the same language he called the griffin in. Shorel got a running start and leapt into the air. The cool air stung Nenva’s face. The only sound was Shorel’s thumping wings and Velin occasionally giving the griffin directions in the griffin tongue. The grass below was covered in a sheet of dew and the shimmering sun made it seem like the grass was made of glass. Nenva could make out the outlines of a village set promptly on the horizon.
They reached the village a few minutes later. Velin told his griffin to land. He landed in a thick forest that surrounded the village.

To be continued...

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