Fan Fiction ❯ The Secret of the Always ❯ Enter Tii'jan Macraw ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4

Tii'jan Macraw led Nemesis to a bombed-out part of the city near its edge. It had been the scene of a massive gang war in which the entire section had been decimated. There, he led the way into a large building with a mostly intact first and second floor. He laid his staff nest to a column and fell to the floor, sitting into a meditative position. He closed his eyes and began speaking.

"Nemesis, I must explain something to you. Once humans and elves were the same. In fact, there was no telling them apart; they were exactly the same. Then, one day, the forces of Nature were set off balance and there became a divide between the humans and elves. That divide was magic. Elves retained it, but their knowledge of everything else was limited. Humans lost it. They left us to find other sources of survival. They needed to create, to invent. Otherwise, they would not survive without magic. This is why, now, humans continued to develop new and better things. Technology replaced the magic that they lost."

"But the cause of this phenomenon was unknown until recently. We discovered ancient writings that spoke of a diety that held the Elemental force of Magic. It was called the Always. The elemental dieties held these "forces of Nature" and kept everything in balance. When the Always was seperated from the outside world, its power diminished and Humans lost its influence." Macraw's eyes suddenly flashed open. "What is in your pocket, young one?"

Nemesis looked startled at the abruptness of the question, but as he pulled the scrap of newspaper from his pocket, he realized. "This picture," he said, handing it to Tii'jan. "Is that the Always?" Macraw stared deeply at the picture. He seemed to be reaching out to the frozen diety, as if to ask where it was. And apparently that's exactly what he had done.

"Come," he said taking up his staff and hovering to the door. "We have much to do."

Nemesis wondered at this strange man. An hour ago he had been a good impersonation of a street bum, and now he was like a warrior. Nemesis could see the muscles in his arms tighten and a fire ignite in his eyes. "Wait just a second, please. You are yet to tell me about this sword," he said, raising the glowing rune blade. "What is its significance?"

"That, my friend, is something you'll find out in due time," said the elf, never turning around.

. . .

The pair soon was back in the main city, heading East. Nemesis spoke up after a long silence. "Tii'jan? What are we doing, anyway?"

The elf spoke without slowing. "We are going to find the Eternal Flame."

Nemesis waited several seconds for more then siad, "Which is?…"

"Which is an old Elven artifact. It was a stone endowed with sacred powers by four powerful Magi. It was intended to heat entire villages during the winter. It worked, too, but it was soon stolen by human theives. We have recently gotten a lead as to their location." Tii'jan turned down a northward avenue. "They are currently hiding in a system of caves to the northeast, called the Falkan Highlands. The only problem is, we don't know how many there are or what weapons they might posess. All we know is that we must get the Flame back to thaw out the Always and bring balance to the Earth once again. Now, we have to go, so stop asking questions and I'll make this much faster." The elf waved his staff at Nemesis and he began levitating, just like Tii'jan. "Don't think about it too much and you'll get used to it. If you're wondering, this is my magic adept, Levitation. Every elf has an adept magic that they can use with smooth mastery." Tii'jan chuckled. "If I only knew a fire adept, then we wouldn't have to worry about those damn theives at all."

"Wait, so you're saying that when we unfreeze this Always thing that humans will be able to use magic like this again?"

"That's correct. Humans will no longer require fuel to power their vehicles and cities. Elves will have the intelligence to build skyscrapers like these." He gestured toward the skyline. "Everything will be perfect again."

Nemesis decided against saying more and Tii'jan went silent for a long time.

Several hours later, Nemesis and Macraw stood a few hundred meters outside the main entrance to the caves of the Falkan Highlands. The sheer cliff face before them extended up about 200 feet and was dotted with holes and cave entrances. Nemesis pulled out his micro binoculars to get a better look. "No apparent external defenses… Looks like some surveillance cams about halfway up the face… Shouldn't be a problem for someone like me."

Tii'jan was crouched beside him, looking for a suitable rock to throw at the cameras. When he found one he took it in his left hand and waved his staff, causing it to hover several inches off his hand. He then experimentally hurled it at the wall, searching it for a target as he did so. "Point me toward one of the cameras," he said to Nemesis, calling back the rock. "Hopefully we can disable them without alarming anyone. Which are the two nearest the entrance?"

Nemesis showed him with the binoculars, and Tii'jan drew back and hurled the levitating stone at one, hitting it squarely in the side and knkocking it the other way, away from the entrance. He did the same with the other camera, leaving the entrance a blind spot in the theives' surveillance network. "Ready to go?" Macraw asked.

"Yeah. Let's get that thing back."