The Tale Teller's Story

“Open your eyes, open your eyes ” A divine voice, commanding and smooth broke through the calm silence of Melimir’s dream. The elves eyes darted open and he sat up as quick as he could, but instead of the quiet and peaceful settings of his tent, he found himself starring into a dark abyss. Where was he? He felt for the ground, only to realize that there was nothing under him. His heart began to race, he could feel it beating on his chest, trying to escape it and flee ahead of his own body.

“Do not be afraid, do not be afraid ” the same voice slithered from the deep unknown surrounding Melimer. It was truly a voice not of the mortal world; it was sleek and frightening but also welcoming all at the same time. Then, there was the whispers that followed it, whispers that repeated the divine words in hushed mutters as if dozens of fairies were whispering all at once.

“Am I…Am I dead?” Melimer inquired to the bodiless voice that spoke to him. He must be dead, there is no other explanation, and perhaps he was in a place meant for wicked souls.

“No, not dead, no, not dead ….merely awaking from a dream that has lasted your entire life, entire life ” The voice replied, and Melimer realized something. The voices were not coming from the abyss; they seemed to be originating from within his skull.

“If I’m alive, then where am I?” Melimer stammered out, still nervous about his surroundings. The dark was like no dark he had ever seen in his life; usually he can see through darkness well enough to make out objects. However, this dark was thick and permanent, glue that stuck to your eyes and would not release them.

“We are nowhere, nowhere …yet we are everywhere, everywhere ” The voices once again used Melimer’s own head as their vessel. He didn’t understand a word they were saying either. Could this be a spirit? Could he be communicating with something that powerful?

“What are you?” The elf shouted to the darkness

“We are everything, yet we are nothing, everything yet nothing ” The voices echoed back to him “mortal, we are not. Immortal, we are not. Immortal ”

“Then who are you!?” The elf pleaded for an answer that would help him understand what in the world was happening to him

“We have many names, many names , your people have labeled us with the name Lemis the teller of tales. Lemis teller of tales ” the voices answered “In the end, what you choose to call us is irrelevant.”

“You-you are Lemis!? This is incredible!” Melimer could not believe his ears, Lemis, the spirit who guided his people was talking to him! This was a glorious day for him, the pinnacle of his life so far! “I am not worthy to be in your presence!”

“There is very much to learn, and you know so little, so little . However, you have been chosen to complete a task.” The voices chimed

Melimer looked gave the emptiness surrounding him a puzzled look “What is the task?”

“Stand, and we shall show you, we shall show you ” The voices commanded, to which the elf spared no time abiding by. He felt around his body for clothing, and it became clear by the softness of the fabric that he was in the clothing he wore to bed. He was about to ask another question, when suddenly the darkness around him vanished and he found himself standing in the middle of a grassy field surrounded by palm trees. He was on a slightly elevated cliff above a beach where the waters of the ocean tackled the shore.

“I know this place; this is the beach we landed on when we first came to the island.” Melimer said aloud as he took in the beauty of the land. He was a part of a small gathering of Elves who had departed from the Blue Moon Empire long ago, under the Tale Teller’s guidance. Just a few days ago they had sailed from a land in the East, across the ocean from the Blue Moon Empire, and come to this island. He was unsure of why his people had been told to come here, but it was not his place to ask, for usually the Tale Teller only spoke to the wind talkers.

“Yes, your people did well to make it here with such haste, did well ” The voice called, but this time it was not in Melimer’s head, instead it originated from behind the young elf.

Melimer spun on his heel, his fear now replaced with an eagerness to lay his eye’s upon the magnificence of a spirit. The sight that he witnessed was not at all what he was expecting. What hovered slightly above the ground before him was a dark figure, one that wore a cloak as black as the pits of the devils heart. No hands, face or body at all seemed to be occupying the cloak. Instead it seemed as if the thick darkness he had just exited was now wearing the cloak like a living being would.

“You are surprised by our appearance, surprised .” the figure stated as if he had read the elf’s mind.

“No, of course not, great one!” Melimer blurted, not wanting to offend the spirit, who was now floating past the elf to the edge of the cliff overlooking the beach.

“What we ask of you, is of greatest importance, greatest importance .” the Tale Teller said “There is a darkness coming to the world. Darkness! , one that we are defenseless against.” The spirit spoke in a way that depicted no emotions of any kind.
“What kind of darkness?” Melimer inquired as he approached the spirit, his head slightly bowed

“On that threatens all life as we know it, threatens life . However, the darkness is not sprung from a single source, it is many. Many!

“Why is this darkness coming?” Melimer asked, is eyes gracing the spirits cloak and a slight grip of fear racking his voice.

“Motives of darkness are beyond any mortal comprehension, beyond mortal comprehension . There are things so far beyond this world that there is no possible way you could fathom its existence.” The spirit’s voices slithered ominously from his mouth “Even we are sometimes blind to the drives of evil.”

“What will happen when the darkness gets here?” Melimer wondered as he took his eyes off of the Tale Teller and looked out across the sunlit ocean. He was taken back by the beauty of it all; it was far more beautiful than he remembered it being. Suddenly, however, the ocean slowly faded away and was replaced by a horrific scene. Before Melimer was the ocean, but much different than just a second ago. It was no dried up, and the sky above it was now a hellish red and all the animals of the ocean lay on the bone dry dirt, flopping around as fires burned their scales.

“There will be a reckoning of the Earth, and fires will rain from the skies like the day’s of old fires from the skies .” the spirit spoke as a massive ball of flame crashed into the Earth not more than thirty feet away from where they stood. Melimer ducked in fear, as the embers poured over him, but the spirit did not budge. “The war, which brings this blaze upon living creatures, will not leave life left to repopulate as the last. The world and all of its creatures will be eradicated eradicated .”

Melimer was watching in terror, how could something like this happen again? “What do I need to do great one!” Melimer shouted at the spirit “Please tell me what I need to do to stop this from happening!”

“Travel.” The Tale Teller began, as the scene of violence returned to the one of peace that he had saw originally “Across the sea, to the North, across the sea .” Melimer jerked as he and the spirit suddenly shot across the ocean, hovering over it by inches. Seconds later, another land mass came into sight “There you will find the land of your ancestors, land of your ancestors .”

“The Empire?” Melimer asked,

“Yes, and in this land, three other nations hail along with an order of priests. In these places you will find a wealth of guilds, mercenary groups, and grand cities that will suit the task that we are asking of you. Guilds, mercenaries…grand cities!” The spirit boomed as the two came to a stop on yet another beach.
“Great one” Melimer began as he shook his head in confusion “I still don’t understand what you want me to do.”

“You will go to this land, and seek out others who have been chosen. You must look under ever rock and every crevice. EVERY rock and EVERY crevice ” The spirit commanded, its tone now much more severe.

“If they are chosen, why can’t you just tell me who they are?” Melimer asked

“There are many among the chosen, but only the strongest may succeeded, only the strongest . We know of your abilities, but unfortunately we are unable to see clearly the abilities of the others. This is why you must seek out those worthy for us.” The spirit replied emotionlessly as it turned its head to look at Melimer

“But, I thought the spirits were all knowing.” Melimer cursed himself as the words left his mouth. Who was he to question a spirit, especially one like the Tale Teller?

“One, who knows nothing, can understand nothing.” The spirits voice crawled up Melimer’s spine as it responded.

“Of course great one.” Melimer answered, bowing his head in shame “I was being foolish.” There was silence as the elf thought for a second “How will I know I have found the strongest ones though?” He inquired, with eyes still on the ground below his hovering feet. That’s when he observed the light all around him suddenly be cast over by an enormous shadow. He quickly shot his eyes up, looking upon green skin that looked as if it were made from the most grotesque substances known to the planet. As he backed up and his eyes studied the creature’s upper body, he noticed multitudes of scars and wounds that littered its chest. The face, an ugly reminder of the horrors that the occupants of the last world brought upon the Earth and its eyes pits of evil that sucked the very life from Melimer’s body. The sight of the beast alone was enough to make a man cry, but the smell of cruelty and shame alone was enough to kill him. The beast stood as frozen as a statue, its eyes glaring at him with a bloodlust that made his blood run cold.

“This land is terrorized by this abomination. A testament to the face of evil and what it is capable of doing, it is known as Krigar the Feared the feared .” The spirit explained. Melimer was baffled by the size and obscenity of the creature, it was truly something that bore evil on its soul “This beast and his followers are agents of darkness, and those who can destroy him are truly worth purpose purpose . But do not be fooled, there may be those you meet you stray from the path we desire, join allegiances that don’t suit our cause. Your trust must be placed in ability, not in loyalty.”

Melimer was in denial, how could he be the one chosen to take on such a creature? He was young, and had only experience in combat against creatures barely even his size. This monstrosity was a siege tower, obviously built for the soul purpose of killing. “How can I kill him? I haven’t ever seen anything like him!”

“Question not our judgment, nor your ability. We have said what needs to be spoken.”

“Wait, I have more questions!” Melemir shouted as the spirit faded into thin air “Wait!”

That is when he sat up straight, screaming at the interior of his tent. He grabbed his head as he looked down at the fur sheets that covered him. He was once again in his bed, the warm morning breeze of the island wafting through the small slit in the tent. It was obvious by the smell of burning firewood that the others of his group were already awake, at least some of them.

“Melemir!” A male voice called from outside just before the tent’s opening flew open to reveal the face that the voice belonged to “What’s wrong!?” He asked as he looked around the tent

Melemir was quiet for a second as he lay, looking into the eyes of his fellow elf. He could hardly believe what he had just been through, but it was too real to be a dream…wasn’t it? “I need to speak to the wind talkers…I think I just had a vision.”




And so…our story begins.