Divine+Prophets+-+Secrets+Revealed

Luthais  leaned his arms on the rail of the balcony, his long silvery-white hair wafting gently in the afternoon breeze. He was watching Lumani  in the courtyard below. She had grown up so much since they had left Evereska. She had spent significant time with humans who live their lives in a blurring rush and he had brought her to Myth Coramanth when he came to defend the city against the drow and the dragons. She had seen battle, more than her scant 16 years should have seen.

She had been secluded and perhaps overprotected at home, not that he could blame his mother... her eldest daughter had vanished and was thought to be dead... and he, himself, was often out on dangerous adventures. Out here though, Lumani was blooming. His baby sister wasn't a baby anymore. His mother was surely going to have a lot to say about it when they made it home, he laughed to himself. He wondered how much longer it might be before Fiona would be ready to leave Lyrabar and go back to see her home... and he wondered if they should leave Myth Coramanth and return to the human harbor city to check on her. He rather liked this place. This elven city in the trees... it was surely different than the airy city of Evereska over the grey cloak hills. Lumani had been away from her teachings for far too long, so he had spoken with Attalicus about getting her a temporary instructor. Valren had spoken highly of the white tower mage before. While the high mage dealt with the task of organizing his top students to go with Lady Lionspaw's son to attack the drow, his assistant... a half-elven woman by the name of Aspen had agreed to look after the young princess. The white tower was taller than the canopy of trees and the sunlight was nearly blinding as sparkled on the white marble courtyard. Lumani easily called the winds to pick up, blowing papers everywhere from the open book on the table. Aspen was clapping, "You're already doing really well for a student so young. How many different spells do you know?" "She always was a clever one," a woman's voice came from the path. Aspen looked up to see a beautiful elven woman with deep autumn red hair. She was dressed in the silky golden robes of a priestess of Hanalil. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Luthais stared in disbelief. The woman who had broken his heart... even now, he could feel the ache returning as he saw the curve of her lovely face... "Ahna," he couldn't seem to stop the whisper of her name from escaping his lips, though no one was close enough to hear it. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Lumani beamed with joy when she seen her, "High priestess!" <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">"Lumnai, my princess," Ahnahi embraced her warmly, "It has been such a long time. I am relieved to see that you are well. I had heard a rumor that you were .. .captured? ... by a dragon?" <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">"Oh no, no. I'm fine. That was so long ago... he's probably forgotten all about me," Lumani sighed softly, shaking her head. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">The beautiful priestess seemed to tilt her head curiously at the girl's sigh. Had her captor somehow retained some of the young princess's heart? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">The half-elven sorceress cleared her throat, nodding to the woman in greeting, "Lumani certainly seems to know you... have you just arrived in the city?" <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">"I apologize," the priestess curtseyed, "My name is Ahnahi Thaldain, the high priestess of Hanalil from Evereska." <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">"It's a pleasure to meeet you," the half-elven woman nodded, "I'm Aspen, Lumani's arcane instructor for the day." <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">"Oh, I see," she nodded, "I certainly didn't mean to interrupt. Perhaps you could point me to where I might find her brother? I'm looking for Luthais Anndrasdan." <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Aspen gestured to the balcony above them where Ahnahi glanced up to just see his silvery white hair disappearing from the rail. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Ahnahi smiled and nodded in appreciation. Her hands trembled as she strode with determination toward the entryway. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Inside, the tall White Tower was a maze of spiraling corridors and rooms. Ahnahi paused, feeling a little overwhelmed by directional choices. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Finally she closed her eyes, whispering a prayer to her goddess, "My heart knows where he is. Hanalil, please help me to listen." Up... she climbed another spiraling stairway of pristine white marble. Her steps were surprisingly soft, despite the hard traveling boots against the stone. The railing was intricately carved like white branches and living ivy clung to the walls around the occasional window. Beams of sunlight illuminated the white stairwell during the day. She froze in her steps as he rounded the stairs above her. He was as handsome as she remembered. He wore a long tailored coat that flared behind him as he walked, showing a glint of the silver hilt where a sword was clasped at his hip. His long silvery white hair glided easily along the breeze created by his downward pace. There was a refined grace in his movements, and his svelte body was a perfect representation of his noble elven heritage. Her heart beat loudly in her ears and her voice caught in her throat. She had been avoiding him for so long... and the love she had stowed away came overwhelmingly rushing back as she barely caught her hand on the rail to steady herself. He was moving swiftly down the stairs with purpose and an edge of anger, having to stop abruptly as he seen her on the stairwell.Her sheer gold robes clung to her lithe form as she leaned against the railing behind her, both hands clasping it for support as she tried to slide them behind her back in an attempt to mask her vulnerability. Her fair skin was agelessly beautiful, but her sapphire eyes bore a wisdom that was beyond even her elven years. Mostly moon elf with only her vibrant autumn red hair showing the trace of her sylvan blood. She was trembling. He hadn't seen her like this in so long... He didn't know whether to send her away as she had done to him once... or to pull her to him in a welcoming embrace... but she must have traveled for months to find him here. Surely he should at least hear her out. She offered him a low curtsy in greeting, "My prince..."He frowned. It was to be formal then. Perhaps his mother had sent her in order to trigger his emotions. He nodded to her curtly, "Priestess, you're a long way from home... If the Queen sent you, you can give her my best, but tell her that what we came for isn't ready to leave yet.""No, no... it's not that. She doesn't even know that I'm here," Ahnahi removed one trembling hand from the rail to place it on his forearm, her voice becoming more pleading, "Lu... we need to talk. I... have so much to say... some of it that I should have been brave enough to say long ago... but Lu, please... It's important. I don't want to overwhelm you, but Valren is in over his head. His tower was burnt to the ground... and there is so much more... Is there somewhere we can talk?""What?" shock was on the elven prince's face. Valren had been his best friend since they were children together. "Why isn't he with you? Is he alright?""Yes, he made it out," she nodded to assure him, "but there's more... so much more."

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">The two had moved to a quiet bench along the outer edge of the white tower courtyard where no one else was likely to hear them, but he could still keep his youngest sister within his sight. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">"Start at the beginning," he suggested as he clasped his hand around one of hers to calm her."The very beginning?" Ahnahi swallowed, shaking her head, "It's all gone too far not to tell you now... Let me explain... They were going to kill you!""Who? Who was trying to kill me?" he turned to her with an incredulous look. The red-haired priestess took a deep breath, "It was while you were gone... all those years ago... they took me... they..." she shook her head, "They all wore a strange symbol... a long four pointed star with a small circle at it's center... and then at each of the four corners between the points of the star were the marks of each of the elements, earth, fire, wind, and water.""I know the symbol. They call themselves the Divine Prophets," he nodded, "My mother calls them demon blood eaters... pirates of elemental magic, and dupes of a demon woman called Sularda Alunaur. She made promises to them that if they collected the blood of the four, she would be born again as Mystryl and they would be rewarded as her first angels... It's a story that goes back a long time, but Valren has been watching 2 of his students who we believed were a part of the cult. Mosswind and Salinvalore of noble families. The Emynhal boy and a few other students were keeping tabs on them for him recently... something about the Circle of the Mystryl Born," he paused to look at her directly, "...but what did they want with you?" "They were threatening to kill you... and the barely growing child within me... if I did not do what they said... I... I couldn't let them hurt you... I couldn't let them torture you as they had tortured me.... I loved you so much," she brushed a tear from her cheek, "I was forced to marry that bastard Gaerond who had been stalking me at the temple for months... and I wasn't allowed to tell you or they would kill you and our daughter.""Ahnahi... did you really believe in me so little... you could have come to me at any time... I would have protected you... You didn't have to marry anyone... You just... abandoned US and left me to understand nothing," he shook his head with frustration. "Did you even hear me? It wasn't just about you..." she finally turned to face him, "Our daughter was at stake... ours! Yours and mine! You weren't even there... so you couldn't have protected either of us.""What are you talking about?" his eyebrows narrowed, and he dropped her hand, "We never had a daughter..." Time began to slow as it wound around him... she had birthed a girl shortly after his return... but she had already left him and married another... he had assumed the child belonged to her husband... but she was his? "I have a..." He stared at her openly for a long moment before the anger began to set in, "Y- you had MY daughter... and you didn't even tell me?! You barely spoke to me this entire time... and I never had the chance to even know her?! ...And even worse!! You let THEM raise her!! You practically gave her to the demon blood eating Divine Prophets!"He stood up, the adrenaline of anger boiling inside him, raising his voice louder than he meant to, "Did you think that they didn't hunt me before? That they hadn't already hunted my sisters? ...They've been trying for many years to collect my mother's blood and you just handed them her grandchild! Hell, Lumani speaks better auran than she does common because air elementals have been protecting her since the day she was born. Did you stop even once to think about any of that? I would have protected you both. You only had to open your damn mouth. You betrayed me. You betrayed our daughter. You've betrayed my family and your Queen! You said nothing... letting that cult grow in our city for two decades without a word! You even betrayed your own goddess with that sham of a loveless marriage! You're a disgrace to The People and yourself!"

Lumani was nodding to seemingly nothing as a small swirl of air tousled her hair, and she glanced away from Aspen to observe her brother angrily pointing at the high priestess.

Tears were streaming openly down Ahnahi's cheeks from her sapphire blue eyes, "Luthais... I'm so sorry... I couldn't let them kill you...I was scared and alone!""You didn't even give me a chance! You let them kill a piece of me when you broke my heart," he was no longer yelling, but there was a deep growl in his voice and the words seemed to spit from his lips, "Where is my daughter now? And where is Valren?" <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">He still had the power to hurt her more than any other could and it felt like there was a hot knife in her chest. Tears continued to fall from her beautiful blue eyes, but her fiery temper flared to protect her fragile heart. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">"How dare you speak that way to me. Prince or not, you have no right to say such spiteful things to me! You ramble on now about how you would have protected me... yet you were the one who had abandoned me for your adventure! I begged you to let me go with you... but you had to be the glorious hero and go alone! You put your pride before me, leaving me alone and vulnerable, and everything I did was to protect you and our daughter!" her eyes were narrowed and her voice was growing louder as she pointed back at him, countering his verbal attack, "I loved you! I always loved you... and I traveled for MONTHS to get here to you... so that you can throw accusations at me?! May you burn in the fire created by your own demons, Luthais Anndrasdahn! I don't owe you even one more minute of my time."

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">She turned to storm off, but the elven prince caught her wrist. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">"Ahnahi!" he was still fuming, and his jaw was clenched. Still his clasp was only firm enough to hang onto her, not hard enough to hurt her.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Lumani was nodding again to the airy spiral that playfully tousled her hair ribbon as she made strange airy sounds that almost seemed like words. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Aspen tilted her head curiously as she studied the young elven girl in front of her. Luthais wasn't kidding when he said his sister was easily distracted, she thought to herself. As she watched her closer, she caught the almost words from the soft noises Lumani was making. Was she speaking auran? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">"I have to go now," Lumani smiled at her temporary instructor as she stood up, "Perhaps I'll see you tomorrow." <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">"Wait... we still have two hours... where are you going?" Aspen blinked. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">"Something important has come up," the silver haired elven woman smiled cheerfully. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">"Wait," he managed, his voice coming back down, "I regretted that adventure for many reasons... I never should have left you behind. I was worried about the dangers outside... I never stopped to think of the dangers in the city... for that... I apologize." <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">She nodded. It seemed a small concession, but she'd take it, "Our daughter's name is Lorwynelle. Valren sent her to a university near Bloodstone. As for Valren... he left with a student. I don't know what his plan was... but he sent me ahead to find you."

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Luthais nodded, releasing her wrist, "I'm sorry that you got caught up in this, Ahna... I'll trust Val to find me, and I will go to Bloodstone. You should go home. Tell my mother everything that you know so that they can dismantle what they can find of the cult there."

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">"I'm not going home," she shook her head, "There is nothing left for me there. My daughter is in Damara and that's where I'm going." Her heart had been broken for so long... and now the pieces seemed to be collapsing into dust. Help me, Hanalil... she thought to herself. Valren had told her so many times to tell him... why hadn't she listened? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"> "Nothing left?" his eyes narrowed again, "What about our people there... what about those who attended your temple and trusted in you... You would leave them for the demons to slaughter? Go home. Tell the queen. Set things right."

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">"Wait!" he could faintly hear Aspen's voice calling out, drawing his attention back over his shoulder. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">He followed the young mage's gaze to see his younger sister lifted in the air by two large air elementals, disappearing around the corner. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">"Now what?" he turned to follow after her, glancing back only for a second, "Go home, Ahnahi. Tell them everything."