King Elderak
Tashina stormed into King Elderak’s grand throne room, her footsteps echoing across the cold, stone floor. Her eyes blazed with urgency as she addressed him, her voice trembling with the weight of her discovery. “Sire, Raziel is alive.”
King Elderak, seated upon his throne of dark obsidian, turned his gaze toward her, unflinching and composed.
The flicker of indifference in his expression deepened as he responded, his voice calm yet laced with an edge of authority. “You know better than this, Tashina. If he were truly alive, he would have been summoned countless times—when I call upon my children, they come.”
Tashina’s jaw tightened, her fists clenching at her sides. “I saw him. With my own eyes. As did Quandalend.”
A shadow passed over Elderak’s face, his expression hardening into something more dangerous, more calculating. “Did Quandalend allow him to touch him?”
“YES!” Tashina practically screamed; her fury barely contained. “He touched him, spoke to him. Raziel lives.”
The King’s steely sky blue eyes narrowed, and he leaned forward in his throne, the weight of centuries of power pressing down on him. “Very well,” he said, his voice cold as ice.
“It seems I have no choice but to summon him, then. We shall see if it is indeed my son.”
King Elderak rose from his throne with a sense of purpose, his movements deliberate. He reached into his cloak and produced a silver whistle, its surface gleaming like a shard of the moon.
He raised it to his lips, and with a sharp, commanding blow, a harsh, resonating call pierced the air, echoing through the vastness of the throne room.
One by one, his children materialized before him—each appearing out of the shadows, their presence commanding the room with an unspoken power. Elderak strolled down the line, his gaze cold, appraising each of them with the calm detachment of a king.
As he reached the twelfth position, the one that should have been empty, a smirk curled at the corners of his lips.
He crossed his arms, anticipation filling the space between them. But when the air shimmered, and a figure emerged before him, Elderak’s breath caught in his throat. The empty space was no longer empty.
Raziel stood before him.
The King staggered back, his heart hammering in his chest. “Raziel?” His voice was almost a whisper, disbelief clouding his mind.
Raziel, his eyes hardened with a mix of confusion and defiance, took a step back. His voice was low and jagged. “Elderak. Why am I here?”
Without hesitation, Elderak rushed forward, his arms outstretched. He enveloped his son in a powerful, desperate embrace, the weight of years lost pressing down on him.
For a moment, the king’s stern exterior cracked, revealing the vulnerability that few ever saw. His tears fell, warm and silent, soaking into Raziel’s shoulder as he whispered, “I am so sorry, my boy… I thought you had died.”
Raziel, initially stiff and uncomfortable, felt something stir within him. The walls he had so carefully constructed around himself began to crumble.
Slowly, almost reluctantly, he let himself melt into his father’s embrace, a moment of vulnerability he had long denied. It felt strange, yet comforting. The warmth of his father’s touch, the steady rhythm of his heartbeat against Raziel’s chest.
For the first time in years, he allowed himself to indulge in the fragile, fleeting sense of being wanted, of being truly seen.
It was a sensation so foreign, yet it tugged at something deep inside him. A connection he had long since buried beneath layers of guarded detachment.
King Elderak slowly pulled away, his hands lingering on his son’s shoulders. The tears continued to flow, unchecked and raw, his eyes shining with emotions rarely revealed.
His voice trembled with a depth of feeling few had ever heard from the stoic ruler. “My boy! Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick, pacing through endless nights, fearing the worst.”
His chest heaved with the weight of years lost, of time stolen away by an unseen force. The grief spilled over, uncontrollable, as the years of separation finally caught up to him.
But Raziel, his expression cold and distant, stepped back, his brow furrowed in confusion. “Boy? You are not my father, are you?”
The words struck Elderak with the force of a lightning bolt. He staggered, his chest tightening, his heart aching.
A growl of frustration and pain rose from deep within him. “What have those ‘aquatics’ done to your memory?” His voice was a low, guttural growl, thick with a dark fury, the kind that even his most loyal subjects rarely witnessed.
Raziel stood tall and guarded, his eyes scanning the faces of his siblings. Strangers to him. A strange, uncomfortable feeling stirred inside him. ‘These are people I should know,’ he thought, ‘people I should feel connected to.’ But when he searched his mind for the right memories, all he found was an endless void. A heavy fog clouded his thoughts. ‘Who are they?’ He wanted to ask, but the words stuck in his throat, as if some part of him had forgotten how to speak them.
Elderak’s gaze turned to his other children, a mixture of concern and command in his eyes. His voice was firm as he addressed them. “You may all go.”
He gave a slight, dismissive nod, and one by one, his children disappeared into the shadows of the throne room, leaving only him and Raziel standing in the center, a sea of silence between them.
As his siblings left, Raziel’s eyes lingered on Tashina, who stood at the edge of the room, tears glistening in her eyes.
She refused to approach, but the sorrow on her face was unmistakable. The water cascading from her eyes caught
Raziel’s attention, and he watched her carefully, his brow furrowing. “I am so sorry… am I to know you? I only know Elderak from a textbook I was taught.”
Tashina’s face crumpled, and she couldn’t stand the pain any longer. Without a word, she fled, running from the room with a heartbroken sob.
Elderak watched her go, his expression softening with a touch of regret. “Raziel, that is your wife, Tashina. She bore two sons sired by you.”
A pang of guilt ripped through Raziel’s chest. The dissonance between his heart and the memories he should have had tore at him. “How can I not remember her? How can I not remember them?”
Elderak shook his head, his voice quiet but resolute. “I do not know, son. But we will find a way. Come, walk with me.” He motioned for Raziel to follow, leading him out of the throne room and into the royal garden.
The fresh air was a welcome change. The garden stretched out before them, filled with lush greenery and the soft scent of blooming flowers. The sound of a distant waterfall blended with the gentle rustling of leaves, offering a soothing backdrop to their tense conversation.
As they walked, Elderak reached into the folds of his cloak, his fingers brushing against something hidden. With a quiet breath, he produced a small, glimmering object.
It was a starshard. A fragment of something ancient, delicate and radiant, like a sliver of the night sky itself. He held it out to Raziel, his eyes filled with a quiet reverence. “This is for you, my son.”
Raziel took the shard carefully, intrigued by its soft glow. It pulsed gently in his hand, warm to the touch. “What is it?” he asked, his voice low, as if the object were something sacred.
“It is a starshard,” Elderak explained, his voice carrying a weight of both pride and sorrow.
“A piece of the stars themselves. It is a gift. Renaldo gave it to me he told me that I was to give it to you. He told me that it had to do with Lyra, and her crystalline knights.”
Raziel stared at the shard, the swirling light within it captivating his gaze. He hesitated for a moment, unsure.
But something inside him urged him to act. Slowly, he pressed the shard against his skin, and as if the stars themselves were acknowledging him, the shard began to melt.
The warmth spread across his palm, his wrist, and then his forearm. The starshard sank into his skin, becoming part of him, fusing with him in a way that felt both foreign and natural at once.
A rush of power surged through him, filling the empty spaces in his mind and soul, as if the stars were granting him knowledge.
Elderak watched with idle curiosity as Raziel absorbed the weight of their conversation, the tension between them thickening. After a moment, he turned and gestured for his son to follow. “That is interesting. I must tell you something, boy. Come with me.”
Raziel followed him, their footsteps echoing through the corridors of the castle as they made their way to a vast, towering library.
The air inside was thick with the scent of aged parchment and the quiet hum of forgotten knowledge. Elderak moved with a quiet purpose, his eyes scanning the shelves before he reached for a particular book, its cover dark, worn with age, and ominously titled ‘The Nameless One.’
As the book was pulled from its resting place, Elderak turned to face Raziel, his expression growing more somber. “Sit,” he commanded gently, gesturing to a nearby chair.
Raziel, intrigued and a little unsettled by the gravity in his father’s tone, sat down cautiously. Elderak opened the book, the pages creaking under the weight of secrets long buried, and began to read aloud.
“Unfortunately, you bear a curse, my son. A curse that runs deep in our bloodline. As part of our family’s penance, we are bound to a fate darker than most could imagine.
We must sacrifice the one who can wield Aurlien. The price of this curse is steep, Raziel. And it is not one I took lightly.”
Raziel’s brows furrowed, confusion and curiosity mingling in his gaze. “Aurlien? The bow of the gods? But why sacrifice someone who can wield it?”
Elderak sighed heavily, his fingers tracing the faded text. “The Nameless Queen, Raziel… Aurlien promised her that in exchange for her assistance to grant him assentation, she could have the soul of the one who wields him as a bow.
“She is an ancient force, beyond the understanding of even the most learned among us. She demands a price, always a price, and in exchange for the power that runs through our family—powers we wield over the wild.
Elderak’s gaze softened, but his voice remained firm. “You may not remember her now, but you are bound to her. You are her warlock. You must travel to the Shadowfell. There you will be able to seek her aid.
Raziel stood up, a surge of emotion rising in him, but Elderak held up a hand to stop him. “I know this is a lot to take in. But there is a path that may restore your memories, if you are willing. I would take Tashina with you.
Raziel looked at his father, uncertainty warring with a strange sense of hope. “How will I find her? How do I know she will help me?”
Elderak closed the book with a soft thud, the finality of it resounding in the quiet library. He stepped forward, his voice lowering to a near whisper. “She will know you. She will feel the power of Aurlien within you. You have only to reach out to her, and she will come. But remember, son, if you choose this path, you must also choose your side. If you choose the Aquatics, you will find yourself not just at war with them, but with me, and with everything we have built.”
Raziel’s heart pounded in his chest, his mind a tempest of confusion and uncertainty. The shadows of his past were pulling at him, but the idea of forging a future without this family—the family he couldn’t fully remember—terrified him.
Elderak stood tall, his presence as commanding as ever, though there was a faint sadness in his eyes. “The choice is yours, Raziel. The road ahead will be fraught with peril, but it is the only road that can lead you to the truth.”
Raziel stared at the ancient book in his father’s hands, the weight of his decision pressing heavily on him.
He wasn’t sure he could trust any of this, but something deep inside whispered that his fate was already written in the stars—he just had to remember how to read them.
“Father,” the word slipped from his lips with an ease that came from years of familiarity.
Elderak’s lips curled into a gentle smile, his eyes warm with affection. “Yes, my boy?” he responded, his voice a comforting blend of authority and tenderness.
Raziel hesitated for a brief moment before speaking, the urgency in his tone unmistakable. “Where can I find Tashina? I need to speak with her.”
Elderak’s smile softened as he regarded his son. “I will take you to her chambers.”
Without another word, Elderak turned and began walking down the grand hallway, the echoes of their footsteps reverberating against the stone walls. Raziel followed, his mind racing with thoughts he had yet to put into words.
When they reached a door at the end of the corridor, Elderak stopped. He gave Raziel a knowing look, one that conveyed more than words could say. “She is inside,” he murmured, before nodding slightly and retreating, leaving Raziel alone in front of the door.
Raziel stood there, his hand hovering just inches from the door’s cool, polished surface, the weight of the moment pressing down on him. His heartbeat loudly in his chest, each thud a reminder of the conversation that awaited, though he had no idea how to begin.
The door creaked open slowly, the sound almost too loud in the silence. Tashina’s figure stood framed in the dim light, her expression unreadable. She looked at Raziel with a mixture of curiosity and guardedness.
“Raziel,” she said softly, her voice a low whisper that barely cut through the air. “What do you want?”
His throat tightened at the question, the weight of his emotions pressing down on him like a heavy stone. He swallowed hard, struggling to keep his composure. “To remember you,” he said, his voice thick with emotion, a knot forming in his chest. It choked him, this was not what he had imagined saying, but it was the truth.
Tashina’s gaze flickered briefly, a flicker of surprise in her eyes, though it quickly hardened into something more distant.
“Really?” she asked, her words sharp, almost mocking. “And what of your aquatic woman?”
Raziel’s stomach twisted, and a grimace crossed his face at the mention of her.
“I… I am sorry I do not remember so much,” he muttered, his voice faltering. He reached up to rub his temple, as if the physical gesture could ease the mental fog clouding his thoughts.
“But Father has given me a map… to the ShadowFell. Would you… would you travel there with me? Help me remember?”
There was a long silence before Tashina spoke again, her eyes studying him carefully.
She seemed to weigh his words, the tension in the air thick as she considered his request. “Ok, I will go with you.”