HEROIC REALMS

The cool night air flows in gentle waves through the gnarled branches around me. The leaves twitter as they dance in the wind as if they laugh at some unheard jest between them. The crickets chirp in an endless sigh that takes even the last tense breath from my lungs.

Silver streams of moonlight peak through the leaves, bathing in its ethereal light the modest room hidden in the lofty bows of the great oak. I reached my hand to touch it, wanting to feel it spill over my fingertips as it filled me once again with its promise to guard the night. I took a step forward... then another before my hand lifted once more with practiced grace to draw the curtain of leaves away from the pathway that led to the stars above.

Through the leaves I walked, their soft greenery leaving their kiss upon me, tiny diamond droplets of dew that had collected. The wind gently lifted the hair from my eyes as I stepped out into the night. My eyes wide with wonder as I witnessed the sky in all its majesty. Sparkling gems twinkling in a sea of black, shining their light from the heavens to guide those who cherrished them so dearly, safely through the night. From my lofty perch it felt as if all I need do is reach my hand out to touch them... but they are far too elusive for my mortal hands.

The moon laughs at me it seems... and in its face I find a merry heart, the wind whispering to my ear there is nothing to fear... and so my heart too grows merry. The children of the night continue their song in the forest below... their sounds less sinister as I realize what we share... our fondness for the night.

Should all that is evil take so great a treasure from us? The evils of the world seemed so far away from where I stood. Only the soft and tranquil sounds of the night lingered here. In the heart of an enchanted forest. Breathing deeply I could taste the sweet honeysuckle on the air, summer had arrived and with it the promise of renewal. I dare not let anyone think to disturb the peace of this slumbering wood... but an urgency I can not explain haunted me. A shadow had crept into my thoughts... and into the forest itself. The tranquil age of the High Elves seemed to hang in the balance... the forest could not shield us forever...

The woes of the world found my heart anew and the silver aura of moonlight brought its hope once more. Reminding me that even in the darkest of hours... the moon and its army of stars would see us through again. As they always have....

The solemn song of the elves echoes in haunting verse throughout the high wood city. Lament for another of our kin who has been called to the council of the stars, to walk the path of the ancestors before us, and serve the gods with faith and loyalty. Our people dimminish slowly, more following the path each moon... perhaps our time in the world is nearing its end.

Only a small few remained uncompromised. Those few that turned their backs upon the creation of a shard and looked to nature for the answers to their kindreds sin. Although at the time their number was said to be some one thousand high born, they were few compared to the many who have succomed to their lustful greed for immortality. Only those who worshipped power would deny the gods the right to their mortal souls and dare to create such a thing. It is no wonder the gods turned their backs upon their once favored children.

We stood witness to the dragon's fall from grace, but arrogance often stands in the way of logic. So it was that our bretheren fell in time, forever cursed for such audacity, living now as twisted versions of their once noble state. And we... we the fotunate children of wise forebearers permitted to exist for a time as we were meant to be. Our dark bretheren harbor such hatred of us, now that they see in hindsight the true and measured course was the one to have been taken. They see in us what they once were, what they wish to reclaim... what would be theirs if not for the decisions of generations long ago.

With only a few hundred left, we grow small in the ever widening shadow. As we diminish they thrive, as we weaken... they grow strong, as we weep... they rejoice... Is their no hope left for us? Are we to fade like the light of a candle that had burned too long? Do we dare step from the lush embrace of our forest into the harshness of the world beyond? Only time will tell what will become of the High Borne... only I suspect that time is already upon us.