Guardian Tole (DJnightwave and Tenn)

When Humans where young, they were inslaved by the elves. Those who feared the mental powers of the few Human magi that where born. Those born with the mental power to subdue another, force them to do as they wished for them to do. Wearing charmed collars from the Drawves, they had little chance of saving until one rather powerful magi broke the charm and ran away with an Elven prince. With the help of the Avian’s she learned to control both her sills and fight. A war with the elves and the Avian’s freed the humans from their imprisonment.

In their freedom, humans prospered. The Avian’s helped both the Elves and the humans, breading with the Avians the elves gained wings and stronger military. Across the plains Titians raced on horses with foot long horns in their foreheads, and the ten foot giants that road them raged war with the water-walkers, the Naga who fought everything and hated everyone. One strain of the Water walkers, made peace enough with a set of elves and created the water elves, Highly potent water magic users, these elves where shorter and had a blue tent to their skin.

The Titian’s bread with the elves as well, producing the plain elves, those of the tallest size. Poweful earth users. These Elves where close to the earth and rarely did they travel to the high mountians of the Avian’s or the woods of the wood elves that spawned them, along with the Air elves that traveled through the skies like their Avian ancestors.

The humans continued to populate and grow. Though the Avian’s and Fy’re were highly fertile, neither race could quite match that of the humans. The Flame elves and the other elves, along with all the other races eventually where put to sleep by the Elemental gods. Evera – Air and the mother of the Avian’s wouldn’t have her children lost before they where needed again. Much the same as Selik – Mother of the hostile waterwalkers. And Pyr the Father of the Fy’re and Thanatos – Father of the Titans. The mixed races of Elves, Gnomes, Drawfs where all put to sleep as well.

Emerald was appointed to protect the Elves, and he lifted the rises, the wood elf and Air elf’s forest rising and leaving a large crater in its wake, and the Flame rise lifted from a mountain and woke up One of the deadliest volcano’s that existed. The Water elf Rise lifted to form the dead sea. And as the years passed, the wounds left upon the surface vanished as the Great Rises floated among the earth, connected by a series of Runes and protected by thick, raging storms. That followed various paths depending on how Emerald turned one or the other.

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She locked up the shop, sighing. The night manager in one of the worst parts of town, Rebecca was exhausted. Brown curling hair falling down her shoulders as she pulled it free. Dressed in the basic uniform of her work place, tight jeans, and a polo –shirt she looked around. Shaking her head as she hoisted her purse on her shoulder a little tighter and walked down the sidewalk towards Her house. She looked up when she almost walked into someone confused. “Excuse me?”
He grinned at her as he looked at the woman. Grabbing her arm and she pulled away stumbling back. “Come on, pretty woman like yourself has some time for me yea?” He asked.
She stared at him for a moment back peddling again and scooted away from another man who was approaching to her left and she bolted across the street. “Help!” She shouted, as the men followed she ducked down one of the smaller side streets, hoping to get to a better lit, most probably awake area’s of the town, though she realized it’d mostly be Drunks who wouldn’t help her anyway. “Why today?” She whispered. It’d been bad enough having to deal with the new hire who thought because she was female she’d be an easy mark and hadn’t stopped flirting with her since he’d gotten there, and the bozos that had to get thrown out because they where to drunk and disorderly to do as they were told and wouldn’t leave her wait-staff alone. Stumbling she Shouted again, turning onto another major rode going to the left towards a lamp. She lost her purse when one had grabbed it and she released it simply to get away. She didn’t get much further, tripping on the asphalt she went down and Scrambled to get herself over the curb and onto the sidewalk and moving again, holding one wrist as she cried for aid.

As the woman was running from the pursuers down below, a large storm cloud had begun passing overhead. Hidden within this stormcloud, away from the prying eyes of mankind's technology, was the rise of the sleeping avian elves. In one end of the hidden sanctuary, a small circle of runes glowed brightly for a moment before what appeared To be a young man stepped out of thin air. The young man was known as Emerald, the ancient guardian of the elven rises that floated above the surface of the earth. As he stepped out of the rune circle, he stopped, hearing someone yelling. Ordinarily he could not hear the humans on the surface for the cloud barrier as well as distance prevented that. But there was something about this voice that seemed to reach out for him, asking him to save their life. He held out his hand and a large staff materialized out of thin air. He chanted a few words that, to any normal human, would sound like utter gibberish. But to those skilled in the arcane arts, it would be recognized as the layering of a spell. This specific spell allowed him to seek out the source of the voice.

When his mind's eye honed in on the source, he was a bit surprised to find a young human woman crawling on the street. He then saw the men with looks of filthy animals eyeing a piece of meat approaching her. He quickly muttered another spell, a strike of lightning emanating from the cloud barrier, striking down just a foot from the man, nearly ending him. Though the man moved forward again, another bolt of lightning shot down at the exact same spot, electrocuting the drunken fool. Though he had been wearing rubber sneakers, thus insulating him to the ground enough to prevent death. Before anyone could react a miniature tornado surrounded the girl, the wind clearing to reveal she had disappeared. Though for the girl, when the wind cleared she would find herself in a grassy meadow, completely different from the concrete city she knew

She blinked s she landed, in a strange opening surrounded by both trees and buildings so old that the archiology that built them no longer existed. Breathing hard, Rebecca sat there, staring at the grassy plain she was resting in. She looked at the Elf that was standing there and scrambled backwards. Letting out a scream, so addled she didn't quite realize yet that this man is the one who saved her, the storm clouds mearly had told her she was going to get rained on before she'd made it home, or before in the case of what had been happening, that she'd be found. "Help! Oh my god! Where...." Then she began to take things in and fell silent, truly looking around for the first time. "Wait... Where... where am I?" She asked softly looking at the elf now.

He didn't look like her attackers, He was tall, lean, muscular yes, but lean. Not a brute. At least not in anyway she could tell, She didn't know the woodelfs where the lengthy thin forms that the myths and J.R.R. Tolken had based his Elves on. Though he'd not dealt quite the same way as these creatures were. Elves stood taller than the average human man. Not by much, and the ears that swooped away from their heads where not as long as say the Fi'ry she'd yet to meet, but they where not as short as the ones in the movies. "Ahm... who... who are you?" She asked realizing that she had no idea where she was, but he wasn't advancing on her, or acting in a way to hurt her. "What happened to... them?"

As the woman reacted, still thinking she was about to be attacked by the men, he waited until she calmed herself. When she finally relaxed enough to begin asking questions he responded to them in order. "You are currently in the meadow of Aizr on the 1st elven rise. As for who I am, My name in human language is Emerald, I am the guardian of all that you see before you. And the final question as to what happened to those men, they are behind on the surface, my guess one of them being carried to the hospital after being struck by that lightning strike i sent down." He then moved over and bent down a little, looking at her. "But you are a strange one human. Ordinarily I am unable to hear any of the human words down on the surface due to the height i keep the rises, as well as the cloud barrier, but yours reached me. I heard you calling out for help and cast a spell to bring you here where you would be safe from harm."

Rebecca stared at him, "Aizr... the elven rise?" She repeated rather dumbly, hell, she had to be somewhere from the story books, this man had ears the length of her middle finger sticking out of his head. She watched him closely as he stepped closer to her. "Elves are a flight of Fantasy sir.." She pointed out, she couldn't help it. She had to say it. Had to make herself feel better somehow. They had to be fantasy... she had no idea about the rest of this and she was trying to keep from freaking out. She looked away fro a moment before back at him. "What made you hear me then?"

He nodded when she said the name of the place where she was once more, a bit surprised that the human had been able to properly pronounce it having only heard it once. "Technically in your world, they are. But eons ago they roamed the earth along with mankind, as well as several other ancient races that your kind views as pure fantasy." He said, moving and simply taking her hand and moving it up to his ear so she could feel it was real and not fake. He then moved her hand away. "To be honest I am not sure why I heard your voice. I brought you here so you could answer that question. There is something different about you. Something different than normal humans. But I am not sure what."

She nodded a little as she felt the skin of his ear and released the pointed thing as she finally stood up. "I'm not sure why you could hear me, I'm told sometimes that people think they're talking to me before they really are..." She shrugged a little. "Beyond that... I've no idea what in the world would suggest to you why you heard me. I'm just glad you did honestly." She told him as she looked around. "This place is so old..." She whispered.

Emerald thought a bit as she said people would think they were talking to her before they actually were. "hmm it could be a slight form of telepathy. Broadcasting your thoughts to a person, giving a response not with your mouth but with your mind." he said, blinking as she said the place around her was old. "well after several million years, I would assume anything would look old." he said with a smile as he looked at her. "and these ears are not just for decoration." he said with a chuckle. "now then, you know my name, but have yet to mention yours."

She nodded as he observed the fact. Looking at the light, swooping roofs, and the beautifully ornate walls and the pillars that held up the beautiful buildings approaching them slowly. "Oh...My name is Rebecca." She told him with a light smile, She had no belief in telepathy or any other form of magic, or at least hadn't until today. "Telepathy huh?" She asked somewhat destractedly. "How are they in such good shape if they're so old?"

He nodded when she questioningly said the word telepathy. "yes telepathy. Using the power of your mind to transmit your thoughts to others." he said, although his mouth didn't move, her hearing him more inside her head, showing he had the ability as well. "as for how they are maintained, it is the magic of the gods that keeps these places alive and well, in case the races are ever to be brought back into the world." he said, muttering something which to her would sound like gibberish but then a stone rose out of the ground and floated as he sat down on it, both his legs off the ground.

She watched him blinking a few times. "Telepathy..." She repeated stunned by the fact he'd broadcasted, she wasn't sure she liked this idea. "I see." She muttered as she turned to look at the buildings again. "If it's the gods who choose to keep them here, why are you here and awake?" She asked curiously.

He nodded and chuckled as she looked a bit shocked upon hearing his thought. "Yes, though if trained you can control it to where you can perfectly control when you broadcast a thought, and even give a mental command to make someone do something. However it isnt a perfect order. It's more of just a nudge, though if it's something they wish to do anyway they will do it, but mostly they will ignore the nudge." He explained. "As for why I am awake, I am the most powerful archmage among any of the elven races, and was therefore chosen to be the guardian of the rises where my people sleep." He said. "Though it does get somewhat tedious, I have found several ways to enjoy myself while here alone."

She nodded a little as she watched this man, he had so much to say. "Why are you here if the gods protect them?" She asked curiously, not sure why you needed a guardian for something the gods protected. Seemed odd to her. "I mean... they're gods." She observed as she watched him float before returning her gaze to the architecture and the sleepers, stepping closer to the city she'd been brought around.

He looked at her and smiled a bit as he explained. "you misunderstand. While it is the God's powe r that keeps these rises afloat and alive, it is my magic that conceals them. In a way the gods merely charmed the rises to be eternal so that one day the races might be brought back into the world when they deem mankind more accepting. However the upkeep of these rises and making sure the cores that protect their magic over the rises remains stable and safe is up to me alone."

"You must be lonely." She said, mostly conversationally as she kept moving closer to the buildings eventually her feet hit the beautiful cobblestone work done by slave humans so many centuries ago. Touching the edge of one of the fountian's as she approched it. This place was beautiful, amazingly beautiful actually. Unnatrually beautiful and somewhat eere in its beauty... and he honestly scared her, she wasn't sure why or what to do, the man saved her and she was greatful but elves where something of ledgend, not reality. "So the gods, in their almighty power... left a single one to watch over an entire race?"

He nodded a bit. "it does get a little lonely but like I said I find ways to make the time pass." He said as he watched her explore her surroundings a bit. He watched her movie over to one of the fountains that suddenly came to life, spraying out water in a beautiful fashion after she had touched it. "Interesting. It seems just by touching it you ended the stasis on the fountain." He said with a bit of interest as he moved over and touched the fountain, the water flow stopping and returning to it's time frozen state. "And yes they left a single one." he said with a somewhat sad tone, hinting to a bit of a sad issue from his past.

She looked at him. "Did you lose a significant someone?" She asked having lept away from the fountain when it started with a curse. She hadn't been expecting that. But she'd moved back and touched the water before he turned it off. She watched the water seem to seep away from the beautiful fountain and back into the basin clear and spring fresh. "What do you do to pass the time?" She asked as she folded her arms across her chest and tucked her hands against her side so she wouldn't disturb anything else.

He shook his head a bit when she asked if he lost someone significant. "well in a sense yes. They were a close friend and the only other human I allowed up on these rises. However like all humans, he aged and is no longer in the mortal plane. He was a good friend, and we had a lot of fun messing around, me scaring him occasionally with some magic, as well as him giving me the occasional fright with one of his technological creations." he said with a soft smile, remembering good times from his memory. After a few moments of silence he looked at her again. "as for what I do now to entertain myself, well I will occasionally venture out to the human world in disguise to form somewhat of a report for the gods to evaluate the section of the world I am currently over at the time. Other than that I either practice to keep my magic skilled, and sometimes play with familiars I conjur up."

Rebecca nodded slowly, it seemed that it would be a rather lonely life, at least to her, to live on a rise... or a particular set of rises with no one else. "I guess to each their own." She said softly, "I would get rather lonely guarding my people and being left alone for centuries like that." She said honestly as the phone in her pocket went off and she about jumped out of her skin. Grabbing it from her pocket and after a moment answered. "Yes?" She sighed. "Look I locked up, no I did not notice anything strange, you know beyond the people who attacked me. What happened to them? I'd assume they got spooked and ran off why? One of them's... dead?" She blinked looking at the elf. "I have no idea, a storm is brewing in down town..." She reasoned though a lightning strike hitting the road was rare. It was possible. She finally hung up and blushed a little. "Sorry my boss... apparently when you rescued me you sent off the security systems to almost the entire street."

He blinked and looked at her when She answered the device in her pocket. "ah yes one of his earlier ideas, I told him to market the idea but he gave it to that Graham fellow." he said with a chuckle. When she said he set of the alarms on the street when he rescued her he merely shook his head. "of course a lightning bolt would cause enough noise and vibration in the air to set off a good amount of alarms. As for the dead man, it was his own fault and the fault of his friends. The lightning should have only been enough to knock him out. Either that or he had a weakened heart due to all the alchohol he had in his body as well as the fright from the first strike nearly missing him." he shook his head. "you humans are such fragile beings indeed." he said with no hint of remorse for the man.

She looked at him as she put the phone away. "I'm fairly certain even you couldn't take a direct hit from a lightning bolt and come out of it good as new." She pointed out. "You're flesh and blood like us." She put the phone in her pocket and shifted her weight slightly, adjusting from foot to foot for a moment. "Can I see the rest of the rise?" She finally asked.

He chuckled and shook his head. "untrue I'm afraid. Until the day these rises are to be returned to the earth, I remain unaging and undying. A blessing and a curse." he said. When she asked if she could see the rest of the rise he chuckled once more. "I can show you what resides on the ground so to speak, however I think you are not well prepared for a trek up a mountain." he said, pointing to the large mountain in the distance.

She blinked, stunned. "What's.... on the mountain?" She asked curiously as she stood dressed in her work clothes probably not dressed appropriately for a mountain climbing expedition.

He looked at her with a smile. "nothing dangerous. It just houses the majority of the avian elves that reside on this rise. The houses are for those that prefer to live on the ground, however almost all avian elves are in a magical stasis either in the mountain or underground." he said simply as he led her along the main street of the small village they were currently in.

She nodded a little looking at the village and its beautiful archetecture, some of the elves could be seen sleeping in beds, even some of the other races, and she paused seeing what looked to her like a tiny elf, one of the Few Fy'ri who lived here, this paritcular one had married one of the Elves and helped create the flame elves around the wood elves, though many lived on Chars and there where more of the Fy'ri mixed in there she pointed at the little creature who's dragon seemed to have grown into the room above the couple, she was in a beautiful blue dome that had encompased her husband due to proximity. "She's Tiny."

((her name is E'ya (Eee-Ya)))