COTN House of Genoe Part 1

Third Part

The House of Genoe

1. Aleria

Medi stood there with Malech at the fringe of the sunken walls surrounding Aleria. This is the first time, she actually get to see the city up close. Aleria was a beautiful city that once delved into arts and literary works from research to performing it with most of the artiste and scholars congregating here then. The design of the city was also beautiful with its seven lakes with art centers surrounding it. The wonder of this place is that each lake is artificially created in a earthen bowl held up by magic and supported by pillars of stone. Each pillar has a hollow tubing designed any access water off the lake to the underground streams. The layer below the lake bottom is another city somewhat similar to the Tower of Canaan, but this one does not have towers that reached up but a series of stairs as the depth of the underground city is not very deep. Its a beautiful design and one which only elves and Man can do with their magic and ability.

"Young one, are with me or do I proceed further without you?" The older elf frown at the body guard he has been assigned. She is a young elf dressed in leather armor and carrying the pathetic wooden spear that is her height. Incidentally, she is short for even an elf, but Malech assumed if she is an elite guard, she could be more than her frame can offer.

"I am ready, Malech. I am just stuffing some extra leather into my leggings." Medi had retrieved her spear and walked over. She does feel her legs are stuffed and was uneasy with her walking.

"I would suggest you stuff some into your arms. They do bite above the waist. They liked the fleshy parts." The older elf is snickering as he walked to the edge of the wall. He is reaching the edge when Medi called out.

"Stop! You are at the edge." The older elf kept on walking till his foot went over the edge. The older elf did not stop his walking and step over. The older elf did not dropped as expected but he was actually walking on air or assumed air.

"Come, young lady. We don't have all day. They serpents could having a rest now. They normally do at this time of the day." The older elf points to the high noon. He soon disappear below the edge and Medi ran there, without stopping at the edge. She had stepped out onto the open space outside the edge.

It was scary at the walk as she finds each step taken was on air but its hard surface to her steps. She see the older elf further down so she followed suit. She hurried her steps to catch up with the older man. They soon reached the lower ground level and the older man walked on ahead.

"What about the stairs?" Medi points to the hidden stairs. "The serpents could find it."

"There is no more stairs there. It has moved until I call for it. We need to move fast. There is a place where we can be safe. We need to get there." The older elf is half running and walking as he tries to move towards the structure inside. In front of the duo, there is the high walls of the city and there is a main gate at the wall which is where they are walking to.

"How would we open the gate? Do you have a spell which opens door?" Medi asked. The older elf smiled and keep on walking towards it. He stopped at the gate and moved his hands over the smooth surface door. He found what he was looking for and pushed at it on the surface. He looked at Medi who is just standing there.

"Do your job includes pushing gates? If you do that too, the gate is too heavy for me alone."

Medi ran over to assist the older man. They both pushed at the gate; the gate slowly opened and soon it was big enough for them to squeeze through in a single file. Once they clear the gate, they found themselves facing the real city of Aleria.

It has changed at the ground and below levels. All the structures there including the walking paths have been uprooted and replaced with narrow canals covered with leaves and broken twigs. The buildings had burrows holes at the bottom of the walls while most of the gateways are still closed. There are unplanned undergrowths and trees growing all around the places. There are discarded serpent scales all over the place but there is one notable situation here; there are no wind, not a breeze here. The older elf moved in his usual speed up the path but he takes his strides carefully across any canals or burrows. On occasion he used the wand to move a sedentary serpent.

"This way. The building is ahead." The older elf points to a structure which is like a wooden outpost with four walls and the sentries towers at the corners "They build this odd looking beauty here on my instruction."

We walked towards it and stopped at the high wooden outpost walls. The walls showed signs of battering and fatigue on the surface.

"Each of those sentry post has a guardian in it. It protects the six inhabitants from the serpents. The Council suggested posting guards of physical being but the foes are more than serpents. They are mythic creatures here. I took precautions." The older elf reached for the gate, and place his palm on it. He muttered some spell but he find the gate still remained close.

Medi walked up and pushed hard at the gate. It opened on the push and Medi walked in.

"What happened to my spells?" The older elf is upset. He slammed the gate back to the wall. "It must be the two sorceress. They must be the ones responsible. How stupid can I be?"

The structure which faced them is a round dome built on the ground. Its surface is a smooth glassy material that shine like a marble surface well polished. The dome reached out to the walls with only a feet away. The older elf walked to the dome and he placed his palm there. He muttered some spells but this time it worked. A door appear on the concave wall and slide open. They walked in and the sight was not appealing. Six skeletons clothed in tatters lies on the flooring in a circular formation with their legs towards the center of the dome.

"No! This can't be...." The older elf rushed forth to the remain of what may be the guardians of the city. "They are supposed to invincible to the dark magic. Who could do this to them?"

The older elf flipped at the tatters until he came to one which he finally fall onto his knees to moan out in pain. Its a frame of a elf and probably a male by the looks of the remaining clothes. Medi wanted to walk to the older man but she stopped herself. He may need his personal time to vent out his pain and she felt it may not be right to asked him now.

Medi looked around the dome and noticed the place is like any sorcerer' place; full of scrolls and apparatus to make potions with its assorted glasswares or earth clay containers on the six long tables lined up against the walls. Each sorcerer may be given their own space to work. The distinguish working place of the dwarf is a raised walking platform as height of the tables are designed for elves. Next to every table are the large chest which are some have their cover opened. Medi peek in and noticed that each of the chests has it contents searched by some one or thing. As she move around, she noticed a bright bauble on the table. She picked it up and looked at it. Its a blue ruby that has been well crafted to look like a scarab. It shone in the lights that flows through the glistening marble dome.

"Give me that!" The older elf snatched it away from her hand. "It belong to him. How dare you steal it?"

The older elf motioned with his hand and Medi find herself flung across the dome flooring.

"Aargh..... Stop it, Malech. I am Medi, your body guard," The older elf looked into the blue bauble and his eyes went teary. "Old fool, let me down."

The older elf walked around the dome; stopping at every table and touching something at every table. Medi then noticed he picked up a container from each table. The container can vary in size and design but they are all about the size of the fist. He then placed each container just above every skeleton's frame. The older elf then stood back to the wall and chant aloud some words that made no sense to the Genoe warrior.

It did however raise the skeleton up from the flooring slowly as if the bones were stuck to the flooring by some glue items. The older man raised his voice on the chanting and the bones pulled itself free of the flooring to hover over it. The bones then crushed itself into a small clutter of bones and compressed in further to become a small ball of fragmented bones pieces. There are now seven of these ball like bones hovering over where the bones were laid. Each ball of bones then move to the top of the containers placed by the older elf. It then dissolved into a misty like form and flowed into the container. The older elf then proceed to seal each of the container's open cover. He collected all the six containers and tied them to his waist band.

"Malech, can you please let me down?" Just as the words come out, she find herself falling down to the flooring.

"We mus hurry...." The older elf is searching the contents on the tables and collecting what he needs. He then proceed to do whatever he is planning while ignoring the ego bruised warrior. He mixed some substances and then do some chanting over it.

"Give me your spear." The older elf reached out with the right hand. "Hurry up!"

Medi passed him the spear and he immediately applied some potion onto its blade. He then tied a red silk cloth over the handle and asked her to come forth. Medi walked up to him and he tied another piece of red cloth to her right hand.

'You are now bonded to your spear. Swing it and feel the power."

She swung her spear and she can feel the power surging through it. It then emit a trail of fire on the flooring; it not any fire of wood but of magic.

"That fire can burn flesh to bones. Its the dragon's flame. Your red binding bonds you to the spear. It would strike on its own if you are in danger. Now leave me alone. We still got to protect the dome or we are dead like them."

The older elf went back to his magical potions while Medi sat down at the far wall watching the older elf pranced and danced around the dome. Later he stopped and hand to her a large container.

"Pour this around the Dome walls and then come back. Make sure you cover all the areas."

Medi took the container to go out when the older elf stopped her.

"Its the inside wall of this dome. The serpents are out there now." "The older elf sighed. "Never again an apprentice from the female types."

Medi did as she was told and on the last drop, she covered the dome in its circular form.

"Step back from there." The older elf told her. Medi did as she was told. The elf we know as Malech the Spellbinder did his magic feared by many. He chanted out loud some words of the ancient language and the walls revert on its foundation. It turns from its white marble to that of a raging yellow heat and then back to the sea blue shades before it settle back at the original shade of marble.

"We are save now.." The older elf sits himself on a nearby bench and smiled. "Do you have anything to eat?"