• Chapter 1



    Lancelvor and his twin sister Lydia shot up the airport stairs like a pair of bullets.
    "Ha ha! I win, now you owe me a lollypop!” Lydia triumphantly taunted.
    "No fair," cried out Lance breathlessly, “The fact that you’re the natural athlete gave you a major advantage!"
    Lydia was just about to protest when the flight intercom bellowed out,” FINAL CALL FOR FLIGHT TO HELENA, FINAL CALL FOR FLIGHT TO HELENA!!!"
    "Come on slowpoke, or we'll miss the flight!" squealed Lydia who dragged along her brother, oblivious to his stuttered protests and useless resistance.
    Lance was a timid fourteen year-old that wasn't very athletic at all. He usually tended to be quite versatile because he disliked standing out against crowds, usually he kept to himself though he dreamed of getting a chance to prove himself brave and courageous, this often made him impatient. Lance, surprisingly being the slyer of the twins, often conjured up traps and snares to catch anything he ever desired, but he rarely used them. His hair was a mess of brown topping off his pale skin. Bright and clever blue eyes peered out from under his hair, glittering merrily when he came up with an idea.
    On the other hand Lydia was a spunky bundle of energy that didn't care for praise, in other words she was quite modest but, like her brother, was intelligent, but in other areas. She always shared due to her generous nature, and to mention the fact that she could stare down even a lion. She had short brown stringy hair that brushed her shoulders, framing a pale skinned face and emerald eyes. Her dreams were to become a dragon knight, exploring caverns slaying monsters that terrorized villages, becoming friends with the mer -folk, hunting with elves, chatting with nymphs, all while training other dragon knights, mages, and dragons. Though she thought that all this was impossible. She didn’t know, however, that it was real and that her daydream was to become a reality.

    * * * * * *
    "Gum?” Lydia offered a piece to her brother,” It’s supposed to help on take offs."
    "Sure, thanks." Lance smiled appreciatively toward his sister.
    The flight attendant had just finished the before flight lecture and they were taking off, little did they know that the plane was not first bound for Helena but they where first headed for Lanystia, a small island with a wide variety of fantastic creatures and climates. The last thing he knew was a sound like a gigantic vacuum cleaner sucking him off his seat, a brilliant flash of white, then nothing but an eternal black void.

    “Lance! Lance! Oh, Come on for Pete’s sake, WAKE UP!!!” Lydia’s booming voice and vigorous shaking quickly aroused Lance from his slumber.
    “Hrmm? Whataya doin? Am tired lemme lone,” Lance replied slurring his words together drowsily.
    “GOOD GRIEF!!! Lydia bellowed,” What am I doing? I’ve been trying to wake you up! What you should be asking is what happened!”
    Only now did he realize that he wasn’t on the plane, but in a forest clearing. Standing up and rubbing his eyes, Lance queried, “Fine then what happened, and puleez don’t give me one of your hour long, complicated explanations.”
    Time dragged itself by lazily at snail’s pace while she thought up a somewhat reasonable answer. Finally she replied, “We might just be dreaming.”
    “Ugh, tell that to my head,” complained Lance crossly,” it hurts so much I’m surprised you can’t feel it.”
    “I probably could explain it but,” Lydia scowled and put the first two fingers of each hand,” one of my “hour long, complicated explanations” would undoubtedly be involved.”
    Lance let out an irritated sigh,” Fine tell me in a logical way what might have happened, but please,” he pleaded,” speak it in English!”
    Lydia gave him an odd look than said,” Okay, okay. The sou__”
    Suddenly a pale-skinned, raven-haired woman rushed through the clearing and tripped over Lydia’s backpack a sword and sheath flying out of his own pack. Leaping up, her hair shifted revealing pointed ears. Lydia gasped an elf! As quickly as she came she sped away ignoring the dropped sword.
    Lydia seeming to sense that something was amiss hollered to her brother, ” Lance! Up a tree! NOW!!”
    Without hesitation, Lance scrambled up an oak faster than a monkey, he had learned to trust his sister when she was like this.
    “Lance!! Catch!” Lydia cried out hurling their packs up to him.
    Lance didn’t need to because the fork in the tree stopped them with no visible effort. He hastily checked to ensure the packs were secure and wouldn’t fall. Satisfied, he scurried up higher in the tree to wait.

    * * * * * *

    Glancing up to confirm that both her bother and her backpack were safe and secure, Lydia hurried to a different tree scooping up the sword as she rushed on by. Now in the tree and momentarily safe from whatever the elf was fleeing from, she flicked her thoughts back to the momentary encounter with the elf. Why was she running and why did he leave behind this gorgeous blade? Lydia thought gazing down at the red-edged, jet-black sword and sheath.
    Suddenly something came crashing through under the tree limb she perched on, jolting her back to reality. The source of the commotion stood in the center of the clearing, Lydia gaped an ogre! Unbelievable! Two fantasy, mythical creatures? No Way!
    The ogre was a light chartreuse. Its single blood shot eye peered out menacingly soaking up the details surrounding it with a stupid eagerness. Pausing to scent the air, the monster gave a confused grunt glancing around the clearing frantically sniffing the air.
    Oh no! Lydia’s eyes widened in horror as she thought to herself it must have noticed something. Could it have smelled us?
    Clutching the elegant sheath Lydia drew the gleaming blade out slowly and crouching she sprang up and brought the shimmering sword down gracefully in an arc bellowing out a high pitched whoop.
    Then screaming in fury, it spun around, sidestepping the blow of the gleaming edge and reached up into the tree above it, grinning and making the sound of miniature explosions, it was laughing at her! And with triumph gleaming in its bloodshot eye, and a terrified yelp from the tree above the ogre and down came the arm producing a terrified and squirming Lance.

    “Isn’t Lyis lovely Lianna? We elves are extremely welcoming to other races. You needn’t worry about lodging or food here especially with who you are. Here, would you carry my sword?” Taira inquired hold pulling out a relic from seemingly nowhere. “I need to carry this as a key to who I am.”
    “Again I’ll ask it, who are you? “Lydia frowned at the elf.
    “You’ll find out soon enough Lianna. Many people know me around here,” Taira smiled down at her.
    “Who do you think I am? Earlier you said something about someone controlling me, who could this some one be?”
    “Now I shall repeat myself, you will find out soon.”

    Chapter 2



    Desperately Lance beat his fists against the fist that held him captive repeatedly, but to no avail glancing down to his sister he saw the horror flickering in her emerald eyes and the shock of disbelief contorting the features of her face. The ogre grasped a sack at his waist and Lance then noticed it was torn, and empty. Glancing at the ground underneath the sack a saw something glittering gently underneath the ogre, the sack probably got cut by the blade’s edge. He took the detail in quickly and the ogre, his smelly and repulsive hand included, trembled with glee at his squirming captive.
    A load sound from the woods behind the massive beast made him turn toward the sound. The eye blazed in its terrible fury at the lone figure that stood there. Lance recognized the figure as the elf that stumbled into the clearing earlier and caught his breath.
    “Unhand your prisoner you slave of the dark lord!” the elf bellowed out to the mindless beast with clear, beautiful voice.
    “Run!!” Lydia cried out in horror to the elf standing there, completely and utterly unarmed.
    “Hand me my sword my fellow maiden!” hollered the elf, clearly an excellent with the sword
    Without hesitation Lydia scurried over and turned the blade over to the elf, which hefted it in skilled hands. Then with a movement so swift Lydia was almost sure she had only had imagined it, the elf gave the pommel a twirl and the blades edge glowed an eerie blue. Suddenly the elf leapt into the sky with inhumane speed and bore down hard. But although the ogre was, for the most part, fat and clumsy it saw her coming and hastily sidestepped the blow with its evil blood shot eyes now deciding that it should run with its squirming captive. It turned he began to flee, lumbering into the forest behind him.
    “Lance!” Lydia hollered in total horror as the ogre disappeared in the thick growth between the trees with her sibling.
    Lydia desperate to save her brother scrambled after the mindless beast, but even though she was the fastest girl in her class, the elf was faster racing by he scooped her up and clasped his arms around her waist.
    “He’s gone and you can’t do anything about it,” The elf said in a soft voice, trying to calm Lydia down
    “No, he can’t be gone,” Lydia sobbed, tears racing down her cheeks like they never had before.
    The ogre then disappeared completely and Lance with him.
    Lydia gave a final lunge, crying out, “Lance! I don’t care if this beast takes you the other side of the world, I’ll find you anyway! You will be rescued! Just stay alive until then!”

    * * * * * *

    Lance watched in horror as he lost sight of his sister though the thick trees then looked at his captor. “Who, or what are you” he managed to squeeze out of his clenched teeth, not expecting it to answer.
    “Holceravastee, Holceravastee is a good ogre. Holceravastee bring divanie to Master.” It said. The voice was as horrendous as its looks.
    “Gaahh! You can speak? You’re an ogre? Who is “Master”? What’s a divanie?” Uh oh, a full-scale panic attack was coming on, Lance could tell because of all these questions springing unbidden to his lips.
    “Divanie talk too much,” It graveled to Lance, “Master will answer divanie’s questions
    “Lance! I don’t care if this beast takes you the other side of the world, I’ll find you anyway! You will be rescued! Just stay alive until then!” he heard his sister shriek behind him.
    “Easier said than done,” Lance muttered crossly to himself, “you haven’t been carried away by an ogre going who knows were.”
    The beast chuckled to himself causing Lance to grimace at the horrific sound it made,”that what Holceravastee it alive to prevent happening, foolish human, no, divanie will serve master well and serve Master alone, like Holceravastee.”
    Then the ogre arrived at a fiendish looking being that spoke, or so Lance thought. He couldn’t tell were the voice was coming from.
    “This is not the divanie you dolt, the divanie is a female human,” the creature said. Lance winced; it made the ogre’s voice sound like a flute in comparison.
    “ But the divanie was there! Holceravastee could sense them!!
    “Silence!” both lance and the ogre cringed at the voice not unlike that of nails on a chalkboard, “ Can you not tell the difference between male and female? Master was a fool to have had an ogre do a job that a spectre could accomplish with ridiculous ease!”
    “You!” He turned to Lance “what is your name?”
    Lance noticed that were he was standing the grass and trees were dead. He swallowed hard and replied, “Lenore.” He said not trusting this… thing with his real name.

    * * * * * *
    “Who are you?” Lydia asked the elf “ why did you stop me?”
    “Because if you are who I think you are, the master of that ogre can’t have control over you, or even know you exist for that matter. As to who I am, my name is Taira. We should leave, my city isn’t far,”
    “Mine is Lianna,” Lydia said not trusting strangers, and using the name that she used for herself in games that she and her brother played as children.

    Lance ran up to Lydia “ Hey Lianna the ‘prince’ requests an audience with you!”
    “Lenore, what could he possibly want of me now? To slay a wraith or wait, are the imps acting up again?” Lydia giggled.
    “Heh Ah Lydia I sure miss Horace, he made a great prince. I can’t believe he just up and moved like that,” Lance said sadly then his eyes lit up,” Hey Lydia, if we were to ever take on false names let’s use Lenore for me and Lianna for you. If we ever run into Horace again, it will give him a laugh don’t you think?”
    “Sounds fine with me, I’ll play along!” Lydia said smiling, “let’s go to the park maybe we’ll meet someone there!“

    Lianna! Look! Behold Lyis, fabled city of the elves!” Taira smiled down at Lydia expectantly.
    “Isn’t Lyis lovely Lianna? We elves are extremely welcoming to other races. You needn’t worry about lodging or food here especially with who you are. Here, would you carry my sword?” Taira inquired hold pulling out a relic from seemingly nowhere. “I need to carry this as a key to who I am.”
    “Again I’ll ask it, who are you? “Lydia frowned at the elf.
    “You’ll find out soon enough Lianna. Many people know me around here,” Taira smiled down at her.
    “Who do you think I am? Earlier you said something about someone controlling me, who could this some one be?”
    “Now I shall repeat myself, you will find out soon.”
    “Wow!” Lydia gaped at the grand city shaking off the flash back silently wondering if her brother remembered the bargain.