The Devil's Bane: (slightly more than) a short story

Chapter III: Euphoria City

Anthony was visiting Euphoria City for the time being. He saw a friend, who was a local warrior. "Hey, Cade!" Anthony yelled to the warrior.

They strolled over to the elf with armor and sky-blue eyes. It suddenly smelled like ozone. "Hey, Anthony. How's the visit been?"

"It's been well. Met a few friends. Meet Dess he/they, Charlotte she/her, Felix he/him, and some boring, uncool, non-elemental parents!" Anthony answered cheerfully, gesturing over to the others. Everyone waved at Cade.

"As you all might know already, I'm Cade Styrmir! For pronouns, he/him," Cade said.

"Cool," Charlotte commented. Cade nodded.

"Hey, you! Adults!" the group heard someone shout. An elf with iron armor ran over and said, "Non-elementals aren't allowed here. Come with me, powerless elves."

No one had the guts to tell the guard that the parents weren't elves.

"I--sir--" Dess's mom started to say.

But the guard put wooden handcuffs around the four adults and ordered, "Come with me. NOW."

The parents looked sad and scared of what was to come but knew their kids would save them. The children looked at them sadly as they were taken away.

"Oh come on! We could have done something! Now we have to save our parents too!" Dess said.

"Dess, It's best not to mess with officials. We'll get 'em later. We might as well explore," Anthony replied.

The children looked at each other. Charlotte held her gaze with Dess longer than needed.

"Fine," Felix decided to say.

"See ya later!" Cade waved cheerfully. As Anthony showed them around so they could know about the radiant city they were in. As they entered the city, they saw some amazing things. Earthy, marbled structures were everywhere. It was dazzling! The bookstores looked the coolest, the dark wood and vines tangled together. Marble columns added to the aura of the bookstore.

"That's the largest bookstore around," Anthony told Dess.

"Can we go in?" Charlotte asked because she was a bookworm.

"Possibly. We needed an appointment to go in, though," Anthony answered.

Then a horn blew. "Follow me! Oh dear..." Anthony said quickly. "A meeting is being held,"

He led them to the main hall where all the elves were. Dess felt his head start to hurt, probably because of his ability to feel when the Devil was near. In the chair at the very end of the table, there was a sparkling robed figure with an elf in it. The elf suddenly said, "Hail." Immediately everyone dropped to their knees as if they were praying.

The kids were puzzled but bowed anyway. Then the figure said, "I see we have strangers in our home."

Then he boomed, "I am Lord Cassius, I am the Lord of the Elves and you must obey me. I have earned this title for good deeds."

Dess and the other children looked so puzzled that Anthony whispered, "Like Lord Cassius said, he is in charge. Just listen and obey."

During the meeting, Lord Cassius reported about the Dwarven Kingdoms. Apparently, the dwarves had just lost a major landmass in the Battle of the Farlands.

"What do you think that means?" Charlotte whispered to Felix.

" I dunno. Maybe Cade or Anthony will tell us." he responded.

As they were discussing all this, everyone enjoyed the food at the table. Roast beef, potatoes, enchanted water, and so much more!

As everyone enjoyed themselves, Dess overheard a local citizen saying, "The Devil is on the march. It just attacked a nearby village and killed everyone in it."

Dess shuddered.

Dess thought of everyone going to where the Devil and Tom (now Blade) approached from. At the end of the meeting, they were told to report back to the duties. At the end of the day, they went to an inn and Felix asked them in perfect Elvin, "Can we get a room? The largest one you have, please." Felix paid the counter for five silver pieces and they got a room. Cade and Anthony walked off in a different direction.

I wonder how Felix got those... Dess wondered. They all headed to the room and decided where they were sleeping. Dess was on the large bed, Charlotte was on the pull-out couch, and Felix was on the floor in a sleeping bag. They all fell asleep as soon as they got to their spot.