The Chronicles of Tenroha

Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty-four

Jonah stood at the doorway that had appeared in the Blót-tré. He looked into the cave-like room that was inside of the tree. He stepped forward and tiny lights began to flicker like fireflies inside of the tree. They were all around him in a swarm as he slowly walked to the center of the tree and found a set of stairs that spiraled downward into a dark nothingness.

Kara and Pamela cautiously came in behind him. The voice that was calling to Jonah seemed to come from down in the darkness. They inched their way to the top of the stairs as Jonah boldly stepped onto the stairs. With each step he took, more tiny lights glowed further down into the tree. Step after step, they made their way towards the bottom.

After stepping on what seemed like hundreds or thousands of stairs he reached the final step, and he found himself surrounded by nothing. The lights shined from above him, but cast no light into the bottom where he now stood. The voice seemed to be closer to him, like he could reach out and touch where it was coming from. He reached his hands out, but felt nothing.

The voice sounded of an echoing whisper, but it came from everywhere around him. Kara and Pamela crept to the base of the stairs and asked, "Where are you?" "I'm right here," replied Jonah. He spun around and saw nothing. They felt for each other in the darkness. His hand brushed hers and they found that they were standing in front of each other, unable to see the other, while Pamela held on to Kara.

"Dags-ljós," said Kara, but nothing happened. She tried it again, and then again. Nothing happened. "What are you doing?" asked Jonah. "I tried summoning daylight so we could see," replied Kara. The whispering voice began to change. Instead of calling out for Jonah, it said, "The magic around us and in us does not flow through here." The voice sounded crisper and more distinct and less of a whisper.

"Follow," said the voice. It began to move away; the sound "Follow!" repeated over and over as it echoed away from them in the darkness. It began to fade further and further away. Kara held Jonah's hand as he began to blindly follow the voice as it commanded. The three of them walked, following the sound until they saw a small light in the distance. As they drew closer to the light, it began to grow larger.

Their eyes burned as they entered a room filled completely with light. It was a much smaller room with a lone hooded figure seated in the center. "Come no further, Jonah, son of John. Kara, daughter of Forel. Pamela, daughter of Renthar." "Where are we?" asked Jonah. "You are standing in Hvelfing búðar-sund heimra," said the hooded figure, "It is a place in between the world's." "Why have you called me here?" asked Jonah.

The figure stood and removed his hood. He was an elf with long white hair and he looked ancient. Jonah thought that he was older than time itself. "You will find that time flows differently in Hvelfing búðar-sund heimra. My name is Viskarn. Long ago an evil wizard threatened our borders. My kindred and myself left the lands of Tenroha for lands far to the east that we came to call Átt-hagi. It means our native land," said the hooded elf.

"We spent over a century building a new home for ourselves in the land of our ancestors. When we left this land, we took with us many rare and powerful items that have been with us for eons. One such item was a bow that is known by many names. We call it Lítil-læti, for one must know its power before one can wield it," he said, continuing on.

"In the ancient tongue, it is known as Hamingju-mikill, and in the more common tongue it means Very Lucky. This name is atrocious to my kind because you all are too blind and arrogant to comprehend its true nature. The name of this sacred bow comes from what you learn from the trials needed to prove your worthiness," said Viskarn.