• Ashes hold many secrets. Some secrets are good and some bad, but these ashes hold the secret of the secrets. These ashes hold the truth, and the journey, but only when the ashes are scattered can the journey for the truth begin.

    It was a calm and serene day, and a young boy was sadly walking down the street after hearing the news that his grandfather had passed away. Earlier that day his mother told him that his grandfather wanted him to scatter his ashes in his favorite spot, the garden in his backyard. After the funeral the boy did as his grandfather had asked in his will, after the boy had thrown the ashes into the air something mystical and magical happened. The boy’s vision began to grow fuzzy, and then soon black. A couple of hours later the boy woke up, not in the garden but in a forest full of creatures he had never seen before.

    The boy knew his grandfather was different. He was kinder than most people he knew, but the boy didn’t understand that his grandfather’s ashes held the secret. As the boy looked around at his surroundings, he saw faintly glowing trees responding to the time of the day. He heard the ripple of water in the nearby glistening lake as a fish jumped out, then into the lake. As he looked up he saw that the trees were taller than anything he had ever seen before and he soon grew thirsty. He then walked towards the nearby lake. As he kneeled down to take a drink from the lake, he saw his reflection, yet to the boy’s memory it wasn’t his reflection. The reflection showed a man with shoulder length brown hair, pointed ears, and tan colored skin. That can’t be me! I don’t have pointed ears, brown hair, or tan skin, and I’m a boy not a man, he thought to himself as he looked at the reflection.

    As the boy continued to look at his different reflection he saw something coming at him. Quicker than an arrow the boy rolled away from the claw that sought his life. As the boy escaped from the impending danger he saw that it was a giant wolf. Before he could do anything the wolf fell limp, dead. As the boy examined the corpse he saw an axe embedded in the skull of the wolf. As he turned to see what had threw the axe his vision began to dim again, then it went black. When he awoke this time he was not by the lake but in a stone cell.

    Once he regained consciousness he heard someone or something say “menknurlan dûr mérna”. What does that mean, the boy thought to himself, I don’t understand it. When the noise subsided he looked around, taking in his surroundings. It was a cold, damp, imprisonment, and he found it looked like someone or something had carved it out of the very stone he was in.

    As he looked around the cell he saw someone cowering in the corner. As he examined the person he saw that he had short black hair, pale skin like he had been imprisoned for ages, and his clothes looked like they had once been clean and whole, many moons ago. He then asked the person “Who are you?” but the person’s response was only one word, “What?” The person’s word was full of confusion and fear. At what he said the boy started to realize that his appearance didn’t just change, his voice did to.

    The boy had then decided that he would try to communicate with the black haired person. “Rïsa.” The boy said hoping that the person would understand him. After a couple of silent minutes, the person looked up and said “My name is Jeod.” The boy looked at Jeod amazed that he had understood him.

    After an hour of talking the boy found out that he was in a dwarven jail, and that he was here for being within dwarf territory. The boy was awe struck at this information, and then he realized why he couldn’t understand the jailer, and that both he and Jeod were elves from the southern forest.

    As they finished talking the jailer said “Grimstborith.” He then bowed with respect towards the clan chief. As the clan chief approached the cell that held both the boy and Jeod, he ordered “Menknurlan rïsa.” After hearing it and learning the meanings from Jeod, both of them stood up like the chief ordered. “Both of thee elves must face the Trial of Iron, for being within dwarf territory.”, the chief said in common language.

    As they approached the maze which held the Trial of Iron, they were both given a weapon. The boy chose a sword called Yazuac, while Jeod chose a crimson bow, etched with runes. Jeod was the first to enter the maze, once the door closed the boy was left alone with the dwarves.

    After an hour there was one loud scream and Jeod had not returned. One of the dwarven scouts announced “One of the elves has been slain.” The dwarves had grins on their faces as they shoved the boy into the maze.

    As the boy walked through the always turning maze, his sword’s blade started to glow as if it were reflecting both the sun’s and the moon’s light within the dark maze. To the boy’s horror he saw the crimson bow laying at his feet, with the arrows undisturbed. As he looked up he saw that Jeod’s crimson blood painted the walls red and that a black creature lay over Jeod’s body, slowly eating the corpse.

    The boy felt sick looking at this mass of darkness it’s three tails curving like scorpion stingers, it’s eight hairy spider legs, it body was that of a rhinoceros, and it’s head was unlike anything he had seen before, it looked like a mix between a dog, and a human, and without a moments hesitation the boy picked up the bow and fired an arrow straight into the creature’s mouth. The arrow soared through the top of the mouth and out of the top of the head, leaving a splatter of green blood over the walls. The creature fell limp and dead before it could realize what had happened. The boy examined the arrow that killed the creature, a small part of it’s bain was stuck to the arrow.

    As the boy continued down the always turning path he wandered into a small alcove. At the far end of the alcove he saw another path with a bright blue light shining from it. Unaware of what he was doing he started walking towards the light.