Most childhoods are supposed to be fun, happy, and full of wonderful memories that you can look back to in your adulthood and smile. You remember running down the alleys with your friends laughing and playing games, not having a worry in the world. Once you see the sun setting you go straight home and get ready for supper with your wonderful family. You sit down at the table with your father at the end of the table and your siblings next to you or in front of you and your mother at the other end giving out food to the kids. Everyone laughing and smiling while they talked about their day, enjoying their time as a family. Then once dinner is over and the day is over you go to bed with your siblings and as your mother blows out the candle that lit up the dark room, she smiles at you and says goodnight. Then you wake up the next day and do it all over again.Well like I said that's MOST childhoods, mine was very different.
When you were born the way I was, you'd completely understand, with all the "unique" qualities that come with it. You see when I was born there was a terrible storm that came through the village and it destroyed almost everything in it's path. People say that it was the storm to end all storms, but I wouldn't know seeing how I was busy being born but hey who would blame them.
The unique quality that I was talking about is that I'm a half-elf, which means that my mother is human and my father, well by process of elimination, makes him an elf. However, I also lost my mother, she died while giving birth to me. She had lost too much blood but she held on just long enough so she could see me for the first and last time. I honestly don't know much about her other than her name Meredith, she loved me very much, and wanted to protect me from something. Her final words were asking old Doc Ivan to keep me safe from whatever is out there, which he did, bless his soul.
My name is Ryker Willows, I am 16 years old almost 17, the average height of 5 ft 10 inches, and according to Doc, I am a doctor in training. Doc likes to tell me that even though I'm half-elf, I'm not built like one. For example, elves are generally really skinny but thanks to constant traveling and Doc's fitness regimen he always has me doing. I am in great shape, very good muscle tone, and even a caramel tan, unlike normal elves. Even though I'm training to be a doctor, like Doc wants me to be, I still manage to find stuff that I like to do.For example, I love to be crafty and build things that could be useful for me and Doc, it's probably because I'm always breaking everything. Ever since I was little I have wanted to learn how to use a sword and be able to fight with one and protect myself but Doc would always say no and we wouldn't talk about it again until I brought it up. It still didn't stop me though, whenever I would find some time to myself I would always find a long stick on the ground and practice with it like it was a real sword.
Then when I turned 10 years old and decided to make my own sword at a local blacksmiths shop. I begged him to let me make one and he finally let me, he offered to make it for me but I told him that I could do it myself. I told him that in my travels, whenever Doc would let me have some free time, I would sometimes go to the local blacksmith and watch them smith swords, knives, etc. He looked at me chuckling and told me "Alright smartass, lets see you try.". Surprisingly it came really easy to me. Even the blacksmith was impressed, he grabbed the sword that I had just made and said "Wow kid, nice job! If you don't make it as a doctor you would make a fine good blacksmith." I looked at him and said, "Thanks! It was like my arms had a mind of their own, almost like something took control of them and guided them.".
With all his inspecting and testing done he finally gave me his approval. I reached into my pocket and gave him a few copper coins, even though he said that I didn't have to, and headed home to practice. Ever since then I've kept it hidden from Doc and practiced by myself. Even today at 16, I am still practicing and always have the same sword by me always. Every time I hold that sword I feel powerful, like a strange energy flowing through me, something in the back of my head guiding me through the motions, like a little voice in my head.
I don't know anything about my father, every time I ask Doc if he knows anything about him. His answer is always the same, "You don't need to know anything about him. Your mother didn't want you to know so why learn." So far the only person I have to a father is Doc, it's been almost 17 years since he made that promise to my mother and he's kept it ever since. However, it means that we are always on the move and never staying in one spot for too long. It seems that the people of this world are not too fond of elves, especially half-elves.
You see in our world of Irila 4 races live in it, there are Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and Gods. Humans are the majority of the population, we live in villages and cities all over the world, there are even some major human cities where trading and major events happen. The Dwarves live in the mountains and underground, it's not like we banished them there, that's where they choose to live because there they can get the ore and precious metals for their weapons and tools that they create. The Dwarves and the Humans have been allies for centuries, we trade crops and resources and in return, they give us weapons and tools that we need for our farming and building.
Next are the Elves, they are what we like to call the "Nobleman" of our world, they don't like to interact with humans or Dwarves much because they believe that they are above us and shouldn't have to socialize with us lower class. Elves live in their castles that float in the sky, away from the rest of the population of Irila. On very few occasions they do require assistance from us down here on the ground and grant access some people to their cities. Only a select few may enter their cities, mostly diplomats for both Dwarves and humans. The Dwarves bring weapons that were specifically designed for the Elven armies. If you ever get the chance to see an Elven sword it is said to be unlike any sword that you have ever seen in your life. Some say that they are imbued with a magical ore that gives it a magical blue hue and grants its user some sort of special power. They are usually long swords but light as a feather, it is said that they could easily take down a foe with one swing. I however think it's a bunch of talk but I do know that their swords are different from the regular swords that we use down here and I'd love to get my hands on one, maybe one day. However, no one ever gets their hands on anything Elvish, only the Elves themselves. Well except my mother who managed to catch herself a real elf, if she hadn't I wouldn't even be here talking.
If you manage to see an Elf in real life you would think they were human at first, the only thing that separates them from the rest of us are their ears. All the elves have pointy ears that tend to stick out their hair. That's another thing that sets them apart: it's their hair. Their hair doesn't have any special color, they are just always silver and if they are under direct sunlight it will give off a golden hue, some say that this is due to the amount of magic that is stored within their bodies. The only way for an elf to hide their true identity is to wear something that covers their hair and their ears. Thankfully for me the only thing that I got from my father is the ears but they're not as pointy as regular elves, or at least that's what Doc likes to say. For someone who hasn't seen an elf before he sure knows a lot about them.
Now for the final race, the gods. The gods are the watchers of this world; they watch over all of us and provide us with miracles and blessings during our lives. They each have a tremendous amount of power at their fingertips and could do anything with just a snap of their fingers. There are a total of 6 gods, 2 for each race, one male and one female. For humans, there are Rostos and Raima. The Elves had Trino and Trinka. The Dwarves had Donco and Dewena. The thing is, no one has ever seen these gods or even spoken with them in the last 300 years but they all believe in them. Sure there are churches devoted to them but a lot of people have revealed many of these churches to be false and try to take advantage of the people for their gain. However, some say that they could come down to our world and you wouldn't even know. They say that these gods can disguise themselves and look just like us and look like normal people and do whatever they want.
When I was 8 years old, Doc and I were at this very old run-down village that had reports of a serious disease going around and infecting all the people. I told Doc we shouldn't bother going. The journey would take a week, and by the time we arrived, most would either be dead or dying, leaving little we could do to help. At that moment Doc's emotion changed almost like someone had flipped a switch inside his head. He yelled at me with a certain look in his face, "Don't ever say something like that! If there is a chance, even a small sliver of hope we take it! You understand me! You never give up! No matter the odds!" I had never seen Doc like this before, when I looked into his eyes all I saw was fire, not the fire that comes with hatred but the fire of determination and courage.
So we set out on our week-long journey to this village. I'm not going to lie, it wasn't pleasant, during the whole trip there were weird storms always hitting us. Like rain when there wasn't a cloud in the sky or a thunderstorm that came out of nowhere and almost took our camping gear to the other side of the forest. By the time we reached the village, I had expected to see a village of walking corpses but it was the complete opposite.
Kids were playing on the roads and people were going on like it was a normal day. People were going to the markets, having conversations, even one guy was already drunk and it was still morning. We had gone to a random villager and asked them what had happened and they said, "Rostos, he came to our village in our darkest hour and blessed our village with his holy power. He purified our well and our lakes and told us that if we continue to drink from these waters our village would be cured and be stronger than ever." I didn't believe one word that he said, I mean who would, a random man coming and saying that he is a god, telling everyone to drink water to make themselves better. Who could believe that, it was ridiculous. Then I looked at Doc, his eyes were struck with fear. He told me to stay with the horses until he returned and to make sure that I never took off the hood or let it fall an inch, then he went off to look for the well.
I've only ever seen him make that face once and that was when someone had accidentally taken my hood down and my ears were shown. Luckily they weren't out long enough for someone to notice them but at that moment I had seen a face on Doc that I had never seen before. He had quickly pulled up my hood, looked around us and for some reason even up at the sky and then we left the village as fast as we could. I was only 6 when this happened, since then my hood had never dropped again. Doc returned shortly after with a canteen full of water, which must have been the water from the well, and then we hurried out of the village.
I had asked him what was the matter and all he said was, "The people are very lucky, this disease should have wiped them out but something happened." A moment later, I looked at the canteen full of water and I saw little drops coming out from the top. Doc must have overfilled it, because as the drops were falling out the bottle I saw a golden light come from one of the drops. I brushed my eyes thinking there was something in them or maybe it was the sun glistening on them but then I looked again and it happened again. I went to grab the bottle but Doc stopped me and grabbed my, "Don't ever touch this canteen, you hear me? This is not for you, okay, you should never touch this, you understand?" He had the same face from when he left for the well, "Yes sir, I understand." I said in agreement but I still couldn't help but wonder, could a god really have visited that village?
After that, Doc never brought up the village again but he kept that water from the well in a glass jar for some apparent reason. Could what is in that jar be a blessing from a god? If so, why does Doc have it with him? Why wouldn't he let me anywhere near it? Question after question popped into my head and I had no answer for them. All these questions and no answers but the biggest question right now is are the gods real?
They say that the gods are the reason that all four of the races are at peace today. Over 300 years ago there was a big war between the Dwarves, Elves, and the Humans, they called it the 200-year war. For 200 hundred years, there were constant battles and bloodshed between the races. In the history books all over Irila they say that the war was to show who was the superior race was, one to rule them all. However, Doc says that everything the books say was lies. He would tell me that the war wasn't about who was the superior race, it was about who could obtain a certain weapon, one that was so powerful it could bring even the gods to their knees.
There is an old story that every kid is told before bed that goes,
"Once there lived a hero. He was the child of the gods, he was the savior of the world. He held an tremendous amount of power, he could move mountains with a mere thought, create weapons out of anything, and could use his magic to do whatever he desired. However, he never used his magic for evil and instead used it to bring peace to the world and save lives whenever he could. People saw him as a god and took to him for teaching and prayed to him. Though he did not consider himself to be a god he still looked at these people as his disciples and began teaching them his ways of peace and goodness. It didn't take long for the gods to notice that their creation had begun to take their followers away from them. Soon they began to try and put a stop to his faith by any means necessary. The gods approached him and demanded he stopped his teachings or else he shall suffer their wrath. He refused, stating that the world has too much hate and suffering, he has to help the people of the world. The gods were furious by his decisions and to attack him. Luckily he survived and managed to get away. After years of hiding from the gods and trying to find peaceful ways to end this battle with them, they say that he created a weapon, one so powerful that it could destroy the gods themselves, only to be used if all hope was lost. However, the gods had caught word of his creation and began to search for this deadly weapon so that they may destroy it so that it could never be used against them. After many years they finally caught the hero however the weapon was nowhere to be found, the Hero had hidden it somewhere so no one could find it and use it for evil. He left them with this riddle,
"Forged in flame, yet cold as night,
A weapon born to end divine might.
Hidden where gods dare not tread,
By one whose blood is soiled, but heart pure instead.
Seek the hand that bears two fates,
In them alone, the power awaits."
Once the gods heard this they did the only thing they thought needed to be done. They destroyed their creation. The hero died but not his story, somewhere is his weapon awaiting for the day someone to claim what is theirs."
Fast forward a thousand years and there is a rumor in the kingdoms that the location of the legendary weapon had been discovered, thus began the 200-year war. Each side had taken too many casualties, getting worse with every passing day. There was no end in sight for this bloodbath of a war. There were even stories that the Elves had taken prisoners of the other races to use them as experiments to try and find new ways to fight their enemies. The Dwarves were creating weapons that even they didn't want to unleash, some say that they have a weapon that when used with deadly and powerful magic that if used could destroy the entire world. The humans had run low on men to use in their armies so they had enacted a law that if a boy had grown past the age of 8, they were to be taken to the nearest fort to begin their training and be sent to their deaths. The families that had denied the law were marked as traitors to the crown. The older men would be sent to the armies and fight for the human race as meat shields while the younger boys would be sent to the mines digging up iron and ores to be forged into weapons, though they would still be inferior to the weapons made by the Dwarves. The women would be sent to special camps where they would undergo mind altering trials, getting rid of all traces of human emotion so they may train to be assassins and spies for the crown. As for the young girls, they would be sent to work as servants for the nobles and royals who had full control of them.
These were the darkest days for all races. The gods, weary of the endless fighting and death, finally intervened, halting the war. Appearing in a tower of blinding light in the middle of the battlefield. They demanded a treaty, warning that without peace, all sides would destroy themselves and descend down a path of darkness from which there would be no return. If no treaty would be met, they would destroy all the races themselves as a mercy. On that day all sides signed a treaty of peace and we all lived in harmony together. No one ever did find the weapon, some say that it never existed in the first place and that it was just a story nothing more.
When you travel around Irila you can still see remnants of the war like old fortresses, ruins from what looks like villages, and even some forbidden areas. The history from the war still haunts the races but it's hard to forget 200 years of continuous fighting and bloodshed. It's something that we cannot hide, a lot of us embrace our history and celebrate a lot of the things that came out of it.
Without the war, many of the inventions that now make daily life easier wouldn't exist. After it ended, much of what had been exclusive to the military became available to the public. Doc often says that medicine before the war was almost barbaric—primitive, at best. But thanks to the scientific advancements made during that time, we found cures for many diseases and extended life expectancy beyond 30 years. That fact surprised me too. Elven magic, in particular, has become more powerful than ever. Their colleges now teach the most advanced healing, support, and battle magic known. It's said that if you try to rob an elf, your body may not even be recognizable—if there's anything left at all. Almost everything taught in schools and colleges today was discovered during the war.
Whenever I ask Doc how he knows so much about these things he never gives a straight answer, all he says is that he hears and experiences everything he can while he can. I don't believe him for one second, he's hiding something and one of these days I'm going to find out and then find out who this man really is. On the outside, he looks like a middle-aged man with a good athletic build that looks like he exercises whenever he gets the chance. He stands at 6 and a half feet tall with a clean shave every day, if you looked at him you wouldn't say that he doesn't look a day over 40 but if you look into his eyes they say something completely different. You look into his eyes and they look like they belong to an old man, a man who's seen a lifetime of memories and experiences. Whoever this man is, I will find out and have him teach me everything he knows.