Armed with the hard-won dragon blood, we start on our journey to the border of the Elven and Outer Realms. It would be much quicker to cut through the Elven Realm, but Mori insists that we skirt the Elven Realm—on the Human side—and cut up along the Elven/Outer Realm border on the Outer Realm side.

“What do you have against the Elven Realm, Mori,” I ask for the hundredth time. She responds the same way every time, “I just prefer not to go there…” So we walk just outside the golden veil in quiet for some time. Finally, I ask, “Mori, if that was a baby dragon—how big are full-grown ones?”

Mori laughs in her strange way and says, “Well, I may have been exaggerating a bit when I said that was a baby. Teenager is more like it, I guess. It won’t get much bigger, but its wings will now start growing and become functional and it will start eating the brimstone in the mountains, close to its lair, and learn to breathe fire. It does not take much brimstone for them to be able to breathe fire for several months…”

I shake my head and we keep moving. The detour we are taking will add three days to our journey, two of which will be in the Outer Realm. I grumble at the thought. We could cut through the safety of the Elven Realm and come out where we need to… I spend a lot of time practicing with my bow and arrows, or practicing charms and wards—especially my invisibility ward. The first time I do that, I almost give Miri a heart attack.

And so, we make it to our first camp site, about a half an hour’s walk from the Human/Outer Realm border. We will cross that dreaded line early in the morning, right after dawn. We eat a cold supper and talk about the plans for the next day. Mori prepares us a little for what we will likely encounter in the Outer Realm.

She tells us, “If we stick close to the golden veil, we should be fairly safe. Nelle, be prepared to cast a protective or invisibility ward over Miri and yourself at a moment’s notice. I will do the same. Invisibility wards will be of less value in the Outer Realm, since many Dark creatures there can see through them. Also, protective wards will have to be iron-solid—there are some nasty creatures over there. Drakyre has created some real horrors out of simple human beings…”

She has Miri and I barely dip the tips of our arrows in the dragon’s blood and says, “It does not take much, be sparing with it—unless you want to go back and visit the baby again.” When we are through, she inspects our work and says, “Good! OK, let’s bed down. We leave in three hours.”

I wake up two and a half hours later, refreshed. Miri and Mori are already up and bustling around. Miri hands me a plate of fruit and Mori gives me a few small pieces of cold bacon. Miri retches when she sees me eat it—I am getting more used to it. It only makes me want to throw up now—not violently throw up. Mori tells me it will take months to get to the point that I will only be slightly queasy…

We pack up our stuff and start the second leg of our journey. After thirty minutes, we pass into the Outer Realm. I am instantly on edge. After another thirty minutes of not seeing anything, though, I laugh to myself. Well, not much going on…not sure what I was worried about… Mori tells me to not get complacent and to stay vigilant—especially when it gets closer to being dark.

And so the day is very draining; always paying attention to every little movement and sound. We make good time, though—always about thirty minutes inside the border from the Elven Realm. Mori says, “There is a greater chance of running into something right by the veil. This is sort of a sweet spot—far enough away from the border, but not too deep inside the Realm…”

And then twilight settles in…and the sounds start picking up. Mori’s and my half-Elven eyes and ears are more sensitive in the dark than a full Human’s. Miri’s are even better. We are still all on edge—although, Mori is putting on a calm demeanor. Miri and I jump at every sound; Mori stays cool.

And so we keep moving for another hour. Then Mori comes to a sudden stop and motions for us to be quiet. She indicates that we should each nock an arrow… We had just done that when this horrible perversion of a Human comes out of the woods and comes straight at us--FAST!

Miri and I both let loose an arrow at the same time. Miri’s hits the creature in the heart. Mine hits it right between the eyes. Smoke comes out of the holes where the arrows are protruding. The creature takes several more steps and falls to the ground less than a hundred paces from us, writhing in pain. Then it is quiet.

Mori says, “Good work, girls. You just met your first vampire. It is actually good that it is a vampire; they usually hunt alone. If it had been a werewolf, we would have had a pack to contend with. If it had been a zombie…well…it would have been a small army…”

She takes us to the corpse and says, “Quickly. Take a good look. The dragon’s blood will quickly destroy the carcass. The vampire is a shriveled-up little body, hardly any muscle, at all. The skin is near black…not because the human’s skin was that color before, though…this is more unnatural—like charcoal-black. Instead of fingernails, there are long, very sharp claws. The mouth is full of razor-sharp teeth and the canines are elongated. I shudder as the corpse dissolves and turns to ash…leaving our two arrows on the ground. Miri and I pick up our arrows and we move on.

As we walk, Mori quietly tells us, “Vampires are actually vulnerable in either of the locations you shot. Typically, the head shot is better, though. Werewolves are more susceptible to a heart shot, just because it is harder to hit them between the eyes. Zombies, well, try and get them in the mouth. And be warned, if any of them bite you and you survive it, it will not be good. If you were a full human, you would convert to the same sort of creature that bit you—completely consumed by the darkness. Miri is most protected as a full Elf; but even then, she would not be able to fight off the effects of the darkness and would turn into a Dark Elf. Nelle, you would be worse off. I am not really sure what the exact outcome would be, but let’s not find out, OK? My unique situation actually provides me with the most protection—the thing is that it is rare for someone that is bitten to actually survive, at all. If any of those creatures get close enough and through your wards that it is able to bite you, then they will usually kill you. Drakyre controls the biter when he wants to create more of one type—ensuring that the victim lives…and becomes a dark soldier…”

I shudder as we go for another hour, without encountering anything else, before setting up camp. We eat another cold supper and take turns sleeping; one asleep, while two hold guard.

I get up from my sleep—I had been the last to sleep, since I need a little more than the other two. Miri tells me that she had to shoot another vampire while I was asleep. I shudder; glad that Mori had set up the guard rotations.

We eat a quick breakfast, pack up, and move on. As we are walking, Mori explains to me, “Nelle, I can actually sense the Dark-consumed individuals. They have a black spectrum that I can see. That is because of the darkness in me. You don’t have that capability…but what you can sense is the absence of the Light. At the base, these are Humans and you can sense them much better than a full Elf. That is why the Elves cannot determine if a Human has been touched. You can… You have to train yourself to look for that absence, though. It is like looking for a small hole in fabric. On our next encounter with a Dark One, practice—but make sure you don’t take too long before you kill it.”

I nod and we continue walking—again without any further incidents.

We reach our goal after another three hours. It is the exact spot where the crest of the poisonous stream is flowing from the Outer Realm into the Elven Realm.

Mori looks at me and says, “Nelle, I need you to plant your acorn right on the border right there. It is important that its tree grows equally on both side of the border. Then I need you to sing it into a full grown tree. Elves and Elven magic send up a huge flare in this realm. I have been maintaining a charm on Miri this whole time. You and I are only a dim blip, since we are only half-Elves. Me even less so, since I have so much Darkness in me. The point is, that is why WE had to do this. But, once you start singing, and I lift my charm from Miri, a huge flare is going to go off. I doubt it will be sufficient to warrant Drakyre’s attention. In fact, I am banking on that. But, there will likely be a response by a squad of nasties to see what is going on. Again, I am banking on that.”

She takes a breath and continues, “Miri, as soon as the tree is big enough, I want to get up in the lower branches. I will be in the highest branches, helping Nelle maintain a protective ward while she sings. You and are I will be the bait, once the nasties figure out they can’t get to Nelle. They will attempt to climb the tree to get to us. It is important that you kill as many as you can at the tree’s base—or on the tree trunk itself, without them getting to us. I won’t be able to maintain the ward on Nelle, do what I need to do, and protects us, too. Our fate is in your hands. Understood?”

Miri pales, but nods.

Mori nods at me and I take a deep breath. I straddle the borderline, half of me in the Elven Realm, half of me in the Outer Realm—something that only a half-Elf, half-Human can do for extended periods of time. I dig a small hole and carefully place the precious acorn into the hole.

I nod to Mori and Miri. Mori nods back and, still straddling the line, I start singing…