Prologue (13421 AC)

The wind was a quiet summer breeze as the sun descended on the Elven village of Delmerind. Small huts blocked out part of the image creating black silhouettes on the horizon. Off in the distance a stream could be heard trickling away from the center of the small village.

In the distance, a hundred feet or so from the center of Delmerind, stood a small clearing where twelve majestic oaks stood, each with a hollowed out entrance. Within eah oak was the living space for a small family.

Within the grove stood an older Elf male, a younger Elf female, and hidden from view was a third creature, both as majestic and beautiful as the grove itself. He listened, knowing what would be said, with a pain in his heart.

"It's not the way of the Elves to do such a thing," the elder Elf spoke to the young female Elf, obviously angered. "I will not allow it, Ellista!" Raising his staff, he continued. "Even if he was sent by Garantus Dea himself I would not allow it," he said solemnly, referring to the Patriarch deity of the Elven kingdoms. "There will be no half-breeds in my family!"

Ellista looked to the ground to hide her face. "Why?" she shouted at him. "I love him and he loves me!" The tears started to roll down her pale cheeks.

"I have made my choice, Elf-daughter. Speak to me no more of this." The elder looked to the hollowed tree bottom behind his daughter.

His daughter cried for a minute, wondering what to do. She called his image into her mind, hoping that it would bring some solace into her heart.

The man's face was otherworldly, almost radiant. His arms were strong but slim, radiating the same light his face did. The most signifying difference was the set of wings that hung on his back. Feathered, flawless wings beautifully adorned him like a cloak to a road traveler.

"Return to the house, daughter," the elder softly spoke to her. Ellista ran into the hollowed tree crying with every step.

The winged man descended to the ground with a grace like that of an eagle. The elder looked at his eyes, noting the silver radiance coming from them. He could sense within a deep desire, but his mind was set.

"You cannot have her, outsider," the elder Elf bluntly spoke to the winged man. "I will not allow it. Heed my will and begone this night. I forbid you from seeing her again." He shook his staff at the creature, and in return he only received a solemn and pain-filled nod. The winged man took to the skies with a graceful flap of the wings.

Ellista was watching from above when he flew from the grove. She looked upon her father with a hatred. What she had neglected to tell her father was that she had already been secretly wed to the winged man. She was pregnant with his child.

That night she left the Elven nation of Winterwillow, never to return, and ventured far to the nation of Prezel Vale, where she would raise her unborn child away from the burdens of her family.

Following the elder's mandate, Askarragon never saw Ellista again.