Ilon Karendilis

Tired, he looked up from the card table. It was getting late. But troubled times like these meant that he was spending more and more of his afternoons here at the table lately. Since his father had left him the crown, new threats seemed to be popping up everywhere, as well as old ones. With a sigh, he released the breath he had unconsciously been holding. The setting sun shone through the high windows of the castle that Galudariem had fashioned from a branch of the Elder tree. The white living wood, seemed almost to invite the sun in, casting the last red rays even to the farthest corners of the throne room. Long before his father had created the veil, Galudariem had not been a king, not even a prince. He was the second-born of an earl of the House of the Wavy Moon. But his father had not wanted to keep his place. He had wandered the world and on one of his legendary adventures had stolen from the Moon Father himself. Seven branches, broken off from the Eldar tree, six of which were still in the possession of their family. From one of those branches, Galudariem had grown a new tree, from which this castle had now been forged. When Ilon heard this story, he still could not believe that the Moonfather had not simply annihilated Galudariem for this outrage. But what did he know of the plans of one of the Thirteen. The world was certainly different then. A world that had needed people like his father. He sighed again. Ever since his mother had left this world for the halls of the Moon Father, his father had not been the same either. Wearily, he tried again to recall the request of those envoys of the Ehleen from Nangock. The forest kingdom of Nangock and Karand shared a common border. A border that the people of Previent had apparently once again not taken the necessary care of. Shaking his head, Ilon tried to understand what Alfred and his people were thinking by provoking Nangock like this. Especially now that Galudariem did not even respond to his son's or daughter's pleas. Not that Galudariem would have lifted a finger for a human being back then. But Julaira Nangock was hellishly afraid of the Lily Witcher. A fear she had neither of him nor of his twin sister. Slowly, anger began to fuel the storm tide inside him. He should tell Alfred Prevt why his people still existed. His little daughter Nandimie found the human realm funny and had just been near Previent with her grandfather when Julaira's Ehleen tried to attack the human city. Little Nandimie had begun to cry when she felt the Nangock mages begin to channel their destructive power. Even if Galudariem did not understand what his granddaughter saw in the humans, it was sufficient provocation for the Nangock to attack a city in which his granddaughter was currently staying. How long had it been now? Not fifty rounds and the humans had already forgotten. The short-lived nature of this people drove him mad. The last time he had visited, Alfred had been a prince and he had spoken to his father. Now Alfred was an old man himself. Everything seemed to be seen so quickly for the humans. He clenched his hands into fists in rage. He did not want to argue with Julaira. The Faerie Queen of Nangock was almost as quick-tempered as his sister Urkasha. Perhaps he should let Alfred have one of those annoying negotiations with his sister. That would certainly irritate the human king. Urkasha had no patience with this young race. For her, it was barely the blink of an eye since these creatures, wrapped in furs, had sought shelter in caves on the coast. Now not even a king's year later, these were to be trading partners. He could hardly believe it himself. But Tarnulf had acknowledged the humans. They were now to be treated by them as lesser siblings and he would abide on Tarnulf's request, even if the Torunga had not formulated it as a commandment. However, this moral decision now brought him back to the here and now once more. He would simply compensate Julaira in moon coins for the border violation and double the tax rate for fifty rounds that the Prevts had to pay. Fifty rounds was a good time, he thought. Not too long for it to seem unfair, but long enough for people with short memories to learn from it for a little longer. Ilon was about to put the Nangock depeche aside to attend to the border guards' reports when excited children's laughter startled him. He had been here in the throne room far too long again. The last dark red rays of the sun ground purple pools on the ceiling as his little daughter rushed into the wide hall like a whirlwind. Her hair braided into thick plaits that were as purple as the last rays of the sun and her big green eyes fixed on him, she ran across the mossy carpet. As he looked at his daughter, a dull sense of guilt rose in him. He had promised her to go to the moon festival with her today. Actually, he had wanted to choose a dress together with Nandimie. A task that Landera had now obviously taken over. His wife had been taking on far too many tasks lately, he realised with discomfort. Before Nandimie could reach him, however, a commotion ran through the lay lines of the world. Nandimie stumbled and began to look around anxiously as tears rose in her eyes. Ilon had felt it himself as well. Probably all of Karand with him. Ilon had only experienced such a shock twice in his life. Once when his father fought a Torunga and the other time when a king mage of the Xual-Tar wanted to affect him with an annihilation. If he could feel the shaking so clearly, it meant that the king mage who used the laylines could not be far away. With wide strides he hurried towards his daughter, who was sitting with tear-wet eyes and stretching out her arms towards him. From the back room, where she had obviously been waiting, Landera came into the throne room with a worried look. A steep line of trouble had formed on his wife's even face. Ilon could read her question with no need to speak it out. His wife wondered if Karand was under attack too. A question that had also crossed his mind at first. But an approaching annihilation drove a stream of feelings before it, which he should have been able to sense by now. But there was nothing. Not the intangible fear of forgetting oneself or the feeling of one's own unimportance, as was typical for an annihilation. No, the target had to be located somewhere else nearby. Before he could reassure his wife, his twin sister appeared in a flash of silvery moonlight. Dark red hair tied into a high messy braid, she wore a tight-fitting dress black dress with lilies embroidered on it and silk black stockings. Obviously his sister had also just got ready for the moon festival. "Ilon! This is a torunga! Within our borders!" Urkasha had her large dark blue eyes rimmed darkly, making them seem even larger and also more sensual. But now, at this moment, when the Ehleen's rage took possession of his twin sister like a storm tide, this dark rim seemed nearly like war paint, similar to that of Rahelis' Ehleen. "Urkasha, we cannot know if it is really a Torunga"! He also spoke in a whisper, though Ilon did not know exactly why. What he did know, however, was that Urkasha was almost never wrong when it came to interpreting the king's magic. His expressed doubt was rather a plea to the Fates that his sister be wrong this one time. Urkasha took a step towards him. A few strands of her dark red hair had come loose and gently framed her pale face. "My brother! You know yourself as well as I do that it is a torunga!" Carefully she took Nandime, who was looking uncertainly between him and her aunt, from him to pass the child to her mother before continuing. "We have both felt this kind of power before. It must be a torunga. It's probably Oradanis! But I can't say for sure. It could also be his daughter!" Ilon closed his eyes. Urkasha was right and he knew it. Quietly, and still with his eyes closed, he whispered. "You are probably right. But what do you want us to do now"? Ilon felt his sister place herself directly in front of him. He could smell the sea that always seemed to accompany her. The sea, a light note of lilies and the heavy sweetness of the night flower she had put on to celebrate. Gently, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her just as she stood on tiptoe so she could press her forehead to his. This familiar gesture of nestling his forehead against his sister's helped him fight the fear at least a little. "You already know we have to answer. We cannot tolerate Oradanis within our borders. Oradanis will not negotiate with us, he will be driven out or he will conquer and as long as we do not confront him, he will plunder your kingdom brother. Is that what you want?" They both knew that there was no way around this confrontation. Gently he felt Urkasha's warm soft lips feather light on his before she broke away from him. "We have no choice. We will meet outside the castle as soon as possible!" With these words, his sister broke away from him without waiting for a reply and hurried out of the throne room. His wife and daughter watched her go for a second before Landera turned to him with a trembling voice. "We have known for a long time that we must face Oradanis". They were both right. So were his wife and Urkasha. He was not even surprised that Oradanis attacked at the beginning of the Moon Festival. He nodded resolutely before grasping the great white blade he had fashioned from the Elder branch Galudariem had bequeathed him. He would face the Titan today.

The heavy silver-white moonwood armour on his body gave him more confidence than he should feel. He knew that. But against an enemy like this he wanted to face at least fully equipped. To see Urkasha, on the other hand, outside the castle, still in her dress and silken stockings, was somewhat irritating. In disbelief, Ilon lifted the visor of his full helmet to get a better look at his twin sister. Her expression, was also one of disbelief, while a mocking smile twisted her pout. "Oh my brother. A suit of armour? Really? That's supposed to protect you from a Torunga?" She tapped the curved cuirass of his armour with the slender moonwood spear she now carried. "I hope the magic you have woven into this is more powerful than your mind"! Urkasha often teased him. She especially liked to do it in front of Landera. Normally he liked to get into that game. But now, at this moment, he had no desire to argue with her. Not even playfully. His hand, ruffled by the heavy gauntlet, darted forward and grabbed the delicate Ehleen by the upper arm. "'Sister!' This armour gives me a chance to survive at least one blow!" Urkasha reacted differently than he had expected. Normally, she should have wriggled out of his grip to counter the retort. His sister did not. She simply stayed still and looked at him with her eyes darkly framed for the moon festival. Eyes which were not matched by the mocking smile that twisted her lips. In his sister's large dark blue eyes, in which he had all too often seen the Ehleen wrath burn, there was now something else. Behind the storm that seemed to stir up that dark blue, something else was hiding. Nothing less wild. But something he would never have dreamed of ever seeing there. He could see fear in his sister's eyes. Carefully, Urkasha placed her free hand on his arm before whispering tonelessly. "I sincerely hope by the ever-wandering moon that you are right"! Even as they stood there, the twins felt a new wave of fearful oblivion. This time it was much closer. So close that even the Ehleen on the streets further down town flinched as one. The torunga was getting closer. They had to act. Carefully, he put his arm around his sister's hips to join her in invoking the magic of the world. When his sister imitated this gesture, he already felt the pull of that power, however. Urkasha had not remained idle during the time he had been arming himself. Before Ilon could form another thought, the sky had turned and they were standing in a place that meant nothing to him. He knew he should have known where he was standing. In fact, he should have recognised the land he was now on. They were west of Karand on the Previen coast. On a strip of dark earth unknown to him. The depression in which he was standing did not seem to fit in well with the rest of the surroundings. A landscape dominated by grey rock and ferns, as well as a few olive trees. The dull feeling that he must remember something grew stronger by the second. The feeling lingered for a second until Ilon realised with horror what the reason for his confusion was. Without transition, the feeling of irritation was replaced by a raging anger. Urkasha had brought him to the very place where the annihilation had taken place a few seconds ago. The annihilation had wiped out everything that had stood in that place. Even the memory. Ilon did not remember what this place had looked like before the annihilation, or even what kind of place it had once been. But he suspected that citizens of his country must have lived here. Urkasha next to him had come to the same conclusion. She pressed her lips together in rage as the crimson lilies on her spear opened their blossoms. Ilon could feel her will and anger flooding the weapon with power. The Torunga was not far. The titan's huge so-perfect form rose several metres from the swathe of destruction. With his hand extended to the dark sky, he seemed to gather dozens and dozens of lightning bolts straight from the clouds. Gritting his teeth, Ilon stretched. The Torunga had once been the rulers of the Dream. Before they had been overthrown in the War of the Earthen by their smaller siblings the Rethingen. But Galudariem had ended the Dream and what had made the Torunga stand out so much had been taken from them in that moment. Slowly and solemnly Ilon raised the great moonwood sword, lilies now blossoming on the blade as well. In the past, when the world was nothing but a dream, the Torunga could summon the magic of that very dream in the blink of an eye. But in the world they now lived in, invoking power took time. The Titan had more reserves than an Ehleen, but He and His twin sister were no mere Ehleen. They were the children of the Galudariem who had created the veil. That Ehleen who had decapitated the All-Being and made the dream become reality. The anger that burned in Ilon rushed like a storm tide through his veins and washed away all fear, while he began to bind the power of the dream to his will. Solemnly Ilon began to intone. "I, Ilon Karendilis, am king of this land and on my land my will prevails. Therefore Oradanis, I bind you three times"! Loud and strong his voice sounded across the plain swept empty by annihilation. Catching above the waters of the bay and playing among the shadows of the old gnarled olive trees. Even as his voice and his will were carried high to the sky by the sea and the plain, the storm clouds began to disperse to give way for a full and clear moon. His land and his will, had challenged Oradanis and thus interrupted him in his own invocation of power. A Torunga, however, would not be impressed for long by this demonstration of power. So Ilon had to proceed quickly, before the Titan had rallied. "With the word of a king, I banish you Oradanis, that you may fall into the shadows beyond the Eternal Night"! The power of his words made the Torunga instantly whirl around. It was rare for a being like Oradanis to feel the sensation of oblivion himself. But Ilon could see in the Torunga's eyes that the power he had just invoked had not failed to have an effect. Undeterred, he continued. "By the will of the Eternal, Endless Sea, I banish your name, Oradanis Lynrahul, to the infinite depths of oblivion"! While the power of his words, tore at him, trying to break away immediately, angry and roaring, the Titan started to move. Oradanis knew that he would not be able to cast a spell of his own in the short time he had left. However, a Torunga was rarely under eight metres tall. Even if Ilon was not a small Ehleen, in armour he measured less than one metre and eighty. The Titan did not need to cast a spell. It was quite enough for Oradanis to step on him. Ilon could feel the sweat gathering on the back of his neck. He barely had enough time. The power he had summoned raged in the form of cold silvery moonlight, around his clenched fists. With a mighty effort, he pressed his will into that cold light. The Titan, meanwhile, approached with the power and speed of an avalanche. Urkasha, who had rushed to meet the Torunga, leapt aside to strike with the lightning agility for which he had always admired his sister. She would try to hold off the titan until Ilon had tamed the power and could complete the spell. Her moonwood spear penetrated the Titan's calf to the shaft. Immediately, the crimson lilies on the blade and hilt of the weapon, eagerly raised their heads to take in the Titan's released power. Oradanis, for his part, snarled and hurled several bolts of lightning at Urkasha from his open hand. A titan did not need invocations and declarations of the king's will to command a death-dealing power. The sky fire, was not annihilation, but any Moonchild struck unprotected by such lightning died a quick cruel death. Urkasha knew this. She danced out of the way of the thunderstorm aimed at her. Leaping over the first bolt of lightning, she landed springily on the shaft of her spear, which was still stuck in the Torunga's body. Immediately she pushed herself off the white wood, somersaulted over two more lightning bolts and then landed smoothly like a cat on the giant's shoulder. Galudariem had taught her the art of how an Ehleen had to fight a Torunga. Until now, however, Ilon had hoped that they would never have to imitate the deeds of the ancient knights. With all his strength, he mustered his will to unite the glowing moonlight between his hands in front of his chest. Oradanis, who still had not slowed down, now pointed at him with one hand while he struck at Urkasha with the other. The woman did an elegant somersault to escape the Torunga's mighty paw. Following the Titan's command, the open sky sent a bolt of lightning against the Torunga's enemies. The lightning, which struck Ilon straight in the chest from the clear sky, nearly knocked him over. Every rune he had carefully carved on his armour glowed with silvery light as the Titan's willpower measured up to his own. Ilon could feel the power of the impact first burning and then melting the earth around his feet. Lightning flashed around each of his limbs, trying to burn past the protective runes and into the inside of his armour. "Ilon!" Now Oradanis shouted, his mighty voice effortlessly drowning out the thunder. "I have come with mine to rule over what is rightfully to be mine!
You are a false king and you know it. No moon child was created to rule over a Torunga". At these words, Oradanis' eyes began to fill with flashing power. "Above all, I will not tolerate the children of the dust of an imperfect world, ruling over the land of my fathers. For the arrogance of even having tolerated this, you and yours must be punished!" If he had not already clenched his teeth tightly with the strain of having to withstand the lightning. He would have spat. So that was what Oradanis was all about. Obviously humans had settled on this shore. Probably together with some Ehleen of his people. But such trifles probably did not matter to Oradanis. Few Torunga perceived more than the most powerful individuals of a race. But what was more disturbing remained the fact that Oradanis had spoken of his own. If this meant that others would follow the Torunga, it would mean the downfall of Karand. Urkasha, who had called her spear to her and landed once more on the Torunga's shoulder, wanted to immediately attack the giant's great throbbing vein running down his neck, as in the old legends. But Oradanis seemed to know the legends too. A jolt ran through the titan's body, causing Urkasha to lose his balance. In a split second, Oradanis had shrunk to the size of a human. The now much smaller titan, however, was still taller than the delicately built Ehleen woman, whom he immediately grabbed by the dark red hair with one hand. This was a trick Ilon had never seen on any Torunga before. If Oradanis had not still looked so perfect, Ilon could have mistaken the tall human in front of him. A human only beautiful and with a regal air about him. Oradanis, for his part, without hesitation, punched the horrified Urkasha in the stomach with his fist. The blow was so powerful that Urkasha's eyes tore open in pain before they rolled back in their sockets until only the white was visible. Dark foamy blood ran from her mouth and down over her pale chin. Heedlessly, the now shrunken Torunga dropped the small woman as Ilon was about to begin the third and final intonation. He had invoked word and will. For annihilation, however, it was necessary to name all three dreamers, WORD, POWER and WILL. Otherwise the annihilation was not complete and the victim would not be forgotten. The fear for Urkasha, gave a boost to his determination. With that very flaring anger, he clenched the struggling magic, gave it shape and subjected it to his will. In a clear voice, Ilon began the invocation of POWER. "With the --". That was as far as he got, however, as Oradani's blow knocked him to the ground. The Titan had leapt forward at the same time he had drawn his weapon. Ilon's armour deflected the sword's heavy stroke, but the spell was gone. He could still feel the power, which was slowly moving away from him. But with a raging titan before him, the likelihood of him being able to capture and subdue it again would be nil. "An Ehleen, against me?" Oradanis shouted, and despite his shrunken form, his voice easily overcame the dark rumble of the sea and also the ringing in Ilon's ears. A human would have fled, a Rethinga would have ducked his head and retreated, leaving this battle for another, a better day. But in Ilon, the wrath of the Ehleen burned hot and tempestuous like the dark sea behind him. Quick as a flash he rose, just in time to counter Oradani's blow. The Torunga was already growing again and so Ilon's riposte drew blood but did not decapitate the Titan as it would have done to any man-sized enemy. Furious, the Titan snarled as Ilon ripped his sword from its shoulder. Again Oradani's sword came down. But this time it was so massive that a parry was out of the question. Quick as a flash, Ilon advanced and sank his great blade into the Torunga's wounded calf. The blood that doused him hot and sticky was filled with the Titan's pain. A pain that tasted like sweet nectar on the lips of the raging Ehleen. Without pausing, Ilon spun around to give his next blow an even more powerful momentum. Smacking, the moonwood sword sliced through the calf and into the Titan's bone, stopping there. Anger pulsed silvery white at the edges of Ilon's vision. He wanted to inflict the same pain on the Torunga that the latter had inflicted on his sister. No, he wanted to repay that pain a thousandfold. Retribute until Oradanis was nothing but pain. There was something shrill about the Torunga's screeching that went against the royal dignity of this creature and further fuelled Ilon's hatred and disgust. Such a creature, claimed dominion over his land? The very thought repulsed him. Before he could free his blade, another bolt of lightning struck him. Oradanis had endured the pain and once again called upon the sky fire of his people. Groaning, Ilon pulled his head between his shoulders and braced himself for the mighty force that struck him. Triumphantly, the Torunga straightened above him. Ilon knew he would not be able to resist the power of the skyfire and dodge Oradani's sword at the same time. Anger at the Titan and anger at his own mistake fought for dominance in his mind. "Little Ehleen, your courage is foolish, as well as presumptuous. Unfortunately, there is not time for me to make you forgotten!" The agony in Oradani's mighty voice, was at least a little satisfaction, while Ilon watched helplessly as the mighty blade rose above him. Just as the sword came to a stop far in the sky above Ilon, a feminine voice rang out a few feet behind the Titan. Soft and breathless at first, then stronger and stronger. "By the power of the ever-wandering moon, I banish you, so that neither day nor night may remember you"! Puzzled, Orodanis wheeled around. The power of the almost complete invocation of THE THREE apparently took him completely captive. "How? There are two missing?" That was all the now trembling Torunga could produce. Relief washed over Ilon in a surge. Relief which mingled with anger at the Torunga. "How? Urkasha and I are twins. We are one! What I begin, she completes!" Ilon was now shouting too. The horrified Torunga tried to reach the Ehleen, who held the Silver Power of Invocation between her hands, stretched far above her head towards the moon. "By WORD POWER and WILL, you Oradanis Lynrahul, Shall Not Be"! Almost the Torunga had reached the little Ehleen. Almost! As the power of annihilation took possession of him, silvery glow permeated the Titan from head to toe. A power that enveloped Oradanis in a pulsating glow one moment, then in the next moment simply and completely disappeared, along with the Titan. Just as if the Torunga had never existed. Blinking, Ilon looked at his sister. "Urkasha!" He gasped. "We must arm ourselves!" True, he did not remember who they had fought here. But judging by the size of the footprints and his condition, it had been a Torunga. A Torunga who had threatened others. That much he remembered, even though the memory of what had happened was fading from his mind faster by the second. They had to be prepared that this Titan would not be the last to attack Karand. They had to do something.

One week later
With a racing heart, he looked at his sister. She stood looking towards the moonlit lake, in the heart of her home island. The clear and still mountain lake, had been her choice. From her posture, he could see how much the blow of the Torunga was still taking her. After the fight, she had collapsed and probably died without his help. Even today, a week after the fight and even with magical healing, the bruise on her stomach was dark purple and stretched from her breastbone to her crotch. He himself had escaped a little more lightly. His skin on his arms and legs was slightly red from the heat his armour had developed. Ilon could hardly remember the fight itself, but he had probably been struck by lightning as a result of the confrontation. Even though they had survived that confrontation thanks to the element of surprise, Ilon didn't want to take the chance again. Urkasha's slight trembling as she tried to stand up straight and not let her pain show, showed how close her victory was. Urkasha was right, they had to do something. It was for that very something that they were now standing here. The idea had occurred to him the day before yesterday, when he wanted to bind the Torunga's scattered essence to himself. Now all the power that the Earth Maiden had allowed to flow into this Titan was bound to a large stone that hovered over the lake. The idea was simple, even if he did not yet know whether they would succeed in realising it. Urkasha, who was now looking at him thoughtfully, gripped the moonwood spear tighter and nodded slightly at him. She was ready. Once more he closed his eyes. Once more he went over the ancient words before, with a jerk of his wrist, he let the rock tumble into the lake. They would be a channel for the power of the THREE and wrest from them a new creation which they would bring into this world. The anchor was the essence of the Titan, for their creation had to become truly mighty.
Proud, powerful, indomitable and above all, the pinnacle of creation. Beings who would challenge the Torunga for the heavens. When Ilon opened his eyes, he simultaneously opened a channel for the power of the dream, which he sent into the heart of the lake. There, where the essence of the annihilated Torunga waited. Only a second later, Urkasha joined him. Together they would do great things.