Being Master of the Gardens was an honor that he took very seriously. He was in charge of every plant, tree and fauna in all of Dragon Valley, which included the community gardens that helped keep everyone fed throughout the year. Some would find his job lonely, but Aesar didn't. He preferred the company of himself and his plants over his fellow Elves.
At one time, the Elves had been known as a peaceful race, until the Faction Uprising, that had pitted elf against elf, and resulted in the Blood Wars that still raged on across the lands, even to this day. Dragon Valley, thankfully, did not see the deadly cost of the Blood War, nestled as it was among the white birch trees and gentle slopes. Aesar could only that they remained that way, undiscovered.
Suddenly Aesar became aware of a heavy stillness in the air, like the weight of a heavy rain that had not yet fallen from the sky. The eerie silence was unnerving; not even the sparrows were chirping, all was dead quiet. He frowned, something was dreadfully wrong.
He looked around, but the streets were empty, an unusual occurrence for this time of day. What was going on?
It was times like these that he wished he was on the High Council, then he would be able to get some answers straight away, instead of waiting on a formal announcement that would eventually be posted in the town's square. Eventually being the key word, for the High Council was not known for its speed in letting the townspeople know what was going on.
There had even been rumors of corruption for years, that was one reason why Aesar had distanced himself from all the Council members; the other reason being that he couldn't stand any of the pompous jacka*ses that served as council members.
His musings were interrupted by a strange light, and the sudden appearance of a large object with four prongs that stretched out like fingers. He walked around the strange object, and wondered what it was, and what it was made of. He had never seen anything like it.
At first he poked at it with a stick, but once he was assured that it seemed harmless, he reached out with his hand and touched the strange cold metal. He ran his hand down the smooth metal arm, searching for some sort of clue that might tell him what this thing was. He found nothing, and let his hand fall away, and after some time of scratching his head, he resorted to kicking the thing.
It reacted with smoke, that pooled around his feet, but he didn't feel afraid, only curious.
He heard a loud whirling sound, and he took a slight step back, his brows knitted. The sound grew louder, and louder; and as it did, so did Aesar's alarm. Had he inadvertently triggered something? Was the thing going to explode?
A bright white light seemed to glow from the object, and it grew brighter and brighter. Aesar was squinting against the light, but still he didn't move, whether he was frozen in fear or fascination, he couldn't say.
He heard a slight humming sound, and something that sounded like gears clanking away, and he forced his eyes open, despite the bluish white glare, he needed to know what the sound was. Could it be the Fae? He had heard rumors that they could travel in ways not known by the Elves, perhaps this was their traveling contraption?
If so, he would need to alert the High Council, and quickly; nothing good could come out of anything that was associated with the Fae. They lived by a code all of their own, and any fool dumb enough to deal with them, deserved whatever they got.
Inside the light, he saw what looked like a door, only it didn't. His mind scrambled for words to explain to himself what he was seeing, only there were no words. A door opened in the Lightness, and a being with blue hair and no eyes stepped out.
Aesar's jaw dropped, what black magic was this? That a door could be created out of the light? That a strange being could appear, one that did not have eyes, but some sort of metal band around its head instead? The band glowed blue, and Aesar was startled when the being began to speak---in Elvish.
"Greetings! Be not afraid, I am not here to harm you Aesar Durithil."
So many questions pressed on Aesar's mind, but the first one that came out was, "How do you know my name?"
"I am from the future, I know many things."
The future? Could it be possible? How...why? The blue haired being answered Aesar's unspoken questions, almost as if he could read his mind. "I'm from the far future, beyond what you could even think of. There is trouble though, " he said sadly, "great trouble, and this is where it all begins, and where our future ends."
Aesar was confused by the being's words, what did it all mean? "I don't understand."
The being nodded. "I know you don't, but you do not have to, you need only follow my direction. If you do not follow it exactly, then your race and mine, indeed, all races, are doomed, and yet even then, the outcome is not for sure."
"Doomed?" Aesar echoed.
"It is not known in this time, but it is known in mine; that your Blood Wars woke up an ancient menace, one that devastates all the lands, but not in a way that was expected. No, you all thought that with the death of the last fire breather, the threat was gone, but it was not. The first fell ill within a week of the fire breather's death, but no one was alarmed, not until later, not until it was too late."
"Too late?" Aesar felt like a parrot, but he couldn't help himself. Fire breathers? The last one had been slain just a few days ago, at least according to Laren, the Bard, who had sung about it for his supper that night. Did the being mean that the fire breathers still lived?
"Yes, too late. The blood of the fire breather is infected, and Oros, who had slain it, was infected, he in turn infected others, who infected others, and so on, until there was nothing left of your kind. It turns out, that in the future, your kind is very important."
Aesar automatically took an object that the being handed him. It was the size of a book, but it was made of the same strange metal as the metal prongs on the object the being had come through.
"Take this, and I will help you as I am able. There are some who live in my time that do not agree with me that the survival of your race, means the survival of ours, so I must be cautious, but I will do what I can. I will send you important messages on that tablet, do your best to follow what I say, and if luck is with us, we may yet be able to save your people, and in doing so, save mine."
Aesar's head was swimming with all the information that the being had given him. The Elves did not live in the being's time? How could that be? While they tended to argue and fight amongst themselves and anyone else they came across; they were a strong people. What kind of ill magic was this illness that it could wipe out an entire race?
"Be strong Aesar, and courageous. Times will be dark indeed, and all hope may seem gone, but while one of your blood still lives, hope will live also." The being turned and faced the light, ready to go back to his time.
"Wait!" Aesar called out, and the being paused. "What is your name?"
"Simply call me the Traveler." he said with a smile, and then he disappeared into the light, and the object disappeared with him.
Aesar rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Had that been a waking dream, or a vision of some kind?
Maybe it had been a hallucination? He hadn't been sleeping well these past nights, perhaps he was overtired?
He looked at the object in his hand, it felt real enough. He poked at it with his finger, but it didn't do anything. He shook it, and it remained a dead weight in his hands. How exactly was the Traveler going to send him messages on that thing? It seemed broken.
Maybe if he kicked it? That had seemed to work with the other object. He placed it on the ground and kicked it with his foot. Nothing. Not even a hint of smoke or light. He picked the object up again. What was he going to do with it?
He looked up, and froze when he noticed the burnt patch of grass on his land.
He could have cried. His poor grass! That thing had killed it! Aesar knew then, that it must have been real, and the grass bore the burden of proof. He couldn't say why he believed the burnt grass over the strange metal object in his hand, but he did. Maybe it was because he felt so connected to plants, whatever the reason, he felt the weight of responsibility fall on him.
Somehow it was up to him to save his race, and he had no idea how. At least the Traveler had not come to one of the High Council members, they would have done nothing, but Aesar, he was going to do something. He was going to survive!
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Notes: Story one million and two, lol Or was that challenge? No, no, I think it's both of them, haha! :P
I've wanted to try out the Doomsday Colony challenge for a while, and when I finally sat down to start it---I discovered there was more than one part to it! So this is part one, Countdown to Doomsday. Hopefully Aesar doesn't get infected and die, that would end this challenge story pretty quickly, lol :P I'm also using the Vector mod, I've had it installed for eons, but only use it for special occasions, I think this qualifies as a special occasion!
Day one, or 60 as the challenge writes it---he's allowed to go to the grocery and book store and spend an alloted amount of money.
The tricky part was waiting until 4 pm and not forgetting that he needed to do that, and be home by 6:30, but we managed. Now he's hanging out at his house, waiting until he can leave again, he's starting to feel a little stir crazy...
One final note---Aesar was made for me by the lovely and talented Nellas (thank you!!) over at TFM's Sims Asylum. You can check out more of her stuff here: Nellas Nuthouse
Thanks for reading, and comments/questions are always welcomed. =)
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