Gen One- Chapter Seventeen

The sunshine was warm, but the wind had a hint of a biting chill to it. Autumn had officially arrived, but summer was not ready to leave just yet. It was for that reason why everyone around me was still able to get away with wearing shorter sleeves. However, 'everyone around me' excluded me. I was actually getting a bit too hot thanks to Eden's insistence that I wear something warmer. Although, if that meant I got treated to delicious ice cream in order to cool me down then I reasoned I couldn't complain. I also understood where Eden was coming from as well. He was afraid just as I was afraid. The arrival of autumn meant that winter would follow, and the two of us were dreading it. That was due to the warnings of my doctor and the nurses. The freezing temperatures would make me sick more easily, but the biggest fear was the return of my pneumonia. After having such a bad case of it, everyone was fearful it would become a chronic problem when the weather turned foul. Given how breathing grew difficult whenever I became scared or overly stressed, the threat was a true concern indeed.

I figure that was the other reason why Eden was treating me to ice cream. Our trip to the hospital for my tri-weekly therapy had resulted with my doctor giving us another long talk about the potential risks the winter brought. It was the same one he had been giving us for months now, and it was beginning to bring us down. We needed a little something nice to cheer us up.

Gen One- Chapter Sixteen

I swatted at a mosquito who dared trying to land on my arm. There weren't many of the perky buggers at the lot we were staying at, thankfully, but boy did the ones that were there like to target me! I had already put on bug spray, but I was going to have to add a bit more once Allium's story was over. It was the Saturday after Amaranth's week of detention. In order to help de-stress him and make up for the playing time we had lost, Blaze had suggested we all go camping while the weather was still nice. That was how my five friends, Eden, Blaze, and I ended up at a little camping ground further away from all the houses and closer to the small Berrybrook farms. We hadn't been at the lot for long before Allium announced that he had to tell the story about where we were. Apparently, the area used to be a haven for fairies. I was wondering what the several incredibly small houses on thick poles were, and that they were fairy houses answered that. According to Allium, there was one fairy that was bigger than the others. He was the king. His wings were so brilliant and colorful that a jealous human decided to rip them all out.

     "The fairy king and all of his followers used their strength to fight off the human," Allium continued, "But the human was a tricky one. He hid two of the king's feathers in places the fairies could not find. With even just one feathery wing missing, this left the leader of the sprites unable to fly. He fell into a deep sleep to hide his shame. The others took his body away from here and hid it so no harm could befall him again. Then they kept on searching for the lost feathers. The human hadn't been able to travel much before they stopped him. He couldn't have hidden the last two parts of the king's wings very far. However, nothing was ever recovered. The fairies gave up hope and decided to hide themselves away from humans in order to prevent their king's fate from happening again."

Allium took a dramatic breath.

     "Yet, rumor and legend insist that the fairies are still watching. It is said that the fairies will reward even humans who find the feathers with piles of gold- enough hold to make them rich for their entire lifetime."

Gen One- Chapter Fifteen

My body, which had felt light and free in sleep, suddenly felt heavy and trapped as I woke up. There was a sniffling noise bothering me, and seconds later a big ball of fuzz was stuck right in my face. I sputtered and rolled away as Button's tongue lapped at my cheek next. Like always, she was insistent on getting at my face even though I was able to break free of my sleeping bag's grasp on me and gently pushed her away. She thankfully gave up on her licking. However, Button then proceed to lay herself on top of me. It was next to impossible to get her to move. I knew she hadn't liked being separated from me that previous night, so she was making up for lost time.

Gen One- Chapter Fourteen

I pulled back when Button once again decided to wet my face with her lovely wet tongue. I loved Button, but the one thing about her I detested was her bad dog breath. Eden had bought her some toys that supposedly helped to floss her teeth, and he had even been able to coax her to sit still long enough for him to scrub at her teeth with a toothbrush a few times. It felt like it didn't do much, to me at least. I wiped off the slobber and gently pushed Button away.

     "Come on now," I said, "You need to be brushed. It's not time to give licks."

Button sat down for a brief few seconds, but she soon stood back up to go at my face again. I sighed, but stopped complaining. I would rather deal with Button's kisses than have to deal with the inevitable that was going to happen soon. No matter how badly I wanted to get out of it, there was no way that was possible. In fact, it was only several seconds later when Eden called for me.

     "Ethereal! It's time to go!"

Gen One- Chapter Thirteen

I fixed my hair and straightened out my clothes for the thousandth time. The outfit was a little too new and stiff for my liking, but good ol' Eden had refused to allow me to wear any of my previously bought outfits on my first day of school. Not that any of what I had could be considered old or worn at all. I had so many clothes that by the time I got around to wearing a few things twice Eden had already bought me more. It was becoming a really big problem that I was going to have to talk to him about soon. That issue was hardly bothering me at the moment though. I had thought my one year anniversary of being away from The Company earlier in the summer had been a momentous occasion. As it was, I was more anxious about what this particular day had in store for me. I practiced a smile and pose in the mirror right as Button shuffled into Eden's room. The mirror in my room wasn't low enough to get a full view of myself. I gave Button a pat before smiling wider at my reflection.

     "That just looks silly, doesn't it?" I said to myself and my dog, "I think a nice simple one will do fine."

     "Ethereal!"

The call came from Eden downstairs. My heart pounded loudly for several thumps. It was almost time to go.

Gen One- Chapter Twelve

I was pretty much bouncing up and down in my seat, craning my neck to get a glimpse of the house I hadn't seen in a month. Eden swore the reason he slowed the car down was because the road was icy, but I couldn't help but to think that he was teasing me. I had been driving him crazy with my excitement since I had been given my release date from the hospital. For him to prolong my anxiousness was something I could easily see him doing. Although, even though we were going slow the house came up on us so fast. I couldn't believe I was finally back on my street. My house was almost as marvelous a sight as it had been the very first time I saw it. I gripped the sides of my seat tighter with every passing second.

The Royal 7

Writing "The History of the Elves" opened my mind to other ways in which I could expand the world's canon cast of characters. A lot of my thoughts centered around the seven original elven kingdoms, their rulers, and their descendants. I revealed Ellothiel's noble heritage for the first time, and that inspired me to think of how the blood from the other five kingdoms had continued on. Realizing I had never gone in depth about the children of the other leaders of the elven land, save for giving Anoriand a brief mention in "Revelations", I thought it would would be a good idea to link the kingdoms of old with the current ruling forces of the elves. Thus, "The Royal 7" were born. I like to think the children of the leaders are little celebrities among their people, which is why their collective group has been dubbed with such a name by the other elves. The "Royal" naturally refers to how all are descended from the nobility, and the "7" alludes to both the number of children and the old kingdoms. The children are then divided within themselves based on their family and land of origin. Those are as follows: