seen from Netherlands
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from India
seen from United States
seen from Australia
seen from Australia
seen from United States
seen from Russia
seen from United States
seen from Japan
seen from United States
seen from Norway
seen from Hong Kong SAR China
seen from China
seen from Singapore
seen from United States
seen from Netherlands
seen from United Kingdom
"In the spring of youth it was my lot
To haunt of the wide world a spot
The which I could not love the less---
So lovely was the loneliness
Of a wild lake, with black rock bound,
And the tall pines that towered around."
Edgar Allan Poe, "The Lake: To ______"
“The Azure Sky” - Chapter 10
Masterlist
Request Guidelines
Shadows to the Brightest Flame: Series
- The legacy of Lumia’s influence is scarred eternally into the lands of Elvendale. Burdened by a prophecy foretelling her demise and need for a successor, she watches for one capable of such power. Yet her enemies are working steadily to undo all she’s labored so long for, and it is millenia too late to make peace.
Emily Jones, heir to Eimileen, is a bold girl dedicated to protecting Elvendale, but the world she has grown so fond of is not so black and white as it seems, and the titles of Guardian of Portal and Guardian of Light may hold darker legacies some ancient elves have worked tirelessly to hide.
In conjunction with the extended version of the Guardian of Light prophecy I wrote previously
Basically a rewrite of all of the Lego Elves & Secrets of Elvendale storylines with an additional arc beyond the Season 4: Into the Shadows. There will be a varying degree of deviation from canon.
Technically a crossover with Lord of the Rings/Hobbit/Silmarillion in terms of worldbuidling, as I set Elvendale as being north of Middle-Earth, cause this is fanfic and I can. So there will be mentions of the Noldor, Sindar, Silvan, and some Tolkien characters, but they will be mostly background. Definitely not an issue if you aren’t familiar with the Middle-Earth fandom; everything will still be easy to understand.
Book 1: The Azure Sky
Grieving over the unexpected death of her grandmother, Emily Jones is accidentally trapped in another world. Befriending a few young elves in an attempt to find her way home, Emily discovers many secrets about her grandmother’s past, but for every truth she learns two more questions take its place, leaving her vulnerable to darker force inhabiting this realm.
A rewrite of Unite the Magic
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
___________________
Chapter 10
Aira holds out the ragged map, frowning. “We’ll have to go back to the ship.”
“What? Why?” Farran inquires.
The air elf rolls the map back up, sighing. “The next key is far up the Drevklan Mountains. We’ll need to get more supplies, and some cold weather clothing. The trek will probably take a few days there and back, if not longer. The location of the key is beyond where I’ve traveled in the past.”
Naida nods. “Alright, but there’s no reason for all of us to go. Make up a list and Farran and Azari will go back to get the supplies. Scout out a site for a suitable base camp, and Emily and I will buy some extra food for the journey back at Johnny’s bakery, and walk to Urilis to find some suitable clothes for her too.”
The air elf finds that agreeable, and sets out north. Emily watches her disappear in the distance. The mountains are taller than anything she’s seen in her life; they are sharp, jagged peaks breaking up the sky. And the sky hanging over them isn’t blue, but bears the same hues of grey and purple that color the mountains. There’s a slight haze there too, not enough to be a fog or even a mist, just a slight blur in some areas. Places Emily has to blink a few times to get her eyes to focus.
Farran accepts his job more relunctly, though his grumbing has more to do with his partner than his task. Naida manages to shoo the earth and fire elves off, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Naida never considered sarcasm to have a place in her decorum.
The water elf turns to Emily, smiling gently. “Urisil is around two miles from here through the grove,” she gestures westward, where the human notices a cobblestone road peeking through the edge of the trees. “Are you up to going now, or do you need to rest a while longer?”
Emily nods. “I’m alright, we can go.”
“Good. We’ll stop at the bakery on the way back. Everyone should be back here by nightfall.” She waits for Emily to catch up with her, and leads them steadily down the trail.
Naida’s pace isn’t brisk, but not noticeably slow, either. She seems to sort of slide across the ground, barely letting her weight rest on her feet. Emily’s quiet steps seem suddenly loud in comparison. She tries to move more softly, but without success. She ends up sticking her hands in her pockets and looking down at the ground.
“Oh, Emily?”
“What?”
Naida gestures towards her face. “Your ears. You should cover them while we’re in the village. It wouldn’t be wise to spread the news of a human wandering around this far north.”
Emily reaches up and undoes her braid, smoothing sections over her ears and the sides of her face. “Better?”
“Yes, that will be fine.”
They walk along, Emily tapping her fingers nervously. “Do you think they did the right thing?”
The water elf looks at her quizzically. “What do you mean?”
“Do you think the five sisters did the right thing by opening the portal to the human realm?”
“I…” Naida looks away, “I really don’t know. Like I had said before, I think Nuala regrets it, but I don’t know if she does because creating the portal itself was a bad thing, or because of the elves’ reaction to them doing it.”
“But what do you think?”
“I honestly do not know enough to have an opinion.”
Emily swallows. “But ever since I got here you’ve been focused on nothing but getting rid of me.”
Naida’s eyes open wide. “Just because I am aware of how some elves perceive humans does not mean I share their views. All I’m trying to do is get you back home safely; do you really think I just want to get rid of my cousin that I’ve barely had the chance to met?”
Emily stills. “I didn’t think of it that way.” A smile flickers on her face. “We are cousins, aren’t we? I mean technically second cousins but still…” She looks around at the forest, at the glimmering leaves, and breathing the air that tastes almost sweet. There’s a kind of energy throughout it all, one that weaves itself through the trees and the ground and deep into her bones. “I can’t believe there was this whole other part of my heritage, family, part of me that I never knew about.”
Naida frowns, considering. “Do you not want to go home?”
“No, I do, it’s just…I don’t know how I can leave this all behind. To just leave and pretend it never happened. I don’t think I could live with that either…” Emily sighs. “I don’t know. I’m overwhelmed trying to wrap my head around all of this, of elves and portals being real and my grandmother having kept so many secrets from me when I thought we were so close…and having a cousin who can manipulate the ocean with her mind.” The girl smiles at that last statement.
Naida smiles in return. She walks over and drapes her arm over Emily’s shoulder. “We’ve still got one key left to find, and the location of the portal after that. And when we’ve made it that far we’ll figure out the next step, and the next, and we’ll do what we can to make sure you don’t have to choose because this realm and the one you came from.”
Emily leans into the embrace. “Thank you,” she whispers.
And they keep holding on to each other the rest of the way to Urisil.
“Irritating” Rosalyn Nightshade Drabble, Secrets of Elvendale
Masterlist
Request Guidelines
_______________________
The moment you think you know everything worth knowing, the world is certain to humble you. Sometimes it’s dramatic, deep and heart-wrenching as Cronan’s betrayal.
Sometimes it’s small, insignificant, and thoroughly irritating.
If only she had been paying attention to whatever plant caused this, then it might be bearable; she could learn something from this experience. But she only left with the option of misery.
The rash is spread from the elbow of her left arm down to her wrist. It’s sensitive, and so itchy that it’s painful; she cannot hold her arm without it trembling.
Rosalyn has wrapped it in salve-soaked bandages, though it’s hard to tell how much they’re helping.
It’s not that it’s even close to the most painful injury she’s endured, it’s just so distracting. And having lived alone for so long, distracting thoughts feel like a spiral in madness. There’s no one to help her focus her thoughts elsewhere.
It’s surprising how such small things can be so irritating, little cracks that reveal all the deep-seated traumas you’ve never gotten over.
Rosalyn supposes it shouldn’t be surprising. And she cannot see any reason why she should get over her past.
Some wounds are simply meant to fester.
found some old quick sketches i did of some of the characters
Emily Jones, Azari Firedancer, Naida Riverheart, & Aira Windwhistler sketches, Secrets of Elvendale
Rosalyn Nightshade, Secrets of Elvendale
Aira Windwhistler, Secrets of Elvendale
“The Azure Sky” - Chapter 9
Shadows to the Brightest Flame: Series
- The legacy of Lumia’s influence is scarred eternally into the lands of Elvendale. Burdened by a prophecy foretelling her demise and need for a successor, she watches for one capable of such power. Yet her enemies are working steadily to undo all she’s labored so long for, and it is millenia too late to make peace.
Emily Jones, heir to Eimileen, is a bold girl dedicated to protecting Elvendale, but the world she has grown so fond of is not so black and white as it seems, and the titles of Guardian of Portal and Guardian of Light may hold darker legacies some ancient elves have worked tirelessly to hide.
In conjunction with the extended version of the Guardian of Light prophecy I wrote previously
Basically a rewrite of all of the Lego Elves & Secrets of Elvendale storylines with an additional arc beyond the Season 4: Into the Shadows. There will be a varying degree of deviation from canon.
Technically a crossover with Lord of the Rings/Hobbit/Silmarillion in terms of worldbuidling, as I set Elvendale as being north of Middle-Earth, cause this is fanfic and I can. So there will be mentions of the Noldor, Sindar, Silvan, and some Tolkien characters, but they will be mostly background. Definitely not an issue if you aren’t familiar with the Middle-Earth fandom; everything will still be easy to understand.
Book 1: The Azure Sky
Grieving over the unexpected death of her grandmother, Emily Jones is accidentally trapped in another world. Befriending a few young elves in an attempt to find her way home, Emily discovers many secrets about her grandmother’s past, but for every truth she learns two more questions take its place, leaving her vulnerable to darker force inhabiting this realm.
A rewrite of Unite the Magic
_____________________
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
_________________________
Chapter 9
Emily brings a hand to her neck, feeling the deep impressions left by the chain. Whatever presence they felt back in the hollow didn’t simply create the illusion of her amulet feeling heavier, they actually did make it heavier.
The human isn’t sure what to make of that. Naida said it was probably just some other elf doing their own thing, but if that were true, then why was there a connection to her amulet at all?
“Here we are!” Azari anounces, pulling the human from her thougts. Her jaw drops open in awe. The clearing they’ve entered opens up to the back of an active volcano. A waterfall of lava spills into a fiery pool below, igneous stones glowing across the surface. A two-story building stands next to the spectacle. It is constructed of stone, moss and ivy growing up the sides, with elegant metalwork ordaining the windows and balcony. The lower floor is set up as a bakery, and giving the remote location, Emily presumes the upper floor is where the owner lives.
“Hey, Azari!” a voice calls out. A light-auburn haired elf emerges from the doorway. He carries a tray of pastries in his hand. “Just iced a dozen cinnamon buns. Perfected my new recipe. A little bit of dragon root to add some more spice, balanced out with onasdera juice…”
“Sorry, Johnny, don’t have time to eat today,” Azari briskly interrupts. “We’re on a quest.”
“Well, if that involves blowing something up, then stay away from my bakery. I refuse to have to rebuild it a third time.”
Emily raises an eyebrow. “You blew up his bakery twice?”
“Technically, I only blew up his bakery once. The second time I blew up something adjacent to his bakery that caused it to catch fire and burn down before we could get it under control.”
The human shakes her head. “I’m not sure that’s any better.”
“It’s not,” Johnny concurs.
“Well, it’s good to see you again, Johnny, but we do have to be going,” Naida intervenes, trying to diffuse the argument.
“Actually,” Emily asks, her stomach growling, “Could we stay and eat a minute? I’m kinda burnt out. I don’t think humans have as much stamina as elves.”
“Alright,” Naida concedes. “We’ll stay.”
______________________________________________
Emily curls up in the wooden chair, content. An empty mug of hot chocolate and the remaining crumbs of a cinnamon roll lay on the table. She smiles, closing her eyes, feeling the gentle heat of the woodfire oven on her face and hands.
She closes her eyes, allowing her drowsiness to envelope her in a gentle sleep. The voices of the elves fade. Behind her eyelids she can still make out the glow of the fire. It dances, enchanting in the way all flames are, the golden warmth turning redder and darker, bleeding its light until its shape is only a deep black shadow…
“Hey Em! I think we’ve figured out the riddle!”
Emily jolts awake, accidentally tipping the chair chair over. She lands in a heap on the floor, face turning red from embarrassment. “Could you maybe be a little less abrupt next time?” she asks the fire elf as Aira offers a hand and lifts the human to her feet.
Azari shrugs. “I do it to Farran all the time and he doesn’t mind.”
Farran scowls.
“Given the context of the clue, the falling curtain of gold likely refers to the lava falls,” Naida explains smoothly.
“Okay,” Emily turns to look out the window at the phenomenon. “How on earth are we going to get it?”
“With me of course,” Azari anounces, standing up. She grins. “I am a fire elf, the most talented fire elf in our age group, in fact.”
“Wait, you can really walk across the lake and to the falls without getting burned?” the human asks.
“Absolutely.”
Emily frowns regardless.
“Well, you better get on with it then,” Aira cheerily interjects.
“Yeah, if we’re wrong we’ll need time to regroup,” Farran adds.
Azari rolls her eyes. “We’re not wrong.” She strides briskly out of the bakery, the other elves scrambling to catch up. Emily follows up the rear, worried. Naida and Farran had already risked so much gaining their keys, what if this next challenge proved to be too difficult for Azari?
The fire elf stands at the edge of the burning lake. Her eyes are closed and the goldenrod highlights in her hair begin to glow.
“This is it,” she declares, “I can feel it.”
Azari steps out onto the lava, her feet neither sinking or burning. Emily holds her breath, and is suddenly startled by the feeling of something bump into her leg. She looks down to see an oddly colored fox sit itself by her feet, watching Azari cross the lake.
Azari reaches the falls, taking a deep breath and parting the lava with her hands. She grimaces. “I can see the key,” she explains through gritted teeth, “But I can’t reach it and hold up the curtain at the same time.”
Aira turns to Johnny, “Could you…”
“No,” Johnny cuts off, blushing. “My magic is not nearly strong enough.”
“What about the fox?” Farran suggests. “He’s small enough to slip past Azari without her having to move.”
“That’s actually a good idea.” Azari admits. “Flami, Flami come here,” she calls. The little burdgundy fox trots towards her direction. “That’s a good boy, now go fetch that key.” The fox cocks his head, then steps past her into the nook behind the falls. He reappears holding a bronzy gold key in his mouth. “Well done!” Azari praises, scooping the fox into her arms and letting the lava fall back down. She jogs quickly to meet the others on the shore.
“That was amazing!” Emily finds herself exclaiming, reaching out a hand to pet Flami.
“No, wait Em! He still needs to cool off.”
Embarassed, the human quickly sticks her hands back in her pockets. “Sorry.” She watches as Azari takes the glimmering key from the fox’s mouth, the ruby affixed to the handle reflecting the light of the fiery pool beside them.
Emily sighs. “Only one more key to find.”
“The Azure Sky”- Chapter 8 - Lego Elves
Masterlist
_________________
Shadows to the Brightest Flame: Series
- The legacy of Lumia’s influence is scarred eternally into the lands of Elvendale. Burdened by a prophecy foretelling her demise and need for a successor, she watches for one capable of such power. Yet her enemies are working steadily to undo all she’s labored so long for, and it is millenia too late to make peace.
Emily Jones, heir to Eimileen, is a bold girl dedicated to protecting Elvendale, but the world she has grown so fond of is not so black and white as it seems, and the titles of Guardian of Portal and Guardian of Light may hold darker legacies some ancient elves have worked tirelessly to hide.
In conjunction with the extended version of the Guardian of Light prophecy I wrote previously
Basically a rewrite of all of the Lego Elves & Secrets of Elvendale storylines with an additional arc beyond the Season 4: Into the Shadows. There will be a varying degree of deviation from canon.
Technically a crossover with Lord of the Rings/Hobbit/Silmarillion in terms of worldbuidling, as I set Elvendale as being north of Middle-Earth, cause this is fanfic and I can. So there will be mentions of the Noldor, Sindar, Silvan, and some Tolkien characters, but they will be mostly background. Definitely not an issue if you aren’t familiar with the Middle-Earth fandom; everything will still be easy to understand.
Book 1: The Azure Sky
Grieving over the unexpected death of her grandmother, Emily Jones is accidentally trapped in another world. Befriending a few young elves in an attempt to find her way home, Emily discovers many secrets about her grandmother’s past, but for every truth she learns two more questions take its place, leaving her vulnerable to darker force inhabiting this realm.
A rewrite of Unite the Magic
____________________________________
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
____________________________________
Empty-handed, Naida and Emily trudge back to the hollow’s entrance. “Do you think anyone else will have been successful?” the human ponders.
“Most likely Farran. He has the strongest connection to the trees, and while the ones here don’t have the most friendly of dispositions, they still have a fondness for earth and silvan elves.”
“Trees have dispositions?”
Naida smiles, “Yes, but on most worlds they perpetually sleep, living their lives in the dream world. In this realm, when the elves were first created, they started to wake them up.”
“Why did they want to wake them up?”
Naida shrugs. “It’s just in the elven nature. Curiosity, and a deep love for the elements of nature, desiring to be nearer to it. Some travelers even say that elves have a greater love of language compared to other species.”
Emily smiles. “My parents always said I got my green thumb from the grandmother. My little sister can’t stand the racks of plants I keep in my bedroom.”
“Maybe that’s why Eimileen chose you to inherit the key,” Naida suggests gently, “because she saw more of elvenkind in you than human.”
“You really think so?”
“I’m not wholy certain, but ever since I’ve met you, you’ve seemed comfortable in our land, almost connected to it in the way we are.”
A blush spreads across Emily’s face, “I don’t know that I’m…” but she is, if she thinks about it, peeling away the layers of the fear and anxiety she’s experienced since coming here, she realizes how much more alive she’s felt in this world, far more than she ever has on earth. Suddenly, the prospect of going home seems almost devastating.
Naida stills.
“What is it?”
The water elf doesn’t respond, turning her head to watch the woods behind them. “There’s someone here.”
“You think one of the others came looking for us, since we were late?”
Naida frowns, staring deep into the trees.
That’s when Emily feels it, a presence, lurking beyond where they can see. Elusive, oppressive like a vivid surreal dream. Her amulet weighs heavier upon her neck, threatening to cut through her skin. The clear blue surface of the stone turns dark, cloudy.
“Aira? Azari? Farran...” Naida calls softly, though it is clear from her face that she does not expect and answer.
There is none. Just the deep silence.
“That’s not them,” Emily stutters out, “It’s something else…”
Naida grabs her hand, turning them around to walk briskly. “We’re not far from the entrance.”
“We should go faster.”
“We don’t need to panic. Whoever’s back there is probably just another elf minding their own business.”
“They were watching us.”
“That doesn’t mean they would try to hurt us. There are very few people and creatures to fear in Elvendale. It would be unlikely we would come across one of them.”
“But possible.”
Naida sighs quietly. “Just keep ahold of my hand.”
They continue on a few steps, and Emily can feel herself calming down. “Didn’t Azari say this place was haunted?”
“I very much doubt what we felt was a ghost.”
“Do ghosts even exist, like for real, in Elvendale?”
“There are rumors, and one cannot discount the abundant bizarre events that have occurred here…but I doubt it.”
Nuala had always said the images that haunted the hollow weren’t spirits, but rather vengeful memories. Of course no other elf could speculate where the second sister had come across such an eccentric idea, but Nuala held to it all the same. She once told Naida that it wasn’t the memories themselves she should fear, no matter how frightening the apparitions were. It was the people who could make those memories come alive. Those were who she should fear. Naida asked ‘who possessed such power?’ but that her grandmother never answered.
Spotting Aira and Azari ahead, the water elf is pulled from her thoughts. “Any luck?” she calls. The fire and air elves shake their heads.
Farran then emerges from his path, grinning from ear to ear. His face is riddled with bloody scratches, and he holds a key that glistens as if it had been carved from an emerald.
“You found it!” Aira exclaims.
“Yep, wasn’t an easy task though. It took an incredible amount of discipline and skilled magic to unearth it from a block of solid crystal. Halfway through, with sweat dripping down my brow, lungs burning, I…”
“Yeah, yeah, we get it,” Azari interjects. “What happened to your face?”
Farran shrugs, sheepish. “The block of cyrstal may have been located underneath a squirrel’s acorn stash. Said squirrel was not particularly happy.”
“Here, let me help.” Aira kneels down and pulls some salve and a cloth from her back. She gently cleans the cuts.
“I wish I could have seen it,” Emily muses. “Anyways, two keys down, two to go. What does the map say?”
Azari snatches it out of Farran’s hand.
“Here at the birthplace of the changing world
Fire reforms that which is old and worn
Trials of flame perfect their sacred jewel
Concealed behind a falling curtain of gold.”
The fire elf frowns. “No clue what that means, but it looks like the next key is located somewhere in the Lava Fields.”
“That sounds…dangerous,” Emily comments.
Azari grins devishly. “Trust me, it’s one of the coolest places in all of Elvendale.”
