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Chapter 3
The Ivory Castle

Abal's paced quickened as her concern for the animals grew, in desperation she hurriedly moved toward the Ivory Castle. Upon their approach they were greeted by a row of indestructible warriors, gifted with invincibility which was bestowed upon them by the elf princess Sindri. The warriors guarded the castle day and night, for they took turns keeping a look out for any dangers that might come to the castle. This sight greatly relieved Abidan for he was friends with several of the other warriors, they greeted each other with expectancy and love. As they stood a sound began softly in the distance, like the rumble of the herds of buffalo that graze the great plains of the north. This low rumble quickly turned into a load roar, the ground began to tremor beneath their feet. Warriors stood ready, drawing their arrows from quivers lined with jewels and gold, they looked at each other in awe as something approached. It got closer and Abal started roaring with a neigh for she knew what it was, sensing this Abidan yelled out to the other warriors. It is the nothingness! Somehow he has escaped his slumber! The nothingness now had a new force with him which they did not recognize.

This force shined not with the light of day, but with the utter blackness like the tar pits that line the eastern basin. The warriors stood terrified as they approached for the light in the distance was now consumed by the darkness. Suddenly, the ground started shaking even more violently and it began to break up into long jagged fractures. The landscape filled with this terrifying noise, and smoke began to enter the air which terrified all who looked upon it. Abal and Abidan ran into the Ivory Castle, and the warriors stood guard at its entrance. This confused the nothingness for it wondered why Abal and Abidan did not stand poised to fight, they were also blinded by the brilliant white light that emanated from the castle.

The vibration was all throughout the Ivory Castle, which was made of an indestructible stone called almagor and impervious to the attack. There in the shaking hallways of the castle stood the wizard Galen, "I have been waiting for you, come closer for I must speak with you urgently". The wizard, Galen, stood there completely still. It appeared that his magic was somehow controlling space and time for the dust particles slowly moved around him in the light, which in contrast moved much faster outside of a circular area that was surrounding his body approximately seven meters outward. Abidan and Abal walked over toward Galen and they felt themselves moving through time, it was a strange sensation almost like a wave. This feeling travelled through their whole body until passing through the last part, making a gentle sound almost like a chime resonating with the frequency of the universe. They stood next to Galen they suddenly felt as though they had been transported to another place and time.

It was much colder, and darker for the walls were now lit by giant torches which crackled and hissed with gentle flames licking the air with a sound that was truly magnificent. Abidan spoke to Galen saying "Where have you taken us, and why have we come to this place?", sensing the confusion in Abidan and Abal, Galen began to speak in the low voice of an older man gently trembling with the signs of very old age yet sounding very pleasant. He started by saying "There is a terrible force at work in the land of the Almas, for the nothingness has grown in power and strength". Abidan spoke to Galen saying "How can this be? For Abal had used the power of Bara'ah to bind the spells of the nothingness and turn its form into that of a tree". Galen again spoke, in a much softer voice as if something troubled him greatly,

"There are forces at work here, warrior Abidan, which cannot be bound. They rest in the depths of our world, deep within chambers of the earth. They burn with the power that fuels the world's volcanoes and vents beneath the ocean. Long ago there stood a proud warrior, just like you he was brave and fought many battles, winning many victories. With a pure heart he was granted access to the Elvish homeland, which is beyond the furthest reaches of the land of Almas, at the great divide. This warrior fell in love with a beautiful Elvish princess, Nathwyna. Her form was as beautiful and she was bathed in amber light, which glowed with much intensity. There were many other elves who tried to love this princess but the warrior worked very hard to win her affection. In return, the princess fell in love with the proud warrior, which caused him great happiness. The two lived in together for many years, for they loved one another dearly. The warrior vowed to always protect the princess no matter the cost, and for his love she gave up her immortality to live a human life with the warrior. Then, something very dark and terrible invaded their world, the rift between their world and ours suddenly opened, causing the barrier between the Elvish world and the human world to collapse. This was a terrible thing, for many of the elves hated humans; for they were very terrified of mankind because man worked very hard to destroy everything that they they had created, including themselves. Upon searching out the answer for what the force was, the elves found signs of magic that was only used by a being far more powerful than any other that they had previously encountered. The Elvish King determined told the warrior of this magic, and about Krahiya, a very old creature that had existed within the depths of the earth. Trapped by a magic that an Elvish warrior had cast on him many years ago.

Galen paused, considering the story of old and his voice began to tremble even more. “The warrior assured his princess that he would fight the terrible creature and close the rift for good. So the Elvish princess granted him passage to the world where the creature had come from, for the elves had the ability to travel between the world of the humans and that of the elves. He hunted down the creature and finally as he came upon the home of this terrible thing, in the land of Noorah north of the great pass, he fought a terrible battle with the being Krahiya. This creature was responsible for the death of many millions of human beings and thousands of the Elvish people. It possessed a magical force which controls the mind of men, and as the warrior of old drew his arrow to strike a death blow the creature cast a spell upon him. The warrior stumbled back; usually his purity was resistant to most kinds of magic. However, this time he felt something moving within the very core of his soul. Suddenly, the warrior exploded in great cloud of fire which engulfed the creature and the warrior mixing their substance in the fiery cloud. The creature had cast the spell purposefully because he knew that once he destroyed the warrior's body, he could use his powers by bonding to them. The two, now one became the force you call the nothingness which fights and plagues our land today."

Abal neighed with a loud roar as if terrified by the truth that she sensed in Abidan, for this had never been uttered before. Galen handed a magical sceptre to Abidan and told him that contained within it were fantastic powers, although terrible if used incorrectly. They were to only be used once the nothingness had been caught and separated into its two components, the spirit of the warrior and the spirit of the creature Krahiya.