"How long… I mean, when is it?"
"The year is 1374, by Dalereckoning," Seiveril answered. He was a little more steady on his feet, and he squared his shoulders to look the elf in the face. "Myth Drannor fell more than six hundred years ago."
"Who… who am I?"
"You are Fflar Starbrow Melruth, and you were a great captain of Cormanthyr in the final days of Myth Drannor."
Fflar hugged his arms close to his chest and shivered.
"I am Fflar," he said. "But I was not a great captain. I failed. Why would you bring me back?"
"Because an army of fiends threatens an elven realm again, and I thought you might know more about such a foe than anyone now living. Because my father gave Keryvian into my care, and it will answer no hand other than yours. This is why I called you out of Arvandor."
"Arvandor… I was in Arvandor," Fflar said quietly. He took a deep breath, and looked at the sacred grove around him, and the rosy mists of dawn, and the cloud-streaked skies overhead. "I do not recall it now."
"Forgive me if I did not do as you wished, but you said you were willing to return," Seiveril said. "If you had declined, I could not have brought you back."
"I don't remember," Fflar said. His eyes fell on the sword Keryvian, lying on the altar-stone nearby, and he moved over to slide his hand onto its grip. "I remember you, though."
Seiveril watched the moon elf lift the sword and carefully feel the weight of it.
"Do you remember Elkhazel Miritar?" he asked. "Yes," Fflar replied. "He was a good friend. Did he escape the city's fall?"
"Yes. I am his son."
Fflar looked sharply back at Seiveril and said, "Yes, I think I see the resemblance. You have his hair and his frame, I think." His lips twitched in a weak smile. "Well, Seiveril son of Elkhazel, I find that I am hungrier than I ever imagined possible, and I'd like to put on something more substantial than this nightshirt you picked out for me. If you could point me toward breakfast and a change of clothes, I would be in your debt."
"Come with me," Seiveril said. "My home is not far away, and we have much to talk about."
An hour after Grayth had concluded his morning prayers, Araevin and Ilsevele invited the human and genasi to breakfast with them in Araevin's apartments. Araevin had the kitchens send up the heartiest fare available, and while the four of them ate, Araevin explained what he had learned by opening the second stone.
"A cold, mossy gorge with a swift stream…" Grayth said. "That could be anywhere. I hope your sense of direction remains as sharp as it was with the second stone."
"I'm not sure I want to get anywhere near that third stone," Maresa said. "In case you've all forgotten, the competition brought a dozen demons with them to the forest tower. Clearly, they can find the stones, too, and next time they might choose to bring along two dozen."
"I don't believe they knew where the second stone was hidden," Araevin said. "I've had a chance to look at it closely, and I think its magic wards it against being found or used by the wrong people."
"Then how did the demon-elves and their pets know where to find the stone?" the genasi demanded.
"Simple," said Grayth, watching Araevin. "They followed us. Remember when we were spied upon in the Ardeep? Araevin defended us against that attempt, but I'd wager that our adversaries succeeded on other occasions we didn't detect."
"You have done more than your mother could have expected of you already," Ilsevele said. "You need not share this danger with us."
The genasi snorted and replied, "You won't cut me out of my share that easily. I'm not content with the few tarnished coins we grabbed in the wizard's tower."
Araevin met Ilsevele's eye, and his betrothed winked at him. He covered a smile with his hand and reached for another apple from the breakfast tray. A soft knock sounded at his door. He rose and answered it, and found that it was Loremaster Quastarte.
"Glad homeagain, Mage Araevin," the loremaster said. "Might I have a moment of your time?"
"Certainly, Loremaster. Please, come in." Araevin replied.
He showed the loremaster into his sitting room, and introduced Quastarte to Grayth and Maresa. The old elf concealed his surprise with admirable skill, and even remembered to clasp Grayth's hand in the human manner and offer Maresa a courteous bow.
Araevin motioned the loremaster toward an empty seat and asked, "What is on your mind?"
Quastarte glanced at Grayth and Maresa, and said in Elvish, "My business concerns the attack on the Tower, and what we found near Nandeyirron's Vault."
"They know of the attack. In fact, we've seen the demon-elves again and fought them. You can speak openly."
Quastarte nodded, and switched back to Common.
"We have learned a great deal about our attackers since you departed the Tower," he said. "My colleagues and I have pored through all of our most ancient texts and cast many divinations in order to gain a glimpse of our enemy, and our efforts have not been entirely in vain. Tell me, have you ever heard of House Dlardrageth?"
"My father mentioned that name," Ilsevele replied, "when we spoke to him before leaving Evermeet."
"That makes sense," Quastarte said. "Your father's family came out of Cormanthor. Naturally, he might have heard the old tales of House Dlardrageth. They were a powerful sun elf House in ancient Arcorar, one of the elven realms that later united into the great kingdom of Cormanthyr, whose capital was Myth Drannor. As the legend tells, they did indeed breed with demons, seeking the strength to re-forge the long-fallen empire of Aryvandaar and reclaim the dark glory of the Vyshaanti lords."
"They are that old?" Araevin asked. "Why have we never heard of them before?"
Quastarte steepled his fingers in front of his chin and said, "The very question I asked myself once I read the old accounts of the Dlardrageths, but I will get to that soon. The dealings of House Dlardrageth were eventually uncovered in ancient Arcorar, and the powers of that realm moved against these evil elves, sealing them within their own keep behind impenetrable wards. Their House was forsaken by all other elves, their dealings renounced, their titles and lands taken from them.
"The Coronals of ancient Arcorar presumed that the Dlardrageths had been dealt with, and most of our records of the House end there. But, as it turns out, some of the Dlardrageths escaped this fate. They fled west, to the rising sun elf realm of Siluvanede in the High Forest. There they remained hidden for several hundred years, slowly corrupting and poisoning several of the influential houses of the younger kingdom; Reithel, Yesve, and others.
"Through their minions in Siluvanede, the Dlardrageths provoked the Seven Citadels' War, a conflict between the sun elf realm in the southern High Forest, the moon elf realm of Sharrven in the north, and the wood elf realm of Eaerlann in the east. However, they did not see their evil plans to fruition, because early in the war the Dlardrageths were found but and imprisoned beneath the crag known as Ascalhorn. Siluvanede, and the Dlardrageth-sworn Houses of Reithel and the rest, were eventually defeated in this war. A great number of Siluvanedan nobles and soldiers, born of unholy elf-demon heritage, were subsequently imprisoned as well, bound in the ancient citadel of Nar Kerymhoarth. Yet in the confusion of the war, and the collapse of the realms that had fought in it, these timeless prisons were forgotten. No one remembered that the daemonfey of House Dlardrageth, and the fey'ri of Reithel and the other Siluvanedan houses, had actually been imprisoned as the consequence of their defeat."
"In that case, how did you discover their existence at all?" Maresa asked.
"I found an account from Arcorar, centuries after the original confrontation with the daemonfey, that explained how several Dlardrageths were found to be missing when the wards around their keep in Cormanthor were finally lowered hundreds of years after the keep had been walled off with magic. The Coronal of Arcorar immediately commenced a search for the missing daemonfey, located them in Siluvanede, and dispatched an expedition to deal with them there." Quastarte spread his hands and added, "My sources suggest that this incident may even have sparked the Seven Citadels' War."