THE ELROOK CHRONICLES PART I

THE ELROOK CHRONICLES

PART I

By LORD DANGLER

Grylodar is the place where the elves lived, and Elrook hated it. Then again, what’s to love in an elf village when you are a goblin. Goblins were looked down upon in Grylodar, and for what? A war that ended two thousand years ago?  Elrook was just a baby when the war started; he had nothing to do with it. Now, however, he was a man.  

Well, at least he will be once he completes his right of passage. He has to steal something important to the elves. All of his brothers have done it.  All brought back many items that the elves hold dear. Now its Elrook’s turn. So what if Elrook is the youngest?  So what if he has shown very little talent for the goblin arts? He was going to do what no other goblin could; steal the Power Gem. 

The Power Gem supplied power to all of Grylodar.  Yeah, yeah it would be guarded, but that was the risk he'd take to show his brothers he was capable.  So with his trusty volt pistol by his side, he would make his way to the Power Tower (yes, they called it that) and get what he came for.  

First things first, however, he needed a drink.  If there was one thing those elves got right, it was their alcohol. Well, that and their sweets.  But bake goods where better fresh and he didn't have that kind of time.

Elrook headed to the local tavern. To be fair there was only one tavern worth anything, anyway, and that was Clives. Clives was a seedy, disgusting, rount infested place. It had one thing going for it, Elders Vodka. 

Elders Vodka was not like most elven spirits.  They all are good, but this one is brewed by half-elves. You see half elves, as you would imagine, are the children of any elf and another race.  Now that is common knowledge. What is less common knowledge is the fact that where most half elves are the offspring of a elf and a human, there are a few who are born from elves and orcs.  

Now orcs are an angry, violent lot.  But they, too, love a good drink, and some have quite the knack for it. What makes Elders top shelf, however, is the two half-elves who brew it.  One is of elf human parentage, while the other is elf orc.  So this brought the three races’ knowledge of vodka making to the table, which makes the best vodka you could get anywhere. 

Elrook made his way into Clives, sat at the bar, and ordered some Elders Vodka.  Luck must have been smiling on Elrook then as he just happen to overhear two elves chatting about their jobs at the Power Tower. 

One elf said, "Man, we got one sweet gig, huh?" 

"Yup, all we have to do is monitor the gems output at our desk all day," replied the other. 

"Hey, you going to the bachelor party," asked the first one. 

"Maybe, but I hear most of the guards are going to be there, and those guys always ruin the party," said the other. 

Upon hearing the two elves’ conversation, Elrook downs his drink and heads to the Power Tower. As he makes his way there, he thinks to himself, "Man, what a break!  If most of the guards are gone, stealing the Power Gem is going to be easy!" He dances a little jig as he sneaks through the streets.  

When he arrives, he finds very few guards there on duty. Slipping in unnoticed he makes his way to the gem chamber; which of course, is guarded, but by only five elves. He times their patrols and slips passed.

"Wow, this is so easy," Elrook thinks.  However, the inner chamber is not as easy. What he finds on the inside are carefully laid out booby traps. They are not just any booby traps, these are Trengar the Orc traps. 

Trengar the Orc is known through out the five lands for his traps. What makes them so special is they are triple traps. The disarming mechanism for the trap, is itself booby trapped; and the disarming mechanism for that booby trap, is booby trapped, and so on. Only someone who knows the right way to disarm them, or is a master at disarming traps, could possibly do it. 

Elrook, however, decides to try anyway.  He is almost successful, but he makes a critical error which starts a chain reaction. It is all he can do to dodge, duck, and spin away from the spikes jutting from the walls, the blades slicing up from the floor, and the volt beams shooting from the ceiling. 

After barely surviving, he stops to take a breath and then enters the main chamber. Upon entering, he is taken aback by how beautiful the room is. He marvels at the holograms that seem to fill the room. There are images of trees and waterfalls, mountains and cloudy skies, and deserts. The best looking image, though, is the shining Power Gem. 

He is surprised by how few volt beams are around it. There is just enough room for a goblin hand. Carefully reaching his hand in through the protection grid, he slips the gem out slowly, and, as expected, the power goes out everywhere.  No more pretty holograms. What was not expected was the alarm that sounded despite having no power.  Well, the alarms where powered by something, but before he had time to think about that, the guards rush in; way more than five.  As he ducks for cover, a shootout ensues.

He is able to hit a few guards, but he knows its just a matter of time. He does the only thing he can do, he throws the Power Gem at the guards and promptly shoots it.

To his surprise, upon the gem shattering, a bright light burst from it and a beam flies straight through the roof, into the sky, and beyond. The bright light gives him enough time to escape through a window.  Back on the street, he is bummed he didn't get his prize, but soon decides to steal something else instead. 

What he figures is that he will just steal the chief's air car, and with no lights on, it should be a cinch. He did momentarily wonder where the beam of light went, but he quickly forgot about it.

The End.

Epilogue:

Chief Viladore is laying around in his bed chambers, which is filled with many frilly curtains and pillows. He suddenly is disturbed when guards bust into his chambers. 

“Chief! We have an emergency! A goblin destroyed the Power Gem,” says the main guard. 

The chief replies, “Start a search party. That goblin must still be…” The chief is interrupted by a unmistakable sound, the sound of an engine firing up. “Someone is stealing my air car!” he cries.

Elrook will return.