Montagor had a look of concern on his face. They were back in his home, except this time they were accompanied by Syndra's daughter. "You could at least tell me something." Darius simply shook his head. "Nope. If I discuss anything with you, then you can't feign ignorance." He started towards the front door. The elven girl stepped in front of him. "I'm coming too." "No, you're not." She said nothing and stared up at him intensely. Darius wasn't one to buckle under pressure so he simply stared back. It was then that something clicked in his head. He'd seen her eyes and heard her voice before. "Wait a minute. You're the masked guard from yesterday." She gave him a badly hidden panicked look. "I have no clue what you're talking about." He smirked. "That explains why you're here. You're worried about Fenris aren't you?" Her pale cheeks turned red, and her panicked look got even worse.
"No. I..... just want to help a friend, I mean friends." He looked at Montagor for confirmation and received an enthusiastic nod. "Look I know you're worried about Fenris, but trust me. I can handle this easier on my own." He nudged his way past her towards the door. "You don't even know where they are." He stopped knowing she was right and turned back around. "You mind telling me purple eyes." She gave him another hard look. Montagor rested his hand on her shoulder and gestured for her to tell.
"It's Violen, and do you promise you'll bring him back safely."
"On my honor."
"They're in the dungeons in the council's high tree. It's the tallest tree in Nellenor, you can't miss it."
"Thanks. Anything I should be aware of?"
"Guard barracks are right next to the dungeons. Unless you can fly to the windows outside the cells, you'll have to get past them."
"I'll figure something out. Montagor, be ready cause it'll be better for us to leave ASAP." Montagor gave him a questioning look. "What's that mean?" Darius remembered where he was, and realized they wouldn't get his normal lingo. "It means as soon as possible." "Oh. Ok. I'll be ready." With everything settled, Darius left.
Before setting off, he searched for the right tree while he had a vantage point. He found it then took a moment to focus. He summoned storm clouds with loud cracks of thunder and bright flashes of lightning. He knew it'd come in handy later as a distraction. With that done, he jumped to the forest floor below. He decided now would be a good time to test his idea. He telekinetically pulled his sword out and grabbed onto the handle. He stopped mid fall, and hung in the air before lowering himself to the ground. "It worked. Guess it's time for a search and rescue. Never thought I'd be doing these again." Raiga stirred within his mind. Wake me when this is over with.
He rolled his eyes and took off at breakneck speed towards the council tree. As he wove through the giant trees, he noticed a rather large herd of elk. They grazed lazily, not paying him any attention, and didn't seem bothered by the brewing storm. The herd was massive, and the elk themselves were much larger than normal. The largest being a male that easily stood 10 feet tall. They were being guarded by several hooded elves armed with bows and sabers. Luckily they didn't notice him either, likely due to loud cracks of thunder masking any noise he made, so he made it to the great tree without incident.
He checked his surrounding to make sure he couldn't be seen, then he focused on a cluster of clouds that were hanging lower than the others. He pulled a large piece of the dark mass down to him. Using it as a makeshift elevator, he sat and made his way up the tree. Large open windows dotted the top, and several others lined random spots on the other surface. None of them looked promising, except for a long row of barred openings placed at intervals in a straight line near the middle of the tree. He figured that'd be his best bet and made is way to them. He peeked through them and saw what looked to be prison cells. "Bingo."
He couldn't see the twins, so he went to the middle one and spoke through it with a bad whisper attempt. "Yo. Fenris. Faelar. You two alive in there?" He heard a voice, who's language definitely marked him as Fenris. "Talvanni's tits, Darius is that you?" "I'll take that as a yes. Do me a favor and step away from the wall." He waited a second, before floating Fulgur and sending it into the tree. It cut through it like butter. He cut out a square large enough to walk through, then he grabbed the bars of the window and pulled it out. The wall made a loud thud as it hit the ground. It was masked by the resounding thunder created by the storm
"I think I've gotten pretty good at rescuing your asses by now." They both stared at the cloud until Faelar asked the question they were both thinking. "Um. Since when could you do all this?" Darius gave him a dismissing gesture. "I'll explain on the way. Just grab this and whatever you do, don't let go." He floated Fulgur over to Faelar. He grabbed it cautiously, and Darius winked before lifting him in the air. He then sent him through the opening and slowly lowered him down. Fenris watched with anticipation. "That looks pretty fun. My turn." Darius repeated the process and floated down with them on his cloud.
"Alright. Let's head back." Both Fenris and Faelar stopped. "Wait" ,they said in unison. They looked at each other and then Fenris stepped forward. "Before we get back, we having something to ask you."
"Is this really the best time?"
"It can't wait."
"Ok. Ask away."
Both of them dropped to one knee. "Will you let us follow you when you leave." Darius expected the question, but not the gesture. "Yeah you can come with me, just get off your knees damn it. You're making way too big a deal outta this." They got up and bowed. "Thank you. We won't let you down." Darius sighed. "Still too formal. Whatever I guess, no problem. Let's go." With that settled they set off back to Montagor and the others.
*************
"Fen!" "Violet?!" She wrapped him in a bear hug, sending the both of them flying and cracking the wall in the process. Montagor and Faelar seemed to think it was normal, Darius had other thoughts. Wow, and here I was questioning if she was adopted. Guess I was wrong. Montagor hugged Faelar and let Violen and Fenris have their moment before taking charge. "Alright. It's time boys. Vaeril gave you the potions correct?" Both of them produced the black bottles. "Good. Now remove your shirts and meet me upstairs on the training ground." He disappeared upstairs. "You ready Fen?"
"I've been ready for the better part of 300 years little brother."
They both removed their shirts and went upstairs, followed by Darius and Violen. They went to the second floor, and went to a side door on the opposite side of the giant pool. The door lead to a massive platform that gave an amazing view of the forest. Montagor was situated on the edge of a large glowing magic circle that was surrounded by runes. "Are you ready?" They both stepped forward and nodded their heads. "Enter the ritual barrier." The stepped into the circle and something unexpected happened. On both of their backs, identical symbols appeared. It was a tree that resembled the Nordic depiction of the World Tree. In the middle of it was what seemed to be a closed eye.
Darius watched with great intrigue. Violen explained what he was seeing. "That is the most powerful seal elven magic can create. Its called Yggdrasil's Confinement." Montagor shushed her. This was one of the rare occasions that he had to be serious. Even with the potion weakening the seal, it'll take all his concentration to break it. "Drink the potions and kneel. Drink every last drop." As they drank, the seals on their back began to fracture and crack. They grimaced in pain.
Montagor placed a hand on each of their shoulders. He closed his eyes and the seals began to glow. It started off as very faint, and eventually grew to blinding intensity. The wind seemed to be coming from the circle blowing in every direction. Darius had to grab and hold on to Violen to keep her from being blasted off the platform. The sky darkened even more and entire forest seemed to tremble from the force being produced by the ritual. At the light's greatest intensity, Montagor opened his eyes and spoke, "Yggdrasil's Containment Release!"
The eye in the center of both seals opened in response, a black void taking the spot of the actual eye itself. It began absorbing the rest of the symbol into itself. It was a quick process. Once the seal was gone, and only the eye remained, the wind stopped. The sky went back normal as Darius also dissipated the storm, and the ritual barrier stopped glowing as well. The eye closed, turned sideways, and then erased itself until nothing was left. Both twins collapsed to the ground, sweating and out of breath. Montagor checked them, then went inside. He came back with towels and glasses of water. "Here this will help." Once they could sit up, he handed them both a towel and glass of water. They wiped themselves off, and downed the water quickly. "How do you feel?" They both gave themselves a once over before responding in unison. "The same."
At that moment both of their eyes widened. They got to their feet and watched their bodies morph. The muscles in their bodies all quadrupled in size. The whites of their eyes turned black, but their irises stayed green. Their hair changed as well. Faelar lost all of the black in his hair, and it became solid white. Fenris lost all the white in his hair and it become solid black. Steam began to come off of them. Their muscles shrunk back down to a normal size. They were still bigger than before, but only slightly.
Fenris spoke in a voice slightly deeper than before. "I think it worked." Faelar looked at himself then Fenris. "Definitely." Montagor wrapped them both in a hug. "It's nice to have my boys back to normal. As great as this moment is, the entire village would have heard and seen this commotion. You'd better leave now. I've got all your things ready, including your inheritances." They both returned his embrace. "Thank you for everything Gramps." Darius walked over to them. "Sorry to ruin the moment and all, but Montagor, Faelar, there's that thing inside we gotta do." They both got his meaning, and all three went back inside. They didn't have much to do, but they would give Fenris and Violen the little amount of alone time they could spare.
Darius ran through the plan in his head. "So we've settled on going through the orc's path out of the forest right?" Faelar nodded. "You two going to be able to handle that?"
"Definitely. I can lead us out pretty easily, and fighting wise, I've never felt like this before. I feel like I could fight an army alone. There's also this strange tingly feeling I've been feeling in my fingers since the seal was broken. Not sure what it is, but I feel like it's a good thing."
"Good. I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do."
"That makes two of us."
Montagor came in and gave him a new set of clothes and supplies. It was a traditional dark green elven archer outfit. It was lined with gold symbols resembling the stems on Darius's sword. He also got a black cloak, a bow and two matching daggers. By then Fenris and Violen had come back and Montagor gave him his as well. His outfit was similar to Faelar's, except for the pieces of plate armor on the arms legs and chest. He was also given a curved long sword. "The weapons belonged to your mother. They served her in battle, now they serve you."
They both donned their new gifts eagerly. Almost immediately after they geared up, someone began to beat on the front door. "Montagor, everyone else might not have recognized it, but the council did. We know you broke their seals. Open this door!"
Darius touched both of their shoulders, "Welp. Time to go." Faelar took the lead. "I'll lead us out." He raced up the stairs and back to the training ground followed by everyone else. Darius caught up to him at the edge of the platform. "You think the two of you can make this jump?" Fenris walked up next. "Absolutely." With that said, Faelar and Darius leaped off the platform. Fenris turned back to Violen. "I will return to you, I promise. When I do, I'll never leave you again." Fenris then followed Darius and Faelar's example and leaped off the edge.