Eleven years later...

Aphyra's room in the Great Temple of Mordun was tiny, but she had made it feel like home. She had organized all of her favorite books on her shelf above her bed in order of thickness, and kept a few verdant potted plants on her tidy desk to provide some color to contrast the gray stone walls. The room was lit by candlelight, which cast the entire space in a flickering and comforting orange glow.

The half-elf sat on the edge of her bed reading a book, her pointed ears poking through the waves of her honey-colored hair, her eyes narrowed in concentration. She was determined to finish the book by the end of the week. It was a new book that her mentor, Seleris, had gifted to her for her sixteenth birthday- a novel about the tales of a fictional elven hero who had helped to stop the attacks of the dreaded Olkani in the Great Catastrophe of the Century Before. Aphyra had always loved fiction and fantasy. She couldn't wait to finish it and tell Seleris all about the story.

She was interrupted by a sharp knocking at her door. Startled, Aphyra almost dropped the book in surprise. She shut it quickly and called out, "Who is it?"

"Aphyra, it's Lurani. Seleris sent me," a voice Aphyra recognized spoke from behind the door. Lurani was one of the other Diviners in training at the temple. She wasn't particularly close with Lurani, but the two girls were on a friendly basis.

"Come in!" Aphyra called back. The door opened and Lurani entered, with her snow-white hair tied back and her leafy Diviner's wreath on her head.

"Sorry to bug you," Lurani said apologetically, "But there's something going on. Seleris and Luvon and the other seniors wanted me to tell all of the trainees." Her voice seemed to take a more urgent tone.

"Really? What happened?" Aphyra asked.

"I'm not sure," Lurani bit her lip, "They didn't tell me. But they did tell me was that we all need to head to the Grand Hall, as soon as possible."

"Okay, thanks for telling me," Aphyra nodded and slid her book back into its proper place on the shelf above the bed. The adventures of the elven hero would have to wait until later.

"No problem. I'll see you there," Lurani said as she left, closing the door behind her.

Aphyra stood up from her bed and smoothed out her dark green Diviner's robes, grabbing her crown of leaves from her desk and placing it on her head. She flipped her hair to make sure it wasn't caught on anything, then blew out her candle and locked her door as she left.

The hallways of the temple were surprisingly crowded. All of the Diviners were heading in the same direction, so Aphyra joined in the mass of green-robed bodies heading for the Grand Hall. There was a lot of nervous chatter and gossip between friends and an increasing air of urgency.

"Do you have any clue what this is about?"

"No idea- I hope nothing to do with the humans."

"Why would they summon the entire temple at such an hour?"

"What's happening?"

The chatter continued all the way to the Grand Hall. At last the narrow hallway opened up into the large, high-ceiling room, the center of the entire Great Temple. All of the Diviners had lined up in groups close to the walls, facing the middle of the room. Still more were filing in from other halls and directions.

Aphyra glanced around the Grand Hall, searching for somebody familiar. Among an entire room of slender, silver and white-haired elves all dressed in green, spotting an odd person out wasn't that challenging.

She finally located her mentor on the opposite side of the giant room. Aphyra made her way over, pushing through the nervous crowds. "Excuse me, pardon me, sorry," she said.

Seleris was middle-aged, but she still retained a lot of her youthful appearance. She was easy to find because of her straight, dark hair and warm brown eyes, which contrasted greatly with the pale color of the crowd. Just like Aphyra, Seleris was a half-elf. She was Tainted.

"Annan," Seleris smiled when she saw Aphyra coming towards her. Aphyra blushed at her mentor's pet name for her. She knew it meant love, or sweetheart. Seleris had been calling her annan since she was little. "You look worried, love," she said.

"Do you have any clue what's going on, Measa?" Aphyra questioned nervously, calling Seleris the elven term for master, "Lurani told me that you were to one who told her to call the trainees here."

Seleris frowned and brushed her dark bangs out of her eyes, "I wish I knew. I got my orders from Kendal himself."

Aphyra nodded at the mention of the name of Kendal, the Great Master. He was the head of the Great Temple, and considered one of the greatest Diviners to ever live. Aphyra knew that as one of the senior Diviners, Seleris often talked with him directly. If Kendal was the one who summoned the entire temple for a meeting, the matter must be important.

Suddenly, with a loud creak and a clanging noise, the four doors to the Grand Hall shut. Startled, Aphyra grabbed Seleris's hand. The meeting was about to begin. The roar of voices in the hall quieted to a murmur, then a whisper, and finally died out completely so the entire room was silent.

Aphyra finally brought her attention to the center of the room, where all of the Diviners were gazing intently. A bunch of elves clad in silver armor had entered the room, wearing shining helmets so that only their pointed ears were visible. They wielded broadswords in their hands, but they were not holding them in a threatening manner. She hadn't noticed their entry because she was busy looking for and talking with Seleris, and all at once the entire hall realized that they were standing in the presence of a squadron of the Imperial Knights, the greatest army in all of Talamh Nadur. In front of the Knights was none other than Great Master Kendal, wearing his long robe and wreath, with his arms outstretched.

"My fellow Diviners!" He said in his booming voice, which echoed off the high ceilings of the Grand Hall, captivating the entire audience. "You are probably wondering why I summoned you all here, and why the Imperial Knights happen to be standing behind me. I understand that it's a very rare occasion that the Knights visit the Great Temple of Mordun," Kendal began to pace back and forth as he spoke, making sure he addressed all four corners of the room. "But the Imperial Knights are here because they have some important news that every Diviner ought to hear, from the most experienced seniors to the newest trainees. I will hand it over to Commander Eldavir now. So please, give our guests a warm welcome!"

The assembly broke into applause as Kendal concluded his speech and took his spot in the crowds of the other Diviners. One of the armored soldiers stepped forwards from the ranks to take Kendal's place.

"Greetings!" He announced, in a voice even louder than Kendal's. The Commander removed his helmet, revealing a youthful and strong face with a piercing blue gaze. "I am Commander Eldavir of the Imperial Knights, as your lovely Great Master introduced me." The entire room was silent again, but this time, the air was more fearful than respectful.

The Commander continued, "I'm afraid me and some of my Knights are here with some alarming news. This won't be pleasant." He paused. The entire room seemed to hold its breath.

"It must be something tragic to do with the war," Seleris whispered quietly in Aphyra's ear.

"As you all know, better than any other elves in Talamh Nadur, the number of Olkani in our realm has been rising-"

Aphyra gave a quick nod back to Seleris as the Commander continued his speech.

"-to an alarming rate. They have also become seemingly more aggressive in the past decade, targeting entire villages. Many deaths have been reported in towns such as Dasos and Siokan where the Olkani have launched their attacks."

There were a couple of sad whispers exchanged around the room. Many of the Diviners had lost family to the Olkani. The war was a very personal topic.

Aphyra was starting to become uncomfortable. She knew where this speech was headed, and she didn't like it. Seleris seemed to sense her discomfort and squeezed her hand. Aphyra shuddered.

"And so, with this in mind, we bring our tragic news," Commander Eldavir said. "My Imperial Knights recently arrived back in Mordun from the town of Livadia, which is close to the border of the Openlands, the home of our exiled human neighbors. As some of you may know, Livadia was recently the target of the attack of three twisted nature spirits."

Some of the elves in the crowd gasped.

Eldavir sighed, "Sadly, all of Livadia was flattened by the Olkani. Very few of the civilians made it out of the ruins alive. The Imperial Knights fought off the spirits as best as we could, but the Olkani were just too strong. After three hours of destruction, they left as quickly as they came. For those of you in this room who may be personally affected by this news, I am deeply sorry."

"But," he continued, "We have some more positive news resulting from the Battle at Livadia. All three of the Olkani spirits that attacked came from and fled to the East."

More gasps from the crowd. The Commander had to wave his hand to silence them. "And as we all know, to the eastern edge of Talamh Nadur is the Openlands, the home of the humans. And as we all know, it was the fault of the humans that released the Olkani into our world in the first place. We believe that the humans may still be the cause of these recent growth in Olkani attacks."

The crowd started to murmur. Aphyra was trying not to cry. Her human heritage was being blamed by an Imperial Commander in front of the entire assembly of the Great Temple of Mordun: another reminder that her elven blood was poisoned with the blood of a wretched human. She was Tainted.

Again, Eldavir waved his hand, and the room fell back into silence. "And now, for the most important piece of news. Our magnificent leaders, the Elven Grand High Council, have issued an edict. They are sending the Imperial Knights back to Livadia, and eventually to the Openlands to reason with the humans. Our mission will be to finally put all of these Olkani attacks to rest, and stop the problem at its source. The Elven Grand High Council has requested that the Knights bring Diviners along with them. I have asked Great Master Kendal to send ten of his best Diviners on this journey with us. That's all I say. Thank you, and farewell."

"Assembly dismissed!" Kendal's voice rang out somewhere in the crowd. The assembly began to file out of the Grand Hall, the volume of the conversations growing until it became a roar again.

Aphyra followed Seleris closely out of the hall back into the narrow passages of the temple. She brushed some of her golden hair behind her ear and sighed.

"I'm sorry, annan." Seleris finally spoke once they were out of the room. "I know that was uncomfortable."

"It's ok, I guess," Aphyra replied, "It's just kind of upsetting. I hate the fact that it's always our fault."

"Our fault?" Seleris echoed.

"The humans. We both have human blood in us, Measa. We're Tainted." Aphyra said.

"I know."

"Doesn't that make you feel the slightest bit guilty? Like, this whole deal with the Olkani attacks that the humans caused a century ago. That's what made the elves outcast them to the Openlands. That doesn't make you feel like it's somewhat your fault?"

"No Aphyra, it doesn't" Seleris sighed, "Because I believe that it's never the fault of an entire group or race. It's always the individual who is at fault."

"So you think it's wrong to blame the humans, like elves have since what feels like the dawn of time?" Aphyra asked.

"Yes. And to be honest with you, I'm not sure I like what the Elven High Council is doing, sending an entire army to the Openlands. It can't be good."

Aphyra shook her head in agreement, "No."

"I know you don't believe me, Aphyra. I can tell you still feel guilty." Seleris said.

"I'm sorry, Measa." The young girl hung her head.

Her mentor frowned, "No, no, don't apologize. It's ok to feel what you feel. I understand it, even though I don't feel that way myself."

The two of them finally stopped walking at a fork in the passageway. Seleris would have to go the opposite direction to head back to her room.

"Measa, how do you think Kendal is going to decide which of the Diviners will go with the Knights to Livadia? He didn't say anything during the meeting," Aphyra questioned just before they parted ways.

"I don't know," Seleris responded, "But I'm sure we'll find out very soon. I'll see you tomorrow, annan. Bright and early for some training, okay?"

And with that, Seleris turned and headed down the hallway. Aphyra watched her mentor go, then turned and walked back towards her bedroom. She tried to push all of her feelings of guilt and shame of being Tainted to the back of her mind. After all, her new book was waiting for her back on her shelf.