~The Elven-names~ Messenger of Doom

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We stood in silence for a while, the Keeper and I. At last I looked up at him. "After the mist rises, couldn't we just find the Mormir and drive them back out?"

He shook his head slowly. "It is extremely difficult to find them after they are entrenched. The Mormir are masters of disguise and cloaking techniques.

I frowned at the unfamiliar term. "Cloaking?"

"It's a way of making it appear that there is no one in a certain area, while in actuality, there may be several people there," replied the Keeper. "Some people think it's magic, but it's really just advanced camouflage and hiding carefully." The corners of his mouth lifted slightly. "We Elven-named are ourselves not to bad at cloaking." He sighed. "But it is still hard to locate them once they are in place."

A dark sense of foreboding settled over me like a gloomy cloud. I bid the Keeper of the Legacy farewell and went back to my room.

*   *   *

 

The fog did not lift Saturday or Sunday. Living in the fog is a depressing thing. It was dark and gloomy in the Forest Palace despite its beauty. The trees the Palace was made of were soggy; occasionally a drop would fall from one of the branches to the floor. And you could never see anything at any distance properly--everything was obscured by the twisting clouds.

 

It was with great relief, therefore, that I awoke on Monday to the sun streaming in through the window. I got up and laughed at my worries, for the sun seemed to wipe away the dark forebodings of the day before like it had the fog. Nothing could be very wrong, it seemed, when the world was so beautiful.

 

This mood continued even after I went to school that morning. I felt nothing could harm me and I was as carefree as I had been before this whole thing started. And at first everything went wonderfully. The classes were a breeze, and Heather was friendly but not overly chatty.

 

At lunchtime I waved to Matt and Fred and sat down at an empty table with my food. I was totally surprised when Morwenna sat down beside me.

 

After an awkward silence, I finally couldn't resist my curiosity, and I asked her, "You know, I still don't understand what you meant when you said you knew all about me..."

 

She whirled on me with great vehemence. "Oh, I see your game. You're trying to make me make a fool of myself. Well, I'm not going to fall for it!"

 

I was aghast--I hadn't meant to do anything, I just wanted to learn more. "Oh, no, no," I cried softly. "That isn't it at all!"

 

Morwenna sniffed. "I don't even know why I'm bothering with you. You're just a poor, weak, little Elven-named girl, and I am a member of the M-- of a group whose destiny is to rule." Contempt was dripping from her voice, but I caught a slight hesitation. Had she been going to say she was a member of the Mormir? She went on. "And your destiny is to fail. And your downfall will come in no less than five days." Her voice was low and ominous.

 

I tried to act nonchalant. "Five days? Are you sure it will be our downfall?"

 

Her eyes narrowed. "It will come in five. days. and you will see it, and you will see the ruin of your plans." She tossed her head and walked off.