A Diamond in the Darkness Pt. 01

Eli sat up in his bed with a jolt, the darkness of his room only broken by the faint moonlight that poured through the slit in-between his curtains and the light from his alarm clock. It read three a.m. He was drenched in a cold sweat, his nearly shoulder length light brown hair matted to his head, and his ears rang slightly as he strained trying to remember the dream he was having. "I can't remember a damned thing..." he muttered to himself. He could swear the ringing in his ears was getting louder but laid back down regardless. He had work in a few hours and needed to rest.

The next morning seemed to come swifter than it should have. The alarm blaring as it flashed seven a.m. on its small screen. With a groan Eli sat up, turned off the alarm, and shifted to the edge of the bed before swinging his legs off and standing. The cool feel of the floor under his bare feet sent a small shiver throughout his body. There was a nagging sense in the back of his head as if something was trying to work its way into his thoughts.

After a quick shower, getting dressed, and tying his hair back into a short ponytail he started on his walk to work. He didnt live far, but it was winter and being from the south of the United States he wasn't a fan of the cold. The nagging feeling still hadn't left the back of his brain and the ringing in his ears had returned, but he ignored it as best he could.This proved to be a mistake as he wasn't paying attention to where he was heading and walked out into the street at the wrong time.

"Look out!" a voice called out, and Eli snapped back into focus, jumping out of the way just as a semi-truck blew past him, its horn blaring. He landed with a hard thud against the sidewalk and looked around. There was no one around him aside from the few cars that would blow by him. He shakily stood up and dusted himself off. He swore he had heard a voice call out to him. The ringing in his ears had stopped but the nagging feeling was still there this time though seemed less like a paranoid nagging, but more like someone was trying to speak to him through his mind. It was like staticky mutterings that he couldn't quite make out but there was definitely someone, or something, trying to talk to him. The rest of his day blurred by, he didnt remember even crawling into bed that night.

This time the dreams came more clearly. A vast mass of floating islands pressed beautifully against an almost violet sky and clouds that matched the color of cotton candy. Buildings of various styles and sizes dotted the landscapes of the islands, but his dream seemed to be pulled towards on building at the very center of the islands. It was a large spire that reached upwards into the sky splitting clouds and reflecting light from a large red sun. His vision blurred a bit as the landscape shifted, and he saw the gargantuan archway that served as the door to the spire. There was a gentle harp like musical sound coming from inside, and he swore he could hear a voice singing along to the music in a language he didnt recognize as one from Earth. Once again his vision shifted, and he was now centered in the room facing a woman with pointed ears, pale blue skin and silver hair that trailed along the floor behind where she was standing. She had a lithe frame standing at roughly five-foot five, with beautiful features.

Her voice filled the room and echoed beautifully alongside the harp that seemed to be playing itself as it floated beside her. He noticed that the dress she wore seemed gently hang off of every curve she had. Her perky and supple breasts barely concealed by the thin fabric and her hips seemed to sway back and forth in a hypnotic rhythm.

"This feels too real to be a dream." he muttered, and realized he heard his own voice echo as the words left his lips. The woman jumped in surprise and fear as she spun around. Her eyes met his, and she smiled as though she recognized his face.

"That's because your dream is linked to a spell that is letting us see one another." She walked towards him, and pointed to the rune on the floor under where his feet should be.

"This has linked our souls together allowing us to communicate even from my place at the other edge of the galaxy. My people need you Eli, and if you are willing to leave the life you currently lead behind I will send a ship to collect you." She paused her face full of worry and Eli could hear something at the edge of his hearing. A deep growling sound that grew in intensity slowly before it started to rattle the spire.

"Please Eli. Come to us, come to me." She pleaded as his vision blurred and once again he sat straight up in his bed with a jolt covered in sweat. This time though his brain had fully latched onto what he had seen, and as the adrenaline from the sudden waking started to ease he made up his mind. The next night he would give his answer.

~~~

As the vision of Eli dissipated in front of her the young woman turned and faced towards the horizon. Her planet had been reduced to these floating islands by an invading force of creatures shrouded in darkness so thick their true forms unknown to her and her people. The growling noise grew in intensity, and she knew another attack was on its way. Quickly she ran from the temple spire and headed towards the barracks.

"Lady Saleasi you should be hiding with your lord father and sister not here. If anything were to happen to any of you our planet would be completely doomed." A guard said his voice filled with genuine worry as she ran inside and headed towards her armor and weapons.

"I am the oldest princess of the last kingdom on the planet of Avidor. I owe it to my people and myself to fight these... things." Saleasi retorted as she dawned her armor her voice shaking but her eyes firm and resilient. It was then the warning sirens sounded and screams could be heard in the streets from people who hadn't made it into shelter in time. "Let's go!"

~~~

As Eli had hoped, once he had gone to sleep, the floating islands once again appeared, and he tried to will his spirit towards the spire where he had seen her last. It seemed to work as his vision shifted, and he appeared directly in the center of the large room. This time however instead of seeing Saleasi singing she was sitting sobbing, her hair obscuring her face. It was then he noticed the blood spattering across the floor and walls and the bodies of several others scattered throughout the room. His heart flared and an anger he couldn't explain welled up inside him. Suddenly the woman's head shot up her face streaked with tears as she looked at him and a slight relief seemed to wash across her face. "I'm in, send the ship." He said his voice shaky as it echoed against the stone.

Saleasi's face lit up with hope and happiness as she stood up with amazing speed a smile across her face. "At once my knight! I will see you soon." she said and turned to leave, presumably to send for the ship. With that the dream seemed to end and Eli was awoken by his alarm. Seven o'clock in the morning. He wondered how long it would take for the ship to arrive. He didnt have wonder long.

As Eli finished his morning routine he grabbed a few extra things. The combat knife his uncle had gifted him when he graduated high school and thought he was joining the military. The journal and pen he kept by the bed to record his thoughts when he had had a dream that seemed fantastical, or when a nightmare wouldn't leave his mind. And finally the sketchbook he had been working in ever since he had started having the dreams.

As he grabbed the last of his things and stuffed them into his satchel bag, a bright light filled the bedroom of his apartment. He could feel static electricity run across his skin and then the light flashed. Suddenly he was standing in a room roughly eighteen feet by twenty feet, and was brightly lit by torches that seemed to crackle with an energy that was unlike anything he had seen on earth.

He shifted the satchel slightly as he looked around there was someone standing at a panel about five feet away from him. They appeared to be of the same race as the woman he had seen in his dreams. This one was an older male, standing at what Eli could guess, roughly six feet tall. His skin was a dark teal color and his hair was a deep orange and around the same shoulder-length as Eli's. After a few moments of fiddling with the controls the man looked at Eli, his eyes harsh but there was a faint kindness to them. He seemed to study Eli for a moment before gesturing for him to follow. "The Lady will want to see you now that you're here. Come." He said his voice calm and firm as he opened the door.

Eli followed behind the man gawking at the interior of the ship. It looked almost exactly like something out of a science fiction show. Sleek interior corridors with doors leading to various parts of the ship. There were signs designating where each lead but it was written in a language that Eli had never seen. He and the man walked for what felt like about ten minutes before coming to a set of double doors with guards posted on either side. They were dressed in a mixture of what looked like pieces of some sort of plate armor over a skin-tight jumpsuit.

They saluted as the man Eli was with approached and as he waved them at ease the doors opened revealing a larger room filled with consoles and several people working at them maintaining the systems of the ship. In the center there was a large chair. Well, really it was more of a small couch, and sitting on it was a woman, remarkably similar in looks to the one in his dreams. Though the few differences definitely stood out.

She for one was slightly larger in size standing a few inches taller than the woman in his dreams and her hair was more of a copper than a silver color. Her breasts were larger as well from what he could tell through the uniform she wore. She looked up at him from her seat and rolled her eyes. "So this is the champion knight my dear sister has chosen. I suppose she could have chosen worse." She said not caring about the daggers that Eli was now glaring at her.

The older man cleared his throat and sighed. "Please ignore princess Aerin sir. Lady Saleasi chose you because your soul resonated with her own, and given the size of the galaxy there's something to be said about the resonance being that strong." He said not bothering to make it hidden that he had stepped between the second princess and Eli. "I forgot to introduce myself earlier, I am Revis. Steward to Lady Saleasi and her father the king. As stated this is princess Aerin the younger sister of Lady Saleasi, captain of this ship, and second princess of the kingdom." Revis bowed slightly before gesturing to Aerin who again rolled her eyes before turning them back to the helm.

Eli glared daggers and Aerin once more before turning to Revis. "My name is Eli Moore, and I thank you for coming to get me as soon as you did. Seeing the destruction of your world and the tears on her face stirred something in me I haven't felt before. And I want to help." The last bit came out firm and harsh even though he wasn't aware of it.

"Also if I may ask. What species are you? You have features similar to what humans depict as an elven race in fantasy novels but I didn't want assume." His curiosity had gotten the better of him and it was beginning to bug him. Revis opened his mouth to answer when a large screen flickered on and the face of Saleasi appeared.

"We're known by the same moniker as what your race calls elves Eli." She smiled at him and looked at Revis and Aerin. "Please get back as quickly as you can. I want to meet our champion knight in person as soon as possible. Oh, and Revis please have the quartermaster outfit him with his own armor and suit." She said before the screed flicked off.

Aerin shifted in her seat and nodded to Revis. "We make the jump to the nearest Gate in thirty minutes that should give the quartermaster enough time to get him a suit at least." She said with a little venom in her voice. Revis bowed and turned towards the door gesturing for Eli to follow.

Once again Eli followed Revis down the corridors of the ship trying to remember the pathing back to the bridge but after a few twists and turns he had completely lost his way. "So what's this suit I'm being assigned?" He asked finally after deciding to just let Revis lead him where he needed to. Revis looked over his shoulder at Eli and moved a bit of his hair out of his face. "Its a specially designed magitech suit that will function both as your battle suit and your normal clothes. It has the ability to translate any language into one you understand and also will have the ability to open a small rift in space for you to store any items or weapons you may wish. The armor you will be issued will be similar to the ones you saw on the guards by the bridge, but customized for your genetics. It will work both as armor and heal any minor injuries you may incur. "

As he finished the brief explination they arrived at a door that looked like it had seen better days. Char marks and dents covered the door and as it slid carefully open they were greeted by the oil and goo covered face of the quartermaster. They were another male elven man with lighter tan skin similar to that of Eli's and his hair was either naturally black or was so coated in grease and gunk that it had been permanently dyed that color. "Eli, this is Charo he is the personal quartermaster to Lady Saleasi and Aerin and the best maker in the kingdom."

Quartermaster Charo didnt even need an explination and immediately went to work. Taking Eli's measurements and jotting down notes before getting to work. In a blur of efficiency and with the help of some mechanical devices throughout the room Eli was presented with a bracelet in just under five minutes. "Put it on and turn the center of it to the left. That will activate the suit and it will begin to attune to your biology. That process should take around twenty minutes then I will be able to start on your armor. " With that Eli slid the bracelet over his hand and onto his wrist feeling the strangely warm metal activate and shrink to fit like a well-worn watch.

He twisted the center to the left, and watched as the device let out a slight yellow glow and he felt the magic begin to both envelop his body and enter into his very DNA. Soon he was no longer wearing the jeans and t-shirt he came aboard with and was now covered in a skin tight black jumpsuit that reflected the light of the magitech torches like fire dancing off scales. His satchel was also missing but as he thought about it, it reappeared over his shoulder like nothing had changed. "So the pocket dimension is activated by thought?" He said looking inquisitively at Charo who only nodded in response.

"Once its fully attuned to you everything to do with the suit will be controlled mentally. Do be careful not to think anything inappropriate while its attuning or it may malfunction. The chance of that isnt high but its still possible." Charo gave Eli a sly grin as he flushed slightly. He was barely twenty-one so he had some self control but he was a man and things happened.

Revis tried to stifle a chuckle at seeing Eli turn red with embarrassment. "He's only messing with you sir. The suit won't malfunction that severely. At worst the suit might leave some, um... spots, uncovered until it completed the attunement." He said once again having to stifle a laugh as that news only made Eli turn a darker shade of red.

"Let me show you to the quarters you'll be staying in for the next couple of hours. Once we reach the Gate it should only take around six hours to get to Avidor." He started leading Eli into a now somewhat familiar part of the ship and noticed the look of worry on Eli's face. "There will be a tablet sitting next to the bed. I suggest you read its contents. It should bring you up to speed on what's happening." He said as they stopped in front of a door that opened up into a minimalistic but well furnished bedroom complete with a full sized bathroom.

"Oh, and to remove some of the confusion. Hold the bracelet up to the tablet and it should update everything to automatically translate everything you hear and read into your native language. Thankfully because of Lady Saleasi, we were able to have English added to our lexicon while she was trying to contact you." He watched as the realization washed across Eli's face, and he facepalmed himself.

"I hadn't even realized that English wasn't your native language because of how fluent and smooth it was talking to all of you." Eli said shaking his head as he entered the room and picked up the tablet. The same runes he saw above the doors running across its screen. Eli held the bracelet up to the screen, it began to glow a faint yellow, and he noticed that the runes shifted and suddenly he was able to read the words on the screen.

"Sweet!" He thought "Oh I have to ask one last thing. What is this Gate that were set to use?" He said as sat on the bed. Revis shifted his weight slightly. "The simplest terms I can think of is that it is something similar to a giant railgun that forces ship to go faster than light." He replied before bowing and letting Eli start reading.

Saleasi flung open the doors to her chambers in a huff. Her father King Garithmus had found out about her plan to find an outsider and get them to help and scolded her profusely for it. He believed in the old ways of doing things, if you couldn't do it yourself it couldn't be done. Angrily she threw herself onto her bed. She knew she was in the right with her decision she could feel the energy and power of Eli's soul even now.

She knew that he was the correct choice. What she hadn't taken into account when she had found him was the effect such a soul would have on her. Something in him resonated so strongly with something in herself that it made her long to meet him. To feel him.

She tried to resist the urge but her right hand was already traveling across her hips and under her dress. Her fingers teasing the outer folds or her pussy. She let out a quiet moan as she made tiny circles around her clit. She could swear that she could see him. His face framed by his hair as he got closer to hers. Her left hand moved to her breast, squeezing it and pinching her nipple. She could feel his breath gently gliding across her lips and a gentle electric sensation danced across them.

Soon that feeling began to build all along her body as her fingers plunged deeply into her sex and teased her inner walls. "Please come my knight. Take me." She muttered her breathing coarse and ragged as she built closer and closer to her climax. She let out another moan as she pinched her nipple once again, and increased the pace of her fingers.

"Eeeeelllliiii!" she moaned out sending herself over the edge. Her mind filled with images of him as she climaxed. Slowly fatigue took her. She had been overworking herself trying to find him and also defend the remnants of the kingdom and planet. Sleep came quickly and soundly. She would see him soon.

~~~

Six hours flew by as Eli read everything on the tablet. He learned what the elves knew about the enemy they had been facing. Every attack has come in waves three weeks apart from on another. The enemy however was described only as a large mass of darkness.

The defending forces were unable to actually see the creatures inside them, but they did find out that fire was effective in keeping the darkness from enveloping everything and the creatures inside wouldn't come anywhere near the light from the flames. Pure magic also proved to ineffective against whatever it was in the darkness as any attack spells were just absorbed into the mass and dissipated throughout.

He also learned a bit about the elves. Or at least what's left of them. The planet was called Avidor, and was once a vibrant world not unlike Earth in that it had oceans and continents similar to those of Earth. Each continent was home to a different race of elf. After all the attacks only the now floating islands that once made up the continent of Fyor, home to the Dusk Elves, remained. The rest of the world was just swallowed by the darkness and vanished as if it were eaten bit by bit after the loss of its inhabitants.