• Darkness, that much was visible. Midnight brought an empty night. No stars, no moon, no clouds. Blackness, empty, foreboding, was everywhere. A small glowing orb emerged from the darkness, followed by another appearing beside it. It was a deep violet color, the black-purple color of the shadows themselves. The orbs were cloudy, as if focused on a far away memory or target. They drifted forward, hovering about five feet from the obsidian floor. A whispering murmur echoed in the vast cavern. The sounds folded over each other, obscuring the words.

    Several other pairs of the dusky purple orbs suddenly joined the pair. The murmurs became whispers, and as even more orbs appeared, the whispering became a low chant, still obscured by how the sounds bounced back from the walls and tumbled over the syllables rushing in after them. A slight glow erupted from the center of the cavern. A globe of dusty violet rose from out of the glow. The chant became louder and louder until the words suddenly could be deciphered.

    “Low as the UnderStones,
    High as the mighty surface skies,
    Hear our mighty undertones.
    Light of the Shadows, the Lord of Lies,
    Arise and heed our darkest pleas,
    Come from far ‘cross the UnderSeas,
    And show us our target, the One to be eliminated.”

    The chanting halted and the cavern silenced. A circle of a purple light was drawn in the middle of the cave. The dark globe flashed and the cave was illuminated with a blue glow. The owners of the dusky purple orbs were revealed. Tall, slim humanoid-like creatures stood, their skin the color of the floor they stood upon. Their silvery white hair was long and somehow pulled behind their pointed ears. They stood as Iythonirods, dark elves, the Rulers of the Shadowlands of the UnderStones.

    One elf stepped forward and drew his sword strapped to the black belt wrapped around his waist. The dark armor flexed along with him as he laid the barbed blade on the floor. His white hair wasn’t long or pulled back. It was cropped, cut close to his scalp, giving the top of his head a gray color instead of the deep black of his skin. He nodded suddenly and picked up the hat that he had dropped on the floor. It had a purple feather stuck into it at where the wide rim folded up and was pinned to the bowl-like part of the hat that sat on top of his head. The roguish dark elf smiled, a chilling sight. The flash of ghostly white teeth almost brightened the cavern more.

    “We have our target.”