The Rise of Ilis- edited

[Type the document subti The Rise of Ilis
She ran through the forest, not daring to look back. It was behind her. Relentlessly chasing her. 16-year-old Anna had been walking through the forest on a hike, just for fun, when she spotted something flying in the sky above her through the trees. At first, all Anna could do was stand there, half in awe, half in fear, waiting for the something to see her. It was both beautiful and terrifying. The beast had plunged straight down in a half-mad plummet to the ground. Anna ran like she never had before. She was on her school’s track team, but never won any races. She ran from the monster behind her fast enough to win the Olympics.
The huge beast grabbed her in its shining wings, and then she blacked out.
Anna was being half dragged, half carried down a dirt road when she awoke. She nearly puked as she smelled a horrendous stench breath breathing down her back. She looked behind her and saw a brown and green creature as big as she was. It was not the same creature as the flying beast from the woods. The thing roughly hit her in the face.
“What is this?” she cried out.
“You are no longer on earth. You are under the realm of the supreme ruler Ershgarem, who rules over Ilis,” said the thing behind her, as it relentlessly pushed her forward. “You are to be beheaded at Ershgarem’s palace. Those woods you were in are his,”
Before Anna could react, a dark, cloaked figure on a huge white horse sprang up in front of them. Anna was pushed roughly aside into a brick wall. She went unconscious.
Peter’s mind raced with fear. He had planned this out. He would try to save as many people as he could who were to be brutally killed by Ershgarem. He could contain himself no longer. Ershgarem was beheading too many people. He was cruel, and had to be stopped. This is what drove him to jump out in front of the large horde of ogres. He swung his sword wildly at the many foes, as his horse kicked and bit everything in its path. Peter’s sword was knocked from his hand by the last remaining ogre. He pulled out an arrow and stabbed the grotesque thing in the head. He was still shaking as he got off his horse and picked up his sword.
At that moment Anna awoke and staggered over to the boy and his horse.
“Are you ok?” asked the boy.
“I am fine, but where am I, and who are you?” said Anna hesitantly. “My name is Anna.”
The boy looked perplexed. “You are in Ilis. My name is Peter. Where are you from?” he repeated.
“I’m from Florida.”
“Is that on earth? I have heard of earth! It used to be one with Ilis, but now we have been split by Ershgarem. Do you need a place to stay?” asked Peter.
“Yes, of course it is on earth. I think I do need a place to stay. Thank you,”
Peter took off his cloak and wrapped it around Anna’s shoulders. As Anna looked at him in the moonlight, she realized he was very handsome with dark brown hair and deep green eyes.
After a short ride through the field, they came into a village and rode on for about a minute at a steady gallop. They came to a house unlike any house Anna had ever seen. After she looked around for a bit, she realized all the houses were rather odd-looking. They were all made out of bricks and very long. There was no second floor to any of them, and only a few windows. There were no porches, but all of them had a rectangular area as long as the house surrounded by bricks. These brick boxes were on either side of the house and had walls that came up about half as high as the houses did, which was only as high as a normal room.
“Oh, I suppose your houses are slightly different on earth,” said Peter with a laugh “Those rectangular areas are our gardens. On Ilis, everyone loves gardening. Last time people on Ilis could go to earth, you all were not nearly as into it as we are,” he said with a teasing look.
Anna smiled back. “No, I love gardening!”
“Come on then, I will show you our gardens,” said Peter, as he tied Argen, the horse, to a pole on the side of the house.
They walked in to a brightly lit room. There was not a whole lot of furniture, but there were hammocks hanging from the ceiling and a collection of warrior’s swords hanging from the walls. Peter led Anna to one of the gardens and had her sit down on a pale ivory bench. They talked for a while about their two separate worlds, and were both laughing and crying after 5 minutes.
Anna stayed with Peter and his family for a few weeks. Peter and Anna were out in the garden, Peter’s family were inside cooking, talking about the land of Ilis.
“So Anna, how do you like Ilis so far?” he asked.
“I think it is great! Really not so much unlike earth, except for--,” Anna cut off. Peter was staring into her eyes with a slight smile on his face.
He gently leaned over and kissed her.
“What did you do that for?” she asked, sounding rather angry. In truth she was not angry; she just did not know what to do. Sounding angry was, at the time, the first thing that came to her mind.
“I love you Anna,” he replied.
Anna thought for a minute. Peter was kind and could have died saving her. He was peaceful and brave, and also rather handsome. “I love you too Peter,” she said.
“Then why did you sound so angry when I kissed you?” laughed Peter.
“I didn’t know what to do,”
“Well, you could start by kissing me back—if you love me,” said Peter.
Anna kissed him gently on the lips. There was an awkward silent pause between them, and then they went back to talking.
Little more than a week later, Anna was sitting in the garden eating a bowl of soup when Peter walked in.
“Anna, I need to destroy Ershgarem. He wants to take over earth, as well as Ilis. It is your choice. Will you go with me?” he asked. Hesitantly, he continued, “You might never see your family again,”
After thinking it over for a few minutes, Anna replied, “Peter, I love you more than my own world. I will go with you,” she replied.
“I cannot defeat Ershgarem myself, but it is said that the one who can defeat him can be found in Syradon. He will have an orb and magic sword. I have already packed enough food for the trip. My parents would never let me go, so we have to sneak out. I have a map, and I have already hidden two swords on Argen. He should be very useful, being a gringolet. They are more than just horses. I might not have been able to save you if it were not for him.”
That night Peter and Anna left.
The travel was rough and miserable. There were many things in the forest that Peter would not tell Anna about, and they became ever more weary. The only thing that allowed them continue was love. Anna loved Peter enough to go with him, and Peter loved her enough to protect her. However, their love began to grow weak, as they bickered and argued over how they should continue. Things got much worse during the fourth week of travel.
"Anna, why do you have to eat so much? Your nothing but a glutton! I saved you and you forced me to take you, and you wasted all our food! You are so ungrateful!"
"What? I didn't force you to take me anywhere! Your stupid world is not my problem! I would have gladly stayed away from you and your beasts and deamons! I never asked for any of this, and what did you expect me to do? Starve?"
After a few weeks, things got better as they learned to hunt and cook over an open fire. They found their love again, and were driven on to save Ilis.
They ate and drank whatever they could find, and at last!—after over a month of miserable travel through the forest, they arrived at Syradon.
“Anna, look at that!” exclaimed Peter, as he pointed to a pool of crystal clear water. On the other side of the pool, there sat a man drinking out of a golden cup wearing a purple robe. He had an orb in one hand, and a glistening sword at his side.
Not wanting to be seen, Peter and Anna jumped behind a bush.
“Anna, do you think that could be him?” asked Peter.
“I don’t know—he seems to have the orb and sword, but he looks crazy.”
The strange man was gesturing with his hands, as though he were talking to an invisible being.
Peter walked up to him and tapped him on the soldier. The man looked up at him. “Are you Eothorn?” asked Peter.
The man replied, “Yes, I am Eothorn, and this is my home,” he said spreading his hands in the air and motioning towards everything in view.
“We need your help,” said Anna, as she walked up behind Peter.
“Sorry—don’t offer that any more. My heart has been broken. We were to be married, but she was sent to study medicine in the Isle of Nymphs. I don’t care about your problems. I have enough of my own. She hurt me.”
“She would not be happy to find you wasting your life away,” said Peter cunningly.
Eothorn thought for a moment with a slightly baffled look on his face. Anna wondered how this crazy man could possibly help them.
“All right then, how about this? I will help you, if you will bring my love Elismere back to me from the Isle of Nymphs,” he said, sounding all the more insane.
Eothorn got up and dumped out his cup of wine in the pool, and a school of fish swam over to see if anything edible had been thrown in with it. Suddenly a change came over Eothorn, and he looked entirely sane. He had longish light-brown hair, grey but lively eyes and was very handsome.
“I was put under a spell by goblins serving Ershgarem,” said Eothorn. Peter and Anna stared at him in disbelief as he continued speaking.
“Yes, I know about Ershgarem. Is that not why you came to me? The wine was cursed. Until I dumped it out, I could not be free. I could not bring myself to do it, but when I saw how much you two have struggled and fought, I had to help.”
Eothorn walked over to a huge wooden crate and took out a sword and some armor. “I noticed you both already have swords, but put this armor on over your clothes.” he said. “We must raise an army to take down Ershgarem’s walls. In case you were wondering, this is the only place that has not been taken over yet. Right after you two left Ershgarem took over all other cities. A fairy kept me well informed.”
Peter refrained from asking about his family for Anna’s sake. She was so weary, and Peter could not let her see him worry about his loved ones, or she would be able to go on no longer.
“Let’s go!” said Eothorn. “I have with me the orb of Edwin, and the magic sword of Hera. They should be of some use. The orb has writing on it, but it only appears at the right time. Once it appears, it must be read by the right person, and Ilis will be set free. I have heard that it is written in the Nymphish language—that of the Nymphs.”
As Anna, Peter, and Eothorn set out to gather troops, Eothorn trained Anna and Peter. Peter was naturally gifted with both bow and sword, and required little assistance. Anna had never used a sword before, and struggled just to lift it.
Eothorn lunged at Anna in a training-duel, and as she tried to block his attack, she dropped her sword.
"Anna, wait here. You need a much lighter weapon," said Eothorn. He returned briefly with a mitril blade, fashioned by Elves.
"Let's begin again, Anna."
Once more, Eothorn lunged at Anna, and this time, able to lift the heavy sword, she blocked his attack. They got into a heavy duel, and Peter watched, fascinated, from a nearby rock.
Finally Eothorn managed to knock Anna's sword away, winning the duel.
"Well done Anna! You have come a long ways! I think that mithril blade definatly fits you better," said Eothorn, looking very pleased.
After about a month, they had raised an army of about 8,000 troops; fairies from Tira Misca, dwarves from Ungul Duun, elves and men from Ercrag and a few horses and gringolets. All the other creatures had taken sides with Ershgarem.
They started marching to Ershgarem’s fortress. When they were only a mile away, a war cry sounded out from behind them. Ershgarem’s army was right behind them!
They turned to face the oncoming foes. Looking back, Eothorn realized how minute their army was compared to the enemy's. He could see straight through the holes in his army to Ershgarem!
Eothorn turned back in the direction of Ershgarem's fortress. It was just over the hilltops--too far to run too. “The choice lies here. Shall we stay and fight, or flee?” said Eothorn.
“Whatever we do, we have to do it now,” said Peter hesitantly.
“I think the only option is to stay and fight,” said Eothorn calmly.
And with that, Eothorn turned and unsheathed his blade.
The enemy was upon them. Anna hit everything she could with her sword, while Peter shot arrows. Before Eothorn, there was a pile of dead goblins and orcs—Ershgarem’s men.
Ershgarem was standing right before Eothornready to engage in a one-on-one duel. Eothorn took a few steps away from Ershgarem. Ershgarem jabbed his sword at Eothorn’s face, and Eothorn swiftly blocked his attack. Eothorn lunged at Ershgarem, and his sword stabbed him in the stomach, where his armor was thin.
Ershgarem let out a wail and fell to the ground and Eothorn triumphantly wiped his blade in the grass. Just as Eothorn was about to go destroy the rest of Ershgarem’s forces, Ershgarem, in his last moments, managed to life his sword. He stabbed twice at Eothorn before finally dying.
“No!” cried Peter.
Eothorn turned and looked at him, blood gushing from his side. He was dying. “Eothorn! The orb!” cried out Anna’s pained voice from somewhere nearby. Eothorn fell to his knees. In a few moments he would be lifeless. Lifeless, like many of the goblins and creatures around him. He grasped the orb in his hand and watched its pulsing blue light for a few moments. He turned it around in his hand, and to his amazement, there was writing on it. He was gasping for breath as he read it aloud:
Ishme ashke ëñya asta
erum ista fryum asta.
Erkum isti enyum uun
fryum ishke ëñya duum.

Ilis we call upon you;
save us we ask you;
that Ershgarem be made powerless
we ask and call upon you.

As he said these words, a blue pulsing light shone over all of Ilis, and it was reunited with Earth. All bad magic was gone, and Ilis was free. Eothorn thought about what he had done—he had saved Anna, and Peter, and everyone else on Ilis. He had saved Elismere, who was far across the sea. He had saved them all. That was his last thought as he drew his final breath.
Years later....
Anna and Peter silently strolled though the garden. Peter picked a peach and handed it to Anna, and she looked up at him lovingly and smiled. They were king and queen of Ilis. Ershgarem was gone, and everything was peaceful. They had already been ruling over the renewed Ilis for nearly ten years, and all was well.