Eternal
Year 5
You are sitting in a gray room at a desk with several other children your age. All of you glance at each other a lot and it is obvious that there is much curiosity, but nobody speaks. This is very unusual for you, up until now, you have only had minimal contact with others. Most of them are male like you, but a few of them are female.
Soon the silence comes to an end when a dark skinned woman walks into the room. She has long hair and sharp features. One thing you notice is that despite her long hair covering her ears you can still see that the tips of them are pointed. She must be elven, but in the pictures you’ve seen in books, you’ve never seen one with dark skin before.
“Hello children, and congratulations on maintaining dignified silence during your time by yourselves. It’s nice to see that your previous human minders aren’t totally incompetent. Still, if you were Svelk children you would’ve been much better trained by now. Ah, but it is not my place to dwell on the limitations of the lesser born. I am merely here to oversee your training into proper Eternals so that you may serve the Emperor to your fullest capabilities. Now before we begin, I suggest you all ask questions now, because this will probably be the only time I will be in the mood for your ignorance.”
For a moment nobody speaks, but when the elven lady insists, one brave soul raises their hand.
“Yes, you.”
“Are you an elf?”
“Yes, I am. While the ignorant would use the vulgar term dark elf to describe me, my kind are more properly known as the Svelk. In fact WE are the purest of the elven race. All others you may have the misfortune of meeting are merely diluted members of our bloodline. They are truly pitiful creatures really only fit for extermination. Remember this.”
“Yes, you.”
“What is your name?”
“My name is unimportant, but you and the rest will always address me as Mistress. Failure to do so will earn my wrath, and more importantly the wrath of the Emperor. Remember this.”
“Yes, you.”
“What will you teach us?”
A second passes after the question, when a small bolt of light from the Svelk’s finger tips and hits the child in the chest asking the question. He falls backwards out of his chair and on to the floor. The rest of you jump in your own chairs and look back at him. He is breathing very erratically.
“I will teach you to OBEY my commands when I give them!” Mistress shouts, she then warns the rest of you.
“Don’t you dare touch him, let alone help him! (Sigh) And here I thought you lot had been trained better! It occurs to me that I will have to be extra strict in my discipline. As to the question about what I will teach you… I will teach you to be warriors. I will teach you to be wizards if you display the talent. I will teach you to shed yourselves of weakness. I will teach you to serve the Emperor without question and kill without mercy and you will always obey for you will find strength in obedience. You will find joy in order. You will find love in murder. You shall be instruments of terror and genocide if he so wishes it. You will be Eternals…or you will die. Remember this.”
After Mistress’ speech, the child she struck down eventually struggles back up and gets back in his seat, clutching his chest and still wheezing.
“I trust you have learned your lesson?”
“Y…yes…Mistress…” he gasps.
“Good, now one more question before we begin…you there. What is your question? Speak up!” Mistress demands while pointing at you, though you have not raised your hand.
You don’t wish to disagree with Mistress, so you stumble and try to think up a question.
“Uh…er…I was just wondering when will you teach us to fight Mistress?”
Mistress raises an eyebrow and gives a smirk as she approaches you.
“Fight? And what makes you think that YOU are even ready to learn yet? Do you have even the slightest knowledge of combat tactics?”
“No, Mis…” before you can even complete the sentence Mistress knocks you out of your chair with a quick jab with her hand, the pain from your face spreads to your chest when Mistress steps on it with her boot. She digs it into you and presses all her weight on it, while the rest of your class looks on.
“Damn right, no you don’t. You weren’t even alert enough to anticipate my attack. You let me get in close and now look at you, you’re completely at my mercy. I am in a position to do whatever I like with you, while you are only in a position to beg or die. So what will it be worm? Are you going to beg for your miserable life, or should I save the Empire’s time and money by killing you now?”
« Go Back You are sitting in a gray room at a desk with several other children your age. All of you glance at each other a lot and it is obvious that there is much curiosity, but nobody speaks. This is very unusual for you, up until now, you have only had minimal contact with others. Most of them are male like you, but a few of them are female.
Soon the silence comes to an end when a dark skinned woman walks into the room. She has long hair and sharp features. One thing you notice is that despite her long hair covering her ears you can still see that the tips of them are pointed. She must be elven, but in the pictures you’ve seen in books, you’ve never seen one with dark skin before.
“Hello children, and congratulations on maintaining dignified silence during your time by yourselves. It’s nice to see that your previous human minders aren’t totally incompetent. Still, if you were Svelk children you would’ve been much better trained by now. Ah, but it is not my place to dwell on the limitations of the lesser born. I am merely here to oversee your training into proper Eternals so that you may serve the Emperor to your fullest capabilities. Now before we begin, I suggest you all ask questions now, because this will probably be the only time I will be in the mood for your ignorance.”
For a moment nobody speaks, but when the elven lady insists, one brave soul raises their hand.
“Yes, you.”
“Are you an elf?”
“Yes, I am. While the ignorant would use the vulgar term dark elf to describe me, my kind are more properly known as the Svelk. In fact WE are the purest of the elven race. All others you may have the misfortune of meeting are merely diluted members of our bloodline. They are truly pitiful creatures really only fit for extermination. Remember this.”
“Yes, you.”
“What is your name?”
“My name is unimportant, but you and the rest will always address me as Mistress. Failure to do so will earn my wrath, and more importantly the wrath of the Emperor. Remember this.”
“Yes, you.”
“What will you teach us?”
A second passes after the question, when a small bolt of light from the Svelk’s finger tips and hits the child in the chest asking the question. He falls backwards out of his chair and on to the floor. The rest of you jump in your own chairs and look back at him. He is breathing very erratically.
“I will teach you to OBEY my commands when I give them!” Mistress shouts, she then warns the rest of you.
“Don’t you dare touch him, let alone help him! (Sigh) And here I thought you lot had been trained better! It occurs to me that I will have to be extra strict in my discipline. As to the question about what I will teach you… I will teach you to be warriors. I will teach you to be wizards if you display the talent. I will teach you to shed yourselves of weakness. I will teach you to serve the Emperor without question and kill without mercy and you will always obey for you will find strength in obedience. You will find joy in order. You will find love in murder. You shall be instruments of terror and genocide if he so wishes it. You will be Eternals…or you will die. Remember this.”
After Mistress’ speech, the child she struck down eventually struggles back up and gets back in his seat, clutching his chest and still wheezing.
“I trust you have learned your lesson?”
“Y…yes…Mistress…” he gasps.
“Good, now one more question before we begin…you there. What is your question? Speak up!” Mistress demands while pointing at you, though you have not raised your hand.
You don’t wish to disagree with Mistress, so you stumble and try to think up a question.
“Uh…er…I was just wondering when will you teach us to fight Mistress?”
Mistress raises an eyebrow and gives a smirk as she approaches you.
“Fight? And what makes you think that YOU are even ready to learn yet? Do you have even the slightest knowledge of combat tactics?”
“No, Mis…” before you can even complete the sentence Mistress knocks you out of your chair with a quick jab with her hand, the pain from your face spreads to your chest when Mistress steps on it with her boot. She digs it into you and presses all her weight on it, while the rest of your class looks on.
“Damn right, no you don’t. You weren’t even alert enough to anticipate my attack. You let me get in close and now look at you, you’re completely at my mercy. I am in a position to do whatever I like with you, while you are only in a position to beg or die. So what will it be worm? Are you going to beg for your miserable life, or should I save the Empire’s time and money by killing you now?”