Notes

"She flashes a smile that would make your vision swirl....
She is the girl with a broken smile..."

​Sharleen’s parents were both serving Melethnaes, the hidden city in Hallasan Mounstains as a priestess and a scholar of magic and known as their king and queen. The city was a secret place and held treasures and wealth no living man has ever seen.

Melethnaes was built over a thousand year, and had been abandoned by unknown reason ages ago. From there they found precious metals and gems which now decorate the white and gold city in architecture and clothing of its citizens.

​Same as her parents, Sharleen wanted to serve the city so she became a city guard and war, learning the sacred art of bladesinging. She was always proud to be a half elf and half demon, and loved every tradition, temple, garden, shop and golden ornament in her city.

​When cultists attacked Melethnaes and desecrated its holy temples and beautiful gardens robbing all the valuables they could in one night, she swore to avenge her fallen city and getting bloody revenge on behalf of her beautiful home.

As she took the last steps on the white stairs that ascended from Melethnaes to the mountainside, now stained from dirt and blood of innocent lives of her citizens, she felt a chill.

No elf had left the city for centuries and now she out of all elves was the first to leave her post. But she knew that it was the right thing to do. She should just leave it be…

The golden city stood cold and depraved on the mountainside, wind whistling between its magnificent towers and cries of mourning echoing in its streets behind Sharleen’s back as she started to ascend to the unknown world that lied at the feet of Hallasan Mountains.

​She couldn’t remember how she got to the foot of Hallasan Mountains, nor how she managed to climb down the steep path along the mountain’s edge. The whole evening had been a blur. All she knew was that she was terrified, and lost, and desperate- more desperate than she had ever been in her life.

​The sleepy unknown village twinkled in the twilight, and the stars above the valley slowly appeared as the sun sank over the horizon. She walked towards the edge of the path, clinging painfully to her ribs in a vain attempt to staunch some of the blood flowing from them.

She was too scared to look at her chest, remembering the loud crunch as the fire poker came crashing down. Her ribs were probably broken, at best. She’d probably bleed out, at worst. Not that she particularly cared about the end result. Death wasn’t a problem. 

​Bleeding out sounded like an arduous process. Freezing sounded much better. Long, yes, but relatively painless. All she’d have to do is wait. And really, how bad could it be? Sitting down on the edge of the cliff, staring out at Hallasan’s beautiful valley as everything slowly fades away? How Romantic.

And yet, not necessarily a guarantee. After all, it was summer, and though the mountain’s temperature was dropping by the minute, Sharleen couldn’t say for certain whether it would get below freezing.

​She glanced down. The drop was over a mile, maybe more. Faster than bleeding. More guaranteed than freezing. An escape. She took a shuddering breath, trying to steady herself. 

​Without giving herself the chance to reconsider, she lunged off the cliff-side and disappeared from view.

​As she careened downward, the whole world began to glow gold and white, and with a sudden burst of energy she was no longer falling at all. Suddenly she was rising- rising higher and higher in the air- past the cliff-side and the peak and mountains themselves- her eyes beaming radiant light as black wings took her higher still.

The world wasn’t glowing after all. She was. And she was soaring.

​—

​She couldn’t remember how she got to the foot of the Hallasan Mountains, but as she lay down in the grass- alive and fully healed- a gentle voice whispered in her head. “There is no shame in a meaningful death, but there is much you still must do. Rise, my child, rise. And come with me, you're more powerful than death itself. Come.. Come to Jeumbeegard”

And so she did.....