This episode contains topics that may be sensitive to some
listeners. Check out the show notes for
more information. Thank you for tuning in.
Good morning kiddos! Welcome to another episode of
ousphere with spark, here on the NVBC.
I am Stanson Spark and this week we are covering another species
on our wonderful planet. The Dökkálfar.
Say it with me now kids! Dökk-ál-far.
Dökkálfar. The Dökkálfar are more commonly
known as night elves. Way easier.
Some of you might even be descended from them.
Gray skin anyone? Dökkálfar are said to be akin to
dwarves or other underground dwellers.
Although night elves are generally a lot nicer to look
at. Ha ha ha!
You can recognize night elves by their long sharp ears and gray
skin. Ranging from light to darker
gray. Sometimes even with a hint of
blue. Their average height is around
198 cm for males and 187 cm for females.
They are probably taller than you are.
Night elves are built for a colder climate.
They prefer the north for their long winters.
During these winters they can easily roam outside without the
sun affecting their sensitive eyes and skin.
Even in summer, the sun in the north is more forgiving.
You see, night elves have much better and more sensitive
eyesight in hearing than most other species.
Question time! As always, our young audience is
able to ask questions about this week's subject.
This week we'll be answering Luc's question.
Take it away, Luc. Hi, Stanson.
I really love the program- Thank you for that, Luc.
We love you too. Sorry for the interruption.
Let's start that again. Hi, Stanson.
I really love the program Warriors of the Night.
Well, I'm sure if you are listening to me, you love my
program too. Anyway, let's listen to Luc.
In warriors of the night, the elves have magical powers.
Is it true? Is it possible to get magical
powers? Thank you for the answer, Mr.
Stanson. Great question, Luc.
For the longest time I thought they did.
Some elf at my school always told me he did anyway.
However, that's a lie. They are strong and fast and
their senses are heightened, but they are not magical.
They do practice rituals such as the wild hunt and the
celebration of the summer solstice.
Another difficult word, kids. I told you you'd be smart when
listening to Spark. And that's it for night elves.
Next week we'll talk about a different interesting species.
Maybe we'll cover what you are. Wait until after the ad break
for the reveal of our next subject and ask your questions
to get featured next week. Just like Luc.
Thanks for listening. This was Stanson Spark with Our
sphere with Spark. Good bye.
Your children will be smart when listening to Spark.
Wake up, New Vilirth! Chapter 2.
Keep it dark. The door to Kazimir von
Leirkov's study was closed, which meant he was busy.
Either with work or with indulging himself otherwise.
Usually I would have turned around, but today I pushed
through the doors after a hasty knock.
The office was stately, with a herringbone wooden flooring,
thick blue carpet and a mahogany desk at the center.
Bookshelves lined the walls. Although I had never seen
Kazimir read anything except for law proposals and lengthy
contracts. Despite the room being
relatively large, it felt cramped compared to Kazimir's
previous office. He had stubbornly ordered all
the same furniture to be moved into this new office when we had
to scale down. Its walls were even the same
sapphire color. The desk was disassembled and
refinished to hide where they had to cut it to fit it through
the door. Not that it mattered how big the
office was. I felt claustrophobic in any
room my father was in. Kazimir sat behind his desk.
He hadn't heard my knock and shot up from his leather chair
when I barged in. W-What are you- Konstantin?
A thin tube came out from behind his ear where it was embedded
into his skin. Clear fluid seeped through it.
Kazimir pulled at the tube. It came out clean.
I knew he had a connector installed a few moons ago.
Sasha had told me so. Up to this point I tried to
ignore it. Kazimir's pointy ears shielded
the tube from sight. He combed his white hair over
any evidence for good measure. Several precious drops worth
hundreds of coperium shards spilled onto the floor before
Kazimir could stop the flow. What are you thinking, boy?
He looked flustered. I had only seen him like this a
handful of times. His tie untied and his hair
ruffled. I had no desire to know what
kind of memory Kazimir von Leirkov had been enjoying.
Sir, pardon me. I would not have disturbed you,
but there has been an explosion in the mines, sir.
Kazimir's eyes narrowed. He leaned over the desk, placing
his hands on the table. I looked a lot like him.
White hair, bright yellow eyes, the same nose.
Yet his figure was imposing, broad-shouldered and tall, and I
had only received one of those features.
His gaze fixed on me. How many did we lose?
Six, sir. Eleven wounded.
They spotted the Krenir again, but I quieted that before the
press came. Did we lose any materials?
I dreaded answering this question.
Yes, sir. One of the drills has been
damaged and several entrances that led to the new copper vein
have collapsed. The railway will also need to be
repaired, but sir, there are still miners stuck in one of the
shafts. They require assistance.
Where exactly are they stuck? Does that shaft lead to the
surface? No, sir.
They are stuck in a shaft leading further into the mines.
I believe they went there to try and escape the rockfall.
They can wait. Focus on reopening the entrance
to that copper vein. Sir, I don't think they can
wait. The words were out of my mouth
before I could stop it. Kazimir leaned forward and I
automatically stepped back. Did I ask for your opinion?
No, sir. Any progress on finding a way to
kill that beast? No, sir.
Is there anything you are competent in?
I apologize. Send out mechanics to fix the
railway as soon as possible. And for fuck's sake, make sure
they kill that thing. We have a shipment to fulfill
next week. Those bullets won't make
themselves. I have other things to worry
about than some wild animal. The Vanguard will be using this
as an opportunity. If we aren't careful, our entire
personnel will be in their workshops before the end of this
moon. If there is another attack, the
damage will be on your name, son and those deaths you care so
much about. Is that clear?
Yes, sir. Speak up!
What are you, a ten-year-old girl?
Yes, sir. I realized the mistake I'd made.
I mean... Should we start calling you
Konstantina from now on? Get out.
I've heard enough. And?
My cousin was a head shorter and a few years younger.
Her dark gray skin and white hair were signature of the von
Leirkovs. It was about the only thing
Sasha had in common with the rest of our family.
Don't pretend like you didn't listen in on everything.
Well, I wish I hadn't. That's what you get for being a
snoop. How are you going to save those
people? She followed me down the marble
staircase. I'm not.
I have more to do. I needed a plan.
Or some order at least. I would need to return to the
mines later today to see the actual damage.
And not the damage the media circus was causing.
—But you can't just leave them by- —I can and I will!
Sasha opened her mouth in protest.
—You were- —They knew the risk and so did their families.
It doesn't work like that if you don't have a choice.
I pretended not to hear her. It was clear she didn't quite
understand how things worked around here.
She could be endlessly optimistic.
I had no idea who she'd gotten that trait from.
Certainly not from her parents. You wouldn't happen to know
anything useful about killing a Krenir, would you?
Well, I know you'll be dead long before managing to get that
creature killed. Best to shut down that part of
the mine, throw as many stones down the hole it came from, and
hope it's either squashed to death or doesn't care enough to
dig a new tunnel. So nothing useful.
When we had first been notified of the beast in the caverns, I
had sent my assistant Helmut to the library.
He spent two days there, reporting on what was known
about the beast. It hadn't helped.
Researchers had more to do than research some cave-dwelling
monster. They were busy finding new ways
to prevent famine by creating new races of crops less
susceptible to the heat. I, too, hadn't cared about some
monster compendium. Until now.
If it wouldn't cost me my head, I would have heeded Sasha's
words and collapsed the entire cave.
Sasha rolled her eyes at me. Or you could hire the Oneiroi
Vanguard. The people they send on memory
hunts are far more capable than those inexperienced doozies that
you have walking around. They loved calling themselves
that. As if they were an organization
and not the criminal scumbags of the underground.
That's enough ideas for the day. — Sir. — Leave it.
I took my coat from the rack and put on my dust mask.
The butler handed me my wide-brimmed hat to protect me
from the harsh sun. She opened the door for me and
Sasha to stroll out into the bright afternoon.
A layer of red sand still hung over the city of New Vilirth.
Sand from yesterday's sandstorm crunched under my polished
shoes. I crossed the pavement and
ducked into a sleek black car that was still waiting for me in
front of the von Leirkov office. Sasha slid in next to me.
Home. The chauffeur nodded and the car
slid seamlessly into the ongoing traffic.
I leaned back and closed my eyes.
A weight pressed against my forehead.
It had been pressing there all day, but in moments of stillness
it intensified. The drive took less than five
minutes, but by the time the car turned onto my driveway, my
headache had gone from a six to an eight.
I opened my eyes to find Sasha watching me in silence.
Quickly, I straightened and removed my hand from where it
had been subconsciously massaging my temples.
What? You said you'd get that checked
out. I did.
Half truth. I had mentioned it offhandedly
to my physician. He had given me the advice to
sleep more and drink enough. I kept it at that.
I didn't need my father to know his wimpy son was complaining
about headaches. The chauffeur opened the door.
I secured my dust mask and got out.
The townhouse that lay in front of me was a fraction of that of
my father's, but it was nice and comfortable enough for two
people. And Sasha, if she wanted to
escape her family. The townhouse included a
driveway, which was rare enough in the city.
It also had something that resembled a garden.
My butler opened the door. One of the few personnel we had
kept, besides a chauffeur, a cook, and a maid.
Years ago, the staff in every house had been considerably
larger. I didn't even have a full-time
gardener anymore. Now we hired someone once in a
while. Sir?
I ignored the butler, a human. Our family preferred to employ
humans, or certainly beings with lesser hearing capability than
our own. It ensured a lot less
eavesdropping. I held out my coat and mask.
I'll have some lunch. Sasha is joining.
Yes, sir. The butler disappeared down into
the kitchen. Her name is Cleo, you know.
I am aware. You could use it?
I lifted an eyebrow. Are you going to spend all day
criticizing me? Um, yes.
She drifted off into the living room.
I rolled my eyes and turned the opposite way into my study.
It was similar to the room my father had, but I had tried my
best not to let it be the same. For one, the colors were
different, green instead of blue.
I had opted for a desk that didn't suffocate the room, and I
had actually read the books. I closed the door behind me and
leaned against it. I was sitting and staring at a
spot on the carpet when a knock came on the door.
Come in. Nadya pushed the door open and
slid inside. Sasha has already started on
lunch. It's ready if you want
something. She wore a red dress more fit
for a gala than for an afternoon at home.
She liked a dress like this. I didn't understand why.
It didn't seem comfortable. I'll be there in a second.
Nadya withdrew an ice pack from behind her back.
She also informed me you have a headache.
I accepted the ice pack and placed it against my temple.
At least it distracted me from the pain.
It's back. The Krenir.
I heard. You'll figure it out though.
I'll need to go there so I won't be home for dinner.
Nadya nodded. I was unable to read her face.
Her skin was a lot paler than mine.
Almost rosy, like a human. Her ears were still pointed, yet
far less sharp than mine were. She was a half-elf.
The Minaya family, however, was rich enough to make their way
into the elite despite their murky heritage.
Nadya brushed the leather couch with her slim fingers.
Around her neck shone a golden engagement pendant.
The soft red stone came from the mines.
We barely sourced any rubies from the mountains, and the gold
around it even less so. I had planned a year ahead to
get her this jewelry. I'll be right there.
I just need to make another call.
Nadya understood the request. She got up and left the room.
I picked up the phone. The coiled wire knocked my glass
over. I grabbed it before it could
roll off the desk, then dialed the number.
The caller's tone rang in my ears as I pressed the ice pack
against my temple. I would have to see it for
myself to make a decision. Perhaps one of them could tell
me what to do about a monster that barely had any known
weaknesses, and could operate in complete darkness.
Even for night elves, the absolute darkness in the mines
was impenetrable. Helmut, good evening.
Sir? It happened again.
We are going to need a mechanic team down there.
My chauffeur closed the door behind me and walked around the
car to get behind the wheel. My townhouse lay in the southern
part of the city, close to the sea, which meant we had to cross
the entire city to get to the mines in the north.
As soon as we passed the gate and left my secluded
neighborhood, we rolled into the late afternoon traffic of the
city proper. The roads became less sprawling,
and homes were small and poorly maintained by its residents.
I leaned back in my leather seat and watched the city take off
their suits and head into the evening, whatever that was
filled with for its denizens. Around me, the city's true
character began to unfold. The vast majority of these
buildings were empty and defaced.
Those that weren't had their windows covered up to block out
the sun and sand. Traces of the old city lurid
behind the facades of old buildings.
Geometric lines painted the character of a city from years
before that I barely remembered. When New Vilirth was still...
Vilirth. Before the crash and when
everything came in abundance. That had been at least 20 years
ago. I was a little boy back then.
Sir, Mr. von Leirkov? I blinked and sat up straighter.
I met my chauffeur's eyes in the rear-view mirror.
What? I suggest going through the
underground to avoid traffic. I now noticed that we had barely
moved at all. As of yet, I could just make out
the first buildings of the campus district and the
mountains lay far beyond. Was decent infrastructure too
much to ask for? I'd rather not.
I glanced at my watch. But we'll have to if we want to
make it in time. My chauffeur nodded curtly and
pressed a button. The glass in the back of the car
darkened to stop people from looking in.
The road followed what had once been the train's entrance to the
underground. We landed in another maze of
roads, but this time under the city, using the structure of the
metro. Shops lined what used to be the
platforms, and roads now ran where the tracks had once been.
A sour smell began to fill the car.
I wrinkled my nose. I caught my chauffeur's eyes in
the mirror. The chauffeur dragged a lever to
the right, blocking out the oppressing odour from the
outside. We drove past a pocket of
buildings and shops that was particularly dishevelled.
A woman stumbled past our car. I leaned back from the window,
watching her in disgust. Tubes were crudely embedded
behind her ear. The shaved skin was covered in
scabs. The tubes attached to a handmade
pump, which in turn was attached to a plastic bottle.
Her eyes were blank. The stuff in the bottle was
murky brown, almost as if it was water scooped straight from a
river. Still, I recognized it as what
it must be, gauging from the dreamy look in her eyes.
I would never understand why people would do that to
themselves. I looked away from the scene and
pressed a button on the panel next to me.
The windows darkened completely. We're here sir.
I sat up. I hadn't nodded off exactly, but
I had slipped into thoughts about the task ahead.
I got out of the car. My shining black shoes touched
the gravel. A cloud of dust blew my way and
instantly covered me in a layer of red powder.
I grimaced. Two figures waited for me,
flanked by six senior security officers.
Their faces were covered in enough dust that I barely
recognized them. The masks they wore also didn't
help. Behind them, mine carts rattled
to the surface, coming from the depths below.
Miners unloaded them onto conveyor belts and into the
machines that sifted for precious metal.
One of the officers stepped forward to hand me my mask.
It wasn't a regular cloth mask. It covered my entire face and
went into an active filtering system.
I stood still as the officer strapped it to my back.
My father had these clear masks made.
To allow for the eyes and mouth to be visible, they had to be
full-faced. Impractical and suffocating.
But everyone should recognize the von Leirkovs as they stood
before them. Or so Kazimir had said.
Their style looked nothing like the fabric masks the miners
fabricated themselves. Welcome, mister von Leirkov.
The man in front of me wore the same full-faced mask as me,
naturally, as he was the one who had created them.
He was one of our lead scientists.
Dr. Paterson. I turned to the woman beside
him. Dr. Veyera.
She, too, was wearing one of the full-faced masks.
As the lead scientist, she, of course, had that privilege.
Behind the mask, her dark eyes assessed me.
Let's get going. I have other things to do.
Clearly, she wasn't happy about being assigned here.
It wasn't usually her job, but they had no one qualified for a
Krenir attack. Dr. Veyera turned around and
marched towards the opening of the mines.
The rest, including me, followed suit.
I glanced up. Before us, the mountains above
the mines reached into the sky. And beyond them stood Mount
Spinel, bathing in the afternoon sun.
The volcano had last erupted 26 years ago.
It would be at least double that before it happened again.
But it still made me uneasy to look at.
Stick to the group mister von Leirkov.
You don't want to get lost here. I had stopped in my tracks
unconsciously. I picked up the pace and
followed the group into the dark opening of the mines.
We arrived at a large iron gate. Dr. Veyera pressed a long
sequence into a code pad on a metal box and opened the small
door. Your turn, Mr. von Leirkov.
Dr. Veyera stepped aside. I stepped forward and typed in
the code. We waited in silence until a
green light beeped. I then took out a key.
One that I had never used before, even though my father
had given it to me years ago. I unlocked the gate and slid it
open. Despite its size, it barely made
any sound. Lights in the ceiling showed a
corridor that led towards an elevator.
I don't suppose you've ever taken an elevator down a
mineshaft. A security officer mockingly
studied my crisp suit. My cheeks warmed, but I turned
to the officer with a straight face and took my time looking
him up and down. What is your name?
The officer froze in his tracks. Daniel Zatar, sir.
I didn't mean to insult, sir. It was just a joke.
Right. Walk in front.
Instead of making jokes, you do better to just do your job.
Yes, sir. I apologize, sir.
I nodded, using the silence that fell as a threat.
He hurried ahead. I stepped into a rattling
elevator alongside Dr. Patterson, who looked as uneasy
as I felt. The elevator, or rather a cage,
rattled even before it went down.
And when it started moving, it creaked loud enough to make any
conversation impossible. Even so, these people didn't
seem to be the ones for small talk.
When we got out of the elevator, everything was dark.
Pitch black. A flashlight flicked on, coming
from Dr. Veyera, followed by several more.
The small beam of light illuminated a very narrow,
endless tunnel. Cold sweat clung to me.
I tried not to think about the idea of getting stuck down here.
I made sure to follow Dr. Veyera closely as we walked along in
silence. We took several more elevators
down and walked for what felt like a whole bell.
My feet were tired and painful in these shoes.
And this far underground, it wasn't exactly warm.
But I kept going without complaint.
I wasn't going to prove them right.
Finally, Dr. Veyera stopped in her tracks.
Six beams all pointed in the same direction, illuminating a
cavern. Or at least, what would have
been a cavern if half of it hadn't collapsed.
Several people with mining helmets and small headlights
were digging at the pile of rubble.
The von Leirkov emblem shone on their chests.
The arm of a drill stuck out from underneath the stone.
I was glad the light shone mostly in that direction and not
on the piles of rubble with what might be human limbs sticking
out from underneath. I noticed one of the miners was
kneeling next to a body with what looked like a medical kit.
I averted my gaze and caught Dr. Veyera watching me, lips thin in
disapproval. Here you go, Mr. von Leirkov.
I suppose you've come here to tell us how to fix this.
I ignored her words. My father would have gotten her
shot, but there were enough bodies around here already.
Any sightings of the Krenir? No, but we do have another
problem. He pointed his beam into the
cavern. About 20 meters above us set a
dent in the wall. We're not just dealing with the
Krenir, sir. He angled his beam to show off
five eggs that glowed like dark quartz in the beam of the
flashlight. I'd say they are about a week
from hatching, and we have no way to get up there without the
danger of the cavern collapsing. With her finger, she drew my eye
to a crack in the wall just above the eggs.
Or drawing the attention of their dear mother.
She shone her flashlight onto the walls and turned around in a
circle. The beam slid across the
shimmering rock. They shone with the promise of
wealth. All hells.
Thank you for tuning in. We hope you've enjoyed your
stay.