Elloren Gardner

Elloren playing violin

**Elloren Gardner** is a Gardnerian and is the next Black Witch. She is the granddaughter of the first Black Witch, Carnissa Gardner.

## Physical Appearance

As a Gardnerian, Elloren has long black hair, forest green eyes, and pale skin with an iridescent green shimmer. She has the identical features of her grandmother, Carnissa Gardner. This makes her recognizable everywhere she goes. Elloren is tall and slender and her face is made of sharp, severe angles with a thin nose. She usually wears her hair in a messy bun. While she originally believed looking like her grandmother was a huge compliment, she comes to resent the way she looks like her grandmother.

Elloren has a Smaragdalfar demon-sensing rune on her stomach and a shield-passed rune on her forearm from Sage. After fasting to Lukas, she has black fastlines on her hands and wrists.

After becoming a Dryad she has a deep forest green shimmer, pointed ears and an image of III on her palm.

## Personality

Elloren has a bit of a quiet, bookish nature. She loves gardening and making medicines. She has a natural talent for making and playing violins. She has always been drawn to wood and is soothed by it. Elloren inherited her gift for apothecary from her mother, Tessla Harrow, and wants to learn the apothecary trade like her mother did.

Others frequently describe Elloren as naive and gullible. She is kind and well-intentioned, but ignorant because of her sheltered childhood. She easily believes what people tell her and is often confused by the way other races treat Gardnerians.

As Elloren learn more about the history of the Western Realm, and the cruelty of the Gardnerians, she develops a rebellious streak. She is faced with the realization of the things her people have done to get and maintain power and is horrified by it. She is challenged by her experience at Verpax University, and becomes broken down. But she fixes herself into a stronger, more determined young woman. She becomes someone who is stubborn, especially in finding out the truth. Elloren can be unsure of herself at times, possibly as a result of the Gardnerian culture that is highly patriarchal, and from spending almost her entire life thinking she lacked any magical ability. After she completes her intensive training, she gains confidence in herself and her newfound abilities.

Valasca, Lukas, and Chi Nam spend a month rigorously and ruthlessly training her to become an Amaz warrior. This involves not only training her body, but training her mind to push emotions to the side and remain rational during stressful or fearful situations.

## Biography

### Early History

When Elloren was three years old, her parents were thought to be killed in the Realm War by Kelts. She later finds out that Vale Gardner and Tessla Harrow were actually killed by her grandmother, Carnissa Garder, when she found out that they were working for the Resistance. To hide that fact to not reap 'humiliation' upon the 'great' family, she told the world that they were killed by Kelts. Only a few people who were part of the Resistance at the time knew the truth. She and her brothers, Rafe and Trystan then went to live with their uncle, Edwin Gardner. They grew up in a cottage in Halfix.

### The Black Witch

Elloren receives the White Wand from Sage Gaffney. She travels to Valgard with her Aunt Vyvian Damon and meets Lukas Grey. Her Aunt insists she fast to him but Elloren says no. So, Aunt Vyvian has her room with icarals at University and work in the kitchens to pay her tithe.

Elloren arrives to Verpax University. She becomes friends with Aisleen Greer and roomates with the icarals Wynter and Ariel. In the kitchens, she meets Yvan Guriel who is extremely hostile to her. As the year progresses, Elloren and Yvan start to see each other for who they really are and Vogel becomes high mage. As Elloren and Yvan get closer, Yvan shows her Naga, an unbroken military dragon he wants to save. On their way back from visiting Naga, Elloren rescues a selkie, Marina.

After forming a group of people willing to help rescue Naga, Elloren uses the white wand and Trystan to free her. Later, she goes to Jules Kristan's office and is formally enlisted into the Resistance.

### The Iron Flower

Elloren and Yvan have started to fall for each other. They visit Keltania and Amaz lands to try and free all the selkies. The Amaz help and Elloren says goodbye to Marina.

As Vogel's power rises, both Lupine packs were murdered and Ariel and Wynter are forced to leave. Wynter fled to Amaz lands and Ariel was captured and sent to Gardnerian prison. Elloren and Yvan glamour and go to rescue her. Afterwards, they meet up in the North Tower and confess their love for each other. In the morning, Aunt Vyvian walks in on them in bed together. After Aunt Vyvian leaves, Elloren discovers that Yvan is the icaral of prophecy and that she is the Black Witch. Then, she is dragged by Vyvian to watch her uncle die and is forced to fast to Lucas Grey. They also seal it but do not consummate the sealing.

Elloren and Yvan say their goodbyes to each other and are separated by the Vu Trin.

### The Shadow Wand

Elloren has been in hiding with the Vu Trin for about a month in the Central Agolith Desert. The Vu Trin want to help her learn to control her magic.

During her Sealing ceremony, Vogel uses his Shadow Wand to change Elloren's magic. He quickens her fledgling ability to sense power and makes her more vulnerable at the same time. He has made it so that she is overwhelmed by the affinities of those around her and her lines are on full display. Lukas places a shield around her, but must keep holding her hand so he can draw on her power. Vogel tries to get into her lines, but Lukas's shield is blocking him. He does something to Lukas's power as well. Lukas believes that Vogel tried to permanently invade their lines but would up amplifying their perception of external power instead.

Before they consummate their fasting, Elloren tells Lukas that she wants him not to be with anyone else. Lukas immediately agrees, saying that he only wants her.

Upon arriving in Chi Nam's Vonor, Elloren discovers that the trees mapped her affinity lines while she was traveling through the forest. Now that she is unshielded in the Vonor, the trees attack her. The trees have tied her lines in a way that orients them toward her center so that if she uses an affinity, her magic will double back and kill her. To get her magic back, Elloren will need sorcerers talented in counter-runic resonance, which is the ability to build runes to counter every part of a complex magical system.

Since she can't learn to control her magic, Valasca, Lukas, and Chi Nam decide to train Elloren to become an Amaz warrior. They are tracked down by Vogel and Elloren is pushed through a portal to Noi lands while Lukas is captured.

## Powers & Abilities

Elloren grew up believing she had no magical ability. Her uncle covered up her magic to try and protect her. She realizes that she can indeed access her magic after she accidentally sets a forest on fire. According to the Prophecy, the next Black Witch will be even stronger than the first Black Witch. The extent of her powers is predicted to be diverse. The Elfhollen have described the next Black Witch as someone who is “potentially the greatest weapon in the Western Realm.”

When she is training with Lukas Gray, she learns that she is in fact far more powerful than her grandmother, Carnissa Gardner, ever was. Using only a wand that is “a step up from a branch,” meaning a very weak wand, she is able to create a fire inferno that obliterates everything in its path. Furthermore, the fire spell she uses is the weakest one, being the candle-lighting spell. Thus, Elloren is one of the most, if not the most, dangerous person on Erthia. After her intensive and constant training with Lukas, Valasca, and Chi Nam, Elloren develops the skills and knowledge of an Amaz warrior. The White Wand helps her master knife throwing skills so that she has perfect aim every time she throws a weapon. Her training also gives her the knowledge and skills to be a rune-warrior.

As Yvan's bonded mate, she recieves Wyvernfire from him. Her Wyvernfire is golden. Her Wyvernfire also makes her immune to fire and unable to be burned.

Elloren has very strong fire and earth affinity lines. However, she also has affinity lines for water, air, and light. She describes her wind affinity as “a rush of wind” and her water affinity as “a slim trace of water.” She can also “read” the source tree of wooden objects. If she touches anything made of wood, she can get a full sense of its source tree. She can see, hear, smell, and feel the tree’s birthplace. She can tell if the tree was healthy or not. She grew up believing this ability to be a “strange nature fixation” her uncle warned her never to speak of.

When her magic is unbound from the trees all five of her affinity lines become equal.

After she becomes a Dryad, her magic is slighty transformed. Yvan saying that her fire feels more like 'Green Sunlight'.

## Relationships

### Lukas Grey

Elloren’s aunt, Vyvian Damon, is obsessed with Elloren wandfasting to Lukas. Upon meeting him, Elloren is immediately attracted to him, and he seems interested in her. As they spend more time together, Elloren is concerned by how easily he draws her in. She is both awed and troubled by how ruthlessly and efficiently Lukas wields his power over others. For example, when he threatens Bleddyn, Iris, and Fernyllia. Lukas can be disgusted by Elloren’s softness, something he views as a weakness. For example, when he violently kills Ariel’s chicken, Elloren finds it disturbing and too much. Lukas is disgusted by her reaction.

Lukas tells Elloren that he wants to wandfast to her because it would give him the ability to draw from her power even if she herself can’t access it. Lukas is aware of Elloren’s rebellious leanings, but still wants her, even though he “does not believe in love.” He makes some remarks that indicate he may be sympathetic to the Resistance, but that Elloren is acting rather rashly and being obvious about what she is doing. He implies that she needs to be smarter and learn to play the game.

Elloren discovers that since they both share strong affinity lines for earth, they are unable to lie to each other. She continues to struggle with wanting to be closer to him and wanting to be farther away from him at the same time.

Aunt Vyvian forces Elloren to wandfast to Lukas against her will. Lukas claims he is trying to protect her because if he did not fast to her, Vyvian would pick someone worse. Elloren swears she will hate him forever for fasting to her without her consent. Later, she learns that Lukas was indeed correct about her aunt’s intentions. If he had not wandfasted to her, her aunt would have fasted her to Damion Bane.

As they spend time together training, they fall in love and Elloren decides to fully commit to Lukas. She agrees to do the Sealing ceremony with him, which bonds them together as fastmates, and which neither one can break. Even though Lukas won't profess his love to Elloren, she can read it in his fire. His love for her is staggering in its strength. He tells her that he wants her more than he's ever wanted anything. Elloren has grown to care for Lukas a great deal in a short amount of time, but she can't give him her whole heart as she still loves Yvan despite his death. After spending a little more than a month training with Lukas, Valasca, and Chi Nam, Elloren decides to give Lukas her entire self. They say they love each other and want to spend their lives together. At the end of *The Demon Tide* Lukas sacrifices his life to help her and everyone else.

### Yvan Guriel

Yvan originally hates Elloren upon meeting her. As time goes on, and Yvan gets to know Elloren he realizes how different she is from other Gardnerians. They know a relationship is forbidden, but struggle to resist their pull toward each other. At the end of *The Iron Flower* they kiss and become bonded mates, giving Elloren Wyvernfire. She still loves him even after she believes him dead. When they meet again she struggles to stay away from him, even after becoming fasted to Lukas Grey. At the end of *The Demon Tide* they kiss again and restore their bonded as Wyvern Mates as well as being part of a hoard.

### Vyvian Damon

Elloren is desperate for Vyvian's approval and attention at first. She had been hungry for a mother figure her whole life and wanted female guidance. Vyvian treats Elloren terribly, particularly after Elloren finds out just how cruel her aunt really is. She is responsible for Edwin's death. Vyvian threatens to kill Trystan and Rafe. She tells Elloren the night of her Sealing ceremony that she hopes Lukas beats her harshly. Whenn Vyvian is killed, Elloren realizes she doesn't mourn her passing.

## Memorable Quotes

* “And I realize, in that moment, that a heart is a thing not so easily destroyed by the shadows.”

## References

1. ↑ *The Shadow Wand*: page 399
2. ↑ *The Shadow Wand*: page 536
3. ↑ *The Shadow Wand*: page 469