Chapter 1A Chapter by Misty Sixteen years have passed and the war has yet to be
resolved. The Royal Elves still opposed
the Rebel elves over the slavery of human.
Humans, in their own right, were fighting against any elves that came
too close to them whether they were fighting for them or against them. The Wolf, great guardian of their world,
remained quiet during the whole ordeal, even though he was prayed to almost
every night for the war to end. It had
been close to one hundred year since the war began, and only the elves know how
it started, as their life span allowed for them to remember. At least three generations of humans had
passed since the beginning of the war, while most of the elves were still alive
from the beginning. The Rebel Elves believed that humans were lesser beings and that being elves gave
them control over them. Not all the
elves agreed with that, as many had been friends with plenty of humans. This drove the division in the elves, and a
great distrust of elves throughout the human race. Most
small farming or ranching villages had their own militia to protect them at
this point, but most of the time against the larger armies of the Rebel Elves,
they did little to help. Surprisingly
though, the small human ranching village of Tramsron had been completely left
alone. The villagers found it suspicious
that the only elves they would see were the Royal elves, which would do a pass
through at least once a month. By now
most villagers had put it in the back of their mind and enjoyed the worry free
living they had become accustom to. The
carefree lifestyle suit Emily very much.
A young lady now, soon reaching seventeen within a few week, she was an
energetic person with an optimistic outlook on life. Almost nothing could break her spirits, no
matter how much the village girls teased her about her unusual looks. Emily
was adopted by her Aunt and Uncle around the age of one, saying her father, her
aunt’s brother, had vanished after dropping her off with them. Though she had one or two features that
matched her aunt, mostly her jet black hair, nothing else was even remotely
similar. Her jet black hair also was
different, where the tips were always a sky blue color, matching her shining
blue eyes. No matter how short she cut
her hair, the last half inch or so was always blue. This would have been fine, if it was a normal
color for a human. Blue eyes and blue
hair was a normal color for elves, not humans.
She learned to like the way she looked, and just considered herself
unique instead of different. Emily
had taken one of her newest possessions, a book bought by her uncle as a gift
for her upcoming birthday, to one of her favorite spots in the village. It was a flower filled meadow where the sheep
grazed, over looked by several large trees casting shade for the shepherds
while they watched over the flocks. Only
half the white flowers were still in bloom at this point, as it was getting
close to fall. There was only one flock
of sheep in the field at that moment, and the soft baaing she heard was a
comforting sound. Emily
was nestled on one of the lower branches in her favorite tree. There was enough light filtering through the
leaves for her to read her book comfortably.
It was an old tale about the adventures of a human warrior and his
companion an Elven archer. Emily liked
the old stories better when the two races got along, before the war had
started. Books
were rare in her village, a lot of the villagers didn't bother to learn to read
since they didn't need it to tend to all the animals. Those who dealt with the traders when selling
the animals or buying product from them learned enough to read contracts so
that they were sure they weren't getting scammed, but very few bothered to
learn enough to read a book or history scrolls or anything of that matter. Emily's
aunt, who was one who had learned to read and write completely from her own
parents, had decided that reading was important for Emily to learn, and had
taught her at a young age. At that point
she fell in love with reading, though not so much writing, which she could do
easily as well. Her Uncle tried to get
her a new book or scroll every time traveling merchants came through town, but
they weren't always available. She
currently only owned four books, all adventure stories, but she cherished them. Most
of the day passed by as she sat in her tree reading her book. The shepherd had already herded his sheep
back into the village for the night.
There was still light out, but it was slowly fading fast, casting an
orange glow about the small village.
Emily looked up from her book to admire the scene. There were a total of twelve large and small
barns throughout the village, and close
to 3 dozen homes and trade stores, with packed down dirt paths connecting
everything together. Most of the houses
and stores were built with wood taken from the forest. A trench was dug bringing in water from the
river, creating their own little stream passing through the southern end of the
village. The
south of the village was protected by the Silverden Forest, which separated the
human territory in north and south sections.
To the north were hills and plains leading to the Elven territory in the
far north. To the distant east, past the
forest and a river, was the Ragnaria Mountain Range, and on really clear days
Emily could see a faint mirage of the peaks of the mountains from the top of
her trees. Emily
closed her book and just enjoyed the scene as the sun set below the ground
line. Someone was running through the
field towards her though, holding a lantern.
It was a young man, closer to her age, but definitely taller than
her. He had dark brown hair and was
wearing a basic shirt and tunic combo with work pants and boots. Emily rolled her eyes as she saw him coming,
knowing exactly who it was. He was the
son of the man who took care of the oxen.
Though he helped his father in the field, he preferred training with his
sword and daggers, picturing himself as a warrior rather than a rancher. He dreamed one day of joining the Kings army
and help defeat the elves for good. He
had a very big ego for himself though, and liked to boast and brag to everyone
who would listen, which most of the time ended up being Emily. "Emily,
where are you?" He yelled out. Sighing, Emily put the book under her arm and
jumped down from her hiding place. This
startled him a bit, but he quickly regained his composure. "I'm
right here Jake." She smiled,
knowing that she had scared him. He was
a nice guy, and looking at him holding the lantern, his hazel colored eyes glowed
a little. "Geeze,
do you always hang out in trees to scare people?" He grumbled.
"By the way, Lance was looking for you earlier. It didn't sound urgent though." Jake quickly changed the subject. "Yes,
I do enjoy hanging out in trees."
Emily laughed. "If uncle
really needed me he would have known where to find me." She started to head back towards the village. "Um,
I'm supposed to escort you back to your home.
It will be dark soon and young women shouldn't be out by
themselves." He stuttered a bit
when he said the last part. Emily gave
him a disbelief kind of look. "Really,
you know I am capable of taking care of myself.
Uncle Lance has trained me to defend myself." Emily patted a small ordinary dagger hanging
on her belt. Jake just nodded his
head. "Besides, no one has ever
attacked this village, why should we worry." But she decided to walk back to the village
with him anyways. They both stayed
silent till they reached the first couple of houses. "Uh
well, I should get back to my house.
Thanks for accompanying me."
Emily smiled at him. She thought
she saw a small blush emerge on his cheeks but ignored it as he quickly turned
around and walked off in the opposite direction. He waved behind him signaling a good-bye he
apparently couldn't say to her face.
Emily just chuckled to herself.
Jake had been acting weird like this for the past year, so she was used
to it. Shrugging it off Emily turned
towards her house and continued down the road. Everyone
waved hello to her as she walked by.
Most people were getting ready for the night, herding their animals into
the barns or coops or where ever it belonged for the night. Most everyone was friendly towards her and
her family. Her Uncle Lance was a master
at blades and trained most people in the village how to do basics enough to
protect themselves. He also had a good
flock of chickens and provided most of the eggs for the village. Her Aunt Shari was good at medicinal herbs
and curing illnesses. She had a small
herb garden in their yard and Emily helped tend it with her. Walking
up to her house, Emily saw the kitchen lanterns were on, and could see her
Uncle still out back by the chicken coop.
Emily headed towards the chicken coop and her uncle. He heard her coming, stopped what he was
doing and turned to face her with a big smile on his face. He was a big man, built for farm work. He had a short trimmed beard that matched his
short brown hair. In the very dim light
you could barely see, but he had dark brown eyes. “Hey
there sweetie, you have a good day?” He
asked embracing her in a small hug. She
held the book up and smiled at him. “This
book is great, a lot better than the last one!
The hero can use all kinds of weapons, and his partner, the Elf woman,
sounds so majestic and beautiful. I have
a feeling the two will fall in love in the end, just from the way the writing
is going.” Emily laughed. Uncle Lance just sighed as he heard the
innocence in her laugh. “It
is too bad that this sort of thing is looked down upon now. I've never seen one up close, but most elves
are really beautiful aren't they?” She
looked up at him questioningly. He
snickered and nodded his head. “Yeah,
some of them are. I've heard the Queen
is the most beautiful in all the land, but I've never seen her so I can’t tell
you for sure. I've only seen some of the
soldiers that pass through here on rounds, and I’m not a woman so I can’t tell
you how they really look.” He let out a
deep hearty laugh that Emily laughed along with. “Come
on, let’s get inside. Your Aunt probably
has dinner ready for us by now.” He
patted her on the back and guided her towards the back door of the house. “Tomorrow I’ll need your help in the morning
to gather enough eggs for a delivery around the village. We need to trade for some Milk from the
Lavin’s at least.” They made it to the
door, and he held it open for her. “All
right Uncle, no problem there.” She
smiled at him, and then scurried inside. © 2015 MistyAuthor's Note
|
Stats
89 Views
Added on May 20, 2015 Last Updated on May 20, 2015 Author
|