Chapter 1

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.

Author's Note

please ignore grammar