NEW CHAPTER ONEA few last rays of sunlight filtered through my window as the sun started to fall below the buildings of Adurna. It was quickly nearing dusk; the sky was cast into brilliant different shades of orange, intermixed with faint rays of pink. Though it was still warm, I knew it would soon start to cool off, and people would begin to retreat inside to their cosy homes for the night. From where I looked out my window onto the street I could see families moving indoors, small clusters of them moving around.
Brightly coloured birds were singing as they flew to their various nests, the happy laughter of the children out on the street. I knew that any animals that were not nocturnal would be heading back to their dens, nests and caves to their young. In the air I could smell the scent of rain which would probably fall later in the evening. The last thing I saw before going to sit on my bed was a group of human children passing through a doorway.
Houses were crumbling, and only about a hundred people lived here. The streets were dirt-covered, though once they were paved. The buildings here were old, very old, and all seemed the same. For instance, the one I was looking out of was made of wood, and could get quite draughty at times. The wind often came through the families there weren't all that large, generally two parents and two children at the most.
Maybe in the bigger cities the families could be larger, but that was the largest I had seen. All the men and boys wore shorts and sleeved tops. All the girls, including me, as I wanted to blend in, either wore skirts, or simple dresses. I preferred to wear shorts, but that I could not do while I was there. I would have stood out. A group of human children were moving indoors as I turned and sat on my bed. I was no human.
In the orphanage I lived in, my room was small, crowded and had little free space. In one corner, opposite the old creaky door, there was a cracked mirror. The cracks ran across it in several places, making what looked like a crescent moon, though it was slightly oddly shaped. There was a hard lumpy mattress on an iron bed frame that I really hated. I knew there were much better beds in that place; I often chose to sleep on the floor. The cracked and faded floorboards were far more comfortable in comparison.
I resented living with all those humans. Of course, I had my reasons, since logically those days; elves would not have been caught dead in the human towns. About twenty perhaps, the numbers changed each year. Children came and went, never me. I made sure of that. I had learnt to get along with them, though only resentfully did I put in that effort. When I'd first gotten there, there had been times when I had lashed out at them, when they had picked on me.
Later though: after realising that doing that was alienating me from them, I had to try harder to fit in with them. After a long time of not being talked to by anyone but the adults, I had decided to try and fit in a bit more. So when two twins had arrived at the orphanage and had grown up until about five years old, I had then made friends with them. Another pair of girls, one three, the other about four when I met her, had joined me as my friends.
Turning to face the old mirror while I sat on my bed, I smiled. The elf that looked back at me had golden blond hair, of which several strands fell across her blue eyes.
Though I knew that elves were considered perfect, many of us weren't. My face was not yet as angular as those of the adults of my people the tips of my pointed ears were actually rounded off. No normal elf has rounded ears at the age I am now. That was one of the faults I had. I hoped that I would grow out of that though. It was really embarrassing. At least my ears were starting to get more pointed by the day at the moment, so they would be by the time I was an adult. Good thing too, I would be an adult within a weeks time.
Another fault I knew I had was that my eyes brightened every time I lied, so I could not ever lie convincingly. Luckily only elves knew about that, not these humans.
Though I was skinny, I knew that would not be an issue when it came to fighting. When it came to fighting, we all seemed to skinny to wield the weapons we chose, and I knew that I would be no exception. As I knew, being brought up by the elves as who I am meant to be, means that one day I may have to lead my people into battle.
Frequently I longed to be away from the humans that surrounded me. I did not belong there. Those people had such a dull, boring life, and I rather detested them. The humans were rather boring; all they ever seemed to do at my age was play.
Whereas back in my old home, I knew that children my age would be learning to fight, some would learn the skills of the wyvern riders, and others would start to pursue things that interested them.
Being an elf in a human town, I do not let my ears be seen when I am amongst the humans. When I am alone in my room at night though, I always let my ears poke through my hair. If I had to interact with humans, my ears were always hidden, though I longed to not have had to do that. That was because I knew what I was, an elf among many humans. I'd rather to not hide my true identity, it's a nuisance. Also it had seemed to take a bit when I was younger to learn to hide my ears and not look different to anyone else.
If a human had seen me as an elf, it would not have been long before I would have found myself in the torturous grasp of the human king. Lindan Marcos had let the nation fall into ruin since he had begun to rule. He was tearing it apart, by continuing the war he had instigated against my people. He was being ruthless about how he ascertained his armies; I'd seen boys taken from the orphanage by the soldiers.
When they'd come, I'd had to hide, and quickly. They would have recognised me for what I was. Of course all the humans seemed to think that Lindan Marcos was the best thing that ever happened to Nuban, though I saw his actions through different eyes. No one loved him enough that he would ever ascertain an heir. That would have meant a painful death on my part as he simply loathed elves.
I could always tell when the soldiers were coming to take the boys away; the whole town seemed to become more on edge. They also seemed to be on the lookout for any foreign faces, especially anyone who vaguely resembled at elf. For me, it was a time to hide and not come out; they'd noticed the resemblance in me. The soldiers always seemed to turn up at evening, and the first place they always came was here to the orphanage. All us girls would run and hide in our rooms, and not come out.
The first few times I peeked out from my room, curious but no more. The idea of the boys being taken against their own will really disgusted me, and I no longer took an interest in it.
Lindan Marcos would never be able to get me to be obedient to his iron will, and a good thing too. I did not approve of what he did; my parents had taught me all about what the humans had been like before his rules and the differences now. The humans had been a lot more free willed and friendly.
We'd all noticed the changes since he came into power, we'd all had to hide again in our beloved forests. Also we'd had to fight him on multiple occasions to defend the woods. He was not a good man and I knew that. Eventually I would help, to bring the man down.
Fifteen years had gone by in that place, and I still didn't like the way things were. I remembered the elves, how my people lived. It's a much more peaceful, relaxed place in the woods of Quessir Sdnal, the mighty woods that mark the southern end of Nuban as a whole realm. Those woods were the true home of my people.
It was not the easiest of places for someone to live, when there were so many things going on. I knew that my friends and the other kids here, though left out of fighting and things until the boys got to a certain age, knew what was going on.
Even a few families were split up by the soldiers and that was a thing that I hated to see. At the moment, we knew that Collin was getting almost old enough and that meant that he would be one of the boys taken next time the soldiers came. Sam, his sister, did not want to see him being taken. Nor did Gemma, Ashlere or I really, seeing as he was a great friend to have.
There was no chance that he would ever be good for fighting really. He did not really seem the type for that. There was too much about him that was not violent, unlike some of the guys around us in the town. He never wanted to fight, though he would if the need was there really.
I sighed as I made my way out of the room, hiding my ears as I went. It was a pain to have to hide them, but a few people already knew what I was really. Only my closest friends had I told that I was not human like they were. They did not really care what I was, having me as a friend in the first place was good enough for me. None of them would ever tell anyone of my secret, I could trust them enough.
They were the only humans I enjoyed being around at the moment. Around them I could be the person I really was, but if there was anyone else around, I had to act as though I was human, if I wanted Lindan Marcos to never find out who I really was. It was never easy. Lying was not something elves had the habit of doing and yet every day I had to act in a way that was not true to myself!
I hated having to hide from the soldiers that came, in truth I wanted to stop them from taking all those boys, but I couldn't. It would be a big mistake to get in the way, and I knew that.
“Come on Sam, why do you always hang around with that misfit Gem so much?” I heard one of the other boys demanding.
“Because she is my friend and she is not a misfit, Lucas!”
I knew the outrage in the female voice I heard. Sam was always very defensive about me and the others she hung out with.
“Seriously, Samantha, there is no point in hanging out with someone who'll be stuck here till she grows up. Someone might want you and your brother, and I bet if that were to be the truth that they'd turn away and choose someone else if they heard you hang out with Gem the Wierdo!”
I chose that moment to step into the room. “Talking about me,
Lucas?” I smiled over at Sam. “Hey Sam.”
Sam was a very pretty girl for her age. Her hair was red and hung neatly to her shoulders, and her eyes were sea green, I'd told her that and she did not believe it. She was nearly sixteen. She smiled at me. “Hey Gem. And seeing as Lucas seems to not be able to answer you, yes he was.”
I sighed, turning my eyes on the rather pudgy black haired guy in the room. His eyes were dark blue, almost black as he glared at me.
“What can they find interesting in you?” he demanded.
“Maybe a good person who looks out for her friends?” I replied swiftly. “Just leave me friend the hell alone, won't you?” I knew I was older than both of the others in the room, Sam was four years younger than me, and Lucas was only a year younger. I looked more Sam's age though, not my own.
That was something else that no human understood about the elves. Why we seemed to age in appearance slower than they did over time. It was because to some degree, we were immortal. And they never would be, unless they were chosen by wyvern's as Uruohtar's.
I met his glare with one of my own and I knew he would not take long to leave. No one could withstand my glaring for very long. They said it was something about my eyes that they could not really handle. I knew not what it was, but I was glad that I did not have to be angry for long before they caved in under my gaze. Sure enough he backed away out of the room rather quickly, he knew I would not stop glaring at him until he left. It was only too easy for me to stay with the same expression for a long time.
“Wonder what their problem with me really is?” I muttered as Sam and I headed out of her room to where all the other kids were for dinner.
“Maybe its because we seem to like you when they all don't?” Sam suggested. “Not that there is anything not to like about you.”
“Thanks Sam. But I have the feeling there is something else going on really. I know there are other things that have to be reasons as well. I just have a hunch about it.”
She laughed. “Well, you'll likely never know, Gem.”
“Wish they would stop talking behind my back though and shutting up as soon as I come into the room, same goes for about you guys.” It was a pain really, the way the other kids were acting as though my friends were weird just because they hung out with me. Not really fair for the others, none of them really knew me.
But that was my own doing really, I could not let too many know what I really was. Painful really, knowing that so much of me was hiding all the time. It got frustrating at times, because I hate deceit a lot. It was needed though and there was nothing I could do about that. I was the one who had something to hide which meant I had to do what I could to hide it of course.
I smiled as we headed into the main eating room, knowing that there was always something good to eat, regardless of how many of us were here. Sometimes there were a few missing which meant there was more for those of us who were here at the time.
Noise seemed to blast our ears as we entered the room, the other children were running about, talking and there was the clatter of cutlery as people ate. Someone was arguing about not wanting something in particular, another telling someone off for pushing them, all sorts of things were going on. No one took any notice of us as we moved into the room.
My eyes scanned the room for my other friends. Sam's twin Collin was already seated at one of the tables, Gemma was almost at the end of the line and about to get her food, but I could not spot Ashlere at all.
“Can you see Ash?” I asked.
“No, I hope she's alright. Usually she beats us here,” Sam replied, a little worried.
“She'll be here somewhere, I'm sure,” I replied. I was not worried really, I knew Ashlere was never late for meals and things. Nope she was too punctual for such things.
We joined the end of the line as more kids poured into the room. There were ten already in the line in front of me, and three already behind Sam. Five kids were already sitting down to eat their food, including Collin.
It did not take long really for us to get our food and move over to where Collin was. I never looked at what I was eating until I sat down, my sense of smell was better than some.
“Seen Ash?” I asked Collin as I sat down.
“Yeah. She's in the line now, about five from where you guys where,” the red haired green eyed teenager replied easily enough. “Not like you two to beat her to getting food though.”
My eyes moved, looking down the line for our black haired friend. Ah there she was, where Collin said. She would be coming over our way soon enough, I knew that much.
I had a few things to worry about of course, knowing this was not going to last much longer for all of us. Very soon, I would be leaving this place to head back home. Yet I was very attached to my friends and I did not really want to leave them behind at the moment. It would not really be fair of me to leave like that and never be seen again by them for a while. Not something I would honestly do to all of them.
I loved my friends and they were at the moment the only family I had. None of us were children that anyone wanted. Some wanted Collin and Sam, but not both twins together, they only wanted one. Luckily, the orphanage mistress, Mrs. Glassby did not like separating siblings from each other, even if it meant that one was going to a new home. We were all her children, even though some of us came one week and were gone the next.
It was then that Ashlere joined us. “Whew, I did not know if there was going to be a spare seat with you guys. One of the other boys was eyeing this one off.”
I smiled as I looked at her. “We would not let any one else ever sit with us instead of you, Ash.”
Sitting down, Ashlere replied, “I guess I can count on you guys.” She laughed. “I hear there is someone coming to see all of us soon, looking to take someone home with them.”
“Anythings got to be better than this place,” I sighed as I ate, ignoring the piece of meat that was on my plate. We were all silent as I pushed the meat to one side of my plate. “Beef again? Urrg!”
Collin laughed as I pulled a face. Though they did not understand my dislike of anything that we ate that was a result of an animal dying, they were all eager to help out there. We were not allowed to throw anything out at all. “I'll eat that if you don't want it.” He grinned at me.
“Feel free, it's all yours. What would I do without you? Those cooks know I hate meat, and yet they persist in giving me it.”
“You know one of us will always take it for you. There's no point in you eating something you do not like,” Sam replied, though I had not expected an answer to my question.
I laughed. “I guess so.”
There was certainly no doubt in my mind that we would always be there for each other, no matter what happened. This was a group that knew each other too well to not want to help each other.
~ ~
I sighed as I wandered through the hallway to my tiny room. Though it was not much, when the sun set it was the only place I felt safe at the moment. Humans were only too easy to trick into revealing things they should not, when they were bribed with things they coveted. I could not allow such things to happen though when it came to what I was.
I smiled as I entered the little room, thinking about my own past. How I had come to be here, an elf hiding among humans who could turn on her at any second.
A memory came back to me as I sat there.
I had been talking to my mother, in one of the smaller clearings in the vast forest. I knew within my mind that the only difference in our appearances was our eyes. Mine were sky blue; hers were shiny metallic silver.
Though my mother looked to be about thirty years old I knew this was not the case. She really was one hundred years old. She was slender and stood taller than most humans. Her long silvery gold hair wove around her face in a light breeze that touched us. I was young, only bout ten years old and looked a lot like a five year old. That was saying something different, though I was very short. My hair reached to my shoulders already. "I don't get it. Why am I the one being hidden?" I asked.
"Gem, we need to keep you safe, and the best way to do that is to hide you where he would not look to find you. Someone will come when you're needed back here," my mother, Queen Laura Berilan, told me. Her voice was gentle, but there was no denying that she expected that others would trust her all the time.
That was something that shocked me.
"But, they're human! How can you think to send me to them? What are you both thinking? I don't think I can do this!" I exclaimed. There was no way I could do this, it made no sense to me.
Then there was a loud thudding rhythmic noise and I saw a wyvern soaring down towards us.
The wyvern was about fifty feet long and twenty feet tall. The head of the wyvern was not flat; instead the eyes were raised out of her head, which was not flat like her mate's. Instead the yellow nose slanted to a point, and three long pink spines ran out of the back of her head. Her gleaming fur was a rich gold, but her curved spines, iris' and talons were rose pink.
"La stella lusin ni fin gia du lye engame, Bizandra," I said courteously.
She snorted and dipped her head to me. "Umanu Gem," she said. She spoke like us, her mouth moved as it formed the words.
"Mani naa taa?" I asked curious that she had spoken directly to me, instead of her Uruohtar.
"Would you like to come for a fly with me?" Bizandra then asked.
I was astonished by her question. My mind raced to form a coherent answer for the patiently waiting wyvern. I knew how old the great dawn wyvern was and I certainly did not want to insult her with my response.
I listened as my mother said in a calm voice, "Feel free to go with her, Gem. You'll be perfectly safe with her."
I then had my answer. Speaking politely, I said, "I would be honoured to fly with you, mighty Bizandra."I knew that there were other reasons for me being sent away from home, but I also knew that my mother would have to tell me those when I saw her again, if I saw her again. When that would be, I did not know.
Things just seemed so uncertain at the moment for all of us. I had a hunch that I was not the only elf here in Adurna. Ashlere seemed to have some of the same things when it came to appearence as I did, she was not as good at hiding such things. That was something I would have to have a word with her about one of these days.
That would be an interesting converstaion between my mother and I. Even though I had never really been alone during my childhood, I knew that there was something missing from our family. Not something, someone was missing. It was something that I had noticed a long time ago. My parents had never noticed that I was aware of such things.