author's note: Hi this is my first Deltora Quest fan fic! Hope you enjoy!
"I got you, you're safe." Came a calming voice
Jasmine looked up and saw her father's warm face smiling down on her.
She gave him a quick hug and ran off to go pick some flowers by their tree-top house. It had been seven years since King Endon and Queen Sharn had ran from Deltora when the Shadowlord took control, using his violent force of Grey Gaurds and the seven fearsome Ak-Baba. The castle walls were set on fire. The gates broken down. The palace was stormed and the grand entery way was branded with the Shadowlord's symbol, a black hand with a large dark eye in the center. This was to show the Shadowlords handywork, to strike fear, and show property. No one defied him or they were sentenced to the Shadow Lands or the Place of Punishment.
Jasmine skipped along the spring, today she would turn seven. The water ran with a steady flow cold, clear and crisp. There a few paces down the bank were some blooming tiger liles. She stooped down and plucked them carefully from the bottom of the stems.
These will be perfect! She said to herself. She ran through the the maze of bushes and trees knowing which way to turn and when to jump. This place was her home. The birds sang cheerfully, fluttering through the crystal blue sky. A soft breeze blew, making the the leaves twirl. Her feet sunk in the lush grass. She propped the flowers gently on the side of her basket she had been carrying, and began to pluck the wild berries off the nearby bushes. When her basket was filled, she began to walk home in a merry mood. This is going to be the best day ever!
She was nearing her beloved home when she saw a thick plume of gray smoke drift throught the air. She ran to her house's location and hid behind a bush. There in the thick smoke stood eight Grey Gaurds, a whole patrol.
What are they doing in the forest? Why did they burn my home down? Where is Momma and Daddy? These questions kept repeating in her mind as she stared in horror at the wreckage that lay around her. Then she realized there in the center of the circle of Grey Gaurds was her mother and dad. She would have ran to them if it had not been the way her mother looked into her eyes and shook her head, seeming to tell her to stay put. Jasmine did as she was told praying the Grey Gaurds would leave soon without her parents. She tried to pick out what the Grey Gaurds were saying. But all she could hear was Carn-2, Endon, Shadow Lands, and beasts.
Then a loud gruff voice broke through.
"Take away the scum, to the Shadow Lands!" called the Grey Guard who seemed to be in charge. Jasmine did not know what the Shadow Lands were, but from the look of terror in her father's eyes, she knew it was something terrible.