Prologue

Question: How long does it take for someone to bleed out?

The unfortunate answer: In less than a few minutes.

The many who could relate about being in accidents, they all say the same thing: It just happened so fast. Many swore that they saw their lives flash through their own eyes, many also said that they didn't understand what happened, the shock paralyzing them in their own fear and bafflement. Accidents happened time to time, it wasn't a rare a occurrence. Just being in the same accident twice, a life threatening one can be telling you something. You don't deserve a second chance.

And so, many come watching the paramedics trying to revive a dead girl who lost too much blood. They said that El Niño would be making its visit, that it is going to be one of the strongest storms that California would have to endure. The rain was merciless like bullets shooting down on the saviors and witnesses of the horrible crime. The night was shattering cold and dark. The people had horrified and worried gazes on their faces, even they said that everything happened so fast.

Fog coming from the heat of their mouths, the chaotic chattering filling the cool air and the panicked distortions made one hell of a scene. Flashes of blue and red and the scream of sirens came from the other side of the road. The children were scared and were forced to go back into their homes with their parents as some neighbors went to talk to each other, seeking for information. They all knew one thing though. The girl had no one anymore, she no longer even had herself.

It was too late to take her to a hospital. A disappointed voice of a paramedic broke the announcement, "Call the time. We've lost her." An uncomfortable silence snuck throughout the neighborhood. Some families and couples hugged each other closer, feeling sorry for the girl. The poor thing was in a previous car accident that happened with her family that left her blind when she was younger.

Raeka was twenty four when she died, only a few hours after New Years came. She would be known for her calm and sweet nature, and the only person to ever have purple eyes. Through the hardships that she had to face, maybe she could finally find her peace among the Heavens that her family had talked with her about.

The spring equinox came quickly as the wind blew. Many different arrangements of flowers grew in the beds of the meadows and through the complexity of the forest. The different streams of water, from creeks to rivers had fishermen and gentlefolk being on and about in peace. The rain had finally stopped and the sun decided to shone brightly on this day. Still, the mud has not dried out, making it difficult for carriages to travel. On the slippery blankets of the wet dirt laid an unconscious, bloody girl.

"Oh, Ysac! Come! Come quickly look what I have found!" An older woman desperately cried to her husband. Picking up her yellow skirts, she ran towards the younger body, trying not to slip on the mud.

"What is it woman," Ysac groaned to his wife. His beard was graying, no longer the bright red it was when he was a lad. His nose too also grew with age, normal for any being. He wore a light shirt that had rolled up sleeves, his breeches were dark brown as his boots. Every dwarf in Erebor always took a weapon of their choosing whenever they left home. Ysac took his sword that had his family's engravings on it. What kind of dwarf would he be if he didn't have his sword?

As he walked cautiously closer to his wife; what he saw he couldn't believe. He saw his wife kneeling down next to an unmoving girl with the most oddest attire he'd ever seen. He was alarmed when he saw dried blood stains on her clothing. Her backside was buried under the heavy mud, she looked like as she fell from the sky and landed with a splat. The youngling's hair was encrusted with dry dirt, her face was smeared unable to see her true self. His wife slowly puts her ear towards the girl's heart only to find out that it was faintly beating.

The old dwarf's wife began to shake the girl awake. Ysac's eyes widened and he grabbed his wife's forearm, he growled, "What in the Gods names are ye' doing, woman?! She could be dangerous, Ailufa! We know not the reasons why she has blood on herself! She could be dangerous!"

Ailufa glowered at her husband and replied with twice the fury, "Do not be ridiculous, Ysac. Is the hair growing in yer' ears clouding yer' judgement or the hair growing from yer' brows covering your sight? When do dwarves ever abandon another dwarf in need?"

"What are ye' saying, woman?" Ysac asked, if not a bit agitated.

"Dearest husband," She began with a mock. "Age is getting to you quicker than we thought. We're in the presence of a young Dwarf-Woman."

"She ain't like us," He growled, judging by the look of the motionless girl.

"Aye, on the contrary I say she is like one of us. I say she is half of man and half Dwarfish. Her skin is almost sturdy as ours, too rough for human, a bit too soft for dwarf. She claims no beard, no braids, but she is a bit hairier than a human girl. She is a bit too thin to be noticed as a dwarf, but she is thicker than a normal human. Her height could be questionable for both Dwarf and Human alike can be short. She is of height of mine," she stated proudly. Ailufa looked at her husband and said, "She needs our aid, Ysac. I do not think she is of here. It is most obvious that she has never been around dwarves."

The husband gave his wife a cold glare and spat out, "She'll never be one of us."

"Just watch her. She'll prove you wrong. Weren't we taught that Dwarven women were to be cherished and therefore protected?" Ailufa growled her response. Her face quickly escaped the furious glare and then turned it into a sadder and softer one. "I just want to do this Ysac. Don't you remember how much we wanted that someone would help our daughter when we weren't there for her?"

"This whelp will never replace Ydenia, Ailufa. Never," he said in a broken and harsh voice, she was about to open her mouth to snap back. "But, if it eases your mind then we shall do what you wish."

She smiled. "Good—"

But, he interrupted her, "She will be your responsibility."

"Understandable. Now carry her, we are lucky that we are not too far off from our small cottage." Her husband sighed and grabbed the stranger girl by hoisting her up into his sturdy arms. On their merry way home, he was grumbling the whole time. His wife commented innocently, "Thank Mahal that I run a healers shop, no?"

He returned a grumbled response.