Chapter one: The Beginning

Ever since Canden was a child, she lived with her grandmother in a small Elven village far away from humans in the forest of eternity. Though her grandmother lived in a cottage on the other end of the village and Canden lived alone in her own two bedroom house, she spent most of her time at her grandmother`s studying for school. Canden was very close to Sina, her grandmother, considering her parents died when she was very young, or at least young in human years. She looked at the colorful canopy, above the treetops, outside, under the tall evergreen oaks, their trunks emerald with moss, as she stumbled into her hidden clearing outside the village was ageless, immortal, for it would always exist, always be there, and no human had ever set foot in it.

Canden was suddenly struck with guilt remaining from her past. Her brother, what had happened? Had he died along with the rest of them? She had never seen them at all; all she knew was that he was out there somewhere. Hopefully he was looking for her just as she was looking for him. "He must at least look a little bit like me, just a little maybe," she thought aloud, "I have Brown hair, so he must too. He should be older than me and taller too. All elves are tall, is what grandma said. Wow, look at how time flies when you`re lost in thought. I almost forgot, but then again elves never forget anything." Canden moved her black suede spaghetti straps from her summer top to a more comfortable place loosely hanging on her shoulders. The forest is always green; there is no winter in the lands belonging to the elves so they dress lightly. She wiped off the last trace of dirt on her chocolate brown pants and continued her walk. As she glided into her house after her stroll, Canden noticed a package on the door step, only recently delivered. She opened the unlocked door and closed it behind her.

Sitting down in the small lounge and library area with the box in her lap, she read the attached note. "It`s from my grandmother!" she exclaimed, now excited to find the surprise within. Slowly and carefully, Canden opened the small package only to find an even bigger surprise than she expected. In the package was a sapphire blue cloak woven with magic to blend into all moving and nonmoving backgrounds, known as the cloak of change, and the star of the elves. The star was the symbol of hope and love for all elves, for it was this very star that had united the past king and queen together to rule over the lands with care and compassion for their people. As Canden folded the cloak and put it in her satchel and hung the Elvenstar around her neck, catching the small clasp easily, her friend, Crystalline, arrived with a cloak, much resembling her`s, only a dark jade instead, draped over her arms, and a shining new sword on her leather belt. Crystalline was not only Canden`s friend, but also her chief guard as well. She always supported Canden, and would give up her life in a moment to protect her.

Crystalline followed her when she was needed, but left her alone when she was asked to go. Even if Canden was Crystalline`s senior by the length of a human year, through it all they were always friends and always would be. Crystalline grinned, "I see you have one too, your majesty." Smiling back Canden answered "yeah. Drop the `your majesty` part though. I guess we`re to go to my grandmother about this." Crystalline only nodded in reply, stepping back out the door to allow passage to the dust road through town. After running and jumping in the streets, they arrived at grandma Sina`s house. "Well here it goes." Canden mumbled hesitantly. As Canden raised her arm to knock on the door, and elderly elf ripped it open, "come in, come in, my children. There`s no need to linger in the doorway." "Hi grandma, ummm, why exactly are we here?" asked a puzzled Canden. The old elf smiled in reply, "you`re here because you just walked in the door. You saw her didn`t you Crystalline? Do you want some homemade dessert while you`re here?" "Not that grandma!" Canden whispered as she bolted the door shut and Crystalline took a seat in the library. Crystalline was not related to grandma Sina, but still called her grandmother as a sign of respect. She usually sat and listened to their conversations during visits. Sina looked down and her answer came out very quietly, "the king of Swinden wants to get the Elvenstar and destroy the Elvin race…our race…forever."

Crystalline burst out without being able to stay out of it for too long, "that`s cruel, but what does it have to do with us?" Sina took a step to the wall and pulled open a passage of shelves filled with assorted weapons made of silver, then being careful as to not cause an avalanche, she pulled out a bow, a set of arrows, and a long sword. "you`ve been trained on how to use these, and you`ll need everything you`ve learned for the rest of your life. I`ve made these weapons for the resistance of the king`s power, but I am old now and I won`t be around for much longer. You can always use the Elvenstar`s magic, but not too often my dear, for so much power may destroy your very soul, and we wouldn`t want that now would we." Sina stated. Canden remained concerned with the first subject, "But what does this have to do with us?" Sina started off again, "You, Canden, are the rightful heir of the Elvenstar, and you must save our race from extinction."

"But why should it be me?!" "Because you`re a princess, and the Elvenstar chose you to use its power against all evil." "Even against the overlord of our lands?" "Yes, even against Vontal, the evil king." As Canden began to protest this torture of rights by birth right, better known as being a born princess, the three heard a loud shriek along with a rough, scratchy voice," open the door! I know she`s in there! You can`t protect her forever!" Sina began to shaking violently after hearing the troops at the door, "Come into the kitchen and I'll get your supplies ready for the journey." The girls had no objections as to leaving the room now filled with noise from the street. She grabbed two Elvin satchels in her rush to the pantry and began filling them with bread, cheese, venison, whiskey, and other useful items. Looking at Canden fearfully, Sina whispered hoarsely, "Put on your cloaks. Take your bag, bow, arrows, and sword with you. Go north toward Swivel meadow. From there you`ll go to Black mountain.

Stay there until I can meet you." Staring almost terrified toward the front door currently being pounded to bits, Canden managed to say something, "what about them?" Sina seemed frightened as she stuttered, "I'll distract those troops while you and Crystalline head out the back door. Off with you, and be careful. You`ll also need to use false names wherever you go. I love you and please save our people." As Sina rushed to the front door at the sound of wood splitting into splinters, Canden and Crystalline sped for the back door, unprepared for this life-changing adventure. Canden knew that they would never make it to Swivel meadow in one day on their own, so as she put on her satchel and various weapons. Crystalline ran through the chaos in town, hidden by her cloak, to the stables and returned with Solarion, Canden`s horse, that had once belonged to her mother and grandmother. They both mounted the horse, though she was wearing black Capri pants, Crystalline still had to ride side saddle because of the frilly material of her skirt, and left without looking back at the destruction of her hometown.


Hours later, near sunset, Canden and Crystalline dismounted in the middle of Swivel meadow allowing Solarion to take rest. They remove their cloaks then each begins to sip on water and whisper. Crystalline hadn`t mentioned what she`d seen in the village to avoid disappointing Canden so instead she struck up a different conversation, "What will our new names be?" Canden became puzzled for a moment then answered, "How about me being Elena and you Cindy?" Crystalline scoffed. "I don`t think so. You can have Elena, but I've always wanted to be called Alexiea. Is that ok?" "It`s ok," Elena replied getting up, "We'd best be on our way." As Elena stood, she felt a quick sharp pain I her back and her vision became fuzzy, then as black as midnight. She fell into unconsciousness. The last thing she heard was an unfamiliar young man`s voice, "Be careful with her or I'll do the same to you as you do to her. She`s very beautiful and could one day be my bride, but she can`t be if she`s injured or dead. I promise…I will protect her.