Prologue
A rabbit trotted along the meadow; unaware of the danger it hopped itself into. It was innocent and pure. Its large eyes caught sight of a silver glint before life faded in them.
An arrow shot through its head.
The nearby shrubbery rustled and a young elven girl, in her late childhood years, emerged.. A simple oak bow in hand with a quiver of arrows slung across her chest. So innocent but her eyes were cold, as if judging her prey.
She made her way across the field, the soft blades of grass tickling her bare heels not changing her demeanor. She was impassive, not even the warm light of the morning sun beamed her up. A young huntress with all her focus was on the bleeding prey in front of her. Carefully, she dropped the bow beside her; mindful not to step on the wood.
A small calloused hand plucked the animal by its ear while the other one yanked the offending object out of its head. Blood splattered on her drab clothing but it didn't matter, she had to continue her hunt.
"Lady Andruil, I offer this animal to you." A soft whisper to the passing zephyr.
She produced a knife from her hip and stabbed the rabbit upon its small hand dragged the blade down, spilling guts unto the green grass. The child dropped the weapon and plunged her small hand into the cavity. She maneuvered her small fingers along the innards, looking for something. Finally, she found the soft tissue. Grasping the faintly beating organ, she wrenched it out of the rabbit; painting herself in more animal gore.
She eyed the object in her blood soaked hand; a small heart. The young girl lifted it up, hoping that the goddess she had offered her kill to, gift her with praise but there was no sound. She frowned; the hunters did tell her the goddess always guided hunters on their first hunt. Fiery locks bounced as her eyes surveyed the meadow.
Nothing.
She frowned and threw the organ at the grass in annoyance. The hunters had lied, Andruil had not guided her in the hunt. She wanted to stomp on the offending organ; it mocked her, mocked her beliefs, mocked her efforts. She praised the goddess so much. Colored her in her thoughts with the sun's gold and the silver of the moon but it all amounted to nothing. Her small foot rose in the air and posed above the rabbit's heart to crush it beneath her heel. But she stopped, footsteps resounded behind her.
Not one but many.
She placed her foot down and turned to the newcomers, they were the hunters. They stopped midway, shocked at the gore she was drenched in. They composed themselves but continued their way towards her, their movements were wary. A dozen eyes darted from the rabbit in her hand to the bloody mess adorning her. Her first kill.
"Da'len." One spoke, his voice choking in emotion. He raised his arms towards her, as If in comfort. His rough hands settled on her small shoulders, eyes glittered with tears.
"Your Mamae. She…" He trailed off and the young girl held a look of confusion. "Mamae?" She spoke, her tiny voice a little high with innocence. He stared hard at her, unsure if he should be telling her.
"Your Mamae, she's been sacrificed." He spoke, sorrow laced in his tone but the young child beamed. Her smile baffled the hunters, why was she happy? "She's helped the goddess!"
They stared at her as if she was the Dread Wolf herself. She beamed at them, the blood caking on her skin as the morning light bathed them.
Yes, she was different.
Andruil stood with her back towards her guests as she tipped the torch enflamed with veilfire unto the pyre. If one were to describe the goddess, one would lose articulation. Andruil was a tall slender woman, gifted perhaps in the right places. She held high cheekbones, a dainty nose and a confident mouth that always voiced out her opinions. Waves of red tresses cascaded down her shoulders as emerald green eyes shaped like almonds saw the fire burn with its sacrifice.
The hunt had ended and the bodies burned at the pyre to commemorate the end of the celebration. Various oils were drenched on the cadavers, bringing out the scent of embrium and deathroot around the garden.
Andruil gazed at her servants, enjoying the thick scent of fear and admiration from them. The stench of burning bodies perfumed the high walls, misting out the late afternoon sun's rays around them.
To her right, her elite hunters stood, rigid and with their weapons strapped proudly to their bodies. Her emerald green eyes studied them, she had been told of a young child under their guidance. She bid them closer and they moved at her command.
"Uth'ren." A hunter spoke and she sent her gaze along his way. He stepped aside to reveal a young bloodsoaked girl beside him. In her arms was a deceased rabbit but the goddess brought her gaze to her hands for they held a small heart. She smiled and bid the child closer.
The young elven girl bounded to her, her eyes shone with mirth and her steps with excitement. She stopped in front of Andruil, her hands raised the bloody organ. It was now cold.
"Lady Andruil, my first hunt for you." The high notes of the child's voice was a delighted change to the usual baritones of her hunters. The immortal bent down and cased the organ in a soft green orb, her magic levitating it off the child's bloodied hands. Residue blood started to fill the bottom section of the orb, the rabbit's essence a familiar sight to green eyes. So this was her first hunt.
"Tell me child, who are you?"
The young girl was silent, musing at her name. Slaves never had the right to have names but inherited their parent's. With the recent passing of her mother and by the laws set by Elgar'nan, her name would be of her mother's.
"Lavellan, my goddess."
Recognition flashed in the green irises and an amused smile flitted to Andruil's lips. Fingers hovered about the orb, tipping it off as a small hole appeared at the side. Cold animal blood spilled unto Andruil's fair-skinned palm, tainting her flesh in cast a silent fire spell, delighting in how the magic coursed through her fingertips and ignited the cold liquid.
"Lavellan, shall you set each arrow straight and true?" She dipped a dainty finger unto the warmed gore. The child named Lavellan gaped at her goddess, a strange emotion in her eyes, "Yes, ma uth'renas."
Andruil bid the child's arms lower and traced the warmed blood on the young girl's face. The magic burned Lavellan's freckled skin, it tore at the flesh. No sooner the blood markings on her face slithered, warping into curves and familiar points. Andruil drew back her hand, proud at the way her markings shone on the young girl's face.
The immortal huntress had a new devout.
It was said that Andruil had hair as golden as the sun but it was her hunts that had painted her locks red. For her prey bled with each arrow and splattered their essence upon her crown. Some say that Andruil's eyes were green to blend in the forest. For every hunt not blessed, she will stalk you and kill you in kind.
Author's Notes:
Uth'ren : Uth - Immortal/ Eternal, Ren - Elder
Uth'renis, Uth'renas: God, Goddess
Inspired by BreLakor's Crystal White and her awesomeness at writing Fen'harel. My take on writing an Arlathan fanfic. Don't worry, I'm not abandoning my LoL fanfic just yet.