Chapter 1: The Royal Millennium Ceremony
Today is a special day in the elven city of Starshade. Today is the day of a ceremony held every millennium to celebrate the birth of a new princess. Citizens gathered in town square, and cheered as Queen Sylvia stepped on stage.
"Welcome, my fellow citizens!" the queen said, "Today, we gather to welcome the elven princess, and future queen, into our world!"
The audience roared with excitement as a confetti of sacred leaves scattered onto the stage. Behind the stage stood the sacred tree that the elves believed to be over 3 millenniums old, the sacred tree landmarks Starshade city as the capital city of the entire Aelomistria continent.
"Now, without and further waiting, lets begin the ritual!" exclaimed the queen. Queen Sylvia was a tall elf. She had a sharp chin, and beautiful green eyes. Her hair was golden, and down to her waist.
On the side of the stage, elves began pounding on the drums and blowing on the grass. A beautiful tune flowed through the air, as the queen and her enchantresses began dancing in circles. Their arms wiggled like graceful ocean waves as they danced, and they started chanting. Magical sparks flowed from their arms to the center of the circle as they continued chanting. A small figure began to form in the circle where the sparks met. The beautiful female elves danced faster, and chanted louder. The music flowed more smoothly, and drums pounded like thunder. Then it all slowed down and softened as the figure became more visible. Soon enough, the sparks started fading, and the dance slowed down to a halt. And just when the music and drums stopped, there in the middle of the circle stood the young elf princes, her golden hair sparkling in the sunlight. Her eyes were green just like her mother, but she had a round face. Queen Sylvia started to say words of welcome, when someone screamed "STOP!"
Everyone looked at the entrance as Okalon rushed toward the stage. He frantically pushed through the crowd, and climbed up the stage. He glimpsed at the newborn princess, and was shocked to see the same golden hair as the girl he saw in his dream.
The Queen stared at Okalon in disgust, and said bitterly "Do you realize that this is the Royal Millennium Ceremony? You can't just rush on stage and..."
"I bring bad news!" Okalon interrupted. "I had a vision, a vision about the new princess. She will die in a room…"
"How dare you speak such cursing words to the new princess, have you any respect at all?" Sylvia screamed with anger.
She waved her hands, signaling for the guards. "Bring this horrid man down to jail, and lock him up for good!" she ordered.
The guards rushed on stage, handcuffed Okalon, and brought him down. Okalon struggled and screamed, trying with great effort to warn the queen of the princess' death. After Okalon was out of sight, Queen Sylvia turned back to the still crowd.
"I apologize for the disgraceful interruption," she said in a calm tone. "We now stand to welcome Princess Ellera into our royal family!" screamed cheerfully. The queen raised Ellera into the air.
The crowd was silent no longer, as they started cheering ever more with enthusiasm.
Chapter 2: The Red Amulet
Queen Sylvia was sitting in her majestic golden room, the highest room in the Starshade Castle. With a glass of wine in her hand, she overlooked her grand city. She stirs the glass of wine gently, and ice in the cup clinks as it hits the glass.
"Why?" she thought, "Why must my ceremony be ruined?"
She puts down the glass of wine aggressively on the table, and a few droplets spilled out. Sylvia stares at the droplets of wine on the table, as they sparkle under the sunlight just like her daughter's golden hair. The queen still stares at the droplets as the wooden table absorbs them in.
"That's exactly what Okalon did to Ellera at the ceremony."
Sylvia stood up, and slowly walked out the door, dragging her long majestic robe on the ground. Every guard and maid knelt down before their queen as she walked through the long hallways of the castle. On the floor of each hallway laid a red mat with golden edges. The walls were laminated with golden paint. Every few meters, there would be a gorgeous painting hung on the wall, or a skillfully carved candleholder, with a green candle resting on it. The front doors of the castle took up two stories. On the door was a carved picture of the sacred tree, masterfully crafted with perfect symmetry. Queen Sylvia pushed open the front door, and stepped out into the sunlight. She made her way down the stone staircase, and headed out the front gates.
It wasn't a noble thing for Queens to do, but Sylvia was so upset about the ceremony, she decided to pay Okalon a personal visit.
"My queen! What has gotten into you! Someone as high as you should not enter a place as low as this!" said the jail guard. "Let me pass, I must speak to Okalon in person" she replied.
Having no choice, the guards lifted their spears, and let the queen through. Criminals looked up, surprised that the Queen had decided to come down. Sylvia made her way through the damp stone floor towards another guard.
"Where is Okalon?" she asked politely.
The jail guard turned around and let her deeper into the dark room of sins. Finally, the guard stopped, turned to face the queen, and pointed left. The queen turned, and looked into the eyes of the brand new prisoner.
"I'm here to discuss with you about what happened at the ceremony" Sylvia said with anger, "explain what you did, and why you did it." Okalon looked back into the queen's eyes, and said "I had a vision, a dream, what ever you consider it. I saw the princess, standing in a room, a room in the castle. In my dream she enters a room, and said something faint. I could not hear what she said, but she said it in a very sad and convincing tone, as if begging for something. When she finished speaking, a red beam of light charged towards her, and pierced through her heart. She whispered a final sentence before she collapses to the ground." Okalon lowered his head, and looked at the floor. He continued speaking "I also see a war coming up, one that takes place in this very city. The invaders came from the sky…" "Stop, I have heard enough!" the queen interrupted. "I thought you had something different to say, but it seems you still haven't changed your mind."
Sylvia turned around, and the guard accompanied her as they walked away. When Sylvia stepped outside, the door guards lifted up their spears, and bowed as their queen left. She turned around the corner, and was about to head back to the castle when something shiny on the stone floor caught her eye. She walked closer to the shiny object, and bent down to examine it. It was an amulet with a blood red gem inside. She looked up, trying to find where it had fallen from. Queen Sylvia saw only the sky, and the foothill that the jail is built beside.
"Someone probably dropped it from the hill," thought Sylvia.
She returned to the castle to study the red amulet. After failing at removing the red gem by physical force, Sylvia attempted to use magic. She hovered her hand above the amulet, and slowly started to absorb the gem. But she felt resistance from the gem, as if there was a force fighting the magic. After another attempt to remove the gem, she concluded that there was a much stronger magic force inside the amulet. Tapping with her mind into the magical energy of the gem, Sylvia discovered a strong force, but could not determine the type of magic that the amulet contained. She finally gave up, and placed the amulet into her drawer.
Chapter 3: Combat Training
9 Years Later…
Ellera opened her eyes to a brand new morning. Within two days, it would be her birthday, and she was very excited. In the elf kingdom, a princess must wait until her tenth birthday before she is allowed to leave the palace. She must also pass the magic, archery, and melee combat tests.
"Only two days left," Ellera thought as she climbed up and dressed herself. Ellera had spent her whole life locked up in the palace, and she wanted to be free as soon as possible. She must pass the combat testes, so she went to her desk, sat down, and started reviewing magic. On her desk sat 9 books, each teaching her one of the nine basic elements.
"Fire and darkness are offensive spells for attacking," Ellera told herself, "Thunder can paralyze others, but it can be resisted. Wind can blow your enemies further back, to give you more time to cast a spell. Water, light and nature are spells used to heal wounds. Earth and ice are…" Ellera thought hard, but she could not remember. She flipped open to the earth and ice spellbook and read the first page. "Used for defense!" she yelled. Every day, she would review, but everyday, she would forget an element. Yesterday, she had remembered that earth and ice were strictly for defense, but had forgotten that fire and darkness were used for offence. Magic just isn't her strong suit. Ellera slammed the book shut, organized them back into a pile, and left her room.
She entered the grand hallway, with the golden wall full of paintings. Ellera did not find this hallway grand at all. She walks down this hall everyday to get to her destinations, and she was very ill of it. Ellera couldn't wait until her birthday, when she would finally have the opportunity to walk down the streets of the city, and finally experience a whole new environment. In this grand palace she was a trapped little mouse, running around her cage all day. Ellera knew there was a whole other life outside of the gates of the queen's palace, where she could be free. Ellera headed down to the archery ring, where she could practice shooting arrows. This type of combat was known to the elves as ranging, and Ellera knew she excelled in this particular subject. She equipped her hard leather quiver and ten steel tipped arrows and strapped it to her back.
On to the shooting range Ellera stepped, and arose her bow. She reached for an arrow and aimed in down her sights. Not even one second had passed, and the arrow flung from the bow. It flew swiftly through the air, not disturbed by any forces. The arrow then struck the board, and flung wildly. She had hit a bulls-eye. Before the first arrow had even stopped flinging the second arrow was shot, and yet another bulls-eye was struck. By the time the tenth arrow pierced the board, eight arrows cuddled close together in the center, while two other arrows stood right beside the bundle. To pass the ranging test, one must fire ten arrows and score at least 75 points. Ellera was confident that she could pass the test with no problems at all.
The princess gently set down her bow and quiver, and stepped outside to the garden. Here, she could practice the third type of combat: melee. Ellera had no interest in melee combat. She found it useless, but she knew she had to practice it anyways in order to pass the test. There are many choices for the melee test. Ellera could choose her preferred weapon, and Ellera knew she'd be choosing the short sword.
First, she drew out her sword, and stared at the sun's reflection. Next, she stood in attack position, and started dancing with the sword. She ran with full speed to the other side of the garden, and did a spin jump while pointing her sword forward. Pretending the enemy was now behind her, she rose her leg up into the air. Still pointing her sword forward, Ellera performed a back flip. She turned around, and flared her sword in all directions, and finally executed her master move. Ellera bent her knees, and jumped up while slashing her sword upwards. Then, she spun a smooth 360 degree in mid-air. As she fell, she slashed the air once more. Ellera landed on both feet like a gymnast, having no trouble keeping balance. The elf princess walked over to the armory, and set her sword down in a slot on the wall. Ellera ran back to her room, and continued studying magic, this time with a grin.
Chapter 4: The Test
Ellera's eyes opened wide. She was still in her bed, and the sun was already high up in the sky. Quickly, she cleansed her teeth and face with magic while dressing up. She rushed through the hallway, downstairs, and made her way towards the magic ring. Last night, the princess felt too excited, and had trouble falling asleep. In the morning, she was in such a deep sleep that her alarm failed to wake her up. As she arrived in the ring, other elves were already practicing. Master Itlamis strode over to Ellera, and ordered her to start practicing.
Master Itlamis was a tall skinny elf, with white hair and a sharp chin. In the center of the room, a magic absorbing crystal floated in the air. Elves used this crystal as a punching bag for magic. It also recorded how accurate, pure, and strong their spells were. Ellera hurried over to her station, and began throwing fire darts at the crystal. She had only two minutes to warm up before Master Itlamis called everyone over to line up for the test.
For the test, Ellera was required to use the level one spell from each of the nine elements, and a level two spell from three elements of choice. First up was a little girl named Sharma, about the same age as Ellera. Sharma used the ninth level one spell carefully, scoring 100% on purity and accuracy, but scored badly on speed. Next up was the brightest magic student in class, An'orith. Everyone hated him because he had too much pride and confidence. He walked normally towards the station, not showing a single sign of being nervous. When he reached the station, he summoned storm clouds on top of the crystal. While the clouds were gathering, he raised his hands up, and a row of flames appeared from the ground, one flame coming up after the next. When the flames surrounded the crystal, he sent wind blowing in all directions. The wind sped up the storm clouds, and blew the fire toward the crystal. An'orith knelt down, and the earth grew around him. He breathed a cold breath, and soon, he was covered by both earth and ice. When lightning struck down from the clouds and touched the fire, there was a big ring of explosion. The explosion struck the crystal with immense power, and also cracked the rock and ice surrounding An'orith. He suddenly took everyone by surprise as he cast a darkness spell on himself, and was wounded. Master Itlamis was about to walk in, when An'orith raised up his palm, signaling that he had injured himself on purpose. Master Itlamis tilted his head in curiosity, and took a step back. An'orith then cast a nature spell, and buds started growing under his feet. As the buds grew taller and taller, he created a ring of water that orbited around him. Finally, he raised both hands into the air, and a ray of golden light shone down upon him. The students stared in awe, and watched An'orith heal himself rapidly with light, water, and nature spells. When he finally stepped off from the station, Master Itlamis clapped.
"You are one fine mage. I know that you'll be a great wizard or even an arch mage one day." He praised.
Several students took turns taking the test, and soon, it was Ellera's turn. Nervously, she walked up to the station. Ellera snapped her fingers, creating a spark, but the spark wasn't enough to start a fire. Ellera's heard bumped faster, and she snapped again. The spark appeared, but disappeared after seconds. She snapped the third time, and finally started a fire. She drew both hands together and pushed outward, sending a ball of flame flying towards the crystal. Ellera took a glimpse behind her, and saw Master Itlamis scribbling something onto a sheet of paper. Next, Ellera clapped her hands together. When she separated them, a ball of electricity had formed in between her palms. Again, she pushed outward, and the ball struck the crystal. Ellera thought for a second about what was the remaining offensive spell. She shook a little, but remembered.
"Darkness," she said to herself. The princess spread her arms out, one in front and one back. Black smoke started fuming from her palms, and she joined her hands together. As if throwing a baseball to the batter, she launched the black fume from her hands toward the crystal. Suddenly, the black smoke slowed down in the air.
"It won't make it!" she thought. Ellera started to panic, and gripping her robe tightly. Master Itlamis looked at the black smoke slowing down. He shook his head, and was about to scribble something down when Ellera stood up. She spread her arms outward, and took a deep breath as she drew her arms back in. When she could breathe no more air in, she breathed out, and used wind magic to make the air stronger. The black smoke stopped to a halt, and was falling down when the air carried the smoke to the crystal, striking it with both wind and darkness magic. Ellera sighed with relief, and swiped a drop of sweat off her face. Master Itlamis smiled and nodded, and wrote words onto the paper. The rest of the magic, Ellera was confident with. She raised her hand up into the air three times, each time casting a different healing magic on the crystal. Finally, she faced her palms to the crystal, and the earth rose. The air around the crystal magically sublimated into ice. When the earth stopped rising, and the ice stopped forming, the crystal was covered with rocks on the bottom and ice on top. Now, it was time for the level 2 magic. Ellera snapped her fingers once more, and this time, she only snapped once before the flame lifted. She circled her arms around in the air, while still holding onto the fire. When she finished the arm pattern, Ellera stretched her arms back, and pushed forward, sending a massive flame bolt surging toward the top of the crystal. The flame struck the ice, and melted the top protection of the crystal. As the ice melted, Ellera concentrated on the air in the arena, and summoned a mini-tornado. The tornado traveled around the bottom of the crystal, and destroyed the rocks protecting it. For the final level 2 spell, Ellera slowly rose her arms up, and a ray of light started circling around her. When the light grew brighter, she pushed out with her arms. The light flashed, and it was absorbed into her body, healing her if there was a wound. Master Itlamis announced that everyone had passed the test. An'orith had the highest mark at 100%, but Ellera had the second lowest mark.
"You may all step out the ring now," said Master Itlamis. "Please go to the melee arena and report to Master Gondorix."
The students casually walked out, and made their way to the magic ring, and left the castle through the back doors. Outside was a stage surrounded by steel chains. Standing in the center of the stage was Master Gondorix. He was a very buff elf. Every step he took shook not only the ground, but the hearts of anyone standing in his path. Resting on his shoulder was a massive battleaxe. He was bald, and his face was big. On his belly was a huge scar, below his knees was another one.
"Welcome to the fighting ring!" he said in a deep voice. "Here, you won't be chopping up those ridiculous floating magic crystals! Here, you will experience the feelings of real combat!" He roared. "I shall randomly pick two of you up onto the stage, and you two will fight with your chosen weapons! You will be marked on how you attack and defend! Do not worry if you get hurt, master Itlamis will be standing right beside the stage to heal you. Your round ends either after five minutes is up, or if you have been healed ten times!" "Any questions?" After receiving no replies, Master Gondorix said "Ok, lets begin. An'orith and princess Ellera! Grab your weapon, come on stage, and start the battle!"
All the students moaned. They all knew An'orith was the worst at melee combat in the class, and they all wanted to beat him. Smiling, Ellera somersaulted on stage and drew out her sword. An' orith climbed on stage, and grabbed his battleaxe. Of course it wasn't as big as Master Gondorix, but it was still one of the heaviest and strongest weapons you can choose from.
"An'orith and Ellera!" "Ready, set, battle!" Master Gondorix announced as if holding an official match.
Both An'orith and Ellera stood their ground. Ellera lifted up her brows, and wiggled her finger at An'orith, taunting him. An'orith didn't like being taunted like that especially by a girl, and he charged toward Ellera with full force, ready to chop down with his axe and at any time. Once An'orith was in range, he held his battleaxe up, and chopped down. Ellera flexibly stepped to the side, and the battleaxe chopped into the hard wooden floor. As An'orith struggled to pull his weapon out of the wood, Ellera swiped her sword at her opponent's face. An'orith fell to the ground, suddenly stopped bleeding as Master Itlamis quickly healed him. Ellera saw her chance; she jumped up into the air, and gripping her sword with both hands, stabbed the sword down into An'orith's stomach. After receiving a second heal, An'orith kicked Ellera in the face, and stood up. The frenzied axe man pulled his weapon out of the floor, and recklessly swung it. Ellera quickly took a step backward, but the tip of the axe had cut her.
After she was healed, she looked at An'orith and said in a sarcastic tone "how rude! Do you realize that you're not supposed to harm the mighty elven princess?"
"I don't care! You cut be first!" screamed An'orith. He swung his axe high up, but Ellera stepped to the side and dodged it. Without resting, An'orith immediately swung the battleaxe sideways. The princess jumped up swiftly and landed right on the axe. She flipped forwards, sword pointing forward, slashed An'orith's back, and landed behind him. Suddenly, an idea came to Ellera's mind.
"I'm just going to finish this quickly," she thought. While An'orith was receiving his third heal, Ellera ran all the way to the side of the stage. An'orith looked at Ellera.
"Why are you running coward? Are you afraid of me?" he screamed as his face turned red.
Again, Ellera rose up her fingers and wiggled it; she smiled as if to say "are you afraid of me?" The bloodthirsty opponent charged towards Ellera once again, battleaxe in hand. This time, he would not let Ellera dodge the attack. An'orith planned to start by chopping downward, but instead of into the floor again, he would suddenly swing his axe to the side, so Ellera couldn't dodge it even if she stepped away. An'orith smiled at his plan, and charged faster. As soon as he was in range, he lifted his axe and chopped down. Ellera smiled an evil smile, and stepped to the side. An'orith chuckled and swung his axe sideways toward Ellera. But Ellera was cleverer, and ducked the swipe. Before the swipe finished, Ellera lifted her legs up and kicked An'orith's hand. An'orith lost grip of his axe, and sent it flying off the stage like a Frisbee. An'orith stared in shock.
"How could she have perceived my plan?" he thought, "that is not possible!"
An'orith stepped backwards, his eyes filled with fear.
"Time to finish this!" Ellera yelled. She ran toward An'orith and slashed him with her sword upwards. But Ellera didn't stop right there, she spun her sword right around and slashed him upwards again in the other direction. Once more, she spun her sword around and slashed her opponent horizontally. Again, she swung her sword around, but this time, she executed her master move. She slashed An'orith while leaping into the air. Gracefully, she turned and slashed him once more wile falling down. Ellera was about to use the same process once more, but An'orith fell to his knees, raised his palms in the air, and surrendered.
"Whoa ha ha!" laughed Master Gondorix. "Well fought! Well fought. Ellera! I like how you turned An'orith's recklessness against him! You are one true warrior!"
Ellera stepped offstage, and sat down. "That was too easy," she thought to herself. She watched as her class battled. Some people tried to use her slash-up-spin-and-slash-down technique, but they couldn't balance themselves in the air and fell to the floor before the slash-down. When all the fights finished, Master Gondorix announced "Not all of you passed the combat test! I'm quite disappointed! Ellera is at first place with 98%, while An'orith is lowest at 32%. I'll now hand all of you over to the archery range, where you will be tested by Master Elveena! Except for you An'orith, you must stay."
Everyone headed back into the castle. Ellera looked behind her when she closed the door, and saw Master Gondorix and Itlamis discussing what to do with An'orith.
When the class reached the archery range all the way of the other side of the palace, they were greeted by Master Elveena. She was very tall and fit. She had golden hair just like Ellera, and wore light leather armor. "Hello youngsters!" she greeted in a positive tone. "So, today you will be tested on the wonderful art of archery, or ranging. This test is very simple. Each of you will shoot ten arrows and the circle target. The closer to the center your shots are, the more scores you will get. At the end, your score must add up to 80 or higher to pass. Understood?" Sharma rose her hands up and asked "what if you shoot the arrow onto the wall?" Everybody laughed. Master Elveena smiled and said "you will receive no scores for that arrow. Any other questions?" No one replied, so Master Elveena said "First up is Lark and Sharma. Go equip your bows and arrows, and start shooting!"
Just when Sharma and Lark aimed their arrows, An'orith stepped in.
"Why are you late?" asked Master Elveena.
"Master Gondorix had a talk with me" An'orith replied.
After the students finished their test, Master Elveena said "Ellera! You're the best ranger in this class, so you go last. An'orith, you were late, so you go with Ellera."
An'orith glared at Ellera, and threatened her with his eyes. They both pulled the arrows out of the board, and equipped it in their quivers. Ellera wanted to end this quickly again. She picked up an arrow, and didn't even take one second to aim before shooting a perfect bulls-eye. In a flurry of movements, she shot her remaining arrows, and only one flew off to the side a little. She had received 99% and was satisfied with her mark. She sat down and watched An'orith shoot his arrows. The whole class was surprised; he had already shot 8 bulls-eyes in a row.
"I thought he was only interested in magic," Sharma whispered to Ellera. She didn't reply, and continued watching as the ninth bulls-eye was hit. Ellera began to grip her dress very hard.
"That little brat will not beat me at my own game!" Ellera thought.
Ellera opened her eyes wide and An'orith aimed his last arrow. Ellera noticed how askew his aiming position was and laughed. An'orith took the shot. The arrow was definitely not heading for the center of the target. But suddenly, the arrow changed direction, and flew right toward the center. All the students let out a gasp when the tenth arrow landed once more in the bulls-eye. Master Elveena laughed and wrote something hard onto her paper.
Chapter 5: Northil
1
Ellera sat in her room for a mere hour for the final scores to be posted. She sat on her bed and was about to fall asleep when the bell rang. She pushed the door open and sprinted through the hall to the where the marks were to be posted
"Finally," she thought, "finally after all the torment, she was going to be free. She will finally be able to step into the city and be free!"
When Ellera arrived to see her marks on the score sheet, she was not happy. Over 100 elves crowded the room, but they were not there to see their scores, they were there to watch the three masters talk about something. Ellera ran to the front row, and sat in the princess seat.
"We are very sorry that we cannot reveal the scoreboard right now," said Master Elveena. "An'orith, can you step on stage please?"
An'orith started shaking. He slowly rose from his seat, and nervously headed up to the front.
"Can you admit the wrong you have did while taking the test?" asked Master Elveena.
"W… what are you t… talking ab… about?" whimpered An'orith.
"It looks like our friend here doesn't want to admit his wrongdoing. Then I shall say it for him. Was everyone surprised when he shot 10 bulls-eyes on the test when he couldn't even do one in class?"
Everyone nodded.
"Did anyone notice anything strange about his arrows?"
Ellera stood right up and started shouting "His aim was so out of line! He wasn't even holding onto his bow correctly! The arrow was about to hit the wall when is suddenly changed direction and headed for the board!"
"Thank you Princess Ellera," said Elveena. She turned to An'orith and said "Why do you think they call me the master ranger?" She wasn't looking for a reply. "It's because I can calculate the flight path of arrows with a 99.9% accuracy! And you're arrow was not following my calculated line!"
"Let's keep a long story short," said Master Itlamis. "An'orith had cheated on the test by using magic to control the flight path of his arrows. An'orith is my best student, and I've always seen light in him. Now I only see complete darkness, and I am very disappointed."
The whole crowd gasped.
"So that's why!" Ellera thought angrily.
After An'orith was sent back to his room, the meeting was over. The masters revealed the score sheet, and there at the very top, in golden letters, was Ellera's name.
"What a talented princess!" someone in the crowd said
"I bet she'll make an excellent queen," said someone else.
Ellera tried so hard not to grin, but it was hard and she gave in.
. . .
The huge gates separating the city from the palace opened. Each second Ellera waited, she became more excited. The gates spread wider and wider, and finally, stopped. Eller walked up to the boundary line, she was stepping into a whole new world. She slowly lifted her feet, and took one step. Ellera decided to cut the dramatics, and ran right into the streets. A horse carrying a wagon suddenly charged towards her. She stared in fear as the horse approached with extreme speed. Suddenly, an elf grabbed her and pulled her onto the sidewalk.
"You should watch out for the horse wagons little girl," said the man.
Ellera stared, and finally said "thank you," and rushed off.
From then on, Ellera avoided the big roads for the horse wagons. She ran on the sidewalks, inspecting the rotted wooden houses, and the moss-covered stone buildings.
"This is all so cool!" she thought, "way better than the dull golden walls of the palace!"
She made a turn into an alleyway, wanting to avoid the crowds of elves. On each side of her was a wall of bricks, also moss-covered. Ellera ran across the alley, and heard someone scream. She ran towards the noise, and found a young elf on the ground helplessly, and some older elves kicking him and beating him with sticks. Blood spilled everywhere onto the muddy floor, and the older elves just kept beating him. Ellera could not stand the horrible scene before her. She pulled out her bow, and aimed her arrow. The arrow flew right across one of the older elves, missing him by one inch, and pierced right into the stone wall behind him. The older elves stopped beating the young boy, and looked at Ellera.
"I didn't have to miss," Ellera warned.
The older elves seem to have believed her, and ran off. Ellera rushed to the boy, and bent down. She held her hand up and cast light magic to heal him. The boy stood up and said "thank you, my name is Northil."
Northil was about the same age as Ellera, with long brown hair. His nose was pointy, and his face was very round..
"Why were they beating you?" asked Ellera
"I'm an orphan," said Northil, I had no money, so I stole their food.
Ellera felt sympathy for Northil. "Come with me," she said, "I'll invite you to lunch at a restaurant."
Northil tiled his head, and stared at Ellera.
"Come on!" said Ellera, "You need food if you want to survive!"
Without speaking, Northil followed Ellera out the alley, and headed to the nearest restaurant. They sat down at a table, and the waitress came.
"Order anything you'd like," said Ellera, "I'm new here so I'm not familiar with the food they serve."
"Are you sure you can pay enough for the food?" asked Northil
Ellera nodded. Northil started ordering one of everything. The waitress scribbled his order down on a sheet while staring at the two kids, doubting they had enough money.
After the waitress went into the kitchen, Northil asked "are you rich or something? You can afford all of that?"
Ellera nodded. When the food was brought to them, Northil stared mouthwatering at it. Without a second of hesitation, he gulped one entire plate of mushrooms down. Then, he kept filling his mouth with berries, chewing and swallowing like a food machine. Ellera sat there the whole time, looking at Northil eat, smiling. Ellera took a glass of blueberry juice, and shook the ice in the glass before drinking it, which is a sign of politeness in the elven cities.
"Wow," Ellera said, "this tastes a lot different from those in the palace."
Northil slowly looked up, staring at Ellera with wide eyes. Still having food in his mouth, he asked "you're from the palace?"
Everyone in the room stopped eating, and turned to Ellera.
"Uh oh," Ellera thought. She was strictly instructed not to mention that fact while she is out here in the city. Ellera took a handful of gold from her pocket and put it on Northil's hand.
"Use these golden coins to pay for anything you want," Ellera said before she rushed off.