The Elven Hero
Sitting underneath the vhenadahl Kallian looked up into the dusty colored sky and just smiled. It was such a lovely summer evening. Sounds of children's laughter and happy chatter filled the air in the Alienage. Normally by this time Shianni would have been bothering her to go down to docks tavern, Soris trailing behind protesting the idea, but for some reason her cousins were nowhere to be found. No matter, that just meant she could have some peace and quiet. She loved Shianni dearly but that girl was a handful. Turning her attention to the children running around near her, her smile grew. They just seemed so happy and carefree playing their game. A small part of her missed those days where the truth of world wasn't so…apparent yet.
"Whoa! Watch out!" One of the young boys said suddenly as he almost fell over her. Laughing she caught him before he hit the ground.
"Careful now, don't wanna fall." She said dusting him off. "What are you playing?" She asked as two others, a young boy and girl, ran up to their friend.
"Heroes and Humans." The girl chipped in smiling. "We made it up, see we each play either a human hero or a villain. First one to die loses. I win all the time."
"That's only cause you cheat." The other boy said. Sticking her tongue out at him Kallian stifled a laugh.
"Why do you only play as human heroes?" She asked still smiling at them. Looking at each other they all just shrugged.
"We don't know any stories about elven heroes." The girl said finally. "Do you know any Miss Kallian?" Thinking for moment Kallian nodded.
"I think I may just know one. Would you like to hear it?" She said looking at each of them.
"Of course!" All three children said in unison. Sitting down in front of her the children waited patiently for the elven woman to begin her story.
"Now, where to start? This is the story of Rayla, the greatest elven warrior to have ever lived. Many, many years ago Rayla lived in a small village. There she worked as an aide to the village's farmer with her family. During her childhood, Rayla learned a great many skills like how to fight, how find helpful herbs in the forest, and how to hunt. In her spare time she would go and read from the many tomes kept in her village's Chantry. By the time she had come of age she was a fierce woman who was as strong as any man in the village and as knowledgeable as any scholar. She could take down two knights at one time without so much as breaking a sweat. She was also as kind and beautiful as any human woman. One day a great Commander in the king's army came to her little village. He was looking for a warrior to help stop a great and ancient evil Dragon who had been awoken. Many volunteered to help and while Rayla would have normally loved the chance to help the King she knew it was not her place to do such things. So after a few days of the great Commander going from home to home looking for warriors he finally came to Rayla's farm. There he asked if any would like a chance to prove their worth.
'My son is as strong as a giant.' The farmer said pushing his eldest to test his mettle. 'He would like the chance.' Consenting to the farmers request the Commander tested the boy. However he was not quick enough to avoid the Commander's blows in battle so he failed.
'My daughter is nimble as fox.' The farmer's wife said motioning to their eldest daughter. 'She would like a chance.' Once again consenting to the Farmer's wife, the Commander tested the girl. However while the girl was indeed nimble one blow from the Commander knocked her to the ground.
'Is there truly no one here worthy of such a challenge?' The Commander asked downtrodden. Suddenly Rayla pushed herself forward.
'I would like a chance to test my worth.' She said confidently. 'I may be elven but I am as fast as any man, as strong as any knight, and as wise to the world as any scholar.' Consenting to test her despite the Farmer's protest, Rayla and the Commander did battle. Each swing of the Commander's blade was met with a quick side step by Rayla and each swing of her blade made light contact with the Commanders dagger he kept to deflect blows. After what seemed like hours of battle, the Commander yielded.
'This woman will be my Champion.' He said proudly and Rayla beamed. She had never been more proud of herself in her life. Saying goodbye to her family and old life, Rayla left her little village with the great Commander. They traveled for many days and nights. During that time, the Commander taught her even more about battle and about what they would be facing. The Dragon was an ancient demon that had come to destroy the whole world and needed to be stopped or everything would perish. After much travel the Commander and Rayla came upon the ancient ruins where the Dragon laid hiding. There were many more warriors from all over the world, waiting for the Commander to return with his last champion.
'Inside the tower,' The Commander explained to all of them, 'Is the ancient dragon. It does not matter who destroys him, only that he is destroyed.' Looking around Rayla saw many of her comrades were human warriors. That did not matter to her though; she would be the one to destroy the Dragon. Together all the champions chosen by the Commander made their way into the looming tower of the dragon. After each floor they ascended they lost more and more comrades till finally all that was left were Rayla and a human man, their Commander having given his life to protect the last two champions.
'We must hurry! We are almost there!' Rayla called as she swung her gleaming sword chopping off one its minion's heads. Finally after much battle the last two champions made it to the top of the tower. Staring at the Ancient monsters both heroes gawked.
The Dragon was twenty feet tall with giant claws sharper than any steel. Its tail as long as a city street and it was breathing fire hotter than lava. Looking at each other the heroes knew the chances of surviving this battle were slim. However they had a duty to the King and the people; the Dragon needed to be defeated. Together they charged at the monster; swords clashing against claws, fire and arrows raining upon it. After many long moments of battle the Ancient Dragon let out a long roar and fell to the ground. Rayla knowing that it must be truly dead for the world to be safe picked a sword, charged on the monster and chopped its head clean off!
They had defeated the Dragon but not without great loss. Rayla herself had been gravely wounded and passed on shortly after killing the monster. Despite being an elven woman she was given a funeral fit for a king, and her name would forever go down in history as the greatest elven warrior of all time."
Looking around at the children Kallian smiled at their wide faces. Each one was looking at her with awe and wonderment.
"I wanna be Rayla!" The girl said finally after she had fully taken in the story.
"No fair! Why do you always get to be the best heroes?" One of the boys whined. Standing up they all ran off shouting in unison a thank you to Kallian.
"Rayla the Greatest Elven Warrior huh?" Shianni said leaning against the Alienage tree with a soft smirk. "Make that one up all by yourself?"
"How long have you been standing there?" Kallian asked. Standing she brushed the dirt off the back of her skirt.
"Oh I heard enough. It was a nice story Cousin. Now come on, let go get drunk." Shianni returned before heading off to the docks.
'It was a nice story.' Kallian thought to herself. 'Perhaps I'll get my own some day.'