It's the start of new day in the winter and elenwe wakes happily, her father promised that he'd take her to a very beautiful park so she can play in the snow, and then they would go and buy a pretty cake and some party stuff for its her birthday today, she's finally thirteen years old!, she went to her bathroom and washed her face, then she got dressed and went to her home's garden to play while the rest of her family ready up, one of the family house guardian greeted her saying:
"Good morning little princess, how're you today?" said smiling.
" I'm fine thank you! What about you Kero?"
"I'm good, ready for any trouble or bugs that might attack" he swung his sword left and right trying to make elenwe laugh.
Elenwe smiled and said: "I knooow about those bugs that's why I will help fight them off with you" she made a sword fighting stance.
"haha, don't get yourself hurt today and have fun, its everyone's honor today to celebrate the young and courageous noble with her birthday".
"Call me elenwe it's much easier" she smiled.
The door opened and her father, mother, and her older brothers came out with them four servants and two little kids, her father is one of her home world's general's and a highly decorated warrior just as most of elenwe's family were, it's a tradition that everyone in the family to learn how to fight and join the army for at least a three years from the age of fifteen, her mother is not a warrior though but she's one of the most renown trade leaders, her older brother Khendar who's forty five years old very young in elven lifespan is also a warrior of a great stature, the two little kids are elenwe's little brother and sister, her sister is Isha is only ten years old while her brother Shero is seven years old, her whole I'llanhearth family tree from great grandfather to today's family are nobility both respected and feared, though she didn't understood why exactly she never liked having no friends from outside her family because her family considered the other people to be lesser born, she didn't like everyone saluting her with titles and high respect even though she just got to be thirteen years old.
The family's special convoy took everyone to the park her father promised her to go, then everyone got out and started to play and have fun, the entire park was rented by her family to not allow lesser born people to disturb them, after couple of minutes later she fell on the snow grass to catch her breath, she then stared at the stars above her, for her space floating city have no morning/evening it's all artificially created but when they turn it to evening they would remove the artificial sealing so everyone would be able to look at the space, elenwe gazed at the stars filling the blackness of the deep endless universe, she felt serenity and beauty fills her very soul, life was so beautiful that nothing wrong or bad can happen, she then saw her older brother sat near her and gazed with her at the stars he then said:
"Beautiful isn't it ely?"
"Yes it is….I wish I can go out there and see what's there in these white glowing stars".
"One day sweety, life is so big I can't even imagine all the pretty things out there".
"But you have been out there right?"
"Yes and you will learn that not everything beautiful is safe and calm as it might seems to be" he sighed.
"Kero told me about the bugs and creepy thing out there" she shrugged.
Khendar laughed: "haha that's true, but don't let it disturb this moment, enjoy it as best as you can, know that I won't let any bug crush this moment".
"I want to help fight those bugs so other people will be happy and no one will be disturbed by them" she said firmly as if she's going to do that right now.
"You know I think you will be a very excellent warrior someday"
"You do?"
"Of course, Elenwe the most beautiful and brave girl I and everyone has ever seen" he smiled.
She hugged her brother and he hugged back, then they heard their father saying that they should go and prepare for the big party; everyone got up and went home while elenwe's father went with ten servants to buy the cake and the presents, few hours later everything was set, her uncle's and aunt's family have all came along with her father's and mother's friends and their families too, the servants dressed elenwe and made her hair to fit a noble girl, her mother supervised everything to make sure she looked the I'llanhearth daughter she is, then the servants helped elenwe wear her I'llanhearth signature markings, the golden Brows accessories, the golden hair catcher, the mantle with the family sign on it, her mother turned to her and said:
"That's my daughter; you look just like I was when I was your age, now let's go down there and show everyone why you are I'llanhearth daughter"
Elenwe got down the stairs towards the big hall where the party was held the two servants behind elenwe went down with her holding her long mantle, it was very awkward to elenwe the golden brows, hair catcher and that mantle, she wished she can take them all off but she had to keep them to please her family and honor them in her own birthday party, when she arrived everyone turned up to her and clapped their hands in joy and greetings to her, then the priestess of light got ready to speak few words to bless this event:
"Blessed be this young soul in her day of hearth, a soul who is blessed with the light of our goddess, we ask our goddess that she watches over this soul in her life and guides her in death, that she protect her from the darkness that looms over the world and may her angels guard this soul and shelter her from the storm, so that in death she may returns to lady of faith's gentle embrace".
Five years later.
"Are you ready" a voice rang through the mic.
"Yes sir" Elenwe Said.
"Good, good luck and make it count"
Elenwe Got out from the Plane with fourteen other guardians and charged at the ruined burning city bullets , pulse and other projectiles flies towards them piercing the winds at an extreme speed, Elenwe ran towards a ruined wall and took cover the mechs attacking them kept marching towards while simultaneously firing all their weapons, so far they took two guardians out with their barrage, elenwe jumped from her cover dragging her sword landing right on top of one of the mechs, the mech started running fast spinning left and right trying to knock her away from him she held on her sword and drew her gun and started shooting at the head of the mech then she took her sword and jumped from the mech high on the air and landed back on it in such force that her sword pierced the mechs head so hard that it cut the head from the body causing the mech to shut down and falls to the ground sending elenwe tumbling on the ground she got up and took her sword and charged towards the other mech now surrounding her teammates on her run she snatched a grenade from one of the falling guardians she stepped on the broken wall and jumped on the other mech she charged the grenade then pierced the mechs body with her sword and attached the grenade on her sword then she threw herself away The mech then exploded turning into a pile of scrap metal, suddenly while everyone was cheering everything return to normal and the entire ruined city disappeared, the Simulator Sergeant, her uncle and brother both appeared they were all satisfied with the results, the fallen guardians stood up and lined up with the other guardians, the simulator sergeant turned to Khendar and said:
"My lord, looks like lady Elenwe is the very picture of a true warrior; I dare even say she fights like an Autarch".
"Indeed she is sergeant we are proud of her".
"We still need to do few more things to make sure she's ready, and lets not go far as making her an Autarch from her first live fire simulator sergeant" her uncle Ganord said measuring her up.
"Yes Sir! Line up Everyone the general is here".
Everyone lined up and stood with respect, Ganord moved slowly looking at the guardians, and then he turned to elenwe and said:
"Very well then let's see how well she'll do on her Autarchy training" he then turned and left the simulator room.
The other guardians turned to elenwe and said:
"Way to go my lady you're gonna be an Autarch soon" they all looked very happy.
"Thank you guys, by the way didn't I tell you not to call me (my lady)?" she gave a small joking push to them.
"Well we gotta keep it formal in front of your uncle and brother" said one guardian.
"By the way good luck and be careful on your Autarch training I hear it's very dangerous"
"I will"
Khendar turned to elenwe after he finished talking with the sergeant and said:
"Ely come speak to me when you finish okay?" he then turned and left.
Elenwe went to her quarters she sat on the chair taking a few moments then she took off her guardian clothes and changed them to the normal nobility fashion though she didn't wear any of the nobility accessories she haven't wore them since she started learning how to fight, it made her mother argue with her on that subject many times, her nobility regime refusing way and her equal treatment of all other people made her the only I'llanhearth whose not either feared or hated, it made people stay natural and happy when talking to her or addressing her which made people like her, she got out of the dressing room and went to talk to Khendar, he was sitting on a chair near a grass field reading a book, when she came near him he closed the book and turned to her:
"Come Ely sit I want to talk to you before we head home"
Elenwe sat near him and said: "sure, talk away" she smiled.
"Well I wanted to congratulate you and say how happy and proud I am with your performance"
"Thank you, you helped me a lot with my training but why do you look disturbed?" she said with concern.
"Well you see our uncle has vouched for you to take the Autarchy Training, it's something any big brother should be proud of, but I am worried that you might get hurt, the Autarchy Training is very dangerous and all of its training is held in live fire warfare, warfare! They'll throw you at monsters of all kinds, I don't want to see you get hurt Ely"
"I…I don't know it's probably something out of my hands, dad and uncle already had that talk two years ago, if I go and tell them I don't want to become an Autarch they might flay me alive" she made a small smile.
"Yeah….our parents wants us all to become some kind of legendary heroes so we can all show the world how good our noble house is blah blah"
"Sometimes I wish I wasn't born noble, just a normal person who doesn't have to act all formal and have to hear people salute her like she's some kind of a Phoenix Lord" she shook her head.
"haha you'll get used to it sis, it's not so bad to be a noble if one can change few of the rules, anyway we should get back home father is expecting us with uncle no doubt, and don't forget aunt's son Aeonar is there too your future husband haha."
"Oh come on, don't remind me about that" she gave him a small push, they both laughed and made their way home.
when they entered they found everyone was waiting for them their father and uncle heading them all, their father then said:
"Let us all congratulate Elenwe I'llanhearth my daughter with her great accomplishment and my she complete the Autarchy training and become a full Autarch, something any father would be proud of"
Everyone cheered then he turned to her and said:
"I expect you to be ready for the training; you must show them that you are worthy to hold the family name, and remember I expect you to know who you are and not get close to the lesser born people you will find".
"Yes father, I will do my best".
"Good, your mother wants to see you, you should go to her" he then left to talk with his brother and the other military people whom arrived.
Elenwe felt little sad her father never showed any sign of worries of anything that might happen to her, all he cared about is the family name and not his own daughter, she then went to her mother and found her talking with her aunt she entered and greeted her aunt:
"hello aunt, thank you for coming" she made a small bow with a smile.
"not at all dear, you are my brother's daughter after all and an I'llanhearth child, my son Aeonar have been talking to me about you all day and he's very happy that you became a candidate for the Autarchy"
"Thank you aunt" she then turned to her mother and said " Father said you wanted to talk to me mother".
Her mother turned to her and said:
"Come with me Elenwe" then they went upstairs, her mother then turned to her and said:
"Elenwe this is a very important day, your aunt's son Aeonar is here and I've been talking with your aunt all day about the two of you".
"But mom what about me? What about what I want? , I only saw him three times before the last one was a year ago why do you want to arrange a marriage that fast?".
"Look child, I know what is good for you and what is not, and Aeonar is the best for you, it is not like you will marry now, it will be years from now but we want you to get close to each other" .
"Spare me that mother" . elenwe turned to the other side.
"Elenwe this is not the time, your father and I have gotten tired of the way you've been acting, you're a noble born this is your destiny and you must accept it".
"Screw my nobility if it means I should boss everyone around and marry someone I don't want to".
"Look we'll talk later, go change your clothes, I ordered the servants to ready the best dress and for the goddess sake wear your damn nobility signs, it's too important today" her mother then went down stair, elenwe entered her room and found the servants waiting for her:
"Are you ready my lady" one of the servants said.
"It's ok Metha I'll wear it on my own you can go" the servant went down but Metha stayed she turned towards elenwe and said:
"my la…..Elenwe, I know you don't like that but I hope that you do what your mother told you because she might feel hurt and your father feels dishonored if you don't I would hate to see them mistreat you"
"Thank you Metha, I'm glad that you're always looking after me, all my family cares for is their honor and name" she sighs.
"One day it will change dear, but not today, I'll go down stairs now call me if you need any help"
"I will" she then started to change her clothes and wear the dress her mother made ready for her it was a very long pure white shining dress as if its glowing with moon light and it had a big white flower attached to it, it was all made from the purest silk and the most expensive anyone can find, she then started wearing the nobility accessories, she closed the door and went down stair to meet Aeonar,
When she went to the house huge garden she found him talking with one of his friends he was wearing a very carefully made nobility suit and the I'llanhearth nobility signs he wore them with pride as if they were stitched onto his skin, he turned to her and smiled then said :
"Hello my Lady Elenwe, how are you?"
"Hello to you too Lord Aeonar, I'm fine you?"
"Never been better now that I've seen you" he smiled while staring at her face then said: "you look very beautiful Elenwe"
"Thank you for saying that" she said trying as hard as she can to create a smile to hide the discomfort.
"I want to congratulate you for fine performance you did at the final guardian training; I heard you are going to be an Autarch soon"
"Not soon, I have to complete my Autarchy training first"
He then started talking about his battle career and what he's done so far trying to impress elenwe who was only saying (really, wow, Impressive) to keep things going well he then said:
"Okay enough about me, I want to ask you something and I want an honest answer"
"Sure, ask away" she said with a relief because finally he stopped talking about his career.
"Look I know this is not the best way to make two people marry or get close to each other but it's our family's tradition you know" he said with a smug.
"That's very true Aeonar"
"Okay the question is, do you feel like you'll love me or even want me?" he started looking at her trying to find an answer.
"I…. Don't know it's not something you decide right away especially if you don't know someone well" she lowered her head.
"Fair enough, but I just want you to know that this was forced on me too, I had no choice in the matter but…"
"huh…but what?" she wondered.
"Elenwe….I know that this is the first time we talk like that but I like you already".
She didn't know what to say it was the most disturbing moment in her life she wanted to say that she don't want that but it would make her family go crazy, then elenwe's sister Isha came and saved elenwe from the saying anything she turned to them and said:
"Hello charming prince" she said with a happy smile.
"Oh hello my lady Isha" he said while scratching his head.
"Mind if I steal my sister from you for a minute"
"hah not at all" he turned to elenwe and said "Thank you for talking to me…Ely"
Isha then grabbed Elenwe's hand and took her near the fountain of the garden she then turned and said:
"Wow Ely, I can tell that Aeonar really likes you"
"Ehh Isha don't start"
"hehe just joking, anyway I wanted to say be careful tomorrow, I'll pray for you every day" she smiled.
Then Isha left elenwe and went to talk to their mother, and then a girl dressed in red approached her the girl were Linhera Aeonar's little sister,
"Hello Elenwe, you look good today" Linhera said.
"You too Lin, how're you?"
"I'm well, nothing special happened recently, my brother tried to convince me to make you talk to him but I guess your mother were faster than me hehe" she said smiling.
"Yes, I was unable to escape her".
"I'm so happy for you ely, be careful tomorrow I will pray for you"
"Thank you Lin, be careful too".
"oh it's not like I will go fight monsters or anything tomorrow, but if you call reading books dangerous then I suppose I need that", they both laughed.
Few hours later everyone went to their home, elenwe got to her room she changed her clothes she then open her room window and stood up looking at the stars in the space tomorrow she'll be somewhere out there away from all the nobility and formality, she thought for a while about what her brother said, and what Aeonar said, she wasn't terrified about tomorrow but that doesn't mean she wasn't a bit scared she's no a power hungry warrior nor a veteran, her chance of escaping from this life is tomorrow but will that be better ? she wondered a lot about that, she steeled herself for tomorrow there will be some people counting on her to protect and help them while she complete her Autarchy training she then closed the window and went to bed.
When the morning came Elenwe got up she dressed and got ready, her brother got ready to go too because he's in the military like her, they both went army space base her uncle Garond the general was waiting for them as elenwe was assigned to his army branch command:
"Are you ready Initiate to take on your Autarchy training and your first real battle?" he said with a sharp firm.
"Yes Sir" she replied.
"Good Luck"
Khendar turned to elenwe and said: "take care Ely, May the goddess watch over you"
"You too Brother"
The Space ship took off and started traveling towards one of their bases on Mechanarch planet, elenwe looked at the soldier with her on the space ship, some were ready some were terrified almost no one including her knew what they're going to face, elenwe then noticed a young girl wearing gears that resembled a farseer initiate, she looked very scared of what's coming, Elenwe turned to her and said:
"Hello" she smiled; the young girl turned to her and replied:
"H…Hi" she was surprised.
"How are you feelings?"
"I…I am ready" she tried to look like she's not scared.
"Really?.. I feel scared whenever I think about it"
"Um.. I feel scared too" the young girl lowered her face, she was shaking, it made Elenwe wonder why would they send a very young farseer to a war, she wasn't old enough herself but a farseer duty is a very hard thing if you're not experienced you might get torn apart.
"What's your name? Mine is Elenwe" she said with a smile.
"My name is Yulin" she turned and looked at Elenwe.
"Don't worry Yulin, I will be beside you and we'll protect each other" Elenwe held Helene's hand to comfort her, it made yulin feel calm and smile, then the spaceship began to shake hard the pilot turned and said:
"Ready up everyone we're coming in a hot zone".
As the ship began landing on the planets soil elenwe turned to Yulin and nodded she then grabbed her sword tight and as soon as the ship's door opened everyone jumped from the ship and started firing their weapon at the enemy, they were faction of the undead race called the Immnator, it was the first time both Elenwe and Yulin ever see an undead being outside the books and vids, a barrage of bullets and venom spits were hurled at them by the undead taking out a guardian and injuring one in the left leg he fell on the ground shouting from pain, Yulin turned at him and he started waving her hands to cast a spell then a blue sparkle flied from her hands to the guardians leg healing him, her eyes then started glowing blue and she started flying in the air creating a barrier to protect everyone from the undead fire, elenwe was surprised by Yulin's skills, she then turned to the undead she drew her magically enchanted sword and jumped from the cover and charged at the undead the guardians followed her, Elenwe dashed throw the debris avoiding the bullets with high reflexes until she reached the their side one of the shooters drew his sword and threw it at her, she dash slide from under the sword reaching the attacker she grabbed his hand and turned him toward the other shooter using him as a cover, by the time the shooter killed his teammate when he tried to shoot elenwe she was already behind him she slashed him with her sword and kick jumped backward from the rocket that was launched at her back to a cover, Yulin then came at elenwe's side and casted a spell that created a barrier around elenwe, elenwe then switched to her pulse rifle the Ir-68 and sniped the undead with the rocket launcher right in the head, the fighting lasted for an hour and half until the attackers were cleared from their position, they continued their way to the base they were supposed to reach, the fighting can be heard all around them but it wasn't nearby, the base was more than few kilometers away from them, Elenwe then turned to Yulin and said: "Really nice work you did back there" she smiled.
"Thank you, it made me feel a little tired, I haven't got used to use many spells" she shrugged.
"We're almost at the base".
One of the guardians turned to Yulin and said:
"Hey do you know why you're sent to play the farseer role, I mean aren't you too young to do that?"
"it's because she's one of bright kids, you know those are born with high magical talent" said another guardian.
"aaah, I heard that they are favored by the god of water, well good to have you with us"
"Thank you" Yulin replied.
"What about you, you don't look a guardian and your gears doesn't say that too" said one of the guardians to elenwe.
"I'm just an Autarch Initiate" she replied.
"Damn good luck with that, few people succeed at completing the Autarchy Initiation"
One hour later they arrived at the base, The Base Commander turned to them and said:
"Line up!" he then turned to Elenwe and noticed the gears he said:
"Name and Rank"
"Elenwe I'llanhearth, Autarch Initiate sir!" she said firmly.
"Damn, sorry my lady I expected you to arrive by a shuttle not on foot".
"It's ok Sir, our shuttle had to land few kilometers south from here due to some firing by the undead forces".
Yulin was looking at Elenwe with her eyes wide open, she haven't thought for a second that elenwe was actually a noble, and from I'llanhearth, she always thought that nobles wear some kind of signs so the others are able to identify them, and she spoke to her and her teammate on equal measure without bothering about telling them that she's noble, Yulin was very surprised.
"Anyway come find me at the base camp to brief about the mission". The commander then left.
Elenwe turned and saw Yulin looking at her with a shock she approached her and said:
"Yulin? What's wrong?".
"N..nothing my lady, I'm sorry if I said anything disrespectful earlier".
Elenwe place her hand on Yulin's right should and said:
"What are you talking about? And what's with the (my lady)?" she smiled.
"Um you're my lady aren't you? , I mean you're a noble"
"Yulin please its ok, I don't want anyone to treat me special, and call me Elenwe"
"But that would be very disrespectful of me"
"Yulin it okay, one of the things that made me a little happy about leaving my home is that I can be a normal person without having anyone to call me (my lady) or anything"
"Okay" Yulin smiled, "can I call you El?".
"Of course you can, and I'll call Yul" she smiled.
"hee, okay".
"Come on lets go to the commander before they start without us".
Elenwe, Yulin and the others made their way to the commander's camp to be briefed about their mission, he told that their mission was to assault the enemy base and destroy to end their threat on these lands, as for Elenwe her Autarch mission was to venture east from here and obtain an elven artifact and bring it back, he also warned her that she's likely to find some undead stragglers on her way and she might have to defeat the beast guarding the artifact, Yulin wanted to go with her but she couldn't because her mission was to help the soldier take out the enemy's base.
Everyone started marching towards the base, Elenwe journeyed east in search for the elven artifact, few minutes later she was attacked by three zombies and one cultist who was guiding the zombies, the fight didn't last long as elenwe was prepared for more than this, as she made her way east she heard someone running towards her from behind she turned and saw Yulin:
"Yul, what are you doing here?" she said with a surprise in her voice.
"I..um used a teleportation spell and slipped from the battle when I found that they met a highly trained farseer who agreed to assist them, and made my way to you" she smiled.
"But what if the commander finds out?".
"I…I had to come to you I don't want you to go alone" She lowered her head.
Elenwe smiled and said " Then let us find the artifact quickly and get back to the base before they find out".
"Yay, Okay" Yulin said happily.
They traveled together in search for the artifact few minutes later they reach the groove where the artifact was placed, groove was fully blighted and it was chilling cold for no reason.
"Okay I'm going to get the artifact, stay here and watch my back" Elenwe said.
"Be careful El".
Elenwe moved slowly towards the artifact, the moment she got close to it she heard a loud roar she turned and saw an undead beast staring at her, it was an ogre sized black skinned covered with black fur and had a big horn on top of its head.
"El look out" Yulin shouted.
The Beast charged at elenwe, she rolled out of its way, Yulin Casted a barrier spell on Elenwe, the beast then growled and attack elenwe before she could even draw her sword, she high jumped on the tree and landed behind the beast, and before she can stand up the beast swung its hand knocking her on the ground.
Yulin Threw a lightning bolt at the beast's face but it didn't affect it much, he roared at Yulin and charged at her, Yulin fell on the ground and screamed with fear, Elenwe got up from the ground she took her sword and jumped and landed right on him and started slashing him, the beast started running left and right trying to knock her off its back, she then dropped herself from it, and the moment the beast stopped roaring and turned to her she threw her magical sword with such force that it cleaved the monster's face in half dropping it dead on the ground, she panted…, elenwe then turned to Yulin and got her up and said:
"Come on let's take the artifact and go, it's not safe here" .
They made their way back to the base Yulin teleported back to the army's side so no one would notice,
"Nice work everyone, you all did a fine job today, the ship is coming to take us home" said the commander.
Elenwe turned to Yulin and said:
"I'm curious how did you make them think that you were with them when they were fighting?"
"Oh I created an Illusion of myself using a powerful Illusion scroll I had as a gift when they made me a farseer initiate" she smiled.
"Oh hehe, you're very tricky Yul" Elenwe Smiled.
"I hope we can meet again when we go back home" said Yulin.
"I'd like that too", Yulin gave Elenwe a paper and went to the shuttle, elenwe opened the paper and saw Yulins home address written on it.
Few hours later everyone was heading to their home happy that they survived the battle, as soon as elenwe got out of the ship she found Khendar and Isha waiting for her; Khendar welcomed her in a formal way while Isha welcomed her in a heartwarming way.
"Well how did it go?" Khendar said.
"I did it, I completed my mission" she smiled.
"Nice work sis, way to go" Isha said happily.
"Yes! , that's my sister I'm very proud of you"
"Thank you guys, I'm very happy".
Khendar then noticed Yulin was looking at them then left.
"Elenwe, do you know who's that girl?" he wondered.
"Her name Yulin I met here back at Mechanarch, she's very nice and skilled".
"She doesn't look like a noble born ely".
"Let's not talk about that now, come on lets go home and let mom and dad know about Ely's safe return" Isha said.
An hour later, they got home Elenwe's father turned to elenwe and said:
"Good work kid, you made us all proud out there".
"Go have some rest dear, you look very tired" her mother said.
"Yes Mother".
Elenwe then entered inside her room, she got her home clothes from her closet and went to have a shower, she sat under the shower staring at the tub's floor, the water kept falling on her body, she closed her eyes for a moment, she was thinking about the fight, the killing, today she fought dead beings, but one day she'll have to kill people, other soldiers, its different, it made feel disturbed but she remembered what her brother told her about the galaxy and how it may be filled with bad things, what she found was nothing more than a small faction, and they weren't the real undead, she knew that there are many horrors in the galaxy, so she must be ready to fight them when the time closed, suddenly the door was knocked, she got shocked and opened her eyes.
"Elenwe dear, are you still inside" her mother said.
"I'm almost finished"
She looked at her hand; she then waved her hair back and said:
"What am I thinking".
She got dressed and went to her bed and slept deeply.
The morning came and Elenwe woke up, she planned to go out today and visit Yulin, for Yulin can't come visit her because her family doesn't accept lesser born visiting them unless they're their servants,
she changed her clothes and went down stairs she found her father sitting in the lounge watching the news about the Imperial lands of the humans were having fighting of the dark elves attacking one of their cities, he laughed and said "Pfft lesser born", he then turned to elenwe and noticed that she was about to go out, he said:
"Good morning child, planning for a small trip today?"
"Good morning dad, yes I'm going out for a little while" she didn't want to tell him that she's going to visit Yulin because her father is very strict about lesser born people.
"I shall have four servants go with you" he said
"It's ok dad, I'm not going to be late" she opened the door and said hi to Kero and got out, on her way she stopped near a shop and bought some food, she then followed the address Yulin gave her until she ended up in a small district, she looked and saw Yulin's house it was very small and not fancy, she knocked on the door, she noticed that everyone in the neighborhood was eying her, almost everyone knew that she was a noble girl, and that attracted the attention of not so good kind of people but they all steered clear of her, because they all heard about what she accomplished yesterday, the door opened and Yulin appeared:
"Oh! Hello El comes on in" she said with a smile, she looked as if she just woke up.
Elenwe took out her shoes and entered, the house has obviously seen better days because there are cracks on the wall, the furniture were less than modest, the rooms were very small and it only had a kitchen, a lounge, one bathroom and a sleeping room, it made Elenwe feel sad but she didn't show it to Yulin.
"One minute I'm gonna wash my face and come real quick" Yulin said.
"Hehe sure take your time", Elenwe wondered if anyone else live with Yulin, because the house feels so lonely, as if Elenwe is the first visitor in ages, few moments later Yulin appeared and sat in front Elenwe.
"I take it you haven't eaten your breakfast yet?" elenwe said smiling.
"Nope".
"Well that's great, because I happen to have brought us some breakfast to eat together" she showed the breakfast cases to Yulin.
"Wow, but I could have made us food, there was no need".
"Forget it Yul, this one is on me, now I'll open the cases and you bring the dishes".
"Okay!" Yul ran to the kitchen and brought some dishes with her and they began eating.
"By the way Yul, did you complete your initiation when we returned?" Elenwe asked.
"Not really, Farseer initiation takes some time before it's completed" she said with a mouth filled with food.
"Oh, I'm sure you'll be able to complete it and get back to your home world with your parents".
"This is my home world El, my family….they're gone for a long time now" she said with a sad tone.
"Oh my goddess, I'm sorry Yul".
"It's ok, my parents were both killed by the demon invasion at Biel years ago, I've been raised by my Grandmother".
"I'm sorry Yul, this must have been very hard for you, I hope you and you grandmother be always safe".
"….My grandmother is gone too El", this made Elenwe almost cry, Yulin was a thirteen years old child living alone with barely enough income to keep her alive, Elenwe hugged Yulin hard and whispered:
"I will always be there for you Yul, you'll never be alone again." A tear fell from yulin's eyes she hugged Elenwe while crying with both the sadness that she remembered her dead family, and happiness that Elenwe became the only friend she ever had….
One Year Later…
Elenwe wore her Autarch combat gear; she had completed her initiation and became one of her home world's youngest Autarch, but since she started meeting with Yulin, her family started acting differently towards her, her parents told her how dishonored they are by what's she's done, but she didn't change not one bit, she kept talking with normal people and especially Yulin, Isha still haven't changed towards Elenwe, she kept treating her nicely, she wasn't like the rest of her family.
The door opened and Khendar entered:
"Hurry Elenwe they won't wait forever you know."
"I'm on my way". She went down stairs and got out, she made her way to the army's space port where as usual her uncle was waiting, she sat inside the space ship this time she's more steady and firm, she looked at her helmet, then she put it on her head, everyone in the ship was counting on her, she's an Autarch now and Autarchs are renowned about their skills and prowess, the space ship landed on the grassy planet of Rantaroch, they got out of the ship and started making their way towards the jungle base they were supposed to assist, They started fighting their way through the dark elves ranks whom were attacking the base, one of the dark elves drew a plasma launcher and started shooting at them, the plasma launcher was a weapon capable of destroying a tank let alone an infantry, he turned at Elenwe and launched a plasma ball towards her, she jumped high on the sky using her Autarch wings she flipped in the air and landing right on top of him knocking him out, then she made her way towards the others who began running left and right until they disappeared in the forest, elenwe and the others made their way to the base, it was in a bad shape and the sight of elenwe and her squad were a happy sight for the soldiers at the base, the commander approached them and said:
"Glad that you came, we need all the help we can get".
"What's the status of the base" Elenwe said.
"Well we're low on man power compared to the dark elves but we will hold, the problem is that we lost contact with our farseer, she went missing north east from here".
"Give me her Coordinates and I'll bring her back".
"Good luck".
Elenwe made her way to the coordinates of the missing farseer , and when she arrived she found that Yulin and a human wearing a black armor standing together near the corpses of some dark elves, Yulin turned to elenwe and waved to her.
"El, I'm glad that you're here" she said with a smile.
"Yul! What're you doing here?, are you the farseer of the nearby base?"
"Yes that's me; I was cut off from the rest of the army when those dark elves ambushed me, the human here he came and rescued me" Yulin said.
"Greetings Miss Elenwe" the human said.
"You know my name?" elenwe wondered.
"Well your friend here told me, and you can call me Halan".
"Nice to meet you Halan" elenwe turned to Yulin and said:
"Yul, we have to get back to….." and before she was able to finish, a squad of dark elves ambushed them.
"Damn, you gonna have to talk later, cause here comes trouble" Halan said.
Halan and Elenwe drew their weapons and engaged the dark elves while Yulin created barriers and healed them, few minutes later they were able to defeat them and made their way back to the base.
"Thanks a lot ,Autarch Elenwe , now we have a chance" said the commander.
"Nice skills you got back there" Halan said.
"you too, by the way what were you doing out there all by yourself?" Elenwe wondered.
"Oh well this might seem rather strange, but I am an adventurer" Halan Replied with a grin.
"An adventurer?, somehow I pictured adventurers differently" she said curiously.
"Well we're just like anyone else but with high curiosity and almost no homes because we travel a lot, although I'm not a one hundred percent adventurer" Halan said.
"Oh there are seventy percent adventurers too?" she smiled.
"haha, I doubt it but what I meant is that I don't run around exploring ancient stuff, at least not lately, I only travel around so I can escape the conscription of the imperial empire".
"Ah, okay then maybe….." an explosion occurred elenwe turned and saw the dark elves attacking the base, " damn it, let's go help the others" elenwe said while drawing her sword, the dark elves attacked with large numbers among them some monster slaves led by dark elf witches, they started firing at them with their dark lances, Elenwe wore her helmet and took cover, one of the guardian fired a XS-12 Rocket Launcher Knocking one of the dark elves Carrion Vehicles out, Yulin created an orb of psychic gravity and threw it towards the dark elves shattering their lines and disrupting their vehicles, then she created barriers around the guardians, elenwe and halan while she took cover behind the base wall, Elenwe and halan charged with the guardians towards the dark elves and the entire battle turned into a hand-to-hand combat she ran towards one of the monsters and sled underneath it while diving her sword into it almost cutting the monster in half, Halan grabbed one of the dark elves and used him as a meat shield from the incoming enemy fire then threw him towards them along with his sword cutting the shooters head from his body, Elenwe took the grenades from one of the dead dark elves and placed in on one of the carrion vehicles and shot it blowing the carrion to pieces.
As they were fighting the fighter planes arrived and bombarded the dark elves destroying their armies, Yulin turned to Elenwe and halan and said:
"Yay, way to go we did it again!" she jumped and raised her right hand.
"I guess we're done here I am getting reports that the dark elves are no longer a threat to us on this planet" said the commander.
"I guess we're gonna go home soon then." Said Halan.
"Where're you going to go Hal?" said Yulin.
"Hmm that's a good question, I'll probably take a shuttle to any nearby civilized world and find a room for the night" he said with a smug.
"Why don't you come with us to our home world you can stay there and we can meet again" Yulin said then she grabbed elenwe's hand and said "Right El?".
"I..ah okay".
"Okay, then its settled come on lets go guys". Yulin said.
"haha she likes you very much" halan said with a smile.
"She's like my sister, and I will kick anyone who hurt her".
"Oops sorry".
"hehe I was joking" she laughed.
"you know I have a feeling that we're gonna meet again".
"Oh really?.. I thought we already decided that" she smiled.
"oh okay forget I said anything".
The shuttles arrived and everyone went onboard, when they reached their home world, They found Linhara.
"Ely, welcome back!" she hugged her.
"Thank you, how're you lin, how's everyone?"
"Well…they're fine" Linhara didn't want to talk in front of Halan and Yulin, she then said:
"Hey you must be Yulin, Ely told me a lot about you nice to meet you".
"Nice to meet you too my lady" Yulin said with respect.
"Um and you are? Linhara said to Halan.
"Me? Well I'm a nobody of nobody haha". Halan said with a grin on his face.
"His name is Halan he's…an adventurer" elenwe said.
"Oh okay then", she turned and said:
"Ely come see me before you head home okay?" she smiled and went outside.
Halan turned to Yulin and said: "Okay, sooo where should I stay tonight?, this is my first time in this place and I don't even understand your language".
"Well there is a nice hotel just across this street and its workers understand the common tongue" Elenwe Suggested.
"Got it, let's hope they're cheap, I'm not gonna afford it if they ask for thousands" he said while tipping his pocket trying to figure how much money he have.
"Don't worry by the time you get there, it will be taken care of, take care Yul, I have to go home before they go crazy" she chuckled, waved good bye and went outside.
On her way she found Linhara sitting in one of the public chairs waiting for her, Elenwe approached her Linhara said:
"Ely come sit I want to talk to you before you head home" she said with a worried tone.
Elenwe sat near Linhara and said: "What's wrong lin?".
"Your parents have been talking a lot about you lately" she rubbed her hands.
"They've talked a lot about me lately (she sighed) and most of it is not good".
"B..But Ely they're saying that they can't stand the way of how you treat normal people and how you befriend them". The worried tone still on her.
"I'm not going to change, maybe it's time to stop treating people like we're gods blessed".
"Please Ely, don't talk about it when you get home, they might get angry and….I don't want anything bad to happen to you".
"Don't worry they won't do anything bad, it's bad for the family name" she sighed then continued:
"I have to go to them now, take care lin" elenwe stood up and walked towards her home, Linhara stayed still, she lowered her head with sadness, Linhara always loved Elenwe like her big sister, she even argued with her brother Aeonar about what their parents planned for them, but this time it's out of her hand, she remembered Yulin and how Elenwe is very good to her, Linhara began to feel jealous of Yul and wished she was that person….
When Elenwe entered inside she found her mother was waiting for her, she didn't look happy, in fact she looked enraged.
"Hi mom, I'm back" she tried to avoid anything.
"Elenwe, have been talking with these urchins again?" she said with a sharp tone.
"Yes I have, and they're my friends" she replied calmly trying not to start another fight.
"How many times have I told not to talk to them".
"Can you please tell what's wrong with them, other than they're not noble".
"Being not a noble is enough to make them not fit to be your friends".
"Why? What's wrong with being not a noble?".
"Not being a noble means you're not a pure soul or a pure born, you're not rich, and finally your manners and style are not the same as high born soul".
"What if I don't want to be a noble?", Her mother enraged:
"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOU SAY THAT AGAIN, EVER!", her mother ordered.
Elenwe didn't say anything she got up stairs and got inside her room, she changed her clothes and got inside her bed, hugging the pillow like a little kid, one day this will all change.
Two years later….
Elenwe sat down at the kitchen table eat her breakfast, she planned to visit Yulin today, Halan is going to be there soon, Elenwe poured a glass of milk and turned at News her father is watching, the news were airing the vid report of an undead attack on one of the Imperial humans bases the vids showed the battle scarred lands and imperial guards defending the line from werewolves attacks, two imperial soldiers and a black colored geared assassin with a big sniper rifle were on the other side trying to cut their way through the werewolves, reports were saying that they are trying to hold the line until two human wizards gather enough energy to open the portal behind them for a tactical retreat .
Khendar got to the kitchen and found Elenwe staring at the news, he sat next to her and said:
"Good morning".
"Oh good morning Khendar". She shook her head
"I see the humans are fighting hard today."
"That Battle… aren't that planet near us?".
"Well…Yeah , but why?, what's so special about this fight".
"I don't know but those soldiers are in need of help" she said while sitting on the table, she drank some of the milk and said:
"Do you think the council would send us to aid them?, because soon those undead will come here too".
"Doubt it, we had the reports of the undead marching in this sector for more than two weeks, but since they didn't attack any of our lands we didn't take any action, we preferred them to attack the humans rather than us" he frowned, he then turn and saw Elenwe looking him with a shock on her face.
"Wait what?, the council didn't warn the humans that the undead are attacking?".
"Of course not, I mean why would we?, the Imperial humans are hostile to us remember?, plus the enemy of my enemy is my friend". He smirked.
"But that sector got more than just Imperial humans, the H.E.A colonies are in the sector too they would be decimated before the H.E.A forces arrive and help them".
"Yeah, it's too bad that most people only look after themselves, you know Ely one day the people like us the so called nobles and those council people?, one day we will pay the price of our pride" he sighed.
"Khen, you're not like them" she said with a warm voice and sat next to him.
"heh, I don't know Ely, I'm just glad that you're not like them".
"Why? Why are you talking like this?".
"…..It's nothing" he lowered his head.
"Khen, what's wrong?"
"I don't know, I had a nightmare last night… it was terrible"
Elenwe felt very worried: "Can you tell me about it?"
Khendar Sighed and said: "Look Ely its…" and before he finished he was called by his uncle.
"We'll talk later, take care sis", he then got up and left.
Elenwe turned at milk glass and stared at it for few moments, then she got up and went to her room and changed her clothes, she decided to go to Yulin's home, on her way she saw everyone from Alaitoc and Biel-Tan is mobilizing and preparing to return to their home world and make a plan to fight off the undead army with the H.E.A she wished she can join them too but her home world is different from theirs, half hour later reached Yulin's home and knocked on the door, the door opened and Halan appeared, he said:
"Oh hey Elenwe, how's it going?, come on in", elenwe took her shoes off and entered inside, she saw Yulin was already wore her farseer gear, she turned to her and said:
"Yul, you're going with the Biel-Tan to fight the undead?"
"Yep, remember that farseer we met at Mechanarch three years ago?, she called me and said that they need my help and that I should assume the full responsibly of a full-fledged farseer" Yulin seemed happy with that, Elenwe felt like it's dangerous for Yulin but she didn't want to discourage her.
"Way to go Yul, this is what you dreamt of all along, I'm so happy for you".
"Yeah she's all powerful leaders now, now no ordering your friends with tough jobs huh?" Halan said laughing.
"You seem like you're about to go to Halan, any idea where?" Elenwe said.
"Well, there is something I must do, It's very important" he sighed.
"…... Be careful guys, don't let them hurt you or i kick you both" Elenwe smiled.
"Oh I might need some kicking you know" Halan said.
"Shut up adventurer, and don't suck", all three of them laughed.
"Hey let's make a promise!" Yulin said: "that all three of us will return safely, no matter what".
"Why not?" Halan said, and they all made the promise, to live and die together…..
An hour later Elenwe was all by herself, she returned home and sat on the lounge chair, she wondered if there are ever a group of people who don't care about what race they are or if they're poor or not, just a group of people who talk and fight, laugh and cry, live and die together, it will be a strange thing but she was sure that somewhere at someplace such group existed.
Her sister Isha then came and sat next to her and said:
"Hey sis what're you thinking of?", Elenwe turned to her and said:
"Do you think that there are a group of different races living together and doing stuff together"
"hehe, I don't know what're you talking about but I think that's possible, because, I believe in the unity of the mind, because all creature can be the same at some point or another"
"Ah probably you're right".
"And if I'm not we can always turn them into some kind of robots and program them to like each other" she laughed.
"Uh, that would be horrible" Elenwe said.
"I'm just kidding, anyway I should go and arrange a couple of things" Isha then got up, turned and left…
Three days later, when Elenwe was training at the Autarchy Training room, she heard a call for the Autarchy to assemble, she ran fast to the assembly room and found her uncle general Ganord was standing and was about to announce an order for all the Autarchy.
"….And for this, we are to issue an order for all the Autarchy to completely destroy the H.E.A Colony at Hexart, and not to allow a single civilian to escape, Dismissed", all the Autarch got prepared to attack the Colony at Hexart but Elenwe went to her uncle and said:
"unc..General sir!".
"What is it Autarch?". He said sharply.
"Aren't the H.E.A neutral to us and the Hexart colony got no military they're all just civilians".
"Indeed but the Undead are Closing in and the Imperial humans too, if we obliterate the colony, neither the imperials can conscript them nor the undead can use their corpses".
"But they're innocents Sir".
"Collateral damage kid, now go with the rest of the Autarch and do what you were trained to do", he then turned and left.
Elenwe feared that day when she will have to direct her sword toward innocent people, but she couldn't accept the order, she can never do it, She decided to go rogue and disappear from her home world, she got out of the Autarchy building and went toward her the space port but before she reached it she found Linhara waiting for her, she approached Elenwe and said:
"I heard about what uncle said" she said in low voice.
"I'm not going to do it, I won't kill innocent people." Elenwe said.
"I know, and I am not here to tell you otherwise, your brother Khendar sent me".
"Khen?, what's wrong?".
"He told me that he knew you won't accept that order and you would rather go rogue than to do it, so he gave me these" Linhara showed elenwe a box and inside it was an Alaitoc Autarch Gears, Elenwe was surprised about it, so she said:
"Alaitoc gears?, what are these for?" .
"These are for you Ely, your brother told me to give them to you, you can disguise as an Alaitoc Autarch and go with the Alaitoc forces marching to Unaror to fight the undead, he also told me to give you this small paper".
"Thank you for everything Lin, take care of yourself okay? " elenwe smiled and went with the Alaitoc forces, Linhara turned at Elenwe and said:
"Ely…Don't leave forever" a tear fell from her eyes, elenwe turned and said:
"Don't worry Lin, I'm sure we'll meet again".
Elenwe opened the paper, "Protect the world from the bugs Ely", she smiled and continued to move.
Elenwe went to the Space port wearing the Alaitoc Autarch Armor, she sat in one of the shuttles inside the ship, the ship then traveled to Unaror, Elenwe became sad that everything had to become like this, but she would never harm innocents.
The shuttles took off from the ship and landed on Unaror's surface, when she got out she saw a couple of metallic undead attacking the imperial humans, the Alaitoc forces split up into two squads the first went to fight those undead and elenwe's squad went east to fight the some kind of big undead.
When they arrived elenwe saw a group of humans with three big soldiers and an undead warrior trying to fight off a big necrotic undead with gauss weapons, Elenwe drew her sword and charged at the undead as if she charged at fate itself…..
All of these memories appeared in a lightning fast speed before elenwe's eyes as she was trapped inside the Cyborg tank, the wires attached at elenwe's body started shaking a single button press and elenwe's memories will disappear in the deep ocean of memories, the thought of what her family did, their cruelty, their death, being turned into a lifeless being, into a machine by her own sister, Isha's betrayal, her own sister, Elenwe tried so hard to find her, only to find that her sister became a monster, Yulin's death, she cared for her so much, but in the end she's gone too, her brother Shero, Khen…., for the first time in her life, she felt overwhelmed, she was scared because she didn't want her memories gone but then she thought…maybe if it's gone, her pain, the suffering would finally end and she would have peace…
A tear fell…..An oath was made…..a new life awaits….