I do not own anything associated with Christopher Paolini or the Eragon Series
Ch. 1: And So It Begins…
"We need to fall back!" Faeldhor, one of the top officers, yelled at me as fire bolts raced past him.
"No! Hold your positions! Do not let these heathens get through!" I shouted as I was casting a protective barrier around my squad.
My name is Kristin, and I am the elven princess of The Divine Forest. My father, Belegaru, and mother, Mirinu, are the king and queen of this forest. Our forest is usually of a peaceful nature. We do not indulge ourselves in the matters of the other races. We live as one with Mother Nature, nurturing it any way that we can. We have a personal connection with every living creature of the forest.
On this day however, a great evil is upon us. I am not sure how much longer my people will be able to hold it off. It is not known where this great evil comes from, but we do know that they are of a dark nature. All you see of them are their dark cloaks. They ride upon these beasts that could not have been created by our dear Mother Nature. These creatures are covered in dark black feathers, and are hunchback when they are on the ground. They have razor-sharp talons that could rip cleanly through the trunk of a tree, and their breath is foul; so foul that one whiff of it could knock even the strongest of men unconscious.
"Give up now elves! Or face your ultimate doom!" said one of the cloaked men riding on one of the grotesque creatures.
"Never! Why do you come here and harass my people?" I shouted towards the man.
"You silly elf, do you not know who I am?" An orb of light began to form around his left hand.
"No, but I'm sure I'll find out soon enough!"
"Well, until then, feast your eyes on this!" The man stretched his arm out towards me, releasing a blast of light.
"My lady, No!" Faeldhor screamed as he jumped in front of me.
Before I could say anything, the blast hit Faeldhor, sending him to the ground. With whatever energy he had left, he looked up at me, whincing. He said:
"My lady, RUN!"
Hesitating at first, I mounted my horse and began to run. I kept pushing my horse to run faster and faster. After running for a minute or two I stopped and looked behind me. With no sign of a pursuer, I breathed a sigh of relief.
"There you are!"
Above me, I could smell a foul odor. Somehow, the dark cloaked man and his abomination of a mount found me.
"Did you really think I'd let you run from me that easily?" He said with an evil laugh.
"What do you want? Please leave and spare my people!" I said, almost pleading with him.
"You silly elf, you really do not know who I am or what I am a part of do you? Well, let me enlighten you. I am Fredrick, one of the top officers of the Black Prenumbra Order! And I am here to wipe you and your pathetic race from the face of the earth!"
At that moment, another flash of light appeared, but it wasn't from Fredrick, but from one of my loyal soldiers.
"My lady, I can hold him off! Run while you still can!"
"You fool! How dare you challenge one of the best officers of the Black Prenumbra Order! You will surely regret this!"
At that moment, a flaming inferno surrounded the soldier who was trying to hold off Fredrick. Thankfully, I mustered up the energy to cast a protective barrier around him before the inferno completely consumed him. Feeling my energy draining from me every moment that went by, I told the soldier to walk towards me. The barrier was able to keep the flames from touching his delicate elven skin.
"You fool!" I said as I looked up at him, gasping for air. "Do you not realize how strong this one man is? There is no way you can take him by yourself. Go now! Gather up any and every soldier you can find and meet me twenty clicks north of here. I have a plan."
"Yes my lady!"
The young soldier mounted his horse and took off, shouting to every soldier he found to follow him.
After catching my breath, I hurled myself onto my steed and began moving north. When Fredrick realized I where I was heading, he followed me with renewed haste.
"Silly elf, you are really starting to annoy me! You can't run from me forever!"
As I kept running, I heard more hoof steps around me. It sounded like I was surrounded by the whole elven army. Finally, the young soldier returned to me, awaiting orders.
"My lady, I have gathered all the elves I could muster in just a short time. What are your orders?"
"Tell everyone to follow me north. I have noticed that these heathens will not go anywhere near water. If we can get him close enough to the waterfall north of here, we can use magic to direct the water towards him. Maybe it will draw them away from here at least for a little while. I don't know how many more casualties we can take before we are overwhelmed."
"Yes my lady!"
At that moment the whole elven army shrieked a battle cry that could be heard for miles. As a unit, we headed north, with the Fredrick hot on our heels. Finally we reached the waterfall. If under different circumstances, the waterfall would have added to the already apparent beauty of the forest.
Turning around, I faced the elven army, whom looked eager for their next order.
"You men have fought bravely today, and I promise you it will not be in vain. Right now, I need you to give me everything you've got. When the enemy approaches, he will be flying in the air on a hideous creature. When I give the order, use your magic to divert the water at the enemy. Do not let him run away! These heathens will not torture our people any longer!"
With a new sense of pride, the elven army cheered. As expected, Fredrick appeared shortly after we arrived at the waterfall. An evil laugh began to emerge from the depths of his gullet.
"Well, looks like I have you dumb elves finally cornered. You know I'm tired of chasing you around like a cat does a mouse. I think it is time for you to meet your makers! I will always be remembered as Fredrick, the obliterator of the entire elven army!"
I shouted "Not today Fredrick! I think it will be YOU who will meet their maker! Soldiers…NOW!"
At that moment, I took off running towards Fredrick. As I ran under him, he turned around to come after me. As the elves began to chant their water magic spells, I heard Fredrick scream so loud it could have awoken the dead. Suddenly, one of my soldiers shouted:
"My Lady, look out!"
Reflexively, I mentally casted a magical barrier around me. Before I knew it, I was falling off of my steed. I fell to the ground with a huge thud. All I could hear were my soldiers approaching me.
"My Lady, are you alright?" each soldier chanted.
Everything began to fall into darkness.
