This story is about an elf named Ralacha(really stupid i know). She lives in a small village outside the empire of orcs attempting to take their land. The Elf kingdom and the Orc kingdom are at war with each other, having battles that can last years. When Ralacha's kingdom is attacked, she is captured and taken as a slave. Enough said. Start reading.
I remember when my baby brother was born. I was about 70 at the time. I've been waiting for a few years for the child to be ready. But there was a price. Because the resources at the infirmary here in the outsides of the kingdom are so stale, we must rush by foot, or horseback to the nearest kingdom to give birth. The journey takes weeks, so we start traveling when she starts to get headaches and stomach cramps.
"Dad, how much longer? I'm getting tired."
"We're almost there. Let's stay here." We walk into an INN, which at the time, was a tourist attraction. It was one of the only buildings that have stayed standing ever since the war began. My father steps up to the clerk.
"Excuse me, we would like to rent an overnight room."
The clerk responds with glum, "I'm sorry sir. No rooms are available."
Immediately my mother steps up and says, "Please sir, I'm pregnant. We are so close to the Malakan kingdom."
With a seared look in his eyes, he says, "Fine. There's a room down the hallway. It has a green poster on it. That's my room."
With much delight, my mother says, "Thank you so much."
The clerk smiles and my dad hands him some florins. We start walking down the halls. When we get to the green poster, we open the door, put our stuff down, and rest peacefully.
The next morning, I wake up to the smell of smoke. Down the hall, I hear yelling and cries of pain.
"The orcs are here!" Someone yells. "The orcs are here!"
I quickly grab my bag and start running down the halls. My parents have disappeared. I was blinded. Everything was so sudden. I hear an Orc commander around the corner.
"Find them! Kill them all!"
With that command a squadron of Orc soldiers run down the hall. I threw myself into another room so I don't get spotted. When the coast is clear, I start running. Eventually I make it outside. When I turn, I see the sight of fire. The building's on fire!
"Ralacha!" I turn to see my mother, seared and covered in ash. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Where's dad?"
"He's over here. Come on!" My pregnant mother grabs my hand and starts running. Once we're away from the area, we meet up with my father, surrounded by other survivors. They all start talking.
"What are we going to do? We can't just stay here!"
"We have to make it into the Madnagar kingdom."
"What? that's miles away!"
"We have no choice. Besides, we have a pregnant woman with us." Everyone looks at me and my mother.
"Fine, let's go."
These last few days have been rough. Without any resources, we don't have any choice but to keep going. Some already died off because of the lack of food. Everything has been given to my mother, because she has a young child almost ready to come out. Then we see the gates.
It extends higher than the all the elk trees in our village. The gates, made of solid Palm wood, stand firm, well guarded. A troop of soldiers walk to us, all ordered and clean. When they identify us as allies, they signal a guard at the top of the wall. The gates lower over the water, clearing us a way to get through. We walk on to the old wood, cross the bleak river, and I can see the towers higher than the tallest oak trees we have, townspeople in clean and higher quality clothes then the rags I'm wearing right now. When I turn around, I can see that the guards already left and went back to their business. As soon as the gates close, all the people in the group go their separate ways, leaving just me, my dad and my mom to explore. My father takes my hand and leads me down the street. Nightfall is coming soon. He leads me to a hotel, pays for a room, and as soon as we enter the room, I pass out.
"Move it! Move it!"
My father's screams wake me up. I'm buckling on his back.
"Help! She needs help!"
I can see my mom struggling to move. She's ready to blow. I shake awake and immediately jump off my dad's back. Everything there from that point was just a blur. All I can remember is a large group of soldiers coming down the street with a cart. They pick my mother up, place her in the cart, throw me on, and ride on into the infirmary.
"It's a boy!" The doctor lets me in, and I rush in, and I see my mother and my father, tendering over a small body.
"What is it's name?"
My mother says, "Xylus."
"Say hello to your new brother, Ralacha."
I walk slowly over to where my mother is lying, and I take a peek to see a small and frail body, wrapped in some linen cloth. He's almost as small as a tree fern. That day, my life was complete. I wish I can feel that sensation again.
"Back to work!" And I get slapped on the back. I suddenly snap out of my daydream and I continue mining. Few weeks after my brother was born, orcs attacked my village. They pillaged it, capturing as many elves as possible. I was one of them. The survivors, including my parents and Xylus, I hope, were able to escape. I couldn't. I was in school when they attacked. They surrounded the school, taking my friends and my teacher captive.
From what I could make out, one of them said,"Tie them up and throw them in the carts." They then start tying our hands up in thick ropes. When he sees me, he says, "Put this one in cart 7." They suddenly get me on my feet, take me to the carts, throws me in, and closes the doors shut. From there on, everything I was and will be was taken from me. The cart was buckling hard when I woke. I must have passed out. When the cart stops and they yank me out, I can tell that we are in the heart of the closest Orc kingdom. We were chained up in metal collars and forced to walk down the road so we can be presented to slave owners and be sold to strangers. Behind me, a girl whispers, "Why does this happen to me?
I say, "It happens to all of us. I really want to go home too."
She doesn't talk back, and we both continue down the road. The orcs around us were shouting at us, insulting us for being weak. We reach the market, where we are presented before the king.
"Fellow people of the kingdom! Hear me!"
There are large roars of triumph in the crowds. I drown them out and listen to the king.
"Our kingdom has once again triumphed with another victory against those little misfits. We have captured the survivors of this attack, who have probably learned their lesson. Rejoice, for we will win the side of the Great War!"
Another large shout. As the people mellow down, the guards pull me up and lead me to the marketplace.
It was very busy, not like the markets we have. I shrivel up so I can get through the large masses of people, where I am lead to my fate. We were placed on a podium, where a market orc presents us and let's the orcs bid for us.
"Ladies and gentle orcs, let us begin the bidding! Let's start with the tall one!"
A few spaces down, there is a tall man, pretty strong I guess, secured in bindings. The bidding starts, with a low price of 15 shalines. His bidding is short. An orc with a nose piercing won him for 45 shalines. It goes on and on, until the orc gets to me.
"How much for this one? She seems like a beauty. Starts at 39 shalines!"
Whoa. I didn't know I was that pretty. They start shouting their prices.
"40 shalines! 45 shalines! 50 shalines!"
The bids stop when a tall, lanky man, yells out, "A whole chrysalis!"
"Sold to the man in black!"
That's it. My life stolen and bought. My entire future placed in some stranger's hand. After he pays the chrysalis, he takes my chains and drags me along with him. Obviously he won't be the friendly type.
His slave camp is located near the mountains. When we get there, he feeds me, gives me a place to sleep, and says that we start mining tomorrow. The bread was stale, bitter water coming with it. Ever since, my days have been a total hell. I continue mining, my pickaxe banging against the cold stone. Around me, there are other elves mining for stone, coal, and occasionally, iron. The more you mine, the higher chance you have of getting a break. It's dusty. Cold. They barely give us any decent work clothes. My parents used to call me their "ugly fashionista," which I always took into insult. It really meant that i was not prettier nor uglier than the other kids. Now, I'm just ugly. I keep to myself, not talking to anyone. I hear people talking about how I need someone, about how I am so young. When you're an elf, you can live to be several thousand years, so being 70, I'm no taller than 5 feet. The dust thickens in the cave. I start growing more dizzy. I want to take a break, but I have enough scars on my back. Nightfall comes soon. If I hold in a little more, I could actually get something to eat. But if we don't have enough resources, the master will whip us all and reduce our feed to a small loaf. I don't want to face another night almost starving to death. I work harder, desperate to make him happy. My pickaxe causes little marks on the rock. I strike as hard as I can and strangely enough, I find iron. I pick off the iron, throw into my cart, right before the night bell indicates us back up to the surface. Now, we have to push our heavy carts up the cave, against the rough surface. As the whistles tweet, we start pushing the carts. Doing this many times, i know the methods on how to get the carts up to the top easily. When we get there, the orc officers check our carts for the things we mined. when they get to my cart and they spot the iron, they motion my master over. When he sees the iron, he says, "good job," and moves on. At least I'll be able to get more food.
Every day, it's the same thing. Wake up, mine, eat, sleep. That's all I do. I learned to accept.
Until the night of the full moon.