A planet, lit by two moons at night, and a fierce sun by day, inhabited by the most dark creatures lies undisturbed for a thousand years. Suddenly, a small faint dot on the darkest plane appears from nowhere. A bright light, then the moons disappear beneath a fold of dark black clouds, extinguishing the light below them.
A lone figure stood on a deserted stretch of sand and rock. Her face was smeared with dust and mud, tear tracks clearly visible on the smooth surface. She wore a dark dress, and beneath a double layer of cloth pitch black hair hung below her knees. The cloth covered most of her hair letting but a small amount out below. Her dress was torn and stained with blood, and her face showed remnants of war. She stood on the stretch of sand, breathing deeply as the sun began to rise. A fierce wind began to blow with the rising of the sun, howling and throwing sand in every direction. The cloth fell form her hair, flying away with the wind., Her hair whipped her face and neck, but she did not seem to care. As the wind blew her hair back, a pair of pointed ears were revealed. Suddenly, she straightened, alerted to a presence nearby. She smelt eh air, and her eyes widened with fear and amusement at the same time. They had found her. She picked up her skirts, and fumbled with a belt. Her skirts fell to the ground, in their place were pants, and hanging from her side was a finely made sword. She darted between two rocks, and hid behind one looking over the edge. Her skirts lay in a pile some meters away. She glanced behind her, and saw a saddled horse without its rider. In the other direction, she saw a group of men appear. They were surrounding her discarded skirts, muttering under their breath. One man broke away from the group, and reappeared some minutes later – with her scarf. Her eyes widened. He knew she was here. They turned their backs on her hiding place to get a better view of their prey's belongings, and she silently made her way to the abandoned horse. The saddles were tightened beyond what they should have been, and this angered her. Without thinking, she undid the saddle and threw the heap onto the ground. Lightly jumping on its back, she spurred it into a run. The horse resisted, causing commotion that caught their attention.
"There!" the man that had found her scarf was pointing at her. The horse danced uneasily, and she put a soothing hand on the horses shoulder. It felt her touch, and began to settle. This made her hopeful. She spurred the horse gently into a run, and was surprised how eager the horse was. They had barely gotten a few paces when the horse reared, eyes rolling back. She flicked her gaze behind her, and her heart sank. It was the sorcerer, a malevolent glint in his eyes. He sat upon a black horse, frothing at the mouth. The elf looked at the horse it pity, but drew her gaze sharply from the tortured animal to her enemy. He slowly came up behind her, grabbing the back of her hair in a handful along with some hair, and pulled her back. She flew off the horses back and hit the ground with a thud. The horse reared, kicking the man in the back. He flew forward into the ground. The horsed pranced to the elf's side, and the sorcerer stood up, spitting dirt out of his mouth.
"You have gone to far, elf!" he said, spitting the last word out as if it meant nothing.
"You are to come with us back to Gurthém. The king wishes to speak to you." He stepped forward slowly, expecting her to obey.
"No!" she hissed. Anger was clear in her voice. "Too long have I trusted him, only to find that he was responsible for all those deaths, of my race, and my family!"
He laughed, a clod evil laugh and glared at her through red eyes.
"Big mistake, elf." He stepped forward, snatching the reins that hung form the horse. She regarded him calmly through her blue eyes and laughed softly. A look of annoyance crossed his face. His hand tightened on the reins, just as the horse pulled. He stumbled slightly, trying to regain his composure and grip. But this was all she needed. She leapt from the ground to the horses back, and it plunged forward, dragging the sorcerer a few paces. He hung on grimly, before letting the reins go. The horse swiftly made it's way through the desert, and it seemed that each step was taking them a mile. Just as she had settled down, she heart hoof beats behind her. She turned to see the sorcerer on the black mare, which was considerably smaller than her speckled stallion, but very swift. The sorcerers face was twisted into an evil smile.
"Give up now!' she faintly heard the voice of the sorcerer before the wind swept it away.
Her stallion was beginning to tire, and she could make out features on the closing in man and his mare. She felt the ground drop away, and looked on in amazement. Her stallion had expanded his wings! She heard the shrill pining of the mare, and realized what was going on. The abandoned planet, the 'horses' and the men. She had stepped into something she could not free herself from. She had rescued the dragon the king had enslaved against it's will, and she had returned to find her home in ruins. The whole village had been destroyed, and the few survivors that were left had disappeared. She was lost in though when the stallion began to circle lower. She looked down and realized they were descending over the sorcerer and the group of men. The men looked on uneasily, but the sorcerer laughed.
"Ah, she has returned from her little flight. Will you join us now?" the sorcerer thought he was fighting a winning battle.
"No. And you shall free those horses" she replied coldly. He sneered. The stallion snorted in protest, and he directed him lower. They were behind the sorcerer now, and they flew on, reaching a small area of dead trees, still with withered leaves. The sorcerer disappeared under them, and came out the other side, and met with a hoof on the back of the neck. The men came out looking clearly distressed as they had lost their protection.
"Off." The one word rang through the air, and the men obeyed. They dismounted their horses, and backed off into the trees. The elf jumped off her stallion, and immediately to the small black mare, which was shaking uncontrollably. She soothed the mare with her voice, and gently undid the saddle, letting it slide to the around. The mare snorted in approval, and she took off the bridal. The mare flexed her own wings, and the elf proceeded to remove all the saddles from the horses. Soon there was a pile of discarded saddles and bridals, which were soon to lay forgotten beside the small expanse of trees.