Two Graves: Souls of the Lost

Chapter 1

The Savage Elf in the Woods

The small iron blade drove into the rabbits neck and moved down it's stomach, slicing it oped across the length of it's body. The boy and girl that stood beside the kneeling Nord hunter watched as he worked. "We shall roast it.", he said, "Sit." The children found places to sit around the small campfire. It crackled calmly and began to outshine the light of the evening sun which disappeared behind the tree tops. After cleaning the animal carcasses, the father stuck sharpened pieces of wood into them and leaned them against the fire. Then he settled down between his children. "So do you like our trip so far?" "Yes, papa!", the boy smiled at him and nodded. The girl shrugged as she abscentmindedly drew lines into the earth with a stick. "Living in the rough is not for you, huh." He gave her a nudge with his elbow. She shrugged again. "Hey.", he softly said, putting his hand on her head. "Whats's the matter?" The girl shrugged a third time. "I miss mommy..." "Aw." He picked her up and sat her down on his lap. "You know, your mommy is a soldier. And sometimes, when there is a war, they get called away to do their work." He tried to comfort her, but she still stared at the ground. He touched her chin with his thumb and index finger and turned her head to him, she made an effort to not look him in the eye. "Your mother will come back, alright?" She looked up. "And when she does, she will have many tales for us, of battles won and giants slain." He smiled at her, her face remained without expression. "Am I right?" He touched her nose tip with his index finger. "Huh?" He gave her chin a gentle nudge with his fist. "Did you say something?" He put his palm on her stomach and began to mimic a spider that was crawling up to her chest, tickling her in the process. Finally her demeanor broke down and she couldn't help but release a giggle. "That's what I thought."

The sun had set, the fire illuminated the trees closest to them, beyond there was the darkness of a forest at night. "Now I don't want any of you to come out here on your own. You hear me?" "Mhm!", the girl nodded as she delightedly chewed on her roast. The boy looked at him. "It's just wolves, papa. I'm not scared!" The father looked at him. "Son, there is a difference between being brave and being a fool." The boy crossed his arms. "There aren't even many wolves around. I'm not scared." The father pondered for a moment. "It's not the animals you should worry about. Do you ever wonder why there aren't many wolves here? There are stories about something else in these woods." The children looked up at him. "There is a mad Elf that lives in these parts. A savage, uncapable of speech, of reason, more animal than Mer. Was first sighted about 20 years ago." The eyes of the children widened as he told the tale. "Hunts animals and rips them apart with its bare hands. Then sinks its teeth into their flesh to devours them raw." "Even wolves?", the boy inquired. "Even wolves. That's why there aren't many left." The fire flickered as there was a shift in the air. Wood cracked in the darkness beyond the illuminated trees. The children gasped and looked where it came from. The father recognised the noise to be a deer passing through. "Yes, devours even children!" The children began to shuffle themselves to their father, still scanning the treeline. "It won't come close to grown ups though. So no coming out here without me, understood?" They looked at him with big eyes and nodded.

More noises of cracking wood came from the dark. This time the father checked as well, he didn't hear the dull rumbling of hooves that usually followed it. He began to slowly stand up as he recognized the shape stepping into the light. "There are things in the dark, that you should be afraid of. But it ain't savage Elves." A bandit with a primed bow slowly stepped closer opposite of them. Shortly after one appeared to their right, his sword drawn, then one to their left. The children took hold of their fathers left and right legs respectively, holding on close. They looked at the strangers with fear. The father looked around, his bow was leaning against a tree, his dagger stuck in the ground in front of him. "If you want to pick it up, go right ahead.", the man with the bow said, "All I have to do is let go." The father abandoned any thought of resisting for the time being. "Listen, we have nothing. Just a few pelts and some meat." Fear was in his voice as well. "No gold?" The man with the bow stopped his aproach, the other two kept closing in. "No gold!", yelled the father, "Why would I take gold when I'm hunting?!" The bandits stopped standing closed at either side of them, the leader lowered his bow. "Yes. Why would you. Doesn't make sense." The father nodded, hope rising that he might be able to reason with them. "But you HAVE gold." The father didn't understand. "W-what..." "At home. I'm sure a talented hunter like you sells many pelts in the city. Hard to imagine, you're spending it all on the spot. Have a hut out here some place?" The bandit to the father's right put the tip of his sword onto his shoulder. The one to his left pointed his at the girl. "P-please..." "Do you have a house out here?!", the leader said more agressively- "Windhelm! We live in Windhelm!"

The leader began to look frustrated. "What are you doing all the way out here?", he asked, not expecting an answer. He looked at his partners for a moment and contemplated the situation. "That's a trip of two days on foot.", he eventually began, looking back at his mark, "But if you leave your baggage, your weapons and your children here, you can make it in one." "Please...", the father began to plead, "...they are very young..." "You better run then! Run back to your city, gather your gold and bring it back here! If you're not back in two days, we will cut their bellies open end to end!" The bandits to their left and right took hold of the children's arms and began to pull them away. The children began to shriek in fear as they were pulled away from their father. "Please!" "If you tell the guards, if I smell anything REMOTELY off when you return, I will take their pretty, little heads off myself!"

Then another scream. It came from the woods, it was loud and lasted long, one couldn't tell what kind of creature released it. Everybody froze in position, the sound driving terror deep into their bones. The bandits let go of the children and turned to the darkness, raising their swords defensively. The leader put his arrow back into his bow and turned around. There it was again, closer this time. The swordsmen quickly turned to the direction the leader was facing, as he primed his bow and pointed it at the woods in front of him. "What demon is this?!", he said with fear in his voice. A swishing noice approached quickly and as it got loud enough for him to pinpoint its location, he was already thrown back by the force of an ebony sword that was implanted into his chest. He landed in the thick leaves close to the fire and stopped moving. "Gods!" The remaining two bandits reaffirmed the grip on their weapons and tensed up, trying to monitor as much of the tree line as they could. The father crouched down and took his children who flung their arms around his neck and held on tightly.

Another scream. The bandits quickly turned to their left, its point of origin seemed to have changed location. Another swish, another ebody sword emerged from the dark of night. This one came to a halt in the head of the bandit cloest to the treeline. The father, now carrying both his children had to step back as his captor crashed into the ground. The last bandit watched in horror as blood spilled out of the back of his companoin's head. He looked back into the darkness and mustered all of his courage. "Show yourself, creature!", he yelled. His heart was pounding in his chest as a moment of silence passed.

Then a piece of wood cracked closeby. The bandit's sword was shaking as he held it up in front of him, another crack, even closer. Finally the terrifying image emerged between the trees. A savage Dunmer woman, the rags she wore barely covered anything. There was dried blood under her nose and mouth, on her hands and arms, on her thighs and stomach. Her stance was heavy and agressive, she was breathing heavily, dark rage in her eyes that made her look more like a predatorial animal than a woman. "W-what do you want?!" The bandit was shaking in his boots. She didn't answer. She released another scream as she began to charge. The bandit raised his blade to strike when she would arrive. As he struck, she evaded by taking one step to the side and turned to her left where his sword just had hit the dirt. She took hold of his left arm by the wrist and elbow and brought her knee up in the middle. The crack was violent as the forearm broke to the point of bone sticking out of the skin. He screamed as he brought his other arm all the way back, still holding the sword. As he swung it back to strike, she caught it with her left and took hold of his neck with her right. She pulled him close while moving her upper body forward at the same time, smashing her forehead into his face, a maneuver she repeated twice more after that. He sunk to his knees, barely aware of what was happening anymore, his face red from the blood gushing out of his broken nose.

The father turned the heads of his children in a way that they wouldn't have to look at the gruesome scene. The Elf looked at the mangled mass kneeling below her, her breathing so heavy, it turned into grunts. She put her left hand across his face, her right behind his head. A swift turn and he sunk to the ground, his neck broken. She slowly turned to the family. The father was kneeling, holding his son and daughter close who were faintly crying under his embrace. "Please... we mean you no harm..." The Elf looked at them. As a moment passed, the darkness in her eyes faded, an expression of agony took its place. Her stance shifted from agressive so something that made her look strangely vulnerable. She moved her shoulder up a bit and tilted her head towards it, giving of a heavy sob. Now that she wasn't moving so fast he could see, she was shivering. She took a couple of aimless steps, sobbed again, then looked at him. Fear of death left him as he looked at the pittiful creature. Finally she fell to her knees and stared at the ground in front of her, giving off no further sound.

Eventually the father had gathered enough courage. "Are... are you alright?", he hesitantly asked. He recieved no answer. "You... um... you most likely have saved our lives... is there anything we can do for you?" Again there was no response, she seemed to not move at all. He untangled himself from the children. "Don't move.", he said adressed to both of them. Then he carefully approached the Dunmer. As he stepped up to her he realized her eyes had closed. "H-hello? Um.. Miss?" He kneeled down in front of her. She didn't show any reaction. There he noticed something odd. There was a ring on her finger. He recognised the design, he wore a similar one. They were made in the temple of Mara. "What happened to you?", he asked, sympathy in his voice. He gently put a hand on his shoulder, she fell over to the opposite side, she was unconcious.

The father looked up at his children, then all around at the three dead bandits that were threatening to kill him mere moments ago. He took a deep breath and exhaled with a sigh of relief. He got to his feet and walked over to the bandit leader. He examined the blade sticking out of his chest. It was made of ebony, a metal that is rare and expensive, the artful engravings on the hilt revealed the weapon to be even more so. He looked back at the Elf. "You are no savage, are you." Heavy footsteps sounded from the dark. Startled, all three of them stepped away from the trees, closer to the fire. However he quickly recognized the sound as hooves, and sure enough a horse stepped out of the forrest. No one was riding it but it was saddled. It stepped up to the Elf and nudged her shoulder with its nose. She fell to her back, still unawake. The horse gave her a couple more nudges before bending its knees and settling down at her side. "Do you belong together?", the father asked stepping up to the horse. He noticed a wooden plaque on the saddles side, the word "Sparks" was engraved into it. "Well.", he said eventually. "Let's get you back to civilisation."