Prologue
Raina awoke to shouts and screams. She bolted out of bed, grabbing her bow which sat leaned against her pack every night. She effortlessly slid down the tree and looked around wildly for the source of the noise. In the distance, she spotted several torches which were moving slowly away from her. She sprinted off, following their lights. As she moved closer, taking care to be as silent as she could, she heard her mother's voice. She was comforting someone next to her as their company was forced to march through the forest. One of their captors turned and snarled at them to be quiet. Raina saw its face and a near-silent gasp escaped her lips.
"Yrch!" The word was hissed too low for them to hear. The company of orcs numbered about thirty, too many for her to fight alone. She turned and sprinted toward the city. When she was out of hearing range of the orcs, she quickened her pace , her steps making a considerable amount of noise. Suddenly she found herself surrounded, with bows pointed at her from every direction. She froze, raising her hands in surrender. A tall elf stepped forward, a look of surprise crossing his face as he recognized her. He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her, his soldiers lowering their weapons.
"Raina! What are you doing out here? You should be at home!" She started as she realized who the voice belonged to.
"Father! There are orcs! They attacked our Talan and they've taken everyone!" She began to cry.
Her father's face whitened in shock, and a second later he had sprung away, his men following him. As they left, he turned to her. "Go back to the city, Raina. Tell the Lady what has happened!" With that, they were gone. Raina turned towards the city and was about to resume her sprint when she heard the sounds of the battle. She turned towards them instead and ran back, determined to assist her father and his men.
She arrived to see utter chaos. The orcs, caught by surprise, had slain many of their captives and were engaged in combat with the small band of elves. She situated herself in the shade of a large tree and raised her bow. She loosed an arrow and it plunged into the back of the head of an orc who had been pursuing a small child. The child kept running and disappeared into the forest. Raina continued firing, hitting many orcs and killing a few. She heard a cry and turned to see her father running towards her mother who was laying on the ground, bleeding. She cried out and moved to aid them but was stopped by an orc who had spotted her. Dispatching him quickly, she took another step just as an orc reached her father and brought its sword down on his crouching form. A scream ripped from her throat as she rushed over and killed the orc, kneeling next to her father. He was still alive, but barely. He looked up and his eyes widened.
"R-Raina? Why are you here?" He grasped her arm.
"I came to help you, Father!" She began to cry, her tears falling onto his armor."
"Silly girl…run. Run back…..tell the Lady…."
His hand fell to the ground and he spoke no more. Her head fell to his chest as she cried, begging him to wake up. A hand touched her shoulder and she whirled around, only to be drawn into an embrace. She fell into it, sobbing. A hand stroked her hair softly and she heard a man's voice.
"Come, Raina…..back to the city…..I'm sorry."