Prologue - When we were young
Alyssa ran down the small, dusty alley; the screams of her mother fading behind her. She exited the end of the narrow alleyway to find herself in front of a beautiful tree. Vhenadahl. The tree of the people. Alyssa was human, yet she believed she appreciated its beauty more than any elf her age. Her small legs walked her over to the tree almost of their own accord. Elves walked past her, some bewildered but most used to her presence. Her mother, Carin, was a tailor who lived in the slums bordering the alienage. She often visited some of the elves, fashioning simple garments for them in return for their services watching over Alyssa.
The small girl sat by the tree, shielding her eyes from the sun as she stared up its mighty structure.
"Oww!" she exclaimed as something collided with the back of her head. Turning to look down at the ground behind her, she found the culpable object. A stick. With an equally culpable boy striding towards it. He must have been a year or two older than her and he was tall for an elf. Behind him was a young elf girl, a frown sitting on her small features.
"That's my sword." said the boy, as if it explained everything.
"No, it's your stick. And it hit my head." Alyssa pointed out.
"I'm sorry." he said.
"Don't be sorry to her." shrieked the girl who was with him, nudging him hard in the ribs with her elbow. "She's human. It's their fault we live in an alienage. Their fault that we have no coin."
"Not my fault." pouted Alyssa, crossing her arms.
"Why are you here?" demanded the elven girl rudely.
"I was looking at the Vhenadahl." A sense of pride washed over her at her knowledge of the correct word for the landmark tree. She might even have felt a little smug.
"That's an elvish word. You can't speak it."
Alyssa frowned. She'd heard the Hahren telling the elven children of the Vhenadahl. That it was the tree of the people. She hadn't heard the rest of the story, as her mother had taken her home, but she thought it was for all people.
"Don't talk to her like that." came a voice from behind them. The children turned their eyes to see an older girl, her hands planted on her thin hips. Arabella was Alyssa's older sister. She stood, tall and elegant at the age of fifteen with long chestnut tresses that hung in soft curls all the way to her waist. Two thin braids were pulled back, one on each side, serving only to highlight the angles of her delicate face.
"Come on, Leto. Let's go." snarled the snooty elven girl, tugging on the boy's sleeve. She eyed the two human children with a look of disgust.
He turned to follow her, but looked back over his shoulder. "Will you be here again tomorrow? You could come out to play with us."
Before she could reply verbally, Alyssa was seized by the arm. Her mother looked furious.
"Alyssa! Arabella!" Her mother's voice was harsh as she stared down at her. "March on home. Now."
Before leaving, her mother turned and spoke to the two elven children.
"Varania, please ask your mother if she is still available tonight." she said.
The elf nodded and Carin took that as her cue to pull her daughter away by the arm.
"Why did you ask for the elf's mother?" Alyssa enquired, watching her mother comb out her hair. The comb that Alyssa was not allowed to touch.
"Mayla is supposed to watch you tonight. Those children are hers."
"So Mayla is Leto's mother?" questioned a curious Alyssa.
"Yes. Now I must hurry. I have no time for this. I do not have time to await her arrival." Carin stood up, fussing with her plain dress, the neckline scooping low as she walked to the door. "Come on."
"Leto, is it?" chirped Arabella as she finished anointing her body with the cheap scented oils. "Aw, has my little sister got a crush?"
"No. Boys smell." replied Alyssa, crossing her arms with a pout.
Arabella grinned wickedly before slipping on her linen shoes and moving towards the door.
"Where are we going?" Alyssa moved to follow her mother out of the door of their tiny house.
"Night will fall soon. We must make haste if we are to get you to Mayla's before. I do not want to be on the streets after dark."
Alyssa's hand was snatched up into Carin's as the woman tugged her along behind her, her footsteps quick and hurried. Alyssa often had other women look after her at night, now that her sister was allowed to go with their mother. Her mother went to work then. She always told Alyssa that she worked somewhere that only adults could go. Arabella had reached fifteen last Michaelmas and their mother had deemed her ready to accompany her to work. She said her job was 'serving drinks and relaxing people' but Alyssa heard what the older children said about her. She heard their cruel laughs as they said horrible things regarding her mother. Things that could be true.
It did not take them long to reach the alienage and the little crooked house. Carin rapped her knuckles roughly on the wooden door, shifting her wait from foot to foot. Withing moments, Mayla threw open the door.
"Carin, I take it you received my message?" she asked, writhing her hands. A grave look was upon her usually cheerful face. She stood a head shorter than Carin, with sun-kissed skin and a kind face. Her green eyes glittered in the moonlight like emeralds of the highest clarity.
"I'm afraid not. Was it important?"
"My brother is very ill. I could not leave my home tonight as he is in bed. I fear the fever shall take him."
"I'm... sorry to hear that. I'll take Alyssa elsewhere. Sorry. You must understand my curtness, it's just that I'm late and-"
"Nonsense. I will not go back on my word. Alyssa may stay here tonight." Mayla's voice was low and sincere, yet even she could not hide the nerves she felt. "That is if you don't mind her staying here. In the alienage."
"Your home is as good as any and your trust as honorable as the richest of men." Carin allowed a small smile to grace her full, red lips. "I shall return for her as soon as I'm finished. My prayers are with your brother."
The woman bent down to place a gentle kiss on her daughter's head. Sadness swam in the depth of her hazel eyes as she said farewell to her child. Arabella gave her a quick hug. She could have sworn that Arabella was crying. Alyssa looked up at the elf, still standing in the doorway.
"Well? Get inside before you catch a cold!" urge Mayla as she ushered Alyssa through the door. The house, if you could call it that, was little more than 3 small, cramped rooms. At one end a table sat with four mismatched stools around it. There were some bedrolls in a cramped corner. Over the fire, a pot bubbled. However, none of these things caught Alyssa's eye.
There was only one thing that caught her eye. The two children, sitting in the corner, playing cards in the light of the fire. Leto looked up at her and smiled, before asking her if she wanted to join them.
"If she's playing, I'm not." scowled Varania.
"Fine. Don't play." replied Leto, dealing the cards out again.
Varania turned as red as her hair. "She shouldn't be here. She doesn't belong in the alienage."
"Just ignore her." called Mayla, from her position by the pot. "Varania, be nice."
"Nice my arse." muttered Varania. "Fine! Deal me back in then."
Leto smiled kindly at Alyssa as he collected the cards from her hand and began to shuffle again.
That summer flew by as Alyssa grew accustomed to her new-found friends. She'd never had proper friends. In fact, all her life she'd only had her sister. But now, well, now she'd met Leto. And Varania. She was fun in her own way.
Leto ducked under the table to come face to face with Alyssa.
"Found you!" he said.
"No fair! You peeked! I saw you!" defended Alyssa. It wasn't fair. They always found her first.
"Move up."
Alyssa budged to make room for the boy to sit beside her. The merchant's table was covered by an expensive silk sheet and in the clamor of the morning market, he never once noticed the children duck under it. Leto liked to call it their den. Alyssa preferred to call it their base. She peeked out from under the sheet. Her arm snaked up to pluck an apple from a nearby crate. She took a bite, the flavour bursting in her mouth before passing the apple to Leto.
"I have something to give you." he said, after taking a bite.
It seemed odd to the girl that he would be able to afford anything. Her eyes were fixed on him as she waited expectantly. Leto fished around in the large pocket of his torn linen breeches and pulled out a long black length of ribbon.
"It's so you can tie your hair back. It always falls in your face when we climb trees."
Alyssa took the ribbon and grinned. "Thanks. I've never been given a present before."
"Ah, it's not much. I did someone's errands for them and they gave me a few coppers."
His eyes fell to the ground and he traced shapes into the dust with his finger, his messy black hair falling into his eyes.
"You look sad, Leto." commented Alyssa. She put her small hand onto his.
"Nah, I'm okay." When he looked up, their was a sad smile on his face. "It's just that I-"
"Oi! Get out from under there now!"
Fat hands grabbed the back of their tunics. The merchant was pulling them out from under the table. Alyssa bit her lip. She was going to be in so much trouble when her mother found out.
"I wish I didn't have to tell mother what happened." sighed Arabella, as she led her younger sister home.
"You don't." replied Alyssa. Her voice was almost a plea.
"You know I have to. I mean, you were caught stealing. I know it was only an apple but you have to think before you do things, sweet sister. Oh, she is going to kill us." Arabella shook her head as she opened the door to their tiny home.
Alyssa took a breath and closed one eye, the other peering tentatively, expecting to fall on her mother's angry form. But, alas, it was not that they found.
You see, dear reader, nothing could have prepared the two girls for what lay within.
A Note From The Author:
Hello and welcome to the first installment of Howl. Why is it called Howl? Well because of this quote from Dragon Age 2:
I don't know my real name. My master called me Fenris, his "little wolf." - Fenris
Hope you like. It gets better, I promise.