Disclaimer: I own nothing.
AN: Okay so the Prologue was a little strange. Let's see what you think of the actual story now. On to chapter 1.
Chapter 1. Waking in Darkness
Mismatched eyes opened and blinked a few times as the girl sat up. Her head throbbed as she attempted to look around. She wasn't surprised to find that she couldn't see anything though she couldn't remember why it shouldn't be surprising. What did surprise her is that she didn't remember anything.
She could faintly hear the sound of a battle from above and concluded that she was underground. The scent of dirt and dust filled her nostrils, confirming her hypothesis. Feeling with her hands she crawled deeper into the cave. She wanted to get as far away from the battle as she could.
"Hey," a strange voice approached, "Who are you? What are you doing down here?"
She tried to think but found no answer to either question, "I…I don't know," her unseeing eyes darted around in their sockets as though searching for her lost memories on the ground.
There was a light tapping sound and the creak of wood against wood almost like wheels, "What do you mean you don't know?"
"I…um…I'm afraid I don't remember," she felt self-conscious and wrapped her arms around herself in a partial fetal position.
"Oh, you don't do you? Well I guess you'll just have to stay safely down here until you do. No way to know for sure which side you're on up there," the voice continued, "Come on. Follow me."
"I can't," she replied immediately.
"You can't what," he asked.
"I can't follow you. I can't see," she rubbed her head trying to stop the pain she had until now ignored.
"Ah, well, we'll just have to be extra careful until you learn your way around. Here, give me your hand. Stand up. I'll lead you to a safer spot," he assured her.
She stood, stumbling slightly with exhaustion, and reached toward the voice. A callused hand took hold of hers and placed it on a thick yet soft shoulder that could only have been as high off the ground as her waist. She followed, checking each step carefully before applying her weight to the foot she stepped with.
"Here we are. There's a bed on the floor in front of you. I know it's not much but it's better than sleeping on stone and dirt," he said stopping after a few minutes of leading her through the place.
She let go of his shoulder and lowered herself to the floor. As she crawled forward she found what felt to be a long unused futon. She brushed some of the dust off the sheets and old fashioned pillow before crawling under the covers to sleep.
She dreamt of mist in a familiar place. At least it felt familiar. The water to her right was foggy like a marsh and if there was land on the other side she couldn't see it through the heavy blanket of fog. The mist on the other hand barely hid the never ending forest of embers to her left. The sand beneath her feet was moist. What felt like it should have been a source of peace came across as eerie.
"Ella," called a voice from the distance, "Ella," the name was drawn out as if being sung, "Ella," the woman's voice only added to the creepy feeling pressing through her.
The voice came from in front of her in the distance. Turning she ran from it. She kept running until darkness filled her vision once again and she found herself sitting up on the futon gasping for breath.
"You alright there kid," she heard the voice of the creature that had guided her to the bed coming from somewhere in front of her and to the left, "You've been tossing and whimpering for five minutes."
"Why didn't you wake me," she asked sensing a heat in the air that was not there before she went to sleep.
"Don't know what you are. It's unwise to wake someone not knowing what they are, especially from a nightmare. You never know how they will react between terror sleep and waking," he explained.
She sniffed the air and felt her stomach rumble, "Are you cooking something?"
"Soup with fresh vegetables in it," he answered, "Are you hungry?"
She nodded, "Yes."
"Well get up then. Table is directly to your left. You may have to walk a few paces but it's safe," he instructed.
She obeyed and easily found a chair by a table. As she sat down she heard the sound of creaking metal and some sloshing liquid, which she could only assume was the soup being pulled away from the fire. She heard him ladling some soup into bowls and then the tapping and creaking of him approaching the table. A pause followed by a light thud on the table told her he had placed a bowl in front of her.
"Spoon is by your right hand," he said before she heard him start eating his own soup.
She found the spoon and put some soup in her mouth then recoiled and spluttered as the liquid burned her tongue.
"Careful it's hot," he stated.
"You could have told me," she pointed out.
"I'm trying to figure out what you are," he informed her, "This rules out draconian, fire sprite, and fire kinesial. Any of them would not be burned by hot liquids such as this."
"Maybe you could warn me before your next test," she suggested and cautiously blew on the next spoonful.
"Alright. Here's the next test. Move your hair behind your ear," he commanded.
"What are you going to do to it," she leaned away nervously.
"I'm just going to look at it," he assured her.
She nodded and brushed her hair behind her ear as best as she could. She hadn't noticed how dirty it was until now. It was caked with dirt and some sort of dry crusty substance. She felt his gaze on her ear as she ate.
"Not an elf. Your ears are more rounded and not slightly pointed as elves are," he finally said.
They finished eating and he helped her move to sit by the fire. For a long time they sat in silence and she tried to think of anything from her past.
He finally spoke when her head started to hurt, "Getting closer. You'd be sick from the wolves bane in the soup if you were a werewolf and a vampire would have complained of thirst by now after eating a vegetarian meal."
"Good to know," she raised an eyebrow at this, "You didn't warn me about that test either."
"Would you have risked it if I had," he inquired.
She thought for a moment and shook her head, "No."
"That's why I didn't warn you," he confirmed.
TBC…
AN: So what did you think? Be honest. I can take it but please log in when you review.
