Autumn walked quietly through the woods, her bow ready. She had been tracking a pack of wargs that had been running free for weeks. She could hear the sound of growling ahead and she knew she was close. She found them quickly, ripping apart a horse near a river that led into a great lake. She had never liked horses all that much, unlike Lia who would have been sobbing by now.

She grabbed a hold of a tree and quietly climbed to the top. She nocked an arrow, aiming, and firing at the head of one of the five wargs. The wargs looked around in confusion for their killer. She quickly kept nocking arrows and firing them, killing every warg. She slid down the tree and went to inspect them.

Little did she know, one warg was hiding in the bushes behind her. It sprang up, scratching deeply into her side. She cried out in pain, falling to the ground. The warg went in for the kill and out of nowhere an arrow flew out, hitting the warg between the eyes. A figure walked up to her, shadowing her from the sun.

She felt a cold feeling slid down her body. She didn't know if it was from the blood or because she was frightened. Darkness quickly took her soon afterwards.

Autumn quickly jerked awake, opening up her eyes slowly. She felt something comfortable beneath her and she realized she was lying in a bed. Looking around, a small stoll sat beside the bed with a nightstand next to it. A glass of water sat on the bedside with a bowl of soup. There was a small window on her left where sunlight shined into the dark room. A chair sat in one of the corners of the rooms with her bag and clothes folded neatly.

Noticing her clothes, she looked down only to find herself in a shirt that was way to big for her. She could see some bandages wrapped around her stomach that had tinges of her blood that had soaked through. She slowly got out of bed and a pain jolted through her body. She winced a little, but forced herself up any way. She wore no pants, but the shirt reached to her knees, much to her relief. Her brown hair, with blonde highlights from the sun, hung in her face after being taken out from its tight braid.

She tried to take a step forward, but stumbled a bit. She fell to her knees, but caught herself with the stool. She let in a deep breathe and tried again. She was able to stand, but she had to hold on to the bed. She guessed she had lost a lot of blood that day because she still felt quite drowsy. Footsteps were heard outside the door. They got louder and Autumn quickly stumbled towards her bag.

The door opened and she drew a dagger. The man that had walked in stopped in surprise, staring at her. Because of so much blood lose, Autumn collapsed. She felt a warm pair of arms wrap around her, catching her before she could kiss the floor. The man picked her up and carried her to the bed.

"You have lost to much blood," He said kindly, "You need to rest."

Autumn looked at the man, now able to get a good look. He had short brown hair with a beard with a mustache. The front part of his hair was pulled back to reveal his face. He had dark brown eyes and a handsome feature. A boy stood on the other side of her. He resembled a lot like the man, except he had curly hair.

"Who are you?" Autumn was able to croak out.

"My name is Bard," He said, "This is my son, Bain. What is yours?"

Autumn was about to answer, but stopped herself. She didn't even know this man, so how could she trust him. Then again he could have left her to die on the rocks.

"Amber," Autumn spoke, using the name given to her mother.

"Well Amber," Bard said, "We are here to help. Sigrid, get some more bandages."

An older girl with light brown hair nodded her head and walked off. A little girl that resembled a lot like her stood in the doorway.

"Da, will she be alright?" She asked, coming to stand by Bard.

"Aye don't you worry, Tilda," Bard reassured her.

Sigrid came back, a handful of bandages in her hands. Bard looked at Autumn and she knew what she had to do. She slowly got up, with the help of both Bard and Bain. She swung her legs over the side, but stay seated. She pulled the blanket over her lap before lifting the shirt. Bard carefully removed the bandages and Sigrid handed him a cloth. He dabbed at her cuts and she hissed in pain.

"Are you alright?" Bard asked.

Autumn nodded, "Just get on with it so it will be over."

Bard quickly cleaned her cuts before wrapping a new bandage around her stomach. Autumn hated feeling weak. She was the youngest of five brothers and they use to always boss her around. She would also get judged for being a female and that would set her off.

"How did you get that?" Tilda asked, pointing at the scar across her arm.

"I don't think that's a story you would like to hear," Autumn said.

She reached up to her necklace to play with it, though when she touched her neck, it was gone.

"Where is it?" Autumn quickly said.

"Oh it's right here," Sigrid said, handing her a small crystal with a small gold wire wrapped around it.

"It's very pretty," Tilda said, admiring it.

"Thank you," Autumn said, putting it back around her neck.

"I've seen that necklace before," Bain said quickly, "You're an assassin aren't you?"

Autumn tensed a little when he said that and Bard was the only one to notice.

"Yes I am," Autumn said quietly.

The children stared at her, wide eyed.

Tilda was the first to speak, "That is amazing. How did you become one?"

Autumn smiled and began her long story. She made sure to leave out any dark parts like when an orc decided to cut her arm, because he liked to see her cry in pain. The children listened in amusement and awe. Each night she would tell them a story of her adventures for a whole week before she was able to walk. She then realized that they could be trusted and told them her true name. Instead of getting angry, they asked Bard if she could stay with them. Autumn declined but they didn't seem to take no for an answer. After much pestering, he agreed as did Autumn.

It had been two months that Autumn lived with Bard and his family. She helped in any way she could, hunting, cleaning, or cooking. Her and Bard would often go hunting for rabbits and have a contest. On their way home, Autumn bickered with Bard playfully.

"You cheated," Autumn stated simply.

"I did not," Bard said, "I just shot the rabbits that you found before you could."

"That's cheating," Autumn said.

Bard just laughed as they reached the gate. They walked through town and Autumn could still feel all the men's eyes on her. She knew more than half the men in the town, including the master, wanted to be with her but she had eyes for none of them. The women had eyes on her as well, but for another reason like jealousy.

They turned a corner, making Autumn run head first into Alfrid. She stumbled a little, almost falling to the ground before Bard caught her.

"Well, well," Alfrid spoke, "If it isn't Bard."

"What do you want Alfrid?" Bard spat.

"It's not what I want," he said, "It's what the master wants."

He looked at Autumn before bringing his hand up to her cheek, rubbing his thumb against it.

"So fair," he spoke, "So beautiful. Yes, you would do nicely for the master."

Autumn yanked her head away from Alfrid's grasp, glaring dagger at him. If looks could kill, he would be dead fifty times over.

"I'm not a toy that you can sell," Autumn said.

"Why are you really here, Alfrid?" Bard said, trying to stay calm.

"Why would you stay with a bargeman?" Alfrid asked, ignoring Bard's question, "The master could give you jewels and gold of all sorts."

"I do not want gold," Autumn said, anger lacing her words, "I'm not a spoiled, greedy, rotten human like the master."

"You will regret ever saying such words about the master," Alfrid warned.

"Then tell the master," Autumn said switching to elvish, "I will push his lifeless body into a pit of darkness."

Alfrid looked at her confused, as did Bard. One nice thing about being an assassin is that they had to learn the elvish tongue, dwarvish tongue, and the common tongue. Alfrid looked at her and stormed away, but not before sending a death glare to Bard as well.

"What did you say?" He asked.

"What I spoke is better left unspoken in the common tongue," Autumn said and started towards his house.

One year later, Autumn and Bard end up finally getting married, much to all the men's dismay. The women on the other hand were happy for her as now all the men have taken their attention off her, knowing they won't be getting her now.

Autumn walked through the house, helping Sigrid and Tilda with the house chores. She carried a basket full of clothes on her hip as she walked down to the basement. She felt something in her stomach and ran towards the bathroom. She threw up for a while and felt a hand on her back. Her hair was pulled away from her face as she continued on.

"Are you alright?" Bard asked her.

"Yeah I'm fine," Autumn said.

She got up, now feeling a bit dizzy. She wobbled a little and Bard steadied her.

"I think I'm going to go and get something to eat," she said and walked up the stairs.

She looked through all the cupboards but everything she looked at made her nauseous. Bain entered the house, an apple in his hand. Autumn eyed the apple hungrily and he just shot her a confused look. After noticed she wasn't looking at him but the fruit he handed it to her. She chopped away at it in less than a second.

Since then all she had been craving was fruits. Anything else made her nauseous. She put her shirt over her head and put her corset over it. When she tightened it however, this time her usual tightness felt to tight. Looking down at her stomach after lifting her shirt, she noticed a small bump on her stomach. Confused at first she realized what it was and jumped with joy. She raced out of the room, looking for Bard. The kids were cleaning up the kitchen from breakfast, while Bard laced his shoes. She ran up to him, giving him a big hug and kiss.

Bard gave her a confusing smile, "You're very happy today."

"Well I have some very important news," she whispered in his ear, "I'm pregnant."

He stood shocked for a moment, before picking her up and twirling her around. She laughed as the children looked at them confusingly.

"Da, what is it?" Tilda asked, coming up to stand next to Bard and Autumn.

Bard kneeled down so he was Tilda's height, putting both hands on her shoulder.

"You're going to be a big sister, Tilda," he spoke softly.

She started to jump with happiness, as did Bain and Sigrid.

"That's amazing," Sigrid said.

They all joined in for a family group hug. Bard gave Autumn a quick kiss on the lips before heading out for work.

Autumn lay in bed, exhausted. Bard sat next to her, a small bundle in his arms. Sigrid and Bain were laying down towels over the blood that covered the sheets. Tilda stood next to Bard, trying to look at the little baby.

"What are we going to name her, Da?" Tilda asked, as she put a finger out so her tiny fingers wrapped around Tilda's finger.

"I was thinking, Amber," Bard said looking at Autumn.

She smiled, telling him she like it. She felt to exhausted to speak and so she closed her eyes to let sleep take her.

Autumn and Bard boarded the Barge. She needed a small break from the baby and the house. She just needed to breathe for a few hours. Sigrid had said that she would take care of Amber while they were gone. She had helped Autumn a lot since she had once helped her previous mother with Tilda and Bain, so she knew what had to be done.

As they moved down the river she noticed a small man slinking back into the shadows, Alfrid. She sent a glare in the direction he was in and they passed through the gate. They moved on as they talked about all the fun times they had in the past. Finally reaching land, they tied up the barge and waited. The elves should be here soon, as they were a bit early.

Autumn heard voices up ahead, but it didn't sound like elves. Bard made a signal for her to stay put as he pulled out his bow. She waited for a bit, until she heard shooting from up where Bard had headed. She walked up towards Bard and found him standing on a rock, his arrow pointing at what looked to be dwarves. When she came into view behind him, she heard a gasp from the group. She studied the group until she caught a familiar face.

"Tara?" Autumn asked.