Chapter 01: A Permanent Separation

Everything happened too fast. The misfortune came like an avalanche and no one expected doomsday was coming again after so many years of living in peaceful hiding.

In a once peaceful village of the White Elf Tribe or the Healer Elves, a cruel onslaught took place; humans namely bandits, poachers and black merchants ambushed and pillaged their village.

The screams and cries of the grieving elves poisoned the peaceful air. The weather turned dark and murky adding tension to the already tense scene.

"Run for the forest!"

The elves shouted as they ran away from the river where the humans emerged fully armed. The river that flowed down from the mountain was the passage that humans used to sneak into the village as the mountains were the borders that separated Ancea from Numany the human territory and Luthien the vampire territory.

Elves, young and old, who couldn't fight, fled into the forest where they find refuge from Mother Nature. Innocent animals scattered everywhere but some perished in the mad onslaught.

"Don't let them get to the forest!" the human shouted to his peers. Then, they started to shoot arrows at the fleeing elves.

Amethyst ran with her sister's dead body in her arms. Her face was drenched in tears and her left thigh was pierced by an arrow. She cried not because of the pain from the wound, but because she found Topaz already dead at their farm near the riverbank. Topaz was the human's first victim before the ambush.

Zup!

An arrow hit the ground and Amethyst shuffled back to an immediate halt. But, she lost her balance, so she fell like a wounded bear, crushing down on Topaz's cold body and got her chin bruised badly.

The wounded elf struggled to her feet after she grabbed a staff that was lying near her. She turned on her heels facing her back to the forest when the sound of arrows being shot altogether reached her ears. Then, she looked up to the sky.

The sky was filled with tiny dots: arrows and down they come finding their prey like the blood-sucking bats out on the hunt.

When the arrows came near, Amethyst hit with the staff to deflect them. Her movements were swift as if she was dancing. Her keen eyes could see the movements of the flying arrows.

However, her heart still broke as she couldn't save all of her kin. She was forced to see the cruel onslaught of her innocent people when the arrows ran down on them like the explosion of the larva. Their cries send grief to her soul.

Humans never stop killing her kind just like how her parents were taken nearly two decades ago. She was only five and Topaz was turning three when it happened. After that first painful incident, the remaining Healer Elves took the sisters and fled to another place but, now, their second sanctuary was breached again!

Zup!

An arrow flew towards Amethyst but she swerved, dodging it. However, the sharp tip of the arrow's spearhead grazed her cheekbone, the only share the arrow could get as it flew past her face.

The elf turned to her side quickly, and with her quick hand, she snatched a poison dart from her side pocket and tossed it hard at the human that came at her.

The dart flew and hit the human deep in his chest, where his heart belonged and he slumped down to his death.

Suddenly, a couple of elves dragged her by the arms, forcing her to withdraw from the fight.

"Run! We're outnumbered!" one of the elves said.

"I can't leave Topaz alone!" Amethyst cried and she wiggled her way out of their arms. Topaz was still lying on the ground and she couldn't let her rest there forever.

"Topaz is gone!" cried one of the elves. "We must leave!"

"You must survive!" encouraged the other elf.

Amethyst hesitated. Her heart broke again. They were right, she thought, she must survive.

She eyed the elves and then nodded her head. "Alright!"

Fuelled by courage, Amethyst dragged her idle left leg, struggling to run. Blood drenched her feet, leaving trails of blood on the ground.

Meanwhile, humans that couldn't match the elves' agile speed, started to shoot arrows without stopping. Their loud and angry voices resounded when the elves dispersed to safety one after another.

Amethyst hastened her pace to match the pair up front as she bit her pain away. Her will to survive grew when the forest appeared in her view. But, she stumbled and fell face down on the ground, again!

"Amethyst!"

One of the elves stopped and turned around, looking gravely worried.

"Just run!" Amethyst shouted. "Don't look back!"

"We cannot leave you-"

"Just go!!"

The elf, tears in her eyes, turned around again and disappeared into the forest where they find refuge from Mother Nature.

On the other hand, Amethyst clawed her way up to her feet again. However, her heart froze when showers of arrows lit with fire, rained down before her eyes and set the forest ablaze.

"No..." Amethyst was dismayed. "No!!!"

Bonk!

The elf grimaced when somebody hit hard in the back of her head. Her vision dimmed, her ears deafened and then she fell unconscious.

...

Amethyst opened her eyes and was greeted by a painful headache upon her wakening. She touched the back of her head and felt a big bump there, and it throbbed painfully. Luckily, she found no trace of blood.

Ignoring the maddening headache, the elf propelled her body into a sitting position. She searched her sides but her poison darts were gone. The humans must have disarmed her when they took her captive.

Despicable!

Then, she threw wary glances around the space. She was inside a huge cage with other female elves of different tribes and none of them possessed the traits of a Healer Elf: golden hair and golden eyes.

The other elves' clothes were tattered, their faces were dirty, their bodies were skinny, and they looked tired and hungry. None of them speaks.

Amethyst glanced out the iron cage that was moving uncomfortably. She managed to see some trees through the slit of the sheets that mantled the cage. Since she never ventured out of the village, she wasn't sure where they were headed.

Then, she leaned back and rested her back against the cold cage but, discomfort lingered. Shortly after that, she noticed something too. The arrow that stuck to her thigh was gone, and the wound was treated and dressed with a flowery patterned cloth. Although the dressing was messy, she was still grateful as she felt kindness there.

Amethyst glanced around again, hoping to find her saviour to express her heartfelt gratitude. But, none of the elves wore clothes with flowery patterns.

"That she-elf is dead," informed the elf who sat quietly beside her. She had a pair of brown eyes and her beautiful face was wounded with abrasions on her cheek and temple, and a slight tear at the tip of her pointy ear.

It must hurt, Amethyst thought but she had no use to ask the cause for they all shared the same fate and misfortune.

"Thank you for letting me know," she answered, retaining her politeness as always.

Then, she pursed her lips and joined the rest in their silence, solemnly lamenting the dead and hoping for a better fate.

....

Amethyst lifted her weary head and she noticed it was already sundown. The carriage that took them had travelled for hours and with no rest.

The bumpy ride made Amethyst's body ache. She couldn't even feel her bums for she had been sitting for hours. The other elf also wore the same dreadful expression as hers. Their pointy ears drooped. The air within the cage was filled with endless heartbreak. No happiness but, only sadness remained.

Amethyst rested her forehead on her kneecap, ignoring the stinging pain of her wound that started to bleed through the dressing.

I'm hungry, she murmured within her mind. She hadn't eaten when she planned to bake pies for Topaz. But, humans ambushed her village and Topaz was gone forever. So, gone was the intention to eat them together as berry pies were now her new dislike!