• Fallow Nîn tri the Mor..Follow me through the Dark..


    The shouts of laughter echoed through the forest as the joy of our Moon festival continued on through the late hours of the night. The noise drowned out my screams, my shouts. I pushed through happy party-goers and prayers. I combed through the crowd, standing on the balls of my feet, stretching to see over the top of the mass. I reached the edge of the drunken elves and burst into the forests edge.

    "Aranel! Aranel, ware rane le?!" My screams finally broke the barrier and they reverberated off the trees.

    The mist that settled on the floor of the forest seemed to scatter as I stepped through it. I broke into a ray of Moonlight coming through the trees and took a second to breath. I could feel the barrier to the Elven and Human woods close by. Aranel's scent hung loosely in the air.

    She never really liked the bustle of the Moon festival. She loved, adored, our Goddess, but the noises gave her headaches. She would stay long enough to be shown off by our parents and then leave, or wander, for a lack of better words. For how small she was, nobody noticed her absences. Except me. I was always aware of where she was. Mostly.

    "Aranel!" I whispered. No answer.

    "Aranel, Ká ne Nîn!" I shouted. A stick broke nearby and I pressed myself against the closest tree. Hushed voices followed.

    "We've been out here for hours! Lets go back." I heard a Mortal man say. I didn't understand what he said. Their language was Barbaric to me. Uncivilized.

    "Oh, shut up. Their out here. We've found one. Isn't that proof enough for you?" This males voice was deeper, angrier. Still, I understood nothing.

    I held my breath and held as still as I could. A slight wind rustled through the forest floor and licked my legs. A strand of my ebony hair floated into the moonlight. In an instant, the dark hair turned into a bright silver. I cursed my hair as the men shouted. One pointed in my direction and began to run towards me.

    I turned and ran, jumping over fallen logs and around sink holes. I knew every inch of these woods, from the treetops to the forest floor. I could loose anyone in here. I however, couldn't dodge dart guns. Mortals were so ruthless. So rueful. The dart caught me in the back of the thigh. The one place my leather armour didn't cover from behind.

    I began to limp, feeling the affects already. I reached back and pulled it out, throwing it to the ground. It stuck in the dirt like a knife. Disgusted, I climbed a tree nearby. Well, I kinda hefted myself up as far as I could before I started to fade. My hair fell around me like a cloak, hiding my body.

    Suddenly, three men ran below me, one of them holding a small elf over their shoulder. I almost cried. It wasn't my sister, but it was still one of my people. Her name was Silme. She was born on the day of the Moon festival 5 years ago. Her name means 'Moonlight'.

    My foot slipped on the bark and made a faint scraping noise. The men looked up and laughed. The shorter of the three began to climb the tree. I held onto my branch and hissed at him, showing my fangs. I was half asleep and my resolve was weakening. My fingers started going numb.

    It only took him a few seconds to reach me. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me down. He was surprisingly gentle, for a human. His hands were still calloused and firm. His musky smell filled my nose and I cringed. His friends noticed and laughed, punching him in the shoulder. He chuckled, his chest shaking against me. He wrapped a delicate silver chain around my wrists and ankles. The smell of Moon Lily filled my nose and I groaned.

    Moon Lily was a small silver flower that grew at the bottom of our Lake. They grew in only our lake, where the moon is directly above it. They only bloom at night, and it is the only thing we cannot harm. Humans found our weakness from a traitor of our race. They harvested the flower and distributed it to the Hunters to use against us. It worked better than rope because of its magical properties. Elves could not fight against it. So, this delicate little chain was my downfall.

    I finally slipped into Darkness to the feeling of this humans rocking steps.
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    1. Aranel! Aranel, where are you?!
    2. Aranel, come to me!


    Translations^