Mortance: A Miscarriage of Hope

Lily Ⅶ

I smelled the coming rain before I saw the clouds. Rain always came with spring, and spring was almost here. The sun rose over the forest in the east, and dark clouds gathered over the lonely Caldera in the west. This was the seventh time I'd watched the sunrise from Untot, and every time, its light showed me the army of elves waiting just outside the flimsy walls of the city that would kill me as easily as a cat kills a mouse. Every sunrise could be my last.

Untot should have never come under siege. It was a village, not some fortress. The walls were old and crumbling, and the last person who maintained them died almost twenty years ago. They were not enough to stave off an army. I could feel how unstable they'd become now as I stood atop them and watched over the invaders. They'd tried to break down the walls at first, but now they were just biding their time until we starved. There was still smoke in the sky from the crops they'd burned.

"Storm's a comin'," Lucian appeared beside me. He was one of the few villagers who'd stood for us when we revealed ourselves, and he was one of the few who could fight. Really, he was a blacksmith, but his skill as a swordsman was all that mattered now. He was of a height with me, though at least a decade older, with a fair complexion and long black hair tied back. "Rain'll flood the river, maybe push them elves farther back."

"To what end, though?" I wondered. "We're already running low on food."

"Aye. We are," Lucian frowned. "But what else can we do?"

"Fight," I told him. "I'd rather die fighting than starve any day."

"Nobody would have to die if we gave ourselves up to them," Albert joined us on the wall.

"You're wrong," I said. "They'd kill us. Slowly, maybe, but we'd die for it all the same. I won't resign myself to die for my father's sins, and I won't be taken lightly."

"We'll die if you don't."

"So be it," I decided. "At least this way we have a chance."

"We shouldn't need one."

"War was coming anyway," Lucian interjected. "It's good you're here to help, because I don't see any knights of Sacreon riding to our rescue."

"No..." I agreed. Why haven't there been any knights? It was queer for a kingdom to simply ignore this attack on its people. Albert and Lucian seemed to share my confusion. There had to be a reason, but no news of it had reached this village yet. We may never know the answer while we live, I thought. That was a depressing thought.

"How are supplies lasting us?" Lucian changed the subject.

"Not well," Albert answered grimly. "Winter is taking stock as we speak, but it doesn't look like we'll last much longer."

"We won't. We should fight," I said.

"Perhaps," Albert said.

"What other choice do we have besides surrender?"

"I heard elves don't believe in surrender," Lucian said. "I heard they like to kill anyone who tries."

I shrugged. "My father would know."

"Your father told you to stay home," Albert pointed out. "If you'd listened-"

"I know," I insisted. "We've had this conversation. I know what I did." Stop pestering me about it, old man. We're in a battle.

"They're on the move," Lucian broke in suddenly. I glanced up at the invading elves, and sure enough, a scouting party was on its way towards us.

"I thought they knew better than to come within my range," I nocked an arrow in Rose's bow and leveled it in their direction.