Ring of Power

Chapter 1: The Beginning

There is a land far away, on a forest covered island, called Akayon. The inhabitants on this island are all mostly elven people, but in certain towns and villages men journeyed through Akayon and fell in love with the lands beauty so they decided to stay. A large city rests in this forest, it is the biggest on the island and is where the King lives and controls the other cities of Akayon. This ancient city is called Tyreenion, named after the King who founded the unknown land, Tyreen.  The recent King, Ziconous, is an old but wise man and a descendant from the founder. He has been the best King of Tyreen's descent to rule the land of Tyreenion. He has fallen very ill and the people fear of losing their famed ruler. All inhabitants in Akayon must follow the rule of the King and if not the punishment is always death, but the rules are simple. Ziconous' only rule was that no elf or man in any city, town, or village could leave that place of residence, unless they were trading goods to live, permanently. If they left, they must be accompanied by a guard escort from their city. If they didn't have an escort, they became outlaws and would be punished accordingly.
Soon, the King died with no heir to the throne. The elven people had no ruler, until one day they suddenly had a King. No one saw him or met with him, ever. He never left the castle and people who entered were rarely seen again. His word was spread by messengers and servants, who never saw their master. Some say he had control over evil creatures that did his bidding. These were horrid black monsters that could only be seen at night, evidence that they are the creatures of The Wraith. Some say The Wraith, an evil being from hundreds of years ago, has returned to the land. Some say the sights of these creatures are only Myths and believe The Wraith is dead. His creatures had the mark of a snake on their skin, as do these beasts that have been seen in the night. They were known as the Snake Bearers, a mix of serpent-like beasts; dragons, hydras, snakes, and more, and said to be deadly when crossed. No one remembers when these creatures were first seen, but they knew that these omens could not be good ones.
     A young couple didn't like the signs of the creatures, myth or not, they didn't want to stay in Tyreenion. They knew the cost for running away but they didn't care, they had to escape the evil in the city. One night they collected their belongings, not more than to get along, and left the safety of their home. They traveled the dark streets of the village until they came to the gate. Once there they were pleased to see the guards drunken or asleep, not concerned of villagers leaving at this time of night because many were too frightened of their mysterious King. They escaped into the forest beyond the city wall, into the darkness to escape the evil of their city.
     The next morning neighbors noticed the couple gone and no one knew anything about them leaving. The King declared them outlaws and ordered a search party to go out every day until the couple was found, dead or alive. The thing is, this couple was a mischievous pair and were well learned in their magic abilities. They avoided the guards, and death, for some time.
     Eventually the couple had a daughter with bright blonde hair and emerald green eyes. They named her Emerald Swan because of her eyes. She was a beautiful baby and her parents adored her, but they promised they would not tell her they were outlaws until she was of age to understand the rules of the land. They raised her to be a strong elf, teaching her from the age of five how to defend herself. She was also very good at hiding like her parents. They told her to always avoid the men in armor, but she was never to kill them unless absolutely necessary.
     They raised her to be wild but secretive. They told her to keep away from other elves and to never enter a nearby city, but they never really told her why. She was told that she had to always stay hidden, no matter the circumstances. They taught her to make forts in the branches of the trees, covered with leaves and invisible unless you knew they were there. They made hundreds of the forts together so they could hide from the king's guards all over the forest. Emerald had to hunt at night and cook on coals to avoid creating a lot of smoke that could be seen by others in the forest. They also taught her how to sword fight and shoot a bow and arrow.
     One evening Emerald and her mother were down by the river looking for fresh berries to eat with their dinner, when Emerald noticed a beautiful ring on her mother's right hand. She had never noticed it before. It was a purple stone cut in the shape of a diamond. A gold arch connected the right side of the band to the top right of the stone and on the left side, a gold arch was connected to the bottom of the stone also from the band. Where the arches met the band on either side, there were two circular white diamonds. The band was decorated with an engraved flower design. It was the most beautiful thing Emerald ever saw.
     Emerald only got a brief look at this beautiful ring though, for when her mother saw her looking at it; she hid her hand behind her back. She would not let Emerald ask questions nor even speak of the ring, saying it was a dangerous secret. Emerald listened to her mother and never spoke of the ring, but she thought of it often. She didn't know why her mother kept it hidden, and she never got the chance to ask her.
      Close to her seventh birthday, her mother caught a horrible disease, but that didn't stop her from making her daughter a dark green cloak like her and her husband's. She stole the cloth by a passer-by and made a long cloak to cover Emerald's whole body. She made a long cowl so it could cover her face. Emerald loved the cloak and wore it every day, but a few days after Emerald got her cloak; her mother got a fever from her illness and soon died.       Emerald and her father were left alone with despair. Emerald went to the river bank when she was upset or wanted to be alone; she thought it was a beautiful place and decided they should bury her mother there.
     Once her mother had passed, Emerald wondered about the beautiful ring. She noticed when she buried her mother she was not wearing the ring she so desperately wanted to keep hidden. She wondered if her mother hid it, knowing she was going to die, to try and keep it safe. So Emerald searched everywhere for it. She looked in every fort and through all her mother's belongings (although there wasn't much) but had no success. The ring had mysteriously disappeared after her mother's death.
     When Emerald first came to the thought that it disappeared, she thought she was going crazy. She continued her search, but still came up empty-handed. She finally concluded the ring was gone, but how? Where?
     Finally, after only weeks of looking, she gave up on her search for the mysterious ring. She had more important things to do, and her father needed her now more than ever. He was becoming lazy in the loss of his wife and it would lead to his downfall.
     Her father did his best to take care of Emerald for the next year. Then, about six months after her eighth birthday, Emerald and her father were walking around the forest on a beautiful fall day, when suddenly they heard a crack behind them. They turned and saw ten armored men behind them, swords drawn and ready to attack. Her father told her to run before she was seen by the men. The guards ran after them, close on their tails. One of the men grabbed her father and she noticed he was no longer next to him. Turning back to look for him she saw one of the guards stick his sword through her father's chest. He fell to the ground, dead on impact.
     That day, one of the guards, Pyramus, thought he saw the little girl running away. No other guard believed him; they all didn't think it was possible for a young girl to survive in the wild. They stopped going to the forest to look for the outlaws, because they believed there were none left. But Pyramus knew he saw her and refused to let her escape. If your parents were outlaws, so were you.
     Once Emerald was sure the guards were gone, she slowly emerged from her hiding spot. She reached her father's body and placed her hands on his chest, tears streaming down her cheeks. She decided she would bury him at the river, next to her mom.
From the age of eight years old, Emerald Swan was all alone.