Into the Darkness

Chapter One: Zinna

     I woke up to a loud crash outside my room. As I raised my head, everything the crash could have been rushed to my head. Were they here? Why would they be? After all I didn't come of age until for two more weeks. And why was it so loud? They were known for taking people silently, without people knowing.
     I slipped out of my small bed, my bare feet quietly landing on the ice cold stone floors. As I did, I expertly examined the room I shared with my three cousins. Enrel, who had just come of age two days ago was asleep. Thoros and Gill were still years away, they were safe. I worried for Enrel, fearing she would soon be taken. They were all asleep, somehow. The noise sounded again, louder this time. How were they still asleep?
     I glanced out the grated window, only seeing the darkness of the empty night. There used to be stars, before the war, at least that's what the elders claimed. I had heard they were beautiful and had been the inspiration of thousands of artists. I wish I could have seen them.
      It was early, a few hours from dawn, and the city looked peaceful. The shadows told stories of what life used to be like, when we were free. I wish I knew that feeling. I looked out the window one more time, sighing. The metal bars kept me from jumping out.
     Believe me, I wanted to.
     In my opinion, being dead was better than being enslaved. But that wasn't my choice. Since I had moved in with my aunt, I had seen the world differently, had a different mind set than everybody else. Nothing was the same since my mother had been killed. They told me that she had been taken, but I knew better. They had killed her and my father for conspiring against them, and trying to free us.
     I turned back to my bed, and lifted the mattress slightly. Feeling around, I smiled when I finally felt the small shoe box that held all of my belongings. I pulled it out, opening it carefully and examining everything in it. Most of them had belonged to my mother. The noise came again, even louder than the last time.
     Inside there were pictures of my parents, a collection of fairy dust, my mothers diary, but most importantly was the letter she had left me.

                          Zinna,
                                   You know as well as anyone that something big is going on. The elves of light know it to, and they will do everything in there power to stop us. You must be careful and stay alert. They will hide in plain sight, watching you, waiting for a chance to take you. Your father and I are making a necessary sacrifice, one that will save you in the years to come. You must find your aunt. Stay with her, and protect Theren, he's more important than people think. We love you Zinna, and our only regret is having to leave you.
                                                                                                    -Mom

     I missed her, but I understood her sacrifice. In her death, our people had rebelled. It had been unsuccessful, but it was the first of many. And one day I was going to see her dream come true, no matter what I had to do.
      On the back was a drawing. It was a small pond in a forest, but it wasn't water in the pond, it was liquid silver. The night shown above it covered in small white dots that I assumed were supposed to be stars. Underneath the picture, was a not that said:
                                                       This is where safety lies.
    I had no idea what this meant, but I was happy to know my mother had dreamed of stars too.
     The noise sounded again, right behind me, and I turned around, fearing the worst. There was nobody there, just Thoros and Gill, still sleeping.
Just Thoros and Gill. Where is Enrel?
     Time seemed to slow. I fell to the floor, feeling the tears slide down my face, knowing my fears had come true. The noise sounded again and again, fainter every time.
      Then I was at the door, running down the stairs and pounding on my aunts door. Tears still pouring out of my eyes when she opened the door, I managed to get out, "They took her!" And then I fainted.