Fight for Malfador

Chapter 14

As Maria lay awake on the wooden bench that was her bed, thoughts of the day's peculiar events raced through her mind.

She had finally come to accept the fact that she was no longer in London, England, Earth....But that she was in a different world, a special world, where people are different, a good different? She didn't know, but at least she felt better here than back in the orphanage. 

The wind howled outside as Maria remembered the life she had lived so far. Growing up in the orphanage had not been particularly fun. She had often been bullied by other kids, and the grown ups neglected her. Because of this, she was a very quiet girl, and lonely, ever so lonely. She had often made up stories in her mind where she had one special friend who would never let her down. Someone who cared and who loved her. Tears filled her eyes as she remembered her eight year old safe staring in a mirror, scissors in hand, ready to chop off the tips of her pointed ears.

And that was another thing. The ears. Defect or not, Maria had to admit that she resembled these...elves rather a lot. For a moment, she tried to consider the fact of being one of them, but she couldn't. In her mind, she was nothing, nothing compared to these creatures. No one could love her, and no one ever would. And whoever this Eria girl was, she sounded much greater than tiny old Maria.

Turning over, she closed her wet eyes and tried to sleep. Strange noises came from the surrounding forest. Bird calls that Maria had never heard before. Cracklings and the snapping of wood. A footstep here and there. The sound of the wind through the trees. All these strange noises lulled Maria's troubled mind, and sent her into a deep sleep.

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King Faldrew sighed as he entered his chambers and shut the door. The meeting with the lords had been long and tiring. He took off his crown and set it on the mantelpiece, then made his way to the mirror than hung on the wall opposite his bed. What he saw pained him. It had been eighteen years since his lost his wife and daughter. Eighteen long, tedious years. His face had grown older than usual, and deep wrinkles carved his face. Two black shadows lingered under his deep blue eyes, and he rubbed them wearily, turning from his reflection and making his way to his wooden bed.

They had come to the conclusion that this strange girl could possibly be the lost princess, but nothing was certain. Obviously, this was not enough for the king, but the majority of the lords did not agree with him. He had declared that this child must be his lost daughter, that all the signs pointed to it. But it had been so long, that the people had lost all hope of ever seeing the princess again. 

However, it had been agreed that while the girl was here, she would be put to work. The elves had been preparing an army, just in case their saviour did return. Maria would be trained how to fight, and she would also be fully integrated with the people.  Drusten had offered to take care of her, and the others had accepted. Although she was young and harmless, not everyone fully trusted the stranger.

For the first time in years, the king thought back to the painful day Malfador had fallen.

It had been a dark day, and not a bird sang. The king had been dealing with affairs when suddenly out of nowhere, fire rained down from the sky. Some guards had come to his quarters to warn him, and they then went to get the queen, who was nursing the new baby. They had been attacked before in the past, but never at such a high level. Thankfully, the king had made sure that every house was equipped with secret passages that went underground and led into the forest. The castle included. 

They immediately knew that the Shadow Demons were after the child, and so they had prepared a special box, made out of the strongest wood, that would carry the child to wherever Destiny would lead her. Four guards accompanied the king and queen, while the rest defended Malfador. The queen wept heart wrenching tears as she placed her precious daughter into the wooden cradle. She was not to survive the heart ache.

Once the terrible deed done, the king had returned to the burning kingdom in order to help those who had stayed behind to help He only just escaped with his life, and her was badly injured.

Out of the eight hundred Elves who inhabited Malfador, only six hundred had survived. They made their dwelling in the woods where they mourned for the lost. Eventually, they had made the forest their home.

The queen died from heart break two days after the terrible disaster, and the grief of the people turned into a terrified anger. They would never forgive the enemies who had taken their kingdom.