When Fate Strikes

Prologue

Her eyes snapped open at the sound of the scream. She shook her head to clear it and flung her blanket off. Stumbling outside, she pulled a cloak over her bedclothes and pushed her hair behind her pointed ears. By the position of the moon, she could tell that it was nearly three in the morning. The scream sounded again, and the Elf started sprinting towards the sound – recognising the tone as her sister’s.

She sprinted to the east side of the small clearing that her cottage stood in and delved into the woods. Her eyes flicked over the scene, jumping from one detail to another like a grasshopper. Quickly she noticed the out of place torchlight and started in towards it. She opened her mouth to get their attention when a hand clamped over her mouth, from behind her. An arm grabbed her waist to stop her from moving. Several options of attack sprung into her mind – and choosing one of them – she dug her heels into the earth and threw her head backwards, into the attacker’s nose. She felt a crack as her skull made contact and smiled – a broken nose caused one’s eyes to fill with inconvenient tears and cloud their vision – however the attacker still didn’t let go.

Annoyed that her initial plan didn’t work, the She Elf thrust her elbow into the gap between the two ribcages. The restraining arms flew from her as the attacker crumpled to the ground, winded. The Elf whipped around to get her first view of the attacker and gasped as she recognised the blonde haired, green eyed elf clutching his chest and nose on the ground.

“Calanon!” She helped the Elf from the ground and winced as she saw a trickle of blood dribble down her brother’s face. “I didn’t hit you that hard, did I?” She asked, fearing that he brother was seriously injured. He just nodded, a mixture of annoyance and guilt distorting his usually pale, smooth complexion. “Anyway,” she said, trying to distract herself from her brother’s expression, “why did you grab me?”

“You were aaout oo shou.” He mumbled, his voice muted by the blood running down the back of his throat. The older Elf took off his shirt and wiped his face free of any blood.

“I was just going to see if Miluiel was alright, I heard her scream. What she’s doing up at this hour – I’ll never understand.” The She Elf said. Calanon shook his head.

“Miluiel has been kidnapped,” his voice lowered, “they thought she was you.” The Elf gasped and started to jog in the direction of the torchlight.

“What are we waiting for?” Calanon stopped her in her tracks as he grabbed her wrist.

“You can’t go and rescue her, Ireth! They’ll just kidnap you too, and keep Miluiel for good measure.” Ireth shook her head, annoyance showing in her eyes.

“I can handle myself.” She snapped. “I’m not going to sit around and wait for you to rescue her.” Calanon frowned at her.

“Now’s not the time, Ireth. Go back to the house and make sure that Ada and Nana is alright.” He gave her a little push in the direction of the cottage. Ireth was about to argue back, but suddenly a dark cloud of evil gathered in her mind. She sensed something bad about happening at the cottage. Without having to be told again, she took off in the direction of home.

She made it back to the cottage in record time, her heart pumping and her mouth dry from anticipation. On the way back she had caught the scent of smoke on the wind and now her steps faltered as she saw her family home, surrounded by a ring of flames moving closer and closer to the building. An idea popped into her mind and without over thinking it, she ran to the closest tree.