White Bark

Chapter 2

The village's name translated from the old tongue, meant peace, but now...it was anything but. It lies in ruin and flames engulf almost all the buildings. Human soldiers rape the women, slaughter the men and beat the children. The elves fought valiantly, not for their empire, not for their race, but for their families. Alas, it was not enough. For their efforts, they were granted death and for their families, a fate worse than death. Tir'veyn knew this to be true, as he watched humans cut down his father and rape his mother in front of him. He had killed the soldiers that had done it, but it offered no solace. He rushed through the village, using the chaos to his advantage. Tir'veyn did not know where to go, but he could not let these animals near his sister. Using the paths he had used before to sneak out, Tir'veyn worked his way past the soldiers and towards the forest. On the way, he had spotted even more soldiers gifting sights to more elven children, such as he witnessed. He wanted to help, he wanted to kill, but he knew he could not. His first priority now and always must be the protection of Maira, the last of his family, the only thing that could give his life purpose. At the edge of the village, humans are already making camps and laughing about the battle, not an hour after it had begun. What glory had they earned? Tir'veyn thought to himself. A small, almost defenceless village with no preparation for an attack. And yet these soldiers boasted about killing peaceful folk who were outnumbered at least twenty to one. The closest camps flew flags of a blue and yellow tower, standing atop a hill. These were the same colours the soldiers that Tir'veyn slew. Running through the forests away from the burning village, the mourning elf wondered if humans contained the capacity of honour. These were the first he had met or even looked upon, they showed no redeeming qualities. With nothing but the clothes on his back and his flute inside his satchel Tir'veyn sprinted through the forest clutching his sister in his arms, all day.

It was only when the suns had begun to set when he stopped for more than ten seconds. He looked around in all directions, the forest appeared the same everywhere. He placed his sister on the ground and looked to the sky, in order to figure out in which direction he has been going and should go. The young elf had been taught that the suns rise in the east and set in the west at a very young age by his father. Upon using this practice once again, as he had done a many a time before, Tir'veyn was haunted by the memories of what he had witnessed this morning. He fell to his knees and screamed out as loud as he possibly could...the forest fell silent. Tears started streaming from his eyes and he let out quiet sobs. This continues for several seconds until the quiet moans of his little sister broke the silence of the forest. Upon hearing this, Tir'veyn was once again reminded of his duty. He rose to his feet, wipe the tears from his face with his blood-soaked sleeve and picked up his sister once again. It was only in this moment's break that Tir'veyn processed the pain coming from his hands. Across both palms, lie two great gashes that are still bleeding from the glass shard he had used as a weapon this morning. Tir'veyn turned around in a panic, looking upon the direction he came from. There be a noticeable trail of blood and shouts in the distance. Just like Himgil heard before the slaughter, his son heard the same thundering noise of horses sprinting through the forest. Tir'veyn made no effort to hide himself, he knew it would be in vain. Instead he stood up straight and held his sister close. A party of three human soldiers approach on horseback. They did not wear the same blue and yellow colours of the soldiers that attacked Erfail. The three can clearly see Tir'veyn and surround him.

"Well, what is all this eh?" one of the soldiers says.

"Looks to be a pointy eared runt!" another says aggressively.

"Well we might as well get this over with." The first soldier dismounts his horse and unsheathes his sword.

Tir'veyn jumps back in fear and Maira cries out.

"Wait!" the third soldier, who had remained silent until now, shouts. "He's got a little one with him."

"So? They'll both grow up to be scum, no matter how young they are." The one with the sword replies.