White Bark

Chapter 3

Years pass and the war between the Elven Empire and the Human Kingdoms has only gotten worse. No army manages to gain enough ground in any of the provinces. Many battles are waged in the Cardein forests and along the border. Because of this, the human's hate of elves only grow larger. Most humans had always shared an inborn hate of the other races, the reason for which is lost to time. Elves were the most despised however, since the wars that erupted every few years between their empire and the human kingdoms were fresh in every body's minds. Humans would hear about a family or friend that gets killed on the front line fighting the elves, and whenever they see one, be it their neighbour or a complete stranger, they lack the ability to perceive that that elf is not the one who slew their loved one. Maira is now seven years old and Tir'veyn is sixteen today. The siblings and Laisa grow ever closer, with Tir'veyn and Laisa considering each other and Maira siblings now and telling other people that to avoid having to explain the whole confusing situation. Tir'veyn did not tell anyone of his birthday, though Laisa remembered as he had told her once and they had celebrated others before. It took the three of them months, but the trio eventually settled into their new home. Laisa works at the village's clinic as one of the main healers for the village, Maira was now old enough to attend school and Tir'veyn hunted in the nearby woods. Though young, Tir'veyn was very skilled, he only worked with other hunters for a few months until he started going out on his own. He donates half the meat he gets to the poorer people in the village, keeps some for himself, Laisa and Maira and sells the rest. People in the village rarely request pelts so he often goes into the city to sell them. Tir'veyn's hatred for humans has far from subsided, as he will never forget the events that took place a years ago, but he has grown tolerable and has even met some humans he would call friends. As for physical growing, he is now a lot taller than Laisa and very muscular for someone his age. He plays his flute atop the house almost every night, but refuses to play in front of anyone as he had done for the whole village of Erfail once. Despite this, Laisa, Maira and many others in the village hear him in the night, playing his songs, and they listen attentively. No one knows if Tir'veyn realises this or not, or he simply doesn't care. But it is no coincidence that he has heard people in the ghetto whistling his tunes. Maira and Laisa both have no knowledge of what happened to Erfail and Tir'veyn, and he intends never to tell either of them.

Tir'veyn awoke early in the morn before the suns had rose. He quietly got out of the double bed he, Maira and Laisa had to share, got dressed, grabbed his weapons and exited the house, softly closing the door behind him. He slung the quiver and bow onto his back and stretched. Tir'veyn made his way to north of Irimar, where the forests lie. There was no foot traffic except guards doing their routine patrols. The guards that knew who he was gave a curt nod, which he returned, and the unfamiliar ones scoffed in disgust, which he would have very much liked to return but instead, ignored. The suns had rose as Tir'veyn quietly snuck through the forest, he spotted hoofed tracks and knocked an arrow. The tracks were small and there were a few next to each other, deer Tir'veyn thought. He followed for quite a while until he happened along a clearing where several deer contently eat grass. The clearing had a multiple large flower beds and a large boulder near the edge, unique, bright green flowers stood out from the rest. Tir'veyn had never seen their kind before, not even in the Cardein Forests. He crouched between the shrubbery, silently aiming his bow and charging his shot. His fingers were about to release the string when a crack came from another side of the forest. He and all the deer looked and the deer started scampering off. Tir'veyn quickly lined up the shot again and released the arrow. It struck true and a deer fell dead. The young hunter cautiously made his way to his bounty, watching the area where the sound had come from.

"Who goes there?" he called out, once he had gotten to the dead deer.

There was no answer. He knocked another arrow and aimed where his keen elf eyes could see the slight outline of a figure.