Arf

Alvar?

Alvar Vacker (when he's healthy) up there ^^ -- okay maybe his eyes should be a little teal-er but...

🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

My first day of seventh grade is today. That's the thought that eventually dragged me by the feet out of bed. I stumbled up and checked the time. 8:30. No way. I SERIOUSLY had to sleep through my alarm on the first day of school. Ugh. Well, actually, I did kind of have a fever, so that could be an excuse, right? I trudged to the kitchen, where a note lay on the table. 

Natalie --

Try to get yourself to school on time🙂 and we'll be back when you are.

Mom and Dad

So much for getting to school on time. I grabbed some cereal and sat down, picking up my phone and sending a quick note to mom about school and fevers. Then for good measure, I took my temperature. 101, it said. Wow, I did have a fever. Convenient.

 I was about to resume eating when I heard the doorbell. Frowning, I got up and peeked out the window. Outside was a man who looked about twenty. Black hair, teal-ish blue eyes... He looked pretty good. Except for the fact that he was literally about to die. His pale skin hung around a skeleton, and his eyes had a dull lifeless look about them. I hurriedly opened the door, staring at him. 

"Hello?" 

He ran a hand through his hair, and for a second looked almost familiar, but I shook it off.

"Are you Amy Foster?" I was taken aback by his use of my old name, and decided to play it safe. In case he was an elf, or something.

"Uh, no, sorry," I said. "I don't know who that is." 

He looked crestfallen. "Oh, okay, well... can I have something to eat? I've been looking for that girl all day and I'm starving."

I scoffed. "You look it too," but gave him an apple to keep up the clueless facade. As he was about to leave, though, he spotted my Freeman Crest pin I always wore to the bemusement of my parents.

"What is that?" He asked, pointing gravely at it.

"Oh, nothing," I remarked casually, but tried to nonchalantly cover it up.

He shook his head. "It's not nothing; let me see that." I tried to back away but even in his deathly state he was stronger than me, and wrenched my crest out of my grasp. My heart was pounding - I was sure of it now, this was Alvar, Fitz and Biana's brother and one of the elves who had come to kidnap my family.  

He examined it, turning it slowly around. There it was. On the backside it was engraved, 

100% Gnomish-made. Custom Family Crests in the Enlightened Language, which I knew because Sophie implanted it in my head. 

Alvar gulped at the sight of the engraving and my heart quickened. He looked up at me. 

"You lied to me, Amy Foster." My fists clenched and I spat, "I don't care, Alvar Vacker." This obviously startled him and he gritted his teeth. I saw him reach into his pocket and take out a small metal square, what I knew to be an Imparter. I grabbed it from him and threw it into the front yard so he wouldn't be contacting anyone anytime soon. At this he pulled out another object from his pocket. A goblin blade.