I Always Felt So Cold in Your Company

In a world where elves were the dominant species, a small human village by the name of Oradell was nestled on the edge of the forest inhabited by the elven kings. The forest was hundreds of miles long, and just as wide. Oradell thrived on the business of travellers coming and going to see what the humans called the Forest of Light. It housed many different species of flora and fauna that were not found anywhere else in the land. Everything from the forest seemed to have an ethereal glow to it: the plants, the animals, the fruits, and even the elves themselves.

Life in Oradell was not as peaceful as it may seem at first glance. Though the villagers had a steady stream of visitors and travellers passing through that kept their economy thriving, none of these beings were elves. The elves were not a peaceful, kind race as depicted in many books and stories; they ruled the world with an iron fist, and looked down upon many other species, including the humans. Elves had the upper hand against the humans, both in physical strength and knowledge. Though the elves reigned over the land, they did not police it. Each kingdom or city had it’s own rulers and laws, but it was an unspoken rule that all bowed to the elven kings. The elves only emerged from their wooded kingdoms when they had serious business to attend to, leaving the world to grow and cultivate mostly on it’s own. Those who lived in the plains or the swamps thought the elves to be nothing but a bedtime story, for they rarely ventured so far from their wooded homes by the lakes and mountains; the people of Oradell knew better. They had seen, every few years or so, an elf or two in the nearby woods.

On the outskirts of the village, perhaps a mile from the furthest shop lived a small human girl named Ariana. Orphaned at a young age, she grew up and lived alone in a cabin-type house that was built by her parents. She did not often spend much time in the village. She considered herself an outcast, the subject of gossip among many of the village wives. She kept a garden for her basic foods, and worked odd jobs that many deemed as men’s work. She had few possessions and even less money to her name. Though she was small in stature, her muscles were defined from her labors. She had long dark hair, and crystal blue eyes. Though blue eyes were not uncommon, the bright shade of her orbs inspired many rumors and hushed talks among the villagers, some calling her an elf or a witch. She learned through her many years alone to just shrug them off.

On her normal daily walk to the village in search of a day’s wages, the sunlight seemed thin through the many branches of the forest trees. Ariana, having heard the many tales of the cruelty of some of the elf tribes, never walked unarmed through the woods. Something about this morning had seemed off, so she had brought along her twin daggers, one resting on the outside of each thigh. The silence echoed through the trees, and the lack of animals wandering about made her even more nervous that usual. A loud crack echoed through the branches high above, and Ariana’s blood ran cold. She froze on the spot and stared up into the shadowy distance, hands slowly inching towards her blades. Though her eyes were too weak to see to the tops of the trees, she could sense that something dangerous was nearby. She hoped that it was simply a beast that she could kill and sell in town or take home for dinner.

After a few moments of silence, she began to take slow steps farther along the path, eyes ever searching the trees above. She wasn’t close enough to Oradell to yell if she got into trouble, so she decided her best option was to run and hope that whatever was watching her couldn’t keep up. Not even a dozen strides into her sprint, a dark figured dropped from above, blocking the young girl’s path. In her haste to avoid slamming into the figure, Ariana veered off the path, tripping over one of the many tangled roots and slamming to the ground. She whipped her head around to see the outline of a tall man getting closer; her eyes widened as he came into focus. In the many tales she’d heard about the elves, it was understood that elves had blonde hair, bright colored eyes, and wore earth-tones, but this man challenged many of the stereotypes humans had imposed in their tales. Before her stood a man of more than six feet, with long blonde-almost-white hair, dark red eyes, and ears that were too pointed to belong to any human. His clothing was darker than a night without the moon, and his long hair was tied back at the top. His eyes flickered over Ariana’s small, frightened frame much the way a lion gazes at an injured antelope.

Her breath hitched in her throat as a smirk pulled at the edge of his lips and he took a step toward her. Another dark figure dropped from the trees, cutting off the dark-clothed elf’s path to Ariana. Her eyes widened more as she took in the second stranger. He had darker hair than the first elf, but had ears to match. He wore the traditional earthy tones of his people. His skin was so pale it practically glowed, and his eyes were nearly the same bright shade of blue as Ariana’s. The elves stood in silence, but she could taste the tension in the air. They glared daggers at each other.

With hardly a sound, the black-clad elf pounced, and the two were rolling on the ground fighting. It seemed to go in slow motion and fast motion at the same time. Ariana could see the as fists connected to jaws and shoulders, blood splattering on the nearby ground. The feral growls the two combatants emitted sent chills down her spine. The two elves broke apart, flipping swiftly to their feet and drawing their bows. Ariana held her breath as the elves stared each other down. As if on cue both men let their arrows fly, and both fell to the ground, injured.

Ariana let the dust settle for a few moments before she dared to move. Both of the elves lay unconscious on their backs. She knew that she should have just left them there, but her curiosity got the best of her. She walked very slowly over to the elf in dark clothing. Even fallen, his grace was evident. He looked much more peaceful that way. She looked at the fallen man’s bow, but didn’t dare to touch it. The wood was carved with beautiful, intricate markings. The elf a few feet away let out a soft groan, causing Ariana’s eyes to snap to his fallen figure. When he didn’t move again, she decided to test her luck even farther and get a look at the other elf. After all, he had kind of saved her life. As she crept closer, she noticed the second fallen bow. She frowned and looked closer at it, noticing the pattern matched that of the other elf. Before she could think too much about it, the nearer elf stirred again. Ariana gazed at him, and frowned even harder when she noticed the arrow sticking out of his chest, and the blood quickly dampening his clothes. She bit her lip, weighing the options and glancing up to see that the sun was beginning to get lower in the sky. She took a deep breath and knelt next to the bleeding elf. She gently touched him, but he didn’t move. She threw his arms up over her shoulders, but his feet still touched the ground behind her. She groaned under the weight, bending over to pick up the fallen elf’s bow. She took a deep breath, and started the trek home with the bleeding elf on her back.