Eldaraenth.ORG

The elven woman awoke in a cold sweat, the remnants of the dark dream steadily slipping away as she stares toward the familiar ceiling above her. She raises her hand, rubbing at her temples and taking deep breaths until the sense of panic that persisted from her hazy dream slipped away. By the Gold Dragon*, she wishes she could at the least clearly recall what terror plagued her so.

A glance at the window showed there was no light filtering through the make-shift curtains, yet from experience she knew it was worthless to try and get any more rest this night. With a frustrated sound she tossed back the blanket and swung her bare legs down to the floor. Goosebumps immediately began to prickle her skin. She plucks aside a section of curtain long enough to see stars before letting it go. It seems the rain had finally exhausted itself. Good, some fresh air might clear her head. Besides, someone should check the borders, especially since the lingering mud would clearly show tracks if any enemy prowlers had been in the area.

After dressing and stomping her feet into her boots, she only pauses long enough to arm herself before taking off. She stalled long enough to exchange a few words with the sentry on duty before vanishing off into the night. The storms had flooded the river** enough that it had washed away the bridge, so she opted to follow the longer trail and check closer to the border with the Burning Wheel lands.

The sentry would be the last person from Staggwood to see Mariemaya.

The scene of the crime might later be found: the brush disturbed, a jagged line in the side of a tree where a blade swiped, and dried blood droplets on nearby leaves and staining the dirt. A bloodied, yet familiar sword, the one Mariemaya had affectionately named Thorn, would be discarded nearby, half hidden beneath a bush. And last a pendant would be hung on mocking display to sway in the wind, a silver and black pendant with the figure of a sparrow on the front.

*-Just because I love throwing in random history… “High”/”Gold” elves, or Lu’Enquindi, were big believers of having Order, and thus big followers of the Gold Dragon. It was the “Moon”/”Silver”, or Tar’Enquindi (It was Tar’Enguindi, right? I have trouble remembering anymore. That might be inaccurate!), that followed the Silver Dragon of balance and tried to keep the Empire in line… until they were named the Black Elves, the Dar’Enquindi, and those few who escaped being tainted were brutally “cleansed”, just in case. The Empire got worse about the whole inflicting their Order on everything after that. Occasionally due to Mariemaya’s raising, she still swears on the Gold Dragon.

**- Technically the river is a creek, and the flood washing it away was Daniel, Logan, Cody, and not-Marcus Chris. I like to pretend the creek is a river, and it was taken by a flood. More dramatic that way.