The War of Night and Day 4-7

The Bread

Tigera quickly ran down the spiral staircase lite by torches of red and yellow. Silently, and quickly Tigera reached the bottom of the stairs to the safe room. The Royal guards would always stand on the outside of the tower’s door to keep assassins and thieves from the princess upon request of the king.

 Tigera heard a creek coming from the door as it began to open. Tigera’s first thought was the guards had heard something she quickly whispered “ivsal” Tigera suddenly vanished. She was still there but her skin and clothes were now the color of the wall and floor behind her. Tigera waited until the opener of the door revealed themself, silently waiting as if to pounce upon a deer. Tigera could now see the face of the intruder, it was Kaylynn. Tigera heard Kaylynn thank the guard and she closed the door. Kaylynn was carrying a small basket with a pink blanket atop of whatever was in the wicker basket. Once the door was closed Kaylynn began to walk up the spiral staircase when she suddenly stopped. Kaylynn took in a whiff of air and turned to were Tigera was standing.

“Tigera what on earth are you doing,” asked Kaylynn.

“How did you know I was here,” asked Tigera as she ended the spell.

“Tigera I’ve know you long enough to know your scent. What are you doing down here,” asked Kaylynn.

“I can’t stay here, I,” she paused “I need to go only for a little bit,” Tigera replied.

Fear and anger in her voice Kaylynn said “Covering for you in the day time it’s hard Tigera, I worry about you all day that you will not come back but during the night time, that is a different case. Tigera you are weak at night, you couldn’t even hide your scent. What if dark elves are in the forest? What if you get lost? What if...”

“I’ll be fine; I will only be gone for an hour. I just need to clear my head,” Tigera said cutting off Kaylynn.

“If you’re not back by morning, well may the sun dragon have mercy on you after I’m done.” Kaylynn said with her teeth clenched in her mouth.

“I promise,” replied Tigera.

Tigera began to change into her huntsman outfit to head out into the dark hidden forest when she noticed that Kaylynn still had the basket she was carrying when she came in.

“What is in the basket,” asked Tigera.

“I know today has been a rough day for you so I brought you fresh baked rolls from my family’s bakery,” replied Kaylynn.

“Thank you Kaylynn, you really are my best friend,” said Tigera. “I’ll put these in my bag for later.”

“Good bye Tigera,” said Kaylynn.

“Good Bye Kaylynn, see you soon,” replied Tigera.

The Running

Rocks slid from side to side as the hidden door began to open. Tigera gazed back at Kaylynn.

 “See you soon,” said Kaylynn.

“See you soon,” Tigera replied as she walked into the dark forest with nothing but the clothes on her back and the bow in her hand.

            The forest was cold. Tigera could barely see more than a few feet in front of her. She had never been in the forest at night; it was a different place at night. Tigera was not afraid of it but she still didn’t feel at ease. No birds sang, not an animal in site either. Something didn’t feel right here.

Tigera decided to put her hood up for you never know who or what could be out here. She keep walking blindly through the forest, she recognized a familiar location one that she had only been once. It was the lake she had been when she was a child. This was the place that she had first discovered her true powers, when she protected herself from the arrow that could have ended her.

The crackle of leaves from behind, Tigera’s ears flicked, she turned to see a man in a black hood. Tigera stared at the man for a long time, the man did the same. Tigera knew she had no chance to defend herself with magic. Tigera quickly drew her bow from her back and prepared for an attack. She hoped and hoped that the man could not use magic.

 The mysterious man began to move back as he saw Tigera’s bow, suddenly the man’s hand shoot a ball of flames. Tigera quickly sprang backwards and ducked. Tigera quickly shoot an arrow from here large wooden bow. The arrow flew towards the man he raised his hand and an orb of blue emerged from his palm and covered his body. Tigera shoot another arrow hoping to grab the man by surprise. Tigera watched the first arrow waiting for it to burn to ash like what had happen to the arrow Tigera had reflected. The arrow finally hit the blue orb but instead of turning to ash the arrow repealed off the orb and fired back at Tigera. Panic set over Tigera. She knew that she couldn’t dodge, Tigera yelled at the top of her lungs “Blekto!” An orb of yellow erupted from Tigera’s hands and protected her from the arrow. Tigera ended the spell and fell to her knees. She was incredible weak in the night time; the spell took a lot out of her. Tigera began to stand when pain break out from her thy.

Tigera look to see the man was gone. She looked down at the painful mark on her leg to see an arrow coming from her thy. Tigera ripped part of her hood to tie around her wound. Tigera began limping to the nearby village. Step by step Tigera limped along the familiar path. She kept walking through the pain. She wanted to give up, give up and fall right there.

*Arron can handle the kingdom, he will do much better than I would,* thought Tigera.

The sun began to rise over the mountains. Tigera could see the villagers awaking to the morning sun. Tigera fell to her knees she did not have the energy to move any farther. Tigera saw a man from the village running towards her as she slipped into a dreamless darkness.

Tigera awoke to the sun’s morning rays that shined through holes in the roof of the hut. She was dazed. Tigera franticly tried to remember what had happened the night before. The images of the past flew through Tigera’s mind, thought after thought and image after image. She reached back to touch the soft silk of her hood and felt nothing. Panic filled Tigera’s mind. She quickly turned to get out of bed when she noticed that she was clothed in a solid red dress. Tigera had seen many women in the Blood kingdom garbed in such a dress, it was very pain and very itchy. Tigera began to stand when over whelming pain erupted from her leg. She lifted her dress to see that her thy had been wrapped in cloth, that was now soaked in blood.

*I have to get out of here,* she thought to herself over and over.

Tigera stared around at her surroundings. Plain, simple, but still unfamiliar. *Ignore the pain* she thought to herself, *you can do this*. She mustered all her strength to pull herself out of bed before crumpling to the ground in agony, *Push past it, I've got...to push...past it.* this thought, this one thought, was the only thing she could focus on as her vision blurred from the pain, and it only took a moment for her thoughts to become as disoriented as the rest of her body. She crawled to the only light she could see - at the doorway - and finally reached the arching post. As she pulled herself up she breathed slowly and deeply. The pain subsided for only a moment, barely long enough to bat an eye, before she heard a loud whinny. A palace horse. It had to be. No villager that she'd ever seen owned a horse. The thundering feet of the animals drew nearer, and she began a desperate movement, Tigera crawled out the door way and in the opposite direction. She pulled her leg along, almost lunging to gain even just a foot of extra distance, *I can't go back.* her mind cried in agony, *I cannot go back there!* Tigera had finally drought herself to stand, using the ally to support her. *This is it,* she thought, * this is it.*

“Hey psst, hey, princess.”  Tigera turned to see two young girls peeking out from behind the house. “Come here,” said the older girl. Tigera didn’t trust the two girls but she did not have a choice. She limped down the alley way to the girls. The two girls showed Tigera to cellar doors at the back of the house. “You will be safe down here, come, come,” the younger girl whispered. Tigera walked down the stair case of the cellar to a pitch black room.  The oldest of the two girls lit a torch and began to lite the other torches in the room until the basement was no longer dark.

 Tigera faced the two girls and said “thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” said the youngest girl, “My name is Raven, and this is my older sister Ari.”

Raven was a young. She looked at least six years of age, with long dark hair that fell down to small of her back. She looked similar to the older of the girls, nearly identical, despite Ari’s slightly more mature face, perhaps by only two years. Their eyes resembled one another’s closely, although Raven’s own were brown, which contrasted light blue. The older sister’s hair was short and red, and both sisters were adorned in the same sort of dresses as Tigera’s own, although Ari’s was a brown instead of a red. Both girls’ dresses were covered in dirt, as were their faces.

“My name is Tigera,” said Tigera.

“We know princess, why are those guards after you?” asked Raven.

“I ran away from home,” replied Tigera.

“Why?” asked Ari.

“Because the king, my father is making me marry a bad, bad man,” replied Tigera.

Tigera stared at the two girls, “will you help me get out of here?”

“What do we have to do?” asked Raven.

 “Why should we?” asked Ari, “Raven, it’s too dangerous,” she looked at Tigera. “What has she ever done for us? Sitting on her comfy throne, eating rare truffles. You don’t know what bad is. You don’t know what hurt is. Try raising your younger sister, alone. Left alone in a world with no short cuts. Bad, ha, you don’t know the meaning of bad.” 

“Ari! We never turn our back on someone who needs our help that’s what mother always told us.” She stared at Raven, surprised at her disdain, “You may not believe that but I do, stay here is you wish I’m helping the princess,” the younger girl shuffled over and smiled up at her loyally.

“Tigera what do you need me to do?” asked Raven, a determined glimmer in her eyes.

Tigera smiled down at her “I’ll tell you on the way.”

The BAg

“Now I need you to get my bow and my cloak,” said Tigera.

“Aren’t you coming with me?” asked Raven.

“Raven right now I can’t walk very well,” replied Tigera.

“How is she spouse to carry the princess’ bow and cloak without anyone noticing her?” asked Ari sarcastically. “It’s to dangerous Raven stay here.”

“No, Tigera she is right though how can I?” asked Raven.

Tigera began to concentrate, she thought about every possible answer.

*What can I do?* she thought.

Suddenly an idea came into Tigera’s mind.

“Raven, do you have a bag?” asked Tigera.

“Does it look like we have a bag?” Ari said smugly.

“We have mother’s bag,” pointed out Raven.

“What are you going to do with it?” asked Ari.

“I’m going too enchanted to be able to hold anything,” replied Tigera.

Raven grabbed a green bag from her sock. The bag was the size of the young girl’s hand. It was a dark green lined with a golden lace. The small bag had the name Marina embroidered upon its side.  Raven began to hand the sack to Tigera when Ari grabbed the bag out of Raven’s hand.

“You will not,” said Ari.

“Mother gave me the bag, so, so I say what happens to it,” shouted Raven.

“You’re going against me for her,” Ari pointed at Tigera “I practically raised you. Well you have made it clear that you choose her and not your own sister. Fine, but I’m not helping you,” said Ari.

Ari stormed out of the cellar as Raven yelled “Fine!”

“Here you go Tigera, please don’t think this is your fault, we fight all the time. She will cool down, I promise,” said Raven now facing Tigera. “Here take it.”

Tigera looked down at the young girl holding the small green bag asking her to take it. She reached down and grabbed the bag from Raven’s hand. Tigera breathed in for preparation of a spell when she smelled a familiar sent flouting thought the room. She gazed at the green bag, “Magic,” she said with surprise. Tigera looked at the young girl “Raven, will you do me a favor. Hold out you hand and say, Lizo. Can you do that for me?” asked Tigera. The young girl did as she was told. She raised her left hand and said “Lizo.”

A faint lite illuminated from Raven’s palm.

*Amazing,* thought Tigera.

“Raven, did you enchant this bag?” asked Tigera.

Raven stared at her palm for a long time before asking “did I do that?”

“You mean you didn’t know that you could use magic?” asked Tigera.

“No, I knew mother could though. She was the town’s healer before she passed,” said Raven still surprised by what she had done.

“Magic is very rare, not many people can use it. It is a very special gift raven,” said Tigera. Tigera reached into the bag that Raven had given to her. The bag was already bottomless. She finally found something within the bag. When she took her hand out of the bag she was holding a picture frame that had a man, woman, and two young girls on it.

“That’s our family, or was our family,” said Raven.

“I’m so sorry Raven,” said Tigera.

Tigera reached into the bag a second time, this time she grabbed a quill and so ink. The princess began to write on the back of the frame. “Here Raven, if you are even being attacked or you need to protect you sister use these spells,” Tigera said as she handed the girl the frame.

“Thank you princess, I mean Tigera,” said Raven, “I’ll go to get you cloak and bow.”

The Beginning

It was several hours before the young girl came back to the cellar doors. As she ran down the stairs Tigera knew something was wrong.

“Tigera,” she cried, “they saw me.”

“Who saw you,” asked Tigera.

“The guards we have to hurry. I used one of the spell you told me and they all froze in place,” said Raven as she pulled on Tigera’s arm.

“That spell doesn’t last long, we have to go,” said Tigera with panic in her voice.

The two girls ran out the cellar doors and down the back ally of the buildings. Raven handed Tigera her mother’s bag as they ran as silently as they could, down each and every house. Tigera always looked between the gaps of the house to be sure no guards had seen them. The sun had begun to set and Tigera could feel her power decreasing. Every minute, every second Tigera could feel her powers becoming weaker and weaker.  

The two girls had finally reached the edge of the village. Tigera looked of the side of the house at the path that leads out of the village. Royal guards were stationed at the exit. She cursed under her breath. The princess knew that she had nowhere left to run. She had just given up hope when she saw a familiar face walking up to the guards, it was Ari.

“Child! What do you want?” asked one of the guards.

“Royal guards, I saw the princess running towards town square,” clamed Ari.

“Come on men, follow to,” yelled a guard.

The men began to run west to the town square as Ari instructed. Ari stared at the guards and turned her head to face Raven and Tigera.

“Princess, I didn’t save you, I saved Raven,” said Ari.

“Thank you,” said Tigera as she began to run out of town.

Tigera had never been east of the Village of the Sun, however right now she did not have a choice. The pain from her leg was incredibly painful. She could not stop; she could no longer go back. Tigera began to run faster and faster. Hot blood ran down her leg. The sounds of horses could be heard close behind. She ran faster and faster, Tigera ran faster than she ever thought she could.

A forest appeared upon the horizon. Tigera did not recognize these woods, but she knew what they were. The woods were the village’s hunting grounds. When Tigera thought of the hunting grounds she thought of one thing, Dark elves. She had reached the edge of the forest, her leg throbbed with pain. Tigera took a deep breath and began running through the forest. The sun had fully set now. Tigera was weak, she was bleeding out and exhausted.

*I can’t run any longer,* she thought.

Tigera started to slow. Her legs felt like jello and she wanted to hurl. Sounds of horses were close behind. The princess had given up. Just as Tigera was about to turn around and turn herself in, a hand grabbed her arm and yanked her behind a large tree. A hand was held over her mouth and an arm held her arms down and kept her from running away.  The princess then herd “ivsal” and they both vanished. Tigera couldn’t move nor talk. She was too weak to struggle free. She listened for the guards and horse, the sounds of leaves and twigs became louder and louder.

“I don’t see her caption,” yelled a guard.

“Nor I, caption Silverbow,” yelled another.

“All right men, she couldn’t have gotten that far. We will resume searching tomorrow,” said Sir Silverbow.

            The sounds of horse and the breaking of leaves and twigs had vanished. The forest became silent once again. Tigera began to fight against her captor, she bit his hand and the spell was ended. The man freed Tigera’s mouth.

“Un-hand me,” she demeaned.

The man freed Tigera as he said “well that’s a nice way of thanking someone who just saved your life.”

Tigera turn and began saying “no one aske…” Tigera stopped midsentence in shock.

The man was fairly muscular. He was about sixteen years of age. His hair was black as the night sky. The man’s eyes were a light blue. He also had a scare below he’s left eye. He wore a black tunic with golden in bordered across the long v-shaped collar. His pants were brown with a darker brown belt that hung three bags. He wore a Dark brown coat that was made of deer skin and rabbit fur. He had metal arm cuffs and on his hand there was a moon. But most importantly, the man who had saved Tigera was a Dark elf.

“You…You’re a Dark elf,” said Tigera in shock.

“Yes and you’re a blond, and a blood how about that,” sarcastically replied the man.

“Who are you,” asked Tigera.

“Don’t you recognize me?” asked the man.

Tigera shook her head no as he grabbed his bow from his back.

The man pulled back his bow and asked “recognize me now?”

“You, you shot at me in the woods. You caused all this,” angrily yelled Tigera.

“Maybe a pretty girl like yourself, shouldn’t be running in the woods at night,” said the man.

“But, I , grrr,” is all that Tigera could say. He was right. She shouldn’t have been out on her own at night.

“Ha, I never properly introduced myself, my name is Mur,” said the man.

“Tigera,” she replied.

“Come on, let go,” said Mur.

“Where?” asked Tigera.

“My camp or do you wish to say out here injured like that,” asked Mur sarcastically.

“Fine but if you try anything I will shoot you right between the eyes,” Tigera snapped.

“Same,” replied Mur.