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Okaaaaaay, part I-don’t-know-which of The Half-Elf. Sorry I haven’t posted in a while – life is hectic. I would love critique, but if you don’t have time/it’s stressful trying to get it done, don’t worry about it. Enjoy (and don’t cringe too much)!

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(Review: “I’m still coming,” Rhea replied stoutly. Suddenly her face broke into her typical grin. “I’ll help you remember your Elvish name. What is it?”

“Lárawen,” answered Nayandi, a ghost of a smile appearing on her lips.

Dawn broke, throwing the shadows of the two sisters, closer in bonds than in blood, far out in front of them.)

~~~

Nayandi snapped out of her reverie when a loud crackling sound filled the silent woods. She had an arrow on the string before you could say “Run for it.” Rhea smiled sheepishly as she lifted her ankle boot off of an old, dead stick that now lay cracked in two. “Sorry,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. Her eyes abruptly widened as she looked past her sister. “Nayandi, look! A light! A bright light!”

The half-Elf turned to behold the light of day shining between the thinning trees. “We made it to the end,” she whispered. “Now the journey has just begun.”

 

Indeed, they had only conquered their first challenge: the Silent Forest. Before them stretched the sandy shores of the Great Sea, where grey waves lapped the pale shore.

Laughing, Rhea shot out onto the beach. “Look, Nayandi! The sky! Isn’t it beautiful?”

Nayandi turned her head up and beheld the prettiest thing she had ever seen. White, fleecy clouds drifted across skies so blue it took your breath away. She sighed.

“Where to now?” Rhea asked, appearing beside her somber sister.

“We’ll spend the night here,” Nayandi replied. “Do you want to hunt?”

Rhea made a face. “Of course not. You know I hate killing things unnecessarily.”

“Then you get to set up camp.” Nayandi tossed her sister the flint to strike against a dagger blade. Rhea set to work immediately as Nayandi returned to the woods to hunt.

A seabird was roasting over the cheerfully crackling fire when Nayandi went to wash her face and hands. A freshwater creek ran to the ocean only a few yards away from their camp. She knelt down, keeping her long hair out of the water, and cupped her hands. Dipping them into the clear liquid, she breathed deep, enjoying the feeling of solitude. She rubbed sand between her fingers and rinsed them off. Suddenly she paused, staring at her reflection in the creek.

What had happened to the carefree child of ages long ago? Here was a young woman, with deep brown hair and pointed ears. Her dark eyes were changed beyond recognition, for they bore a gravity and sorrow never seen there before. Nayandi splashed water onto her face, chiding herself at her silliness. How can one be surprised at growing up? And yet, a measure of sadness rested on her heart. Not just for the loss of her father and the only mother she knew, but for her older brother, who had changed as she had. For days gone by that she wished she could have changed. Fear resided with the sorrow, for even if she was not afraid of danger, or death, or creatures of such malice they cannot be described, she did hold the fear of failure; the fear of making the wrong choice; the fear of fear. She glanced back at the girl in the water. The thought crossed her mind before she could stop it: she did look like she would imagine an Elf named Lárawen would.

Shaking her head, Nayandi rose to her feet and turned back to the fire. Shock raced through her body as she made out the dark, grotesque shapes of about half a dozen Orcs swarming about the camp. An arrow came swiftly to her string as she hurried closer, using the cover of the woods to her advantage as she tried to find out what had happened to Rhea.

Her sister was in the grip of a sneering Orc, who held one of her own daggers to her ribs. Laughing hoarsely, he drew the knife back as Rhea squirmed in his grasp, her eyes wide. Suddenly, an arrow thunked into the wrist around Rhea’s neck, missing her head by mere inches. The Orc screamed and let her go, grasping the shaft in agony. The Orcs around the fire dropped to the ground as more shafts appeared, piercing the leg of one and instantly felling another.

Rhea did not drop, for she knew her sister’s arrows when she saw them. She snatched her daggers out of the leader’s hands and engaged him. Although the Orc was a powerful fighter, he was wounded and she was light on her feet. Rhea had soon taken him down and was dueling with another. Nayandi joined in the fray once most of her arrows were gone, taking many Orcs’ lives and sending others into retreat. Soon, only two of the original seven were left. They scampered off as the sisters stalked towards them, casting venomous glares at the weapon-wielding maids.

“You can be sure that they’ll be back if we don’t keep our wits about us,” Nayandi remarked when the last Orc had disappeared. She knelt and wiped her blade on a strip of grass, then sheathed the weapon. “Come, help me with these ones.”

“Why did we need to kill them all?” Rhea asked as they hauled an Orc to the sea and cast him in.

“It is either kill or be killed with these creatures,” Nayandi replied after a moment. “I nearly missed this one.”

“But you hit that Orc’s wrist, right next to my head!” Rhea cried, aghast. “How did you know it wouldn’t hit me?”

“How can anyone be sure?” Nayandi answered. “I had to take the risk. But I also had more time to aim carefully with that one than with the others.”

“Let’s hope no more lives need to be lost,” Rhea responded, glancing back at the waves as they walked back to the fire.

“I hope so too, sister,” Nayandi murmured. “But I doubt it.”

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Once again, sorry for the choppiness of this story. Good job with yours, guys! 😀