It was as if the creatures of the night were also in mourning, lamenting the girl's loss. Silence was profound in the glade. The wind slithered through the tall grasses and smoothed the girl's hair from her brow as if in sympathy.
She was still keeled over his body, her shoulders shaking with soundless sobs. Crushed by grief and rent with agony, unable to reconcile with the cruel reality of death.
She became still after a while, and the ominous silence lengthened....
Without warning, she threw back her head and screamed at the heavens, her hands rigid claws by her sides. Her shriek, inhuman with wordless anguish, pierced the night, shattering each layer of muffling silence.
She rose, tremors running through her body. With shaking fingers, she unsheathed a twisted dagger from her belt. Her haunted eyes stared into the bloodstained blade, and the last sparks of reason were extinguished. In their place, the flames of insanity burned higher and higher, consuming her, powering her. A maniacal, hysterical laugh clawed through her throat. Her eyes burned with an unquenchable thirst~Revenge.
That was the night the demon was born
**********
"Look at those two," the women nudged each other, pointing and whispering. Under the sheltering curtains of the aged willow, two heads were bent together, gold to midnight. Liquid emerald stared into melted chocolate, bewitched by each other and young love. Porcelain fingers were laced together and held between them, tender and sweet. Presently, as the nosy washerwomen looked on, their lips met...
**********
Never had she felt so happy in her life. Love seared her veins and sang in her heart, filling her from her petite feet to the tips of her pointed ears. Her hands plaited the flowers, but her mind wandered into a familiar daydream. The sunlight playing on his honey-blond hair, his exquisite features, his divine lips, his tender embrace, the tingle his touch induced within her, and his eyes....bottomless wells of green, tinged with gold when mischievous, blue when sorrow, black when furious, and pure emerald, overflowing with love..... a colour only she could bring out. The way he always looks at her, with awe, adoration and even reverence, like she was his goddess....like she was his life. Oh, if only he were here right now........
"Dewen"
Her heart skipped, and she smiled. She loved the way his musical voice wrapped around her name like a caress. She turned, and there he stood , his arms open and waiting, his lips upturned in a smile.
She leapt into his arms, feeling their warmth wrap around her slim body.
"Rainon. You're back," relief mingled with love in her sweet, melodious voice. She stroked his cheek and toyed with the tip of his ear, inhaling that familiar scent of almost-cinnamon-and-orange blossoms.
"Come, let us go home." He murmured, kissing her hair.
The last of the sun's rays filtered through the thin membranes of their little tent in the trees, bathing them in red and gold. Dewen flitted around their little home, assembling a simple dinner of warm, aromatic bread, fresh berries and cider. "So how was the convention today?" Dewen asked conversationally. Once every month, the wood elves take turns to assemble, to merge their magic and sing, weaving enchantments through the notes to encourage trees and flowers to grow, to enrich the forest that was their home.
"Same as usual," he answered in an offhand voice, but Dewen knew his voice well enough to detect the undercurrent of tension. She turned sharply to look at him, and saw a faint crease between his brows that occurred rarely, and never boded well. He saw her watching, and smoothed his face out, forcing a smile.
She wasn't fooled. She darted to him and put her hands on his shoulders, staring straight into his eyes, which had turned an ashen shade of dark green. Fear and anger.
"Rainon, what's wrong?"
"Nothing you need to worry about," he said, still smiling but unable to hide his anxiety.
"Of course it's something I need to worry about, else you won't keep it from me," she retorted,
"Please? I want to help."He gazed her anxious but determined expression, and sighed, turning his head away. She would not be letting him go without an explanation.
"Humans" he admitted.
Colour drained from her face and her dark brown eyes were bleached to a pale, sickly ochre.
"What?" she whispered, fear evident in her voice. Rainon stroked her fearful face, trying to soothe and comfort, though he was as afraid himself for her, for their home, and for their entire race. For years no humans had dared enter the forest, for terrible fate is said to await those who braved the enclosed glades. Most were never seen again.
Now, things were changing . Humans bred like rodents, and where they lacked in magic, they more than made up for with cruel ingenuity. Weapon after unimaginable weapon were invented. Sacred animals were captured and slaughtered with impunity. Elven villages near the forest edge were forced to move or be discovered and captured. Age old trees, mystical sentinels of the ancient forest were cut down one by one. Humans were an abhorrent race. If the barbarians invaded....
He snapped out of his dark thoughts when he noticed her shaking.
"It's okay, love, it's alright. They were just looking around" He lied unconvincingly."They won't do anything. We won't let them have their way. We--"
A blood-curdling scream echoed throughout the forest.
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Just a random stroke of inspiration. Don't think I can even continue with this. And I seem to have copied a lot of ideas from other established authors. yikes..........
Actually, this is my first attempt with romance, so.....ahem.......you know....bad...real bad.............
Xp