Chapter 2

  Emily rolled over in her bed as she heard the rooster crowing from the coop in the back.  Yawning she sat up and looked out the window, disappointed by the weather.  The morning had a lot of clouds, and looked as though it may rain as the day went on.  Crawling out of bed, she walked over to her simple dresser and rummaged around for something to wear that day.  Knowing she had to help her Uncle with the chickens, she picked a simple green short sleeved shirt and her dark green work pants.  Over her shirt she pulled on a worn sky blue tunic that her Uncle gave her just for working with the chickens or in the garden so she wouldn't get the rest of her wardrobe dirty.  It was tattered a little on the ends, and a few stains here and there, but relatively clean from the last time she wore it.

Satisfied with her outfit she made her way downstairs to the kitchen where her Aunt was already making a small breakfast.  She smiled as she saw Emily coming down the stairs.  Her Aunt was a smaller build and had a slightly darker complexion, but her light grey eyes and black hair were the closest features Emily had to a family member.  Shari's family had traveled to this area from south of the forest was she was only a baby.  The far southern humans were known for their darker complexions and darker hair colors.

"Good morning sweetie.  You’re helping Lance today right?"  Her Aunt asked.  Emily nodded as she sat down at the table.  Her Aunt placed a small plate of fried eggs and toast in front of her.  Emily thanked her Aunt and ate her breakfast quickly.  

"Can you check up on Abber while on your pass through the village with the eggs?  He had a pretty bad fever last week, but his wife hasn't come by to see me for a refill on the herbs.  I hope he is well now."  Her Aunt asked.  Emily nodded her head as she finished up the last bit of eggs.  Getting up she washed her plate in the sink and then grabbed one of the filled water skins hanging by the sink.

"Is Uncle Lance already at the chicken coop?"  She asked, sitting down by the back door to pull on her work boots.

"No, I believe he went to the northern gate.  Someone reported seeing some suspicious people hanging around the village.  He went to go see if there is a Royal army in the area or not."  She said.  Her face showed no concern, but Emily could hear it in her voice.

"Oh alright.  I guess I'll at least get the Lavin's order ready so we can get the milk from them."  Emily said cheerfully.  Making sure her boots were strapped on tight, she swung the water skin over her shoulder and went out the door.

The first thing Emily noticed was that it was unusually quiet for that early in the morning.  Normally she could hear the song birds singing from the forest to the south.  The chickens were clucking still in the coop, but the stillness in the air made Emily uneasy.  Shrugging it off, she headed towards the coop.  Her family owned four chicken coops, with close to a hundred chickens in total.  Emily's favorites were in the second coop, and that’s where she headed.

"Good morning everyone!"  She said as she opened the door to the coop.  All the chickens started to cluck at her happily.  The two roosters that made that coop their domain ran up to check who it was, and seemed to give a nod of approval.  Emily just laughed at them and went to find the collection basket hanging on the wall.  It was lined with special soft cloth so the eggs would not break while the basket was in motion.

"Let’s see, the Lavin's normally want three dozen eggs for six bottles of milk."  Emily said to herself while she was carefully checking each nest for eggs.  She petted a few of the chickens on the head calling them by names she had given them.  After filling the basket, she went over to the feeder and took a handful of dried corn and sprinkled it on the ground in front of her.  The chickens rushed over to her in joy and pecked at the ground.  Smiling that they were all satisfied, Emily took her basket and exited the coop.

The sun was completely blocked by clouds at this point, and Emily could smell the rain coming.  Sighing, she went inside to find one of the cloaks they used in bad weather.  Aunt Shari caught her as she passed by the garden.

"Are you heading out towards the gate at all?  Your uncle hasn't come home yet and I'm starting to worry about the weather.  Can you run him a cloak?"  She asked.  Emily nodded her head and went inside.  She grabbed the smaller cloak and threw it on over her head, then grabbed one of the larger ones meant for her uncle.  With the basket in one hand and the extra cloak in the other, Emily headed out into the village.

She headed south first, towards the dairy district.  She wanted to drop the eggs off first so she wouldn't have to carry them.  Everyone seemed distant today though, as if they sensed something was off as well.  A lot of the men were running off towards the north gate with make-shift weapons and pitch-fork and other things.  Emily became really curious at this point, and hurried towards the farm.  She found Mrs. Lavin outside with a few of the cows.

"Good morning Mrs. Lavin!  I brought some eggs to trade!"  Emily waved.  Mrs. Lavin waved her over.

"Good morning Emily.  I've got your milk over in the cold shed, let me just grab it.  You can put the eggs over there on the porch."  She got up and wiped her hands on a rag she pulled out of her pocket and headed towards a smaller shed near the barn.  Emily walked over to the porch of the house and placed the basket of eggs next to the door.  Mrs. Lavin wasted no time and brought the milk right over.

"So what’s going on over by the north gate?  I've seen a lot of people rushing off that way."  Emily asked.  Mrs. Lavin shook her head.

"I don't think it’s anything to worry about.  A few of the guards reported seeing something odd coming up the horizon.  Your Uncle ordered a few extra men to help the guards just in case."  Mrs. Lavin explained.  Emily sighed in relief.  It was probably just a band of Royal elves making a round earlier than expected or something.  She waved good-bye to Mrs. Lavin and headed back towards her home.  Her Aunt wasn't there at that time, so she dropped off the milk in the cold storage shed then headed towards the north gate.

The closer she got to the gate, the less she thought everything was okay.  A light rain had started to fall, cooling the air off quite a bit causing Emily to shiver.  There was a large grouping of people standing around the gate.  In the center she saw her Uncle giving out simple orders to the people who have gathered.  He noticed Emily and gave her a confused look.  She waited for the rest of the people to be sent to duties before she approached him.

“Emily, what are you doing over here?  I thought you’d be tending to the chickens?”  He asked as she approached him.  

“Aunt Shari asked me to bring this to you.”  She explained, holding out the cloak to him.  He took it with a grateful smile.  “And I was curious on what was going on.  Something felt weird in the air, besides the weather.”  Emily looked around.  Something felt very off to her, but she didn't know why, and it made her really uneasy.

“One of the guards spotted a scout coming from the direction of the mountains.  They couldn't identify the armor so they came and got me.”  Uncle Lance threw on the cloak and then pointed towards the north east.

“I haven’t seen them yet, but I had extra guards posted around the area just in case, and I sent a few experienced men out to scout the area.  The Royal elves aren't supposed to be in this area for at least a few more weeks, so it’s making me a bit nervous.”  He explained.  Emily looked in the direction he pointed and felt a wave of uneasiness wash over her.  She shivered even more from the chill it gave her.  Her Uncle just accounted it for the rain and thought nothing of it.

“You should probably head home, just in case and get out of the rain.  I won’t be much longer.”  He pushed her back towards the village.  Reluctantly she listened to her Uncle and headed back home.  Everyone was rushing around getting their livestock back into their barns and getting anything that shouldn't be wet inside their homes.  It began to pour halfway through the village and Emily picked up her pace at that point.

She ran through her door and quickly shut it behind her.  Her aunt was sitting at the table with a lamp lit, quietly going through one of her herb books.  It looks like she had been taking some notes.

“Emily, you’re back already?”  Aunt Shari looked up when the door had slammed shut.  Emily shook her head and knocked some of the water out of it.  She noticed a small fire burning in the hearth by the stove.  A warm heat came from it that she felt through her wet cloak.

“Yeah, Uncle Lance told me to come home.  Are all the chickens inside?”  Emily asked.  Aunt Shari nodded her head.

“Yeah, they didn't bother coming outside today.  I checked and they all have plenty of feed to make it till tomorrow.”  She smiled.  Then she signaled Emily to come sit next to her.  Emily took her cloak off and hung it up by the door, along with the water skin.  She pulled a chair up next to her aunt and looked down at the book.  Her aunt quizzed her on a few of the herbs she was taking notes on, making sure Emily knew what they were used for.  Just as she was getting comfortable and warm again the wave of uneasiness came over her again.  Then, the two of them heard shouting from outside.  The door burst open and in came Lance and one of the other villagers.  Both of them were soaked to the bone, and between them they were carrying an someone wearing green armor and the symbol of the Royal Elves.  He was in really bad shape, burns and gashes covered his body that was exposed by the broken and shattered armor.  Shari jumped to her feet and instantly ran to get her medical box in her bedroom.  Emily got up and helped her Uncle get the man into a chair.

“What happened?”  Emily asked.  Her uncle and the other man were out of breath.

“I don’t know, but it can’t be good.  One of our scouts found this man crawling towards the village and carried him back.”  Lance explained.  He then pulled the other guy aside, gave him some instructions.  The man nodded his head and ran back outside.  Just then the unconscious man started to cough and groan as Shari was applying ointments to his wounds.  Lance crouched down next to him so he could hear better.  Emily stood back but in view.

“What happened out there?”  Lance asked the man.  He looked up at Lance, then to Shari, then to Emily.  When he saw Emily’s face, his eyes got wide, like he finally understood something.

“He… found out.  They are… coming.  Couldn't stop them… too many.  We have failed… our mission.”  The man mumbled then went still.  Lance’s eyes got wide and looked over at Shari.  They both slowly looked at Emily with fear in their eyes.  Emily just looked back with confusion.

“Who’s coming?”  Emily asked, breaking the silence.  Shari got up quickly and ran back to her room.  She returned a few seconds later with a sword and shield.  Lance took them from her quickly and then headed out the door.

“Aunt Shari what is going on?”  Emily yelled.

“The Rebel Elves.  They are finally coming.”  She quickly dashed around the kitchen, grabbing any dried food items and shoving them into a bag.  Then she looked at Emily.  “Run upstairs, grab your traveling pack, and put one set of clothes inside and a blanket.  Grab your dagger and belt then meet me by the chicken coops.  Do not question me, just do it!”  Her aunt demanded.  Emily didn't say anything just ran upstairs and did as she was told.  She finished quickly, and saw that her aunt was no longer in the kitchen when she returned downstairs.  Running out the back door, she saw Jake running towards the chicken coops as well.  Emily could see his chain mail poking out from under his tunic, and his good short sword strapped to his waist.

“Jake why are you here?”  Emily asked.

“Your Uncle asked me to come here.  Said he had an important job for me.  I’d rather be proving myself out by the gate to defend the village!”  He said stubbornly.  Shari smacked the boy over the head.

“Both of you listen to me, and listen carefully.  The Elves are coming here for a very specific reason.”  She paused and looked Emily directly in the eyes at this point.  “Emily, your father left you here sixteen years ago to hide you.  I don’t know what my stupid younger brother got into, but he knew you were not safe with him and asked us to hide you from the world.  With our promise to shelter you, he promised us eternal protection for the village, since he was a Captain in the Royal Elven army.  That protection has just failed.”  She looked over at Jake this time.  “I need you to take Emily, and run!  Protect her with your life and hide in the Silverden forest till the Elves pass.”  Shari was in tears at this point, though the rain was doing a good job to cover it up.

“But… Aunt Shari…”  Emily started, but the look her aunt gave her just made her shut up.  There would be no arguing at this point.

“Here’s some food, try to ration it out as long as possible.”  She put in Emily’s pack.   Then she pulled an envelope out of her pocket and handed that directly to Emily.

“This is a letter your father wrote for you.  We were not supposed to give it to you till the war had ended, but after this I don’t know what is going to happen.  I do not know what is inside it, your uncle and I respected that it was for you directly.  It may be instructions on how to either find him or your mother.”  She paused, and then pulled Emily into a hug.  “You are my niece and my daughter all in one.  Now run, and please stay safe!”  She let Emily go, nodded to Jake, and ran back to the house.  Jake grabbed Emily’s hand and pulled her out of the back yard and headed opposite of the direction most of the men were heading at that point.

Neither one of them said anything while they were running.  The atmosphere in the village was of pure terror and panic at this point.  People were running about, not sure if they should flee or help fight.  Some were letting loose their livestock, not wanting the Elves to get their hands on it.  Cows and horses were everywhere, running in panic as well.

Jake was doing his best to avoid the crowds of people as he made his way south east, towards the closest entrance to the forest.  They could just barely see it through the rain as they passed the southern gate of the village.  No one was guarding it.  Everyone who was able to wield a weapon was called up to the northern gate at this point.  As they crossed under the tree line, the rain slowed down, but it got twice as dark.  They heard several explosions behind them.  Both paused and looked behind them.  The village was burning.  Emily broke down at this point, let go of Jake’s hand, and started to run back.  Jake gritted his teeth, wanting to go back as well, but instead grabbed Emily before she got too far away and pulled her back deeper into the forest.  She fought against him, but Jake was much stronger than Emily, and finally she gave in and let him pull her along.

They kept running and running till they could no longer see in front of their own faces or see the glow of the village behind them.  Jake looked around quickly and found a small sheltered rocky area.  Pulling his sword out to check for bears or wild cats, he finally deemed it safe to make camp for the night.  Emily was numb from both cold and shock while Jake lead her inside the rocky alcove.  Finally catching up with what happened, she broke down and started to cry.  Jake pulled her close and let her cry into his shirt, not sure what else to do at that point.  They were deep enough in the rocky area that you really had to look inside to see them, so he sheathed his sword and held on to Emily’s shoulder, pulling her close to him.  He seated them down onto the ground, making sure he could see outside.  Emily finally exhausted herself from crying, and fell asleep with her head resting in Jake's lap.  Jake dozed off not long after that, exhausted from the day’s events and trying to figure out what he was going to do next.

Author's Note

please ignore grammar for now, it will be updated at a later time.