Part One (working title)

Part one of Battles Lost and Won, in this chapter we meet our two main characters and Allwyns situation unfolds.

Allwyn sat alone in the clearing thinking, She was due to turn 21 in a matter of weeks and she knew that tradition would soon be catching up with her and that she'd have to step into line and accept her becoming. The tradition had already been the basis of many a family feud over the recent months and Allwyn had all but given up on having any input on her own future. Brushing her hair aside and looking longingly at the sky she watched a flock of bluebirds soar above and felt a sense of longing, wanting to be able to soar, to fly, to escape. For nearly twenty one years she had stayed here, only venturing far enough for archery practice, and even that was accompanied by a guard. Turning away from the clearing she walked slowly back to the village, greeted by every elf in the Glade as she walked back to her home a feeling of comfort replaced the longing as Allwyn began to remember what the Glade meant to her and how it had been her home for so long.

Walking up the final steps into the manor, Allwyn was nearly flung clean off her feet by a maid. "Oh, excuse me miss! But your father wishes to speak with you. He says it is urgent." Sighing Allwyn trudged on towards the library where her father usually spent the afternoons. Knocking lightly on the great door, Allwyn leant round to see her father sat in his usual chair by the window. Seeing his daughter poke her head around the door he beckoned her in with the slightest movement.

"Hello Father, Lilie said you wanted to speak to me?"

Allwyn looked at her father and sensed something she hadn't before, a sense of uneasiness... Or was it dread? After taking a deep breath and letting out an even larger sigh her father spoke. "Allwyn, you know your mother and I both love you very much, and that we'd never deliberately hide anything from you. Right?" At this point Allwyn began to worry, her father never spoke like this, he was always stern and to the point, that's what made him such a great leader. "Father. You're scaring me, what is it?" Her father turned away and looked out the window, then carried on. "When you were young and your mother and I were put in charge of this clan there were a few conflicts occurring around us between different tribes. In an attempt to stay neutral we had nothing to do with any of the conflicts but the changelings had enlisted a fallen angel and placed a price on you in an attempt to pull us to their aid. We tried so hard to protect you but we were a small clan back then and you were taken from us in the dead of night and returned on completion of a ransom, what we didn't realise is that you had been given a power to surface on your twenty-first birthday. We still do not know what that power is, or whether it will be good or bad. All we know is that something will happen to you in the next few weeks."

Allwyn had long since collapsed in an armchair, reeling at what her father was saying. "So what happens to me now? Am I to stay here or am I going to have to leave in case something bad happens?" Panic began to set in as Allwyn struggled to control her emotions. Why was this happening now, why her? The moments passed in silence and Allwyn gradually regained her composure.

"I will go. I'll seek the fallen angels and discover what it is that resides inside me." Allwyn was now stood up, eyes blazing. Thoughts and theories were rushing through her mind. Her Father stood in an attempt to place his hand on his daughters shoulder, "Let me speak with your mother first, she had her own ideals for you and hopes for where you should go." Allwyn was already on her way to her room, making a mental checklist of what she would need to take and what she could afford to leave behind.

"You can speak to Mum, but it won't change what I'm doing. I'm leaving tomorrow, after archery practice." She shouted over her shoulder as she walked. She proceeded to spend the rest of the evening in her room, not even leaving for dinner. There was a quiet knock at the door and Lilie entered, carefully balancing a tray of food. "Miss needs her strength if she is going travelling tomorrow." Allwyn looked up warmly at the maid, throughout her years here Lilie had been the closest person to a friend that she had known. "Lilie, can you stay here with me tonight? Like we used to when I was younger, for old times sake?"

The pair sat up for hours talking of old times and childhood memories of the Glade, laughing at their own misadventures and the misfortunes of others. The night came and went and dawn greeted the pair as they slept where they were sat the night before. Lilie woke first, tucking Allwyn up under a blanket she left quietly to resume her duties. Allwyn woke as thee door closed and realised the time. Stowing her travel bag in her chest and throwing the key round her neck on a ribbon Allwyn grabbed her bow and quiver and headed for the archery range.

Satisfied that her skills were up to scratch, Allwyn went back to her room to retrieve her bag. Leaving a piece of parchment on the bedside table, she took the back corridors out of the manor and left the Glade without seeing a single soul or even looking back. Allwyn knew the only place she could find a fallen angel who may be able to help her was at Caerdyn's Finishing School to the North. Onwards she continued, only resting when entirely necessary. A fortnight later she saw the spires of the school and breathed a sigh of relief.  

  
Allwyn looked up at the large gates standing before her and shuddered, now what... She'd found the school but had no idea who she needed to talk to or whether they would welcome her in her current state. Stumbling forward she pulled her belongings close to her body and strode forward, trying to look as confident as was physically possible. The trees began to part and a pathway became clear. Almost breaking into a sprint, she moved ever more purposefully toward the gate. Looking closely a shadow appeared in Allwyns vision, instinctively reaching for her bow she slowed to a more graceful, and subconsciously cautious, walk. Allwyn called out hoping the shadow at the gate would be friendly. "Hello, I come seeking sanctuary. My name is Allwyn Rourek..."  

"I mean you no harm," The creature yelled back, "I'm Raykine Taigi, tell me where do you hail from, Allwyn Rourek?" Allwyn loosened her grip on her bow and cautiously lowered her aim to the ground. "I have come from The Glade, a small elvin community to the south of here." Looking up she made eye contact with the two in front of her. Trying intently to get a feel for whom was stood before her, Allwyn took a step forward, out from behind the shadow cover of the trees. "Please, I have travelled far and am in need of somewhere to stay. I seek the help of a being with knowledge of cursed powers and fallen angels." She went to take another step forward but realising how close that would put her to the animal at Raykine's side, shuddering she tried to pull her shoulders square again and regained her composure. Throwing her bow over her quiver she looked up at Raykine and gave a weak smile from under her hair.

"Don't worry Iayo won't hurt you," commented Raykine, "He just comes and goes as he pleases." The man in front of Allwyn seemed to latch on to her fear, he gently took her hand and raised it to his lips, Allwyn blushed as he did so, "Rest assured, mi'lady, that you will be well cared for. Please allow me to help you with your things." He picked up her bag and turned toward the big school buildings. "Erm, thank you.” She managed, “I really don't have much, just this bag really... Oh and my bow and quiver but I'll keep hold of those, don't want anything happening to them." She stepped in line with Raykine and looked towards the building. "So what happens now? I assume I need to enrol but I've never really been to a school before, my parents used to hire somebody to come to the manor and teach me what I needed to know." Mainly hunting thought Allwyn but she wasn't going to let on to her less feminine side, she didn't want to push anybody away at such an early stage and even if nobody accepted her once they discovered her fierce background she could at least try and win over a friend or two now. For a split second her mind raced back to the Glade and the final night she had spent with Lilie, what was to become of her when her powers surfaced, and would she ever be able to return to normality again?