== Opalah would be young, very young. She seems to be just learning to walk as she
stumbles up to her father. He smiles brightly at her as he puts his arms out to greet her
and lift her into the air while they laugh.
"Soon Opal, you will be taught to hunt and kill. To fend for yourself." He says softly
into her ear as he holds her close in an embrace. He tickles the side of her face with
his nose and sets her down. He gently takes her small hand and leads her to the
house near them.
As they enter the house, the noise inside is loud and busy. The elves inside busy
themselves in the room as they prepare for dinner. Soon, they all sit down at the
table. Both parents smile lovingly at each other before looking around at the eight
children. There seems to be all ages but Opalah seems to be the youngest as she climbs
onto her chair with some difficulty. They talk with each other over the course of the
meal and then move on to busy themselves once again, with cleaning up the mess.
After a few years...
Opalah comes sprinting through the forest and leaps onto a stump of an old tree. She
crouches down to touch the freshly cut wood and a frown forms on her small face.
She places her palm against the stump and closes her eyes as tears fall from her eyes.
A noise is heard from behind her and her ears twitch as she whips around to search
out the source.
A large Orc stands before her on the other side of the stump. It growls at her and
suddenly swing an axe at her. She quickly jumps off the opposite side of the tree and
takes off into the woods. She runs deep into the forest as her anxious eyes scan behind
her every few seconds. She slows her run as she loses sight of the Orc. As she stops fully
and catches her breath, she hears something in the distance. Night slowly creeps into
the forest and blankets the sky in darkness. She climbs a tree with much ease and
hides in its branches for quite some time before she continues through the forest.
She slowly makes her way through the green woods toward her house. As she comes to
the clearing where her house is ,she senses something is wrong. The house is very quiet
as she approaches. She lowers herself to the outside wall of the house as she leans up
against it to listen. Her ears would twitch at every sound in the woods. She moves to
the door and puts an ear to it, hoping to hear something. After a few moments of
silence, she finally opens the door slowly. The room she enters would be empty.
"Opal." A voice whispers near her. She quickly turns to see her family in the corner. She
quickly makes her way over to them. "What is going on Father?" She climbs into his
lap and looks up at him. "Opalah? Did you go further into the woods then you were ==
supposed to?" Opalah ducks her head and the look of guilt moves over her features. "I
only wanted to see." He sighs softly and strokes her hair. "Did anyone see you?" She
quickly lifts her head to look at him, "An....an orc, father." He lets out a sharp breath
and hugs Opalah close. "It will be okay. An army of Orcs came to the house in search
of someone that went beyond the boarders of our forest." Opalah looks frightened
and looks to her siblings. They each share in this look of terror as they huddle closer.
Suddenly, heavy footsteps are heard approaching the house. The children whimper in
fear only to be hushed by their parents. Opalah looks to her mother and father as
they stand up to go into the other room to go outside. Voices are heard but no words
can be made out. The voices become more raised and then shouting. The door to the
room slams open and their parents come through the doorway as well as seven orcs.
Their mother looks to the children in sadness and their father shares the same
expression.
Within a moment, the orcs are pulling out their weapons and Opalah freezes in fear.
She scrambles to the corner of the room as the orcs approach the children while
holding the parents firmly. Opalah shuts her eyes tight as she hears the screams and
feels the floor vibrate with the movements upon it. She puts her hands to her ears to
shut out the sounds. She suddenly feels arms grab her shoulders and shake her softly.
She opens them quickly and looks into the eyes of her Father. "Opal...come quickly.
Close your eyes, Petal." His voice calmed her and she immediately does as he says and
closes her eyes. She feels herself being lifted and move to another part of the room.
The ground would still vibrate and she still hears the soft sounds of screams or
yelling.
Soon she is being lowered to the ground and a large hand touch her face. She opens
her eyes to see her father once again. He looks at her with love and concern. "Climb
into here Opal. You will be safe here. Now hurry, Petal. I love you. I am very proud of
you and always will be." Loud footsteps come running towards them as he pushes his
lips to her forehead and gives her a little push into the small opening in the ground.
She climbs down into the hole that barely allows her to crawl into and all light is
shut out as her Father closes the top with something. She feels herself sliding down
into the hole more as a sickening thud is heard above her. She opens her mouth to
scream but suddenly the small hole gives and she is sliding deeper into the tunnel. As
her eyes slowly adjust to the darkness, she turns around and begins to crawl deeper
into the hole.
After a few long hours, she spots light in the far distance of the tunnel and she
quickly moves to it. She reaches it finally and pushes at the plant that covers the
opening. When the plant gives way, she sticks her head out to view a familiar spot in
the woods. She quickly climbs out and stands up while turning in the direction of
where her house was. She waits in the darkness, unsure if she should go back to her
house or stay in hiding.
She nods to herself and begins to walk back to the house. She listens to every noise
and waits when she hears something before proceeding. When she sees her house. she
chokes back a cry at the open door. Without thinking, she runs to the house and into
the open doorway. Blood spatters the floor in sicking puddles. She slowly moves
through the rooms silently. She finds no one. She walks to the spot where she had seen
her father last and falls to her knees at the spot. She bends down to place both her
hands into the pool of blood at the opening of her escape. Tears stream from her face
as she closes her eyes. She lifts her hands and turns them over to look at them, now
covered in her Fathers blood. He had saved her. Her sob echos in the house as she
buries her face in her bloodied hands. Hours seem to pass as she cries quietly in the
empty house.
As she stands up slowly, her hands drop to her sides. She walks to a shelf and quickly
takes something from it then heads to the doorway. Her young blood stained face is
seen from the light of the moon. She lifts her gaze to look up into the sky and closes
her eyes a moment. When she opens them, a look of determination fills her features
and she takes bold steps into the woods. The item she took from the shelf is now
attached at her hip; A golden dagger.