Story of Sparklez
Prologue & Chapter 1
Written June 2003.

Prologue
Anari and Ranthir glanced fondly down at their newborn child, who gazed up at them with glassy eyes. She opened her mouth in a soft wail, unlike the loud wail of human children.

“She has your eyes,” Ranthir said to Anari.

“And your ears,” Anari replied, fondling the ears of their new child. “Suli-sen, child of the elves.”

“Child of the wind, spirit of the wind,” Ranthir whispered. “Hope of the elves.” Those at the gathering bowed their heads. All was quiet for a moment, excepting the soft gurgles of the elven child, who was looking around curiously.

Suddenly, a loud klaxon sounded in the Elven Valley. Suli gave a keen cry as the elves started running back towards the valley.

The journey back took them a long time, and when they arrived at the cliff overhanging the small valley, they stood there, frozen in time, as they saw the raging fires below them. Many sank to their knees in the soft, lush grass and cried.

Finally, the humans had beaten them. Finally, they had breached the elven defences, far superior to anything the humans had even built. Finally, the humans had breached their natural protection: their location in a valley too steep to descend on all four sides, save for a small passageway in, and one out, both heavily guarded.

Many of the small party wondered if it had been their fault. If they had been there when the raid had started, the valley might have been saved. If. If. It was too late now. The feeling of guilt was all around. It hung heavily in their air, a depressing mist of gloom. Even Suli was quiet. She sense the depression and ironic serenity of it all.

The small remaining party of elves from the Elven Valley turned back. They couldn’t go back any longer. The humans would be watching. And anyway, their home was burning. None had the heart to watch the rest of it go up in flames. There wasn’t anything they could save, they were sure of that.

Deep in all their pure hearts, a lust for revenge grew. They had never done anything to the humans, yet had gotten terrible evils wrought on them in return. What was fair? Nothing was, not anymore.

The party of elves settled down in a small cave a mile or so from the Valley. It was fairly big, and opened onto a lush green meadow with a small brook at the other end. It was also a place unknown to the humans. They were safe here, for now.

Survival would come first. Revenge could wait until they had regained their strength.

Chapter One
Over the next annums, the small party of elves flourished as best as a group stripped of all their possessions can. At the same time, Suli grew up to become a beautiful young elf, a warrior and a magic user at the same time. She found her chosen weapon, the dagger, although she could wield many different types of weapons, including the bow and arrow, with a great amount of skill.

But although the initial years were comparatively easy, where they could live peacefully in isolation, it did not last. On Suli’s fifteenth birthday, the humans found them again.

It was mid-afternoon, and most of the elves were in the cave, when they heard a faint whisper, and harsh voices from the brush. They all froze. The sounds of those harsh voices had never merited anything good in the past. There was no reason why they should now.

True enough, faces emerged from the brush, and several humans stepped forwards. Their faces were streaked with red and black paint, and they each held a weapon of some sort. The burning rages of the elves finally emerged to the surface, and many of them came out of their shock and grabbed whatever weapons they could as the humans raised their own weapons.

The elves ran at the humans, slashing ferociously. The new children - that is, those born after the burning of the valley - including Suli, stood still in shock. They had never seen their elders this angry, and with this lust for death. Many of them did not even know the history of their clan. Did not know of the burning. And those who knew had never truly killed another before, given the fifteen years of isolation. They stared at the red blood that pooled on the ground, some of it elven, some of it human. There was no way to tell.

The elves won, as they outnumbered the humans. But without great losses. Five elves had died, all elves from the original clan. There were only eighteen left of the original clan now.

The depression settled over them as they once again gather in the cave for a meeting.

“We must do something about this,” Ranthir said.

Suli stood up. “I believe,” she said hesitantly, “that it is time for me to leave. And search for allies who will help. The world is not all evil. There are other elves out there. We need help now.”

“And lose our pride?” someone said. “We have never before requested aid from another group of elves. It would mean…”

“She’s right,” Anari said. “What’s more important? Pride or your life?”

The speaker bowed his head. They couldn’t risk everything.

“Since my birth,” Suli continued, “I have had a dream. Of leaving the cave and exploring. And finding other elves. Those who look like us and think like us. Those who would be willing to help us defeat these humans. We need them. We can no longer deny that fact. And I think those dreams were prophesies of the future.”

Anari inhaled sharply. “So it was true then, child-spirit of the wind. So it is true that one day, one will come forward and save us all. I never knew.”

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