Heather leaned against a tree breathing hard. Her long skirt was heavy with water it had soaked up from the tall, wet grass. It was a cold autumn day and the temperature had started to drop several hours ago when the front had come in. The wind was cold and stinging, it blew the moisture off her skin and burned her throat as her heavy breaths drew it in. The young elf held her breath, despite the pain in her lungs, listening intently. She heard the soft wet leaves rustling a few feet from her. He was a lot closer then she had thought and was sure to have heard her labored breaths.
Mustering what strength she had left, she pushed off from the tree and started to run again. She could hear his heavy steps gaining on her. Heather stopped suddenly and turned to face her pursuer. Behind her was a small ravine filled with mud from the rains they had been receiving. She held out her hands as if to stop him. �Wait!� She yelled, her face etched with worry and fear. If he had heard her, he didn�t show any indication. He never slowed down as her lunged for her, knocking her off her feet and causing both of them to tumble into the ravine. Heather hit the ground with a thud and gave a painful little moan as all of his weight came crashing into her.
* * *
He sat up on his knees. �Heather, are you okay?� He asked, his voice full of love and fear. �Honey, answer me.� He reached a hand out to brush a few strands of her long walnut brown hair from her face. �Next time, I�m it.� Her blue eyes danced playfully.
Emilio gave a relieved laugh as he leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips. A chime like sound from his pocket distracted them both however from their moment. Emilio pulled out a small glowing sphere. The orb was made of glass and glowing a light green color. Pixies are well known for being able to horde a great deal of magic into little glass spheres. They are referred to as pixie spheres and come in a variety of sizes, colors, and magical properties.
�What�s that?� Heather inquired while looking at the color the orb was glowing.
�Marina has found the information on the next spell component. She�s sent me the location through the sphere.� He looks from the sphere and then back to his wife. �It�s time to go to work.�
It doesn�t take too long for the couple to gather what they need for the job. Emilio as always tries to leave Heather behind, but Heather is a strong willed and proud Elfin woman, not the type to be denied anything she wants. In what seems like no time at all, they reached the location where the item in question was being held.
* * *
Emilio opened the door to the chamber that housed the Holy Heart and beside him Heather gasped. On the alter before them one of the biggest gems of the known universe glowed with a magical ruby light. Emilio stood in the doorway, gazing at the heart sized ruby. He shook his head slightly while running his hand through his hair, as if to shake out any loose thoughts that might have tangled in the black mass on his head.
�Well, husband?� Heather touched his arm light and spoke even lighter from fear of being heard. Though not very submissive in household matters, Heather always seemed to let Emilio lead while on a job. He was already a well experienced thief when they met and got married, and she was still learning.
�Well.� He repeated glancing around the room, trying to guess where the traps would be et. As far as he knew the owner didn�t have anyone with any real magic skill working for them, but he didn�t like to take chances and he was always doubly careful when Heather was with him. So far on this jobs things had gone really well.
�What now?� Heather�s voice brought Emilio out of his thoughts and he smiled at her with a smile that said a thousand times over how deep his love for her was. She returned the smile with a puzzled look that caused her nose to wrinkle in a way that Emilio always found charming.
�I think we should try the old fashioned approach.� He stated while looking back to the glowing ruby in the center of the room.
�We walk up and take it from the alter?� Heather asked sounding a bit concerned.
�No.� He replied. �We use a Pixie Transfer Ball.� He pulled another glass orb out of his pocket, only this one was bigger than the one he had in the ravine. It appeared to be a normal transparent orb, though in truth is was packed with a thief�s favorite version of a teleportation spell. Emilio winked at Heather�s strange look and then tossed the ball across the room toward the ruby. Just as the ball was hitting the ruby, Emilio shouted the magic command word that caused the ball to take the ruby�s place, or transfer itself with the ruby.
�That�s great.� He pulled another glass orb out of his pocket, only this one was bigger than the one he had in the ravine. It appeared to be a normal transparent orb, though in truth is was packed with a thief�s favorite version of a teleportation spell. Emilio winked at Heather�s strange look and then tossed the ball across the room toward the ruby. Just as the ball was hitting the ruby, Emilio shouted the magic command word that caused the ball to take the ruby�s place, or transfer itself with the ruby.
�That�s great.� Heather replied with obvious sarcasm. �But where�s the gem?� Emilio smiled at his wife as he opened his hand, revealing the Holy Heart Ruby that had been magical transfered to him by the pixie ball. �Well that was easy.� She chimed with a smile.
�No cause to celebrate yet. We�re only half way done. We still need to get back out without getting caught.� Emilio slipped the ruby into a pouch he�d brought with him as Heather turned back out the door they�d come in.
�Back the way we came?� Heather looked up at Emilio as he joined her side. He simply nodded to this question. There was no need to change the route at this time. They both step out of the doorway, but no sooner are they out of the door than Heather stops in her tracks, causing Emilio to bump into her lightly. He notices her Elfin ears twitching right before he hears the sound himself. The sound of stone sliding against stone can be heard coming from the room behind them, that housed the Holy Heart. There is a rush of air as if a chamber that has been sealed is being opened. Emilio turns to see the alter the Holy Heart had been sat upon sinking into the floor.
�Let�s not wait to see what happens when it sinks all the way.� Heather had already drawn her short sword.
�Right.� Emilio replied. He carried no weapon, but relied on stealth in any situation. They hurried down the long corridor they had come in through. Right before they were to turn the corner however they both stopped.
�I hear something.� Heather raised a hand to stop her husband.
�Yeah, I smell them. Several guards coming this way.� Emilio being half kitsune had a sense of smell as keen as Heather�s pointed ears were at hearing.
�I guess that ball of yours doesn�t work as well as you thought.� Heather joked, sticking her tongue out slightly.
�It always worked before.� Emilio whined in defense. �They must have hand enchantments to tell them when the ruby left the room.�
They had spent so much time talking about it, that the guards had time to catch up to them. Heather chants a few low words in her native tongue and waves her right hand in a wide circle before her. The ground quakes and groans as the floor shoots up toward the ceiling, creating a barrier between the couple and the castle guards.
�I love my wife.� Emilio took a few seconds to hug Heather to him and kiss her. He then turned and led them back toward the chamber the Holy Heart Ruby had been in. They did not know what came out of the floor, and they didn�t take time to look. They ran past the open door to the chamber and down another hallway. They ran right into a dead end. Emilio ran his hand through his hair to think. He didn�t want to try and fight their way out because he didn�t want anything to happen to Heather, and he carried no real weapons, other than a few more pixie spheres. Emilio thought now of their four year old little girl and what would happen to her if something happened to them. He cursed himself mentally for not thinking about such things before he went off on jobs.
Emilio paused in his thinking and sniffed the air around them. Something smelt musty, like a locked attic or store room. But there were no visible doors near them. He moved to the wall and ran his hand along a seam. He could feel air coming through and his hope was picked up. He removed a purple gel from one of his pocket and stuffed the gel into the seam of the secret door. He motioned for Heather to stand back and did so himself. He spoke a couple of magic words, causing the gel to smoke and sizzle. It melted into the seam of the door which then cracked and opened inward, revealing a hidden magic chamber.
Emilio was so busy with finding an escape that he didn�t notice when the guards turned the corner to the hallway he and his wife were in. One of the guards was an archer and wasted no time in firing an arrow right for Emilio. Emilio turned as the arrow is coming toward him, but didn�t have enough time to react to it. Heather on the other hand must have been paying attention a bit sooner. She leapt in front of the arrow, facing her husband. The arrow hit Heather in the back causing her to give out with a slight moan. Emilio quickly reached out and caught his wife before she could hit the floor, his face a mix of confusion and worry. He looked past Heather to the guards who were congratulating each other on the good aim and laughing at what they called a foolish elf girl.
Rage consumed Emilio, but he had to get Heather to safety. He backed into the now open door that had once been hidden from them, carrying Heather in his arms. He kicked the door shut with his foot as they entered and hoped some magic would keep is sealed. He knelt to the floor, being carful with Heather and how he carried her and held her. Heather�s breath was coming out in short rasps and she had begun to shake.
Emilio laid Heather down on her side and then reached into his pouch once more for an orb to light the now dark room. He spoke a command word and the room filled with the soft white glow from another pixie sphere. He bent over Heather to see how bad th wound was and noticed that it has entered very near her heart. He let out a small, sad curse. He had some healing powder with him, but nothing powerful enough to heal the wound she now had. He knew better than to remove the arrow as well, as that would only speed up her death. �Just a minute, Baby.� He whispered to her gently. He got up and moved around the room, looking for anything that might help them. He had hoped to find a powerful cure spell, but instead found a teleportation scroll.
Emilio returned to Heather and could see her life sign fading away. �Baby, just hang on. I�ll get you back to your village, where your people can save you.� Her eyes opened slightly and she tried to smile, but coughed up blood instead. She raised a slender elfin hand to wipe a tear from Emilio�s eye. He caught her hand in his and held it tight. He just needed a few seconds to chant the spell.
�It�s not your fault.� Heather said weakly in the Silcadian high elf language. Then she went limp and breathed her last.
�No!� Emilio screamed as he hugged his wife close to him for the last time and began to cry. His sorrow was interrupted by the guards trying to open the door. �I�ll get you all for this! Do you hear me? You�ll pay.� He swore to them. He then opened the scroll, feeling the need to get his wife from his place and back to his daughter. Revenge always has time for another day. He read the magic runes on he scroll and thought of the square in the Silcadia elf village where he and Heather had gotten married. The spell instantly teleported him there.
There was a lot of commotion in the village when Emilio got there, still kneeling with Heather in his arms. His daughter, Zhora, already knew her mother was gone due to a strange elfin bond between mother and child elves of Silcadia have. She was crying out for her mother in a hysterical manner, causing everyone to come out of their homes to see what was going on. Zhora was first to see her parents, and switched her cry to call for her Daddy.
Emilio was not well loved by Heather�s people. Emilio�s father is a warlord, and the leader of the Silcadia elves was once a victim of a war caused by Emilio�s father. That leader was Bryan and he was holding Zhora that night. Bryan looked from the dead Heather with an arrow in her back to Emilio in disgust.
�Put my daughter down.� Emilio growled at Bryan, taking his anger out on the elfin leader. Bryan set Zhora down in a manner that Emilio thought showed how little Bryan carried for either of them. After all, as his daughter Zhora was also from the same bloodline as the warlord, Armand. Zhora ran to her father.
Emilio kissed Heather on the head one last time, and then went to his daughter, not wanting her to see her mother any closer than she had to. He picked up his child without another word to any of the elves in the village, then he made his way to the house that he and Heather had shared. He could hear the elves already talking about bad about how he left Heather there and how he wasn�t crying. But he had a kid to think about and he knew he�d have to be strong for Zhora.
Emilio could no longer stand the smell of his house. It smelled of Heather and he nearly lost his resolve. He moved to the closet and pulled out a box of magical items, including a sphere set to teleport back to his father�s castle. �Daddy�s gonna take you to a place where you�ll be treated like a princess.� He said to his daughter, trying in vain to sound cheerful.
�What about Mommy?� Zhora asked, again almost making Emilio lose his resolve not to cry just yet.
�I�ll explain that later� He lied. He knew then, he�d let his own mother explain to Zhora why she no longer had one. But then he also didn�t think he�d see that much of her for awhile. His quest for vengeance was about to begin.
the characters and storyline on this page are � by Kehle Shandley. No part of this story or it's characters can be reproduced in anyway without premission.