Chapter 1

So there I was, running through the forest, right outside of a village named Galea. This wasn't even one of those nice morning jogs, oh no, I was being chased, again. You see a couple of years ago we got a new king, he rules the land, seems harmless enough. But oh no, he's not the nice king he's cut out to be. He orders that all elves, beast men, demons, well pretty much anyone that's not human, be either killed or enslaved. Life as an elf isn't so easy, but luckily we have a hidden underground village. Welcome to the story of my life.

It was a quiet, boring afternoon, I decided to take a walk around the forest. I was thirteen now so my Grandfather let me go by myself. I went to sit down in front of my favorite tree, my hair blew lightly in the wind. It was so peaceful in the forest, but then I heard something. Men coming towards me. They must have seen me, for it sounded like they were running straight for me. My grandfather always said he loved my pink hair, I was starting to hate it. I was so noticeable with it, guards always saw me. I jumped to my feet and started running away. I'm not sure where I went, but the footsteps got quieter. I didn't slow down though, I kept running. Just then I fell back to the ground. I hit something, someone.

I looked up and saw a cute elven boy. He had brown hair, brown eyes, and looked to be about the same age as me, but I'd never seen him before.

"Here let me help you up," he said as he stretched out his hand.

"Um... thanks," I said as I took his hand.

"My name's Ronan, why were you running so fast?"

"I'm Elsie, and well there were some guards chasing me, again."

"Well I think they're gone now. Does this happen to you often, being chased?"

"Oh all the time, it's annoying, but you get used to it. Are you not from around here?"

"No, I move around a lot, looking for a place to stay."

"Well I wouldn't recommend this village, but you could stay at my house if you want."

"Sure thanks, seems like this would be a nice place to live."

"You have no idea" I said as I lead him back to the village.

We were just entering the village when I heard someone call my name.

"Elsie, Elsie!" a young elven boy called.

I stopped and turned around, he nearly ran into me. "What is it Imri?" I asked. He was one of the messenger elves, always running around the village.

"Oswald, your grandfather, is looking for you and wishes you return safely. And he didn't say anything about company," he said looking over to Ronan. "Is he your boyfriend?" he asked in an annoying tone.

"For crying out loud Imri, I just met him. And don't bother following me around, I'm already going home. Let's go Ronan, we're leaving." I said as I grabbed his hand and dragged him towards my house.

"Boyfriend?" he chuckled.

"It's just Imri, he's always thinking stupid things and trying to annoy me." I replied as we reached my house. I opened the door and we walked in.

"I'm home," I called as I shut the door behind us. My grandfather then walked up to us.

"Who's this, do you have a boyfriend I'm unaware of?"

"We're just friends, but could he stay here for a while? Just until he finds a real place to stay."

"Well I suppose he could, just until he finds someplace else..." he paused. I went to go hug him, "but," he continued and I just stood there waiting for something bad to happen. "Why were you so late?" he asked in a stern tone. Uh-oh, I can't possibly tell him I was chased, he'd never let me go outside again. Although, thankfully I wasn't alone, he might not get so mad.

"I'm sorry sir, that was my fault. Elsie was just kindly showing me around the village," Ronan replied for me.

"Well I guess that's alright then, Ronan, you can sleep on the couch in Elsie's room for now. There are some extra blankets in the closet, Elsie can show you where everything is."

We went upstairs to my room first, "you didn't have to do that for me, make up an excuse."

"Well I wouldn't want you getting into any trouble now, it'd be pretty boring just sitting inside all the time."

"Thanks." I said as I put some blankets on the couch for him.

"So where are your parents, when will I get to meet them?" he said grinning.

"I don't know, it's not like they'd call even if we had a phone. And you won't be meeting them, well not unless you can find them which is very unlikely. I don't know where they live now, and frankly I don't really care." I realize that probably sounded mean, but it's not like they were exactly ever nice to me.

"So they just left you all alone then?"

"Well not exactly all alone, I have Grandpa. So what happened to your parents, or did you run away?"

"They died, when I was eight. I've been roaming around, mostly elf villages, ever since."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Ronan." I said, as I hugged him.

"Hey no big, I'm over it now. Besides I know they loved me, sure they left me all alone, but it wasn't their fault. It's not like they just left me alone on purpose," he said and I just started crying. His shirt was getting wet as I was still hugging him.

"Oh no, I didn't mean it like that. I'm sure your parents didn't want to leave you, and that they had a good reason for it," he said hugging me back, I guess he felt sorry for me.

"Yes they did," I said still crying, into his shirt. "They didn't have a very good reason either, they'd rather leave me alone and unprotected then risk their lives being here. I've been here my whole life, living with my grandfather since I was five and nothing has happened to even come close to putting me in harm's way. Sure I've been chased by guards a lot, so much it's basically become a daily event, but they've never come close to catching me." I said finally letting go of him. "People would probably think my parents were smart for leaving, if they only knew, everyone thinks my parents are dead though. Which isn't really a bad assumption, they just disappeared. It's not like anyone would ask a little kid like me anyway, let alone believe me."

"Wow I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

"It's fine, I'm mostly over it, besides if I can't talk to you, whom I just met, about it then how will I ever be able to talk to other people about it?" I said smiling a little.

"Hey are you two going to sleep?" My grandfather yelled at us. "I hear talking."

"Sorry Grandpa, we're just getting ready. We'll be asleep soon, promise." I yelled back to him. "We really should be getting to sleep though, we usually have early mornings here." I informed Ronan.

"Alright, well good night."

"Good night."