Intro
"At last! The Black Rose!" Cortessa exclaimed. She walked up to the small crystal chamber which held a mystifying black rose. The, Black Rose in fact. "I've finally found it! And it's all mine!" as she reached her hand up to get the rose, something fast whipped past her ear. Cortessa screamed as the warm blood gushed down her arm. Her hand had been pierced through with a silver arrow. She turned around quickly. There, the queen of the Elves stood, with a captivated gaze, full of hatred.
"Cortessa!" The queen spat. Though it sounded angry, her voice was velvety and beautiful. It was only fitting for the body that held it.
"Äléna..." Cortessa sneered. Ignoring the agonizing pain in her hand; she ripped out the silver arrow and threw it to the ground; more blood splattered. "You don't know how long I've waited for this, Äléna. I finally find the Black Rose, and here you are. Right in my clutches, just in time for your death." Cortessa's smile was wicked.
"Think what you will, human, but as long as you die, I will sacrifice as needed." Äléna glared, clutching her bow even tighter in her hand. Cortessa laughed.
"You really think, that a mere Elf can defeat me? Here this now, you will not live through the night." she said.
"He-ah!" Äléna screamed, as she rushed at Cortessa, holding a dagger. She dropped her bow on the cave floor, and tackled Cortessa to the ground.
The two rolled, and rolled on the floor. Cortessa's long, sharp nails dug into Äléna's arm, and blood splattered as they spun around. Cortessa's hand stung, though she ignored it as it stained Äléna's sleeve. Äléna's dagger sliced a gash in Cortessa's side, and then as it was wrenched out, it scratched her face. The two frenzied women in their tangled grasp knocked into the crystal container that the rose was in. They both paused in horror as the rose flew into the air. They watched as a very tiny, pale girl, who had been unnoticed in the background up until now reached up towards the flower, and grasped it in her small hands.
"Yes! Get it for mommy!" Cortessa yelled. The moment the rose landed into the tiny girl's hands, she let out a cry, and threw it up into the air. The thorns from the stem had pierced her palm, and now infected by the magical flower's thorns, the blood that issued from her wounds was blue, as if all of the oxygen around her refused to touch the fluid. "No! You fool! Why did you drop it! Damn girl! NO!" Cortessa was enraged. The young girl began to cry, as another Elven hand reached for the rose. The movement was so graceful, and simple that not one thorn touched the flawless skin.
Just then, a ghostly image of a snake, an evil spirit, slithered across the floor to the crying child, and jumped at her bosom, and the spirit wormed its way into her heart. The child let out a blood curdling wail, and she fell to the ground heaving. Her voice quavered as she continued to cry on the ground, curling up into a pitiful ball.
"No! You will pay for what you've done to my child!" Cortessa screamed.
"Run, Florin!" Äléna cried. The Elf that had caught the rose nodded, as he stood in the cave opening. Cortessa took this time to grab the dagger from Äléna's hand, and stab her in the chest. Äléna jerked forward, her eyes wide with pain.
Then with her last, hollow breath she uttered, "You and your family shall be cursed, Cortessa. Die, and remember, Long Live Hëralçia!" Even as Äléna drifted away into death, Cortessa glowered at her lifeless body with the utmost hatred.
"My Queen!" Florin cried, who in shock, had not run away quite yet. Cortessa slowly went to her feet, and withdrew a long, thin sword from Äléna's sheath.
"Give me the rose, and you won't die." Cortessa ordered.
"Never! You would kill me anyway, even if I gave it to you, tyrant!" Florin spat on the ground. Cortessa laughed.
"Maybe so, but it would be painless. I can see that this will go the hard way for you. So be it!" Cortessa lunged at Florin who held up his own sword and blocked her blow, holding the rose in his other hand protectively.
"You killed my queen!" he yelled. She just grinned wickedly at him in answer. Florin clenched his jaw, and knocked the blade from Cortessa's hand. Her smile immediately faded, and her face went pale. Her blade was too far away now, so she fell to her knees.
"Please..." she tried. Florin already knew of her evil past, and he hurt from the death of his queen. He was in no mind to let her live.
"It's too late, Cortessa." he said, and he ran his blade through her middle. When he removed the bloody blade, Cortessa fell over, dead.
Cortessa's small daughter, watched in horror as her mother was slain by the merciless Elf. Florin noticed the young girl on the floor, and crouched down next to her, and said, "See this rose? It can give anyone who wields it ultimate power. No one should have such power, and now, they never will... unless they can find it." He raised the rose over his head, and the wide eyed, little girl watched him with fear. "Dúretá au Lämitica de Pártánté!" he cried, and with bright red flash, the rose was gone, and so was Florin.
The small girl, who was slowly being taken over by the serpent spirit, fainted on the stone floor.