I decided to post the first (short) chapter of this one because I had written it already and I was like, "why not?" so I posted it. I probably won't be doing much with it though... not for a while anyway. Moving on... Hope you enjoy it!

 I ran from him, sprinting, until finally he fell away from sight. Panting, I sat against the base of a large tree. I heard someone muttering something in a strange language. The voice slowly changing from masculine to... Feminine? Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned, seeing the shoulder-length, muddy brown hair of the Huntsman change into a head of silky, waist-length raven black hair. "I'm sorry I had to scare you," she whispered, "but I needed to get you far away enough from the castle to safely remove my glamour and talk to you." I nodded my head, eyes wide, darting from her now up-tilted eyes and pointed ears. "You must listen," she insisted, "this is very important." I nodded again. "The Queen is planning to kill you," she stated, flatly.

"She wants me to bring her your heart in a box." I gaped at the woman- elf I assumed- "But- but you're not actually going to kill me are you?" I stuttered. She sighed. "I will not kill you," she said, and I let out a breath. "But," she continued, and I froze, "she will know if I return with a heart that is not yours." To this, I had no response. "I can remove your heart, and replace it with one of stone, if you wish. It will allow you to keep living, and live your life in peace." I nodded, knowing there was no other option. "However, you will remain unfeeling until it is returned to you." I nodded again, having no words for what I would be doing. "Close your eyes," she said, "you will not want to see this." I closed my eyes, while she was muttering in that strange language. There was an almost unbearable pain in my chest, like someone was ripping it open and pulling out my very essence. Which, I supposed, was not that far from the truth. Then there was an emptiness that I cannot describe, and then the feeling that something unnatural was filling that emptiness.

I opened my eyes to see the elleth put something dripping red into a gilded box. She looked at me with what looked like... pity? "You must never return to this kingdom." She said, and I nodded, knowing she was right, even though it saddened me to hear it out loud. "You can stay with my brothers until I can return to my home and bring you somewhere safer. They will welcome you; I have informed them of your arrival." She then whistled a five note tune. A raven came flying out of the forest and landed on her forearm. "Follow this raven. She will lead you to my home. And don't forget to tell my brothers that Amarië Lissësúl sent you. They are skilled warriors and will be very cautious if they do not know who you are... Also, there are seven of them." I gaped at her. Seven brothers? I don't even know how she could have survived her childhood. She laughed out loud at my expression.

Calming down, she started muttering her spell again, and changed back into the huntsman. Nodding silently to me, she pointed and said, "North." Knowing that was as much of a farewell as I would get, I started the long trek to her brothers' home in the North.