She held the stick sword in her small grip. Her violet eyes shone with mischief. Her father gave her an approving nod, on the cue she launched herself on her twin brother. Their wooden practice swords clashed together, they blocked each other's blows but Audriea's nimble movements gave her an advantage, earning the opportunity to strike her brother's arm and leg multiple times. The game went on until she unarmed her brother and begun jumping up down in glee.

"Next time, I'll win," Austin glowered and she giggled.

"We'll see about that." She stuck her tongue out and ran into the cottage her father had built a few months ago.

"Mommy I won," she exclaimed making her mother smile with delight.

"I saw that my little one. And you know what comes after swordplay," she spoke in a soft voice, like the gentle caress of the spring breeze.

Audriea sighed and sat beside her on the small stool made out of thick vines. Austin and her father came in soon after.

"She cheated Mum." Her brother pointed a meaty finger towards her.

"Liar," she fired back.

"Don't be a sore loser, son. One day both of you might become respectable knights," he said as he sat on the ground. He unrolled the leather bag, showcasing his impressive knives and daggers' collection. He picked one up and began sharpening it, while Austin watched their father in awe.

Their mother handed Audriea the small piece of cloth, along with a threaded needle. She copied her mum's posture, her lips pulling into a pout. "I'm not good at these," she whined.

"Nothing can be earned without practice my dear. And you must learn to appreciate every art. You never know, it might prove to be useful," she advised and continued her needlework.

Audriea took her lead and began. Slowly the noise from outside their cottage was forgotten, as the other kids played around and other men and women began building a small bonfire near their cottage for luncheon.

Their father left to continue with cutting the logs brought from the forest into smaller pieces, and soon Austin excused himself to join his father.

The steady rhythm of her father cutting the logs into smaller halves was suddenly put to an end. With curious eyes, she glanced at her mother. Her mother pushed a stray strand of her bright blue hair behind her pointed ear as her silver eyes sharpened.

The thumping of hooves and clatter of metal on metal shushed the entire village. Gingerly, Audriea moved to her mother. Her mum draped an arm over her anxious child.

"There's nothing to be worried about," she murmured in a soothing voice. Audriea picked up the small handkerchief her mother had been doing embroidery on and observed the beautiful swirls of flower on the deep purple of the cloth.

There was a shout Audriea could not make sense of but it snapped her head to the door, the rest happened too fast.

Screams and shrieks, by men and women, deafened her.

"Quick, make no sound and do not come out until I tell you to," her mother spoke in a hushed and hurried voice as she ushered her under a small table next to the entrance of their cottage and hung a wide fabric to hide her better from view.

Her mother picked a dagger. Audriea saw Austin and her father from the edge of the doorway as she cowered away, hiding under the table and the little protection from the wide-open door of their cottage.

Austin was behind their father, as a man slid down his mount, a baby blue cloth was wrapped around the man's upper arm. The Air court's sigil, a silver cloud, branded the cloth. He unsheathed his sword. Before her father could draw the axe, he drove the steel sword into her father's heart. He fell to his knees, his eyes wide with shock as the man pulled out the sword, sleek with blood.

Audriea's eyes widened, she covered her mouth with her small hands, the cloth still tightly clutched in her fist. Her mother screamed but it was short-lived as another man, clad in orange pierced her mother with a sharp blade through her chest.

Audriea heard her mother's gasp. Saw her knees buckle and hit the ground. The red liquid oozed out of her as she hit the earth in a sickening thud. Life seeped out of her silver eyes.

A screeching voice snapped her gaze away from her mother just in time to see the same man cut through her brother.

Her body shook violently as she kept her hand clamped on her mouth. Her mother's lifeless eyes stared back at her.

The screams and wails went on forever, or so Audriea thought before vanishing altogether.

The sound of hooves getting more distant signalled their leave. But she couldn't move, too shun to do anything.

It was as though she was in a horrifying nightmare. But why wasn't she waking up from it?

After a long while, with no sound other than her breathing in the dead day, she crawled out from under the table.

She placed her small hand on her mother's cold shoulder and shook it.

"Mum," she quavered but there was no response. Her eyes burnt with the forming tears. "Please," she begged but it was of no use.

She stared at her mother's eyes, her blue hair had fallen to her pale face. Her gaze dropped to her shirt, damp with the darkening blood. She crawled to where her father and brother were.

She shook them from their legs, but neither of them answered her.

She looked around. "Help," she cried weakly, her voice broking.

All the children she used to play with were lying on the ground, each in their own pool of blood. The villagers she had grown up with were scattered across the ground, limp and lifeless. Blood's tangy scent settled in the back of her throat.

Was this death?

She wondered as tears streamed down her face. She had heard from her parents that humans can die, but she didn't know what dying meant. They told her when she grew up, she'll learn. But her mother wasn't a human, she knew that much, then why wasn't she waking up? Or her brother?

She leaned back to the doorway, glancing between her parents and brother.

She shouldn't have listened to her mother; it was better if those men had done the same to her too.

She was utterly alone. Scared and clueless. No one was waking up. Her tears were drying on her cheeks as dispair took hold of her.

Silence had the place gripped in its iron fist.

It seemed as though the riders had shot the birds that used to chirp in the trees too.

Audriea gazed ahead. Her mind was as vacant as a desert.

Slowly the sun began to sink, sending the world back into the darkness.

The spring breeze spent chills down her spine, but she couldn't feel anything.

Another set of thudding hooves echoed in the eerie night.

Audriea didn't feel fear, she was ready for them to do the same they had done to her family and everyone else.

"Are there any survivors?" A man shouted. "Show yourselves. Do not fear, we are your friends."

She saw them trotting closer to her. Small flames danced around them as they inspected the ruin. Man after man, mounted on their stallions passed the neighbouring cottages.

Finally, one approached her. He stopped and sent a flicker of flame to her, illuminating her pale features. She glanced up and met his gaze.

He gasped. "A kid's alive. General!" he shouted.

Soon over a dozen men circled around her, making her curl into a tight ball, pulling her knees to herself. A woman neared her and jumped down her ride. She took off her helm and handed it to one of the close-by men. Her eyes scanned the place before it fell back on her.

She kneeled before her. "Hey there." She moved her hand towards Audriea. She flinched back and the General halted. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm Rageni, I'm here to help you, to take you somewhere safe," she spoke gently.

Audriea looked around, "My family," she croaked.

Rageni sighed, "I'm sorry. We cannot help them." She neared her, her brown eyes locking with her violet ones. "But I can help you. What's your name?" she tenderly asked.

"Audriea."

"Such a beautiful name. Now Audriea, I need you to be brave. I'm here to help you but I won't be able to do that if you don't do as I say." She turned to one of the men. "Pack some essentials for the kid, hurry," she ordered and the man didn't waste a second. He dashed into the cottage and began packing her things.

"Do you know how old you are?" she asked.

"Five."

She nodded, her brows furrowing. The man gave her a shawl. Audriea recognised it as the one her father had bought for her mother last winter. Rageni draped it around her shoulder. "Hold on tight, little one," she said before hugging her and hauling her up.

The General mounted her stallion, with Audriea curled and secured in her arms.

She turned back to her parents as they began moving away.

She was leaving them behind. In the cold and dark night.

A fresh set of tears burnt her eyes.

⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ 

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed the prologue & I hope you give this story a chance!

I don't know when the next update will be, but I'll try to update this story as much as I possibly can. I'm actually quite excited about it =) 

As always, feedback will be appreciated.

Thanks again.

Stay safe, lots of love, happy reading! <3