End of A Neverending Winter
Fairy tale it is to believe in the fairies and orcs how could it be true. Surely dragons and dwarves are things of the myths and legends. Surely they have to be how could they not? Nothing seen of them in history for how many years? It simply could not be, but what if it was? Let us rewind time, look back into the sands. Venture to a time that so many claim never could exist, let us unravel a world long forgot. And remember that despite it's lack of proof a legend it certainly is not.......
For many years the dark elves were an established power of might and magic amongst the world. Like any elven nation they were naturally entwine with the earth. The kingdom of Xundus Sheltleth was in touch with the earth and elements even more so then most. They had learned how to bend the elements to their will in extrodinary ways. To be born within Xundus was to live to its name by birth. One was either acomplished with magic or elemental use by the first dawn. They were mighty and strong, in a kingdom of the forest that was captivating even then. When the world was filled with magic and wonder Xundus was a prime example of the splender of the world. And it grew, elves were of peace and dance offten times. That rarely could be said for the dark elves however. They prided themselves on conquest and war, they became grander still under the rule of Veshine. Veshine was a natural leader and warrior. He could use elements on such a level that even unarmed hundreds were said to fall before him. He was mighty and grand wise and always looking to further the reach of Xundus, some say Sheltleth was added to the name because of Veshine. For you see Sheltleth means chaos and for as great a man as Veshine was chaos was how he advanced the world.
Veshine had a lovely wife as well Fairiney and for the longest time the world seemed to belong to them. Or atleast that was what Veshine thought but alas it was enebitable that his ego found him. That his pride was his downfall, when orcs came in overwhelming numbers like never fathomed. It is said that these wars were more bloody then many story tellers are willing to explore. Finesse of the elves slaughtered many, but the barbarity of the orcs was grizzley at its best. Elves that fell were reduced to ravaged carcasses even wolves and fultures shied away from. And during one of these frost covered battles arrows found their way into Veshine. Their metal was rusty diseases they were not ready for came. The tips of orc weapons were purposely crafted in a reckless way, stitching the wounds was a pain and rarely a success. Of course magic could help but spell casters were always the first to go in these wars. So with no healers of apropriate skill around and diseases the elves had yet to be exsposed to Veshine died.
Reign over Xundus became the possession of Fairiney. But elves are still a loving hounorable race. While dark elves are in many ways opposite of elves they still feel like the others. And as a lover Fairiney was distraught her heart ripped from her core she fealt. Victemized the war did not come to a halt, rather the wars escalated. Fairiney would run Xundus to the ground if it ment the end of the orc existance. For years they fought, sieges, surprise attacks assassination any was fine. The wars of Veshine atleast had traces of hounor, but racked with misery the dark elves became the same monsters they fought. Orcs have always been a race of greater numbers however, and with the arts of magic and elements runing thin the elves began to die off slowly. Picked apart untill wounded, with a loss arm and a condition that left her bleeding out slowly regardless of help Fairiney caved in.
"The humans are running us all from our home lands regardless. This war was my mistake I am exteminating ourselves just of spite. My last breaths will not be in watching my kin die. We surrender ourselves to you, keep my people safe, my family safe..." In this moment Fairiney had betrayed her lover for her people. Veshine never surrendered, his body had been scared all over as a testament to this. Fairiney acted as a queen and hated herself for it, as the orc considered it. The dark elf queen dropped to her knees a process that buried a sword of a orc lord into her throat. A sacrifice and suicide they found they could commend. And so the few dark elves became apart of the fleeing orcs.
Dark elves would become the slaves and servants of the orc species. Some few were warriors, many existed only for labor purpose and the bulk were just servants and workers. The dark elves were primarily women, only enough men to keep the species around was allowed. Normally speaking one did not give a halfling the fathers race won out and so this became the way of things. Xundus was a distant memory fadded away almost entirely over time. And as the world lost the age of myth and magic that memmory vanished even more. Untill it was just a fairy tale told to young elves...
Snow White
Enihsev smiled down at his new born daughter, a dark elf he found more beautiful then the snow caps of the world he rarely got to see. But the mother was furious as the storms that shook the mountains. He had lied to her, said he could give her a orc boy. Eckmena was not the wisest of orc women but she had been of a warrior cast and not to bad on the eyes for an orc. She had two daughters Egmeshc and Ugmahsh and was hoping for a son to carry on the warrior legacy in her veins. For while she loved Egmeshc and Ugmahsh, or whatever the orc equivalent is she saw them as useless in the field of battle. So when she gave birth to another girl, let alone a elf she was furious like a erupting volcano. Erihsev however had wanted this.
"Relax snaggle tooth" Eckmena actually found the name, cute it helped her calm down. Elven companions proved good at being less brute force if nothing else. She would know, she had killed both Egmeshc and Ugmahsh fathers for picking a fight with her. "Admittedly I lied, but trust me she is a warrior. Both of us spill blood for a living, its in her blood." Now he just needed a name that didn't tell who she was. Erihsev was not a name an orc would figure out, but anyone who could read backwards would know his secret. "We shall call her Nique Ciril."
Frost Bitten
"So ye lernded how to do some snaga albai pushdug?" Egmesh asked with a playful shove. Even though her words had slave and crap esentially in the statment. She was only two years older then Nique but allready towered over her. Ugmahsh the oldest one just listend in she didn't talk much, she studied hard to be a spell caster. That ment not leting her mind wander, it wasn't easy but Nique was sure she would pull it off.
"Ye psuhdug Egmesh!" Nique growled slightly when she heard the words. Ughkre had a chicken breast stollen from him the other day by Egmesh and now wanted to get his lunch back. His fathers dagger was clutched in hand with a very snug grip. Nique was in love. The way the metal shined along the flames, that curvature that was like a fine meal. Ughkre had drawn it to quick and cut his finger on the glittery end. The way his dark red almost black ichor casscadded along the steel was like watching the last of the wine roll down the bottle. She had to have it, had to.
Ughkre jumped on Egmesh in a flailing sloppy pin. She noticed it, it was natural, she just knew it was sloppy. And a wicked grin came along her face, a columb of earth burst up knocking Ughkre back. More wine oozed from his broken nose, and Nique pounced instantly. Her small hand gripped his wrist with the shiney. She slamed the hand to the ground, and a stone shot through it. Ughkre yelled, and his yell was like music to her, not that rubish at parties but real music beautiful music. The shiney found its way into her soft hands and then it came up. And what came up had to come down, young Snow drove that blade into his chest just above the heart. Black wine splashed her skin, she craved more. The seven year olds hands began to rise and fall again and again over and over. It was fun, it was addicting, it was great!
Defrost
After that day it was a rare thing for the family to be picked on they had a tigress in the house. But that didn't stop Nique from harming others, she pounded the tar out of people anytime a chance arose. Though Nique was a slave they let her join many ventures out of the caves just because. She was a noble savage she deserved to be where blood was spilled. Or as she saw it wine, victems were like flasks just waiting to be punctured. Every night one of the elder dark elves continued to teach the nineteen year old savage how to use the elements. Nique was being tought the ways of her people, and picking up on it at alarming rates. The elder Erihsev and even Eckmena was proud of her. Soon however this would all change.
"Tonight im going into the cities, I've seen it they celebrate ghosts and such. They don't do alot of dressing up but some do, from one of the other human cultures. I can fit in and take things. Hunting runs have had us go by them slightly, they have shinies Ugmahsh like you've never seen." Ugmahsh smiled at her sister, a fang jutting from her lower lip. Before she nodded aproval encouraging Nique and Egmesh to go ahead. They were sisters and had eachothers back no matter what the other sought to do. And so the two sisters took off for the city. Completely unaware of what was coming, and the shaman Ugmahsh was to new to visions to truely undestand them.
Nique and Egmesh did not believe what they saw that night, what they stumbled into. Caves not in the mountains with glass like walls they didn't think could be made. They watched as something like a bird but thousand times bigger took to the skies. It was like a castle in the skies something that seemed imposible even for the magic they had seen. Those pink skined beings drove their horses from the inside and they were made of shinies and not muscle. It was a whole other world, and of course they took the chance to steel. They took jewels and gems by the hand full, thats when the two saw a man on the wall that was not real with fire behind him but no heat from it. And the man had some weapon, they had to get such a weapon. Taking such weapon however got them chassed after. The pair heading back for the mountains. Snow was kicked up all around their feet as they ran, but they had forgoten Nique was faster. They ran and they ran untill their feet were blistered and freezing. Their bodies handled the cold beter then the pink skins but it still could get cold without proper care. Nique turned at this time to realize Egmesh was not behind her.
Suddenly Nique heard thunder, the sound scarred birds and on a small level her. Their was no rain it wasn't thunder season. Egmesh!
Racing as fast as her feet permited backed by the wind making her leave blooms of snow in her wake she raced to find her sister. Green skin was begining to get lost under winters sea. Whine spilled along the ground making ivory snow fade to a ashy grey. Three men stood with thundersticks over Egmesh a mix of looks on their face. And Nique snapped her rage was primal, and brutal. What was left was hard to make clear of who it was the rage of a sister loosing her rock was cripling. Coughing Egmesh managed a few words only "b....bern me. En mek...sure....Ugmahsh guts to see." Nique fought tears as she kissed her sisters brow ignighting a flame. The discoveries Nique found were hidden that same night before she returned home.
Frozen
"We cent hev more lik er yu die" Eckmena barked a few drops of spittle escaping her mouth. Nique had forsaken the rules, ran wild like a beast. Her actions a shame to the people, a shame that got Egnesh butchered. Such a troublesome gene could not be allowed to wander any more then Nique. Nique was good and young she was to live as the rules stated, but Enihsev was old and a bad seed. Eckmena grabbed her ax and kicked her husband to the floor. He didn't flee or resist he knew Eckmena was right he only looked to Nique with loving eyes. Then the axe fell and it dug a chasm into her fathers head. Wine poored freely from the canyon that was made. It was the only time Nique had ever smelled a bodies wine she did not want to gorge upon. That was the one day where wine lost lts texture, where her father died and sister fell.
Nique woke biting back screams and tears, that was two years ago. The memories still plagued her mind but one thing kept her going. The promise made to Egnesh that Nique was going to make happen starting today. She had picked a fight with Orfla and Glikma two brothers of the hunt of much merit. Orfla was said to crush rocks with but a swing of his ax and Glikma could hit the head of a dear at half a mile out with his bow. Nique had stollen their food made them angry, then as they prepared to attack her she made them stop. Invoking the rights to settle the fight in the pits. In the pits one side walked out the other did not. It was a way to keep the infinte amounts of trouble to a limit. "Ima get things to change Ugmahsh, Skurz knows a fighter when he sees one." Ugmahsh was hesitant but sisters never crushed the vision of the other.
So as the toches became all lit as dusk set in the young elf slave and hunter stepped into the pit. Thick mudy walls reached upwards imposible to climb out of. They were cracked and jagged like spider webs on a boney battered carcas. Earth was grimy, having been made into mud many many times from blood being spilt. As a little girl Nique loved coming to these events always imagining the entire bowl to be filled of wine. Today she was the killer, the crowds yipped and booed for her not some orc master but her. And Nique loved it various blades made up her outfit like knives and sheathes more then the leather it was. The way her grey skin reflected the light reminded her of the moon. Like the tales of old told by the Elder and father.
Orfla and Glikma stepped forth into the pit dressed for a war that everyone thought would never ever come. They were the heroes so many greenskins rooted for like thunder along the mountain tops. Orfla had his ax it was big as ones ribcage it seemed. Glikma had bow with enough arrows to slay a hundred dear. But there was more to enter that mudy bone filled pit a troll stepped from the caverns. So large it was the only thing to be able to touch the cealing of the structure. And last was the Eldar of the dark elves, for Nique to be seen as more she leader the Eldar knew she herself had to die. And so the fight began Nique became something Ugahsh never thought she would see. Something that seemed a lost thing of late, Skurs was the only other real warior it had seemed.
First came Orfla charging at her like a wild bore, the femur of a long dead orc could be heard cracking under his foot. A grey foot turns to put a large rockwall between the green skin and her. That heavy ax smashed through the rock with ease. No harder then a trolls fist would bone, Nique knew Orfla would do that however. A graceful spin had her legs snake around his throat when such happend. Air moved as the snow white haired elf wanted fliping the orc over onto his back with wicked force. The motion snapping the neck a small blade coming into her hand and going into Orfla's eye. An artful role dodging a arrow aimed for her. This was where the speed of an elf came to the forfront Nique dodging one shot after the next and bringing more blades into her hand slaming a trio of blades into Glikma's throat. As the body fell Nique grabbed the arrows from the quiver, a throw sending them all to the troll wind propeling them fast and hard. The woman seeking Serenity for both orc and elf then struck at Glikma's gut earth erupting through his heart finishing the large green skin off.
From there sevral minutes passed in a display of violence and precision not truely seen sense the fall of the elves. The troll swung wildly the mountains vibrating relentlessly from the motions the two elves always escaping just by a hair. The two elves proceeding to fight with acrobatics and martial art like grace. But there was a reason why Nique was so confident in her abilities she was not bound simply by the mythic elemental grace of the elves. She was also orc brutal and cold. A troll knocking the two aside with a overly bulky arm slaming the two into the walls. Each elf runing from both sides before Nique motioned to freeze the eldar, with that she slid under the legs of the giant. Making note to never do that again not sight she wanted to see much of. The motion brought the troll around his arm smashing into the eldar, the old elf becoming like glass beneath the blow. At last came the troll, lava bursted from the ground in gusyers melting the large elphant sized legs. The slender build of the elf runing along the massive limb as the swinging giant fell. Standing on the trolls shoulders Nique withdrew a thunder rifle from her shoulders claimed from one of Egnesh's killers. Four times she pulled on that triger, four loud cracks of thunder escaped into the air. The troll fallin with wine pooring free from the crater like water from a fresh spring. A tongue laping up what blood splashed along her lips and chin.
The halls that day were booming, alive with activity as some screamed and others hollored. Some distraught by the loss, others amazed by the display. But the violet eyes behind that mane of snow white hair only looked for two people. Ugmahsh her sister she promissed to expose to the world, and Skurz the person she needed to join.
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