The Flori

As she raised herself to stand, she saw her companions fighting off a group of elves, Ger was shooting them down with his arrows, but they narrowed in on him, making him grab his sword instead. Axel was swiping his axe around as three elves agilely dodged his swings. Evanna glanced to her right to see Ronan also narrowly evading swords from three elves around him. Behind him, Cilv was taking down elves as she went, using her nails and daggers. 

There were so many circling around them Evanna could not keep count. This assessment all took but three seconds as she soon found who she was looking for—someone in charge.

Racing forwards, she leapt over swords that swung towards her then skidded on her knees, swiping her own blades underneath two elves along the way, causing them to fall in pain. Jumping back up with force behind her, she lunged forwards and took down another two elves that guarded a tall, muscular, dark brown elf.

His brown locks were tied into tight ropes pinned in a half-up hairstyle; one part of his head was shaved where his skin lightened from an old scar that cut across the area- an old battle scar from the looks of it. Looking all the more intimidating, his arms stayed crossed against his chest as his amber eyes scrutinised her, his face taut and tight-lipped. Not bothered by the newcomer who wanted to take him on.

Evanna continued to walk towards him after stepping over his fallen comrades, flipping her blades steadily, preparing herself.

"Garrett!" Another elf came forwards, jumping towards Evanna to defend the elf named Garrett. She quickly evaded his oncoming attack and swung both of her swords simultaneously, knocking his own out of his hands. The elf dodged out of the way, but Evanna was quicker and ended up hitting him unconscious with a smack from the hilt of her sword to his face. The elf looked very young, and she did not want to kill him; he was only following orders.

Garrett smirked at her mercy then pulled out a seraph blade that was light blue in colour. The elves really were terrific at crafting such beautiful weapons, she thought. They lunged towards each other as they started a stealthy, well played dance of sword fighting. Attacking and dodging one another, calculating each other's weaknesses. Garrett was not as quick as her, but he kept up an excellent pace, his stamina did not falter, and he was extremely powerful. This was the first time she worried that her skills were not enough.

CLING! CLANG!

They found themselves with their swords crossed against each other. Garrett's biceps bulged as he kept pushing his sword down towards her; he was powerful enough to cause Evanna not to use her other sword as she used both hands to push back against his strength. Gritting her teeth, she watched as her sword was getting closer and closer to her head. A bead of sweat started to fall down one side of her forehead.

"There is always a weakness, Evanna. You just need to find out what it is," Her mother's voice came to her mind; a fragment of memory flashed across her eyes from a time before her mother was ill, and she taught her how to fight.

Evanna refocused herself on the elf in front of her. He was very skilled and obviously had a lot of experience fighting, and he was someone in charge. What do men in charge always assume when they look at her? They think she is incapable. They underestimate her. Garrett was no different, she realised after watching a smug smile crawl up his face as victory was soon to be his.

As the sword was but a slither away from her nose, she decided to play dirty. Evanna headbutted him in the face, a direct hit to his nose, making him pull back wide-eyed as he clutched his nose. Evanna swung her sword at lightning speed, then the other one, putting him on the defence as she continuously swiped each sword alternatively towards him.

Keep him moving, stay out of reach, keep having the upper hand. He is stronger and more powerful than you and can easily beat you. Evanna's thoughts kept her motivated as she kept on the balls of her feet. But as quickly as she was winning, she was once again at a loss.

Garrett suddenly caught on and dodged out of the way, rolling on the floor, then turned around, swinging his sword down at the turning raven-haired female. This time he kept smashing his sword down towards her, using his strength to tire her out, backing her towards the trees. Her foot caught on a fallen tree behind her, making her fall back at an awkward angle.

Evanna felt the breath knocked out of her as she collapsed onto the top of the tree trunk. Her eyes widened at the elf in front of her. Her body was not quick enough to get her out of the position, and her chest was open for the taking.

She lost. 

This was it. 

She finally met her match. 

She failed. She failed her mother.

Garrett smirked before bringing the final blow to her. Suddenly, a sharp pain thudded into his right shoulder, causing a burning sensation to quickly spread through the area. He stopped his sword mid-air from what he was about to do and glanced behind him to see an arrow sticking out from his shoulder. He brought his hand over and yanked it out, grunting as he did so.

Evanna pushed off from the ground in that moment of distraction and jumped up to stand on the tree. She now looked down at the beast of an elf named Garrett. He turned his head back to her and tilted his head up; she swung her leg and high kicked him in the face, then smashed her swords onto his, flinging his loose from his hands. In that exact moment, before he could react, she used her ever quick agility to elegantly jump from the fallen tree and flip over his height, landing on him from behind.

Evanna held on top of him with her sword crossed against his neck while she clung to his chest, keeping the other sword digging into his side. The tips of her toes balanced on his hips with her head now resting on his shoulder. She pulled the blades towards her, using enough force to spill a little blood from his neck. This was so he wouldn't do anything stupid, like wrestling her off of his significant form.

She spoke next to his ear, "Tell your men to drop their weapons." 

He almost growled at her demand.

"Tell them!" She shouted now, making him flinch from the close contact of her mouth next to his ear.

"* Stand down! Drop your weapons! *" He roared to his men.

Evanna brought her head back slightly so she could glance around, the Flori dropped their weapons and backed off from her companions. 

"Ger grab my bag. We are leaving!" She shouted.

"Now, Garrett. Please can you start walking backwards," Evanna asked him gently, almost too sweetly. If the circumstances were different, she would have congratulated him on such a fight; she enjoyed fighting such a skilled swordsman. However, that was not the case. Garrett slowly started stepping backwards, "That's it, nice and steady."

Garrett growled again at her commentary but continued to walk backwards with his hands raised in surrender. Evanna's body was tense as she assessed the situation in front of her, the elves who were left neared to about fifteen, and just like that, it was sixteen. The white-haired elf emerged from the trees, landing elegantly on the floor behind the others. Power emanated from him as he stood tall among the others.

His piercing blue eyes locked with hers, and an icy sensation went through her at his intensity. She gulped involuntarily but recomposed her face as she soon saw Ger and Axel cross her vision, making her feel better. They both had their weapons aimed at the Flori, Ger with his bow and arrow, and Axel now with his throwing axes. She presumed his axe was hidden in his shield on his back again.

For a few minutes, both groups walked at a slow pace. Garrett was backing away with Evanna's companions around them and the elves in front of them stalking them. The atmosphere felt suffocating from the tense standoff. Evanna and the white-haired elf kept their gazes locked in a battle of will the whole time. She was challenging him, infuriating him, but his features stayed hard and cold as he continued to stare and assess the situation.

Suddenly, Garrett burst out laughing, "What is your next cause of action. Human." He spat the last word.

"If I were you, I would not laugh. This sword is quite sharp. I might accidentally slit your throat," Evanna murmured back to him as her eyes stayed on Mr Blue Eyes across from them. Garrett shut his mouth immediately. Evanna tried to wrack her brains on what to do next. She needed a distraction so they could escape, but what? How?

As her thoughts were spinning, she caught something, someone out of the corner of her eye. Someone with auburn hair, cat eyes and their sharpened claws out. Cilv! 

Cilv ran forward and took five elves out at once! Two by her daggers being thrown, another two by her nails punched into their chests and twisting, then the last, she jumped on and ripped their throat out with her teeth. 

After the first two were taken out, Evanna swiftly removed her swords from around Garrett and pushed off of him to flip backwards. The force sent him forwards onto his knees. She instantly turned and started running; Ger and Ronan flanked her. Evanna put one of her swords away and caught her bag Ger tossed at her.

"Smart move," Ronan panted.

"Cilv saved us," Evanna grunted back.

"You are welcome!" Cilv caught up to them then surpassed them, but Evanna saw how she looked. Her mouth and hands bloody, her slitted eyes still wild.

"Guys, they are on our tails!" Axel roared, motivating them to run faster.

Evanna could not shake the cold radiating off her back; she ignored it and continued to run. She pushed herself a little faster, making herself second in line, with all three men behind her now. Evanna could not fathom whether to keep her sword out or put it away so she could run quicker.

Her head suddenly snapped to the side, then looked up, noticing that the Flori was not chasing them by foot; they were chasing them via the trees. The elves ran smoothly across the branches, jumping, swinging, somersaulting across the trees. Evanna could not help but admire them; they looked so acrobatic, elegant, and beautiful.

Turning her head to the other side, she saw more of them doing the same. Her eyes settled on Mr Blue Eyes; once again, she felt captivated as she watched his body twist and turn, in and out of the branches; even as he turned his head to watch her, he was still able to dodge the trees effortlessly. A slight frown formed on her face. Was he smirking at her? What an arrogant assh-

"Raven!"

Evanna's head swivelled to the side; Ger and Ronan were flanking her again. She must have slowed down as she watched the beautiful white-haired elf play in the trees.

"I've been calling your name.." Axel scolded.

"Sorry," Evanna mumbled a response.

"Run, Raven! I know you can run faster than that! Don't worry about us!" 

On Ger's command, she put her full attention on the task in hand, putting her sword in place behind her back. She let her legs speed up and heard the pounding of her feet on the floor intensify, feeling the burn and freedom as they went. Evanna nearly caught up to Cilv at the front of the group, which they now knew was also a speedy runner. 

They glanced at one another. Cilv's eyes were bright, her cheeks a tint of red and her hair crazy. She was enjoying herself. Enjoying the cat and mouse chase they were on.

Evanna glanced ahead after hearing the rush of water; she noticed where Cilv was leading them. The river was meeting them at the end.

"Cilv?"

She did not answer, but before they made it to the water, Cilv made an abrupt right which Evanna kept up with. They were now running by the river's side, losing the Flori who flanked them on their left. Evanna felt a slight smile tug on her lips at the thought of them nearly free of the elves who were pursuing them. 

She noticed how they had been running uphill throughout most of this. Turning her head to the left, she realised there was a sharp drop, and the river was at the bottom of the cliff they were on. Evanna looked back behind them to see the men were still well and unharmed. As she turned her head back to the front, she noticed where Cilv was leading them. 

No… 

She's not really taking us there..

We would be worse off..

Ahead of them, they were approaching a fallen tree that connected the cliff they were on with the opposite side of the river. As if she sensed Evanna's ambivalence, Cilv somehow increased her pace, almost as if she was only jogging with Evanna before. Cilv made her way to the tree and leapt on top, keeping her arms up to steady herself.

"When you are in Direwood Forest, stay on the right side of the river." Suddenly, her mother's warning from her dream came to her mind.

"Cilv!"

Evanna was at the top of the tree now as Cilv made it to the middle part. Without thinking twice, Evanna sprinted across the tree, ready to reach out to Cilv; her hand was outstretched..

"Evanna!"

"Cilv! Stop! The river!"

It was too late. As Evanna's hand nearly grasped Cilv's shoulder, she vanished into thin air once she made it to the other side of the tree.

"Evanna!!!!"

Ger felt his stomach drop. He watched as both girls sprinted across the tree; first, Cilv, then Evanna disappeared. He pushed himself forward, but Ronan was quicker; he leapt onto the tree and ran ahead, also vanishing. Ger and Axel looked at each other as they stopped abruptly at the tree.

Axel looked behind them and saw the Flori jump down to the ground. The white-haired elf and dark brown elf that Evanna threatened both sprinted towards them. He looked back in front and saw Ger already running across the tree, and Axel swiftly followed behind him. 

The elven prince and Garrett stopped themselves at the end of the fallen tree, not going any further as they watched the last of the human group vanish once they crossed the river. The prince clenched his teeth and fisted his hands by his sides. His crystal blue eyes flickered with an unreadable emotion. His aura darkened immensely, causing the atmosphere around him to become chilling. 

"* Why are you angry? That solves the human problem, *" Garrett patted his hands together as though he was getting rid of dirt on them.

The prince continued to stare where Evanna ran off to. Yes, he heard her name being called out. It made him all the more intrigued to know more about her, but now, he started to fear that it was his last encounter with her. 

Nobody ever returned from that side of the river.