Chapter 1

I always do my best thinking engulfed in water. It doesn't matter if it's a bath; a pool, or any kind of body of water, as long as I can dive deep into the crystal clear aqua blue and feel the waves sloth against my waist. Maybe it's because it calms my mind when I sink into it, where my worries can run down my skin to the drain below or it's because I have a deep connection with the element itself, either way, it is the best place for me to take a minute for myself and breathe.

*Why am I so nervous? I've done this a thousand times?*

Try as I might I cannot shake the feeling of anxiety constricting in my chest, elevating my heart beat to a dangerous sporadic thump. Even though my throat is parched I don't dare open my mouth to take a swallow; while the possibility of me getting sick from the liquid probably is little odds, I can't chance it. Not now.

I arch my back so I can allow my hair to get soaked again; I hate the feeling of it semidry plastered on my head, and try to take another breath, but it comes out shaky. I lazily glide my hands to the sides of my chest and spread them out, enjoying the feeling of the cool breeze as I pull my arms in and out in a steady rhythm. *It's been a while since I felt like this...*, I am usually composed of the jobs I have lined up to take day by day, and it's not like I have an issue with the mission at hand either, but I just cannot shake this impending threat of danger around the corner. I look up into the night sky, trying to find the stars through the pitch darkness but there is none. Sometimes, if the moon was bright above the pine trees in hints of reflected grey and blue, and the purple, sharp, snowy icecaps of the mountains, you can see millions of stars twinkling like little heart beats in all kinds of hues and colors. My favorite one is the bright green star that never moves, no matter how many nights I've looked for it in my 20 years, it has never once wavered from it's perch. I wonder if it's even a star, I mused.

Using my hands to push my hair back, scrunching the pile in a crude mess I take another shuddering breath and will the urge to get out of the water. *What is WRONG with me?* I suck some air between my teeth and force myself to find distractions around me; what is going on around me, what can I focus on.

My arms shudder as a response and I raise my right one to my face so I can glance down; there were goosebumps forming along the forearm to my elbow, no doubt from the chilled wind, it was supposed to be cold tonight with a hint of snow flakes coating the grass. So, I guess I shouldn't be surprised my body is responding accordingly. If only I could will myself to get out of the water.

I have already exhausted my ability, so there was no way I could warm it up again; I tap two fingers against my lips in thought, but whatever was breaking through in ideas was broken off by the sound of a twig snapping above my head. I don't bother looking up as I speak quietly,"People are going to have the wrong idea if you continue to stalk me." The sound of practically silent footsteps are heard standing up, then with a thump from a heavy weight, I decide to swim away to the center of the lake. Careful to be sure no extra flesh is seen through the waters surface.

Through the shades of the trees all I can make out is a tall silhouette walking towards the edge of the rocks at the beginning of the waters edge. I watched as rings pooled around the rocks sticking out a few inches above waded over to use them as support. I loved swimming, and I never had a fear of drowning, but if I needed something for cover in case I'm attacked, I needed protection. A gleam caught the edge of the knife on the person's waistband and readied daggers of my own between my finger tips made of pure ice. Hiding them behind me so the possible threat didn't see or take notice of them.

"You and I both know there's no one else within miles around here, so cut the bluff and come out," it was a man's voice, rough but definitely on the older side; when he jumped down from his perch earlier there was a slight wobble on one of his legs but now he seemed to have full confidence and control. There's a weakness somewhere, I just have to find it.

A growl forms in the back of my throat in warning, but I reign it in, there is no need for this person to think I would be threatened by the likes of him in any shape or form. Sometimes, it's hard to pull back on my instincts but it has kept me alive for a long time now and I certainly would keep that instinct fresh in my mind. "What do you want? You have been following me for days and there was no reason to," I kept my voice quiet and feminine, I've learned that many men have huge egos and usually feel they can use their brute strength to try and take advantage of women, but it normally only works if the woman makes the man feel empowered and a little weary. It seems cowardice to pull such a trick and maybe if I wasn't naked under a moonless night, maybe I wouldn't feel so exposed.

He pushes his bangs away from his forehead and sneers, I keep my expression neutral as I curl my fingers tighter around the edges of my created weapons, "I have strict orders to bring you to the king, we can't be having elves running around our kingdom causing havoc and destruction among our borders."

Ah, yes, the law of elves and fey alike that no one of magic ability can step on the earth of human territory without special permission, and you don't normally get it through normal means. Sometimes you have to bribe people, threaten them, or "know a guy" to even come close to that special document written, and it's always only in unicorn blood; a special ink mixed with the blood of magical creatures making it not only binding like an oath, but also a beacon if you so much as break it. I swallow.

"I have done no harm and just wished to pass through," I called out. The current under me was starting to pick up and the chill of the wind was making it hard for me to speak without my teeth chattering.

"Do you have the document?" he asked, the man genuinely seemed unknowing of that part so maybe he was a last minute spy sent out to find me. Well, maybe not me specifically, but anyone of magical blood.

Maybe I could use this to my advantage to escape before he catches on and flee into the forest beyond. I peek behind my shoulder, using the rocks as a shield in case he tries anything, and examine the distance between where I am and the edge of the first few trees. Apart from a few branches that can absolutely grab at me in my escape plan, I can theoretically make it before he catches wind of my lies. That meant I'd have to leave my stuff behind though, and I wasn't keen enough to run through the night with no clothes on my back. I knew I should've come in here with at least my undergarments on.

"It's in my satchel by the camp I made," lies, lies, there was no camp as I preferred to sleep in the trees with the animals as company. My clothes were actually hanging on a branch not too far from where he was watching me, surrounded by a bed of prickly rocks that if you weren't careful how you climbed, you could wind up with scratches all over your palms.

Grunting, the man pulls out a device and presses a small button, it is round in shape with what looks like a grid sounded by a blue splotch in the center. I was always regarded as intelligent and it didn't take me long to figure out what it was. A map. The grid are coordinates with a built in compass and the blue thing in the middle is more than likely the lake I was currently swimming in. I couldn't help but cock my head in curiosity, humans have certainly figured out ways to live without magic that is no question, and it's amazing the technology they have created in trying to rid their world of anything supernatural to help them survive. I am almost impressed, and if it wasn't for the fact am I being hunted by this man, I'd steal a look to get a better view of such a contraption. Then there's the other problem...since I don't have a document of permission, there is absolutely no question in my mind that thing is also a tracker and it would tell him immediately that I wasn't telling the truth. Oh, please let him be an idiot.

"Hmm," he presses another button and scans the information it brings up, in thought he rubs his temple with his other hand and looks up at me then back at it again.

I'm going to have to run, that's clear; as quiet as I can, I sink further into the depths and start kicking my legs under the water to propel me to the rocks, it is a gamble knowing that the man is only a few feet from me, but he's so involved in his mechanic he's not paying attention to me. He must think with my lie that I might not be as a big problem anymore. Well, that's his loss and my gain.

Controlling the water around me I use it to hoist me up to the edge of the rocks and lift myself up to the top and leap down. Due to my elf heritage I barely make a sound as my feet land on the grass and as I look over the man starts speaking. I hunch down to my knees, my long silvery pink hair covering my back side like a curtain. A few waves blew from the wind and I realized just how exposed I am and reach for my clothes by the branch, nearly scratching my arm in my hurry.

"I don't see anything about a document anywhere around here, and unless you camped miles away, then you have lied through your teeth," he was about to say more until he finally looked up and noticed there was a stillness on the surface where I used to be. "I did not want to resort to violence tonight, but I do love hunting a prey as lovely as you."

I had just wrenched up my pants and forced my shirt down my head when I heard a click and I can't help but feel my heart in my throat when he reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out something metal. I am not sure of it's technical term but I do know that it's for capture and possible death if abused in the wrong hands, and I don't think I want to know what he means by his last sentence he spoke. Nope. I grab my shoes and start sprinting, my bare feet touching dry leaves on the ground with occasional dead thorns grazing the soles of my heels. I winced in pain but held on as I near the grove of the trees beckoning forward with each step. I am a sitting duck, I ran through a meadow with only a few flowers in my path, treading them as I long for the safety of the branches and twigs that I can see swaying like in a sort of dance.

I hear mild cursing behind me and don't dare take a look behind me, if that thing he's holding comes in contact with my skin at all, then I am as good as captured and while he is still ordered to take me to his king, there's no telling what he'd do to me on the way. There are many days distance from the kingdom and here and there's quite a bit of imagination that can be used during that boring walk back home and I am pretty confident in knowing what sort of activities that can happen. I am not a fool, I know I am pleasing to the eye and many of my own kind have asked for my hand in my years of living amongst them, but I was always known as the lonely river, I never want to settle down, I have never even been with a man before and the females in my world are not exactly shy about their sexuality either. Maybe I'm just being vain, but the evidence seems to say otherwise.

My legs thunder behind me, practically unseeable as I quickly gain ground to the first few trees and because I can't hear any sounds aside from my own breathing behind I take a quick look to see if I'm still being followed. Although I can hear shouts and some loud bang every now and then I felt that I am in the clear and there's no way I can be followed for much longer.

Slick, muddy earth slides my feet underneath me and I throw my hands to my face to protect it as I start rolling forward, grass flying every which way and mud caking my hair and back as my body skids to a stop right next to the first tree, my back slams into the base and I collapse in a heap of colorful leaves as I try to catch a breath. The fall hurt, that's no exaggeration, I can feel my thighs vibrating from the slam my back experienced from the impact and my shoulders stay slumped at my head. I can't get up. I was running so fast that when I finally lost my balance I slammed into the tree with enough force to rival a running stallion throwing you off in protest.

I groan and try to will my arms to move under me, to pull my body back up, but the moment I grab onto one of the roots sticking out of the ground for support, I hear another bang, and I instantly black out.