[piosenniel]

Firefoot's post:

Adranel looked out vacantly from her vantage point on the hill overlooking what had once been her village. The snow was no longer white. It was bloodstained by the people of her village and charred by the ashes of their houses. Night was falling, and it was getting cold. Adranel did not have a cloak, but she did not care if she froze. Nothing mattered, because they were gone. Everyone she knew and loved was dead or taken by the Orcs, the latter perhaps the crueler fate than the former. She tried to block away the horrible memories, but still they came back...

It had been a cold, crisp winter’s day. Adranel was alone in the house, for her younger siblings were off with friends and her father and older brothers were working in their small store. She was alerted by raucous cries, cruel laughter, and the ringing of metal on metal. Adranel, like every other person in the village, had hurried outside to see what was happening, though in her heart she knew that it was Orcs. She grabbed her bow without thinking about it, strangely enough since she had long since lost the habit.

Outside, the smell of smoke was thick in the air. The village was burning. She had to find her family and get away - it was the only way to survive. Oh, where could they be? Finally, she found her father on the other side of town. He was wielding a long hunting knife, undoubtedly the only weapon he could find in a hurry. She was about to call out to him when an Orc came from behind and swung its sword through her father’s neck. She stifled a scream and turned and fled, tears streaming down her face. In her haste she nearly passed the body of her fiancé Hergon. A black-feathered arrow shaft was sticking out of his blood-soaked chest. No, no, no, she thought. She knelt down beside him, and found him to still be alive. He opened his eyes at her touch, and the corners of his mouth turned upward.

“Adranel,” he murmured. His breathing sounded labored. Adranel took his hand in hers. “Get away from here, my love. Save your own life, for me. Let me know you are safe.” He closed his eyes again, and Adranel knew he was gone. She rose to her feet, sobs wracking her body. He couldn’t be dead; it wasn’t possible. Surely someone lived. Where were her brothers and sister? She did not know or care where her feet took her now. She ran blindly, her tears blurring her vision. She left the village, left the screams of women and children, left death behind her. Only it would never be gone, because she would never forget...

A lump rose in her throat once more. She had thought she had cried her tears away, but more came. Adranel turned away from the bloody wreckage of the village, for she could not bear to see it any longer. Hergon’s final words tugged at her heart. Let me know you are safe. These words were the only things that gave her will to live, because nothing mattered any more. They were gone. All of them were gone.