FF Jordan Falconer - Dark Elf

“For God’s sake, Nightshade. Just kill them.” Galvin snarled. “We have to get out of here before the sun rises, you know that.” The order was a deathblow to her resolve to be a good Dark Elf, and she tried to think up some reason not to do it.

Nightshade, a half-breed Dark Elf, known as the Drow, is raised in the violent ways of her father. Faced with an order to kill a human child, she realizes she can no longer follow the path of darkness. Sunstar, a Forest Elf and a princess, is captured by the Drow and taken to their city to be sport for their king. Can Nightshade's resolve to turn against her violent past be enough for her to rescue Sunstar and return her safely home?

250 Pages - January 2.013

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Sample

CHAPTER 1

“FOR GOD’S SAKE, Nightshade. Just kill them.” Galvin snarled. He was a tall, white-haired figure with cold, glowing yellow eyes. “We have to get out of here before the sun rises, you know that.”

Nightshade stared at the six women and children in varying stages of terror kneeling before her on the muddy ground. They were in shock, and some were sobbing. Nightshade stood with stooped shoulders and hung her head. Her dripping sword, coated in the blood of the human men who had tried to defend their loved ones to no avail, dangled limply in her hand. She tried not to see the carnage and the dead that lay about the clearing. All around, wagons lay overturned, their precious cargo of personal possessions scattered and trampled carelessly in the mud. Hacked bodies lay limp, their blood pooling in the once clean water of the recent forest rain. The night sounds had long since stilled, silenced by the tortured screams of dying horses and men.

Nightshade inwardly sobbed, yet outwardly held firm. The bloodlust had long since fled her system, and now she attempted to dredge up some image that would allow her to continue to slaughter the surviving humans. She looked at the captives and was captured by the frozen stare of a young, brown-eyed girl, no more than three. The girl did not understand what was going to happen to them, what Nightshade was required to do. The action was a deathblow to her resolve to be a good Dark Elf, and she tried to think up some reason for her not to do it.

“Here, let me.” Galvin sounded close behind her. He spun her around. “Can’t do it, can you? Coward.” His handsome face twisted in a sneer of impatience and revulsion.

He slammed a gauntleted fist into Nightshade’s face. She fell backward to the ground semi-conscious, blood streaming from the corner of her mouth. She rolled over to her side, spitting saliva and blood, sword forgotten, mud covering her clothes. Galvin swung his wickedly curved sword and beheaded the first victim. Blood spurted out of the clean shear to the neck as one of the other women screamed. The other five members of the scouting party lunged forward, eager for the taste of more innocent blood.

The rich smell of copper deepened in the early morning air, as the whoosh of metal sounded out in the silence, punctuated by heavy thumps as bodies and heads, separated from each other, hit the ground.

Nightshade slowly got to her feet. Her face ached. She grabbed her sword and sheathed it. She looked down in shame and felt Galvin approach her again.

“When we get back to the city, I will see to it personally that you are executed,” he said coldly. “You shame the name of Nightsbane.”

Nightshade felt a surge of loathing and finally found her tongue. “I am not a coward, Galvin. Kill me if you wish, but I am your best tracker. The king would most surely object.” It was true. She could see during the day and at night, unlike pure Drow. This skill was the main reason her services were sought in scouting parties, despite the almost universal loathing the Drow had for her.

Galvin stood nose to nose with her, contempt shining bright in his eyes. “You rely on the king too much. I’m sure he could be made to see reason,” he said in a silky voice.

A shiver traveled up Nightshade’s spine.

He shot her one last glare and gracefully went to his comrades. They were looting the remains of the wagons, carelessly stepping on bodies in their excitement.

Nightshade watched his muscular back, hating him with every fiber of her being. Sickened, she carefully went to one of the overturned wagons the others had not reached yet and made an effort not to attract more attention. She pretended to root through personal possessions. She broke open a trunk with the hilt of her sword and stilled. It had a rag doll inside, packed lovingly away on top of a load of clean, pressed clothes. As she picked it up and turned it over, more self-loathing coursed through her at her part in the destruction done to undeserving lives.

One of her compatriots came up behind her. “Will you look at the garbage that the humans carry?” the tall Drow said, shaking her head in disgust. “It’s a miracle they manage to do anything at all.”

“Yes,” Nightshade said, shaking her head, pretending amazement. She eyed the sky above. “Time to go to ground. The sun’s coming up.”

She left the female Drow to her wanton destruction of another’s property and went to find Galvin. She had to lead them to a safe place for the duration of the day.



SUNSTAR OPENED HER eyes and stretched sleepily, blind to the opulence surrounding her. Time to get up and face yet another boring day. Lessons were out for the moment, as her father’s royal advisor was in the forest leading a group of Elven children and teaching them the Elven way.

She got out of bed and padded across the cold marble floor, pulling on her clothes as she went. She faced the mirror and saw the same thing she had seen the day before: golden hair, shimmering green, almond-shaped eyes, and the pointed ears of a Forest Elf. She was the eldest daughter of the Elven king, Darkwood, and had yet to convince him that she was old enough to sit in on meetings about matters of state and judgment of her people’s disputes. She was sick of school and thought she had learnt all there was to learn there. She was much more interested in what made a good queen, and how to rule over her subjects with kindness and compassion.

Her only escape was Windwalker, the captain of her father’s guard, who encouraged her curiosity. She knew that at first he had been surprised by her requests to know why things were done the way they were, then intrigued by her keen mind and gentle insight, and she had somewhat encouraged his fascination by her good looks.

They had become firm friends, and now teetered on the brink of becoming more. Sunstar was not sure if she wanted something more and tried to keep their relationship the way it was. Her father did not want to see it. In his mind, they were already married. It pleased him a great deal to know that her future consort was someone he trusted implicitly, was rational, and firmly grounded. Sunstar sighed as a surge of familiar, formless irritation washed over her.

Having made herself presentable, she went in search of breakfast.

She slipped through her bedroom doorway, headed toward the castle kitchens. The guards her father insisted on assigning her trailed behind. She went past the busy audience hall, barely noticing all the petitioners standing outside and waiting to see her mother, Queen Morningstar. She briefly considered saying good morning to her mother, but abandoned the idea. If she went into the hall, she would no doubt be dragged into another all-morning mediation session, and it was too beautiful a day outside to be stuck indoors listening to Elves complain.

She noticed a group of cloaked Elves at the door, their hoods pulled down to cover their faces, just outside the chamber. The other petitioners carefully stepped around them, and Sunstar wondered who they were.

Someone in the crowd bustled into a bodyguard, causing a muffled curse, and for him to brush against her. She stepped heavily and frowned in irritation.

Nothing for it now. I can’t ignore them anymore. She turned around. “Are you both hungry?”

Jarrod, the more senior of the two guards, smiled at her. “Yes, Your Highness.”

“Sunstar, Jarrod, Sunstar,” Sunstar replied with a grin. “There’s time enough for bowing and scraping when I assume the throne.”

“Yes, S-Sunstar,” Jarrod said with a slight frown.

The younger guard gave her a good-natured grin.

“Good,” she said. “I’m starved.”

They went into the kitchen, and the cook, Rivercrest, the mother of Sunstar’s best friend, handed them each a plate of the oats, fruits, and nuts that Sunstar loved. They sat down and tucked into the meal with great gusto.

A young elfmaid, just a year or two older than Sunstar, rushed in to join them as they were finishing the last of their meal. “Sunstar!”

“Meagan,” Sunstar said with a bright smile, eyeing the brown-haired, tawny-eyed Elf. “How are you this fine morning?”

“I’m well,” Meagan said. “In fact, I’m fabulous. I’ve got the day off. You want to do something?”

Sunstar grinned even wider. “Love to. You have anything in mind?”

“Care to go out for a ride? It’s been ages since I had the chance to just . . . wander.”

“Okay.” Sunstar abandoned her empty plate. “I’ll just grab some food, and we can go.”

“No need, already done.”

“Not bad,” Sunstar said. “I suppose you got the horses and all already?”

Meagan smiled at her, looking a little guilty. “Done.” She grabbed Sunstar’s slim wrist and dragged her, laughing, from the kitchen, guards trailing unobtrusively behind.

They ran to the stables, and Sunstar made a beeline for her horse. She mounted and nodded at Meagan. Meagan grinned in return, and they galloped out of the stable. Sunstar glanced back at the cursing guards struggling to mount their horses. She laughed at the deception. She and Meagan curved sharply away from each other.

They left the city from different sides, circled around, and joined each other with the ease of long practice. No guards were behind them. They galloped off, still laughing, into the forest.

They slowed to a trot after a while and rode alongside each other with the ease of long companionship.

“Any ideas where you want to go?” Sunstar asked, breaking the silence as she turned to Meagan.

“Don’t know really. How about the waterfall? If we go anywhere else, your guard is going to find us.” Meagan waved a hand in the air.

“Waterfall it is then.” Sunstar led the way through the forest, her horse plodding along at a steady pace. The early morning sunlight filtered through the trees, lighting up the way with pure streamers of gold. After an hour or so of companionable silence, they reached the waterfall.

Sunstar dismounted, Meagan behind her, and went to stand on a rock looking out over the river. The rushing water roared over the edges of the rocks on the cliff above, spray pierced by the sunlight, creating a beautiful, bright rainbow in the mid-morning air. Sunstar breathed deeply, enjoying the simple beauty of nature and the presence of her best friend to enjoy it with her.

“You hungry?” Meagan asked from behind her.

“Always.” Sunstar turned and smiled at Meagan. She leapt off the rock with a lithe movement and sat on the cloth Meagan had spread on the ground underneath their feast.

“This looks terrific.” Sunstar eyed all the food, deciding what best to eat first.

“Take something, I don’t have all day.” Meagan glared at her with mock impatience.

Sunstar laughed and selected a pastry. She munched on it contentedly while lying back on the thick grass.

Meagan moved to lie next to her when they finished. They stretched out, looking up at the pure blanket of blue lying across the heavens.

“It’s so beautiful here,” Sunstar said softly.

“Yes, it is,” Meagan replied, glancing at Sunstar.

“Tell me, Meagan.” Sunstar leaned up on an elbow, so she could look into Meagan’s clear eyes. “Do you ever think about leaving here?”

Meagan stared back at her in confusion. “Whatever do you mean? This is my home.”

“Yes, I know, but wouldn’t you like to see more of the outside world?”

“Why would I want to do that? This is my home, and everyone knows humans aren’t the nicest of races.”

“True,” Sunstar said. “But what about knowing more of the world before we settle down? I am expected to be the next Elven queen, but I know nothing of the outside world, and my father won’t let me take on any responsibilities.”

Meagan eyed her with some humor. “Well, look at what we’ve just done. We made a game of running away from your royal guard. And you wonder why your father thinks you’re irresponsible.”

Sunstar grinned, feeling an odd emptiness and restless dissatisfaction deep inside. “Perhaps. I know I have to stay here, but I want to see the outside world before I take up my crown.” She fervently hoped that would be a long time away.

Meagan remained silent for a long time, then finally said, “Don’t you want to settle down and get married? Windwalker is smitten with you.”

“No,” Sunstar said. Meagan had touched a nerve. Sunstar liked Windwalker as a friend, but deep inside she felt empty, knowing that he cared much more for her than she did for him. She thought her destiny lay outside the Elven forest, but had been unable to voice those thoughts before now. The Elves surrounding her loved her, and she loved them, but her heart did not truly lie there.

Meagan looked disappointed and a little hurt.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to bite,” Sunstar said. “I just get sick of everyone assuming I swoon over him. I don’t.” She sat up. “Why don’t we go exploring?” She dredged up a favorite activity of their childhood.

“Okay,” Meagan said, mollified. “I’d love to go exploring.” She smiled at Sunstar. She opened her mouth as though she wanted to say something else, but sighed and shook her head. Sunstar shrugged. If it was important, Meagan would eventually tell her.

They quickly packed up the picnic. Sunstar led them into the forest, toward an area that they had never been to before, two hours’ ride from where they were. It was now the middle of the day, and Sunstar knew they would have to leave soon, as they would be in trouble if they stayed out after dark.

They chased each other through the trees for hours, enjoying a simple game of Elven hide and seek all the rangers trained in to learn to move at one with the forest. It was Meagan’s turn to find Sunstar, and she was having only limited success. The late afternoon sun shone through the trees—the wind rushed through the bushes and undergrowth. Sunstar grinned as she watched as Meagan bent and noisily searched the underbrush twenty feet from her.

“Sunstar?” Meagan stood and looked around, frowning. “Sunstar, where are you?”

Sunstar grinned and silently crept toward her, circling around her, within touching distance. A twig snapped.

Meagan whirled around, eyeing the greenery with some alarm. Sunstar pulled her legs out from under her. Meagan screamed and thrashed wildly as she hit the ground.

Sunstar threw herself on top of Meagan, her face a mere inch from Meagan’s. She held her struggling limbs down. “Calm down. It’s me.” She laughed.

“Sunstar. You scared me half to death. I thought you’d gotten yourself into trouble,” Meagan exclaimed and burst out crying.

“Ah, no.” Sunstar eyed her with some alarm. “I’m sorry. I was just trying out a glamour my father taught me.”

“Well, don’t do it again. And your apology is not accepted.”

Sunstar instantly felt sorry for the distress she had inflicted on Meagan. “Look. I really am sorry.”

“I forgive you this time,” Meagan said. “But don’t do it again. I don’t think I can take it.” She gazed longingly at Sunstar.

“What ever do you mean, ‘you can’t take it’?” Sunstar gave her an alarmed look. She wondered how to stop what was coming.

Meagan leaned up and kissed Sunstar full on the lips. Sunstar enjoyed the sensation for a mere second, and then pulled back, breaking the kiss.

“Wait. Stop. Meag