Shaydefire--1.3

That night, the princess lay sleeping with the healers, who were to monitor her in her first shynes of life. When the first hoofbeats and fire arrows struck the settlement, chaos broke out. Shadows fled for their lives, gathering what little they had and fleeing the woods. Shadows instinctively run from light to find comfort in a dark shadow or in the shade of a tree or building. The dwarves launched flaming spheres of brush and hay at the coming invaders, and arrows with ignited tips were falling around the Shadows like a heavy rain. Many were struck and killed unintentionally. The Shadow Lord and his wife were whisked away by their guards and protectors, and though she fought to go back and look for her child, the Lord’s wife was not permitted, and carried away to safety.

Meanwhile, the child was in the arms of a healer who was running for her life until she was struck down by an arrow. She could not put out the flames in time, and burned alive, her screams echoing among the others who were wounded and dying. The princess landed in a grove of ferns with not even a scratch. The traditional blankets she was wrapped in kept her tiny body safe from harm when the healer fell and dropped her. The ferns were at the base of a large tree, and the princess was cradled between two large roots. She did not cry, but rather looked around, mesmerised by the flames that ate away at the healer. The child saw death for the first time.

That night she would hear and see others die, watch them kill and be killed. She was not noticed, wrapped in the black blankets and tucked away in the ferns; she lay safe and sound, under the shade of the great tree and it’s roots. She watched the forest burn, but her tree stood apart from the others and never caught flame. The view of the dancing fires in the hot Sunnyn air eventually lured her back to sleep, and she slept for a while.

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She woke the next shyne to the moans of nearly dead soldiers who were not killed in the fight. She began to cry, hungry and alone, as the Sun shone down through the branches of charred trees. She heard gruff voices as the morning displayed its rays all around. The healer’s body was mere ashes, for Shadows turn to nothing but dust when their bodies are burned, leaving no bone or charred flesh behind.

Two dwarves were wandering the maze of bodies, mumbling to the wounded and offering them crutches and cloth to wrap their wounds. They both had grey hair and tired, worn faces. The shorter one wore spectacles. They both had beards, but the shorter wore a dress and the other wore trousers. They seemed to be an elder couple, the one donning the dress being the wife, who’s beard was braided and combed much neater then the other. As the princess began to cry, the wife carefully made her way over to the child. Upon moving aside the ferns, the dwarf made a tentative move to draw back, but then leaned down and lifted the princess into her arms.

“Good Spirits, a baby!” She exclaimed to herself, pushing the cloth away from the child’s face.  Her eyes widened, then turned to worry. She sighed despairingly. “Oh, no...you’re a Shadow, my child...you’re not welcome in these parts.” The old dwarf pulled the cloth tighter around the baby and held it close to her chest, looking around as if for a solution. She turned and went back to her husband.

“What’s that, Reina?” He asked upon seeing the bundle in his wife’s arms. His face suddenly fell as he noted how the bundle was held, and the look of concern on his wife’s face. “Bloody demons of the underworld…It’s a child?” He asked her in a hushed tone. She nodded, and he exhaled deeply, running one hand through his beard, the other on his hip. “Bring it back to the cabin n’ feed it. I’ll finish up here n’ meet ye back home.” After glancing around once, she nodded and turned, trotting away from the battleground and away from the city, toward the road that went past the forest. Waiting on it was a small cart with the cloth and herbal remedies they had offered to the wounded dwarves. The city of Whitebear was under Kernar control.