She slept soundly that night, her sword, made for her twenty first by her father, lay leaning on her beside cabinet, winking at her with its golden handle, encrusted with easily found gems that sparkled like rubies.

She left it there, in case of trouble. Starving men and women often tried to rob them of food or basic supplies and bandits on the roads were often attracted to the village.

Athelisa did not have much skill but she had enough, enough to do serious injury or hold off an attacker long enough for the knights to be called, for the knights to attack.

Her friend, a knight of the king had shown her a few moves, practised with her when he could, deep in the forest, past prying or suspecting eyes. Athelisa hated training secretly but there was nothing to be done about it, she could only what the king granted her permission to do.

There was trouble in the lands, any man; woman or child could sense it and some would say that even the animals could sense the evil in the woods, the evil in the sky and the foul stench that lingered in the air. It was the price of war, bodies and blood spilled everywhere on naked feels. No grass grew there, not a blade of grass, just swords, bows and arrows littered the lands once covered in grass with trees singing in the distance.

Athelisa Dun Raven, daughter of Charlotta Dun Raven was much like her mother, spirited and strong willed. Her mother was a fighter, a woman with raven black hair, a beautiful enchanting smile and a black cape she wore when she met her future husband, out on the roads.

Her father always said there was something mystical about her, enchanting, as if something called her to him and him to her. He was not even supposed to be out in the forest, he was no hunter but the king insisted he join him on a hunt. Ironically, if it was not for the king, the pair would never have met and her mother would have died from her severe wounds.

He carried her to his home, patching her up and falling deeply in love with her. They were married under the full moon, Athelisa born under one, surprisingly. It seemed as if it was destiny, fate or just coincidence.

Her father told people she had died, Athelisa was seven when her mother left her, joined her ancestors in the sky. It was then Athelisa discovered she could do more than she originally thought... a lot more than she originally thought she could. She was often told by her mother not to accept life and limitations. Her mother used to sit her on her lap, brush her soft silky hair and whisper to her "do not fear difference, my child, do not raise arms against those who fear it, instead pity them for they will never live out their limits but you, my daughter, if you wish to touch the sky, you can stretch your hand and find a way to touch it"

She missed her mother, her raven hair was all she really remembered but there was a small portrait of her in her father's room, even a dress or two of hers. Always long-sleeved dresses of greens, like the forest or like emeralds, Athelisa never once saw her in a short sleeved dress, not short or short-sleeved. She used to like them hanging down, almost as if they had a train, probably because she wanted to fit her cloak over them, never once seen outside without it, the long, large oversized velvet hood, black and beautiful, covering her raven hair.

So many years, she kept herself hidden, shy around people. Most people guessed it was because she was from a country ravaged by war, she had learnt to be cautious, probably seen her family slaughtered. No one asked her, no one dared look into her eyes and ask her, out of caution they stayed clear of her.

"Athelisa, wake up!" her father ordered, covering her mouth as he pointed to outside.

The bandits were back it seemed, they looked like bandits with rugged, ripped clothes, armour that barely fitted them and the cruel eyes that practically dripped blood. They were monsters, stealing produce and killing anyone who dared stand in their way but the men behind them on horseback did not look like bandits.

Their armour was red, their eyes sharp as the blades they were carrying as their blades glistened as the moon hit them.

"Stay inside" he ordered as he stepped into his room, taking his own blade, holding it closely as he stood by the door. The men dismounted, Athelisa hid, thanking herself for forgetting to light her bedroom candle earlier.

She grabbed her sword for protection as she looked outside, waiting for the alarm to sound but there was no alarm, five maybe ten minutes past, the window outside captured unfriendly faces as they marched through but still, no alarm, not a single alarm bell rang. Someone had to do something, Athelisa had to do something. 

She ran towards the door, her father pushed her back as he asked in a rushed, quiet voice "Athelisa, what are you doing?!"

"I need to go, I have to sound the alarm, the king's knights must be awakened!" she replied, edging towards the door.

"I cannot let you go out there alone!" he hissed as he tried to hold her back. She used most, if not all her strength to move him as she said "then come with me, I need to find Erneis, he must be informed!"

"You could get yourself killed" he warned as she crouched in the mud, hiding as she took the long path towards the bell, past the guards. She took a deep breath as she continued, grabbing the rope, ringing the bell as quickly as possible, sounding the alarm.

The bell sung, ringing loudly, almost forcing her to cover her ears. Her father defended her, taking on two attackers. Their swords glowed brightly with fire, engraving on it she could not read.

She raised her sword against one, her own blade glowing red as she sliced her attacker's stomach, a large man with hair long and caked in mud. He fell back as she finished him off out of respect. A knight never let anyone suffer, not even an enemy.

She cleaned the blood off her sword as the knights came marching. She believed she was safe, safe from any harm but how big a mistake could someone like her make? Too much of one it seemed. They were not safe, not as a heavily-built man, around forty or so walked towards the pair, his plain sword in his hands and a vial in the other with a tiny dragon engraved on the bottle, the black bottle as black as coal with the silver dragon almost staring at her. 

She could see determination on her father's face but the fear in his eyes as the man raised his heavy-looking blade. He swung it, almost hitting him but her father rolled, letting the blade merely cut the dirt where her father lay.

"Athelisa, go, find Erneis and get out of here!" he ordered as he swung his own weapon, a light sword, crafted by his own hand.

"I cannot leave you!" she yelled as she swung her own blade but it barely left a mark. The man instead stood tall, as bold as brass as he smirked, opening the bottle. Athelisa watched as flames escaped it, a ball of flame that stood there, in mid-air, waiting for a command.

He whispered something in a tongue she did not know as it flew towards her. Her father dived but only caught most of it as it hit her, throwing her back into the bell. She staggered; confused as her vision blurred but it was enough to see her father's burnt body and the man walking away, cheerful about his kill.

She hurried over to her father, looking at him, shaking him as his burnt skin melted. She should have been the same; there were scorch marks on her arm, on her dress but not a burn, not a single burn on her skin.

"Athelisa, what happened here?!" a knight yelled as she held her arm, her burnt arm still holding her blade.

"A man... he used a power I have never seen before... what was that? Some kind of... flame... something he... ordered. What on earth was that?!" she tried to explain but it sounded more like the ramblings of an insane person. 

"Calm down and tell me, did he use a flamed sword? They are popular, maybe it was one of those?" he replied, trying to make sense of it all.

"No, it was no sword, it was ball of fire, he said something and it came straight towards me! What was it?!"

"That makes no sense, you have to be lying... or maybe mistaken"

"I do not lie, nor was it a mistake!" she snapped as she caught her balance.

"The king will want to speak to you" the knight warned in a harsh, unkind tone.