I was romping through the meadows not far from our house with the other children of my village. My mother had been telling me since I was born that I should never go too far away. Why exactly I didn't know, but apparently we were special, because we were elves who could control fire. I stretched my head to look one of my friends in the eye. I was half dwarf, so I was much smaller than everyone else who was fourteen. My black hair fluttered in the wind as I tried to catch Joselyn, who was running away from me as usual. Today was my fourteenth birthday, my mother and I had celebrated in the morning and I had been given a beautiful black cloak, it was interspersed with red embroidery. She said it had belonged to my father, it was the most beautiful present I could have imagined. Because my father had died long before I was born. My mother doesn't often speak of him, but one thing I did know was that he had been killed by an elf king who had an dislike of dwarves.
"You won't get me!" Joselyn shouted and ran on giggling.
Laughing, I ran after her and pulled her down with me. "Gotcha." I brought out with a gasp.
"Leona come here, quick!" I heard my mother yell. I ran to her, closely followed by Joselyn. We arrived at my house. My mother was strapping on her sword. Frightened, I stared at the sharp blade. She knelt down to me and looked at me urgently "You stay here in the house, no matter what happens don't come out until I tell you to" she warned me.
"Jasmin we have to go, they are coming." A neighbour of ours called through the open door.
My mother pressed a kiss to my forehead "It will be alright."
Naive as I was, I believed her.
My mother ran out of the house, sword drawn. As she had wanted, I locked the door. Then I heard it, black language. There was only one species that spoke this language, the orcs. But what were they doing so far from Mordor? I pulled Joselyn to the window and peered out. Orcs were flowing out of the forest by the dozens. Fireballs flew through the air, explosions shook the ground. I tried desperately to find my mother. For the screams of the elves who died at the blade of an orc were almost as loud as the sounds of battle. And then I saw her. My mother, like a demoness she was enveloped in fire and fighting five orcs at once. I pressed my nose against the pane of the window and hoped the orcs would just leave when they saw we were not easy prey. My mother, meanwhile, had taken out her opponents and turned in the direction of our house. For a tiny moment she wasn't paying attention and was caught by an orc's club. She was flung through the air and remained lying on the ground. "Mother!" I screamed. I tried to run out to her but was held back by Joselyn "Stay here, it will be your death if you run out there."
I looked desperately at my mother who was struggling back to her feet. The orc striding menacingly towards her on a white warg held a crudely forged sword in his hand. The pale orc's face was covered in scars and he said something in black tongue to my mother. She roared and attacked the orc. What happened next seemed to happen in slow motion. The orc swung his sword and pierced my mother as she jumped. I wanted to scream, but no sound left my mouth. Instead, tears streamed down my face. I fell to my knees, doubled over. I didn't have to see it to know that my mother was dead, I could feel it.
Outside, the screams were getting quieter and quieter. That could only mean one thing, more and more of the elves were dying.
We had to get out of here or we would end up like them. I pushed the sadness to the back of my mind and concentrated on survival, "Joselyn, we have to get out of here," I shook her as she had gone into a kind of shock stupor.
I grabbed the only weapon I had, a dagger, and put my father's cloak on. I pulled the frozen Joselyn behind me. We had to make it to the forest, we could lose the orcs there. I forced myself not to look at the dead bodies we were passing.
Suddenly Joselyn stopped and started coughing. "Leona."
I was horrified to see her coughing up blood, a morgul arrow stuck in her heart. I caught her as her legs buckled "No, please don't." although I knew she was lost, I begged her not to die.
She looked me firmly in the eye "Run Leona!" she coughed up a black liquid.
I shook my head stubbornly. Ducked as another arrow was shot at us.
"RUN!" screamed Joselyn.
Crying, I got up and ran as fast as I could into the forest. I could hear the orcs coming after me. I ran even faster, to a thick tall tree. Then I started to climb. Fluently I climbed from one branch to the other and continued to work my way up. When I was so far up that I was afraid the branches would break if I continued, I stopped. I cut a notch in the tree and spread the resin of the tree all over my body. Hoping the smell of the resin would mask mine, I breathed as shallowly as I could. The orcs were right below me. I didn't even dare move a muscle, for if they discovered me, I would be dead.
I exhaled shakily as the orcs moved on, apparently they had given up looking for me. As quickly as I could, I climbed down from the tree and ran back to my village. I ran through the rubble of my home, my legs shaking. Tears ran down my cheeks as I saw all the elves lying dead on the ground. I ran on to the place where I had last seen my mother. There I saw her. I fell to my knees beside her, not caring about the pool of blood that had formed around her. I just cried. Held my mother and cried "Mother please come back." I collapsed over her dead body. Anger and grief overtook me and a scream erupted from deep within me. A wave of fire erupted from my body and turned everything within a metre radius to ash.
"I'm so sorry Leona."
I startled to see a man with a long beard and pointed hat leaning on a staff. "Who are you?" I picked up my mother's sword and held it up with difficulty to defend myself.
The man smiled slightly "You won't need that sword." there was something about him that made me trust him "I have been a friend of your father."
Slowly I lowered the sword. Still remained on the defensive though.
"My name is Gandalf." the man tilted his head slightly "You may have heard of me."
Yes I had. Mother had spoken of him often. "What do you want here?"
He held out his hand to me "This world is too cruel to let a young elf wander in it alone."
Hesitantly I took his hand and went with him. He put me on the horse in front of him, as we rode away I took one last look back at my destroyed, burning home and blinked away a tear. I had to look forward now. I had to learn to take care of myself alone, because I never again wanted to feel as weak and helpless as I did on that day that destroyed my life.