Another ruthless kick came dragging some dirt and landed in the unprotected back of the curled-up half-elf. The last one had hit her stomach pushing the air out of her lungs and making the girl hold her knees in a futile attempt of protecting herself. The pain that had entered from a specific location quickly spread through her nerves and body. Still, Alanis couldn’t honestly say what was hurting more, the beating or her wounded pride.

She was used to being looked down upon, humiliated, and bullied, but she always held the head which featured the proof of her birth crime, the half-grown elven-like ears, high. Actually, taking a beating from her peers in a three-to-one fight wasn’t shameful, not to her at least. What made her heart ache, was the scornful and satisfied expression of that damn pure blood elf. He was looking at her as if she was trash, unworthy of existing and breathing the same air as himself.

The prejudice of elves against half-elves was known to all, especially to Alanis. However, she never expected one of them to go out of their way to rob her things and destroy her life. She could handle the humiliating words and painful hits, but the promises of evicting her family from their house and firing from the guild were too much. The girl felt powerless against the attack and afraid of whatever social power the other party might actually have.

So, when a group decided to intervene, pushing the hateful elf and his lackeys away from her, she didn’t hesitate to ignore her pain and roll towards her fallen bow. Crouching and holding the weapon with trembling hands, the girl pushed all her energy and concentration to call upon her gift, woodmancy. It happened in a matter of seconds, mastering the gift as never before, Alanis let loose an arrow bewitched to follow the path right into the elf’s heart.

Everybody stared shocked at the sudden attack. They never expected, both the attackers and the helpers, that the fallen beaten girl would unleash such a deadly attack before they could even react. Even Alanis herself stared at the bow and her shaking hands, confused about what she had done.

Cyrus who was holding the bulkier attacker took a step back in fear, and Hakon dropped the wooden staff that kept the other attacker away before running towards the fallen elf, while Iris suppressed her cast and turned to glare threateningly at the half-elf. They had regretted getting involved, but time would never turn back. Hopefully, the foxkin would manage to keep the young golden-haired man alive.

“He’s… I can’t save him. He’s already dead!” Hakon stuttered. His words dropped like a bomb on the heart of everyone present. The other two attackers exchanged a fearful glance before turning back and running away.

“You’re all dead!” They shouted without turning back.

“Why? We could have handled them… You could have shot him in the leg or arms… Why did you kill him? Now, we…” Iris asked exasperatedly. The dread and fear in her voice made all of them break from the daze.

Killing inside of the town would warrant severe punishment or even death depending on the social status of the victim. Either way, if they were caught in the middle of this mess, the golden trio would be finished.

Cyrus started to panic, repeating that it wasn’t their fault while Iris tried to calm him down. Drawing more attention would only make things worse. Fortunately, Hakon was sane enough to start looking around for witnesses and collect anything that could be traced back to them.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“We should leave here immediately, hide in the Inn… No, we should leave town right now, they won’t pursue us if we get far enough…” He spoke while looking directly at Iris. He knew the warrior wouldn’t be capable of thinking clearly right now.

“Yeah, let’s do it. But, what about… her?” She said with some uncertainty before pointing to Alanis.

“I…” The girl tried to defend herself from what felt like an accusation, but she failed to provide any excuses. She had killed someone. Her life, Dorothy’s life, and probably her saviors’ lives were done.

Countless situations appeared on her mind as she tried to push away the shock and some tiny unspeakable satisfaction of having killed the pompous elf. Now wasn’t the time to drown in remorse or disgusting reverie, she had to at least save the lives of those who weren’t guilty of her actions.

“You won’t be able to leave, not easily… I’m sorry, this is all my fault. But he… his family has some power in town, and I bet they’ll learn of… the situation soon…” Alanis explained guiltily.

“You…” Iris said angrily.

“Come with me… This mess is all my fault, but I’ll do anything to get you out of town. I promise… Also, I might have a way…” Alanis said with her head down before running into the alley. Their time was running short, so she could only hope they would follow her. Even if they didn’t, she still had another innocent person to protect from her mistakes.

The wounded half-elf breathed a sigh of relief as she realized they were following. She continued to limp through dark and empty streets, turning towards the south of the town, until ten minutes later, she stopped and entered a shabby building that looked slightly better than a shackle.

“Dorothy” The girl shouted, praying for the dwarf to be home.

“Aye girl, what’re you fussing about? It’s too early for souper…” The dwarf yelled an annoyed answer from a small room which should be their kitchen.

Alanis darted into the room, Dorothy’s voice wouldn’t do, she needed visual confirmation. Once she saw the small back of the dwarf woman with her long bright red braid, a heavy stone was taken off her shoulder giving place to faintly lighter ones.

The dwarf was concentrated on stirring something on a big clay pot over a simple stove, but after noticing the desperation of the panting half-elf, she turned around ready to deal with anything that could trouble her girl. Alanis saw the familiar stretched hands that had always been there to catch her falls and felt an urge to throw herself into them. She didn’t have the right of unburdening herself, she wouldn’t allow herself to feel relieved, not yet.

Without her consent, tears pour down her face but she suppressed the impulse of leaving everything for the dwarf to deal with. She took a deep breath and stopped a few steps from the other woman.

“Dorothy, I… I screw up really bad…” She managed to spurt, and the other reacted by giving a comforting smile as if saying that whatever it was it wouldn’t be so bad.

“No, this time, I really… Dorothy, I killed someone. I killed that damned elf!” Alanis shouted before throwing herself into the dwarf’s embrace, crying. She no longer could contain the fear and remorse.

Dorothy’s eyes contracted as she realized what the girl had done and who the ‘elf’ was. It was much more than she expected, and more than she could deal with. From the day she took in the starving child, she promised the girl and herself that she would always be there, to protect and help the half-elf to resist all pains and solve any problem. How could she go back on her word now, when the girl most needed it?

“I’m sorry, Dorothy. I’m…” Alanis cried hugging the dwarf tighter.

“No, my sweet girl. Now is not the time for it, and believe me, we’ll talk about it. Explain what happened, everything!” She spoke kindly but firmly.

Between sobs, Alanis explained what happened trying to be as detailed as possible. Dorothy heard the story without letting her emotions show. Then, she gave the girl a strong reassuring hug, demonstrating that she was there for her, and said:

“Alanis, you brought those adventurers here, right? Go call them in.” She spoke firmly.

“Dorothy…” The girl tried to say something but was interrupted.

“Go, quickly. We need to leave town right now. It won’t be long before they come looking for you…” Dorothy stated in a serious tone.

“I’m sorry…” Alanis said again as she left the room.

Sorry or not, she couldn’t turn back time. Reality was insensible to all feelings, no matter how deep and truthful they were.