Hello everybody, and welcome to my novel! This is published on Wattpad as well, and most likely will also be added to Ao3(Archive of our Own) in the near future. It is completed, but it is a first draft, so I will warn you that there will be mistakes and inconsistencies. I fully intend to fix those as soon as physically possible, and am currently working on rereading the draft to find such mistakes, so when I rewrite it I can have something to work off of.

Anyway, I'm not too sure about the ground rules for this site, but I'd say my usual rules still apply. Please don't hate on people. I don't care if you hate on my characters, but the poor other readers on this site shouldn't be attacked :).

Also, please bear in mind that this is my first draft. So don't expect too much. I hope you like it, though, and I love constructive criticism! Thanks so much for reading!

-Sky :)

Hello everyone, and welcome to my book! I will update on Saturdays, as well as any other day I like, but at least on Saturdays. This is already fully written, but once again please bear in mind that it is the first draft!

Anyway, please enjoy, and leave a like or comment if you do!

-Sky :)

AVEN

It was always at the best part of her book when Aven was drawn away to serve a customer. This time, she was in the middle of a very particularly action-packed fight scene when she heard the sound of the bell ringing at the counter downstairs.

Sighing audibly, the girl dog-eared her page and tossed the book onto her neatly made bed before heading out of her room. “Coming!” She called, her voice automatically converting to a sweet sounding customer voice.

She lifted her skirt slightly and clomped down the wooden stairs as quietly as she could. But like most of her family’s inn, they needed to be replaced, and creaked dreadfully. The bell rang again, much to her irritation.

Aven reached the counter and slipped behind it quickly, before lifting her eyes up to see two figures, cloaked in the dark, rich colors of the elven kingdom. Her breath caught in her throat as she raised her eyes farther to come face to face with the most elegant elves she’d even set her eyes upon.

The first stood slightly in front of her companion, her cloak a deep purple, and black hair spilling out of the lowered hood. She was tall, and the lump at her side indicated a weapon. Aven could not discern anymore about her both because the she-elf had her hood lowered so low no facial features were exposed, and it was clear that she’d been kept waiting long enough.

“Welcome to the Knight’s Inn!” Aven chirped, plastering a smile on her face and forcing herself not to stare. “How can I help you on this fine day?”

It was then that the other elf stepped forward elegantly, taking the place of his friend, who let out a soft scoff. The male elf ignored her, and placed a single, very pale hand on the counter. He was taller than his friend, and his cloak was cobalt blue instead of purple. He also had hair spilling out of his hood, which was tugged as low as the former. Aven found herself intrigued by the two.

“I’d like to get a room with two beds, please,” The male elf informed her, his voice soft and deep as velvet.

“Of course,” Aven flipped open the pad of paper they kept to keep track of which rooms were which. “We have room eleven, and room eighteen open.”

“Which one is closer to the exit?” It was the she-elf who spoke this time, and Aven felt herself chilled by the tone in which she took. It was just as smooth as her comrade, but the air to it seemed quite a bit more deadly than she liked.

Suppressing the urge to gulp, Aven managed to keep her voice steady as she replied, “Room eleven, miss.”

“Right, we’ll take that one,” She held out her hand for the key, but Aven wasn’t ready to give it to her yet.

“How long will you be staying?” She asked, her hands trembled slightly with fear, but she forced herself to continue. She would not allow her parents to be robbed of their earnings.

It was the male elf who answered this one, “Two or three nights,” he replied casually, “How much?”

The she-elf looked as if she was about to protest, but Aven didn’t give her a chance. “Four piso.”

He dropped a small pouch onto the table. “Will that cover it?”

Aven opened the pouch and peered inside, her eyes widening immediately as she caught the faint, glimmery opaqueness of a utopis. “This is too much,” She said, taking out one of the coins and exchanging it for six piso from the little pile they kept in the drawer for times like this. “Here’s your change,” she dropped the piso into the bag and slid it back across to him, before turning and retrieving the key from the wall behind her. She dropped it onto the counter in front of him. “And there’s that. Can I have your names to put down in the reservation book, please?”

This seemed to make the elves uncomfortable. The male elf shifted warily from side to side and the she-elf had suddenly gone very still. Aven suddenly felt uncomfortable, but she forced it down. To make her point clear, she pulled the book out onto the table and pulled a pencil into her hand, looking up at him innocently. “It’s tradition for all customers, just liability if something is stolen or broken, you know? Not that I mean to imply that you’ll steal anything, of course.”

“Eldrin and Mae,” The male elf finally spoke.

His words caused the she-elf, Mae, Aven assumed, to emit a hiss of irritation. “El-” She began to protest, but he cut her off with a wave of his hand.

“Relax, Mae, the girl’s only doing her job,” He assured her, before turning towards Aven. “Not that we’re in any trouble, but neither of us like a lot of company, and we’d both be pretty appreciative of you to keep quiet about us being here. There might be a bit more piso in it, if you do.”

“I don’t need money to respect someone’s privacy,” Aven retorted, sharper than she intended.

Eldrin held up his hands in defense at the aggressiveness behind her words. “Apologies, miss, I didn’t mean to offend,” He said gently.

Aven forced herself to give a stiff nod in response, even though the tone of his voice when apologizing had been very condoning. She didn’t like being treated like a child, her parents did that enough. “Alright. If there’s anything you need, just come up here and ring the bell and someone will come. We turn the lights off in the parlor at ten, so if you don’t want to sit in darkness I suggest you retire before then. The town’s curfew is 10:30, and going out in the streets after that is forbidden.”

“Right, thanks. We’ll be sure to call if we need anything,” Eldrin assured her, before turning stiffly on his heel and walking to the hall where the rooms were. Aven didn’t miss the fact that he reached a hand out to pull Mae with him as he left. The she-elf was just as stiff in posture as he was, and Aven wondered if she’d offended the two by mistake.

Ah, well, guess it’s neutral then, she figured, despite feeling guilty about the possibility. She wasn’t supposed to get so cross with the customers, but sometimes her anger got the best of her and she couldn’t help herself.

Forcing her body to relax slightly, Aven wrote the names down in the guest book, adding a small note beside them that they were elvish, and turned to go back up the stairs. She was just stepping from behind the counter when the front door banged open and a very tall, intimidating creature stepped inside. He was wrapped in a colorful variety of furs, despite the warmer spring weather as of late, and stood at least twice as tall as her, she presumed.

He stomped to the counter, feet clomping louder against the floor than she could have imagined possible. Yet until that moment she hadn’t known anything of that sheer size was possible, either.

Stepping back into the center of her workspace, Aven looked up at the creature in fear. She couldn’t help it any more than she could help the shiver that ran down her back. “C-can I help you, sir?” She questioned him meekly.

“’Much for two nights?” He responded, his scratchy voice so vastly different compared to the musical tones of the elves that Aven winced slightly.

“Four pisos,” She informed him, making sure to speak clearly and in a normal tone. If there was one thing her mother had taught her, it was never to show her fear. And although she’d already quaked visibly under his gaze, she forced herself to straighten and pretend she hadn’t.

The creature grunted in irritation and dug his massive hand into a satchel hanging by his waist. Aven hadn’t noticed it before because it blended in with the many different furs so well. It was, of course, made of the same materials.

A moment later, she jumped back as he dumped the whole thing on the counter and began digging through it. He grunted again, this time in satisfaction, as he pulled a piso out of the pile. It took him a while, but eventually, he found another, very dirty piso and eight creds. He dropped the money into Aven’s palm and scooped the whole rest of his junk lot back into his satchel.

“Good enough for ye, girl? Now where’s ma key?” His voice was a bit more growly, if that was even possible, after she’d put the money safely away.

Aven pulled out her log book, grabbed the same pencil as before, and said, “I need your name first.”

The creature leaned forward, grinning a row of yellowed teeth at her, and she had to force herself not to recoil in shock at the sight of his face. His hair was long and greasy, splaying out around his furs but not noticeable until that moment. It blended in very well. His face was scarred and warped, and glistening as if it were made of wax. And his eyes were the scariest eyes she’d ever seen. They were pitch black, with not a single twinkle of warmth showing within them, colder than the ice her papa cut for selling in the winter.

“Now, do you think you can get by without ma name, little missy? I would hate for somethin’ to…happen to your pretty little face,” He whispered as he reached out toward her.

He never got that far. Out of instinct, Aven’s hand slipped into a cleverly disguised cubby hole in the counter and closed around the familiar handle of a rusted dagger. Without so much as a half-second of hesitation, she whipped it out and put the blade to the creature’s throat. His eyes widened.

“Touch me, and there will be consequences,” Aven promised darkly. “Now, you can either give me your name and I will give you the room key, or I’ll force you out of this inn and keep your money as compensation for your idiocy. What will it be?”

The creature seemed to gulp, before straightening his face, and giving her an icily murderous look. “Name’s Djoshe, alright? Now don’t you go tellin’ anyone that.”

“I won’t,” Aven promised, forcing her voice to be just as icy as his was. She stepped back and pulled the key for room thirty-four down from the shelf, offering the creature a cold smile as she dropped it into his hand. “Now run along, you’re on the west hallway, at the end.”

Without another word, the creature turned and clomped down the hallway. Aven lowered the dagger as soon as he’d gone, and made sure to copy his name down and make note of his…interesting qualities.

She was about to return the dagger to its hidey hole when a voice spoke, “May I see that?”

She jumped about a foot in the air and whirled around to see none other than Eldrin leaning against the doorway to his hall, which was the opposite way the crea-Djoshe-had gone.

“Why? It’s just an old, rusted dagger that we keep in here for jerks like that dude,” She responded edgily, still jumpy after Djoshe’s boldness.

Eldrin sighed. “I feel bad for offending you. I was going to go ask if you needed help with anything, but I could polish and sharpen that dagger for you instead, if you like. It’s not going to do much harm like that, and I have been told I have quite the skill with that sort of thing.”

Aven really didn’t think he needed to apologize at all. “It’s fine, mister,” She told him with a small smile. “I was the offensive one, really, and I must be the one to apologize.”

The elf grinned at her, “No, no, it’s quite alright. And call me Eldrin, will you? Titles have never sat right with me.”

“Sure.”

“So what’ll it be? Scrubbing the floors or polishing the dagger?” He asked again.

Aven sighed and pinched her temples, “Eldr-”

“Please?” He begged, his knees bending slightly as if he were about to drop onto them and plead to her.

“Fine,” She relented, trying not to laugh. She’d never met someone so interested in doing such hard and tedious work. “You can polish the dagger, if you’d really like to. But you really don’t have to-”

He cut her off with a grin, “Okay!” And then promptly held out his hands.

Aven handed the artifact to him carefully, feeling an odd sense of protectiveness toward it as he walked away. She forced the idea out of her mind, and decided she needed to see her mother. Their three very unique guests needed to be discussed with someone who actually knew what she was talking about.

So, here's the first chapter. Please, once again, let me know what you think and give me some constructive criticism! Thanks so much and have a great Saturday!!

-Sky :)

Happy Saturday, everyone. I just wanted to say thanks so much for all of the support I have already received, especially for my poems. You guys are great, thanks so much for being there for me! Anyway, here's your chapter for the day!

- Sky :)

AVEN

It was a day after Aven’s interesting guests had arrived, when she came in contact with them again. None of the three had come down for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, much to her and her mother’s surprise. Her mother’s strategy when it came to handling odd guests was to serve them a very fancy breakfast and earn their favor, but it didn’t work so well when no one wanted to eat breakfast.

Aven’s mother had been just as intrigued by the guests as Aven had, but had been proud of her daughter for handling them well. She was so pleased that elves considered the inn worthy of staying that she almost hurried down the stairs to greet them immediately, but Aven stopped her before she could.

When she’d explained about the other guest, who was much less pleasant than the elves, her mother’s joy had disappeared faster than one of the many mice they always caught around the inn. She had not commented anything about him, but Aven had no doubt that her mother’s voice would have been dreadfully soft, filled with an emotion that she was struggling to hide. Aven had left the room soon after that, not wishing to be in the tense silence any longer.

She hadn’t spoken much to her mother for the rest of the night, which was driving her crazy, but she knew not to interrupt the elder’s thoughts. So there was silence.

Midday had just passed on the day after the guests had arrived, and Aven was curled up reading her novel. She’d finished the fight scene and, for once in her life, was reading a particularly boring part of the book when there was a soft knock on her door.

She lifted her head immediately, unfamiliar with the sound. Her mother never knocked, and when her papa visited her room, he banged his knuckles against the wood no less than five times. So, wondering who it could be, and grateful for the interruption of the drab scene in her novel, she dog-eared the page and stood.

Upon opening the door, her eyes widened at the sight before her. There stood Eldrin, his hand halfway up to the door as he was ready to knock again. The first thing she noticed was that he didn’t have his cloak on. He wore a green shirt and brown pants, signature of any wood elf, but his were clearly spun with the best cloth. The kind reserved for highly ranked elven nobles, or human kings. He stood tall and regal, brown hair spilling about his shoulders but braided away from his face, chocolate brown eyes observing her with practiced accuracy, and pale face sculpted to perfection.

Shuddering slightly as she realized that she was under the presence of a very, very highly ranked elf, she lifted her eyes to his. “Hello, Eldrin. Can I help you with something?”

“Well I was wondering if you wanted to see the dagger,” He replied, his voice somehow even smoother than the day earlier. He offered the distraught girl a warm smile that didn’t seem to fit the rest of his features.

“Oh, sure,” Aven answered, taken aback. She was surprised he’d gotten it done so fast, but she supposed he was a master of his trade.

Without another word, the intimidating elf turned on his heel and strode purposefully down the hallway. Aven hurried after him, lifting her skirt slightly so she didn’t trip. He danced down the stairs, light and soundless as a feather, and paused to wait for her at the bottom. Aven hurried after him, catching up quickly. Aven had, of course, heard many tales of the agility of elves, but she’d never been one to see it firsthand. It was so much cooler than the books had described it.

“Coming?” Eldrin asked her, breaking her out of her thoughts.

Aven blinked, and realized that he was already the whole way down the hall. “Yes, sorry,” She responded, hurrying after him.

He waited patiently, and held the door for her as she entered his room. She murmured a thanks as she ducked under his arm and slipped inside.

The room was not unique, nor splendid in any way. Aven had always been disturbed by how plain and simple it was, but her family couldn’t afford anything more decadent. As it was, they were barely able to pay the basic bills, and she had a rising suspicion that her father was in a lot of debt.

The wooden floor creaked as she stepped inside, which she expected, but she still winced slightly. The fireplace in the corner was crackling merrily, casting a warm glow of light and heat across the room. The beds were both made neatly, covered in their lumpy gray bedspreads, and it hardly looked as if the guests had even unpacked. yet. Aven spotted Mae sitting on one of the beds, looking very on edge. She offered the she-elf a smile, which was not returned.

Eldrin strode over to the other bed and pulled a brown package that Aven had not noticed yet to him. He looked at her strangely, and she realized that he was waiting for her to open the paper.

She strode forward and brushed her thumb against the crinkly brown substance, feeling suddenly apprehensive, nervous that he’d ruined the dagger by polishing it. But when she flicked open the package, an odd thrill found its way through her veins, making her shiver slightly. She opened the package further, and her eyes widened at the contents inside.

The dagger, which had previously been rusted and dull, a single use away from falling apart entirely, sat so polish and sharp that it literally glowed in the packaging. Because Eldrin had cleaned all of the rust away, she finally got a good look at the thing.

It was thinner than she anticipated, and shaped like an ancient sword. The most interesting thing about it, however, was that it glowed red. Even the handle, which was pure black and set with rubies, seemed to glimmer a shade that unnervingly resembled blood. An inscription in a language Aven could not read lined both sides of the dagger. She reached out, and put her fingertips against the handle of the blade. It seemed to jump and hum with energy under her touch, as if it was made specifically for her. She grinned.

Her hand closed tightly around the handle now, and she picked it up, weighing it carefully. It was much less heavy than she expected it to be, as she’d held many weapons before and they had all been very tiring to lug around. She didn’t want to swing it, for fear of hitting either of the elves, so she set it back down carefully in the package.

When she looked up, Eldrin and Mae were both watching her very carefully, their eyes narrowed in thought. Aven offered them a smile and wrapped the dagger deeper in the package. “Thank you, Eldrin,” She told him sincerely, her eyes shining with gratitude. She’d never expected such a connection to a weapon before, as she was more of a peacekeeping person who could hardly hold a sword up, much less fight with one.

“My pleasure,” He replied, stepping aside so she could leave. She did so with a bounce in her step, feeling rejuvenated after the encounter.

The door closed quickly behind Aven, but she wouldn’t have paused had she not heard Mae’s next words. “She’s a little oblivious, isn’t she?”

“Oblivious of what?” Eldrin asked in reply, his voice a little harder to hear than Mae’s.

“You saw it, too, didn’t you? I know that’s why you offered to clean that dagger. You know it’s the one, don’t you?”

“Yes, I saw it. But we don’t have to do anything. She’s so innocent, Mae, I don’t want to drag a kid into a journey like that. Wait a few years, and maybe we’ll come back.”

“You would rather thousands of people suffer and die than ruin someone’s childhood?” Mae retorted, her voice growing louder.

Shuddering and not wishing to here anything more, Aven hurried away as silently as she could. She did not hear the door open, and no one asked her if she was eavesdropping, so she figured she was safe.

She raced up the stairs, the dagger tucked safely in her arms, and hurried down the hall that led to hers, her mother’s, and her father’s rooms. “Mama!” Her voice was urgent, and she pounded quickly on the door, eager to tell her mother the most recent drama with the guests.

The door opened quickly to reveal Aven’s mother, who took one look at her very alarmed daughter and ushered her into the room. “Goodness gracious, Aven! I would have thought the inn was invaded by flesh-eating chipmunks if you’d acted any more panicked. What’s the matter?”

Aven’s mother was a very renowned woman. She had a kind appearance, with tangly, thick brown hair and the prettiest gray eyes Aven had ever seen. She was lucky to have inherited them from her.

“So you know how Eldrin and I got all riled up at each other yesterday? Well I forgot to tell you, he offered to clean the family’s dagger for me as an apology, and I tried to tell him it was okay and he didn’t have to, but he wasn’t having it. So I let him.

“This afternoon, he came and found me and told me that the dagger was finished. He showed it to me-in their room, and the strangest thing happened. When I touched it, I was so…elated. And the dagger, like, hummed at me. Like it was speaking its own language.

“So anyways, I left with the dagger, and I heard him and Mae talking, and they said that I was too young for something, and that if I didn’t go now then thousands of people would die-”

Aven’s mother cut her off abruptly, “Were you supposed to have heard this, Aven?”

The girl lowered her eyes in shame, “No,” she replied, before looking back up. “But I did, and it’s worrying me.”

Her mother nodded, “Right, I thought this might have happened. You really shouldn’t have let Eldrin clean that dagger, sweetheart. But what’s done is done, so you may as well show me.”

Aven pulled the package out from under her arm and set it carefully on the bed. She stepped aside, allowing her mother to unwrap it.

The older woman hovered over the package for a second, seeming hesitant to even touch it, before she brushed her fingers over the paper. With a gasp, she retracted her hand immediately, and cast her daughter an alarmed glance. Aven wanted to ask her what was wrong, but she was already touching the paper again, this time closing her hand around it and pulling the papers open.

The dagger sat innocently, glowing softly and, it seemed to Aven, humming again. “There it is!” She whispered as she realized. “Can’t you hear it, Mama?”

Her mother nodded, frowning. She reached her hand out and stroked it down the metal on the flat part of the blade, her lips pinched together in an unreadable expression. And then, suddenly, she yanked her hand back.

Aven frowned at her mother, “What?” She asked.

“Go, Aven,” Her mother answered, her eyes still focused on the dagger. “Last I checked, the floors were begging to be swept.”

Internally rolling her eyes, Aven didn’t reply. She knew not to argue when her mother took that tone. So she turned and walked out the door, closing it softly behind herself, and then trotted down the stairs to retrieve the broom.