Uri, the High Elf Ranger

Two crossbow bolts darted from the top of an old oak tree and into the heart of an unsuspecting boar. The poor animal didn’t know what hit it and was dead before it hit the ground. A beautiful elf with long black hair pulled into a tight ponytail, dropped from the oak tree. Dual crossbows were slung over her shoulders.

“Anya will be so excited!” she smiled down at her kill. Carefully, the elf began to gut and harvest the boar. Starting with organizing all of the tools she needed from her pack, she laid them all in a perfectly straight line from the tool she would use first to the tool she knew she’d need last. Humming quietly to herself, she felt around the boar’s neck, trying to find its breastbone. Once found, she made a thick cut a few inches above it to allow the blood to flow out of the animal. She quickly tied its feet together with a thin hemp rope and hung the boar off of a tree.

“There. Now I just need to build a fire while you finish draining and we’ll be just about done.”

The elf quickly built a small fire about a foot away from her kill. Once the blood stopped dripping from the animal, she sliced open its stomach and began removing all of its organs. She counted each one, and then threw them into the fire. Hours later, all that remained of the boar was the meat, some sinew, and a few bones that she’d decided she would use for emergency crossbow bolts. The elf put all of her supplies back into her pack, just as organized as they were before, and slung the boar meat over her shoulder. She briskly made her way through the dense forest, careful not to leave any tracks in the earth, for fear of human-kind finding them and leading them back to her clan. Elves were beautiful creatures, graceful and mysterious. Since elves have such thin frames and beautiful faces, human nobles would pay a handsome fee to slave hunters. Elves would try to run away from their captors but most times, they ended up just like her boar. Humans have always had an obsession with causing pain and destruction, everywhere that they go, she thought.

“Uri!” a young woman cried, arms outstretched and running straight towards her.

She dropped her gear and opened her arms wide, “Hello, little one. Did you miss me?”

The two elves embraced, as others looked on with approving smiles and nods. 

“It’s so dull when you’re away. Never mind that, what did you bring us?” Anya asked, her green eyes mirroring her sisters.

Uri smiled, “Boar, your favorite. I thought I could fashion you a small bow from its sinew for practice. What do you think?”

Anya’s face dropped, “There’s no point. I’ll just stick with my kitchen knife. I’ve always been a pretty decent cook, right?”

“You’re just inexperienced with weapons. You only need some training,” Uri took Anyas’ face between her hands and kissed her forehead, “And yes, your cooking can’t be matched. Now, help me put all this away?”

Anya grinned happily, “Of course!”

The two sisters, began to blather away about their days as they put away Uri’s supplies. Their bellies would be full tonight and their hearts just as well.

“Tomorrow, I have to go into town. There are a few things that we need that I cannot find in the wild. I need you to stay here with the clan. Can you do that for me?”

Anya shook her head in disapproval, “No, I want to go with you.”

“Absolutely not. The city belongs to humans. I have to get in and out as quickly as possible, without being seen. I can’t protect you there.”

“Then why did you even ask me?” Anya began to pout.

“It would have been nice for you to just say yes for once.”

Anya stood up, hands on her hips, “Our parents were the rulers of this clan. They took orders from no one and they feared nothing…”

“That’s why they’re dead,” Uri cut her off, “We should learn from their mistakes. We trade with the humans, we bribe them to keep them away, and we hunt for what we need in the wild. Mother and Father never did that. They took what they wanted, when they wanted it. That’s no way to live, Anya.”

“How would you know? Instead of being the perfect princess, why not let the water ripple every now and then?!” Anya began to shout, “All we ever do is hide, Uri! I’m so tired of hiding. I want to live; loud and outrageous. I want the world at my feet..”

Uri let out a slight sigh and calmly began, “You speak of living, but you can’t even hold a weapon. When you begin to make the water ‘ripple’ how will you protect the clan? With your fits? You only ever think of yourself, little sister. You need to grow up.”

Uri felt uncomfortable with the growing tension between them and briskly turned to leave. Her little sister had ambition, and she loved that about her, but Anya never thought about the consequences of her actions. 

Anya watched Uri walk away, her green eyes never looked so fiery before, “I’ll show you,” she spat out under her breath. The elders warnings of Anya’s temper were too late. 

Dawn came faster than Uri wanted. She stretched out over her small pallet on the ground and flexed her muscles awake. Next to her, Anya was still fast asleep. Light snores escaping her mouth. Without making a sound, Uri had her gear on and was already walking out of the small village. No fires had been lit, the sounds of sleep still illuminated the village. She smiled as she looked back at her village, “I love you all. I’ll be back soon,” she whispered under cover of the morning breeze. 

For as long as Uri could remember, she had protected her village. Her parents had died when she was very young. She swore, as she watched humans hang her parents that she would never endanger her clan the way that they did. She wanted the people of her clan to feel stability, happiness, and most of all, kinship. She wanted them to feel like they all had a place within the clan. Each clan member had a job. Like Uri, some hunted, whereas others gathered herbs and berries in the wild, and some just did manual labor and cleaning. No one ever complained about their living arrangements, not to Anya or to Uri. She never once asked them to but all of the residents of her clan looked to Uri as their leader. The clans’ feelings of Anya were quite different, however.

Uri soon reached the city. Before she passed through the gates, she pulled up her cloak to hide her skin and her pointed ears. Better to keep to the shadows then have a bunch of humans point and gawk. The people of this town were fairly docile, except for the occasional thief. The city guards spent most of their time playing cards and drinking at the tavern, which left the gate open for all. Quickly, she made her way to the market district. 

As Uri passed through the gates, a dark elf watched her pass and thought to himself, “An elven ranger? What is that tied to her hip? I want it.” Without knowing, Uri had crossed paths with Lothelyn, a local scoundrel who had an affinity for theft and trickery. She was in his sights and she was none the wiser and that’s just how Lothelyn liked it. He wasn’t sure what the trinket was that wrapped around her waist or what it meant to her; all he knew was that he desperately wanted it and he was going to get it, no matter the cost.

“Excuse me, mistress, but do you have any of this for trade?” Uri handed the woman at the stall a list, expecting her to read it.

“What‘chu want me to do with this, heathen?” she spat angirly, clearly offended. 

“Oh, my apologies, mistress,” she took the list back and read each item off aloud, “Wire, ink, a spy glass, four large glass bottles, and some threading needles.”

The shopkeep regarded her cloaked figure and just nodded, “Got most of it, but I ain't got no ink or spy glass. And not for trade! If ye have no coin, be gone.”

“Of course,” Uri dropped a few gold coins on the table, “will that suffice?”

The woman grunted at her, “I ‘spose,” and dropped a small bundle on the table, “Now begone.”

Uri quickly shoved the bundle into her pack and made her way back towards the city’s gates. Her anxiety was at peak levels by being around this many humans at once.

She kept feeling something tugging at her hip but she was in too much of a hurry. Humans, scoundrels and the like pushing their way through the streets to find the easiest target, she thought. Uri didn’t stop for a moment to give anyone a chance to single her out. She was easily lost within the crowds of people.

By the time that the sun had set on the busy city, Uri had finally made it back to the forest. As she walked, briskly, through the forest, Uri wondered if Anya had cooled off from their disagreement the night before. 

“Not likely,” Uri mumbled to herself. As she approached her village, her stomach sank. There was no noise. No fires, no laughter, nothing. Just the quiet noises of the forest.

She yelled, “Anya?!” 

Uri’s eyes darted from place to place, frantically looking for her sister. A note, highlighted with a red liquid, was carved into the side of a tree. It read,

I showed them all -A

Uri ran around the tree and stopped dead in her tracks. Bodies piled on top of each other, blood mixed into the dirt, the smell of decay and iron. Uri examined the closest body, a single knife wound to the heart. No signs of struggle. She checked others and each was the same. In the middle of the village, she could make out her sisters familiar black hair.

“Oh, Gods...” She rushed over to her side and frantically felt her neck and wrists for a pulse, but there was none.

Uri gasped and jolted upright from her sleeping bag. This dream again, Uri sighed and wrapped her arms around her knees, resting her head on her arms, she groaned, “Not again.”

Lothelyn sneered, “You’re pathetic, Uri.”

“Yeah,” Uri agreed. She looked around at their camp and took in Lothelyns’ figure, “You ready to get started?”

Lothelyn laughed quietly and rubbed his hands together, “Oh, yeah.”

Uri smiled at the thought of Lothelyn’s simplicity and began to pack up their camp. She wasn’t sure why she had decided to allow him to follow her around but they enjoyed each others company. After Uri had found her clan, completely slaughtered, Lothelyn’s scoundrel lifestyle seemed to soothe her. She glanced at her talisman, that wrapped, sloppily, around Lothelyn’s waist. Even though he’s a dirty, rotten, scoundrel, she thought to herself.