Chapter 1
Elora kicked the guard in his balls. As he screamed in agony, she ran out of the tavern. She ran as fast as she could. Elora was an 18-year-old teen satyr. Her short black hair with a light blue stripe waved in the wind and the right side of her head shaved, with dark gray horns, light blue eyeliner, lipstick, light blue ring piercing above her right eye. She wore a black leather jacket, light blue crop top, and black pants. Her black hooves had light blue spirals on them and black and white fur covered her lower body. Her skin was golden beige. While Elora ran, her mind was racing. Elora was beautiful, but she didn't like it. She didn't know why she did. Elora just wanted to be normal, but she didn't feel like it. She felt like she didn't belong anywhere. They had kicked her out for causing problems before. This time, it was different. She didn't look back until she got home.
When Elora finally reached the front door, she opened it, went in. Elora walked upstairs to her room and slammed the door. She was about to sit down and started crying. Her father, the one person who always loved her, was dead, and she didn't know what to do anymore. She started packing up her backpack. No one could find her on the other side of the world. She could be alone. Suddenly, footsteps approached her room. She stuffed her things in the backpack as fast as she could. Then she heard a knock on the door.
"Hey Ela, are you ok?" a familiar voice said.
It was her friend Eirika. She opened the door slowly. Elora's eyes widened in shock, and she quickly shoved her stuff into her bag.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just... I gotta go", she mumbled.
Eirika looked at her suspiciously.
"Are you alright? Did someone beat you up or something?" She asked, concerned.
"No, nothing happened, I promise." Elora said, shaking her and glanced away.
Her friend was a young gnome girl with short, messy brown hair. Eirika knew Elora well enough to know that she was lying. Eirika put her hand on Elora's shoulder.
"you can talk to me, you know that, "she said.
Elora brushed her hand away and pushed her aside while exiting her room, not saying a word. Elora threw her backpack on her back and walked past her towards the stairs.
"Fuck you" Eirika yelled.
She was tearing up and angry at the same time.
"Walk away from your problems again, see if I care!"
Eirika yelled after her.
A single tear rolled down Eirika's cheek as she watched Elora go.
Elora walked out of the building and started walking down the road. She noticed there was a cart in front of her. Elora thought that she probably should get a ride.
"Looking for a ride, young lady?" Asked a bald, bearded dwarf by the cart.
Elora just looked down at her hooves.
"Ok well, I'll be delivering some wheat to Elatenae if you want to ride with me, you can join," he said.
Elora just nodded without expression and jumped on. The bearded dwarf smiled widely and climbed on next to her. He whipped the bulls, and they pulled the cart. After a while, they were closing in on the town gate and there were two guards. Elora was looking around nervously. The bearded dwarf glanced over and noticed this, and asked Elora where she was heading.
"Oh, I'm uh... I'm just leaving the city... I'm taking an extended family trip," Elora lied.
She felt bad lying, but she couldn't tell him the truth. The gates were even closer now, and Elora sweat. She was thinking, what if they know they know I beat up that guard in the tavern? And she hid under her hood.
He turned towards her
"What's your name?" He asked.
Elora was panicking, just looking at the guards, who now glanced their way. He looked at her and nodded.
"Well, miss... My name is Rakken, at your service," he said.
They were now at the town gate.
"Where are you heading?" one guard asked.
"Elatenae" Rakken replied,
"Just delivering some wheat," he continued.
"Right, right," the guard said.
"have you seen a teen satyr girl, with black short hair, light blue stripe, and short horns?"
He said. Elora panicked as she heard those words.
Please don't notice me
, she thought. She pulled her hood even tighter. The two guards were one female human and one male half-orc.
"Oh... yeah, I have... why?" Rakken responded to the guard.
He looked at Elora and looked back at the guards. They both seemed suspicious, and they both looked directly at Elora.
"Do you mind telling us why you're wearing a hood?" The human spoke.
Elora gulped and looked at the ground. She was silent for a while. Guards were looking increasingly suspicious. Rakken looked at Elora.
"she is my aunt's kid. She is awfully sick, very contagious. Best to stay away." Rakken blurted.
Elora looked at him in confusion. Two guards nodded and said to keep moving.
Elora sighed and took off her hood. She looked behind them as Sarante, her hometown, left behind. She had never left the town before. Then she turned forward, looked at Rakken.
"Thank you," Elora said.
"You're welcome, dear," Rakken replied and smiled.
The cart drove on.
"My name is Elora," she said as she looked at her hands.
"Well, nice to meet you, miss Elora," he said, smiling.
"Do you mind if I ask where you come from? I have never met a satyr before," he continued.
Where do you come from?
She thought of her earliest memories as she heard those words. She remembered sitting in her mother's lap on a hill as she read stories to her. Her parents were kind to her, but she rebelled often. As she grew older, she found out that they weren't her actual parents. Her parents were a middle-aged halfling couple, and they owned a little shop in Sarante. They weren't rich or poor. They got by just fine. Every time Elora asked them, where do I come from, they were awkwardly ignoring her and changed topic to something like, how was school? Elora tried to make friends with people, but she soon realized how lonely she was, so she kept her distance, and eventually, she gave up on making friends altogether. Eirika was her only friend. Elora was often getting into fights, either starting them or ending them. Her parents had been patient and kind to her, but she had made her mother cry many times. Countless time she had stormed out of the house. Her father put her into a military academy to learn some manners, but after starting too many fights, she got kicked out. After that, she worked in many taverns and inns, eventually getting kicked out of all of them. Until earlier this night, as she was doing her evening shift, collecting empty pints. One guard visiting the tavern groped her ass from behind, saying hey pretty lady, and he ran his hands up and down her back. Elora yelled, kicked his balls and ran out...
And now she was here, sitting on a wagon next to a bearded dwarf, heading to Elatenae, a town unknown to her. Elora had only heard stories about Elatenae. She only knew it was bigger than her hometown. She stroked her shoulder, still feeling disgusted by the guard who groped her, and she cried. Rakken looked at her with concern.
"Hey, are you okay, Elora? Did someone hurt you?" he said.
His face suddenly became serious. He had a feeling something was wrong, but he didn't want to pry. Elora shook her head yes and continued crying.
She sobbed. She couldn't control herself as everything came rushing out.
"Am I broken?" She asked while sobbing.
The question confused Rakken.
"broken how?" he asked confused.
"Have I always been broken?" Elora replied.
And she continued crying uncontrollably. He didn't know what to say. So he changed the subject and said,
"Hey, look it's getting late, we should camp here for the night, we'll arrive in Elatenae tomorrow late morning. You go to sleep, you'll feel better in the morning, I'm sure," he said.
He smiled at her and stopped the wagon.
"What about you? Don't you need to rest, too?" She asked.
He shook his head.
"Don't worry, I'll manage," he replied.
