The Shadow and the Shining

Chapter One: Moonlight in the Garden

She ran through the labyrinth of gardens laced with colorful leaves of autumn as her long blonde hair with sporadic braids and curls followed her. Shouts and smoke could be heard a distance away, as the witch-hunt had begun in the thick forests of Lorei. Slipping into a short dead end when she was gasping for breath, she backed up with her hands drawn up to her shoulders fearfully.

This was no witch-hunt. The Lorien elves had not missed her as she slipped from celebrations that night to flee her guards. Always followed, the young woman had been marked for death since birth. Born during a night of no moon, an old woman had preached from her deathbed of a day when a child born so fair in darkness would doom their way of life forever.

Ever since, Serena found favor only in the cold clerics of the temple that rose high in the branches of magnificent trees in the heart of Lorei. They had not treated her like a plague, but given her something important to do with the gifts that she had been given.

Long blonde hair that grew like spider grass, in thick curls that shone in the sun, graced her head. She had been blessed with beautiful curves and a feminine height reminiscent of humanity in the lowlands to the south.

However, most curious of all her skin reminded those Lorien who saw her, that she was truly touched by the moon. Fair, smooth, and without imperfection she glowed at night with an inner goodness.

Nevertheless, even seeing this, the village had waited for that fateful day. The night the headman claimed she would fall to Demons, and lead them against her kind. The day she would become as evil as a drow.

From off near the shouts and smoke, a sudden yelling of surprise could be heard. She jumped, stirred from thinking of how she ever came to be where she was. Soon she heard a ringing of steel as a new set of voices shouted along side the others.　Voices unlike those she had heard before, voices of a race so like her own, yet different.

A battle could be heard clearly, as the voices of the new comers sounded bereft of any kindness.

"Well, it appears that the two groups had the misfortune of running into each other," said a sarcastic and uncaring voice that came from nearby. "What a shame, well it gives me a chance to slip away from that battle at least," the voice chuckled as the owner of said voice made itself known under the moon light.

Serena backed further into the dead end, tripping with a whimper. Her village may have just been killed by drow! Shadows cast themselves over the thorny hedge as she lay still and quiet, hoping to make her escape when the beasts were gone.

"Hm, I doubt we'll succeed in this little raid; those surface elves looked well armed," he mused not caring about his comrades; it was survival of the fittest, or cleverest. Such was the way of the drow and there goddess, though this one drow was not particularly keen on that fact. "Well, both sides will take casualties and I can pick off whoever's left," he decided as he walked towards the hedge from the center of the small clearing decorated by statues of the moon goddess, which he turned to look at. He marveled lightly at how unthreatening they seemed, not like the statues to his people's goddess. His people's goddess, never his own, he thought to himself.

She covered her mouth, huddling in the corner at the back of the dead end as tears pooled from either side of her face. He would see her and hurt her, or he would leave her to be killed by them. Oh moonlight...she prayed, let this night come to an end!

"Hello little surface elf," he said to her as he looked towards her, his red eyes seeming to glow even in the moonlight.

She jumped shivering, pressing back against the thorny hedge as she wept; the moonlight fell on her hair and arms as she sat with them wrapped around her. She had forgotten Drow had excellent sight in the dark, how could they not? They lived underground in the darkest caverns of the Underdark.

"I can see you, even in the dark little elf," he told her, cooing as he pointed to the slight glow of his eyes. "Your body's heat and unease mark you as any bright beacon in these cold woods could," he explained drawing nearer with a flourish of his arms as he moved. His infra-vision marked her brightly and he could make her lithe form among the cool foliage that she hid behind.

She was silent, glancing around her for any means of escape.

"So, why don't you come out now? I promise if I have to come and get you, it won't be pleasant," he told her calmly, his hand lightly resting on the sword at his side. "I also promise I'll treat you better than the rest of my kin," he told her with an amused grin, all the while, he slowly stalked closer.

She shook her head, great lobs of tear staining her face as she whispered, "Please...please don't make me come with you...just let me go...please..."

Her voice had broken into another sob; her heart broken that on such a fateful full moon night, this dark elf would be in control of her destiny.

"I could leave you to my brethren, or your own people for that matter," he explained to her, looking towards the sounds of battle. "It does sound like they're just about done," he said with a smirk, knowing, full well, what the other drow would do to her if they found her. "Now, come out!"

She seemed to float to her feet, her arms crossed at her waist as she walked slowly from the tamed walls of the dead end like a scolded child. Her eyes had dropped to the ground, and her pierced ears held thick strands of her hair tucked behind them. She stopped two arm lengths away from him, shivering as a cool autumn breeze made the leaves shiver around them.

He turned his infravision off so could see her fully in the moonlight. His breath caught in his throat as he viewed her lithe form. He stood there a moment in awe before taking a tentative step forward. "Was that really that hard?" he asked, chastising himself before regaining his composure, trying to retake the upper hand as he brought himself under control.

She took a step back, eyes fearful and miserable as she looked up at him. He was at least a full head taller and broader than her. "Yes..." she whispered, glancing towards the shouts.

With a sigh, he reached for her, easily grasping at her small wrist hard. "You're coming with me little surface elf," he told her simply as he pulled her close to him. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt," he said with a snicker as he licked his lips lightly.

She struck out with a fist, hitting him in the chest as her heart raced. He pulled her to him so easily. He would notice right away how frail she was. Mistreated all her life, she had not had the chances her people's finest warriors had. She was no fighter, and it seemed he would prove it so.

He seemed a bit shocked as he looked down at her. One hand traced down her cheek and then over her neck. "Such an oddity," he mused, taking the hit from earlier without a word. With a turn of his head, he pulled her along into the night, away from the battle.

The battle was now on its last leg as the two forces began to pull away from each other, the elves, helping their wounded, and the drow leaving their own to die on the surface.

Meanwhile, he pulled and dragged her along, away from either side.

She tried resisting for a while, until her wrist stung from fighting as much as her arms ached from pulling. She remained quiet as she let him lead her through the labyrinth away from the others, but fear made her tremble and jump whenever some unexplained sound or movement broke their little walk.

He was taller than she was, as he dragged her along behind him. Moreover, he was broader too, she noted as the moonlight shined lightly the muscles that ran down from his shoulders and across his back. His hair was like snow, and his skin like pitch, a demon elf. She reminded herself, as her eyes rested for a little while on the back of his neck.

She jumped, when she heard a twig snap on the other side of the hedge they had been following north for a time, and her captor quickly tucked himself against a wall, hugging her close.

"Be silent till I tell you otherwise," he instructed, a globe of darkness settling around the both of them, making the air taste metallic and electric on her tongue as he made good use of his people's inherent abilities. Magic... she thought to herself. It had been awhile since a spell had been casted so close to her.

She shivered, watching the scouts run by laughing with blood on their weapons as the moon seemed to hide her face behind thick clouds. Tears began to run again as silence fell once more. Neither one of them could see the other in the impenetrable darkness of the globe they stood in.

The drow used one finger and wiped away her tears as the globe dissipated. He stood there; looking down at her pressed against him so close to him. He was in constant awe of this surface creature's beauty.

The moonlight filled the garden again as she sniffed, the globe's effect warn off, pulling away from him with an innocent start and wiping her face with a sleeve. "P-Please let me go..."

"Where would you go?" he asked her, replacing his awe with his amusement. "Last I checked, your own people sought to kill you, and this forest is as dangerous as the Underdark when you're alone," he explained, seeing just how foolish this woman could be.

She shook her head frantically, "You can't keep me...I can't stay..." She tried to summon words that would make him understand why she needed to get away, why she was afraid, why even the good luck of escaping under a full moon had not lent any good fortune. She had grown up knowing one thing she could never confess.

"What is your name?" he asked, amused by this woman to no end. He decided he would try to throw her off a bit. He needed her to come back with him. He needed her to come willingly. But most of all, he needed HER.

Her face filled with confusion as she whispered, "Serena..." Why was this man asking her this? She would never see him again!

"Serena, what an interesting name," he mused, holding her delicate wrist in one hand, and taking the other in his other hand. "You're a frail little thing Serena," he said this as of matter of fact.

She felt as if he was looking too closely and blushed from head to toe, turning to glance down the twisting aisles of the labyrinth as she whispered, "Please. I don't have a lot of time."

"Why in such a hurry?" he mused as he pulled her closer to him. There was something in his eyes that drew her to him.

He could see a brief moment of hunger, before she put her guard down and her forehead before murmuring, "I need to leave this land before the moon hides her face on the horizon." The prophecy predicted death if she didn't, but she wouldn't mention that. The fear was already rank around her.

He smirked as he came down, his eyes even with her own as he kissed her lips softly, then demandingly. "Well, you could always come into the Underdark," he laughed after releasing the kiss.

She wouldn't look at him, embarrassment curling pink along her slender neck as she writhed. She'd enjoyed that kiss too much. Was this the demon that would? She lifted a hand to cover her mouth. So her fate had already been sealed. She was still facing away from the dark captor when she whispered, "Take me there."