Arven watched with fascination as the lieutenant’s armor folded up and fell away from him in a neat cube. He stepped through the doorway to his own room, handed the knight a cup of tea and bid him goodnight. As Arven shuffled to the couch, his thoughts swirled. He wondered what the next week would be like, with humans living among the elves Some had even agreed to work, so he had heard. He wanted to speak further with the captain, though he knew that the captain likely needed to sleep as badly as he did, for the moment. Arven resolved, as he sank into the soft couch, to invite the knight captain to brunch the next day and share information about his own world while asking about the human world. “There’s just so much to learn…”, Arven sighed as he nestled deeper into the couch, “I must do my best not to annoy the captain with my questions.” He did his best to clear his mind and let sleep wash over him. A wave of childish glee came just before sleep did, leaving a wide grin on his face.
The grin that Arven fell asleep with melted away a few short minutes later, replaced by a tight scowl. “Something is wrong here…”, Arven whispered to himself in the dark. He got up from his place on the couch as quietly as he could, then stood in the middle of the room, trying his best to figure out what was going on. “What’s wrong here, what’s wrong here…”, he repeated to himself under his breath, his eyes darting eagerly around the room. A man’s scream pierced the tense silence. A tall figure with dark skin and glowing red eyes walked out slowly from the room that the knight lieutenant was sleeping in. Blood dripped from the figure’s knuckles. Arven squared himself into his fighting stance and shouted at the figure. “Who are you?! State your business at once or I will subdue you!” A flash of recognition hit Arven as the figure came at him with lightning speed. This was an Elder Elf, in the flesh… but how?
The elf’s bloodsoaked fist met Arven’s heel, spraying loose blood in an arc. The two exchanged another blow, with a knee and wrist meeting. Arven launched his own initiative, feigning a low kick to throw his opponent off guard with a vicious uppercut. Seemingly unimpressed, the Elder Elf caught Arven’s upraised fist and used it to slam him about like a ragdoll for a few seconds. The stonework of the small house shattered into dust under the immense force of the blows. When the Elder Elf determined that Arven had endured enough punishment, he raised the young elf up to look into his red eyes. “Activate, damn you.” He dropped Arven, then stomped hard on his throat. Arven lurched, spraying blood from his mouth in a gurgling scream. The Elder Elf stepped back for a minute to consider the situation, then raised his open claw and brought it down hard on Arven’s chest.
Red light emanated from the point of impact and threw the assailant against the wall. In less than half a second, Arven was on his feet and upon the attacker. Fists and feet flew in a furious flurry, faster than the eye could see. The Elder Elf decided against risking a counterattack, opting instead to focus on defense. He managed to block most of the blows, but the few that made their way to their target left telling wounds in their wake. The Elder Elf was barely conscious by the time Arven’s assault wound down. “What are you?!”, the Elder Elf screeched as he raised his hands to cover his face. Arven didn’t answer him. A bloodthirsty grin adorned his young visage.
“Stop!”, Arven’s thoughts echoed, “What are you doing?! He may know about what you are and you’re going to kill him!” The only response the frenzied mental voice got was laughter. Arven’s mouth opened wide. “No! This is wrong! What the hell?!” Before Arven could think of any more arguments to talk his body out of what it was about to do, he could taste the Elder Elf’s tender flesh, feel his blood running down his chin. The sweet taste spoke to a part of him that he could feel himself regaining contact with, a terrible part of him that he had spent many a sleepless night burying. It drove him into a mad frenzy. A single tear rolled down Arven’s cheek as his mother’s voice rang out to him. “Arven, stop! You can’t do this!” “Mother…”, he croaked, muffled by the corpse’s shoulder in his mouth. Its head was already gone. “You’re better than this, I know you are… Your father died for you because he was sure of it, as well. Please, Arven…” He tried his best to loose himself from the ravishingly delicious flesh, but his mind was beginning to side with his baser nature, justifying the crime. ‘The village had a thin year for crops… eating him will sate me and my household can save a bit of food.’ ‘He’s already dead, why not?’ ‘Have to try everything once, right?’ ‘Who are you to deny your blood, your birthright?’ Arven shut his eyes tight to shield them from the spray of blood as he bit into the heart. The pleasure was a new, visceral and brutal experience for him.
The knight captain, having been roused from his sleep by the din, stood outside Arven’s window, observing the bloody spectacle with a sort of shocked curiosity. Nobody else was present. In all likelihood, the villagers and his knights were far too afraid to head outside and see what was happening. He considered whether he could help, but feared that the elf boy, in his current state, could kill him with no effort. “I don’t recall there being any other elves like him in the village… Kingdom Archives’ records have Elder Elves as having gone extinct thousands of years ago.” He inched closer to the window to get a better look. Arven’s face was a contorted mask of pain, no doubt conflicted between his kind nature and whatever part of him was making him commit this crime. Just as they had during the battle, black horns twisted their way out of various parts of the young elf’s body. His eyes first glazed over, then began emitting a terrible red glow, like live coals from the floor of Hell piercing the darkness with their fiery presence. Finishing his bloody work and leaving nothing but a ragged pair of leather boots that the Elder Elf had worn, Arven arched his back and cried to the moon. His anguish was as clear as the sky after a storm; this was a tormented soul, set aghast by his own misdeeds. Elf though he may be, the Captain’s oath made it very clear; souls like this were exactly the ones he was sworn to save. He opened the window and made his way in slowly. Arven sank to his knees and gripped his head tight, pulling out tufts of hair. A sea of tears disrupted the pool of blood that he knelt in. “I beg of you…”, he cried in two voices at once, “Help… me!”
Looking every bit the Elder Elf abomination that the Captain had seen during their earlier duel, Arven lunged. His mother and a severely wounded knight looked on in horror from the living room as Arven dove recklessly at the Knight Captain, tearing his surroundings apart. The Captain dodged Arven’s clumsy blows with relative ease, but never let his guard down. He knew that letting through a single blow from Arven in this state could be the end of both of them. Arven dove at the Captain from all the way across the room, extending his savage claws. The captain saw his chance and took it. Dodging under the elf’s lunging form, the Captain raised a fist with all the strength he could muster. The roof of the house exploded apart as Arven flew up through it. The Captain circled as he waited, eyes skyward. After a few seconds, an earthshaking thud announced the arrival of an unconscious elf. The Captain bent over Arven to check his pulse and breathing. A nod to Arven’s mother brought her to her son’s side. “Has this happened before?”, the Captain asked, looking up from Arven’s sleeping body to stare into her eyes. She shook her head in disbelief. “No, never. He’s grappled with this side of himself before, but… he always used to win. Why was there an Elder Elf in my home?! Aren’t they all dead?!” The Captain lifted Arven over his shoulder and stood up slowly. “Apparently not. I’m taking Arven into isolated custody until we know more. I’d like you to come with me to answer some questions.” Arven’s mother nodded as she got to her feet. “We have an underground cellar that we outfitted with magical restraints for an occasion just such as this.” The captain nodded back. “I’m glad you’re willing to cooperate. Please, lead on.” The two made their way to the back of the house and out the door.
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