CHAPTER 1

CONTENT WARNING

Woodland was a village of many tree houses built in the Forest of Life that ran so wide and deep a stranger could easily get lost and never be seen or heard of again.  The ground was covered in withered leaves as the Wood Sweepers swept and cursed, whenever the chilling cold wind blew and swept everything away. 

It was morning and most wood elves were just getting up. The sound of doors opening and shutting could be heard as the wood elves started to prepare for their daily tasks. Some were humming to a melody that was sung the other night by the old storyteller and some were grumbling by the chores that laid ahead of them. Some wood elves could be seen worshipping the tree of life that stood tall and sturdy in the middle of the Forest, bowing down to it in great adoration and some could be seen mocking them as they do not believe in the heart of all trees. 

For twenty year old Elva of the wood clan, she had to get up by dawn everyday so as to get medicine for her sick mother as the place was a bit far from their little house. She greeted the angry looking Sweepers on the way and wrapped her pale green cloak tighter to her body as the furious wind began to act up again. It was Autumn and  in Woodland, this weather was more intense than all the other lands.

 Twigs snapped whenever her dark brown boots landed on them which was quite often and she quickened her pace when she realized the bright orange sun was beginning to show, which meant all the medicines were about to be bought. 

Elva could see a tall, large, tree strung house with vine stairs stretching to the ground at a distance. There was smoke billowing out from the windows and the disgusting smell of medicine permeating the air as she came closer. 

The large wooden door opened and a tall, chubby, young man with long flowy pale green hair walked out with dried medicine wrapped with leaves in his hand. His red cloak swerving in the air as he descended the viney stairs. 

He looked up with his pale green eyes and his thin lips stretched into a smile at the sight of Elva. 

He touched his chest with his right hand in the form of a greeting and Elva also did the same. 

"Elrond" Elva said and proceeded to walk past him to the medicine house but he stopped her. 

"Elva, how is Aunt Alma's health? Is she feeling much better now?" Elrond asked, trying to stretch the time he had with her. 

Elva shifted her legs impatiently before replying with a "She is getting better" 

She watched as Elrond bit his lip wanting to say something more but Elva cut him off before he could speak again. "I'm sorry, Elrond but I still have to get medicine for my mother" 

Elrond's face was full of disappointment before letting out a "Oh, I'm s..so..sorry to have kept you waiting then. I'll see you later?" 

His face was red with embarrassment and he was shifting his foot awkwardly. 

Elva sighed and nodded before turning around and running up the viney stairs. She knocked on the wooden door and heard a very annoyed 'Come in' before opening the door and entering the house, not even bothering to look at Elrond who was still standing on the same spot watching her with love filled eyes. 

Elva choked when the choking smell of some medicines entered through her mouth. The only large window in the room was opened but not enough to clear the unpleasant smell. Herbs could be seen in the large room, littering the whole place and leaves were stacked together on the viney tables containing records of what medicines each buyer needed with their names written in uneven bold strokes. 

There were two old women and three young men in the room and none of them paid any attention to her. One of the men was recording something on the leaves with a very small brush that was still soaked in red ink. The other young men were sorting out herbs while the two old women were brewing the herbs in separate large earthenware pots with burning coals underneath. 

The young man with the recording task suddenly looked up and that was Elva's cue to speak. 

She walked closer to him and laid her right hand on her chest to greet him which he replied doing the same with a curt nod, his stern face on her. 

"Elva of the Wood Clan. I've come to collect my mother's medicine" Elva said, trying very hard not to cringe when speaking to him because of the smell and wondered how they all seem unaffected by it. 

The young elf didn't respond and just began to search for her record, his sharp brows making him look more colder. When he found the record he was searching for, he passed it to one of the young men sorting out the herbs and he quickly went to search for the important herbs while the other continued with his task. 

After waiting for a while, he finally came back with the herbs and showed the two old women who only grunted in response before walking to Elva and giving her the herbs. 

Elva gave him one gold leaf and walked out of the place, taking huge deep breaths as she descended the stairs. 

It was now morning and the sun was already high in the sky streaming through gaps of trees and showering the ground with a breathtaking view of gold, sun dust dancing in the air. 

The Wood Elves were now up and about now. Little wood elves were chasing after colorful butterflies with only a small piece of clothing wrapped around their bottom while their mothers ran after them to get them to wear more clothes to protect against the cold. 

Elva smiled and took another peaceful breath feeling relaxed. 

'This was peace'   She thought to herself, making her way back to her own little house. Laughter filled everywhere and also the horrible voices of some old elves that sounded croaking. 

When she got closer to her house, many elves started to give her sympathy looks. Some quickly averted their gazes when her eyes landed on them and she couldn't help but wonder what was wrong? 

Elva amber eyes rounded in total horror as her mind flew to her mother. 

Was she in danger? Has her illness started acting up again? Was she de-

She choked on the last thought and hurried her legs, half running and half walking. 

Two young white haired female elves blocked her path and smirked at her. They were one of the top beauties of Woodland. The two twins were short, slim and small breasted( A part of their femininity they do not want to acknowledge as they always wore revealing clothes that would uplift their breasts almost to their neck) 

The one always dressed in pink and glaring hard on Elva's full breasts right now was called Keya and the other one also always dressed in wine, trying hard to match Elva's height at the same moment, which was a very impossible task as her head barely reached Elva's shoulder, was called Kaylessa. 

"Well, well, well, Isn't it our beautiful and tall female wood elf?" Kaylessa said, not even trying to hide the bitterness in her voice. 

Some other young female wood elves whispered something in each other's ears while trying not to miss the show but Elva had no time for them. She stared down at Kaylessa, showing off her height in which the other squirmed uneasily, losing her courage as fast as it came, then squaring her shoulders when she remembered what danger Elva's was going to be in soon. 

"Well, it's a pity we won't be seeing you much then, seeing as you are about to be sold off" Kaylessa said and cackled. Her twin also joined in.

Elva's head clicked even before Kaylessa could finish her words. She pushed them out of her way, not even caring if they hit their head on a nearby tree, which will in fact, save the whole wood clan who wasn't considered beautiful because they do not have white hair, a lot of stress and their bitchiness. 

The twins shrieked, screamed and cursed Elva to death as they tried to right themselves. 

Elva's heart pounded so hard in her chest and the hand holding the herb was shaking but her amber eyes were determined. She would rain hell on whoever touches her mother. 

Getting sold off meant Bandits. They were the most cruel, disgusting and dangerous wood elves in Woodland. They do not show pity to anyone and take any female they deem fit to be their wives, creating many harems. They do not spare beautiful married women either. Many girls have been scarred for life because of them and some have been left dead in the most brutal way after being thoroughly violated. They spare no beautiful female. 

These bandits are tall, burly, and have very bushy yellow unkempt hair. They can rob a dead man and wake one promptly with how bad they smell. They go to the elves ' house uninvited, catching them off guard and taking away their woman forcefully. Any man that resists to give away his wife or daughters would be murdered brutally and so weak men could only watch their wives and daughters being taken away without a fight. They are the ones that disrupt Woodland peace and the Arrows known as Woodland Soldiers are sometimes too late to fight them off and even when they are not, the bandits were always too tough for them to battle against them. 

These bandits are mostly fond of white haired beauties and lots of white haired beauties have been met with a tough fate harsher than the cold, dry winds of winter. 

Elva rounded the house sneakily and took her purple leather back quiver, full of arrows and a recurve bow, underneath the thorn bush she created herself, out. She put the medicine in her tight black pants pocket, discarded her cloak, revealing a purple gown tunic dress, golden lace up cincher and put her dark purple hair into a loose bun with longer pieces of hair falling around her face. 

Then, she hung the purple leather back quiver on her shoulder, took the recurve bow and climbed in easily through the back window leading into the small kitchen. She scanned the area for threat before walking stealthily to the round wooden door leading to their dining room, opening it a little bit to see if it was safe to go inside. 

It wasn't. 

Three, big, burly bandits were sitting down on their tree pillows, the pillows completely flattened and hidden under their fat butts. They formed a circle around her fragile looking mother who only had a cloak on her body to cover her nakedness. Her mother was on her knees, her long grey hair once lusciously dark covering her body as she cowed in the middle while the bandits teased and poked her  body with their filthy fingers. 

Her mother made a long, whimpering and tormented sound when one of the bandits grabbed one of her breasts roughly through her cloak and Elva's eyes went red. 

She kicked the wooden door and it made a loud banging sound as it hit the wall, jolting everybody in the room, her mother being the hardest. 

The bandits became alarmed at first but relaxed when they saw it was a woman. Women are weak creatures to them. A plaything. 

Well, Elva couldn't blame them as the only thing women in Woodland are taught to do is to make their future husbands happy and become a breeding body. Very few can do anything. They can't even train themselves to be strong because the male elves would feel threatened nor could they speak where there were male elves, unless giving permission. 

The bandits completely lowered their guard and tossed her into the category of all the submissive and weak women in Woodland but she will prove them bloody wrong. 

She was no weak woman. 

"Oh, come here little one, don't be scared" Said one of the bandits. 

The others tossed their head back and laughed, their big belly vibrating hard. 

Elva watched them with disgust. Her hand tightened on the recurve bow she was hiding behind her in anger. Her mother didn't move, her head still bowed. 

"This one has a bigger chest" Said another bandit with yellowish teeth. 

"Oh, and nice child bearing hips with a waist I'd love to bend to my will" 

"Release my mother and come at me" Elva said icily, her amber eyes almost turning red in anger. 

"Oh, a fiery one? Will be great in bed" 

One of the bandits tossed her mother aside and she hit the ground hard. He then opened his hands wide and spread his legs, urging Elva to come embrace him and sit right in his middle. 

They were all excited. None of them could have foreseen what she did next.