#forest fox

A small girl, maybe four or five years old, was curled up on the ground of the burrow, one leg stuck in the soil up to her hip, the other one was twisted in a very painful looking angle. It was probably dislocated or worse, broken. And when his shadow fell on her, she raised her head slowly, looking at him with innocent, but fearful widened hazel eyes. Her long brown braid was entangled in roots, so she could barely move her head. No chance she could get out of this on her own. She only wore a thin linen dress, her shoulders and tiny arms were trembling. He could not tell if in fear or because of the frostiness of the autumn evening. How long was this child stuck there? The elf lowered his bow. Without help she would be dead by dawn. And no human would ever dare to set a footstep in his forest, as the elves would welcome them with their arrows. He instantly knew that the fate of this child was in his hands. He could leave her behind for someone else to find, to save her. Which was not about to happen. Or he could send an arrow through her heart, ending her pain and suffering. But why bothering? King or beggar, or a child, what´s the difference? One dh´oine less. “Are you an elf?” the girl asked out of a sudden with a hushed voice. He nodded slowly, but said no word. One shouldn´t start talking with something that was about to die. “My father always said the elves are our friends”, she continued, he saw how she lost her fear; “Can you take me home?” What she said and how she said it hit is heart. The elves are our friends was something rarely said these days, when non-humans were oppressed, expulsed from the towns, or banned into ghettos, or slaughtered and burned to death. How could he let this innocent child die, believing that her father had been wrong, that elves were not her friends? He clenched his teeth. He was not fond of human kind, he had not the slightest sympathy for any human being, but leaving her behind was her death warrant. He was a warrior, but not a monster. Inhaling the frosty air of the forest he saw the girl shivering. “Yes, I will take you home”, the elf answered unemotionally. And that is how Iorveth, the Scoia´tael leader, met Yrdenne.