Legend of Rigna;;

[Book One] Scavanger's Defiance

In the distance, a storm began to cry out.

Wind whispered over the autumn trees, dancing through the crowns of flaming leaves like a lost bird. The sun set slowly, ever so slowly, as the storm rose in the distance.

Two lith sat silently on stones covered in moss. The young girl, of about nine, had long white hair that tickled her ankles, a few locks of it braided and a few tied with colorful strings. Small, round horns and lamb ears poked out from beneath. Her bare feet gripped the mossy surface easily as she peered into the horizon.

Her irises glinted iridescent in the dusk light.

Her companion was older, a tall youth with kind eyes, a single, ragged cat ear and a mob of dark brown hair, tousled and tangled from moons of wandering. Leaning back easily, he seemed unaffected as he gazed at the growing darkness, a gentle glow in his eyes. A bow laid nearby, complete with a beautifully decorated quiver of arrows.

"Riigna."

The word was quiet, but the girl's head still snapped towards him. Her companion offered her an apologetic smile. "We should get going."

The child didn't reply, just turned back towards the storm in the distance. The youth's expression became grim, and he spoke again, insistently, "Riigna, there is nothing we can still do. We must hurry if we are to make it out alive."

"I'll kill them."

The low voice escaped slowly from Riigna's throat, her red-rimmed eyes firmly placed on the horizon. "I'll kill them all."

"You will not."

The wind blew, cold and mourning. Warm leaves rustled in its wake, and the lith's voice, quiet as it was, cut through the noise clear and clean. Holding her eerie gaze, he spoke emphatically, "We'll kill them all."

A heartbeat passed, and then the girl nodded her head in agreement, words and thoughts passing between in the silence that bonded their hearts into one. "We have to move. We can't kill them if we're dead."

Relief filled the youth's smiling face as he looked down on her. "Just so."

The two quickly picked up the items of their small camp, getting to ready to leave. They didn't have much to take anyway.

The sun's light hadn't yet faded when the girl Riigna slipped her small pack onto her back and grew still. "Thank you, Peeru."

Taken by surprise, the youth stared at her for moment, his hands still working with the knot he was tying. Then he smiled, and said, "I'd accept your gratitude if I knew its source, child."

"I almost lost control." The girl looked into the darkness of the woods, her face hidden in shadow. Soberly, she said, "If you hadn't said the right thing once again, I would've lost control. My spirit might have finally died."

The youth twitched slightly, the only motion that betrayed his alarm. Ever since he began traveling with the young girl, he started hiding his fear and doubt. She could tell his true emotions anyway, but it gave both of them strength. Peeru replied, almost lightly, "If you ask me, our spirits must be sorely worn by now, from all of the hatred in both of us. But I agree, a raging mage would not be helpful right now."

"You have no idea." Her voice broke, but when she turned back to him, Riigna's eyes blazed with the defiance of a child. "I can feel our spirits with us. They are weak but as angry as we are. We seek justice, life and protection for the helpless, Peeru. They feel that and support it. I can tell."

She raised her face to the night sky that was finally beginning to twinkle with stars, now that the sun's last rays vanished. "We will come onto them, and harry them with the rage of the righteous. We will fight, and we will never let them take another."

The young male said nothing, only watched her, the child mage with snow white hair and strange eyes. Riigna continued speaking, and her voice was the herald of resistance. It was the announcement of a new struggle. The declaration that two, young lives were being placed on an altar, sacrificed for the fall of their oppressors.

"We will be the ghosts of honor, the avengers of the innocent slain."

Iridescent eyes shone in a thousand colors.

"We will cut the moon elves, and we will kill them without mercy. Mercy means another family gone. Mercy means dozens of lives ruined and destroyed. There is no room for mercy anymore."

As she lifted her oath to the stars, the lith youth remained silent, and did not correct her. Now was not the time to discuss how they would kill. Now was not the time to discuss the need for mercy and honor. The time for that would come later.

Now was the time to decide to kill.

'Legend of Riigna; Scavanger's Defiance', as writ by Teeji of the Lith.

To read of Riigna's return to Ildis and the resistance, seek the 'Legend of Riigna; Fight for Ildis' and 'Legend of Riigna; Child's Rage'.