2. Elf from Another World (2)

"I hate humans."

In a dungeon, a girl behind a prison cell witnessed her friend getting whipped by three laughing men. Their whips were made of spikes that dug through the skin.

"Help me! Sierra! It hurts! Please!" Her friend, whose hands were bound in chains, screamed for each wound that bled. "I don't want to die!"

Sierra gritted her teeth. Her weak hands shook the metal bars, trying to break free of the cell, but she couldn't. She panted and howled.

She kneeled on the floor, crying, losing all hope.

"I'm sorry, Irene—"

Sierra opened her eyes, inhaling and exhaling with haste. She noticed herself lying on a familiar bed.

The morning light illuminated the view of her bedroom. A large and luxurious bed with velvet pillows sat beside a giant curtain that filtered the rays of the sun. Jewels and perfumes filled her dresser.

A lady in a green robe shook Sierra's body. Her blonde ponytail hair shined up to her waist. Her white bonnet complimented her jade-green dress. Her ears extended half the human length.

Sierra stared at her and wailed. "Annietta… I had that same dream again…"

"I'm by your side, Princess Sierra," Annietta said, patting her head.

"Don't leave me, Annietta…"

"I would never."

In the secluded Kingdom within the Percyne forest, the Evergreen Kingdom ruled the town of blonde-haired elves. These elves were called the Evergreen clan.

The kingdom was ruled by the King as the head guardian of the forest. He had three sons and his youngest daughter, Sierra Saelethil Percyne Evergreen.

After calming down, Sierra sat down before the mirror at her dressing table. Annietta fixed Sierra's milk-skinned face and golden-blonde hair that weaved down her abdomen.

Sierra's long ears, emerald-green eyes, and white sleeping dress reflected into her view. Annietta noticed Sierra staring through nothingness.

"Would the nightmares still bother you, milady?" Annietta asked.

Sierra nodded with her drawn eyebrows. "The calming agent doesn't work anymore."

"… Is that so?"

"I—I'm not saying that I don't like your stories! In fact, I want to hear them again. Your stories helped me too much."

"Then… I'll bring another one before you sleep. I'll be by your side even after you sleep."

"Yay! I love you, Annietta! You're my greatest storyteller!" Sierra exclaimed, embracing Annietta.

Instead, Annietta paused, exhaled, embraced her back, and smiled with her drawn eyebrows. "I love you too, milady."

Sierra changed into her green gown, emitting the aura of royalty and pride. As they walked through the corridor, Sierra showed her palm to Annietta.

A pinch of fire popped out and floated over Sierra's palm. "Look, Annietta! I can now cast fire on my hand! Isn't it amazing!?"

"You're amazing, Princess! You're now getting proficient in using magic!"

Sierra smirked. "I will become a high-elf in no time!"

When they reached the corridor, Sierra halted and leered at the entrance double doors of the castle. She gulped and trembled in fear.

Passing through the entrance door every day was a challenge to her. It gave her the memory that she never wanted to return.

I'm never going out. It's too scary outside. Humans will treat me as a slave and sell me. Humans will torture me. Humans will try to kill me again… But I wanted to explore the world, a world where humans don't exist. She thought.

"Are you planning to go out?" An old voice behind them made them turn their bodies around. An elf with a beard and a weathered face greeted them. He wore a clean white robe defining his status.

"High Elder Nyvorlas!" Sierra squealed. "I'm not planning to go out. It's too scary."

"Hmph! You learned your lesson once. Still, I can see the sensation of you escaping this kingdom. Try to break the taboo; you'll meet a worse fate than your past trauma. I don't want you to end up like Marcielleane did."

Sierra's Mom, Marcieliane, was known for breaking the custom set by the clan when she went outside the kingdom. She was pregnant when she gave birth to Sierra in the farther regions of a dangerous forest.

Only the King knew the reason why she did it. He was also the one who brought Sierra back to the castle, the reason why Sierra was alive.

Marcieliane never came back. She was proclaimed dead after being proclaimed guilty of breaking the taboo. And that taboo was:

The women in the royalty should preserve purity and power by existing within the castle grounds.

"I'm just reminding you of what you should and shouldn't do," Elder Nyvorlas said and parted ways with Sierra and Annietta.

Sierra pouted. "Taboo this, taboo that! Is that what elders only think of?"

"Princess Sierra, it would be impolite to talk bad behind the high elder. They're the reason why the ether in this kingdom is so condensed that it's prospering."

"But still… He thinks highly of himself just because he mastered magic already. I hated him for not teaching me once."

"Honestly, milady, did you really think that you wanted to go out of the castle?"

"N—Not! I'm not!" Sierra stuttered. Her reddened face gazed away from Annietta.

"You're lying, milady."

"I'm really not! A—After all, I fear the outside world. I'm comfortable that I'm s—safe in my home! I would never dream of anything else."

"I apologize for breaking your expectations, milady, but the world wasn't ideal like you dreamed of."

"What do you mean, Annietta?"

"What would you do if your haven crumbled into pieces? Where will you go?"

"T—There's no way it would ever happen! We had high elders to protect us."

"Even though you're already 16, you're still a child, milady."

"I'm not a child anymore!" Sierra pouted.

On their walk, they encountered another elf housekeeper carrying a mountain of books towards the library. The housekeeper tripped, scattering the books.

Sierra witnessed the scene and rushed towards the housekeeper, extending her hand to help her. "Are you alright, Elmyra?"

"P—Princess Sierra!? I apologize for my mistake of not paying attention to my path. I didn't intend to dirty the books. I'm so sorry…"

"Don't worry. I'm not mad at you. Are you sure you aren't hurt?"

"I'm alright, but the books…"

"We got it covered."

Annietta, Sierra, and Elmyra gathered the books and divided them into two. Sierra's eyes glimmered after seeing the title of a foreign book imported into their library.

"The Colorless Tiger? This sounds interesting!"

"Do you want me to read it?" Annietta asked, carrying the pile of books Elmyra had.

Sierra nodded with a bright smile. "I wanted this! Could you tell the story to me later, Annietta?"

"Would I mind borrowing this, Elmyra?" Annietta asked.

"O—Of course, Miss Annietta. You don't need my permission to borrow it. It's not like I own the books anyway."

"Thank you, Elmyra!" Sierra exclaimed.

Annietta delivered half of the books with Elmyra to the library. Sierra brought the book to her room and placed it over her dressing table. What Annietta asked earlier stalled her.

Were the high elves that weak? They were called that because of their magical strength. With their combined powers, they had the force to clear a hundred-meter radius. They're also the ones responsible for the magic barrier around the kingdom.

But will our defenses break? If this kingdom falls, what would I even do? Where will I end up to? Where will I go? Will there still be a place that will accept me?

My grandmother said that there's a way for me to escape a disaster, and it will lead me to a safe place, but…

Will it be enough to call it home?

Sierra opened the top drawer and saw a hairpin with a glowing emerald gem embedded in it. Its glow lit the shaded region of the box green.

"Grandma, I know you're always by my side. I entrust my safety to you when that time comes," Sierra muttered.

Her grandmother left Sierra the hairpin before she died from an uncured disease. She entrusted it to her to use it only in times of chaos.

Because of what happened to her past, Sierra didn't use it once. She was curious, but she was also terrified of escaping. She swore to herself that she wouldn't escape again.

She held the flute to her lips and breathed out a melody that seemed to come from another world. The notes were soft and airy, like wisps of clouds in the sky.

She closed her eyes and let the music flow through her. The sound was ethereal and enchanting, captivating anyone who heard it. She felt a connection with the flute as if it were an extension of her soul.

Most of her days were spent at staring from the castle terrace, playing her flute, eating, and sleeping. Other than that, there's nothing else she could think of.

16 years old was too early for an elf's age. In the Evergreen clan's practice, a person will be treated as an adolescent when he reaches 30. It wasn't baseless; the elder's ether dictates it.

Unlike other kids, Sierra spent her whole time circling the castle. Her boredom sometimes conflicted with her fear, leaving her doubting.

As per her father's teaching, her safety was of utmost importance. Sierra traded her limited joy for her sanctuary. Most of the time, she fought and disciplined herself.

The night came. Two moons peeked over the blue clouds in the sky. Annietta entered the room and witnessed Sierra's melody. Sierra, wearing her sleeping dress, stopped after hearing the knob.

"Your sound was too perfect. I couldn't compare even a professional bard in a match of skill, Princess Sierra," Annietta complimented and took the book about the Colorless Tiger.

"This is the only thing I could do. I think this was my calling, but… I'm starting not to have fun," Sierra muttered, lying on the bed and putting the flute on the nightstand beside her.

Annietta brought the stool near Sierra's bed and sat. "Don't you like playing the flute?"

"I like it, but… the more I play it, the more it tires me. I'm not lacking interest but motivation. I don't know what this feeling was called."

"Milady, perhaps are you feeling you lack something?" Annietta asked, skimming the book pages.

"I couldn't tell, Annietta. These feelings lingered within me for a long time. It's just that… Now's the only time I got the courage to say it. Wasn't this weird?"

"Rest easy, my princess. Tomorrow, a brighter day awaits you. You might discover something new."

Sierra smiled. "Thank you, Annietta. With you, my day was already complete."

Annietta coughed. "The Colorless Tiger and Van Dough."

"Yay!"

The story talked about a caged tiger with only shades of black and white. The tiger was so famous that even painters worldwide tried to paint it, but it only drips off.

One 'crazy' painter named Van Dough painted in the air without ink on his brush. When everyone knew he would paint the tiger, they laughed.

Van Dough entered the tiger's cage and whispered something to the tiger. When he painted it, even without ink, the tiger's skin turned vibrantly orange.

Everyone flinched and asked him what sorcery he did. He answered that no colors were needed to paint real life as his brush did. There is only a phrase he whispered in its ear.

'Freedom gives you color.'

The authorities freed the tiger from the forest to maintain its color and saw how joyous it was.

But even after Sierra read the book, the plot left her with many questions. "Why did the tiger get captured? Didn't he originally have orange skin? Why didn't he eat the people who caught him and escape?"

"Curious little princess, maybe the writer did that on purpose. I'm afraid I can't answer that."

"I don't get why they just let him leave like that. Freedom? The writer left us things that needed explanation."

"Freedom is a broad concept, milady. For what the book tells, it shows how free a person could be. You can feel freedom if you recognize the livelier colors."

"But I recognize basic colors, crimson, azure, lily. Weren't they lively? How can you tell if a color is lively? That doesn't make sense."

"Try breathing the air."

Sierra inhaled profoundly, but it didn't affect her at all.

"Your breathing harbors fear in it." Annietta winced. "Do you still fear going outside?"

"How can you tell that?"

"How about this? To attain it as the tiger did, you need something to recognize those colors… or someone."

"Like Van Dough?"

"Like Van Dough," Annietta smiled.

Sierra engraved Annietta's face, embracing another set of nightmares with courage. Listening to storytelling was partly her intention. She requested Annietta to assure her that she wouldn't be eaten by her dream again.

But this time, she didn't experience any nightmares.

Boom!

Minutes after, a nearby explosion woke her. Screams swarmed past the walls of her dark room. Annietta wasn't there.

Curious like a newly awoken drunk, she went out of the room. Smokes gathered like bees through the hallways. Sierra excessively coughed and covered her nose.

"Annietta? Annietta!?" Sierra shouted and coughed, walking through the corridor only with the walls as her guide.

Annietta ran to her with blood painting her green dress. Sierra gasped,

"What's happening, Annietta? Why is there fire in the castle—"

"We're leaving, milady."

Annietta dragged Sierra in the other direction. Just as they passed through Sierra's room, they witnessed an army of humans in robes.

"H—Humans…" Sierra stuttered, dilating her pupils. "Why are they here?"

When Annietta turned back, an army of knights obstructed her. Getting cornered, the only place they could go to was Sierra's room, but it was a dead end.

There's only one way of escape…

There's only one person who could.

Annietta pushed Sierra back into her room and locked the door. As the door closed, Sierra smashed it with her small fists.

"Annietta… Annietta! Don't leave me! What the hell are you doing!?"

"Please escape, Princess! They're after you," Annietta said from the other side of the door.

"But you—"

"You know what to do. You're a big girl now. You can now chase back your freedom—"

The sound of blades entering the flesh resonated through the door. Sierra's chin and lips trembled, and she shook her head in denial.

She wished that all of this was a nightmare… But the world wasn't ideal like she dreamed of.

With breaths rasping, Sierra screamed. "ANNIETTA!!" She knocked on the door with strength, repeating Annietta's name.

The sound transformed into a stab in the wood. Anxious, Sierra halted her cry and wandered for ways she could escape.

She ran away from the door, but a part of her dress cleaved with the door. A princess's garment was made of high-quality fibers that wouldn't be torn just by pulling.

What can I do? No… What should I do!? She thought. The stabs on the door amplified until a part of a knight's blade peeked through it. Her rushed breathing stalled her.

She could only do things within her possession. She faced her palm on the cleaved part and circulated ether through it. A fire came out, burning and tearing her dress.

She rushed towards her drawer. With her clammy hands, she pulled out her grandmother's hairpin. Its glow illuminated the room green.

"Grandma… Save me…"

Trembling, Sierra wore the hairpin in her hair. Her mirror changed its reflection, rather, it showed another place… A place alien to this world.

Bang! The mages forced their magic to breach the door. Sierra didn't know how the artifact worked, leaving her stunned.

It was a dumb idea, but… the moment the knights raided her room, she dived through the mirror, leaving trails of tears.

She fell, striking a boy sitting on his bed. The portal vanished after she passed an inch beyond it. The emerald gem in her hairpin broke into powders.

Her chest suffocated the man as she lay over him. Hurt, she raised her head. She held her breath after witnessing that she fell through a dangerous pitfall.

A human…

This was all a trap.