The Wildling

A nameless wildling, running quickly through the forest of the Heartlands. A few elves around him ushering him along, picking him up as he stumbles, encouraging, guiding, moving him along. It's very hard for him to trust these elves, for the elves are the ones that tortured him and his friends and family, experimented and worked mercilessly everyday. He doesn't remember when it started, but for as long as he remembers he was enslaved to the elves and lived at their whim. He has seen many die for elven curiosity, or hunger, or anger, and even madness.

As the forest lightens up, the wildling notices the Void starting to brighten up. One of the elves, the one that broke him out, ushers him to the edge and points towards a small sky ship.

'Go little one, run and hide over on that ship. Keep out of sight of any elves and find your own place in this world.' The elf hands him a small token that is unfamiliar to him, it looks like a hollowed out metallic ring with a tree inside. 'If another elf shows this to you, he may be trusted, but always be wary, and learn who you can trust on your own.'

The wildling, still confused, rushes towards the sky ship he sees. The elves, he notices, create a commotion on the other side of the docks, and the humans rush off to see what is happening. He looks back to the forest to see the elf that helped step back into the shadows. As the elf disappears, he jumps in to the ship and finds his way into the hold, a dark corner behind some crates where no one can see him.

In the darkness thoughts of his brother stir up feelings of anger, he vows to come back and save him as he has been saved this day, and get revenge on his captors and keeper. His thoughts sometimes wander towards the elves that rescued him. They confuse him greatly, for he has a deep hatred of the elves, but as he dozes off with the ship leaving port, his last thought is of the elf's name he overheard during the conversation when he was rescued, 'Calin.'