(2) Broken

Flames both green and red dances among the screams of Zin-Azshari

Rhia Nyoma, a young elf of around 20, had rushed from the forest after defeating a pack of Fel-hounds and the cost of her best friends death. The young and inexperienced elf has now recklessly rushed back to the city after hearing screams to try and save her family from the demons invading the land, but upon exiting the forest that bordered her home square, she stopped, shocked at the devastation that she could see in front of her.

Her once grand home and city was now almost in ruins. Buildings were on fire, their walls having crumbled away. The streets were slick with blood, and chunks of flesh from Night Elves simply lay around the square, felhounds eating away at the half dead corpses and hacked off limbs. She then identified the screams of women being raped, and of elves who were being burnt alive inside their own homes.

She collapsed onto her knees, and hand going to the ground. She felt physically sick as what she saw, and she ended up vomiting onto the ground in front of her. She stayed collapsed for a few seconds, tears rolling down her face as she vomited again, until the glint of her hunting knife reminded her of why she was here. She had to try and save her family from these demons. The innocent childhood glee part of Rhia died then, when she saw the destruction caused from fel and demons.

Mustering the strength, Rhia stood up, drawing her hunting knife in her right hand and her best friends sword in her left. She scanned the dead and wounded for her family, as that would be who she saved first. She quickly registered one of the screams from her burning house to be her baby sister, most likely burning and suffocating to death from the flames and smoke. Rhia wished that she could help her, but she knew that would only result in her death as well.

She couldn't see her older sister anywhere, but she thought that she might have been torn apart judging from the body parts strewn around the square. Again, another one of her family dead before she could save them. Her twin brother was being strangled by a winged demon of some sort. She couldn't tell what it was at the time, but later she would recognize it as a dreadlord. He did still look alive though.

Her father was almost dead. The corpses of many fel hounds surrounded him, but his bloody sword lay shattered on the ground, and his intestines were spilled over the pavement of the square. His eyes traces sadly to Rhia's mother, who was being raped by what looked like another Night Elf, though she couldn't be sure as it didn't look like any Night Elf that she had seen before. She wouldn't survive the ordeal either. Her only hope lay with rescuing her brother now.

She charged forward and lunged at the elf thing that was raping her mother in a frenzy, taking it by supprize. Blood spurted out from it's back and it's chest as the sword pierced through him. He collapsed onto the ground, dead, and Rhia's mother quickly collapsed afterwards, bleeding out from her many wounds. Rhia couldn't stop however, and she spun her knife at a felguard that was coming to intercept her. Luck was on her side, and the blade lodged iteself in the demons neck. Blood gurgled up it's throat and spilled onto the floor out of its mouth upon hitting the ground.

She rushed up to the demon, and pulled out her knife. Many of the demons had now been alerted to Rhia's presence, and were now going to grab their weapons. She didn't have much time. A knife spun towards the dreadlords claw, wounding it and forcing him to drop Rhia's brother. Before it could turn around and deal with the woman, she had already jumped up cut down at him, wounding him.

The dreadlord roared, and the minions charged at the elf, who had just recovered her hunting knife. She lunged at a hound that tried to pounce upon her, skewering it on her blade. However, it knocked her onto the floor, and she wasted a second or two pushing it off of her and getting up back onto her feet. She swung clumsily at a felguard with her sword, who parried the attack, before swinging her knife in a right to left motion, warding of another hound. Things did not look good, and Rhia slowly backed away.

She lunged again with her sword, catching the felguard on his shoulder. He swung his blade at the same time, and also caught Rhia. She stumbled, but a wild strike from her knife caught the demon in the stomach. However, a felhound latched onto her arm, biting down and making Rhia scream in pain. She prepared herself for the end, where she would be overwhelmed by the demons, but the unexpected happened.

Glaives were thrown out of the woods followed closely by demons. A group of elves jumped out after them, and charged in to combat the demons. Some arrows and a glaive caught the dreadlord, who in response let loose a carrion swarm, which caught two elves, making them fall down on the floor, either dead or in terrible pain. A swing from Rhia's sword decapitated the stunned felhound that was latched onto her arm. It's jaw relaxed, and Rhia crawled towards her brother, not caring about the other elves as blood was freed from her and trickled down onto the paving stones.

Her twin's throat had been crushed by the dreadlord, and he was suffering from many cuts and other wounds. He wouldn't live, and he would die in agony. His eyes flitted towards Rhia and she knelt by him, her tears flowing from her face onto him. As she eventually looked him in the face, Rhia understood what he wanted her to do. Her eyes widened with horror, but he picked up her hunting knife all the same with both hands.

"I'm so sorry brother." Rhia said, swinging down her knife into her brothers chest, killing him instantly. If there was any childhood left within her, then it had just gone, and left Rhia as a shadow of her former self.

Eventually, the elves chased off the Dreadlord and killed the other demons, before going to the other parts of the city in an attempt to launch a counter offensive. One elf however, a priestess of Elune, jogged over to Rhia and quickly healed her arm, before looking down to her brother. He quickly understood what was going on, and his instincts told him to try and help the girl in front of him. He knew that he didn't have much time though.

"Listen." He said. Rhia looked up at him. "I know that this is sad, but you need to get out of here. Take my bag and travel west until you reach the shore. The bag has all the food supplies that you'll need. Hopefully there will be other survivors who can care for you." Some demons began pouring out of a street, only to be met with a holy bolt or two from the priest. "Go! Quickly!" Rhia grabbed her bag from her side and ran off into the forest, leaving the priestess to fight the demons.