The Adventures Of Lucy Serlaisha - Story one

-Part One-

Caydum was a large, sprawling and bustling trade city, built many ages ago by the coast from grey granite by the mortal hands of men, laid out in a very square fashion with straight streets. Stretching for a mile or two in every direction, the city was surprisingly not a dull place, instead with vibrant and rich colours decorating the stone houses, each one having a small shop of some kind attached to them, each one selling wares to a variety of customers. Even the houses that were not near to the trade square at the centre of the town were still converted in to small shops, each one of them managing to get business, enough so to make a living.
In the centre of the city which many people believed incapable of wear due to the immaculate appearance of Caydum, was a square that contained numerous stalls with shops surrounding the whole place, each one making large amounts of money through the amount of trade that they achieved. Many of the wares were from the local area, craftsmanship by the men and women of the city and surrounding farms, items such as little trinkets, clothing and the odd weapon or two. Yet, there were other people from distant lands and other cities there, mostly buying and browsing items, but some were selling their own items from far off lands, and not all of the people were human. Elves, Dwarves and many of the other races were also looking around, being careful over their actions due to the superior attitudes of the humans.
For that very reason, human guards were stationed on every street in pairs, and in the central square there were several of them, each in a light violet and dark blue plate armour, with swords hanging by their belts and with a shield slung over their backs. However, the city had constructed several magical gollems constructed from purple and blue gems, the colours of the city, for it had been understood by the wise magi that made up the eldar council that ruled the city that many of the human guards were likely to still share the same biast and slightly racist views, whilst the gollems that patrolled the city vigilantly would not be effected by this. There was a stone wall, also made from granite, but it was a thin wall with a weak gate located by the eastern side of Caydum for the city did not expect a large attack from any force. The docks on the opposite side were sprawling, like the rest of the city with many trade ships docking to and fro to unload or load goods, yet they lacked serious defenses, because they also did not expect attack from there.
Within the city, by the north-western and about an equal distance from the wall and from the central square lay another, smaller square, similar to many other smaller ones that were dotted about the city. By it, lay many house shops as was customary among the city, but a small yet ornate church dedicated to the worship of the god Zarkum also lay by it, opposite an orphanage that housed children who's parents were lost, mostly in the Demonic wars or the remnants of them which raged and still raged far in to the west, in the Darghul plains.
The orphanage was small, only holding thirty of the lost children with three matrons to watch over them from all ages until they came of age, at fifteen years for a human, which almost everyone was in the city. Each child was trained according to their arts of what they were good at, with some going to lead lives of traders, some of priests or priestesses in the local temple, and with a few going to lead lives as guards or even better, righteous paladin warriors who served the church in distant lands.
Lucy Serlaisha was a small girl, barely of seven years of age yet old enough to be studying to become a Paladin of the Zarkum faith, which contained learning to read, write, to be able to wield weapons, to channel the gods light through ones self and much more that she had yet to find out. She had learned to wield a sword and shield, of which she kept a small iron short sword and a wooden shield designed for her in her small chest that contained her few belongings in the orphanage. Meanwhile, she could also read and write, and in her spare time she spent it reading complex books and writing in her own diary.
If she had been human, then she could have expected a very bright future ahead of her.
Lucy was a half elf, her father being a Sil'dain or High Elf from the distant land of Varainai across the sea, whilst her mother had been a human trader who had managed to attract the attention of her father, Falstraen. It was lot long until he settled in the city alongside Valistra, her mother, who bore Lucy at the price of her death. Falstraen had gone out to the Darghul plains a few months previous, and had never returned. For that reason, he had been presumed dead, and Lucy had been raised in the orphanage.
For most orphans at the orphanage, they lived a decent enough life. The matrons were caring, and donations were generous which lead to prosperous lives for many orphans. However, as a Half Elf, she was viewed with much disdain and open racism from other humans, whilst many other races would try to kill her on the spot because they would view her as an aberration. For this reason, she had to work harder than many others to get as far as she did, whilst suffering abuse and neglect from the other orphans and from the adults of the area. She was given less money to spend than the others, and the small sum of money that she did receive she could not spend, because prices were risen for her by traders, and some even refused to sell to her.
For Lucy, life was like living in the realm of Paizar until she entered the church for her studies. There, her teacher Matthew treated her with as much love and respect as any other orphan from the orphanage. There, she could be free of the hateful and mistrusting glances, the spitting by her feet and the other kinds of abuse. There, she could study in peace, which was why she spent so much of her time there, and it was also there that she felt that her dreams of becoming a righteous paladin, a defender of the weak and innocent, a distributor of justice and a healer of the injured could take form.
Currently however, it was late at night and the sun had set over the sea. The stars had reappeared in their nightly routine, and one of the two moons was in full view whilst the other rested away from view. Lucy was sat inside the orphanage, which was dimly lit by candles that hung on iron chandeliers, mysteriously illuminating the rest of the main room and partially the side rooms where the orphans slept in their bunk beds. Tables of pine wood were stretched across the hall, and there were some small bookshelves that contained a few books designed for all ages. A small hearth was embedded into one corner, made from marble with a fireplace resting on top made from limestone, the fire slowly dying down in to ashes, whilst next to it lay a small kitchen which had been used to prepare the orphans dinner and, eventually, breakfast in the next day.
Lucy's slender and pale elf like hands held a large and very complex book about the history of Caydum. Her arms would have been slightly more chunky than an elves, yet more slender than a humans, which was similar to her feet and legs which were also very pale. However, they were covered by a brown shirt and trousers, with a pair of black boots on her feet. Her face was more complex, with slightly pointed ears, a slight silvery glow to her eyes and with silver hair that was tied back in to a ponytail. Other than those features however, she had the body of any other child of her age. She still held some puppy fat, though less than a human child, yet more than an elven one. Her intelligence was far beyond her age though, yet unrecognized by most due to her being a half breed.
Slowly, she folded over the page of the complexly written book before placing it down on the floor next to her, ready to be picked up again and to be read further. The evening was growing late, and soon she would be called for sleep, but before then she wished to take a walk to the temple and around the square. Attempting to avoid being identified as a half elf, she quickly and quietly walked in to her room on the left of the orphanage upon walking through the entrance, opening her small wooden locker slowly to avoid waking up her room mates to pull out a pale blue and white hooded cloak, which had the star embedded in to a shield symbol engraved in to the back which marked her as a trainee paladin. A priest or priestess would have had a star symbol on its own stitched in to the cloak.
As she began to quietly put on the cloak and lock up the chest again, her eyes strayed to the small, pure silver, crescent moon pendant around her neck. Her father had given it to her mother, and upon her death it had been given to her, making it the only relic of a past that she had never had. Gently laying her hand upon it, she dedicated a quick prayer to Zarkum for her parents to receive his blessing and to live a happy afterlife. Once finished her silent prayer, she pushed herself up on to her feet and headed in to the main room before turning for the main door, made from the same pine wood that the tables and floor were made from.
A loud creak thundered through the main room as the door was opened, causing Lucy to stiffen up and also causing some of the sleeping orphans to toss and turn in their sleep, whilst those that were awake quickly spared a glance in her direction, only to turn back to their previous activities. Once she realized that none had majorly been affected by her opening the door, she quickly slipped through it and quietly closed it behind her, turning to set off into the square.
Pulling up her hood which held a silver trim along the rim she headed along to the temple, quickly ascending the steps to entrance, muttering another prayer dedicated to Zarkum before heading away, not entering the silvery and ornate place of worship. Instead, she headed around the square, looking at all of the shops that were closed up whilst peering down alleyways and scurrying around crates and such with curiosity. Minor things such as these interested her.
As she peered down an alleyway, she quickly had to take a second look. She saw a small coin, made from copper with the imprint of a full bag of goods imprinted in to it, marking it as the local currency, Laaren. This wasn't much, only worth five Laaren, yet she still quickly scurried over to the coin, kneeling down and letting her cloak fall around her so she could pick it up, which she did, quickly slipping it in to a pocket happily before standing back up.
However, as she did she noticed a shadow looming behind her, three or four in fact. They were humanoid in shape, taller and chunkier than herself yet not quite of the size to be adults. Bracing herself, she slowly moved her hand to her waist, only to find that she had left her sword and shield behind in her chest at the orphanage, leaving her unarmed and defenseless. Cursing silently, she turned to face the quartet of thugs who she failed to identify due to the darkness of the alleyway that concealed their faces. They took on imposing stances, crossing their arms and brandishing crude clubs. The leader of the group, at least the person who Lucy presumed to be the leader, spoke.
"Well well well, look at what the cat dragged out."

-Part Two-

Lucy Serlaisha sighed as she realized that it was the local orphanage bully, Callum, who was speaking to her with his fellow bullies in tow. He was thirteen, with a complete rough look to his face and a muscular build. He had no respect for anyone, not even the orphanage owner who took donations and looked after them all.
She was nervous though. Callum was considered a nasty person by many people: He liked to pick on people and beat up people for no real reason other than his enjoyment. The only other way out was to pay him, though he charged a fair amount and Lucy could never afford the amount. Besides, you still got a punch or two even if you did pay up.
She gulped, her senses numbing from fear as she eyed the four thugs that stood with their imposing stances, their "Clubs" in hand. Licking her suddenly dry and cracked lips, she spoke, her voice wavering as she silently dedicated a prayer to Zarkum to protect her, or to at least lessen the beating.
"H-How much do you want this time?" The sense of fear was rank in the air as the words were spoken. Even in the shroud of darkness, she could see the corners of the thugs' lips curve upwards in to a cruel smirk.
"One hundred Laaren, or would you rather a beating?" He intimidatingly cracked his knuckles whilst the others waved their supposed clubs (Though they were more like poles of metal and planks of wood). One hundred Laaren was the kind of money that you would carry if you were to purposefully go shopping for items. In the dead of night, no-one sane would carry that amount of money on them. It quickly occurred to Lucy that it wasn't the money that Callum wanted, but instead he wanted the pleasure of seeing her helpless on the floor whilst him and his friends beat her senseless.
Anger boiled up inside her, replacing the fear and the values that Zarkum taught his followers. Her hands clenched up in to fists, and she spoke angrily to Callum. "You know that I, and no-one else here, carries that kind of money around, least of all me."
A mixture of fury and glee was made manifest on his face. He bunched his right hand in to a fist, slamming it in to his palm menacingly. "Well then, looks like you'll be getting a beating then." A grin stretched across his face, though it was a grin that unsettled Lucy. Once again, nerves got her as she spoke, her voice wavering slightly again.
"Y-You enjoy beating kids younger than you? Wow, you're so manly and powerful aren't you?" She rolled her eyes, though the fear was traceable still within them. Shadows cast over her face covered that motion though, as well as the fear. Callum still slugged her in the stomach, causing her to double over in pain, whilst also causing tears to spring up in the corners of her eyes. This was then followed by her being thrown down on to the floor.
She crumpled, tears freely flowing down her face as she curled up tightly in to a ball, protecting her head with her arms from the flurry of kicks from Callum and the others. The barrage lasted for what seemed like an eternity, though realistically it wasn't as long as it seemed. When it ended, the bullies chuckled before departing back down the alleyway, minus Lucy's grand total of twenty laraan that she had been carrying in her pocket.
As she lay there, tears streaming down her face, bruises and cuts over her face, it quickly occurred to her that she couldn't live life like this any longer. She needed to get away from the city of hostilities, and go to see and explore the world. Maybe she would see her father who would be able to raise her in peace? The world was an endless land of opportunities. Who knew what she would find out there?