The Girl And The Serpent

The Beginning

Somewhere in Alfheimer, a child was born in a home on a mountain, far from the villages. This child was born here because she was a secret. A child from a light elf, and a dark elf.

~KARI'S POV~

"Folke, Folke, they'll come for me. You have to take the child to Svartalheim." I whispered, still in labor as I clutched my husband's hand.

"No, no. Kari, you must keep her here. She'll be safe here. I promise, she'll be found on Svartalheim." Folke cooed, holding my hand near his face. I shook my head.

"Push, Kari, push." The midwife urged, hours before I'd gone into labor and called Folke from Svartalheim, the world of the dark elves, immediately. 

"I've thought about this, you said there were caves there, you could hide it there, the child will not be safe here, especially if she looks like you." I said, begging. Finally, he nodded his head. A knocking came from the front door.

"Who is that?" Folke asked urgently. I shook my head, they're here for me. I had to get this baby out now. I pushed, hard. Sweat covered my forehead, strands of my white hair stuck to my face, and my gown clung to my skin. Before I could say another word an ear splitting cry rang through the room, the baby was here.

"You've had a girl." The midwife, Nanna, said with a smile, it was now I knew her name rang true. It meant courageous, and that's what she was, standing there, delivering my illegal child.

"Astrid." I whispered, smiling. "Her name is Astrid." I repeated, a tear slipping from my eye.

"Kari?" A voice said from the door.

"Folke, take her please, they're here for me." I cried, throwing the baby into his arms with a kiss, both for him and her.

"Kari, I love you." He whispered, glancing into my eyes one last time before slipping out the door.

"Nanna, go, I'll buy you guys some time." I said, pulling a sword from the closet.

"No, you're too weak to fight, you'll die." She said back, terrified.

"I know, now GO!" I yelled, watching her too, flee out the back door after Folke. I walked into the main room of my home, opening the door, hiding the sword behind my back.

~FOLKE'S POV~

I ran out the door, leaving Kari behind. She made me, for the baby, for Astrid. So we could survive, because we are a family, and family makes sacrifices. Astrid was the most important thing now. Stuck in my thought, I barely noticed Nanna, the midwife follow me as I hid, watching a soldier draw his sword at the door, which opened, and after a few moments, his sword was lifted, positioned to kill.

"Folke, we have to go." Nanna said, ripping my vision away. I nodded. 

"Svartalheim." I whispered hesitantly, slowly guiding my way to the bridge between worlds. When we arrived on the dark world, we immediately found a place to hide. A deep cave that smelled of water and mold.

"Folke, what do we do now?" Nanna asked, her voice slightly trembling.

"You and Astrid never leave this cave. That's what." I ordered, falling to the floor, Astrid asleep in my arms,

"What about you?" Nanna asked, her need to care for people fueling her words.

"I, well, I will save us. Get us food, essentials, anything we very well need to survive. But if there is ever a time when I don't come back, you get to Midgard. Those people are stupid, trust me they'll never know a thing." I said, closing my eyes and leaning against the wall, before I knew it, I was asleep, and my nightmares were worse than the events of the day.

"Folke, Folke." Nanna whispered, waking me. A small amount of light filtered in to the cave, signaling that it was day. When I looked back at Nanna, Astrid lay asleep in her arms. "There's someone in the tunnel." She whispered, pointing to the end of the tunnel we'd come through.

"Go further back, I will deal with this." I said, immediately awake and shoving them back further into the cave, which swallowed them easily into the darkness.

"Hello?" A gruff voice called out in the dark elvin language.

"Hello." I called back, strength in my voice that came from the depths within, I could not allow Astrid to die.

"Folke? We've been expecting you." The voice called, coming into view.

"Malekith." I said, staring into his dark eyes.

"Where's the woman and child that followed you here?" He asked, more like ordered.

"I'm not sure what you mean." I responded quickly, listening closely as a pair of steps followed behind Malekith, another dark elf appeared.

"Kill him." Malekith ordered.

~NANNA'S POV~

Run, run, RUN! My mind screamed, but when the words left the elf's mouth, I knew I had to run. I didn't know much Shiväisith Shiväisith (Dark elvin language) but I did know a little. The moment Malekith ordered his minion to kill Folke I knew I had to run, for he would kill us as well.

"Shhh, shhh." I whispered, catching my breath behind a corner, Astrid began to cry, she felt loss so heavily already. I felt for her, but now was no time to think of it. My plan, hide the child in the rocks and run, so that she would not be found but I would be chased after.

"Find the woman, and the child. Now Idiot!" The dark elf yelled, they were close, I needed to find a place now. In front of me, there was a dip in the large, black rocks, and I carefully placed the blonde baby inside, she lie asleep in the divet. Taking the blanket along with me as a false child, I ran. Surely the dark elf wasn't that smart.

~MALEKITH'S POV~

Strange, so very strange. A low class dark elf took an illegal bridge in svartalheim from alfheim, brought a light elf with him, and on top of that, a baby. As an elvin soldier chased after the woman, I followed slowly behind, passing a corner she had hidden in while I killed the dark elf who brought her. As I passed the corner, a small coo came from the empty wall.

"Huh?" I walked towards the jagged wall, spotting a tiny divet, but no one could be hiding in there, right? When I reached the divet, a baby was nestled inside the cold rocks, her golden hair piled on top of her head, and her skin, she looked like a light elf, but something was off. Her skin was dark and greyish. "Oh dear, it seems many rules have been broken, hello little baby Astrid." I said, how I knew her name I was unaware, but it left me lips as if I'd said it a million times, and that's when I knew, I could not kill this baby.