The Silver Witch

Chapter One

Sleeping. That was how her beloved had phrased it. They would sleep for over a thousand years. But Sani had barely closed her eyes when she was woken again. She could feel a threat from outside the barrow.

Something was digging into the earth above them, trying to break into the chamber. It was big and purposeful, grinding claws deep into the earth, and its disruptions were growing louder. She had a moment of hesitation, of committing to the decision, before she stepped from her alcove, crossed the room and pushed open the doors. She slipped out and closed them behind her. 

Next to the door hung her weapons: a short sword, a battle axe, and a bow with a quiver of arrows. All shone silver in the gloom. There could be no return to the chamber now, for there were no handles on this side. She was exiled. She turned her attention to the intruder, perhaps she could prevent it from reaching her beloved, from damaging the spell-weave that encased the chamber. She pushed open the final outer door and emerged onto the hillside. 

She saw first that a bear was ripping up soil on the side of the mound, a focus so intense that it didn't notice her appearance. She could smell that it wasn't a real bear, it had a stench of magic about it. She saw great heaps of earth were piling up by its paws. She closed the turf covered door firmly and then moved swiftly towards it.

Sani noticed as she moved towards the creature that there were more of them, all large animals, who were digging at the other barrows. They would need to be dealt with too, and swiftly. This was a coordinated attack. Somehow they had found their hidden place.

First, an example. She struck the bear with the axe and took its head off its shoulders. The head bounced down the slope to roll to a stop at the bottom. That got the attention of the others, as the sound of ripping muscles and cracking bone reached them. The bear hadn't stood a chance.

Sani watched as the animals paused and then changed, rippling back to look like eur men and women; all of them were silver-haired. The Silverhares – so called rulers of Velfane. She wasn't surprised. She knew that they were greedy, that their nobility craved ever more wealth and power. Someone would have sold the information to them of the resting place of the elves, and she had no doubt that they would have been well-rewarded too...The rest of the eurkind either clung to those in power or bore them on their shoulders. Merit of the individual did not come into it, only the bloodline. Blood...the blood of vael and other elves had been wasted on them. They had twisted their gifts into something malignant. All the eurkind had she bet. She quickly checked where the bear had been digging. It had managed to penetrate the barrow's internal chamber and she could feel that the spell-weave was leaking onto the hill and into the air. The magic was no longer contained. She had failed.

'Leave this place now, and I will not seek you. I warn you, if you continue to disturb these hills, I will be forced to stop you.'

'Unholy thing, we will have vengeance!' One man shouted. They began to shift back into their animal forms, some were not even true creatures but mixed of many different species. They made monsters of fur, scales and feathers, all with sharp claws, teeth and viciously quick. There were twenty of them, and she stood alone. They thought her outmatched.

The attacks came with fury and force, but their weapons, natural or otherwise, were no use against her. Time seemed to slow for her as they approached. Those that landed a blow, saw silver liquid flow over the wound and reform just as strong and unblemished, and she did not flinch in pain. Her blade and her axe cleaved through flesh and bone, untiring. When it was finished, Sani was surrounded by death and gore. She sank to her knees, regretting her failure.

The barrow door opened again and her beloved stepped out. 'What happened here?' Sani could hardly bear to look at her. 'I tried to stop them, but I could not. They were trying to dig up the barrows. I gave them a chance to retreat, but they refused.'