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Altheia Summers Altheia Summers picked flowers and put them in her
basket. The valley is covered in flowers. Every kind of
flower you could possibly think of. "Why red roses?" wond-
ered Altheia. "Of all the flowers in the valley, why red?"
Now Altheia liked red roses. They were her favorite
flowers. She just wanted to know why her mother wanted a
whole basket full of them. Altheia glanced at the blue
mountains. How beautiful and majestic they looked. This
must have been how they looked three centuries ago when
her people settled here. They fled to get away from the
human populated world. Many centuries before, this valley
was populated by elves. One day a mage by the name of
Talis came to the valley. He wanted to create a new
race of elves. Talis selected 200 males and females
for his experiment. However, something went terribly
wrong. The elves' DNA changed causing a mutation.
Their eyes became more humanlike and iron was no longer
a problem for them. A Nino Oro has the golden skin. Gold
like the color of coins. He or she can have any eye color or
hair color. The person has pointy ears like elves and human
eyes. Altheia, for example, has long, red hair and blue
eyes. She is 5 ft, 6 in. tall. She has a lean, muscular body.
She wears a forest green halter top and matching
breeches. The Nino Oros settled down into their own
village after Talis disappeared. In this time, there
were two important gods to the Ninos Oros. Lyndra is the
goddess of Nature. Coroban is the god of
Mischief. The elves divided sides. Some followed
Lyndra and her ways. Most of the village followed Coroban
and his ways. A light wind blew a few red strains into
Altheia's eyes. Altheia removed the strains and put them
back into place. "Well, this should be enough roses."
Altheia thought. She started for home.
Back in the village, Altheia's parents were setting up
for her surprise birthday party. The small cottage was de-
corated in red streamers and roses. On the table a rose
centerpiece was placed in the middle. Four places were
set. "I hope the errand I gave Altheia to do gives us enough
time." Mara said as she stirred the stew in the big, iron pot.
"I am sure Altheia will be picking red roses for hours."
Jorivc smiled. "You know they are her favorite flowers."
Mara looked out the window to see Altheia walking towards
the house. "She's here! Hurry up Jory! Put the stew on the
table while I get the cake." The cake is chocolate with pink
frosting and red roses. Placed in the center of the cake
were the numbers 1.5.0 and "happy Birthday". "Places!"
shouted Mara.
"I am ready, Miss Mara." replied Rory. Rory is a human Mara
saved from drowning. She jumped in to save him while he
tried to cross the stream near the village. Mara brought
Rory back to the village to recuperate. She had to hide him
because the other villagers hate humans. "Here she comes!" shouted Mara.
Altheia open the door. Surprise!"
"Oh you guys. Thank you." Altheia hugged her parents.
"Thank you so much."
"Come and sit. We have a nice dinner set up and cake."
Jorvic led his daughter to the table and pulled out the chair
for her to sit. Jorvic placed a large object wrapped in red
rose paper in front of her. "For you love. Open it." Altheia
unwrapped the package carefully. "Oh thank you!" she cried.
"A new staff of your own. To replace the old one."
"I love it. Thank you." The staff was made of sturdy oak.
Two pieces of cloth were tied to the ends for easy handling.
The staff stood a few inches taller than Altheia did.
"Next my gift." Mara did some movements with her hand
and a book appeared. "This is for you."
"Momma, I don't have any mage skills." She looked at the
book. It was made of leather with gold embroidery.
"Not yet but one day you will. Then you will know how to
use it."
There was a loud rap at the door. "Open up. Tis is the
constable. We know you are in there. If you don't open up,
we will break the door down."
Jorvic opened the door. "May I help you constable?" The
constable burst through the door. "I have a warrant to
search your house. I have reaspn to believe you are har-
bouring a human. "
"As you wish, constable. Search anywhere you like." Mara
snuck Rory into the cellar while Jorvic talked to the con-
stable. "Look as much as you like." Mara moved up to stand
next to Jorvic.
"Search everywhere!" shouted the constable as he over-
turned the table and chairs. His men searched cupboards,
cabinets, under beds , and in every room. They came up
empty-handed. "Sorry for the disturbance. I will be keeping
mye eye on you." The constable left.
"Is it safe to come out now?" asked Rory.
"Yes. It is all clear." declared Mara. The cellar door opened
and Rory's head appeared. Then the rest of him followed.
"That was close." Mara sighed.
"We can't keep hiding him forever, love." Jorivc replied.
"I know dear."
"Will they be back?" asked Mara.
"I hope not honey."
"AH HA! You ARE harbouring a human. I caught you red-
handed. You have broken the law. In the morning, you will
die." The constable left for a second time.
Later that night, the village slept. Two of the constable's men stood outisde Altheia's house, in the shadows.
Soon the walls were ablaze with fire. The fire soon spread
to the roof. The whole building was ablaze in light. Altheia
awoke suddenly. Flames danced around her. Altheia ran
from her room to her parents' room. "Mommy! Daddy! Wake
up!" Altheia shook her parents awke. Her parents didn't
even mccording to one's own destiny. What is my
destiny to be?" She walked away towards the valley and
never looked back. When the constable arrived to collect
his prisoners, all that remained was the burnt down house.
No one was to be found. "It looks like they escaped. Shall
we go after them?" asked the guard.
"No. They are out of our hair. I could care less what happens
to them or the girl. The girl is someone else's problem
now."
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