Valeria

She had lost too much to believe in miracles. She wasn't looking for salvation — she was looking for the strength to see it through to the end. She wasn't afraid of pain — she was afraid that after the pain, nothing would be left. She had been a servant in the house of one of the southern lords. A human? A half-breed? She didn't know for sure, but her ears betrayed her elven blood, and her eyes held an inhuman depth. She ran away at night. Without a plan, without a map, without a goal. She simply walked out the gates and ran in the direction where there were no people. And she wandered into the forest. The forest did not greet her kindly — it accepted her, but did not protect her. The creatures that now roamed there caught the scent of fear. She ran for two days until she fell.....