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?" wondered- 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. 2

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 400 males and females for his experiment. However, something went terribly wrong. The elves' 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 the sun. He or she can have any eye color or hair color. The person has pointy ears like elves and human eyes. 3

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. 4

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. 5

Back in the village, Altheia's parents were setting up for her surprise birthday party. The small cottage was decorated 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. 6

"I am sure Altheia will be picking red roses for hours." Jorivc smiled. "You know they are her favorite flowers." 7

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. 8

"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. 9

"Here she comes!" shouted Mara. Altheia open the door. Surprise!" 10

"Oh you guys. Thank you." Altheia hugged her parents. "Thank you so much." 11

"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. He placed a large object wrapped in red rose paper in front of her. "For you love. Open it." 12

She unwrapped the package carefully. "Oh thank you!" she cried. 13

"A new staff of your own. To replace the old one." 14

"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. 15

"Next my gift." Mara did some movements with her hand and a book appeared. "This is for you." 16

"Momma, I don't have any mage skills." She looked at the book. It was made of leather with gold embroidery. 17

"Not yet but one day you will. Then you will know how to use it." 18

There was a loud rap at the door. "Open up. This is the constable. We know you are in there. If you don't open up, we will break the door down." 19

Jorvic opened the door. "May I help you constable?" 20

The constable burst through the door. "I have a warrant to search your house. I have reason to believe you are harboring a human. " 21

"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. 22

"Search everywhere!" shouted the constable as he overturned 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 my eye on you." The constable left. 23

"Is it safe to come out now?" asked Rory. 24

"Yes. It is all clear." declared Mara. The cellar door opened and Rory's head appeared. Then the rest of him followed. 25

"That was close." Mara sighed. 26

"We can't keep hiding him forever, love." her father replied. 27

"I know dear. Will they be back?" asked the golden-skinned girl. 28

"I hope not honey." 29

"AH HA! You ARE harboring 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. 30

Later that night, the village slept. Two of the constable's men stood outside 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. The young woman awoke suddenly. Flames danced around her. Altheia ran from her room to her parents' room. "Mommy! Daddy! Wake up!" Altheia shook her parents awake. Her parents didn't stir. The flames rose higher and higher. The girl had to leave now. She ran into her room to gather her backpack, spell book, and staff.. She escaped just in time to see the house engulf into flames. 31

The next day, in the wee hours of the morning, the teenager stood in front of the spot where her home had stood. Everything was in shambles and burnt to the ground. “Everyone has a destiny. What is my destiny to be?" She walked away towards the valley and never looked back. 32

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. 33

"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."