When Darkness Falls by Alyssa Foels (young adult books to read .TXT) 📕

Chapter One: The Lost Princess

A strange cloaked figure ran down the dark corridor, her breath coming in ragged gasps. The only light came from the beautiful stone in her hands. It shone like a wave of never ending light that lit the long stretch of stone floor in front of her. It was the last stone from the Dragon Lair, its power like no other. The sounds of unseen laughter echoed out from beneath the shadows, and the young elf quickened her pace.
“Almost there, almost there,” the young elf thought desperately, “Ten feet away. Almost there.” Before she could reach the golden door at the end of the hall, the ceiling in front of her collapsed and she was thrown backwards. With a crash the young elf landed on the cold stone floor. As the dust cleared away, she could see a great goblin standing in the middle of the wreckage.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here? The young princess I suppose. I wonder what kind of fools would leave their princess unprotected. Wait, I know! Elves!” the great goblin roared with laughter as he stepped around the large pieces of stone from the ceiling of which he had crashed through.
“What is your name, my dear?” the goblin asked in a sickeningly sweet voice.
“Arianna is my title,” the elf replied stiffly. “You will never win; my subjects will never let you rule this land.”
“Let me? Let me? If I win, I don’t really think they will have a choice, now will they?” the goblin said, and then he smiled, raised his sword, and began to advance toward the young elf.
“And they didn’t leave me unprotected,” Arianna said quietly, “I snuck away,” and the great goblin once again, roared with laughter, and attacked Arianna with his crimson sword.
Scrambling to her feet, Arianna easily blocked his attack with magic, and sent a shock of electricity at the goblin, but it seemed to have no effect. They pared for several minutes, sword to magic, magic to sword. The goblin was strong and soon Arianna began to lose her strength. She knew that she had to kill the goblin now or surely she would die. As her strength faded, the goblin found a gap in the young elf’s guard, and struck her deep in the stomach. Paralyzed with pain, Arianna slumped to the ground, and watched as the goblin advanced toward her, its sword raised above his head.
“Make it quick you beast!” she shouted angrily. Her brother was right, she had failed.
“Oh, I will,” the goblin assured her smugly, “Just as soon as I am finished thinking about the best way to kill you. “
The goblin stood there for a second, evidently thinking, and then prepared to bring its sword down upon the young elf lying helplessly at his feet. Overwhelmed with feelings of pain, rage, and sadness, Arianna began to laugh. The sword inches from her neck, the goblin froze, and the sword clattered to the ground. Swaying on its large feet, the goblin crashed to the ground. Arianna’s heart swelled with happiness as she remembered that within the castle, old magic from the stone made elfin laughter dangerous to goblins. But how she had called upon the old magic, she thought.
…
Long ago, an elfin prince, Casper, risked his life to save the dragons in the land. It was the first year that the portal had opened between the two worlds, and the goblin’s greedy ways had drawn them to the great stone in the Dragon Lair. In the prince and the dragon’s effort to save it, the stone had been destroyed. All that remained was the heart of the stone. In payment for Casper’s help, the dragons gave the stone to the prince, and ever since then, the goblins had been attacking the castle in hopes of gaining the power over the great stone.
…
Arianna bent down and grabbed the goblin’s sword. At her touch, the sword shrunk to fit the form of her tiny hand. She noticed angrily that it was stolen elfin magic. She turned and struck the goblin in the center of its massive chest. Satisfied, Arianna dropped the sword and crawled slowly to the golden door, her stomach wound bleeding heavily. Her thoughts were not in the present, but in past.
…
She was sitting next to her mother’s death bed, listening to her dying mother’s story about the stone from the Dragon Lair. It was her favorite. It was the one she asked for every night before she went to bed. Oh, how she wished she could be like Prince Casper, so brave, so loyal to creatures of which he had no knowledge. Then she did not understand the importance of her mother’s last words, but she did now.
“Remember young one, this kingdoms future. Only the brave and the worthy can call upon the old magic. Remember that my child.” And with one last shuttering breath the elfin queen died.
…
“Sure I am brave, but worthy? I am the one who snuck away. I did not listen to the imperial guard. How can that be worthy?” she wondered aloud. She then touched her stomach with her thin fingers and mumbled under her breath. The wound visibly began to heal, skin covering the wound like it was weeks old.
Her thoughts were brought back to the future as she reached the golden door and slipped inside. The room was huge and rimmed with gold. The chandelier overhead sparkled like thousands of tiny diamonds. Across the room, there was a huge bay window that overlooked the city. Without hesitating, Arianna limped to the window and threw it open. Down below, thousands of elves were fighting a massive army of goblins. The cries of the wounded quickly filled the room. She watched for a second as ancient buildings lit ablaze, ruining the once beautiful and peaceful city.
Pulling the stone out of her pocket, the beautiful elfin princess began to sing. Her raven colored hair swirled around her as old magic filled the room. The stone rose out of her hands and disappeared in a flash of violet light. Arianna smiled in triumph, and then suddenly slumped to the ground. The magic that it had taken to move the stone had drained all of her strength. She knew she was dying, but this time she did not care, she had done what she had needed to do.
With her last breath, Arianna whispered, “Good luck, my warriors. I have saved you for now.”
With that, her spirit rose from her body, and flew through the open window. It circled above the battle in the city, and disappeared in the dark grey clouds.
Thousands of elves screamed in a mournful wail as they watched their princess rise in the air and disappear. Flocks of birds rose from the trees as the elfin army reserve thundered out of the forest. The sky opened up and began to rain; the sky’s tear drops for the lost elfin princess.

Publication Date: 11-18-2010

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Dedication:
To Mamaw: I love You So Much