They were laughing, dancing, skipping across the scattered stones along the small stream that flowed behind their residence. Even as a young elven child barely thirteen years of age, Gilfan possessed the agility of his father. His companion for that morning, his human neighbor's daughter Marie, was grinning as the pair reached the opposite bank of the small stream.

"Let's go watch the sunrise, Marie! I heard if we get there in time we can see the ... what is it?" Gilfan asked as Marie suddenly stopped her grinning, her eyes looking ahead, wide with pure horror. Gilfan followed her gaze, and his jaw dropped.

Before them lied a charred corpse. With a half-burned straw hat that both the children recognized.

"G...Gil? I think th-that is Farmer Tim..."Marie stuttered.

"What monstrosity could have done this..." his question faded away as he spotted a set of large animal footprints leading away from the burnt corpse of Tim Jameson. He could have easily laid down in the deep footprints and still wouldn't have matched its length if he had extended both his arms upwards, and Gilfan was tall for his age.

"Gil, I think we ought to head back... and tell Daniel about this." Marie suggested, and Gilfan readily complied. They sped towards the village of Beika, their home, not even caring that they stepped into the stream, wetting their cloth shoes. Had Marie and Gilfan been more observant, they would have noticed blood flowing down from the upper area of the stream.

* * *

"Did you manage to find it?" asked Athena quietly, as her apprentice, Dionna arrived from behind, interrupting her meditation. Athena and Donnia were both Vails, a race that is similar to the Elves, except for their body which were of light gray tone, a distinct difference from that of the Elves, who possess bright and fair skins. Athena was also a pagan of great renown in the Union of Fury as well as in the Alliance of Light, and her prowess in casting elemental magics and spells was unquestionable. It was understood that she was a member of the courageous and victorious party that involved the destruction of an evil Vail Death Apostle, Lord Ashnah, and she accomplished the feat working alongside the legendary Trodgor the Elf Ranger and his wife Lily. She took in Dionna as an apprentice after the young girl's family was slaughtered by a group of deranged Vail assassins mind-controlled by Ashnah.

"No, master." said Dionna. "But I have managed to locate its latest victim. It was a local farmer. I saw the result of the atrocity... Pray tell, master, how are we going to fight against this behemoth and live to tell the tale?" Her voice was bordering on desperation and fear, yet she managed to conceal it with her crave for adventure.

"I do not know, Dionna. Our priority now is to locate the beast and its rider. Did you do as I told if you stumble upon the corpse?"

"Yes, master. I have cleaned up the scene and summoned enough Magic Roots to cover the charred ground."

"Then," Athena sighed, "we must now hope that we can keep this quiet throughout the ordeal. Keep on scouting. I need to report back to the council in Iris in three hours. They await our news."

"Yes, master. Shall I send an emissary to our friends in the Willeoseu region?" said Dionna.

"No, my young apprentice. We must keep this quiet for as long as possible. The Alliance of Light must not know the return of the Astaroth clan ... at least not for the time being."

"Understood, master. I will carry on." said Dionna, and with that, she quickly melted into the shadows of the fir trees cast by the rising dawn, leaving Athena to her meditation.

* * *

"Tell me again about what you saw," said Daniel Allter, a local priest in the village of Beika.
"Are you certain about this? If I catch you lying to me, Gilfan, you will be helping to clean the chapel for a week." Daniel and Gilfan were alone in the priest's office, and the latter recounted the story about the charred corpse of Tim Jameson, a local farmer.

"Yes, Father. I am not lying to you. We-me and Marie-found the body just across the Filius' Run." said Gilfan obediently. He did not enjoy cleaning altars. "We immediately ran back here. Marie was crying all the way back. But I just don't understand how it has disappeared! We know what we saw, and we saw a dead body with a half-burned hat of Tim Jameson's!"
He was on the verge of angry tears. After listening to Gilfan and Marie's encounter with the charred corpse, a group of adult volunteers went to confirm their story. But when they arrived at the indicated spot, they found only fresh new roots of a nearby tree. After finding no signs or clues of anything burned, the group dismissed the report as the imagination of infants. "I don't understand..." Gilfan repeated softly. "It was there, I know we saw it ..."

"It's alright, son," said Daniel in a patronizing voice. "I was once a child too. I used to speak of things I really want to happen, and then there were days when my mind just came up with stories to go along with my imagination. It's normal to have these thoughts, but sometimes, we have to make sure it's nothing too serious such as death of a villager."

"Father... even you don't believe in me?" Gilfan asked in disbelief. Father Allter was known to be the most understanding and devout person in all of Erina.

"Son... what I believe is that you were just craving for some kind of adventure in your life! Now why don't you go help the farmers with their harvesting? I'm sure they need a lot of assistance. Go along now, I need to look into this matter." It was a dismissal. Gilfan kissed the priest's hand and left the chapel as the priest's assistant looked after his departure.

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Author's note:
Hi all. First off, thanks for stopping by and read this bunch of bullcrap I just wrote because I couldn't sleep. This story is based on LedZepMan's "The Tale of a Ranger" that featured a heroic Elf Ranger named Trodgor and his fight for vengeance. I am honestly inspired and impressed by LedZep's writing skills, and so .... I thought I might give it a shot! Thanks again for reading, I would happy to know if you can point out some grammatical mistakes or syntax error or even any inconsistencies because I know I made some but atm i really don't have to strength to go over them.

Have fun all, and may the Goddess be with you all!

GO Alliance!!!!!!! ... oh no, I mean YYYYAAAAYY SPPPPAAAAIIINN!!!!!!

Oh and by the way, the word they censored in the title is h.e.l.l., you know, the smoky plane where the demonic forces dwell? yeah u get the idea

She opened her eyes, suddenly. Her lips started to tremble, and then the rest of her body. She could not contain herself. The image was so terrifying, that Marie found herself close to vomiting. She started to cry. Her bedroom door opened, and it was her mother, Jeanine.

"What is it, honey?" she asked her daughter. "Why are you crying, dear?"

"I ... I saw ... saw them... I saw ... them," Marie stuttered and hiccuped. "They .... they were laugh-laughing ... crazy laughs ... " Then she couldn't go on, but broke down in fresh tears.

"Who did you see, Marie?" asked Stefan, Marie's father, who had just entered the room and caught the last bit of her words. He was an army man, with bulging muscles and a tall frame. His face, back, and chest wore scars from thousands of conflict. A veteran who fought, and survived, countless battles with the Vails and Nordein of the Union of Fury. A man who tolerates no nonsense, as he had seen people who were full of nonsense were always the first to run away from battles. "Tell me what you saw, girl." He asked again, this time with a hint of anger.

"Marie, hon, answer your father. Tell us what you saw, alright?" said her mother with a comforting tone. She was beautiful, and the ray of moonlight that shone through the small window above Marie's bed amplified her beauty as her face caught the light. She was a devout priest, also fought in many battles against the Union of Fury. It was during one of these battles she and Stefan met each other.

"I ... I saw them ... the demons." Marie began when she calmed down a little. "They were burning the houses ... tearing off limbs and dismembering everything in their paths. Above them were the riders ... huge humanoid beings, who were casting endless flames on the houses and people ..." Here she gave a small hiccup, and sobbed, or began to, as her father's stern voice alerted her back into a state of discipline.

"Girl, you were just having a nightmare, alright? People get nightmares all the time, especially when they sleep. Heck, I used to get nightmares myself. I know they weren't pleasant, but sometimes, you just gotta take it and throw it back at them, y'hear? Now get back to bed, Marie. Your old man is tired, and I'm sure so is your mother." With that, Stefan beckoned her wife and left the bedroom. Jeanine turned to her daughter, smiled and kissed her daughter's forehead, and followed suit.

Trembling, but nevertheless comforted to a certain extent, Marie fell into an uneasy sleep with dry tears on her cheek.

* * *

"Oi, Johnny, yer thinkin' them Fury dogs show their ugly heads tonight?" asked Gram, a guard of the Prolieum Fortress. It was a chilly yet clear night. The army of Alliance of Light just came back into their camp, licking their wounds but also cheering happily about their most recent victory against their enemy, the Union of Fury.

"Yeah sure! And when they do, they're gonna get diced into small pieces the way me wife chopped them onions when she makes stew, bwahahaha-ughh!" Johnny's laugh ended abruptly. Gram looked around, saw Johnny lying on the ground with a huge claw pinning his bleeding throat, cutting off any attempt to alert the rest of the camp. Gram slowly looked up, and the last thing he saw was a humongous table-sized spearhead driving into his chest. Gram gave an almost inaudible groan of pain and disbelief, then darkness fell. He did not see the Prolieum Castle got torn down. He did not see his friends get burned alive, nor hear his commanding officers' attempt to bark orders into the completely unprepared troops as Astaroth, a member of a demon clan from the Burning Hells, decimated half of the Light forces within a matter of a few heartbeats.

"This is easier than I thought ... master would be very pleased." the demon said to himself in the guttural language of the Abyss.

The Prolieum Army Division of the Alliance of Light was destroyed overnight.

There was a scream in the streets, followed by another one, and another. Gilfan opened his eyes reluctantly, but was forced to jump off his bed, alerted, when his mother cried out to him.
"Gilfan! Run! Flee no-ugh!" her scream was ended abruptly. Gilfan watched in horror as her mother's dying form slowly raised into the air, with a spearhead protruding from her bleeding chest. Behind her, the spear wielder, a Nordein, smirked evilly at him.

His knees went weak, his legs would not respond to his thoughts of escaping. All Gilfan could see and think about was the image of his mother's corpse thrown into the bright flames conjured by an unseen caster. It was an easy task for the Nordein warrior, as his strength was unparalleled. His evil deed done, the warrior began to stalk towards Gilfan, speaking his native tongue as he did, with that same bloodthirsty expression on his face. And then it was gone, with a bright flash of light. The warrior was beheaded. Help has arrived.

But it wasn't much. Stefan, with a huge two-handed sword, yelled "Run, Gil. Run! Get to Marie and her Ma! Run now, I will hold!" He intercepted a stab aiming for his heart, and, with superhuman effort, he threw a Vail assassin back outside, and with the speed of a mountain cat, he brought down his sword and cut the Vail's left arm from his torso. The assassin's screech of pain was ended abruptly as Stefan's swipe of sword rendered the assassin's vocal chords non-functional. The assassin attempted to strike this madman with his dying breath, and succeeded. A long gash appeared across Stefan's chest, but that was all. Ignoring the pain, Stefan turned back and tried to pick up Gilfan, who just stood behind him throughout the ordeal, the last image of his mother still in the eyes of his mind. Not more than two steps, Stefan was thrown forward by a force of magic that pulverized his backbone as he flew towards Gilfan. He landed right in front of Gilfan, spitting blood onto Gilfan's pajamas, his eyes open but not seeing. He was dead.

Seeing this, Gilfan was finally alerted back to the cruel reality. He was barely able to dodge the second Fireball that was aiming towards him. He dived to his left, and felt as if his left ankle was cooked alive by a Sonic Volt. He was trapped, with no more strength to run with his severely injured leg. "Mother ... I'm coming," he thought to himself, and a smile found its way up his mouth.

Nice haha I didn't read all of it but since i'm a loser and have no life I will read the rest later.
and since no one has posted anything about it yet I will be the first to say GoodJ ob

Life in Arbor Farm wasn't always quiet, with farm animals grazing noisily in the nearby grassy field, lumberjacks chopping down trees with sharp, double-headed axes , and kids playing around, screaming with glee. It wasn't quiet, but it was always lively. Therefore, when a cry of horror sounded, no one in the farm really paid attention to it. But they did pay attention to a second cry - a war cry of strange languages. Kids stopped their playing, animals went into frenzy, and lumberjacks dropped their axes in panic as they saw a dark swarm of Fury soldiers flooding into the small farm, destroying what they immediately saw. Houses were torched, and animals beheaded, their corpses fed on by the bloodthirsty beasts that were the Nordeins and Vails. Men, women, and children were fleeing, with their enemies in close pursuit. Every now and then, one of the few escapees would be downed by an enemy javelin, flying axes, or destructive fireballs. But they kept on running, running to the town where they would know safety and refuge - Keolloseu.

* * *

"Let them run," said Warrior-general Kastroth. "Let the weaklings run back to their capital and spread the news of horror and grief. Fear is a powerful weapon." As he said, he turned to his second-in-command, his wife, Alessandra, a Vail oracle of great renown. Rumors have it that her powers are so strong, that she could look into the future as far ahead as three generations. Alessandra faked an encouraging smile to her husband, and exited the camp. She was beautiful, stunning even. A long silver hair ... (more to come. Just too tired to continue.)

I am a little saddened by first impression of the Vails and Nordeins (As I am Pro-Fury) but, Nevertheless, I am watching this topic

Your writing is very nice; it is detailed and paces quite well. I hope to see more of your work in the future!