The morning light of the sun broke through the slim openings of the bored-wooden ceiling, leaving multiple spots for the light to flood into the building. Most of the spots were above the kitchen and dining room area, but one major spot was above the firepit near the beds, which prompted a young girl to begin stirring in her bed. With the sunlight beaming down on her eyes, she slowly opened them to see the depressing sight that was the ceiling of this broken-down shack.
"Certainly not a dream then. I still can't believe this is real." Lurai thought to herself as she let out a deep sigh. She then looked around to see the larger bed in front of her empty, but when she tried to sit up, she felt a bit of pressure on both sides of her torso. She couldn't help but crack a smile when she saw that her bed had been more than welcoming to her two new brothers, which we were still soundly asleep.
Lurai looked now over to the dining area and saw Ramira leaning on the table while staring at them with a smile on her face. Lurai, blushing slightly, silently giggled towards Ramira before doing her very best to rise from the bed without waking the boys. As she was about to get out of the bed, she turned to see that Lykas was watching her with one eye open and promptly closed it when they made eye contact.
Lurai raised an eyebrow and turned back towards Ramira, who rolled her eyes before motioning towards the boys' feet. Lurai nodded as she turned to the boys with a wicked smile on her face as she quietly slid off the end of the bed and began tickling the boys' feet. An uproar of laughter filled the house more than the light from the sky.
"L—Lurai!" Lykas began shouting in a fit of laughter, "S—S---Stop! Ahahaha!"
"Noooo!" Cial joined in the laughter as she began squirming, "Make it stop! Make it stop!"
"Pretending to be asleep, eh?" Lurai said mockingly as an idea came to her head, "Think you can fool your sister, huh?"
"But I waaaaas sleeping!" Cial protested as he continued to squirm, before rolling out of the bed and clamoring onto the floor with a thud.
"Cial!' Lurai looked over in worry, "Are you okay?" As Lurai went to lean over to help Cial to his feet, she felt the sudden weight of a young boy on her back as Lykas had jumped from the bed onto her back.
"I'ma tickle ya back, sis!" Lykas said as he reached down to Lurai's armpits and began tickling her.
Lurai burst into laughter as she then lowered herself to the ground and tumbled, throwing Lykas and herself to the floor gently alongside Cial. The three laughed together for a small bit before a loud knock came at the entryway. Ramira, Lurai, and the boys all turned their heads to the entryway as the curtain was thrust aside, and an eleven male figure was kicked through the tattered curtain. As the elven man got to his feet, it was revealed that Kamai was the one kicked through the entryway.
Ramira rushed to Kamai's side, but then instantly stood up straight as two human males walked through the entryway. They were men of a tall and built stature with short cleaned-up hairstyles, fierce eyes, and even fiercer expressions. They were equipped with various leatherbound pieces of armor, and both wore a longsword attached at their right hip.
"Laughter from a house that should be mourning a death?" One of the human males said with a bit of disgust in his tone. The man looked towards the other with an eyebrow raised, "This family did report a death, did they not?"
"Indeed, they did," The other man said with a parchment in his hand, "and yet, it seems that this family is still a family of five. All accounted for."
The man who spoke first walked over to Kamai and picked him up off the ground by his dirty tunic. "Well, jag? Lying to your master's guards while the master is away for a day of rest, hmm? Rather sneaky of you since you can't lie to your master!"
"There—" Kamai went to say before he was delivered a quick punch to his stomach, causing him to cough violently. Lurai raised her hand to her mouth as she muffled a gasp.
"Tsk Tsk Tsk." The man said shaking his head, "You know the rules! Speak when you are told to." The man removed his fist from Kamai's stomach and looked into Kamai's eyes. "Twenty-five words. No less. No more. Speak."
"T—There was an accident. I confirmed her death and reported it accordingly. I came back to see her alive, but it was too late to report."
"Too late?" The man spat on the ground of the home as he spoke in anger, "You reported the death shortly after the sun was above the head. You are telling me that you made a mistake, is that it?"
Kamai nodded as he was tossed back to the ground. The man turned back to the other man with the parchment.
"Who confirmed the death?" The man asked the other.
"A few elves on sight confirmed the sight of the death."
"Are you telling me that no human guards checked the scenes?" The first man said with utter surprise.
"I'm sorry, Ser Jakan." The other man said with a defeated sigh, "It seems that is not in the report."
"You!" Ser Jakan pointed at Kamai, who was getting back to his feet, "You pathetic waste of space! Which guard did you report this incident to?"
Kamai coughed as he stood straight like a statue before saying clearly, "I reported the incident to the guard of section two, and he did check the scene, sir. He tried to feel her pulse--"
"Liar!" Ser Jakan shouted out, interrupting Kamai, "Do you think our men would forget to add that information?!"
"Section two…" the man with the parchment pulled out another and quickly read over it. "That would be Rual'n."
"Well, we will be confirming this case immediately." Ser Jakan said with a spat towards the other man, "Go now. I'll be more than capable here."
The other man nodded and left the shack, leaving Ser Jakan with the family of elves. He looked them over with a piercing and unfriendly gaze before his eyes fell onto Lurai, who was looking upon him with an unsettling look. Anger filled Ser Jakan's eyes as he stepped over to her, pushing the two boys out of his way.
Lurai let out a yelp as Ser Jakan reached forward violently and grabbed a handful of her hair on top of her head. He lifted her into the air and brought his other hand to her face to run it alongside the scar underneath her eye. His grip held firmly as Lurai attempted to struggle out of his grasp.
"Don't move." Ser Jakan snapped at Lurai as his grip around her hair grew tighter, "You are making it hard for me to—"
Ser Jakan was instantly interrupted as Lurai lunged forward instinctively and bit his finger. In a shout of pain, Ser Jakan released his grasp on her hair, and in another swift motion, that hand came back to clash against Lurai's face, knocking her to the wooden ground with a heavy slam. As she looked back towards him with a fierce gaze, Ser Jakan's finger was dripping blood onto the floor, and his eyes were filled with unbridled rage.
"You damn bitch!" Ser Jakan shouted as he held onto his finger, "How dare you! Those eyes. That face. It seems you want to be dead, after all!" Ser Jakan reached down to his side and began to unsheathe his blade; however, he stopped as he found himself unable to pull it out of the sheath.
He spat towards the ground and swore. "You are lucky that I am not allowed to draw this blade as long as the duke is away; otherwise, I'd have your head on the edge of this blade within seconds." Ser Jakan walked over to the entryway curtain, tore it, and wrapped the torn cloth around his bleeding finger. "You will be punished greatly when the duke returns." A wicked smile grew across his face, "and you will wish that you did die today."
Lurai went to get up, but Ramira instantly jumped in front of her to block her from Ser Jakan. She bowed immediately and lowered her head, which was the sign to ask permission to speak--as a slave. Ser Jakan scoffed as words fell from his mouth like venom, "Speak, jag."
Ramira shuddered slightly but held her posture. "She is not well, sir. Please, excuse her behavior. She is not herself, and I assure you that we will take full responsibility in making sure she—"
"I do not need more of your empty promises!" Ser Jakan shouted as he stamped his foot, "She will answer to the duke when he returns; however—" Ser Jakan smiled wickedly again towards Lurai, "If she heals my finger, I'll simply say that she spoke out of turn to me."
Ramira's eyes widened as she looked up towards Ser Jakan with fear in her eyes. A tear fell from her eye as she went to speak again, "But, Sir! Healing you will greatly shorten her life!"
Lurai's eyes widened as she looked toward Ramira and then to Kamai, who was biting down on his lip hard enough to draw blood. She also felt a pit in his stomach as she realized that her life was now connected to the mana supply that Lurai had. She could not help but wonder in fear about how much of her life would she lose from a single tier-one spell?
"Don't you think I know that!?" Ser Jakan grinned as he held out his finger. "Better to shorten than to end it abruptly."
Kamai then stepped forward and bowed with his head lowered; however, Ser Jakan simply just kicked him to the ground again. His gaze then fell onto Lurai, who looked back at him with a saddened look. In a simple motion of the head, Lurai nodded to the request.
"Glad to see that you can remember your place!" Ser Jakan laughed as he looked upon Lurai as he moved over to the table, kicking a chair slightly away from the edge before sitting in it. "Now, come over here and mend this immediately. Who knows how much of your filthy saliva is infecting my wound already?"
Lurai's eyes widened as something clicked in her mind, and if she were not in a tersely severe situation, she would have smiled greatly at the luck of her memory. She took a breath to calm herself down as she walked slowly over to Ser Jakan. She held out her right hand over his finger, and whispered lower than anyone could hear, "Menda."
A low green light emitted from his hand as it enveloped Ser Jakan's finger. After a few seconds, the flow of trickling blood stopped from his finger, leaving it in a slightly reddened tone of the skin. Ser Jakan looked over his finger and gave off a huff of air.
"This will suffice." Ser Jakan raised an eyebrow towards Lurai before bursting into laughter, "Is your magical aptitude so damn low that you can barely heal this with a tier-one spell? It would be a waste of my time to kill you, you know. Seeing such a disgraceful display of mana use like this shorten your life—" Ser Jakan's tone came down from laughing to sinister as he looked Lurai in the eyes, "It pleases me."
Lurai looked away in sorrow as she walked towards Ramira, who promptly shuffled Lurai around her. Ser Jakan spat on the floor again as he turned towards the entryway, and then he held up two fingers. The elven family's eyes fell on those two fingers in worried desperation.
"Double your workload for today. I've wasted enough time here." Ser Jakan sighed as he lowered his hand, "I have to speak with a lazy son-of-a-bitch soldier. Do NOT give me an excuse to come back here." He turned to look at the family once more, "Speak."
"Yes, Sir." The elven family said immediately.
Ser Jakan left the home immediately as he violently pushed away from the curtain, and silence followed for multiple moments until Kamai felt the home was safe again.
"Lurai." Kamai frowned as he turned to her, "That—That was foolish of you. You shouldn't have done that."
"But he was hurting you!" Lurai cried out. "He—"
"No!" Kamai shouted in a strained tone as he interrupted Lurai, "I don't matter, Lurai, but you matter to us. Can't you see that?" He walked over to the table in the center of the room and put his bruised hands over his eyes. "You are a slave here now, and you should know your place."
Lurai was stunned by Kamai's words, which left her speechless. She knew that she was now an elf, but it didn't register until now that she has new rules to follow; a new life to live under the rule of someone. She slumped down to the ground in shock before putting her head into her knees and hugging them tightly.
Instantly, she felt the warmth of three bodies around her, hugging her tighter than she was hugging herself. She felt the tears of her family drip onto her shoulders and back as they showed her that Kamai's words were true—she did matter to them, and it suddenly dawned on her that her actions could have robbed them of something they cherished.
"I'm sorry." Lurai said softly as she began to tear up too, "I'm sorry that I didn't realize my situation. I almost hurt you all again."
"Mistakes can be made by anyone," Ramira's voice came from behind Lurai in a softened tone, "But only some people have those who can help them overcome those mistakes. Never forget that, my light."
Lurai smiled as she relaxed her hug before turning around and hugging Ramira, Cial, and Lykas. As she hugged them, Cial looked upon her with a confused look.
"Sis?" Cial asked as he cocked his head to one side as if he was looking her over, "How are you not tired? You used magic, right? Tier one is bad, isn't it?"
Lurai giggled softly, which caused the family to look at her with concerning looks, and Kamai raised his heads away from his face to look upon his daughter with a similar concerning look.
"I meant to ask that too." Kamai said as he rose from his seat, "Lur—all elves have the same magical aptitude, so how is it that you came off so weak?"
"That's because I used a tier 0 healing spell." Lurai smiled.
"What?!" The family exclaimed almost simultaneously.
"How did you learn that!?" Lykas said with wonder in his eyes.
"Mhm! Mother taught it to me." Lurai blurted out before she recognized what she said.
The boys' eyes shifted to Ramira in shock, and she met them with an almost similar gaze before she turned away quickly. "Y-Yes! I did. I just forgot-- I guess."
"Ra'ma! You're lying." Cial pouted and winced as he felt a little flick on his nose.
"Little boys shouldn't accuse their mothers of lying." Ramira said in a stern tone, "It's rude, Cial."
"But—" Cial said.
"Rude!" Lykas said mockingly as he pointed at Cial before receiving a flick of his own.
"Don't bury yourself with him." Lurai laughed nervously as she looked over towards Ramira, who sighed in remorse. To pull their attention away from Ramira, Lurai cleared her throat, "It's a spell called Menda. It used very little mana to heal a small part of a wound that was just made. It only works within fifteen minutes of the wound."
"Oh! So you gotta be quick then." Cial said as his eyes widened with interest, "So, can I use that spell too?"
"You can, but you shouldn't. It's a very very rare spell!" Lurai said as she held her finger to her lips, "It's a secret!" Lurai got close up to Cial and Lykas as she whispered, "Can you both keep this secret?"
The boys nodded profusely, which caused Lurai to giggle. "Good!"
"So, your life is fine then? What a relief." Kamai said with a sigh, "I was afraid that your life became shorter because of your actions, but instead, you preserved it."
"Well, for now." Ramira said with a shooting gaze towards Kamai, "She has to learn how to work hard to keep herself safe here now." Ramira then turned to Lurai and laughed as she shook her head, "You better get used to this again fast.
"Right," Lurai said as she stood up and brushed herself off in a show of readiness. That show of readiness turned to nervousness as she slouched back over, "What is my job again?"
Ramira rolled her eyes at her daughter before proudly saying, "Maid-work."