"Dimension Traveller"
"Allura!" The troll spat, "Get us some more wine!"
The girl groaned. She stood from her corner, putting down the scraps of food she was eating, and grabbed ahold of the large wooden jug next to her. It wasn't as heavy as it looked and she was very strong for her kind. It was what happend when one worked most of their life. Quietly, she poured each of the trolls at the table wine to the top of their carved wooden mugs. They all cheered drunkily at the refills and ignored her from then on. Allura never cared for the trolls. They were ugly, first of all, having noses the size of her fist, grey-green wrinkly skin as thick as hard leather, and very rarely, if ever, would you find a place on their bodies not covered in warts. Then came the fact that they were short. The tallest ones didn't even come up to her mid-back. However, she had heard it said that she was tall for an elf. And finally, they were greedy pigs. Not one of them would risk their lives to save their own mother. It made her wonder why they had taken her.
"What are you just standing there for, elf?" The troll spat again. "Go sit back down. You're ugliness is making the guests sober!"
She didn't argue, it would have been pointless. She didn't think she was ugly, in fact, she thought she was quite pretty. Not beautiful, of course, but at least pretty. She kept her raven black hair hanging loosly to mid-back, not caring what the trolls said about it being 'so nicely brushed'. She also didn't care that they taunted her clothing. They kept saying it looked more human than elf or troll. She didn't see why. All it was was a white tunic with flaired sleeves, and slightly loose thin brown leather pants. Her boots were black, so that might get them to yell, but otherwise she liked it.
"I don't know why you keep her around, Mugwart." She heard one of the troll guests say. Of course, they thought she was too stupid to listen in, so they spoke loudly. "The elves only get in the way. They always have."
Mugwart, her 'guardian' only shrugged and laughed. "Now who would fill our glasses if we got rid of her?" The whole table collapsed in a mass drunken guffaw. "Besides," he continued after a long while, "we've 'ad her for this long, we might as well keep her."
"How long has it been?" One asked.
Mugwart paused. He looked truly stumped. One thing a troll was not known for was it's brains; especially when drunk. "Eh... twelve, or so years?"
Allura frowned. "Twenty-seven!" She corrected harshly. The entire table seemed to quiet. She had spoken out of turn. It was not a wise thing to do.
The silence lingered for longer than she wished, and a thin layer of persperation covered her skin. She clenched her fists until, finally, the silence was broken. "Who told you to speak, whelp?" A particularly ugly troll blurted. "Get out!"
Disgusted, she took her plate and stomped off into the kitchen. It was getting worse every year. They treated her like garbage. Always slinking around these tunnles as if she had not right to be here. And perhaps she didn't. It's not as if she had really seen another elf before. She knew nothing about them except that she was one, and trolls had not fondness for them. She wasn't even sure why they had taken her in when she was found alone in the forest when she was just an infant. They probably thought they could benefit from it somehow.
With a sigh, she placed her dishes in the washpot, and headed back out. Let them wash the dishes for once. she thought. I'm not gonna stay here another minute.
"Where are you going, elf?" a voice, not unlike the sound of grinding stones questioned.
Allura didn't even have to look back to see who it was. She continued until she got to the end of the tunnle. "I'm going up, Grandma Maggot." She grabbed her leather bag of stuff and shoved it through the opening above her. "Don't bother following. Trolls don't like going above ground, or so I hear."
There was no reply and no one to stop her as she pulled herself out of the tunnles and into the open air. She took in a deep breath before looking around. The air in the caves and tunnles was always so musty and old, it was hart to tell whether she would breath or drown.
The stars shown brightly tonight, but they were nothing compaired to the moons. They were completely full, giving the surrounding forest a mystical glow about them. It seemed almost magical.
Quickly, before anyone found out she was missing and decided to go after her, she made her way into the deep forest. She had gone there many times and knew the way. She even had a secret hideaway where she kept all the things a female, let alone an elf, shouldn't have. Weapons, like a bow and arrows, knives, and even a sword or two. She had taken them from the hold, and learned how to use them out here.
After a while of walking, she finally came to a small, partially hidden cave. The forest surrounded it as if it wasn't there, continuing up a large mountain, only thinning out into bare rock halfway up. Allura marvled at the sight, taking it all in, before stepping inside the dark cave.
Instinctivly, she grabbed a small candle of the shelf near the entrance, along with some flint and lit it. The room brightened, reveiling many carved shelves filled with glass bottles and vials of powder and colored liquid. With a moment of thought, she picked a few off the shelves and placed them in her leather napsack. The shelves were getting crowded, and she had to clear out again. After all, no matter how hard she tried, none of the potions worked. Maybe she just wasn't meant to have magic, like the trolls had said.
It was said, that some elves had magic. Sometimes it lay dormant for years, sometimes centuries before showing up. It could be anything and Allura was sure she had some... no matter what anyone said. She just had to wait. But in the meantime, she tried to make what she called, artaficial magic. Mixtures and medicines that act as magic would... None of them turned out the way she wanted.
She sighed at the thought, as she put the last bottle in her bag. Yes, she would just have to wait.
As she turned, she was blinded by a bright light, confusing her senses. It wasn't but a moment later, however, that her sight returned. It took a few seconds to take in what had happened. She wasn't in her cave anymore...
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