Tides of War

chapter one

The shimmering waves graced over my feet as I stood at the shore, almost as if the ocean were caressing my skin. It felt weird. Comfort waved over me and my expression softened as the wind blew my hair behind me. Deeply, I inhaled. Sea salt soothed my senses. A soft blue dress blew against my legs, gently brushing my skin. The fabric ended just above my knees, soft and silky but light enough for the summer months. I was broken from my thoughts as someone called my name.

"Mae, there you are! I've been looking for you for hours!"

I turned around, a smile lighting up my face as I spotted my best friend trudging down the sparkling sand toward me, her arms swinging wildly.

"Oh really? Interesting, because your voice is loud enough that we get complaints from the neighbouring towns." I teased. Elissa Harlow frowned and shoved my shoulder. I hadn't actually hurt her feelings, she was just dramatic. I pushed her back.

We had known each other for years. Thing One and Thing Two, you could say. She was my other half. We weren't similar, at least, looks wise. Elissa had bright blonde hair, so golden it was almost white. I could have sworn I had been blinded a few times. She was ridiculed for it. But no one had said anything since she got a little too upset and broke Tommy Lonsdale's nose. I was probably partly responsible, I had been yelling for her to do it. How was I supposed to know she would actually do it?

Contrast to her hair, her eyes were a deep algae green and maybe I teased her about it sometimes, but she would never dare punch me. She knew I'd hit her back.

The tips of her ears just barely peeked out from her dead-straight locks. She was an elf you see, just like me. We both had the same sun-kissed skin – perks of living in an oceanside village. She was only a little shorter than me too. Me, I was pretty much the poster girl for darkness, I had these dark ebony waves that fell just below my chest. Everyone always told me I had strange eyes and they were right. They were a strange marble grey, with darker veins running through the grey. Elissa always tells me that in the sun the veins turned a light lavender colour. Cool, I guess.

Elissa was the complete opposite of me, image wise. She was light eternal. The light to my darkness.

Speaking of the blonde elf, she snapped her fingers in front of my face, bringing me back to reality. "Okay, so maybe I was only looking for five minutes, but still! Anyway, work starts in, like, five."

The ocean had enchanted me and I had completely forgotten about work. I groaned as Elissa gripped my hand and dragged me up the hill.

My beloved nana, Lucy Bartlett, sat in her rocking chair on the sand outside our small home, children rolling and playing around her feet. A small blonde grinned at me and threw her arms around, in an attempt to wave. Lucy waved as we raced past and I tried to wave back, but Elissa wrenched me away. Nana laughed. "Be careful, Mae!"

Nana and Pa adopted many of the children around the bay. Some of them were dropped on our doorstep, a few were found on the side of the track and some were victims of violence within their own families. None of the history mattered to Nana. She loved every child she had, even if they weren't her blood. Though obviously, I was her favourite.

Nana was the epitome of old, but she was one of my favourite people on the planet. Her once ebony black hair – identical to my own – was now salt and pepper grey. She may be aged, but her eyes still held the same youthful gleam she had always possessed. She was much shorter than me, but for an elderly elf, that was fairly common. They began to lose their height once they reached a few centuries old and the once pin-sharp point of their ears became dull and shortened. The weathered old lady stood up from her chair and bumbled away inside the house as we slowly disappeared, humming a familiar tune.