Morga Thornbriar

It had been a lovely day for traveling. Which was good, because that was exactly what the youngest born of the wealthy Elvish merchant family of the Silver Vale was doing.

Packed up in a very comfortable carriage, they and their personal servent and friend were on their way to one of the far away ocean cities to set up a new place of business and extend the family influence all the father.

However, without notice the caravan was attacked. One by one the guards fell. In a panic the servant grabbed their charge and tried to get them to safety. But it was too late and a spell dropped them dead.

The young elf ran for their life now. Still too new to the world to be calm like their elders. Never trained in real combat, just fancy sword play and foot work. And certainly not magic! What they did have was elvish speed and agility and no one coukd take that away from them!

Their heart pounded with every thud of their boots on the forest floor. They were coming up to a river. It was wide, but they could jump it. They knew they could!

However, just as their back foot left the ground, a pain shot through their shoulder and before they could even cry out, the river had them..and the river was not kind.

There had been a heavy rain some days before that had swelled the river and sped it's flow to dangerous levels. Add to that the injury, the elf was easily swept away by the quick current.

For better or worse, at least it had stopped their pursuers.

Eventually the river took pity however and eased just enough to allow the elf to keep their head above water until at last, their energy was depleted. Thoughts of this being their end bubbled up in their exhausted mind. Too far gone to even realize that they had stopped moving, caught by the branches of a fallen tree near the river Bank of a nuch smoother, more calm part of the water.

But they were too spent and soon, everything went dark...and quiet....

"What the ever loving frost giants is that?" Morga asked herself as she saw something strange in the river near the edge of the field she had been tending. She shielded her eyes to get a better look, but whatever it was, was tagged and half hidden by the tree they hadn't gotten moved yet since the last big rain.

She put her tools doen and brushed her hands on her pants before walking eith heavy steps towards the river bank. She was just near the upturned roots of the large tree when she saw what it was...a body!

"Fucking hell?!" She grunted and quickly found her way out to the near dead person, honey gold eyes going wide in her handsome yet beautiful face as she looked down at..."An Elf?" She asked no one but the wind around them. Her brows furrowed and she pulled the elf out of the water, not stopping to lay them down but keeping them held against her chest with strong arms as she began to run back to the main house.

Luckily she was used to running all over their farm, and it was NOT a small farm! It took many minutes, but eventually her boots slammed onto the wooden back porch of the family house. She kicked at the base of the door and simply pushed in when her youngest sister opened it, a chorus of gasps as her mother, other sister, and little neices and nephews saw her carrying...aomething.

"What is it?!" Brenna, the youngest sister, asked, eyes wide as she stared at the wet bundle.

Morga grunted at her sister and made her way to the dining room, the others all following her with excited curiosity.

"Did a calf fall into the river?" Her mother asked with concern.

"No Ma...it's...it's an elf..." she answered, laying the lump, unconscious body on the solid oak table. And everyone gasped again.

"An elf? Out here?" The other sister with a baby in her arms asked, just as surprised and curious as their younger sister and the two other children clinging to their mother's skirts were.

Morga gave another grunt and a shrug of her broad, strong shoulders. "No idea...found 'em at the edge of the west field caught up in that big tree that went down last storm..." she answered.

Her mother snapped out of the awed daze first and rushed to fetch dry towels and a well used first aid kit that was kept in a large tackle box.

"They don't look right..." Yarah, the motherly middle sister, said with concern, shooing her children out of the dining room and whispering to them to go outside and help papa feed the birds, which the children happily went to go do.

Looking down at the now supine body on their dining table, it was clear something had haooened because the fabric that had been overnight their shoulder was charred and almost melted away from their skin, exposing an angry wound of oily blackness that moved under the skin.

"What...is that" Brenna asked, moving to stand by Yara.

"Looks like a curse" Ma said with a huff, handing Morga the fresh towels and setting the heavy duty first aid kit on the table. "Brenna...Out...Yara...You're in charge of the rest" Ma said with efficiency.

Morga took the towels and set them in a pulled out chair, working to first remove the elf's boots and other clothes, too concerned to notice nuch other than the sex of their new...guest. Her noted green cheeks flushed ever so slightly but just like her mother, she was efficient, grabbing the towels up to begin drying them off and wrapping them up while Ma checked iver the rest of their body.

"Hmm...never seen an elf so eat up before..." she grimaced, shaking her head with a sigh.

Morga looked up. "You've seen elves before?" Curious...and maaaybe a little disbelieving.

Ma pursed her lips and shit her eldest a glare that could melt wax. "Shush...Now...help me figure out what to do about this shoulder..."

Morga huffed soft amusement, the adrenaline finally ebbing ever so slightly as she fell into her mother's rythem and did as told.

There wasn't much they could do but apply some salves and ointments and wrap it up, both women unnerved by how the curse moved beneath the skin like the blankeness was alive within them.