She walked down the long, narrow alley, her meager prey pressed tightly to her body. As she quickened her little steps, she kept glancing nervously over her shoulder.
She turned into another small alley and finally disappeared behind an old, rusty door.
The streets of Nimm were very unsafe at this time of year. In the spring, all the thieves from all over the country came together in this place to prepare for a new "hunting season". Calling what they did hunting was in itself very flattering, because in truth they robbed everything and everyone they encountered in their travels across the country.
Take was their city, the city of thieves. Here everyone stole everyone and nobody thought anything.
Her mother was one of them too. A young elf who knew her trade very well, but she too was only a being in this world and one day became weak.This weakness was the reason for their existence. She hated her mother for the fact that she was nothing more than an accident, the result of a moment of weakness.
She got it from her again and again. It was and still is a burden.
In itself it was only a relief for both parties when her mother left her here. Without a doubt it was irresponsible to leave such a little girl alone in such a city, but would it have been different in another city?
She was a freak, a mix of two species. Where would it not be most likely to be accepted than here. A place where everyone was wicked and disgusting in their own way.

She heard quick steps in front of the door and, frightened, withdrew under an old, wooden table. Did they really find her that quickly?
And all because of a small bag.She didn't even know what was inside, she had just heard a few old men say that it should be very valuable.
If what they said was true, she would be able to survive a few months again. In the large exchange hall on the outskirts of town you could exchange almost anything for money, but if you brought something of value you had the guarantee that you would get enough to buy plenty of food and drink.

It became quiet again outside on the street.
She breathed a sigh of relief. Finally she loosened her grip on the little sack that she had been holding feverishly the whole time.
What could there be so valuable in there if, for once, the thieves didn't care that they were robbed? Diamonds? Gemstones? A valuable medalion?
Carefully she loosened the greasy tape that had kept the bag closed and carefully peered into it.
She saw nothing flashing or blinking, nothing sparkling or anything like that.She didn't see anything. Carefully she reached into the bag and tried to feel the contents, but she felt nothing but sand or something like that.
So that was it. All the effort in vain! How should she be able to survive now? She could hardly pay for a piece of bread with a little powder.
She tucked the sack in her plastered bag, which was her only memory of her mother, got up and brushed the dirt off her clothes.
She had to find something to use to buy something to eat.
She quietly opened the rusted door and disappeared into the shadows of the small, dark alley ...

***

Listless, she pulled her old leather bag behind her. It was damn heavy.
The last job had brought her a reasonable amount of money, which she had largely converted into groceries straight away. After all, it was a three-day trip to Ara, and it would take her a little to survive.On such a long trip, you never had the guarantee that you would pass a stream or that you would come across some small animals somewhere that you could cook.
She had been out for hours now and decided it was time to take a little break. She found a small, quiet forest clearing, dropped her bag and sat down by an old, rotten tree. Tired, she leaned against him and closed her eyes while she felt disoriented for the closure of her bag.
Her stomach growled unnaturally loudly. She absolutely had to eat something.
Finally they felt the little silver button and somehow opened it.
She took some bread out of her pocket and broke off a piece. She had to be thrifty. She had bought a few things, but if she ate something as often as today, she would have nothing more in two days.
During her assignment in Nahan, she barely got to eat anything.That was now noticeable.
Suddenly there was a loud splash right next to her left ear. Confused, she looked at her shoulder.
"Damn, I was just missing that," she fumbled angrily for a towel in her pocket. A bird had done its business from a tree right on her shoulder.
"That's what happens when you're inattentive in a forest like this," she heard an amused voice behind her.
She jerked around and looked up. In front of her stood a young, handsome man, with ears as long and pointed as her.
"Oh, shut up," she turned her attention back to her shoulder, offended, "who are you anyway that you think you just have to speak to me like that?"
She mumbled the last one so grimly to herself, but he had heard it.
He looked down at her and had to smile a little.
"Be honest, you don't care a bit.""Indeed, nobody here asked for your opinion."
She was still busy with her shoulder, but now she went over to concentrating on her bread again and looked down, hoping that he would not continue to watch her grim gaze.
She knew that once again she was reacting more than exaggerated, but this was how she had started this conversation, so she was going to continue with it now.
"Pah", she mumbled softly to herself, "such an idiot".
"Idiot maybe", laughing he sat down next to her, "but not hard of hearing, my dear, so why don't you just tell me what you think about me right in the face?"
Now she was really angry. She had never seen anything so bold in her short life. That was really the height.
Annoyed, she looked him straight in the face."Ok, Mister Neunmalklug, if you'd like it that way!"
She got up with a jerk and let her gaze rest on him for a few seconds without any words, then she said:
"Pay close attention! I'm sitting here because I've had a few exhausting days and now want to treat myself to my well-deserved piece of bread. Above all, I'm sitting here in the middle of the forest in a quiet clearing, because I just want this peace and quiet." was not out to talk to a brazen, young and handsome man about what is right and what is not! "
She took a deep breath.
"And now let me finally eat my damn bread!"
"Good looking?" He asked, eyeing her obviously amused.
She put her hand over her mouth and looked very frightened.
He heard her mumble underneath: "Did I say that out loud?"
She quickly grabbed her bag and ran away, deep into the woods."Hey, wait, not that long, there is ...", but he couldn't get any more, because she was long out of earshot.

She ran and ran and didn't stop for a second. She had said the fact out loud, how embarrassing. What would he think of her now?
Totally lost in thought and doggedly focused on the fact that she was increasing the distance between herself and this guy, she did not notice how the environment around her was changing more and more.
She was extremely angry. Angry at this idiot and especially angry at herself for allowing herself to be provoked so quickly and he didn't even mean anything bad to her.
It was probably his good mood that had made him so unbearable for her.
She got out of breath and finally stopped. She must have been running for a full half an hour. She propped herself up on her knees and gasped for air.She looked past her legs behind her, but it looked like he hadn't followed her any further. No wonder, as unfriendly as she had been to him, but that's how she was.
For the first time she noticed that something was wrong.
She straightened up and put her bag on the damp grass.
Something was different. She couldn't see as much fresh green as she had in the clearing. Everything seemed much darker and more disturbing to her.
She heard a faint crack behind her, barely audible, but loud enough for her ears. A little intimidated, she reached for her bag, but couldn't get a hold of it.
Another crack, only this time a little closer.
She fixed her gaze on the place where she had just heard the crack. Didn't take your eyes off her in case something suddenly jumped out and attacked her.
But this something can't be very clever, she thought, as loud as it is, it will hardly be able to sneak up unnoticed.It rustled.
She left her bag where it was and clenched her hand into a fist. It began to hiss slightly and a gentle breeze brushed it.
From second to second the wind became more and more intense and began to bunch around her hand.
She was ready if the creature should come.
But she couldn't hear anything anymore, it was absolutely quiet around her. The tension in her was driving her crazy.
She was still staring hard, but nothing happened.
She exhaled in relief. Maybe it was just a squirrel or something, who knows. She relaxed it again and was about to reach for her bag when suddenly a shadow jumped out of the bushes towards her. Immediately she clenched her fist again, pointed it in his direction and let a strong gust of wind shoot at the figure.
"Damn it," she heard a familiar voice groan, "damn it!"
"Oh, shit", now she recognized the young man from earlier in the voice and rushed to him "I'm sorry, did I hurt you? You scared me to death!"
She knelt down next to him.
“Did you hurt?” He laughed weakly, “with the little gust of wind?” He looked her straight in the eye now.
"You can't even scare a fly with that little bit of air," he smiled at her and somehow she had to smile a little too.
"You're an idiot," she said and helped him get up.
"As far as I know, we were ready earlier."
Now she really had to laugh and tears in her eyes.
"Hey, little one, don't cry, everything is safe," he patted her head affectionately.
“But I could have seriously injured you,” she looked down at the grass, ashamed, “if you