Chapter 1: The Beginning

Once upon a time, not so long ago, a girl named Ina woke up in her bed. It seemed to be a day like any other, but the little elf felt that something was in the air. She looked into her older brother's room, but strangely enough he wasn't there. He usually stayed in bed as long as he could, but apparently he got up early today.
Ina ran into the garden to look for him, but she couldn't find him anywhere. Since Ina was an elf, she could talk to plants and animals, and sometimes visited souls from the afterlife. She asked the flowers, the trees, the grasses and what else there was in the little garden, but no one had seen her big brother Baal. "Mama, Papa! Baal is gone! Baal is gone! Do you know where he is?" Ina called as she ran into the house. "Mom? Dad? Where are you? And do you know where Baal is? It's his birthday today!", But there was silence in the whole house.No sound except Ina's excited puff. The little elf was getting scared, but it was also the first time that she didn't know where everyone was.
She started to cry. Big tears rolled down Ina's cheeks, and she went to the village to ask if anyone knew anything about her family. Desperate, the little girl trudged towards the village square, but what she experienced there she would not let go of her life.
She saw three figures dangling from a gallows who looked very much like her parents' and her brother's.
The mayor began to speak: "It was these three elves. They betrayed our entire village, our entire country, no even our race. THEY dared to bring a person here who only had the destruction of our culture in mind They deserve nothing but death. They admitted what they did, but they stuck to it until the end that what they did was right, and so they deserved it no other way.NOBODY can dare to betray us! If the people know where our village is, how valuable the land it is built on, …………… then that would be our death sentence. "
Ina was speechless. She was in shock. There was nothing she could do. Just stand there, watch the crowd, but don't really notice it and only ever hear the one sentence: You don't deserve it any other way. You betrayed us. You chose this path yourself and left me here alone. Alone. Now I have no one left on earth.
She felt as if she was being sucked up by a huge black hole, deeper and deeper, deeper and deeper, deeper and deeper grief seized the little elf and let her slump noiselessly.
Amid the murmuring of approval, a loud, angry voice suddenly rose, which even Ina noticed. It was a very familiar voice, it was one of her few friends. "It is not right.It is wrong to kill. No matter what someone has done, IT IS NOT CORRECT TO KILL!
There are also innocent elves who suffer greatly from such a loss! Has none of you thought about what Ina should do now? She is now in the world without a family and will suffer in agony when she learns that the people who are most important to her have been killed BY US! I think everyone here likes Ina, until now she has always been a happy, open girl who never seemed sad. But what will happen now? Now that there is no one left to take care of you?
Her parents and brother found someone they could trust. You all live so withdrawn here that you don't even know that most people can no longer see us! Only very special, honest people are allowed to see us, but you don't even know that because you are too afraid of fraud and exploitation!Not all beings are bad. I do not even believe that there is even ONE being in this world who is bad through and through, but you have your prejudices and you do not want to let an innocent human child participate in the beauty of our elven kingdom, and thus overthrow another being, your kind , in deepest misery. It's a shame that you can even call yourselves elves! "
Everything was quiet. Nobody dared to say anything because nobody dared to say what everyone thought: HE WAS RIGHT. The guilt inevitably rested on the shoulders of everyone present. The speaker was Kairam, a friend of Ina and the rest of the family. He wasn't much older than Ina. When Kairam continued to speak, everyone listened, even the mayor seemed guilty and contrite to listen. "Elves should be connected to EVERY being, and not found a kind of sect to just be among themselves and not want to be disturbed.Help elves. There are so many different types of elves for nature. We too are made to create and sustain life, not to kill elves who do the right thing. Unfortunately I was late, but I hope at least now you understand that you made the biggest mistake of your life. "With that he concluded his speech and looked around Ernst. Suddenly someone whispered:" Ina! "
Only then did everyone notice the little heap of misery that was left of Ina, who was once so cheerful. Everyone knew they had heard it all.

Kairam went to Ina through a narrow passage that had formed in the crowd and closed behind him. He took her in his arms and whispered a low: "I was late, I'm sorry."
Without a word he went with her to her house, with the colorful garden, but neither of the two had an eye for it at that moment.Kairam had put his arm around the little elf, who, however, did not want to perceive anything of her surroundings. After Kairam's speech, there was a lot of chaos in her head, and she first had to rethink everything she had heard and try to understand.
Her brother and her parents had often mentioned a new, mysterious friend, but Ina was never allowed to know who this friend was, nor was she allowed to get to know her. It hadn't even occurred to her at the time that this friend might be a human girl. Ina had nothing against people because, like her parents, her brother and Kairam, she was adventurous and sometimes ventured into the area of ​​the forest, which sometimes also contained people. At first she was disappointed that people couldn't see her, but then she just watched them, and sometimes she mimicked them. It was sometimes really funny to listen to them, but sometimes they talked about people who had passed and were loved.Then Ina felt for them and regretted the people for having lost the ability to speak to souls from the hereafter. But the fact that SHE still had this ability did not cheer her up. It wasn't the same. They weren't always there, and it took a lot of strength and focus to talk to them. A little elf didn't have enough strength to communicate with anyone on a daily basis.

Kairam wanted to give Ina time to process what she had heard and just sat quietly and thought for herself. After half an hour of silence Ina suddenly asked: "How is she?" - "How is who?", Kairam stuttered, torn from her thoughts. "Well, the human girl! How is she?" Ina asked.
"Hm, that's a good question. I didn't know her as well as your parents and your brother knew her." When he mentioned her, Ina winced barely noticeably. "Your family and I were once again on a foray through the part of the forest where the people are.She is roughly 16 years old, counted in human years. She has long, wavy brown hair and was just very sad. Her aunt, whom she was very fond of, had died. She greeted us sadly. We were of course very surprised that she could see us and said hello back. We asked why she could see us, and then she told us her whole story.
Sonja can 'clairvoyantly' from birth, as people call it. She says, actually, as a young child, everyone of her race has the ability to see elves, goblins, dwarves and all that, only many get lost. She is one of the few she has kept and can still see beings like us. Her aunt also had this opportunity and was the only one with whom Sonja could talk about everything, including elves. Her aunt was very important to Sonja, she taught her the laws of nature and explained to her what other people had already forgotten or didn't want to know at all.The aunt replaced Sonja's parents, who are both dead, because her father died in a car accident and her mother was killed in childbirth. Now that her aunt is dead too, she thought she was alone in the world, but she forgot something very important. Her guardian angel is always with her, and even if she is an outsider in the human world, she still has enough friends in nature who only want the best for her. "
"Yes, you are right. Nobody is ever alone. I had just forgotten that. Shouldn't we teach Sonja how to talk to her aunt? Besides, I would like to get to know her too! I want to know who my parents are about now are dead, and whether it was for someone who deserved it. ", Ina now spoke up again.
"Hm. I was hoping you would say something like that. I promise you, she is definitely worth it. Sonja wants to get to know you too, but she probably doesn't know the fate of your family yet.Please let me prepare them for your visit first. But I am of the opinion that there is no other person who would be more suitable to go on a trip into the afterlife with Sonja. You are a strong elf. I admire you. ", said Kairam in conclusion." I will slowly go home now ……… "
"Why go home? From now on you are at home so that I am really not alone. You have no choice, I have already decided." Ina said firmly and with a confident voice. "Ok, if you think so.", Kairam stuttered confused, "but what about my things?" - "You can pick them up tomorrow. Now let's get lunch ready. And don't try to hide!"