The Light of the North
I almost forgot to post this! 
Here’s my Round 3 story for the contest I’m taking part in. It was written before I went away in February, but not posted here until now as it’s currently open for voting.
The Light of the North
My journey was almost at an end, and through the mist I could just make out the frozen city, shining like a beacon as it pulled me closer. This was only my second visit to Galathea, the land of the ice elves in the north, but unlike my first visit there would be no journey back to my homeland. In my world there are three domains, all side by side with the human world and largely invisible to their eyes. We share the same space, the same sun and moon, but to them our existence belongs to the world of myths and legends. We are all too aware of them, with their machinery and weapons that are capable of extinguishing all life at the push of a button, polluting the atmosphere with their poisonous fumes and general indifference. But they can’t see us as clearly. To the humans we appear only as shadows, or as a brief distraction when they catch sight of something out of the corners of their eyes. To them we don’t exist, but we are bound to them and what they do has consequences in our world as well as theirs. However it was not the humans’ actions that necessitated my journey to Galathea.
For many centuries the fire elves in the southernmost kingdom of Firengard had been at war with Galathea and my own kingdom, Arborea. Led by their king, Onrued, the elves of Firengard had won a closely fought battle with the elves of my woodland kingdom. My father, King Artihr, was badly injured and could only be healed by the king of the ice elves, Narial. That was two centuries ago, and I accompanied my father on the journey to Galathea. Narial was only a few years older than me, but due to his advanced skill in healing wounds inflicted by the fire elves he had become known as The Light of the North.
As the only daughter of Arborea’s king, and unmarried, I was not permitted to stay in the main section of Narial’s palace or to dine with him and my father. Instead I was confined to the outer quarters, where I dined with Narial’s mother and the other female members of the royal family. I still remember how frustrated I was by that arrangement, as I wanted to see for myself just how handsome the young king really was. Like all of the ice elves he would be tall and have soft, silver skin that appeared almost luminous by the light of a full moon, with eyes the colour of water sapphires and flowing blonde hair. But Narial was reputed to be the most handsome king since his great grandfather, Ossinh.
