When I opened my eyes, I was in a simple bed, the twin moons high in the sky, proving that it was late at night. My frail body shivered against the cold, and I curled into myself, hugging my slim shoulders. I had been given only a thin blanket and a one-piece garment with a hole for my head. And the indifferent starlight wasn’t going to keep me warm.

The weight and chill of the collar and chains reminded me unpleasantly of where I was. It was pathetic enough to make a person want to cry—but it could have been worse.

True. For a moment there I wasn’t sure I was going to survive.

Almost immediately after parting with the rogues, we were picked up by kidnappers, sold at a cheap price…

But I made it… If you can call winding up as a slave on a farm making it.

We could just count ourselves lucky that the farmers weren’t too cruel. I clutched the golden charm that glimmered at my neck, grateful they hadn’t taken it from me. Across the room, the rhea girl was snoring loudly, as if she hadn’t a care in the world. We’d been friends a long time, and I had always found her impudent streak admirable and aggravating in equal measure.

I’m glad we at least wound up with personable masters. A corpulent, good-natured one, and a young man who seemed to be his nephew. The two of them treated us like slaves, yes, but quite well for all that. They spoke to us almost the way one might to a friend or at least a servant. If it hadn’t been for the mission with which I had been entrusted, I might have been more than happy to stay here for decades.

Although the young master does seem a bit reckless at times.

I couldn’t resist a bit of a smile there in my freezing bed. Earlier today, I’d seen the young man get a scolding for starting a fight at the bar or something. Why were human youngsters always so eager to rush ahead with no thought for what might happen?

I must say, it makes little sense to me.

Born as an elf of the desert and nobility at that, I had long served as a lady-in-waiting to the royal family of this land, for generations, no less. And yet even now I didn’t understand humans. Come to think of it, I had been the perpetual companion of the princess. I had never met such a straightforward young human.

As for my snoozing rhea friend…maybe she knew differently. Still unable to sleep, I looked out the window, up at the stars, but then finally shook my head.

Ugh, forget the stars. I should be thinking about the princess…

How could I help her? Should I break out of here? I didn’t really want to make life that difficult for my new masters, but…

“…?!”

Suddenly there was a soft noise outside my room. I flicked my long ears and pulled up my bedsheets. Nobody could deceive the ears of an elf on a night as silent as this one.

As I expected, it was the young man standing in the doorway. I went still as a board in the bed, watching him with only my eyes.

“I-i-is something the m-matter, young sir…?” I privately chided myself for letting my voice tremble. But the young man didn’t seem to notice. It appeared that his uncle, the owner of this place, had gone out in the middle of the night, and he wondered if we might know something. The uncle had claimed he would be back by morning, but something about him had seemed strange.

“It’s true,” I said, bracing myself against the bed under the covers and pushing myself up. “The master did go out. That much I know.”

As I said, no one can sneak past an elf. Of course I noticed when the master left.

“Come to think of it… Someone did come to visit the master in the evening.” I had been so busy with my work that I didn’t even have the leeway to look up and see who it was, but I knew someone had been there. The master had accepted a message cylinder from them, checked the contents, and gone pale. “Perhaps that’s connected somehow.”

The young man looked very disturbed by this. He told me to wait a moment, then left the room, but he soon returned. In his hand was an old, but still truly brilliant, scabbard in which resided an elegant curved blade. It looked heavy, perhaps because the scabbard was made of lead. Now that I thought about it, I seemed to recall the young man had the same sword with him when he had gone to the tavern this afternoon.

“What manner of sword is that, sir…?”

He informed me that it was an heirloom passed down through his family. Many generations ago, one of his forebears had traveled to this place in order to seal away this sword. Privately, I thought that all seemed like a bit much work for one measly blade. Humans always had to be so dramatic about everything they did.

But I thought again when, with a look of absolute determination, the young man drew the sword from its sheath. At that instant, the charm at my neck began to jangle violently, producing an earsplitting screech. The sword glowed bluish-white and emitted a low thrum. It seemed absolutely imbued with magical power—and a fearsome aura of death.

“M-Master… That s-sword…” Now my voice was really shaking. Even my friend, who I had thought was asleep, sat up and looked wide-eyed at the blade. She whistled, impressed, and I didn’t have the wherewithal to admonish her for it.

Gulp. The sound seemed so loud—Was that me swallowing?

Before I knew what I was doing, I had thrown myself at the feet of the young man, pressing my forehead to the ground. I couldn’t even bring myself to hide anything anymore.

“Help!” I exclaimed. “Please, you must help her…!”

The princess—she was imprisoned in the castle. Her life was in danger! Tears started to pour from my eyes, so overwhelmed was I with emotion. The young man listened to me silently and finally responded with just a few quiet words:

He was a knight. Like his father before him.

§

Thus the young man, with the shimmering sword still shining in his hand, left with us, his servants, in tow. He was heading into the wild desert, where fearsome Chaos and evil plots were swirling. But the young man had no strength, no knowledge. Only courage.

Only the dice of Fate and Chance knew how the boy’s adventure would turn out. Truth, Illusion, and all the many gods around their table could not imagine it. They did not know where his next step would take him nor where he would finally arrive. All of that would be determined by the boy’s own will, swayed by the force of his own spirit.

But one thing, and one thing only, was sure. Like the adventure before his, his quest would become one known to all in song. Even a long time hence, in places far, far beyond the Four-Cornered World.

It is the tale of a new hope.