First Encounter

A scene from my novel "Where the Darkness Lies," which I may or may not finish. xD I haven't worked on it for a long time, but maybe I'll have some free time over the summer.

The characters are Clover (left) and Nova (right). I colored this with prismacolor markers, which I discovered was a mistake after not too long xD This wasted a ton of ink. Though I'm happy with how it came out. The color is kind of washed out in the photo; I tried to fix it up a bit with photoshop but this doesn't do the original justice. And I know I kind of fail at perspective. xD

Here's an excerpt to go along with the picture:

The guard put the key in the lock and turned it; Nova heard the click of the lock and the metal door swung open, echoing eerily in the stone hallway. She heard a small squeak as the creature inside heard the noise, and it backed up against the corner of the cell, wrapping its arms around its knees.
Now, Nova could get a closer look at the female forest elf. She appeared young; perhaps in her thirties or forties. She had long golden hair that fell to the floor and tanned skin that appeared to be bruised. Her simple green dress was torn and bloodstained on the right shoulder; she must have been shot with an arrow. Her eyes were tightly shut, and Nova could see her shivering.
Nova stood there for a minute, watching silently, absorbing the scene with her eyes. The forest elf appeared pitiful, curled up in the corner like a trapped animal. She clenched her fists just slightly; she’d have to keep up this act a bit longer. She turned to face the guards.
“I would like to speak to the prisoner. You can stand outside and wait. I only need a few minutes.”
“But, Princess…” the first guard said, somewhat startled, “I don’t think that would be the best…”
Nova sighed, pretending to look annoyed. “Look at it,” she said sardonically, gesturing towards the forest elf. “I doubt that pitiful creature could possibly harm me. Calm yourself, and keep guard outside. That’s an order.”
“Of…of course, your Highness,” said the first guard.
“But call out right away if you need us,” added the other, bowing.
Nova nodded, and her blue eyes glistened in the candlelight. She turned back into the cell and pulled the door closed behind her. The small figure in the corner trembled with fear and opened one eye slightly, quickly shutting it again. Nova knelt down beside her, trying to look calm. In truth, she felt just as nervous as her companion.
“Um…” Nova started. Her voice was only a tiny whisper, and she suddenly had no idea what to say.
At this, the earth elf opened her eyes again, cautiously. This time her eyes remained open, and she looked at Nova curiously. She blankly stared at the princess with almost no expression. However, those were unmistakably… his eyes. Nova felt locked in, as though she were in a dream.
She began again. “I’m… I’m not going to hurt you,” she said quickly, as the other girl flinched slightly. “Please calm down. Nobody is going to hurt you.” What a lie that is, what a lie, thought Nova grimly.
The earth elf raised her eyebrows in confusion and gave Nova a skeptical look. Her cheeks were stained from crying. She looked down and was silent for a minute.
The silence weighed heavily on them both, and Nova was acutely aware of the chilling air in the dungeon. What am I doing here? she wondered in the back of her mind.

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Clover felt the presence of the Khalyth elf beside her, and the strange eyes of this girl seemed to pierce through her. She didn’t want to look at her guest; what could any mountain elf give her other than pain?
However, when the dark elf spoke, her voice sounded kind and friendly, not poisonous like the others she had heard.
Clover finally looked back up, and looked the girl straight in the eyes. The other elf had bright blue eyes, something Clover had never seen before. There was something about her aura that made Clover want to trust her, want to believe her. But, still…
“Why…should I trust you?” asked Clover quietly, trying to keep her voice from shaking. She had felt empty for days now, and she didn’t want to reach blindly for hope amidst her great pain. It was better to feel nothing than pain, she had decided.
The blue-eyed elf was silent for a moment, and Clover thought she looked slightly hurt.
“And who are you?” Clover whispered, before the other elf spoke again. She had heard the guards call her “princess.” What was a princess, anyway?
“Look,” said the blue-eyed elf, softly. “It doesn’t matter who I am. I just…”
She reached up and removed what looked like a golden ring from around her forehead. Clover noticed that there was a blue stone embedded in the gold. The Khalyth elf held out the circlet; Clover simply stared at her.
“Take this,” whispered the girl.

If anyone is interested, note me and I can send you the novel so far. It's about 54 pages of a Word document. :3