@Reblod flag
I have returned after being enlightened. Here's the very beginning of my new beginning. Hopefully it's better. Harsh critique is painful but effective so please don't hold back. (also, italics and paragraph indents don't carry so we'll just have to use our imaginations)
Louise’s muscles ached and quivered. Metal screeched against metal as she struggled against the sword pinning her down. The elf brandishing the sword bared his teeth in a grim smile. He knew he would win. He relented against Louise’s meek defence only to bring the sword down over and over. Louise groaned under the assault. She stumbled and fell to her knees, her wings falling limply to her sides. Blood from a wound she couldn’t feel dripped into her eyes. The grimacing face of her assailant blurred into redness. She grit her teeth and tensed, waiting for a final blow. It never came. The sudden nauseating warmth of the elf’s blood spraying onto her face made her gag. The now lifeless body crumpled into the dirt. Louise fell forward, drawing breath like it was her last. It nearly had been. She shakily wiped the blood away and squinted upwards. The figure of a human soldier came into focus. He reached forward and pulled her onto her feet.
“Aaryan. I never thought I’d be glad to see you but here I am, glad to see you,” Louise panted.
“Same ‘ere. Thought ye ‘ad gone to the Void, did I,” Aaryan mumbled distractedly.
Louise gazed around at the battle. The heavy stench of blood and sweat tainted the salty air. Steel clashing sung through the tiny glade, nullifying the distant noise of waves breaking on the shore. Blood pooled on the ground and slashed crimson stains on the trees. Corpses lay strewn across the ground. They were mostly humans.
“Orders, Commander?”
Louise’s eyes snapped to Aaryan’s cool brown ones. How he always remained so calm was beyond her but everyone had their own way of coping.
“Retreat…we have to retreat. We don’t stand a chance.”
“Good t’e see ye ‘ave grown sense over t’e years,” Aaryan grinned and dashed away, no doubt to save more lives. Louise watched him go for a moment before steeling herself and slowly, painfully, lifting her bloodied wings over her head.
“Fall back! Retreat! Everyone, retreat!” Her call rose above the sounds of battle.