(Updated chapters and fixed a few things. Decided to elongate them instead of having several shorter chapters. I hope this helps! Any criticism is very VERY welcome! I'd love to hear of anything I should edit. Thank you! )

The dark, murky water of the great sea lapped at the ship as it crossed the border from neutral open sea to Sin'dorei territory. The destination of The Moonseeker lay but an hours travel time away but Elenwe was too lost in her own thoughts to even consider where she was or what she was traveling into. The gentle lapping away of the waves at the great elven ship failed to stir her from the storm of thoughts in her mind. She leaned over the rail of the upper deck, amber eyes shut in deep thought. She had been sent to this foreign land by her own mother. She was to train under a sentinel and her mother was adamant she follow in her footsteps. To become a strong fighter, just as her, She thought to herself.

The stinging cold of the sea salt sprayed in her face and it roused her from her daydreaming.

"Land ho!" cried one of the deckhands. The elven men coupled with a minority of dwarves had begun the arduous task of unloading the ship of the supplies needed for Shalandis Isle. Why there was need for night elves in Eversong Woods was beyond her. She swept her emerald green hair up into a self made knot and set off to find whatever she may on the small island.

"You there!" cried a shrill, Sentinel from across the camps.

Elenwe looked up with bright doe eyes at the approaching female dressed in silver plated armor. Even her face remained for the most part obscured,

"You are the one they call Elenwe Mistbloom, yes?" She arrived and stood in front of the much smaller amber eyed elf and glared at her through her mask with dark purpose.

"I am as you say."

The Sentinel jerked her hand behind her and pointed at a small tent towards the rear of the camp, "Your things have already been delivered to your tent. You may use your time now to adjust…make sure everything is to your liking but by night fall I expect you here and ready for your first order. Is that understood?"

Elenwe stood straighter, puffing her chest out. She wanted to shrink back into the little girl in her that screamed for her to go home but she could not fail "Yes ma'am." was her sole response. She sidestepped around the Sentinel and made for her meager tent in which she would call home for the next several months.

She arrived at her tent and began to unfurl her bed roll. The scent of home wafted up from her belongings as she unpacked them and for a moment she was brought back to memories with her father. She had inherited the amber eyes from him but there was gentleness to him that she possessed too. Every movement of hers was delicate, graceful and feline.

A little over an hour's time had passed and she reemerged from her tent with her recently forged armor adorned. Silver and violet sigils were etched into the well crafted metal and she truly looked like a warrior of the night ready to strike. Within the first few steps of her striding towards the center of the camp, it became painfully obvious how much of a novice she really was. Metal shrieked in protest with each awkward movement. She had clasped almost every piece of metal on incorrectly and her glaive hung at her side with an awkward tilt. Somehow she had managed to equip that incorrectly as well. People turned to look at the newcomer and snorted, covering their mouths first to try and hide their laughter but by the time she had reached the moonwell, the roars of laughter broke out full scale.

"SILENCE!" cried the Sentinel. She approached from the northern side of the camp and all quickly quieted, going about the tasks of readying the camp for night fall. She came with another fledgling warrioress but this one had bright white almost silver hair and eyes the color of the moon herself.

"This will be your guide. She has been given a map of the local area and you both will scout for what we need here at the camp. Our main operation here is of no importance to you. My instructions are the only directive and you will obey without question." She forcefully moved the fairer female to stand next to Elenwe and they both silently acknowledged the other.

"There resides near us, a small village of forest trolls. They must not know of our presence here or things could get quite ugly for us. You will go to their village and quantify how many reside there. Once you have established the threat level, you will report back to me and I will decide how many to dispatch to destroy the village. Is this understood?"

The two younger and much smaller elven girls looked at her. No words came to either of them for a few moments. The fair elf was the first to answer with a meek, "Yes ma'am" followed by Elenwe.

They both quickly turned on their heels and walked briskly away from the frightening Sentinel. Elenwe couldn't decide who was more frightening; her mother or her new teacher. The thought even of going to survey the camp disgusted her. She was not so old in that she knew of the wars of the trolls and her people and the thought of knowing a whole camp would perish by information she gave drummed in the back of her mind. She would be no better than any of those at war. She longed for peace, for her gardens, for her father…

They had both been traveling for several hours until they reached the outskirts of the troll village. The light-haired elf held up the map studying their location with furrowed eyebrows.

"I think we're close. Judging by this map and these coordinates…" her guide rambled to herself, her face obscured by the map entirely.

Elenwe was far more observant of their surroundings and noticed a bright fire burning away in the distance. Not one but several fires blazing with figures looming and dancing around it. She tapped the elf's shoulder and signaled to her without words to follow her. They crept between the trees, their bodies hunched and their eyes downcast. The last thing they needed was to have the glow of their eyes give them away as anything other than a creature of the night, curiously approaching the troll camps. They were close enough to feel the heat of the fire and to hear the thumping of the war drums and singing. Their deep voices reverberated through Elenwe's chest and she found herself transfixed.

Crunch.

Four figures dropped from the trees around them. Both elves froze mid-step. They had been found. Both elves turned with their backs against each other and pulled out their glaives defensively. Plate metal clanged together as they circled in unison to survey the threat.

"Ya tink you be comin' to spy on te' trolls, ya? I think dat not be da case leetle one" The troll growled out with a hint of humor in his tone but his mocking glare on them was anything but kind.

The taller of the trolls stalked closer to the young night elves that clung to each other. There would be no way they could defeat even just this one troll, much less all four. Elenwe trembled, her knees shook and for the first time in her life, she truly felt alive. The large troll closed in on them and stood directly under the moonlight. His bright green hair that clinked with hidden wood and glass beads was a sharp contrast to the forest green skin that was covered mostly in some type of fuzz. His orange, narrow eyes glared down at them, daring them to move.

The other three trolls had spears lifted over their shoulders, ready to strike but it was Erenwe that was the first to move. She ducked and turned away from a spear that flew past her head, almost clipping an ear . She jabbed with her glaive making the troll sidestep her and laugh. His voice was warm but his intentions anything but. She was swiftly swooped up under her arms by one of the trolls. Her glaive was dropped during the scuffle. She heard the other elf scream but her pleas for safety were quickly muffled.

They were effortlessly taken up into the trees. The fires grew closer and closer as they bounded from limb to limb. With one final leap, they landed in front of the outskirts of the village. Fires burned bright and stung their nose with herbs and spices that were mixed in with the embers. The trolls held their prizes, hunched over and making their way into the center of the activity. A flurry of drumbeats and deep voices rang out in tribal song. Two cages not fit for medium sized wolves were opened and both girls thrown into them. A thick fur blanket was thrown over both cages and in the dark, sweltering cage, she waited. Her plated hands clasped around the bars of the cage.

Sleep grasped her within no time. The heat and still air from within the covered cage made her head ache. There was certainly not enough air where she was locked up. She had removed her plate head gear. Sweat beaded and poured down her forehead making her most uncomfortable. She heard the voices of several trolls approach and she woke, bracing herself for what was to come.

She hadn't realized she had been holding her breath until the rattle of her companion's cage shook her from her trance. She heard the fair elf's pleas and laughter arising from several males. She shot to the back of her cage when she heard the distinct, shrill screams of her guide and the sound of plate being literally shredded from its wearer. She couldn't make out what was being said but that didn't stop her from straining to hear. Her heart raced, sweat poured down her forehead. Suddenly, just as quickly as the elf's screams filled the air, they stopped and were replaced with gurgles of one choking on their own bodily fluids. She held her hands over her ears and rocked herself with her knees drawn to her chest.

She rocked herself, humming quietly a childhood tune her father had sung to her when he would lay her down for the daylight hours. It was the only thing tying her to home and with death all around her in her small cage, she wished it away with the soft tune. The song so out of place. She felt the light shine on her eyes as the blanket was removed from the cage. She heard the cage door rattle and unlock but it wasn't until she felt the probing, three fingered hands of several male trolls, did she open her eyes. She grasped the bars of the cage, holding on for dear life. The trolls blocked out the light from the bonfires, casting a shadow over their victim.

"Oh please Elune! No, don't do this to me!" She cried. Her voice reflected her final cry for life.

The trolls held no emotion in their beady slanted eyes and pried her fingers away from the safety of her cage. They brought her towards the fire pit but instead of throwing her in, like she suspected them to, they tied her to a post right outside the fire. Her arms were tied above her head. Her shoulders ached at the direct angle at which she was bound. Her feet dangled several inches above the ground. The weight of the metal pulled down on her body and felt as though her arms would be ripped from her body. She looked over and immediately wretched at the grotesque scene that lay crumpled mere feet away from her. Her guide lay curled in a ball. Her armor had been forcibly removed. Violet blood and sinew unfurled from her open abdomen leading towards the fire pit where parts of her insides hung from a wooden rotisserie, cooking in the open air. Her linen breeches were pulled down around her ankles and the soft silver hair that hid her womanhood was now stained with the same violet blood that came from her abdomen.

She couldn't tear her eyes from the grotesque scene, 'So much blood.'

A strong hand yanked her face away from the scene and she was met with two hazy red eyes.

"Still be thinkin' ya goin' to spy on da trolls, ya? Me be tinkin' ya was wrong."

Luthaina was angry. She had been ordered to investigate the Kaldorei presence to the south. They had yet to exterminate the trolls and here another enemy approaches, daring to defile what they had conquered; what they had rebuilt. She would see to their demise.

She had been tracking two obviously untrained night elves ever since they began their journey away from the island. They were so noisy. Every stomp of their loud plated boots made her eye twitch with agitation but she waited. She followed fifty paces behind, soundlessly dipping behind the trees in pursuit of them. Her bow was drawn and at the ready.

She thought to herself, 'Why would anyone send out these two when they are noisy even to me? They have to know the trolls would hear them?'

It wasn't long before the elves were surrounded. "Damn.." was all she could murmur, disengaging her arrow and sheathing it soundlessly. There would be no way she could take them all on.

She approached the camp quietly, watching with narrowed eyes at their "festivities" and their "rituals." If she could learn their relationship with the trolls that inhabited their forest, she could at least have something to report back.

The lighter elf was the first to be pulled from the cages they had put them in. She had to admit, a bit of morbid curiosity made her step a few paces forward to get a better look. They had strung her up and had literally cut through the plated armor she wore, leaving her in linens that did nothing to hide the tattoos that snaked up her abdomen, over her breast and around her neck. The trolls had kept her from seeing but she quickly scaled a tree to get a better look. There, from overhead, she saw something that burned into her memory.

The green haired troll held some ceremonial knife over her jabbing it only inches away from her face. She shrieked and tried to look away but another troll behind her kept her face held still. With one quick movement he flipped the dagger and pulled it down, jamming it into her stomach and pulling down. Her entrails fell out in a disgusting pile. Her silver eyes which could be seen form even her point dimmed immediately and purple blood poured out of her mouth. She held a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. Sure some tribes of trolls were vial but her stance was to kill an enemy to end the threat; not to enjoy their torment. They cut the lifeless elf down and exchanged laughter. The troll, who had been the one to end her life, laid her out for all to see and began disrobing what was left of the girl's clothes. This was when she had to act.

Jumping down soundlessly from the tree, she ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Her reinforcements were not far behind and she couldn't let the trolls get away with this. There was still one elf behind and perhaps she could save her a similar fate by getting information out of her. Hold her prisoner and let her have a death fit for a warrior, not cattle.

She arrived at a clearing. Dozens of elves made their presence known by stepping out from behind trees or jumping down from tree branches. She explained the situation and they all sprang to action. They understood this troll village had to be destroyed especially soon. If they could do this to those girls, than they would surely do it to their own.

The night elf squeezed her eyes shut as the troll pulled her chin this way and that inspecting her like cattle. Another troll joined in on her suffering. She could feel him breathing down her neck from the other side of the pole. His breath smelled of old, rancid meat and it snaked across the back of her neck in ragged breaths.

The green haired troll stood tall, stretching from its usual hunch and towered over her causing her to shrink against the one behind her. He snaked his fingers around her green tresses and yanked her head back. The sudden pain jolted her back to the present. She stared wide eyed at the troll who was uncomfortably close to her face. She was so enraptured with her murderer that she barely felt the troll behind her snap away at the bindings to her chest plate. Her heart raced. She had to do something but judging from the fate of her friend she could tell there wasn't much she could do. Her eyes stung with tears. Her guide was dead and there was nothing she had helped lead her here. There had been nothing to save what could have been her only companion.

The troll grinned, showing off both rows of pointed teeth. He said nothing to her; he didn't have to. With an expert hand he set to work on her gauntlets letting them fall to the dusty ground beneath them. He let his other hand trail from her chin down her neck leaving goose bumps in its wake. She was trapped. She would die by the hand of this monster and never see her father again. He removed the rest of her outer armor leaving her in her linens.

She felt hands move around her neck, holding her head completely still. She could hold it in no longer and squeezed her eyes shut, choking out a blood curdling scream. She would not go down without at least trying to free herself.

The troll in front of her pressed himself against her. This was it. The troll slackened and groaned. She had not heard the arrow as it shot thru his throat, nearly piercing into her neck. She did not see the flurry of movements as the trolls panicked, looking around for their hidden attacker. Elves jumped out from behind trees, silently running around the bonfires, throwing spears and shooting bows alike. The troll from behind her was long gone or long dead but she didn't dare open her eyes.

The farstriders from the north had come. She opened one amber eye and was met with the shocking fel green eyes of a blood elf, cutting her down from the post. Her arms popped back into their sockets and she fell over, recovering from the pain. A booted foot caught her in her midsection catching her in the ribcage, temporarily blinding her from the searing white pain. She spat words at her in a language she couldn't understand. Her eyes were full of venom. Elenwe

had lived but now was at the mercy of one irate female ranger. She was hefted to her feet and yanked along, running as swiftly as the farstrider was taking her. They ducked under spears and dodged charging trolls but by the time they had reached the trees that would take them farther north into Eversong, the trolls war cries were heard no more.

They ran for what seemed like hours but could have been minutes. All Elenwe wanted to do was sleep. She would have none of what she wanted for now. The light from the rising sun cast on the golden leaves of the trees. They appeared to be on fire to her. The world as far as she knew was burning all around her but she had to keep pace. A group of a dozen elves flanked her and ran behind her with the golden haired elf guiding her. She couldn't run away from them either. Finally they slowed their pace and found respite in a rather large clearing. The trolls would not be able to hide amongst the trees and so here, they were safe.

Two larger sin'dorei males of about the same height as her stepped up next to her, staring her down, daring her to move. Sure she stood head to head with these elves but for one of the Kaldorei people she was considered a runt. Their harsh unwavering gaze forced her to sit down shakily. She drew her knees up and wrapped her hands around her legs like a lost child. She more or less was a child. She was only in her twentieth year and had yet to experience anything outside the safety of northwestern Ashenvale. Her stomach ached and her head hurt. She had not eaten now in over a day and rations on the ship were small. What she wouldn't do to be at home with her father once again. As she sat there, feeling small and alone in the world, a twin pair of silver eyes peered at her from several yards away; watching.

Luthaina had lead the attack against the trolls and the elves won with surprisingly no casualties. She had lead her to a clearing near the farstriders' base point; only a days journey away from Silvermoon.

Her brother was standing some feet away from the camp, watching the woods with an untrained eye. He was small…gentle…some would even say weak but his gentleness soothed her heart and brought her home. Always.

"Elrilad, you have to get some sleep, yes? You have been tracking with us for days. This isn't good for you. You have to get used to being out here. Someone else can keep watch. I'm sure of it…"

Her brother, so innocent, looked over his shoulder and simply smiled at her. "My eldest sister, what kind of a brother would I be if I did not keep our family here safe. I will keep watch for now. It's daytime. The night elf isn't going anywhere and the trolls are all but gone. Trust me for once?"

She stared at him, smiling. He would not listen to her and she was proud he wouldn't. He would do just as he said and keep them safe though the only reason she agreed was because she did agree. There was not much danger so close to their headquarters.

She walked over to the small night elf. She looked fearful and rightfully so but she had a job to do and she would do it. She squat down and sat on the balls of her feet that supported her and surveyed the lost elf. The night elf would not look up. She sat there, hugging her knees. It wasn't until Luthaina forcefully drew her chin up, did she notice the deep amber eyes. She had heard stories of the druidic race and their beliefs but had never seen an amber-eyed elf. She was a beautiful rarity but still a prisoner.

"What is your name, elf, and why are you here?"

Luthaina spoke in perfectly fluid common. She had not forgotten the language of the ones they had called allies and knew this elf had to have had the training to speak in their tongue.

Elenwe looked taken aback, peering at her with searching eyes. "Elenwe Mistbloom. I can't answer why I'm here. I was sent for training…"

Luthaina scowled. This elf knew more than what she were letting on. She had to. To be sent into the depths of blood elven territory was suicide. She couldn't go back into the city with no answers on either the trolls or the night elves. She released her chin, glaring daggers at the otherwise unassuming night elf. She made her way to go stand with her brother, keep him company as he stood watch. She had decided to take her to Silvermoon sooner rather than later. If anyone could make her talk it would be the Magisters. However unsettling some of them made her, they had their ways. She could see her brothers form from around the tree, leaning against it peacefully.

I knew he would pass out sooner or later. At least allow someone to take over his duties…

She stopped, noticing a trickle of blood seeping down his arm as it fell into view. Her heart pounded in her chest as she slowly made her way around the tree, bringing her now dead brother into full view. His long blonde hair was soaked with blood. His neck was stabbed through with a long curved dagger pining him to the tree. His eyes lost their emerald glow; sightless brown eyes glazed over. He had died before he knew what hit him.

"We are under attack!"

"Ready your bows"

A flurry of movement caught her eye and another ranger to the rear fell, grasping at his abdomen where blood now seeped. She looked over towards the night elf that had scurried away from the scene, hiding in a recently erected tent,

Luthaina rushed towards her with her bow already pulled from around her back. Her eyes were blurred with tears, and her heart raced in her chest. Her head pounded and she wanted nothing more than to exact revenge. Her dear sweet brother.

She reached for the elf and growled out, "Oh no you don't!"

The ranger grabbed her swiftly by the arm, yanking her to a standing position. The image of her brother's lifeless body stung in her mind and she bit back the desire to scream; agony and hatred now filling in her heart. She took off once again with the elf in tow but this time leaving the other elves to fight off their attacker. She had to get this elf to Silvermoon and fast. Whatever had attacked their camp was there for this Mistbloom girl. She would answer for her crimes. She would answer for Elrilad. Yes, this elf would pay.