Selrani Everstar crept through the thick foliage of the Kalun Forest. The sky was black and overcast, not a single star to be seen, the clouds so thick that even the bright moon could not penetrate them. All was peaceful as it should be, a gentle breeze flowing through the trunks of the massive trees. Nocturnal animals were moving about hunting, and the sound of crickets could be heard clearly.
Selrani, a beautiful Night Elf maiden, was leading a hunting party of thirty elven soldiers through; suddenly all was still except for the movement of a being far away. Selrani held up her hand to stop her force behind her, her sharp elven ears picking up the movement of the creature, then even that sound disappeared; the entire forest was eerily quiet. Selrani had not signaled for the force to move again so they waited, not all of them patiently, for long moments that drug on to feel like hours. A young elven male, by the name of Alaburn, almost danced about with his impatient desire to move forward. This was the man's first time on a scouting or hunting mission and he wanted it to be over quickly. Finally after a few more minutes he approached Selrani and growled at her rather loudly in the quiet of the forest "Why are we still stopped?!" Selrani glared at the male with her glowing white eyes. Her voice was soft and melodious but had a hard bite of anger to it "Be quiet and get back into your ranks, we shall move again soon." She whispered this to the male hoping he would listen but he didn't, loudly demanding that they move forward.
Before she could say anything more to him a sinister shape appeared before them. The figure was tall and lanky standing at least eight feet tall. He had glowing crimson eyes that glinted wickedly in the darkness of the forest. He waved his hand and the small force before him became stuck in place, unable to move, all but Selrani forced into silence by the man's spell. Selrani had moved to instruct her unit to attack, but realized the spell had taken hold and she let out a small groan boarding a whimper as terror built inside of her.
She watched the figure approach; he stopped to study them for a long moment before he spoke, his voice carried a heavy accent and his voice was a soft whisper, but the man carried a power and all who heard him speak could sense it. The figure looked directly to Alaburn "what you be doin here mon?" he smiled and a ball of fire floated suddenly in front of him, lighting the figure very clearly. The tall lanky male was a troll with long, thick tusks. His head shaved bald glinted in the light of the fire, tribal tattoos easily seen; he wore the leather gear of a troll hunter. Seeing the armor had always proven confusing for Selrani for Pingly was no simple hunter and most mages she had seen wore only cloth armor, something about it interrupting their spells. In the firelight the troll's eyes glowed even brighter, the wicked gleam in them very easily seen. He smiled broadly with his sharp teeth glinting white in the firelight "You be tinken to sneak up on poor Pingly?" Gesturing Pingly removed the spell he had laid over Selrani's fighters. "Well then, come and get me then, if that is your wish"
Most of her troop was frozen in fear, having never seen such power coming from a mage, and having never before seen a troll mage! Suddenly one elf fled through the forest away from the horrible mage. Pingly waited a moment, watching him go then turning to Selrani he winked and he thrust his hand out, the fireball at his chest flying forward. The projectile whistled as it flew growing larger and larger as it sucked in the air around it, several of the elves let out a loud moan of despair as they heard and saw the fireball sail past. Pingly just looked at them, his wicked smile returning "Don't worry Mon; the best part is about ta be here." When the fireball found its target the forest was lit bright as day and the elf's screams of pain and torment were so great in the silence of the forest that even the toughest and most battle-hardened of the elves felt shivers of fear flowing down their spines.
Looking down to Selrani he knelt before her he cupped her chin in his three-fingered hand. "Why, Selrani is that you? It be good seein you again." Selrani almost swooned as Pingly's strong grasp closed about her chin, she could hardly look into his eyes, and when she saw his razor sharp teeth her pale complexion paled even more. Pingly just laughed at the maidens reaction, sensing the army of men gathered behind her moving to attack he looked up to them "If you come any closer I will kill her with my bare hands, and then I will kill every last one of you." The men slowly settled back, but their hands never left their weapons.
Pingly turned back to Selrani with his smile still on his lips, and no less wicked this time "I wish we coulda been meetin under better circumstances, I love to be bein a good host to my guests" Selrani tired of the mage's games growled, mustering her courage she spit in his eye, "I wish I could say the same Pingly, but it is never pleasant to lay eyes on scum like you" Pingly withdrew and growled at the maiden. With a wave of his hand she flew up into the air and then flew backwards crashing through the trees of the forest. She landed hard among a pile of broken branches at the base of a mighty oak tree.
Turning back to the men at hand he shook his head "You coulda been killin me by now mon, but now ya done lost ya chance." With that Pingly threw both his hands down, then up in a powerful gesture. A fountain of liquid fire surged up from the ground and showered over the men quickly but painfully snuffing the light of their lives. Walking through the pile of dead elves Pingly found the corpse of Alaburn and leaning down he ripped the elf's arm off, looking at it thoughtfully he leaned down and took a large bite of the burnt flesh. Chewing thoughtfully he tossed the arm aside looking down to the elf "You shoulda just kept quiet mon" shrugging his shoulders he went in search of strong soldiers to feast upon.
Selrani awoke several minutes later to the sound of Pingly enjoying his meal, the sound of flesh being removed from bone, and then the bone itself being eaten. She leaned to the side and emptied her stomach of all its contents then standing wobbly she made her way through the woods back to her home city. Pingly heard her wake, and heard her walking away, but he simply didn't care enough to chase her, the threat to himself gone. Selrani thought her luck had held out, and Pingly had thought her dead or still unconscious until she heard his taunting calls come after her. "You be comin back now whenever woman! I be lovin the taste of elves, and I don't be gettin ta eat it often."
Several weeks had gone by since that night and Pingly was walking about the forest outside of his cave home in the bright early morning. The air outside was warm and the breeze blowing in was cool making the day very nice indeed, Pingly sighed contently to himself as he moved to stand in a beam of sunlight that broke through the thick canopy of leaves. Pingly loved mornings as he never felt threatened; Night Elves lost most of their powers during the day. So as he stood and basked in the warmth of the light he watched a bird fly from its tree and into the sky, he never heard the night elf sneak up behind him, never knew what hit him when a thick club came crashing down onto his head. It took two hits with the mighty weapon to fell the troll, he hit the ground hard immediately unconscious his head bleeding from a small wound the rough surface of the wooden club had given him, though he suffered no real head trauma.
Pingly awoke some time later his head screaming in agony. He tried to move his hand up to search his head, sure that he felt dried blood on his head and face, he realized at that time that his hands were tied to the floor. Growling darkly Pingly began to cast a spell that would release him from his bounds, when it didn't work Pingly just stared down at the ropes that hadn't burnt in severe confusion. He heard melodious laughter behind him and Selrani moved gracefully into view "You have been drugged my dear troll, and all of your spells will be useless for long enough for me to finish my business." She informed him, leaning close she purred into his ear feeling very empowered "So good to see you again Pingly." The beautiful elf brushed strands of violet hair from her face and gave the troll a mischievous smile, "You know... you're rather handsome for a troll." She knelt before him so her face was level with his own, Pingly continued to stare in disbelief at the elf. "So very powerful too," she gently rubbed a delicate digit along his tusk, a coy smile came to her lips as she maneuvered her head through his tusks she gazed into his crimson eyes as her feather-soft, full lips brushed against his. "I have thought of this often in the past few weeks" she purred quietly again then she kissed him hard, forcing her lips against his own. Pingly found himself being drawn into the kiss his eyes slipped closed, his heart pounding, his blood boiling, his thoughts clouding over. Suddenly he felt a sharp stab of pain in his chest and his eyes shot open, Selrani was still kissing him, but he no longer cared as he saw the large dagger sticking through his chest.
Suddenly the elf maiden backed away and looked down into his eyes, no longer was her smile mischievous or coy, but a merciless scowl. Pingly tried to speak but could not draw breath, his lung punctured. Selrani nodded to him and turned her back to him knowing the mage knew at that moment how much she hated him, words would do her no good at this time and could put her in danger if he found the strength to spell cast again, so she calmly made her way back to her city. Pingly watched her leave, gasping desperately for breath as he felt the world about him grow cold.