Didyme walked into the room and looked to her best friend sitting on the ground. "Hey, stranger." Marissa looked up, but she was quiet, the mage in training meditating. Didyme sat on the ground beside her. "What's up?" Still her friend was quiet, and she grew worried. "Issa?"

She received a small "hm." from her friend, before Marissa was able to break the meditation. "Sorry, May. They've got me in intense training over here." Didyme smiled, knowing that her friend was exhausted from the training the elders were putting her through.

"Come on then. Come take a break. Or go spar with Aristeo. He misses the attention." Didyme watched her friend's eyes light up at the mention of Aristeo's name. Twenty seven year old Marissa Merriweather was best friends with Didyme and Aristeo Starling, maybe even had a little crush on the twenty-nine year old Aristeo. The three of them were nothing but younglings in their immortal centaur life.

"Where is he?" Marissa stood, stretching out her arms. Didyme only shook her head. It was the only way she could ever get her friend to come out of her mage training.

"Library. As always. Go surprise him." Marissa smiled, walking out of the building with Didyme. She walked to the library, finding her dark haired friend resting against a bookcase with a book in his lap. Using a bit of household magic, she plucked the book from his lap, summoning it to her side.

"Hmmm… The History of the Species? Ari, you've read this book many a time." He looked up to her, his hazel eyes showing his tiredness. He stood, taking the book from her hands and tucking it under his arm.

"Exams are in a week, Issa." He said softly. "I have to study." Marissa cupped his chin in her hand, looking into his eyes.

"And you need to take some time off and relax." He sighed, lowering his eyes away from the woman of his dreams. She took the book from him and tossed it on the counter, grabbing his arm and dragging him outside away from the library. They walked outside the city gates, hand in hand.

"Did Didyme send you to fetch me?" He asked, turning to face her once they had traveled far enough away from the city.

"Didyme knows that we're both in training and we both need to take some time for ourselves. Ari, you'll wear yourself into the ground if you don't take a break every now and then."

"And you? You and your mage training? I know the basics of it, but the things you're going through are immense, Issa. I know you're tired; you're probably exhausted. You shouldn't worry about me and my studies."

"But you know I do." Aristeo smiled, kissing the back of her hand softly.

"Yes, you have a tendency to worry. Come now, Issa. We must go back. We must rest."

"Why rest when you can take a potion and stay awake for days upon days?" He turned to his friend.

"You really should rest." He murmured, taking her hands in his, and walking her back to the gates and to her home. He stood outside the gates of her compound, and kissed her cheek softly. "One day, my Marissa, one day." She nodded to him and returned the favor.

"If there's anything I can do…" Marissa offered. He smiled.

"Court me." He whispered. She blinked, surprised. "Of course, only if you want to." He added quietly.

"Of course, Ari. I'd love to." He kissed her cheek softly again.

"Then perhaps another time?" He asked, referring to their time outside the city gates. She nodded.

"I'd like that." She was quiet for a few moments. "Goodbye Ari."

"Goodbye, Issa." She turned and walked into her gates, closing them gently behind her.

Early, early the next morning…

Marissa was awoken by the sound of a scream, a scream she knew as her sister's. When she roused herself, the compound had been ransacked. As she checked her sister's and parents' rooms, she found traces of struggles. She darted outside the compound, throwing her weight against the armory in the middle of town. The door quickly crumbled in under the pressure and she snatched the first weapons she could find, a stash of throwing knives and daggers. As the town warning bells started ringing, she phased up into her centaur form with armor and galloped down the well-worn path, tracking the strangers with her familar dog, Conan. "OPEN THE GATES!" She yelled, the iron gates cracking open just a hair to let her and the centaurs behind her through.

Conan darted on ahead, and Marissa downed a shot of a potion to increase her speed. She heard the sharp yell of the dog, and as she passed him, she saw the dog lying to the side with an arrow through its side. Elves. Of course. She caught up with the tail end of the squadron. "BROOKE!" She could see her sister's blond hair gleaming in the moonlight. With careful aim, Marissa's dagger pierced the heart of the elf carrying her and they both tumbled to the ground. She stopped to check on her sister who was crying horribly.

"M-m-mari, they have Mom and Dad, and Ari and May too!" She cried. Marissa passed her on to a healer and continued on her way. By the time she reached the tail of the squadron again, she had passed the bodies of her parents and though tears stained her cheeks, she had to continue on for the sake of her friends. Marissa saw Aristeo's dagger lying on the ground and knew that he was the last in the group. She grabbed it and continued on, hurling the dagger at the last elf. Though he stumbled, he merely reached behind him and pulled the dagger out, laughing wildly.

"This will be the last you ever see of your dark haired lover, centaur! I am Turin, the Blood Mage, of the Elven Clan of Kura Taka. Come back to me when you are older and stronger if you dare, young mage!" He laughed again, hurling the dagger with such speed and strength that it grazed Marissa's cheek and imbedded itself deep in the centaur's flank. She screamed in pain, making the mage's captive struggle.

"Ari!" She called.

"Issa!" Came the muffled reply. The elf chuckled to himself, continuing on his way. Marissa phased down, returning to her human form, immediately falling down. Though she struggled to stand, it was too late. The elven squadron was long gone.