I am so sorry everyone! I thought that now that I was on vacation I would have more time to write. But it seems that it was one thing after another and I could not find the time to sit down and just write. So before this turns into a letter of apology and spouting excuses, here is the long-overdue chapter ten of "Boundaries!" Enjoy!

Rena's spring green eyes narrowed at the man, her expression dark. The memories of her butchered friends flashed through her mind and she bared her teeth at the recollection and to the man.

"You…"

The man did not even flinch. He merely snickered and tilted his head like a mad-man.

"Oh? So you long-ears do have fangs. I heard that they only come out when they are in a bind. And I think it's safe to say your condition does put you in a bit of one." Rena felt her lungs expand as she inhaled a breath of moist air. She could sense her blood boil and her good hand twitched, searching for a weapon.

Then she saw her elegant bow propped up against the rock she was lying on. It was close enough for her to reach it with little effort, but she needed both of her hands to fire it.

The basis of elven weapons was to create a point of concentration for magic to take form. For bows, it required the wielder to mimic the motions of firing the arrow as though it were real. From there, the magic that makes up the arrow takes physical form and fires as though it were shot from a real bow.

With her left arm immobilized, she would be unable to conjure and fire arrows, at least not without great difficulty. Not only that, but the man still had both of his arms free and his human hand gripped his cruel black blade. She quickly attempted to size up his condition. Though the shadows of the cave made it hard to discern most of his body, she saw golden cracks running along the length of his gleaming claw. Apart from that, she could not tell and had to assume he was in much better shape than she was.

This meant the moment she tried to pick up her bow, he would kill her.

Kill her? Then why was she not dead, yet?

"How long was I unconscious? I am sure you would have had ample time to finish me off when I could not fight back…" She asked the man in a flat tone. The man snorted indignantly and a tiny smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"It's no fun when your prey is not squirming. Though now that you're awake…" He stepped forward and brought the blade to her neck. "You could give me a show."

Despite the sharp metal that was pressed on her throat that could take her life in an instant, she did not falter in the slightest. The anger, sorrow and hatred that raged within her prevented the elf from feeling fear. She glared into the man's narrow, golden eyes with pure hate.

They held their gazes on one another for a time, green against gold, and then the man chuckled.

"You know what? I kind of like you. Every other long-ear in your position would be begging with tears in their eyes. You are quite interesting." She felt him remove the sword from her neck, and the cool air tickled the slightly separated flesh. "What's your name?"

Rena pressed her mouth into a thin line, attempting to hide her surprise at having this… demon ask for her name. But she did not leave them in silence for long.

"Why should I tell you, demon? Why would I give my name to a murderer?" She answered him, her voice dripping venom. The man's confident visage finally cracked when his eyes opened just a tad bit wider before narrowing once again.

"You're a little spit-fire, aren't you? You've got guts, I will give you that much." He sneered before walking to the opposite side of the cave, fifteen meters away, and leaned back against the wet stone. "Fine, you don't have to tell me your name. But I am going to just call you Long-Ear then. I hope you don't mind."

"Then I will call you Demon." She retorted, her right hand balling into a fist as she glared daggers at him. He shrugged nonchalantly and a tiny grin appeared.

"Fair enough." It was here their conversation ended. But it would not be the last.

Amelia sat in the plain white chair next to the medical bed that held her friend, the Wind Sneaker, Lime. Her round, green eyes were red and had dark bags under them from the tears and lack of sleep. She had remained awake for nearly forty eight hours since the operation to take Altera began. She felt her exhausted body shake in protest with every movement that she made, but she could not rest. Not until her friend awoke.

Lime had been struck by a powerful ice-based spell from a human mage called Noah. Though Amelia had saved her companion from the worst of the damage, Lime still suffered from frostbite on the left side of her body. Unfortunately, the consequences of the chilling effects from the attack began to creep through the rest of her body, lowering her core temperature and she nearly perished from hypothermia.

But thanks to the quick treatment from the elven healers, Lime was spared a chilling demise. Now the spry elf was resting, her small face a visage of peace. Amelia, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, felt relieved that her friend survived the disastrous operation on the floating island.

She then thought back to Elder Gera's tirade shortly after the remaining allied forces returned to Hom.

What do you mean 'the humans had an airship?' Erendris and his Night Savers disabled the Elder Airship Yards and the entire human airship fleet! And you're telling me that airship was capable of annihilating our entire fleet of ships… on its own!? How did we miss something like that, where were the humans hiding such a massive weapon!? Gera was furious at the news. The entire operation was brought to a grinding halt by a single airship. It could only be described as a catastrophe.

The elves had been monitoring the humans' air flotilla for nearly a month. They watched their patrol routes, the number of ships, types of ships and most importantly… where they docked. The Elder Airship Yards were the humans' main collection of hangars and repair equipment, so it was only a matter of time before the entirety of the enemy air fleet would touch down there. And when they did, the elves did not let the opportunity go to waste. They sent Erendris and a squad of thirty of his best Night Savers to destroy the yards and steal airships of their own.

This move was very unlike the elves, who were content to hang back and perform small strikes on their enemies' supply routes. But after nearly half a century of fighting with no end in sight, Elder Gera decided that it was time to go on the offensive.

The humans never saw it coming. The Night Savers lay waste to the Elder Airship Yards, killing many human soldiers as they set fire to the hangars. The resulting blaze claimed more human lives and burned the airship flotilla before they could take off. But not before the Night Savers made off with thirteen ships to use in the Altera landing operation.

Everything had fallen into place for a maneuver that would have changed the entire tide of the war. With the loss of the airspace over Elrios, a direct route to Bethma and a likely betrayal of the nasods, who were the masters of the island in the sky, the humans would have been forced on the defensive.

Now all the planning, preparation and personnel that went into that operation were for naught. Gera had thrown quite the tantrum at the results. Not only were several rangers dead and their bodies not recovered, but he lost two of his finest Grand Arachers, Radis and Rena. Radis was killed when that battleship fired on him and his squad.

And Rena…

The moment Amelia thought of her missing friend, the tears that she thought had dried up welled up in her eyes. She nearly lost Lime and Rena was still declared missing-in-action. The thought that one of her closest friends was not home with her tore at her heart.

"Mmmm… Amelia, what's wrong?" A weak voice floated from the bed and Amelia snapped her head up. There was Lime, awake.

"Lime…? Lime!" The Grand Archer threw herself on her friend, knocking her tiny circlet off-center. The tears she was trying to hold back flowed freely as she embraced the short-haired elf.

"Whoa! Amelia, calm down! I am technically injured you know. Though I guess I don't really have wounds if I was just freezing, huh?" Lime gave off a sunny smile as she gently lifted Amelia off her. Her friend's tears darkened the white satin, and Amelia's slim frame shook with each sob.

"But they said… they said you may not wake up… That you were in a coma! Lime… thank Lady El you're alive…" Amelia could not stop the words as they escaped her mouth and pulled Lime into another hug. They held each other for what seemed to be eternity when the two elves finally separated.

"Well, I am feeling much better now. Thanks for getting me back here, Amelia." The Wind Sneaker grinned sheepishly as her eyes shaped themselves into half-moons. "You look terrible. Get some rest, okay?"

No sooner did Lime advise her friend, Amelia smiled weakly and collapsed on Lime's sheet-covered lap, asleep. As the archer fell under, Lime's sensitive elven ears picked up a muttering.

"Thank El… thank El…" Lime stroked Amelia's pale blonde hair with her delicate hands, creating a sensation akin to rubbing silk. Lime watched her friend fall deeper into slumber, relieved that her friend finally started to take care of herself.

Then she thought about Rena. Immediately, her tiny smile vanished and her mouth pressed into a thin line.

"Rena…" She whispered her friend's name to the wind, hoping against hope that the kind young elf would answer her. But she saw what had happened. She saw Gungnir clash with some other kind of attack, and the resulting explosion left nothing.

She knew Rena was strong, but could she have survived that? No, I can't think like that. It's Rena we're talking about. She is the strongest out of the three of us and if we survived so did she. Despite her trying to comfort herself, she knew, deep down, that the odds were slim to none. She was barely conscious enough earlier to hear Gera declare Rena missing-in-action.

Unfortunately for the elves, missing-in-action meant that they were trapped in the human world with no way back, and therefore were stranded in enemy territory. At that point, it was only a matter of time before they would be declared dead, as they likely were.

She could not imagine how frightening it must be to be trapped in a world where everyone sees you as an enemy and would kill you without hesitation. As far as she knew, Rena was out there, alone. She shivered to think of the isolation her friend was probably suffering from at this very moment.

Suddenly, her sullen thoughts were interrupted by cries of surprise that rang throughout the ward, followed by a crowd of golden-haired healers dashed past her bed towards the central council chambers.

"What is going on?" She called out to one of the medical staff as they passed by her position. The female cleric skidded to a stop and looked at her with wide, surprise-filled green eyes.

"Lime! You're awake?" Realizing that it was a pretty ridiculous question the moment she said it, the elf shook her head before speaking again. "It looks like more of our brethren are returning to the chambers! They must have finally been able to use their geoul!" She quickly explained as she sprinted away with the rest of the healers.

More? More of our comrades survived!? Is Rena there!? The hope in her heart flared to life as she gently lifted Amelia's head so she could climb out of bed. Even though she was in a simple white robe without footwear, she was determined to find out what was going on. After setting her friend's head down on the pure white sheets, Lime stumbled across the floor and made her way to the central room.

She did not expect to see the scene that was unfolding before her. The healers crowded the center of the chambers in silence, all staring at the same spot in the middle of the massive floor. She tried to stand up on her toes to see over the crowd, but her sense of balance was still not completely restored and she nearly fell on her butt. She struggled to maintain her balance when she heard one of the healers mutter to the rest of the elves present.

"What is this? They are already…" The medic's voice trailed off as it echoed sadly through the vaulted chamber.

Finally, the mass of elves began to disperse as they backed away from what had their attention. Now Lime had a line of sight on what that was.

She saw bodies; bodies of deceased rangers.

However, they were not mangled and deformed. Each of their eyes were closed and their faces peaceful, their bodies covered with dark green cloth. If she did not know any better, Lime would have thought that they were sleeping. But seeing that their chests were not rising and falling, that little hope was dashed. However, that was not all that was there.

With the bodies of the dead, there were also a variety of bows. Some were clearly broken and mended, though the repairs were not really well done. And wrapped around each bow was… a flower. The small plants had their stems tied around each bow with care, as though it were a gift.

Then after counting the bows and bodies, Lime realized something.

These were her brethren that could not return home, the ones that fell on the island during the ground assault. These were the fifty nine rangers that died on Altera, or at least their weapons.

At first, Lime thought that this was a warning to them. But when her bright green eyes fell on the flowers that were tied to the bows, she realized that it was a sign of respect.

There was nothing worse than losing a friend and have nothing of theirs left behind. It was as if they never existed, and the only thing you could hold on to was the memories. The humans must have found the geoul on the bodies of the deceased elves and used them to return them and their weapons home.

All of a sudden she saw an elf pushing their way through the gaggle of elves on the other side of the room. It was Irha, and her round, emerald eyes were fixated on the pile of bows. After she burst through the crowd, she walked slowly to the weapons and knelt down.

Now Lime saw what had caught her comrade's focus. Irha lifted a regal bow decorated with the brown feathers of a hawk and a rather large dandelion tied to the grip.

It was Radis' bow, the weapon of the Grand Archer that was killed on the dark fields of Altera.

Now clutching her friend's bow in her arms, Irha embraced the object… and cried. The tears ran down her delicate face and splashed onto the immaculate marble floor, her sobs magnified by the large space.

Now, the healers finally started to move, each one tending to the dead or gathering the weapons to determine whose they were in silence.

This was perhaps one of the few moments where the elves thanked the humans. Their bitter enemies had returned their comrades to them and, if they could not send a body back, their weapons. They did not disgrace their comrades, but honored them.

But Lime was not satisfied. She checked each face and every bow that she could get her hands on. But never once did she find any sign of her friend.

Rena was still missing.

"Are you sure about this, Captain?" The Red Knight asked as he stood up from his kneeling position, looking over his shoulder.

"Yes. They fought ferociously and with honor. It is only right that we show the same courtesy. There has been enough sadness amongst all this bloodshed. It is the least we can do for them." Elesis, being supported on the shoulders of her little brother, answered her subordinate. She was still wrapped in bandages and slings for her injuries, but she had to make sure that the favor she asked of Elsword and the knight was carried out.

When she heard that the elves retreated, back when she was in the field hospital, she remembered how that Night Watcher, Erendris, and his rangers withdrew. They had used some kind of mirror-like object to somehow transport themselves away from the battlefield. Using that knowledge, she figured that every elf had one of those things and that those items sent those who used them somewhere that was safe to the elves.

So after she was informed that the elves retreated, she wanted to show her respect to her opponents. So she asked for her squad of Red Knights to gather the bodies of the fallen elves and prepare them to return to… where ever they were going to go. Unfortunately, some of the bodies were so disfigured or just simply completely blown away that they could not send back all the bodies. The ones that were burned by the knight's magic flames were especially grotesque and were not in any condition to be seen.

So Elsword suggested that they should send back the weapons in their stead. Some of the knights in Squad 4 scoffed at the idea, but Elesis thought it was the only other option. Then Aisha took it one step further and gathered flowers to tie to the weapons. It was truly a group effort that brought them all together not for battle, but to honor those that fell, whether they were elven or human.

After the group of surviving humans gathered everything, Elesis had them search for the mirrors, which she heard Erendris call geoul. After they were all recovered, they brought all the presentable bodies and decorated bows to the center of the island.

Here, they began to send back the corpses and weapons. It was a moment that they would never forget. Each elf they looked upon brought on feelings of hate and sadness, but most of all… regret. Regret that they had to kill one another. Regret that such handsome and beautiful creatures were their enemy.

Regret… that they were at war. The thoughts that lay in their subconscious rose to the surface and cried for peace and understanding.

But they were too far gone now. The flames of war burned brightly and could only be doused with the blood of soldiers.

They all realized this as the lights from the magic items faded. Now that they were taken care of, they now had to tend to those they could not send back as well as their allies who fell.

The Red Knights gathered the bodies of their comrades and brought them back to the field hospital to be counted and identified while the rest recovered the tattered bodies of the elves that remained on the island.

The rain had stopped hours ago, but the moisture was still heavy in the air and the clouds relentlessly blocked out the sun, creating a tense atmosphere of sorrow. They spent nearly a day accounting for the fallen, both elven and human.

Once they had gathered all they could find, the humans set to the task of digging graves for the elves as the bodies of their allies were loaded onto the transports to be taken home. They worked tirelessly to make these burial sites and after hours of digging, they all lowered the bodies into the holes. They made a grave for each elf and after they had covered the sepulchers, they decorated them with anything they could find: rocks, tree branches and flowers.

Once the task was complete, Elesis gathered the remnants of the human forces on the island for one last speech.

"We have prevailed over our enemy. But it was not without cost. We lost many of our friends and comrades, but so did they. I want all of you to think on this. Was this truly a victory? Because I do not see it as one. I see a path stained with blood and tears." Elesis hung her head as she spoke in a serious tone. "We must end this war, before more graves have to be dug. That is all. Let's go home."

Aisha broke down into tears at this. It was a mixture of relief and sadness. She was relieved to be going home alive, but sad that she now realized that this war was not going to end. It had been raging for decades with no signs of it letting up. And now she too, like the rest of the soldiers around her, had blood on her hands. She was fueling the war effort and it was only the beginning for her.

She did not want this. She did not want to kill anymore. That first elf she killed was enough. No… it was too much.

She felt evil. She had taken the life of someone who had people waiting for them to return home alive. Aisha was shaking as a cry threatened to escape her throat and she shoved it down, when she felt an arm around her shoulders. She looked to the owner of said arm and saw it was Elsword, who had a solemn look in his eyes.

"It's okay, Aisha. It's okay to cry for them. The tears will help them know that we grieve for them, too." His eyes all of a sudden released a cascade of salty water. He did not sob, but those that tears streaked down his face showed that he felt terrible; that he felt the same way as her.

Knowing that, she gave in to her sorrow. She cried and her tears stained the ground like the rain that came before it. Her balling rang throughout the sky as the humans made their way to the transports, all with the same somber thoughts.

This was only the beginning.

An eye for an eye.

A life for a life.

It was a cycle of hate and vengeance that could not be broken and was fed with blood.

Raven leaned against the moist stone of the cave, watching the elf that he had spared once again. He did not really understand why he kept letting her live. Perhaps it was the similarities between her and a certain person he knew.

No. She is nothing like 'her.' She is an elf, and the one I knew was a human. But that face… Raven argued with himself for a couple of minutes when the archer spoke up, breaking the silence in between them.

"So you said you were going to use my body as bait? Bait for what?" She inquired, with her eyes as sharp as the arrows she was shooting at him earlier with.

"The wildlife here is mostly predators because of the lack of vegetation in the mountains. I was thinking maybe they could nibble on a long-ear and see if it was to their tastes. Not to mention it would net me some fresh meat." The Reckless Fist grinned at the injured elf and he saw her cringe. But she quickly looked back into his gold eyes with ferocity, the unease from earlier fading into the walls.

"You're sick. Are all of you humans this twisted?" The elf seethed, baring her teeth yet again. Raven laughed at the insult.

"Oh no, I am one-of-a-kind. I am much more than a normal human. You should know, Long-Ear, especially after our little scuffles."

He was right. Rena had fought many humans before, and each time emerged victorious. But none of those enemies had a demonic arm and the blood lust that this man possessed. Now a new question popped into her head.

"How did you survive? From what I have seen so far, you are not particularly gifted with magic or even flight for that matter…" The elf's eyes narrowed as she asked her question through clenched teeth. The Reckless Fist scoffed at the female and answered her in a threatening voice.

"What does that matter, Long-Ear? I fell, I survived, end of story." Suddenly a burning pain erupted from the right side of his abdomen and he winced briefly. This did not go unnoticed by the Grand Archer and she smirked at the realization that he perhaps was not in the best condition, either.

"What's wrong?" She sneered. "Got a cramp?" Finally, she saw the confident air around him completely disperse when his human arm blurred into motion.

A black streak flew past her face and the sound of metal striking stone reverberated behind her. She turned to look at the source of the sound and saw her reflection in the ebony blade that was lodged into the wall of the cavern. Her face froze, with her mocking smirk still stuck on it, and she slowly turned to face the man. He strode over to where she laid and, with a piercing glare, he yanked the weapon out from the rocks with his right arm before bringing it up to her face.

"Watch your tongue, Long-Ear… I'm in a good mood right now. It would be in your best interest for me to stay that way." He growled and once more stalked off to the other side of the cave. He once again placed his back to the wet stone and continued to glower at the elf while she glared knives back at him.

And in the back of Raven's mind, he recalled his fall from Altera.

He had been falling for some distance half-conscious, but when he came to, it did not take him long to figure out how dire his situation was.

Damn. This could be a problem… He cursed to himself as the wind whipped through his sable hair. He clenched his fist and spread his limbs as he racked his brain in search of a plan that did not end with him as a crimson splatter.

As he was falling through the sky, he noticed the landscape under him and immediately recognized it.

Bethma, huh? Well that does not change the fact that I am falling to my death right now. Got to find a way to slow my fall. Unfortunately, the Reckless Fist did not know any magic or have any sort of equipment for flight. He glared at his claw in disappointment.

It was a fearsome weapon, this arm. It could break down fortifications as though they were made of paper and provided excellent defense with its overwhelming power. It could even unleash bursts of flame to both scorch his enemies and provide a little extra mobility. But...

That is not enough… Raven bit the bottom of his lip. Though he could use the thrust from his claw explosions to slow his fall, it would not be enough to save him from a fatal impact. He knew the limitations of this arm, and it was those limitations that might have just sealed his fate.

But it was better than nothing. With that in mind, he pointed the palm of his claw to the rapidly approaching ground and let loose a small eruption of flames that were fueled by his inner rage. He felt his decent slow more, but he knew that it would not be enough. However, this would buy him some extra time to think of a plan.

As he got closer to the rugged surface of Bethma, he noticed the tall sand colored spires and cliff faces that bordered Lake Leikiki. Then it hit him.

That is going to hurt a lot though. Well I guess it is better than ending up dead. He cut off his rambling thoughts as he focused on one of the rocky spires that jutted up several hundred meters into the air below him.

He changed the direction of the thrust of his arm slightly, taking care to keep it generally pointed down. This served to alter his trajectory, shifting his body through the air. As he got closer to the obelisk like stone he began to make his angle of approach sharper, which in turn increased his falling speed.

Three hundred meters…

Two hundred…

One hundred…

"UUOOOOOH!" With a war cry Raven fired off a larger explosion from his arm when he was only thirty meters from the stony tower. Using the sudden horizontal acceleration, he drew back his black and red claw and drove the palm of the metallic limb into the hard surface and willed his alien hand to grab onto the hard rock.

It did not stop his fall, but it was now slowing his plummet as he slid down the spire, carving a large glowing gash into the rocks. He felt searing pain in his left arm and shoulder as he felt the force from the sudden deceleration tear away at the limb and where it connected to his body. It felt that it was either going to tear itself apart or just simply be brutally ripped from its socket at any moment.

As the arm sustained more and more damage, golden cracks began to carve themselves in the sable metal as the limb practically screamed in pain. His eyes wincing from the excruciating suffering, watching the approaching surface with apprehension.

Two hundred meters…

Then one hundred meters…

Finally, when he was about to crash into the sharp stones below him, Raven fired off one last explosion from his nasod arm and propelled himself from the rocky skyscraper, converting virtually all of his vertical momentum into horizontal motion. His already scar-covered body crashed through the surrounding tree branches, each impact slowing his velocity further, but likely adding yet more scarring marks on his already defaced body.

The Reckless Fist at last came to a grinding halt by a river bed and felt one last flare of pain explode from his abdomen. He lay there on the moist earth on his aching back as the cool, flowing water licked the tips of his spikey hair and his human hand still gripping his black blade, his eyes on the dark sky. He then let out an explosive cough that threw up a small fountain of scarlet liquid and he took in the gulps of air that were violently thrown out of him during his landing.

"That… could have gone better…" He wheezed as he slowly sat up from his prone position, every muscle in his body crying out in protest. He then felt something anchoring his mid-section to the ground and he gingerly felt around his stomach.

He felt a sticky foreign object wedged into his body, so he carefully lifted his body in the opposite direction of the intruding thing. He felt it slide out from his body with a sickening pop and he let loose a gasp of pain and brought his human hand over the resulting opening. Stealing a glance at what was causing his suffering, he saw a sharp, blood-covered stone. He probably fell onto it when he came spinning out of the trees.

Now sitting upright on the river bed, he started to look over himself and assess his own condition. His right arm was in much better shape than he thought, only having a few bleeding gashes here and there from the branches and stone. His legs were also still in one piece and if not for the dull pain that eked out from the joints at every movement he would have gotten off free from injury to them. However, his chest burned with a sharp discomfort with every breath, meaning that he probably broke a few ribs. There was not much he could do about that right now. He then looked at what was making his abdomen so sticky.

He withdrew his right hand from its position on his side and saw it was covered in crimson blood. The Reckless Fist then looked down to the place where the rock had apparently embedded itself into and saw an ugly scarlet void that penetrated an inch and a half into his abdominal cavity. Fortunately, it looked like it missed his major organs, but it was still bleeding profusely. This needed to be tended to quickly.

But most of the damage he had sustained was inflicted on his main weapon: his left arm. The ebony and crimson metal had several golden cracks snaking along the length of the claw all the way from the wrist to the bladed shoulder. The palm of the hand had its metal shell completely stripped from it, and the exposed golden and scarlet mess of pulsing wires and nodes almost seemed that they were screaming in agony. He attempted to move the limb, but it shook violently in response and sent a sensation akin to having molten metal poured into your veins throughout his body.

He cried out in suffering as he convulsed from the sudden onslaught of pain.

"DAMN YOU!" He cursed the demonic appendage even though he knew it could do nothing to voice its own rebuttal.

Before his arm began to "evolve" two years ago, it was not such a pain to maintain. It did not feel pain, it was merely a piece of nasod steel and wiring. But over the years as it continued to adapt, he realized that it was becoming less of a metal prosthetic and more like another entity entirely. Over the past couple years it seemed to develop its own sense of self, as it would twitch in response to danger that Raven could not sense on the battlefield. Eventually it even started to act on its own, swinging itself around to block attacks from its host's blind side and assisted in guiding his blows past his enemies' guards and into their exposed flesh. It finally became a part of him, a limb that was now fully integrated into his body and even held some sway over his actions.

But most of all it craved blood, and it did not care whose blood it was. The limb thirsted for the blood of any living thing and it found that the emotion of rage was most effective of sating that desire. So it would take the anger and hatred that roiled within its host and used it as a fuel to power itself and more powerful attacks. The power it gave Raven was overwhelming, so much so in fact that when he got the arm to its current form, he had never once failed a mission.

Raven stopped his wandering mind there as he picked himself up painfully. First thing he needed to do was to patch himself up. With the wound on his abdomen was still spurting his life blood onto the soil, he stumbled to the gaggle of trees bordering the river and gingerly set himself down against a withered pine tree.

He dug into his pants pocket and withdrew a tiny first aid kit, which had miraculously remained intact despite the massive fall and landing that Raven had just endured. With careful, but painful movements, he cleaned the gaping red hole in his side and wrapped it a thick white bandage, which almost immediately started to stain crimson. He clicked his tongue in annoyance knowing that he would probably have change out the bandages relatively soon. But at least the most life-threatening injury was taken care of. His arm could repair itself, in fact he already felt the metal plates on the limb vibrating silently as they expanded, nano-meter by nano-meter, to repair the damage that it sustained. While it was in this state, he would be unable to use it very much, as evidenced by its rather… vehement refusal before.

He turned his attention to his ribs and carefully moved them by nudging them with his human hands on his chest. Since he could not directly manipulate them he had to do this by feeling through his toned chest as he maneuvered each bone back into its proper place. He would still need to get proper treatment later, but at least this way he did not have to risk having a broken bone pierce his lungs or heart because they were out of position.

After tending to his smaller wounds, he noticed that the sun was beginning to set, and a chilling wind blew through the valley, causing Raven to unconsciously shiver. He needed to find shelter quickly, Bethma was quite cold at night and the creatures that came out at that hour were not very pleasant. And he would not be able to defend himself very well in his current condition.

So with painful determination, Raven picked himself up and began to walk towards the surrounding cliff face. It looked like he had fallen into the boundary between Toretugera Canyon and Leikiki Lake. He could not stay out in the open for long, night was falling.

As he made his way through the trees, he caught sight of a flash of brilliant color from the river. It looked like… No that was impossible.

'She' was dead.

He scrambled through the brush and came to a skidding stop at the river bed.

He was staring at a woman with greenish blonde hair and a face that would not be out of place on an angel sculpture. She was lying on her front at the edge of the stream, her face revealed due to her head lying on its side.

"Ser-" A name, long-unspoken got caught in his throat and his eyes, before wide with shock and hope, narrowed when they saw the long-pointed ears poking out from under the female's brilliant locks.

It was her! That accursed elf! The one that caused him so much trouble on the island above them was now lying in front of him. He thought that she was dead at first, but then he saw her chest slowly expanding and deflating under her.

She was alive. Though looking at her condition she would probably be better off dead. Her left leg and arm were bent at strange angles and blood was trickling from the cuts on her body into the flowing water, being carried away in scarlet strings as her long hair swayed in the current.

He then took step forward and raised his blade to end her pathetic life.

But when he stood above her, ready to strike, he froze. He could not take his eyes off her face. It was so much like 'her' that if not for the ears, he would not be able to tell the difference. Despite his mind screaming at him that this was not 'her,' his heart could not let him deal the killing blow.

He gritted his teeth as he tried to will his arm to move, but to no avail. He could not do it, no matter how much he wanted to end this creature's life. He then noticed the shadows of the canyon creeping closer to them.

He was running out of time. He needed to find shelter, and soon. But, as he spun on his heel to leave the elf to her demise, his ears picked up a faint whimpering.

"I don't want to die..."

Raven whipped around to see the elf coming to, though she was likely only barely conscious, judging from the cloudiness in her eyes. She weakly repeated those words, like a mantra.

"I don't want to die…"

She then succumbed to her injuries and fell under again. But those words rooted Raven to the spot.

The memories came flooding back, like someone had opened a water faucet. He could see 'her' face, eyes wide with fear and her cheeks bearing tendrils of red blood as 'she' looked into his golden eyes.

I don't want to die… Raven… I don't want to die.

"SHUT UP!" The Reckless Fist roared, his curse resonating throughout the canyon, as he dropped his sword with a clatter and brought his human hand to his head. It was happening again. He felt the pulsing in his temples grow into a distinct pounding and his vision began to be colored red.

He took his right hand from his face and began to frantically rummage through his pants pocket for something and then froze.

"No… where is it?" He patted his outfit up and down, every square inch looking for what he needed, but it was not there.

The bottle of pills that he always carried on his person was gone.

Yes... I know. Another cliffhanger. Sorry I just love those. But we do know that Rena is still alive, but the question is how it happened. I intended for this chapter to cover that, but I realized that it would go up to almost 8,000 words if I did that. So I will save that for next time. Now to look at story stats... AH! WHOA! Views more than 1,750!? 10 more reviews!? Favorites have doubled and 6 more followers!? I mean I know I left it hanging here for a while but... Thank you all so much for your support. I will make a greater effort to update sooner.

To my reviewers!

Ephema ish out: ... I know that's you Ephema. Thank you so much for taking time to review my story. It means a lot to me that an author of your caliber thinks this story is worth your time. Yeah, I am trying to get rid of all those choppy parts as I skim through my previous installments, but I seem to miss them here and there. Oh well.

PrecisleyRandom: That is the point of this story. No one is right and no one is wrong necessarily. It is up to you who you want to root for, but for the most part it is supposed to be a difficult decision to take a side because we all just want to see them get along and not kill each other.

FullyFLUFF3D: Again, the elves are not a conventional fighting force in my eyes. If you manage to uproot them then they are in a bind. And see? Lime did not die! I really wanted to answer your question through a PM but your account would not allow me to send one so here is my very delayed answer: The whole Raven-not-letting-go-of-the-past thing is actually what makes RenaxRaven so appealing, at least to me. It is not a relationship that spontaneously erupts, it is a mature and slow growing relationship. It is a pairing that takes time to truly blossom. So to the people who were telling you that that was the reason that you should not do it, I say that IS the reason you should do it. Describing Raven's struggle to let go of Seris and accept Rena into his heart is beautiful in my opinion. I HIGHLY recommend that you read "Companions." The second chapter is basically what I think is the perfect portrayal of their relationship and read the reviews. It will give you a good place to start.

Lili The Amazing Clutz: Wow! All 9 of what I had before? Thank you for really giving this story your time! Sorry for the long wait. I hope it was worth the delay.

Half-Demon-Cali: As always, good to get a review from you! Yeah, everything that happened last chapter was always eluding to something that was going to happen. I did so much foreshadowing in that chapter. And if you were feeling pain from reading those descriptions before... well the injuries in this update should probably have you cringing... I wonder if I should change this to rated-M?

Lingerer: *Bows in respect* Thank you thank you thank you! I cannot thank you enough for helping me with those translations! It makes me feel a lot better knowing now that people familiar with the Korean language are not cringing at every misused term. Yeah, I try to stay away from cliche, though it catches me sometimes. I am trying to keep this story as original as possible, and I guess it's working. I hope for your continued support!

Skyress8619: Good guess. Right on the money! They did indeed fall into the wilderness of Bethma, now the question is will they survive... considering that they don't kill each other first? Hm... you seem to be guessing my plot twists pretty accurately... I am going to have to try a bit harder at being vague... :P

Rosamanelle: Well here is a surprise! Thank you for your words of praise! I hope this chapter is up to your standards. Oh... I guess I should get out the crash pads so you don't hurt yourself in your hyper-activeness... *Sets up crash pads EVERYWHERE*

AkitaEls: Thank you for another review! Yeah, Ephemeral Sanity *points up to Ephema ish out* does incredible work. That aside, pacing is something I am very picky about. I think I may have gone a little too slow on this update, but I will see how everyone likes it, if they do like it that is. Thank you for your continued support!

Alice-Neko321: Yes Rena is alive, though not necessarily well. And now you know what the "bait" was all about!

Whew... that was a lot to respond to. Also I will be updating all my previous installments with corrections and most importantly... updated Korean translations, courtesy of Lingerer *bows in respect again.* They helped me out SO much by proofreading my "elven" terms and they now made this story even better. So here is a big shout out to Lingerer: THANK YOU! And also one more shout out to... He-Jay, the one who inspired me to get off my lazy butt and write! Thank you all so much for your support and I hope to see you all come next update! Until next time!