~Unknown~

Hate raged through him once again. The thought's tracing through his head contained only them. He did not sleep, rarely ate. His anger drove him to break all the great gifts he had been given.

They would pay. Oh they would pay dearly.

His house was in shambles. All the maids and house keepers had been fired. Only his right hand men remained. They stood, cold dark and silent by the crystal glass doors, always watching but never appearing to be seeing. They never answered him when he raged at them, flinging questions at them that they did not understand.

Revenge though...he needed it like the air he breathed. He hated them so. Moving about he seated himself near the fireplace. He threw a piece of furniture into the blazing flames. Eyes sparkling he began to plan.

~Outskirts of Rafsgal, Housing Area~

At 7:30 Deebo reached his home. It was a big two story house, a house that had taken a long time for him to get. He stood on the lawn for a while, staring up at it and admiring it. Pride filled him as he remembered all he had gone through to get it, how far he and his wonderful wife had come from their old days of traveling around Norrath battling monsters.

Now a day's he allowed other's to keep the monsters at bay. He had a duty to fulfill.

The house was large and white with a brown roof and trimming. Square windows shown comfortable light from inside, allowing the light to spill upon the cool grass. The door was a wooden mahogany cut with a tree cut out of it. Deebo had requested the door for Kyarrah.

Striding up the lawn, Deebo softly padded inside. The crisp night air was replaced by warmth and light as he closed the door.

Inside the house was white walled with a soft brown coach and two chairs. In between them all was a small oval wooden table and underneath all that was a rug of brown and red designs. To Deebo's left against the wall was the staircase leading upstairs.

Whistling a tune, Deebo went to the coach and removed his robe. Rubbing his hands together he headed to the kitchen.

The kitchen was pretty large with rows of brown cabinets against the wall and underneath the gray marble counters. A plate of food was sitting there and Deebo guesses it was for him. Where was Kyarrah though?

Furrowing his brow, he moved out of the kitchen and headed to the back of the house. He found her inside the room where they held the plants. She was on her knees on the floor, palms faced out to a plant. Her eyes were narrowed in concentration. Deebo watched as the plant raised up from it's wilted position then fell. Kyarrah sighed disappointedly.

"You almost had it that time, honey."

She jumped a bit as she whirled around to face him.

"Deebo!"

She leapt up and dashed over to him. He opened his arms to her and she pressed against him, snuggling against his chest. He smiled and kissed the top of her head, content to hold her in his arms.

"So how did work go?"

"Same old same old. Had two trials on thievery and one on a bar brawl. Surprising thing was it was between two women. You know anything about the Redhawk Inn?"

She shook her head.

"I bet Callandra would though. Fumarin and her love going to bars."

Deebo frowned.

"If you can talk to her. I'm wondering if the Redhawk Inn might be a woman's only bar."

Kyarrah looked up at him.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No really just curiosity on my part." He replied with a smirk.

Kyarrah laughed and leaned against him again.

"I wish you were home more." she murmured.

Deebo felt the sharp pain of guilt stab through him. They had been married only five months now and most of the time Deebo was at the office leaving Kyarrah home alone. He suspected that she went out to help guild mates but he knew she missed him. He did wish there was some way he could be with her all the time but he couldn't just drop out of his job.

"I know, baby. I'm sorry but you know I can't stop going to work. I promise though this Sunday we'll do something together. Ok?"

She shrugged.

"I suppose."

He kissed the top of her head again.

"Good. Now I'm going to go eat. I'm famished."

Kyarrah giggled and looked up at him again, large brown doe eyes shining. Tilting his head down, Deebo stole a soft kiss then headed back to the kitchen.

~Palace Ision, Royal Quarters~

King Tritan Honoursword shuffled through the many papers on his desk. It was 11 p.m. and he still wasn't finished signing the treaty between the Kobold City with the rest of the cities in the Great Pact.

The Great Pact had been created about 80 or so years ago by Chantora Wolfleader, Luthar, Gravebone Burner, and Elyshi Poisoncreeper. It was a treaty between good and evil cities alike agreeing to no longer kill each other on sight or KOS as many people referred to it. The treaty had begun with Freeport and Neriak then the other cities had slowly followed. Now even the Kobolds, Brownies, and Giants were starting to show interest in it.

Tritan had been very surprised when he had been informed by Lord Ursine Hacktine of Freeport that the Kobolds had requested to become part of the treaty. Tritan wondered what the Kobolds could give to the treaty trade wise but he knew Kobolds owned quite a bit of land near Ak'anon so it was a good advantage for the gnomes.

Reading over the treaty, Tritan noticed that all but Erudin and Cabilis had agreed to the treaty. Erudin was no surprise considering they had been at war with the Kobolds for countless years and Cabilis rarely agreed to anything. Most likely a represent Kobold would be sent there to talk with the Council's. Tritan wondered briefly if he should send a spokesman.

Glancing at the clock, he ran a hand over his brow. It wasn't easy being King...

As he scrolled his signature over the document and stamped the symbol of Rafsgal (A female half elf ranger and a male high elf paladin standing next to each other with a forest and mountains in the background) his mind wandered once again back to what he had wondered so many times.

The strange half elf named Laykisou and Kalladar Sworddancer. Had Laykisou really been the Chauntra Wolfrider? It didn't seem possible that she had been here in his palace, eating his meals, sharing conversations with him. But had she been Chauntra Wolfrider? Or was she really just some crazy half elf pretending to be her? And if it was her why she hadn't remembered her past at all? It wasn't easy to forget all the things Chauntra had had to endure.

Tritan was very curious about the Plane of Death but even if it had been Chauntra Wolfrider with a memory it was written in the records that she had refused to tell anyone but her daughter about her times there. Chantora had not revealed anything either when she had gone up there.

Tritan rubbed his chin. The records had said little about Chauntra when she went into the Plane. The little bits afterwards mostly dealt with her daughter and her voyage to make half breeds and mutts accepted through out Norrath. Chantora had been one of the original creators of Rafsgal as well as Gravebone and Elyshi.

Tritan owed a lot to them.

His eyes scanned over the rest of the papers. All the Boards reported weekly as to what they had passed so on so forth. The Board of Housing was requesting more land again. Tritan hated giving away more wood land just to cut it down and build on it. Not only was it costly, called for a lot of manual labor, time consuming, but mostly he hated cutting down all those trees. He might not be a druid or a ranger but he still enjoyed the outdoors quite a bit.

He started reading over the reports but after a minute his mind wandered.

Where was Kalladar Sworddancer? He had been sentenced to death by the Qeynos leader for Chauntra's death although he had not struck a blow against her. Before the sentencing had been carried out though, Kalladar had disappeared somehow and had never been seen since. A few searches had gone out for him but nobody could really prove it was Chauntra so eventually the matter had dropped. That had been about a year ago now.

Kalladar was obviously in hiding but where? Not Rafsgal, Tritan was sure. Chauntra was a city hero. If anyone suspected Kalladar had anything to do with her death then he would of been arrested right away. Although how he would be judged confused Tritan. He had already been found guilty in Qeynos but since he was on Rafsgal soil...Tritan guessed that he would of been sent back to Qeynos to carry out his sentence since they were all in the Great Pact.

With a shake of his head Tritan brought himself back to the present. He was thinking way to much about things that were done and over with.

Rising he placed the papers into a drawer then stretched. It was late and a King needed to have a cool and orderly head all the time. He needed his rest.

~Somewhere in Faydwer~

The forests of Faydwer were quiet today. Not a bird singed, not a bee buzzed, not a breeze stirred the leaves. It was very quiet. Too quiet.

A crouching figure moved slowly and stealthily through the bush, barefoot feet landing softly upon the forest floor. Not a twig snapped under the weight. Turning slightly, the figure moved to it's right, eyes locking on to something. The figure was wearing a loin cloth and a chest piece. In it's hand a spear was clutched loosely but ready to fly at any moment.

A stirring in the brush. The figure froze with one foot up. Slowly an eye peered around. An unsuspecting deer had drawn near until it was but 3 feet behind the hunter.

Fast as lightening the figure whirled, flinging the spear at the same time. The deer tried to dash away and even though she was swift, the hunter was swifter. The spear buried itself into its ribcage and it fell with a shrill whine. In a second the hunter was upon it, slicing the throat skillfully and putting the animal out of its pain.

Standing up to it's full height, the hunter wiped the blood off the blade onto the grass and carefully removed the spear. Grinning, the hunter lifted the deer to it's shoulder. With a toss of head, it started off towards home.

~Somewhere in Faydwer~

Larzuk Mooncaster stepped out the front door of his small house when he heard the sound of feet trampling through the woods. He waited patiently, tail twitching idly, as his wife moved closer to the house. In moments she appeared from the mist of the woods, smiling with a deer carcass over her shoulders.

"You won't believe how I caught it!" she exclaimed.

She walked all the way up to the house and slung the body onto a skinning board.

"I was standing there about to go after a turkey when I heard this rattling behind me. I turned and this pretty little thing was standing there like a fool!"

Larzuk chuckled.

"You always were the lucky hunter."

She beamed at him.

"Tunare blesses me quite a bit I suppose. I'm always grateful for it."

Larzuk took the skinning knife into his hand and placed it near the stomach area of the deer.

"So am I."

He began skinning the deer as she slipped inside. She came back out about 10 minutes later rubbing a wash clothe over her hands.

Larzuk already had most of the deer cleaned up. His pet skeleton, Jober, seemed to be getting excited over the scent of blood. He was dashing back and forth madly. Larzuk paid him no mind and Kittyrana watched him with an amused look on her pretty face. She always felt safer with him guarding her home. She knew he would fight to the death for Larzuk and that brought some comfort to her.

She moved beside her husband and started cleaning the skinning instruments with the wash cloth. Larzuk removed the body and took it inside to cook. Jober watched with its sightless eyes then followed inside. Kittyrana continued cleaning the skinning table, scrubbing off some of the blood so it wasn't so stained. The smell of meat cooking drifted to her nostrils and her mouth watered. She walked back inside the house and into the kitchen where Larzuk was making stew.

"Hmm smells good." she commented, leaning on the doorframe.

"Aye." Larzuk agreed.

"Mind doing me a favor?" he asked.

"What you need?"

"Forage up some berries if you can. We're all out."

Kittyrana nodded and traveled outside. She began scouting the forest floor, using her wood elf and ranger abilities to track the berries.

It was nice living in the woods. Kittyrana had always been annoyed by Kelethin and all the people there. She hated cities period and preferred the wild outdoors. When Larzuk has asked if she would like to live in the woods since she seemed unhappy in Rafsgal, Kittyrana could not of been happier. She hadn't hated Rafsgal. It was a very nice city but she simply did not feel right in any city. She supposed it was her ranger blood.

Larzuk although a necromancer enjoyed the outdoors as well. They never had to go to the city or very rarely and then Kittyrana always went. She knew Larzuk always got stared at when he went shopping. Many of the guards bothered him but never killed him due to the Great Pact. Larzuk had had his share of beatings from them until he had simply flat out refused to go back. So now Kittyrana always went whenever they dearly needed something. Luckily though Larzuk and her both had forage so food was no problem. Her tracking abilities also made her a very efficient hunter.

Kittyrana had never been happier. Living in the place she wanted with the man she loved. It was like a dream come true...

~Unknown~

How could he get them away? How could he get them to a place where they would not be seen?...Where?....There had to be somewhere...someway...Sparks of hatred...Rage...

Burning fire...revenge...

~Outside of Rafsgal, Housing Area~

Deebo pulled aside the curtain as he looked out at the new day. It was gorgeous outside.

I can't believe I have to go into work.

Kyarrah came into the living room. She placed a bowl full of just cut flowers and looked at the back of her husband. He was standing staring out the window in deep thought.

Watching him filled her with love. He was so handsome and good. She walked up to him and slipped her arms around his waist. He cocked his head towards her then hummed low in his throat.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked.

"How beautiful it is outside. And why I have to spend it listening to some fools getting mad over silly things. I'd much rather spend a beautiful day with my beautiful wood elf druidess wife."

"I love you." she whispered.

Her face was pressed tightly against his back and her arms tightened around him. He loosened her grip and turned to face her. He brought her into his embrace and kissed her lightly.

"I love you too baby. I'm so sorry I have to be gone all the time...I wish there was something I could say..."

"I understand your duty to Rafsgal, Deebo."

"I'm glad."

He looked at the clock. He was late. Frowning, he looked down at the red hair upon his chest. Making up his mind, he lifted her into his arms.

"Deebo!" she gasped, surprised.

"Hush."

"What are you doing?"

"You'll see."

He moved to the stairs. Now Kyarrah was really confused.

"You'll be late."

"I'm taking a sick day."

"What?"

He kissed her then, long and hard and possessive.

"Shhh." he said to her, his eyes half closed.

Kyarrah stared at him. He had never done this before. She grinned. She liked it though.

Twining her arms about his neck, she snuggled closer to him as he carried her up the stairs and into the bedroom.

"You should have more sick days."

~Ision Palace, Board of Security~

At 7:30 Barking started getting worried. Deebo had never been this late before. Actually Barking could never remember a time he had been late. The other Board members looked uneasily at the clock and the cases that had been laid in front of Deebo's desk.

"Maybe someone should go look for him..." one member suggested.

Murmurings of approval followed but no one volunteered to go.

Barking sighed.

"Chloe go inform King Tritan...if he does not show by then, we'll just have to do the cases without him." he instructed.

Chloe got up and left the room quietly. The other board members shifted nervously in their seats. What ever would the King say?