Arelle sat on the mossy ground, beginning to eat her food. She had stopped for a short while to eat, but stayed very alert as she ate, knowing that if she was caught off guard, it could be fatal. She was probably several miles at least from the city now. It was a few hours from daybreak, but she was determined to walk as long as she possibly could before she rested for the night. Speaking of resting for the night, what was she going to do? She knew it would be incredibly dangerous to sleep out here, with no one to keep watch. She had seen two deadly, giant wasps, and a bat that also looked dangerous, but she had managed to sneak past them without them noticing her. But if she was asleep, it would be easy to find her, and it wouldn't take long for one of these frightening creatures to kill her, especially if they got the first blow in. But did wasps and bats come out at night, too, then? Surely they slept some time. In that case, what came out at night? A shiver an up her spine as she remembered all the tales she had heard of the orcs of Greater Faydark. Or what might possibly even be worse than orcs, the Cutthroats. She felt disgusted thinking of them, some Cutthroats were even High Elves who turned traitor!

Suddenly she heard something. The sound of a leaf being crumbled. She turned around quickly. Nothing was there. Was it just her imagination? She got up quickly, but quietly. She silently stuck the remnants of her dinner in her pack and slung it back on, in case she needed to run. She stood there silently for several minutes, completely alert. She was silently chanting the beginning of a small fire spell she had learned from her magic books.

"Hullo!" a voice came suddenly, frightening Arelle. The voice came from a young man who appeared from behind a bushy tree. He was a Wood Elf! Or was he a High Elf? He was tall and slender, yet slightly muscular, with dark brown hair, a pale complexion and strikingly blue eyes. He looked like he was in his early twenties.

"Who are you?" Arelle shot back, "Are you friendly?"

"I'm Moren. And yes, I'm very friendly. And who are you?" She stared at him a moment. What was this guy doing out here in the middle of the forest? Could he be trying to trick her? He seemed friendly enough. In fact, he seemed so friendly it made Arelle a little annoyed. It was something in his voice that bothered her. And that big, goofy looking smile on his face. Why was he so happy? In Tunare's name, he was in the middle of this dangerous forest, and yet he acted like it was nothing! He cleared his throat.

"What's a fair maiden like yourself doing wondering about this forest?" She looked hard at him. She didn't trust him at all. It would be better if he just left. She sat down and pulled her half-eaten meal back out of her pack. She pretended to ignore him, but she watched him carefully, still having her fire spell ready. She hoped that by ignoring him, he would leave. He sat down beside her, to her surprise. He pulled some meat and bread out of his own pouch, and began to eat it.

"What're you doing?" She asked, surprised.

"Well, the same thing as you, I suppose. Eating dinner!" She continued eating, though she kept a careful eye on him still.

"So, what're you doing in this dreadful, accursed forest?" Arelle asked, once they both had finished eating.

"Dreadful, accursed forest? That's awful harsh. This is where I was born, you know. As a matter of fact, I'm rather fond of it." He said.

"You were born here? I'm sorry if I seem rude, but of what race are you? You have both the traits of the Wood Elves and the High Elves, and I cannot seem to figure out which of these races you are, or if you are of a whole different race entirely." She said.

"I am both, but neither. Both a High-Elf and a Wood Elf, am I, yet I can't be either." He sighed, his smile fading slightly.

"What, in the name of Tunare, are you talking about? It is a clear and simple question. Of what race are you?" She asked again, slightly annoyed.

"I am the son of a Wood Elf and a High Elf, to be part of both, yet accepted by neither." He replied. Arelle was surprised! She had heard of such a thing, two different races marrying, but it seemed so odd to her.

"…The son of a Wood Elf and a High Elf…" She repeated.

"Yes, and now that you know what I am, may I inquire about you? What is such a young girl doing wondering about the forest, with no one to protect her? Are you lost?" She glared at him. A 'young girl', huh? Maybe she should use a fire spell on him.

"I can take care of myself, I don't need anyone to protect me." She replied coldly as she stood up. He stood also, but she turned to leave. He began to follow her. "What're you doing?" She asked, turning to face him.

"I happen to need to go this way!" He replied. She glared at him, and then turned to go. After a while, she turned to him again.

"Look, I don't know what you want, but I can't give it to you. Just be on your way now, crawl back to the bush you crawled out of!" She stormed off. He followed after her. It was now getting pretty dark, but Arelle didn't want to have to stay the night while this man was still following her. So they trudged on into the night. She tripped several times, and when she did, Moren always helped her to her feet.

Occasionally he would start talking to her. He would talk of certain trees and animals, occasionally he would talk of the Fay Folk, which he seemed to have a deep respect for. Sometimes he spoke of the orcs, and of their fortress at Crushbone, and every time he did Arelle felt shivers run up and down her spine. All these new monsters he spoke of scared her, but she tried not to act like it in front of him, and continued walking as fast as she could without tripping. Eventually her pace dropped, for she was getting very exhausted. She hadn't looked back at Moren all day, trying to ignore him, but now she looked back at him and saw nothing but his dark shadow.

"Well now, I think now's a good time for me to stop and take a rest for the night." Moren began. "You feel free to go on ahead, though. Just be careful of those orcs I told you about. It's so dark now, you probably wouldn't even see them before they got their first blow on you!" He sat down on the mossy ground and yawned. She paused and looked at him as he pulled a cover out of his pack and laid down on it. Then she turned back to her path. Immediately she tripped and fell on the ground. He watched her, as she wearily got up. She came back to him and laid down about five feet away from him.

"I think I'll sleep here." She mumbled.

"Excellent! In that case, we can take watches, so one of will always be on watch while the other sleeps. I'll take the first watch so you can get some sleep. I'll wake you up when I get tired." He said, getting up and offering her his bed of covers. She was surprised, but grateful, as she slipped into the covers. Could she really trust this man? He could easily kill her in her sleep. But if he were going to attack her, wouldn't he already have done it?

Moren watched as Arelle drifted off to sleep. What was such a young girl doing in this dangerous forest alone? Although he was no expert on High Elf lore, he knew that the clothes she wore meant she was wealthy and respectable. So why would someone like her be wondering around this forest?

He recalled earlier that day when he had noticed her in the forest. At first she thought she must be an angel. She was walking into a small clearing, the sun shining brightly on her golden hair. She sat down on the grass and pulled some food out of her bag and began to eat it. Moren was surprised how well mannered she was, even though she was out in the middle of a forest where no one could see her, she sat perfectly upright eating daintily. Moren knew before he could even make out much of her clothes that she was respected wherever she was from just by the way she stuck out her chin in a proud manner. He watched her a few moments. She was the most beautiful girl she had ever seen, but, of course, he had seen few women before, as he had lived most of his life in the forest. He knew that a young girl like her wouldn't be alive long in this dangerous forest. She had probably come from Felwithe, the High Elf city, for it was less than a day's travel away from there. Whatever her reasons were for being here, he knew he would have to protect her till she reached her destination. He then purposely stepped on some twigs and said hello to her, trying not to scare her.

And now, here he was. Watching her sleeping form. Although she was young, Moren felt a great power in her. Especially when she had gotten mad at him, he could feel the negative magic flow around her. This was something that would probably cause her great trouble in the future, and may have already caused some trouble for her. It may even have been what caused her to run away, for surely that is what she had done. If that was the case, perhaps he could help her, for he had not told her before, but both his parents had been highly skilled magic-users, and before they died they had taught Moren much of it.

He heard Arelle mumbling something in her sleep, and listened quietly. She mumbled of flames, which evidently she herself caused, burning a village down to the ground. She cried out many times. Moren leaned down, gently picked up her hand and held it in his to comfort her. He felt her grip tighten on his hand, and he was surprised how tightly she held onto his hand. Finally she began to drift into a deeper, more peaceful slumber, and her grip released. Moren stood up and walked a ways a way, where he pulled a dagger out from inside his boot and began sharpening it.

The next morning Arelle woke up just as the sun was beginning to rise. She saw Moren a little ways away, singing in a deep, quiet voice. She listened to hear what the song was about, but she couldn't make out what he said. He must've been singing in some other tongue. The song was slow and sad, and Moren appeared to be staring into the horizon with his brows furrowed as he sang quietly. As she sat up, he turned around and saw she was awake. He immediately smiled at her, with that same goofy smile he had on the day before.

"Why didn't you wake me in the night when you got tired, so I could take watch?" She asked. He paused for a minute.

"I didn't feel sleepy, and you looked like you needed the rest more than I. Besides, I'm used to going without sleep for a few days, if it's necessary." He replied, sitting beside her as they both took out food from their packs for breakfast.

"So umm," Arelle began nervously, "I'm sorry about yesterday, I didn't mean to be rude. I was really nervous about who to trust and who to avoid and all." she ended, a little flustered. He smiled,

"Not a problem, fair maiden." It was then that Arelle realized she had never told Moren what her name was.

"Oh, and you can stop calling me 'fair maiden'. My name is Arelle Mah'Alimah. You can call me Arelle, but don't call me 'Relle or Ellie. I HATE those names." He chuckled.

"Very well, Arelle it is then." Said he. There was a somewhat awkward silence now, and Arelle knew that he wanted to know why she was here, but didn't want to pry at her obviously unhappy past. She sighed.

"I ran away from home." She said simply. He paused a moment.

"I suspected."

Another pause.

"I ran away because…I can't control my magic. I was a danger to the village. They were afraid of me. Not that it mattered, they didn't even like me when I didn't have any magic." She was very sad, but was determined not to cry in front of him.

Suddenly she jerked up and frowned. He looked at her confused as she began sniffing the air.

"What's that awful smell? I didn't even notice it till now."

"Hmm? Oh, you mean that?" He said as he pointed to a pile of dead Orc Centurion corpses about twenty feet away. It looked like it had about four or five corpses in it. She gasped as she ran over to take a closer look at them. Could he really take down so many orc centurions in the night while she was STILL ASLEEP?! Not to mention he didn't have any apparent wounds at all. She herself might be able to take down an orc pawn, but definitely not a centurion.

"Did you really kill all these while I was asleep?" She asked.

"I was especially quiet. I didn't want to wake you!" He said, chuckling at her astonished face.

"What class are you? I can see by these burn marks on these you must be some sort of caster."

"I am a Cleric." He replied plainly. She looked a little doubtful. He certainly didn't look, nor act, like a Cleric. "What? You don't believe me?" He asked after seeing her doubtful face.

"Well, I mean no disrespect, but you really don't look like a Cleric." She replied. He chuckled.

"And what are Clerics supposed to look like?" He asked. She paused.

"Well, long, white robes and a gray beard…But most of all, they have a serious and serene, but kind, face. Well, to sum it up, they pretty much look the opposite of you."

"I think I could take offense by that."

"Oh, I didn't mean to offend you. I mean, I can tell you're good at magic, but a Cleric?"

"Ok, ok! So I don't have the flowy robes and the serious face, but I am a Cleric. Trust me."

They paused for a moment, finishing up their food now. Then Arelle looked up at Moren, suddenly having a plan.

"So, Moren. Since you're a powerful Cleric, could you maybe accept me as your pupil, and teach me magic? I would be really, truly grateful!" She looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"Well now, I suppose that would work!" He smiled at her. He had wanted to help her, but he wanted her to ask him for help first. They sat a moment smiling at each other.

"So where do you live, Moren? Kelethin or Felwithe?" His eyes saddened.

"Ah, neither young Arelle. Neither accepts me as one of them, so I am forced to live in this forest between them." He replied, and she was sorry she had brought it up.

"That's very mean of them. I think you should be able to live at either, since you are part of both. But, I suppose life isn't the way it should be."