Illarion cleaned his boomerang. He had been slaughtering the Orc army from behind while Gnimish took the front. He managed to get 274 orcs and 24 goblins. Not much, but he got their too late.

After emerging from the forest, the battle had already taken place for the most part. Gnimish was hurling spells into the front lines, while other citizen's of Klay took out those who got too near. Watching from afar, Illarion was shocked as thousands of stalagmites surrounded the city.

The stalagmites killed many, but became a weak barrier as rock trolls stepped in. Making this his cue, the elf pulled out his boomerang and slayed those from behind.

It came quite a shock for the little scavengers as a demonic bird was beheading their rearsmen. Illarion had silently pulled out his bow as the "demonic bird" was among battle. Slowly aiming at a goblin's rear temple, the elf calculated the windspeed, and shot his arrow straight through the goblin's skull.

And so the afternoon came and went, and so did many one's head. Whether boomerang or arrow killed a goblin, all surpassed the pain of a wounded skull. Illarion had walked back into the forest as the rest of Klay's townsfolk rounded up the remaining survivors. He caught his boomerang as it flew overhead and hooked it onto his belt.

Finding the willow tree once more, Illarion set up camp at the base of its trunk and called for Nadya. The kit happily greeted her master and decided to lie next to him, warming up next to the fire.

Illarion plucked a chunk of bone of the edge of the boomerang and threw it over his shoulder. He had handcrafted the boomerang out of maple, and molded a thin sliver of steel down the front of it for beheading opponents. He had worked four years into making his weapon, he didn't need a lousy piece of bone to get wedged between blade and wood, and eventually crack his masterpiece for being under too much pressure.

Keeping the quiver all to herself, Nadya decided to climb inside and take a short nap when something filled her nostrils with a beautiful, but deadly scent. Someone was here. Nadya started barking and yelping to get her master's attention. There was no need.

Illarion had already caught a brief ripple on the corner of his eye. Moving quickly, Illarion snatched the person out of thin air, and thrusted a knife to her neck. A cloak of stealth dropped to the ground revealing the woman's leather outfit. Her hair was jet-black and fell down past her shoulders. Her face was of magnificent beauty, and her eyes were like glowing ashes.

"Who do you work for, assassin?" the elf spat. The woman's face hardened and she flipped Illarion over her head and onto his back. "Correction. I am a Ninja." her voice was like a gentle creek calmly flowing down a mountainside at the beginning of spring. Illarion slowly stood up to face the "ninja".

"Well whoever you are, what do you want?" he moved his dagger to his right hand. The woman shifted to a fighter's stance. "I am Fiora, Ninja of Charcoal," she began, smiling. "I was sent to retrieve all those in allegiance with the one so-called Beow."

Illarion's eyes swelled. "What do you want?" he said, but before he could make another move, he was flat on his back looking up at the stars. The woman stood over him and laughed. "What does it matter? It's futile to try and escape. Your lack of coordination makes you weak." She extended her hand towards Illarion but he refused.

He stood up once more." I'm listening," he said. Fiora opened her mouth but was interrupted by a loud scream filling the woods. Looking around, the duo spotted a shapeless figure appearing out of the sky. He seemed to be cackling with glee as he came closer. Fiora recognized the facial features on its "face" and was looking at her master. Yueffiel as a wisp of smoke came out of the sky.

"I see you have found one of Beow's accomplices, good," his voice was high- pitched and could explode anyone's eardrum if he wasn't too careful. Illarion became white and Nadya shivered in the quiver at Illarion's feet. The fire seemed to give Yueffiel an iridescent look, making his appearance all the more frightening.

Fiora was unfazed by the demon and looked into his gaping eye sockets. "Yes, m'lord. I have here Illarion, Beow's right-hand man." Yueffiel cackled once more. "All right then," he looked at Illarion then back to Fiora. His face became grave as he said," As much of an honor as this is, I have failed my own part in retrieving Beow. Our plans must change and we'll have to keep this elf," he spat on the ground." Alive and well so we can make an exchange for Beow himself. No doubt the earthen faith is reviving him as we speak."

Fiora seemed to have been hit by an extreme blow. Her own master failed to perceive his own plan? She looked away from Yueffiel for a moment. Suddenly, the demon caught fire. Illarion and Fiora jumped back as purple flames engulfed him. "EEEEEEEEEEEYAAAAHHHH!" Fiora then saw them. Night Shades servants of Balkoth. They were also demons, but unlike Yueffiel, they had no facial features and had glowing yellow eyes.

The flaming remains of Yueffiel fell to the ground, making the NightShades eyes glow like lanterns in the dark. They glided over to the fire, lifted their arms in unison, each forming a ball of purple flames above their hands. Illarion noticed another NightShade step out in front of the others.

A voice sounded inside the heads of both Fiora and Illarion. Fiora, you are defying the order of Lord Balkoth, and interfering with the plan to bring the hafling, Beow to his Lordship. You are hereby sentenced to death... The voice faded from their heads and all became still. Fiora looked down at the remaining ashes of Yueffiel. She did not want to die like him.

She looked up; Illarion placed himself between Fiora and the Nine NightShades. "If you want to kill her, you have to go through me." he said, spreading his arms out. The NightShades' eyes slanted. So be it... the voice said. The leader of the NightShades also lifted his hand above his head, but they never got to release their balls of fire.

All the surrounding trees swung forth their branches, and knocked the wind out of all the NightShades. Fiora was astounded as the trees pounded down on the demons. She felt someone grab her shoulder. "Come on! We have to get out of here!" Illarion brought Fiora back to reality. "What? Oh right!" she followed the elf as he quickly lifted his gear and headed out with the fox at his heels.

She didn't bother looking back. "So why are you helping me?" She asked. The elf turned to look at her. "I was hoping you could tell me," for a split- second, their eyes connected. Then Illarion looked away. "Come on, we can make it to the city!" he turned and ran through the trees. Fiora followed, but stopped suddenly. The elf had tripped over a root and was staring at the feet of 20 skeleton warriors.

He scooted back and stood up next to Fiora. Illarion pulled out his bow, and Fiora pulled out a sword she had found among the remains of orcs and goblins. "Can you use that?" he asked turning to her. Fiora kept her eyes on the skeletons as they shifted into a battle position. "Can you with that?" she gestured toward his bow. The elf shook his head and locked an arrow. "Ready?" he said. "Ready," she replied. The battle began...