Poking at the small dismal fire with a long stick, Lielay shuffled through the dieing ashes. Throwing on another log, the wood elf held her long silky brown hair back to keep it from falling into the miserable flames or ashes. Looking up at her beautiful city of Kelethin, Lielay sighed. She could go back home and sleep in a nice warm bed, but what for? She didn't want the crowd of people ambushing her with questions and emotions. Plus, nature was much more comforting. Draping a wolf-skin blanket around her shoulders, Lielay picked up a fresh apple and bit into it. The juices dripped down her chin and onto her neck.

For the past three years, Lielay had been following Brand Nightstar through his travels. She vowed to protect the lad from harm and to keep him from doing anything harsh to himself. He was like a son to her in a way. He loved her only daughter and followed her through all her dangers three years ago. Brand was Lorilie's true love. Lielay wiped the tears forming in her forest green eyes away and dug her teeth into the apple again.

Seeing Brand and her brother, Joshua's family enjoying themselves with music and food, filled Lielay's heart with happiness. She was almost tempted to jump through the open window and join them. Thinking about that last thought, Lielay cursed to herself. How could she have been so carefree to let Brand see her? He didn't know that the shining light was Lielay, but indeed it was. Sighing again, Lielay shook her head and began to fall into a light sleep after casted a protected shield around herself.

Gazing at the slumbering wood elf, two dark elves laughed softly and stepped back quietly. The make dark elf had shimmering silver hair; dark piercing eyes, and wore green robes that blended in with the surroundings. What seemed like a permanent frown was plastered in the female's narrow face. Her white sheet of hair hung loosely to the middle of her back. Her left eye was sewn shut due to a recent fight a few weeks before. Her one purple eye glared into everything it fell upon. She wore black leather that hugged her curves tightly; the male often peered at her partly exposed bosoms and her swaying hips.

"Hurry the pace, would ya?" he sneered.

"Vinx, I have to check my blind spot before I can continue. Maybe if you would do it for me, we could get there faster." She barked.

"You don't have to check everywhere." He rolled his dark eyes.

"Yes I do! I always have with extraordinary ease, but now since that damned barbarian attacked me, I can't!" she swung her hand to hit his head.

Vinx stopped her. "That barbarian just dug his dagger into your eye and popped it right out." He teased. "You should have been on your guard that day." He laughed. "Ah, Victoria, you know that I care for you." He pinched her bottom rather hard.

Slapping his hand away, Victoria silently walked on with her head held up high. Parting a thick clump of bushes, the two dark elves glided to the small clearing and waited. Moments later, an extremely pale high elf with bright yellow hair appeared in front of them by using his magical powers. He had a smug grin on his face as he looked from one elf to the other. Along the side of the high elf's face, ran a thick scar from the top of his head to his chin.

"So, I take it you know where Lielay is?" he pulled out a small bag of coins and waved it teasingly in the face of Vinx.

"Of course we know! Why do you think we came back?" Vinx reached for the money.

"Good." He tossed the bag towards Victoria who caught it quickly and pocketed it. "And you two know the plan I carefully and skillfully worked out?" he straightened his red vest.

Victoria stepped forward towards the taller elf. "We threaten Brand's life in some way, without killing him though," she said disappointedly. "Lielay will come to his aid, since she has always done that, then we capture her, knock her out, force that potion that will diminish her powers, and take her to you." A brief smile flashed across her face.

"Why do you want to kidnap Lielay, Papsworth?" Vinx sarcastically said the high elf's name.

"For business you wouldn't understand." He turned his back to the elves and began to walk away. "Tell me once you have Lielay." He vanished, leaving slight mist of mana circling around in the clearing.

Eyeing the small bulge in Victoria's tight pants where the bag of money was placed, Vinx licked his lips and stepped over to her, their bodies' only inches away from each other. Victoria stared at him with her one eye and waited for him to do something. His arms wrapped around her back and waist as he pulled her so close that Victoria breathed in the air Vinx exhaled. His lips met with hers as his hands began to wander. Sticking one hand into her pants, Vinx slowly edged out the money she slipped in there from Papsworth. Once it was eased out, he snatched it to his chest and pulled quickly away from Victoria.

"That was quite easy." He chuckled as the bad switched from his right hand to his left.

"Your mother was an orc!" Victoria shouted as she lunged for the small bag.

"I am willingly going to share with you, just I'm going to have more. I do more work so I get more money. And for that remark, you get less...even though I never knew my mother, so she could have been an orc." He grabbed the back of Victoria's head to keep her from hurting him and laughed.

"It's my money!" she screamed.

Lielay's eyes snapped open as a scream reached her pointed ears. While grabbing her sword, she jumped up and silently traveled through the forest with light feet. Ducking behind trees and bushes, the slender wood elf peered cautiously into a small grove. Two dark elves fought and yelled insulting remarks at each other continuously. The male held a brown bag high above his head while the one-eyed female jumped hopelessly for it. Shaking her head, Lielay thought to herself about how greedy dark elves were. Turning, something familiar caught Lielay's attention in the female elf.

A past memory flashed vividly in Lielay's mind; a dark elven woman tied up and thrown over Mirk Swiftscale's shoulders. Valamora. But this girl was not the dark elf Lielay knew. There was so much resemblances between the two though. Thinking harder, this girl's face popped up again. Well over three years ago, when Albain was still alive, he had supposedly hired a dark elf girl to spy on Lorilie. This was that dark elf girl. Pushing all the new information out of her head, Lielay glided back to her camp that lay a quarter of a mile away. Her delicate ears picked up every little sound the forest and its inhabitants made while she sat sharpening her blade.