The market was full of Solace citizens as it usually was at this hour. Isabel held onto Tanin's hand tightly, keeping the young boy from wandering off into the crowed of people that aligned the streets.

"Bella!" Cried a small voice. Tanin yanked on the his cousin's white robes.

"What?" She said irritably, receiving the bag of vegetables that she had just purchased.

"Bella! Look!" The voice cried out again. Isabel listened closer, hearing shouts and curses flying from the mouths of the merchants and deep voices of guards. She turned her head to see a short figure, with a high topknot bouncing on top of a small head. She smiled to herself.

"Tasselhoff…" The small child sized figure came in view. Dressed in a gray vest and bright green leggings.

"Isabel!" The small kender screeched and ran towards the teenager with open arms, hugging her tightly and then hugging the child she had with her. Isabel reached down and picked Tasselhoff up off the ground and glared in his eyes.

"Tas… What did you do?" Isabel asked sternly. The kender shrugged and gave a laugh.

"You see… well, it is kind of a long story. But I was on my way back here from home… Oh! You wouldn't believe what I found…"

"Damn it Tas!" Isabel cursed.

"Right, right… I was just admiring this young merchants jewelry and he started screaming kender! And, I found a necklace that he must have dropped, so I guess I must have placed it in my pouch without thinking… You know people need to be more careful now days…"

"No time!" Isabel cut the little man off, seeing the guards fast approaching. She looked around frantically, and finally spotting an old family friend. "Mistress Layla!" She shouted to get the older woman's attention. She ran up to the old lady and handed Tanin to her. "Get him back to Tika for me?"

"In trouble again?" The older woman laughed. Isabel gave Tasslehoff a quick jerk.

"Not by choice." The older woman nodded and took a firm hold of Tanin.

"Try to talk your way out of it." Isabel nodded.
"Always do." Without another word, she placed Tas on the ground and took his hand and moved herself away from the older lady and her cousin.

"STOP!" The guard shouted. Pushing his way towards the people, a giant man, made of pure muscles emerged.

"You don't by any chance have the necklace on you, do you?" Tas nodded and reached into his pouch. Bringing forth a silver necklace, unlike anything that Isabel had ever seen before. She stared at it for a moment. There was some kind of inscription written on it, but she couldn't read it right now.

"Well… I half expected to just find the kender. Not you. And what have we here? The possession of the stolen jewelry in your hands?" Isabel ignored her want to take the necklace for herself and tossed it at the guard.

"There you go Charles. No harm done." Isabel said in pure innocence. The guard growled.

"That is Officer Bards to you! You filthy excuse for a mage! We needn't anymore of your kind around here!" Isabel tightened her grip on Tasselhoff who whined in reply.

"I will refer to you as an officer only when you act like one Charles!" In anger, the big man raised his sword. Isabel's eyes widened at his action. She gripped Tasslehoff's arm even tighter. "RUN!" She demanded. The two fled from the officer's sight.

"Isabel… Isabel, will you go to the Festival of the eye with me?" Tristen shook his head. "Isabel… I would be honored if you would go to the Festival of the eye with me." He sighed. "She is going to laugh in my face." The young man bit his lip and leaned up against a pole that held up a store of some sort. He brushed his blonde hair out of his face. He was on his way to go and see Isabel, his best friend since he could even remember. His best friend, Her secret admirer. He sighed again. 'Might as well give it up lad…' He thought to himself. The only thing Isabel even thought of was her magic. A loud noise and a bunch of yelling brought him out of his thoughts. Looking up, he saw a flutter of white robes and a slender body dodging his way. He smiled. "Isabel… Well, it's now or never I suppose."

He stepped in her way in order to greet her. Holding Tas tightly by the hand, her golden blue eyes darted his way in seriousness.

"Out of the way Tristen!" She pushed passed him. "Find Uncle Caramon!" Tristen stared at the running girl in surprise, then turned his head to find a giant guard chasing after them, followed by a group of his officers. Quickly he jumped in the way, not knowing what else to do. Officer Bards grabbed the young man up by his shirt and tossed him aside in the mud.

"OUT OF THE WAY BOY!" He growled as the line ran passed him. Tristen spat out a mouth full of dirt and jumped up, ignoring the laughs and concerns of the audience that the little scene had formed. Where to find Caramon? He questioned himself quickly. He turned and began to run in the direction of the Inn of the Last Home.

"Sturm! Give me that spoon!" Tika grabbed the wooden spoon from the smaller boy's hands. "I do not know what I am going to do with you both." She exclaimed, exhausted. Palin stared up at Sturm, who looked at his mother with a toothless grin. There was a knock on the door. Picking up Palin, Tika walked into the living room and sat the youngster on the floor and opened the door, revealing an older woman. Tika smiled.
"Layla, please, come in." She smiled. Opening the door wider to invite the woman inside the house, she looked down to see her eldest son staring up at her with a sheepish grin. "I handed him to Isabel… Where is she?"

"She ran into some trouble Tika,"

"WHAT? Oh, when I get my hands on that girl!"

"This time, it was not her doing. The kender…"

"Tasselhoff?" Layla nodded. Tika grabbed Tanin and pulled him inside and walked on the porch looking around. "Where?" "The market is where I left them." Tika cursed to herself.

"TIKA!" Tika looked off the porch and saw a young man, red in the face from running. "I was on my way to the Inn, Caramon, is he there?" Tika shook her head.

"No, he is out in the woods… Tristen, what is going on?"

"I haven't any idea, Isabel had angered Bard's to the point that he drew his knife, I must go and find Caramon!"

"By the gods…" Tika whispered to herself, her face filled with worry. "You bring her home to me Tristen. Her and that damned kender!"

"I will my lady!" Tika watched as the young man picked up his pace once more. She turned to Layla with tears in her eyes. "Why can't we have just one good day? What if he hurts her? I feel faint." Layla wrapped her arms around the woman and guided her to a seat.

"There there Tika, calm yourself. Isabel is quite an escape artist. She can hold them off until Caramon arrives."

"GET BACK HERE THIEVES!" The huge guard yelled after Isabel and Tasselhoff. "Thieves?" Isabel called back, growing exhausted. "For once, I didn't do anything!" The two ran from the guards, pushing those who surrounded them out of the way. "Tas, I hate you." Isabel grumbled as the kender bobbed beside her with great amusement, egging the guards on with his little comments that consisted of..

"You're mother was a gully dwarf… You look like a ogre…" and the taunts went on, making the guards become even more angrier than they were. Tas bumped into something solid and fell to the ground. Rubbing his head, he slowly looked up to see what the delay was and found Isabel standing in a frozen stance, her eyes wide.

"What is it?" He asked looking back, watching the guards approach.
"Dead end…" Isabel said softly, the sound of defeat ringing in her voice. Tasselhoff gazed up.
"We can take them!"

"No Tas we can't…" Isabel looked around quickly and spotted a ladder going up to a tree house. From the top, she and Tas could safely jump down and be on the other side of the wall. Then they could run to a cave and wait until everything was taken care of. Grabbing Tas, she decided to make a run for it when a firm hand grabbed her shoulder and pushed her back…

Running with intense speed, Tristen finally reached the clearing surrounded by trees. He paused for a breath and began looking around.

"Where are you?" He asked himself. Finally hearing the sound of chopping wood, he sucked in a deep breath and began running once more.

"Ah, Tristen." The big man smiled as the younger man approached him. "Where are you off to in a hurry?" Tristen stopped and caught his breath once more.

"Caramon, I need to talk to you…"

"Talk." Caramon replied, picking up a few light logs and handing them to Tristen who almost gave way to the heaviness of the wood. "And while you are talking, stack those over there."

"But… Caramon…" Tristen grunted. Caramon laughed.
"Sorry…" He took off two logs and began walking to the pile. Tristen dropped the logs.
"Caramon! I need you." Caramon turned around after setting the wood down.
"Okay…" He said confused.
"Isabel… She is in trouble!"

"What?" Caramon stared at Tristen with a dumbfounded expression.
"Bards is after her and it don't look to nice."

"Where is she?" Caramon asked, walking passed the young man. Quickly, Tristen picked up his pace once more to follow Caramon.
"The last I seen her, she was with Tasselhoff in the market, running from the guards. Follow me." Tristen began to run once more. Caramon was quick to follow.

Almost loosing her balance, Isabel twirled around finding Tasselhoff and herself surrounded by guards. They were backed up against the wall with no where to turn, they were unable to reach the ladder. Tasselhoff opened his mouth to spit out more insults but she quickly wrapped her hand around his mouth and ordered him to hush.

"Well well… Where to run to now lass?" Bards asked tauntingly. The guards began to close in, she heard the sound of cuffs approaching.

"I didn't do anything! It was a misunderstanding. You got what you sought back, no harm done." Isabel tried to reason, pulling the kender close to her.

"We told you girlie… One more time and it is the slammer. You are no good, just like your family." Isabel's once desperate expression turned into one of anger. How dare he to speak that way?

"What?" She hissed. Bards started laughing, followed by the other guards.

"I think we hit a nerve. Cuff her." Bards demanded. In a quick movement, Isabel threw Tasselhoff behind her and jerked open one of her pouches that held her magic components. Dipping in each hand, and bringing out a pinch of dust, holding it between her thumb and middle finger. This spell wasn't allowed… or even considered possible by a student mage, but she knew it by heart. A sly smile formed across her face. She began chanting words that were unintelligible, causing the guards to hesitate. She forgot everything that was around her, felt nothing except the magic that was burning in her veins.

"What are you doing? Quick! Grab her!" Bards ordered. The guards began to move once again. In a quick motion, Isabel snapped her fingers and held out her hands, showing a ball of fire in each of her palms. "In the name of the gods…" Bards stated under his breath. Showing off a smile that was purely cynical and full with disgust. She brought her hands to her chest, then threw them away from her, in an arc motion, causing a ring a fire to encircle her and the kender, burning the bottom of each guards boots. Turning around, Isabel grabbed Tasselhoff and threw him over the fire towards the ladder and followed herself.

"Hurry!" She ordered, ignoring the kender's rambles of awe. Reaching the ladder, Tas and Isabel began climbing. Sweat began forming on her head. She felt dizzy, the small spell that she had just performed, the one that she shouldn't have known, drew a lot of energy from her. She gave Tasselhoff a firm push before loosing her grip. Isabel fell from the ladder, about six feet, hitting the ground hard. In the last few minutes of consciousness, the world seemed to spin around her. She grew terribly cold and shivered uncontrollably. She heard Tasselhoff yelling out as the guards grabbed him. The last thing she remembered was staring into Charles Bards face and hearing the strong voice of her uncle, then all faded into darkness… sweet, utter darkness.