AN: Hi there. So I'm kind of a lazy writer and lost interest in this story awhile ago. But then I got interested in it again so I wrote a little bit. I'm just throwing it out there to see what you think. So...let me know. Yeah.

Chapter 1

Ai walked down a dirt path in the forest, heading toward the elf camp. Being an elf, she loved to take in the nature all around her. Everything was jade green with dark emerald patches. The trees were clustered together, creating shadows that would scare any human being, but with her elf eyesight Ai feared nothing at night. Tipping her head back as she walked, she gazed up at the night sky. The elf girl treasured the stars winking down at her through the breaks in the trees, and the night air felt especially refreshing after the meeting she had just had in the secluded glen behind her.

Entering the southern entrance of the camp, Ai looked about for her father. She had a very important message to deliver to him this day. Throughout the camp, tents of deer hide were set up under a shady area hidden by trees, put this way so that the humans would take no notice of them. Families were strolling around, holding hands, laughing, dancing, and singing. Many elves were eating the evening meal. Ai took a moment to think, then decided to weave her way through the rows of tents hidden under the trees and peek into her family's tent before going off into the woods in search of her father. As she passed a group of young elfin men, all handsome with heart-shattering features, she heard one of them whistle. She turned slowly around, facing the elves dead on.

"I could have sworn I heard a whistle. Was I imagining it or was it the wind playing tricks on me?" She looked at the leader of the group, Rylaic, for the answer.

"The wind? Oh, if only I could be the wind, whispering little things into your divine ear, tossing your silky, sable hair about all day," he teased.

Ai shook her head in disgust but couldn't help noticing the pull at the corners of her lips as she walked away. All elves were born beautiful, but it is true that of all the elves, not one had ever been more beautiful than Ai. With her long, midnight black hair and eyes, long limbs, and paper white skin, she stood out in the little camp.

Ducking her head inside her tent, she saw a young elf with blond hair and sea green eyes rolling bed pallets up and stacking them against the tent wall. Unlike Ai, this elf's skin was a deep tan.

"Mother," she said to the elf.

The elf glanced up and upon seeing Ai's face, smiled warmly. "Ai. Where have you been? You were gone before I ever woke up."

Ai smiled mischievously, "I'll tell you all about it later, Mother. But first I need to speak with father."

"The Captain of the Guard has other things to do besides wait on his daughter's every whim, Ai," her mother told her sternly.

"Yes, I understand that," the girl said patiently. This wasn't the first time her mother, Shrub, had brought up the fact that her father, Bar, held such a noble position in the King's Camp.

"Besides, you really shouldn't bother him right now. He's changing the border guards today."

"Why's he doing that?" the girl asked in confusion. The border guards weren't all that necessary, since the elf King's Border Spell kept all dangers out of the camp.

Shrub hesitated, "A goblin tried to break through the Border Spell last night."

Ai's white face, already as white as snow, took on a sickly pale sheen as she thought of the horrible creatures that lurked just outside of the Great Forest's magically protected limits. Even Ai had to admit that, though she was an elf and could see in the gloomy shadows, the land outside the shield seemed to deceive her eyes. She could never be sure of anything she saw while staring into its dense depths.

This place was known as the Dark Forest, and the creatures that inhabited it were an elf women's worst nightmare. Goblins. They lurked in the shadows outside the elf boundaries, waiting and watching for any unwitting elf women wandering around. They snatch the poor elf up and drag her back with them to their caves to become an elf bride to the ghastly creatures, locked away forever from the moon and the stars. Ai even heard horror stories about the goblins marrying girls before their marriage moon.

To the elves, Ai had only become a women a few nights ago, at the last full moon. It should have been her marriage moon, but she was an oddity, her parents having never arranged her to marry any elf man. As a child she was made fun of, but now she was open game in the eyes of some of the elf men without a fiancée. But that also made her open game to the goblins. Once married, she would be safe, but until then…

Coming back to herself, Ai asked cautiously, "And did this goblin…succeed?"

Shrub shook herself a bit and then smiled up at her daughter, "It matters not, dear. Your father and the King are handling it. Don't worry."

Ai was about to protest, but at the mention of the King she remember her reason for coming to her family's tent in the first place, "Mother, I must find father! The elf King has requested his presence!"

"Oh? And how did you come by a message like this, Ai?"

Again that mischievous smile appeared on Ai's face, and the elf girl replied, "Because the elf King summoned me to his glen earlier this evening."

A peculiar look flashed before Shrub's eyes before disappearing quickly. "Did he now?" Shrub asked, thinking hard. Ai would have liked her mother to show more enthusiasm, but the best she could say about her mother's reaction was mild interest.

"And why did he do that, dear?" she asked absently.

"Oh, nothing too important," she said mysteriously. She pecked a kiss on her mother's cheek and swiftly left the tent before her mother could call her back.