Spring had arrived in the north woods. A warm breeze stirred the air, mingling the salty scent of the ocean with the varied smells of a forest still damp from a brief shower. Thrand sat on the porch of his cabin with his back leaning against the wall and his booted feet propped up on the railing. He always enjoyed the changing of a season. His eyes were closed but his ears were filled with the music of frogs chirping and the mingled songs of insects and birds that filled the twilight with life. Thrand was enjoying the evening, until...

Silence. It came so suddenly that it took him a second to decide what was missing. No bird, no insect, no frog... no sounds anywhere but the lapping of the sea. Life had fled. Thrand sighed quietly and got to his feet, reaching over to retrieve the longbow that had been leaning on the railing. Nothing good could have caused such a startling silence. Whatever the problem was had to be further inland. Quietly, carefully placing each leather-booted foot to avoid snapping twigs or rustling fallen leaves, he made his way through the woods that bordered his cabin.

It didn't take long to realize what the lack of activity was about. Standing in the shadows cast by the lights of the Silver Arrow was a woman all in black. Beside her was an extremely large rabbit. In front of her were two angry elves, Strongbow and Caelreth. Once before, not too long ago, Thrand was forced to remove this woman from the tavern at the point of an arrow. Obviously that lesson had not been enough, for here she was back again, with that poor rabbit Jenn in tow.

Taking up a position directly behind her, Thrand slipped a silver-tipped arrow from his quiver and placed it against the string of his longbow. Yet, as he watched the confrontation his eyes were drawn to the jewel at Jenn's neck and the same doubt came back to him, the worrisome thought that had stayed his hand before. What are those ruby necklaces? How do they link their wearers to this creature? What would happen if Christina should be slain? Or worse, what might she do to the wearers if she were gravely wounded but still able to control them? Frowning, he let the string of his bow slacken.

About that time Christina realized he was there. He decided she probably smelled him, smelled the blood of an elf. Sneaking up on a vampire was never easy. She glanced over her shoulder at him, smiled, and even welcomed him. Thrand didn't move, still prepared to fire into her if need be. His eyes were locked on the best target, the edge of her left shoulder blade, when a movement drew his attention to her hands. She slipped off a glove and twisted the ruby ring on her finger, mumbling something muffled by the wet leaves between them. Jenn turned suddenly and started walking purposefully towards Thrand. He cursed to himself. Christina was audacious but not foolish. She was willing to risk coming into tel'Ruid for some reason, but she had no intention of being surrounded.

As the rabbit advanced Thrand was faced with a difficult decision and his mind raced with the tactical problem. He could incapacitate Jenn or abandon his position. The problem with pulling back was that it left Strongbow and Caelreth alone with Christina. While they could probably handle her if need be it was always better to approach a problem like this with as much strength as possible, and Thrand was loathe to leave them. However, Jenn was innocent and harming her was definitely not a pleasant prospect. With Strongbow being a priest and Caelreth having quite a bit of experience fighting undead, Thrand made up his mind and sprinted away from Jenn, dodging into the trees until she could no longer see him. At a likely looking oak closer to his cabin he leapt at the trunk, kicked out with one foot as a prop and grabbed a low branch. In an instant he was far up into the tree, hidden in the damp leaves. It wasn't long before Jenn wandered by beneath him calling out his name, but she never saw the elf dressed in greens and browns up in the tree.

In a short time Christina must have become concerned for her rabbit or worried about the still uneven odds, for she drifted back through the dark woods towards Thrand's cabin, passing under his tree on the way. By slowing his breathing Thrand brought his pulse almost to a stop to try and remain undetected this time, and it seemed to work. Strongbow and Caelreth were right behind her, weapons drawn, and they caught up to her by the porch of the cabin, her back up against the railing that Thrand had just been resting his feet on not so long ago. Jenn quickly huddled up to Christina, looking rather worried and no longer intent on finding Thrand. With that problem solved for the moment, Thrand dropped out of the tree and closed back in on the vampire, closing the box again.

Christina had been bantering with the other two elves. Somehow she had sensed Thrand and Strongbow's reluctance to harm her. Maybe she knew their reasons and maybe not, but she miscalculated. Caelreth did not know of the rubies. All he saw was a vampire. In a heartbeat his silver longsword had sliced outwards at the vampire, bringing her bantering to a sudden stop. A momentary flash of indecision crossed her face as Thrand dropped his bow to draw his sword, the range being far too close for an effective shot. With Thrand temporarily weaponless she lunged in his direction, grabbing at his free arm. Before the three elves could react she was engulfed in a ruby-red glow and suddenly just wasn't. There was no sign of here anywhere. All four of them blinked in surprise, including the mildly frightened rabbit.

Thrand found himself leaning on the wall of his cabin, a sudden wave of dizziness washing over him. It felt somewhat like the drain he experienced when casting what was, to him, a powerful spell such as magic reflection. The other two elves were instantly concerned and the rabbit ran away, apparently free to be a rabbit again for the moment.

A few moments later Jenn returned asking for help, saying that Christina was stuck in the ruby. Naturally, the elves thought that was a delightful turn of events and were not overly helpful. The poor rabbit ran away again, and after a brief chase Thrand, still feeling dizzy, decided it would be best to return home and rest. Surprisingly, there at the side of his cabin was Christina again, this time with some unknown drow yathrin. Being in no mood for this, Thrand managed to stand up straight and tried to shoo them away. It didn't work.

The yathrin, acting like a typical drow, attacked Thrand. The battle was brief. The still tired elf managed to maneuver the drow to the edge of the short bluff and kicked her into the bay. He looked around warily for any signs of Christina, and finding none staggered inside to rest.