Breathing the cool, moist air, the elf moved quickly but silently through the forest. He stopped in a small clearing, searching the woods. A breeze filtered through the trees, and twilight shadows danced around him further confusing his eyes. Then he saw the telltale glint of gold he had been looking for a few yards to his right. He rushed into the forest, running to where he had seen the signal. Pausing, he once more looked for the golden flash he knew to be the mane of a mysterious and elusive elf maiden. The golden flash caught his eye, through the trees to the right. He followed it again. The glimmer of gold would appear every time he lost the trail. This continued for almost half an hour. As night settled in, the scent of water reached the elf. Soon, he heard splashing water from the direction of the last signal. He stepped over a small hill and looked down upon a small valley. The moonlit scene overwhelmed him. A high but small waterfall splashed into a pond at the bottom of the valley. The moon reflected off the rippling pool, creating a wavering beam of light across the water.

At the edge of the pond, he saw the elf maiden kneeling, her golden hair spilled over her back. She was the most beautiful elf he had ever seen, and he sighed in awe. She stood, noticing him, and he saw she was dressed in a revealing, white gown that still promised the most pleasant of surprises. She beckoned him closer. He approached her and started to comment on her beauty. She interrupted him, putting her fore-finger over his mouth. She took it away and moved her face to his.

"Knock, knock, knock!" Someone was at the door.

"Not now!" the elf muttered.

"Brisid, could ye answer the door?" sleepily mumbled a different voice, behind him.

He turned and yelled behind him, "Why not ye, Nalynn? I'm busy!" He turned back to the beautiful elf, but as he had feared, she was gone.

"Knock, knock, knock!" The rapping continued relentlessly.

Groaning out of his dream, Brisid crawled out of bed. He half-heartedly chastised himself for sleeping. Tizer had lectured him on how "normal" elves needed no sleep but only meditation at night. "So sue me if I want to have a night of unpredictable dreams," he muttered to himself as he walked out his bedroom door. He checked his magical timepiece and found it was well before dawn. "Who in this crazed world stands so early at my door?" Brisid wondered aloud.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" He shouted at the door.

He walked into the living room and immediately caught the smell of alcohol. Feeling his way through the darkness, he stumbled over a warm lump on the floor. It was Gumples, the cute dwarf that had a crush on Nalynn. The latter was snoring peacefully in front of the couch. After her resignation from the Seekers, her former guild, she was Brisid's guest while she looked for a new home. Looking back to the dwarf, and then to the numerous, empty bottles splayed around them, he recalled a conversation he had had with Nalynn previously. "I'm just flirting with him," she had said. "So you say, Nal," he remarked quietly.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

Mumbling a few expletives, he stepped over the obstacles and looked through a small glass window in the door-a simple but useful gnomish invention. Outside his door stood a frowning yet fair female elf who checked her own timepiece twice before rapping on the door again.

"Knock, knock knock!"

Brisid opened the door and said, "Vedui' etriel ar' mae govannen. How may I..."

"Are you Brisid Celebmegil?" The female elf put on a forced smile, poorly hiding her impatience. She was somewhat short by elf standards but stood with prefect posture. Belted at her side was a long sword. At the other hung a multitude of daggers. Dressed in a shirt of fine, elfin chainmail, dark green riding breeches and a royal blue cloak, she looked ready for days of adventure, yet her honey-tinted hair, bright green eyes and godly-proportioned body suggested many nights of excitement.

"The surname is unfamiliar, but I respond to the name Brisid. And ye are who, if I may ask?"

"Deallyona Uialelen, loyal servant of his Highness, King Kallen I of Alleria." The beautiful elf recited this, hardly masking her dislike of the sentence. "Pack up supplies for three days of travel. You must come with me."

"Wait ye one minute! I'm not coming with ye until I know..."

"Look, we don't have much time. You must do as I say."

Brisid wondered to himself how such a beautiful elf could mature to become such an impatient , ungracious...

"Well? What are you waiting for? Get your things together!"

"How rude of me," Brisid said sarcastically. "Please, come in! Make yerself comfortable."

"Nay, I'd rather not. We must leave quickly," she responded.

"Think of it this way," Brisid said almost pleasantly, "I am not stepping through this door until ye answer my questions. And rest assured, I have many questions." His patience was quickly burning away.

Seeing she would get no further until he was satisfied, Deallyona stepped reluctantly into the room. King Kallen had briefed her on what to expect on her travels outside the kingdom, but nothing would have prepared her for what lay on the floor. A burning sensation filled her throat as she saw the drunken dwarf snoring on the floor. In addition, there was another elf of moderate beauty sleeping beside him. It was bad enough that Brisid had let one of the lower races into his abode. What was worse was that a female elf lay in the same state beside the dwarf! No elf in Alleria would ever allow another being to see them in such a disgraceful condition.

"Excuse the mess," Brisid said, escorting the shocked elf into his study. He closed the door behind him, muffling Nalynn and Gumples' snores. "Okay. Pray tell, where 'must' I go with ye?" He put special emphasis on Deallyona's seemingly favorite word.

"You m.... I am to escort you to Alleria," the elf said, trying not to use the "m"-word and glowering at Brisid when she almost slipped.

"Alleria?" Brisid had heard of the ancient elf kingdom. Little was known of the city-state, and Brisid surmised the citizens intended it so. "And what is the purpose of this quest?"

She picked her words carefully. "It has many goals. The most important regards your family."

Her statement peaked Brisid's curiosity. He started recalling memories. He had spent his childhood under his uncle's care. Brisid had been told of their deaths on his 180^th birthday. "An excellent birthday present," he had said in sarcasm and anger those hundreds of years ago. His parents, along with many relatives, had gone on a family outing in the woods of Shilmista. His mother had gone reluctantly since she was many months pregnant with him. There a drow raiding party had attacked, murdering many of the fighters, his father included. His mother, uncle and sister had fled deeper into the woods. In the subsequent chaos, his sister had been slain. His uncle and mother became lost in the dense woods and found shelter in a small cave. Because of the stress of running, his mother went into labor that night. He, miraculously, survived. His mother did not.

"Amazing..." Deallyona mumbled, listening to Brisid's recollection.

"What?" asked Brisid.

"Amazing what lies they have fed you."