Kraeia stepped onto the wet, dewy grass, covering his eyes from the sun as it blared down on this hot, humid summer day; then again, it was almost always humid and sunny in Elven Village.  Kraeia was a light elf of medium stature; he had white hair with tints of blue that flared to the back of his head and a single braid down the right side of his face. Perhaps his most distinguishing feature was the tattoo of the light elf crest located right in the middle of his forehead.  He was garbed in his Dark Crystal robes, and his Majestic jewels glistened in the sunlight.  A bright red Shield of Nightmare was slung across his back and he held his brightly blue glowing Augmented Sword of Miracles loosely in his right hand.

It was early morning and the sun had just risen above the mountains to the east, casting its awesome bright rays over the village.  The birds were chirping and you could hear the insects going about their morning business.  It was days like this that helped Kraeia forget about that horrible fight against Baium four years ago.

To Kraeia’s left was the Mother Tree standing proud and erect in all her glory; she seemed to pulsate and glow in the light of the early morning sun, and her shadow revitalized any light elf who basked in it.  Kraeia remembered the countless days he had spent with Siraeth in that shadow; those memories brought a tear to his eye, which he quickly wiped away as he walked across the glistening field of grass to the wagon waiting on the trail at the opposite side of the field. This wagon was no ordinary wooden one, but a dwarven creation. One made of various glossy metals and ran on steam.  Most of the light elves went out of their way to avoid such creations but Kraeia had gotten used to them on his travels years ago.

As he got close to the wagon a little female dwarf poked her head out from the inside of the wagon.  She was little even by dwarven standards; her bright pink hair was put up into pig-tails, and she was garnished in that unbearably heavy Majestic Plate Armor; Kraeia always wondered how she could stand traveling in that cumbersome armor.  Leaning against the side of the wagon was a Basalt Battlehammer and on the wagon seat was a glimmering green Dark Crystal Shield; the shield happened to match Kraeia’s armor but he wasn’t the kind of elf to think about such things as matching; he was a bit more practical; his Shield of Nightmare was pointed in the middle, which deflected strikes far better than a Dark Crystal Shield.

“Good Morning, Xeriver,” Kraeia said lightly to the little dwarf.

“Good Morning to you too, Kraeia.”

“What goods are we taking to Gludio this time?”

“Oh, the usual.”

“Nothing is ever the usual with you, Xeriver, I’ve come to realize that with you,” Kraeia smirked.

The corner of Xeriver’s mouth perked up in amusement, “Well this time it’s normal I promise. We have some mithril alloy, coarse bone powder, steel, varnish of purity, maestro anvil locks, and high grade suede.”

Kraeia’s eyes widened just a bit, “You’ll make a fair amount of adena selling those materials. It must have taken you forever to gather all of the base materials, never mind crafting it all up.”

“Yeah, it did take a little time but time is money so let’s get started on our way, Kraeia.” Xeriver hopped out of the back of the wagon onto the dusty dirt trail.

“Time is always money to dwarves…” muttered Kraeia under his breath.

Xeriver’s head snapped up, her hand twitching slightly towards her black glistening Basalt Battlehammer, “What was that dear, Kraeia? I know you wouldn’t be insulting me or my race.”

“N-No never, Xeriver! I respect you too much to ever think about doing that!” Stammered Kraeia.

“Good, that’s what I thought.” The dwarf haughtily responded and grabbed her battlehammer and shield, climbing up into the wagon’s seat.

Kraeia couldn’t help but smile a bit as he climbed into the seat next to Xeriver.  These mornings were always fun for him; he got to travel outside of the Elves territory on these delivery trips with the cute dwarf, something he didn’t get to do very often anymore.

Xeriver started up the wagon’s steam engine and it began to putt down the trail on their way to Gludio. The trip would take until late evening if there were no obstacles on the road. Once they arrived they would unload Xeriver’s wares into the warehouse she had rented in Gludio and stay the night in the local inn. The market would be open in the morning on the next day where they would sell their materials to traveling merchants who were on their way to Giran to sell their own goods or resell the goods they purchased from Kraeia and Xeriver.

They sat in relative silence for the first half an hour of the trip; the only audible sounds were that of the putting wagon’s engine and the wildlife that inhabited the Elf’s territory.  The sky was mostly clear with a few clouds dotted sporadically in various areas.  There was a slight breeze which kept the pair of travelers comfortable.

Xeriver finally broke the silence, “Kraeia, what are you doing?”

The light elf was taken aback and confused at the question, “Why, I’m guarding you and your shipment as you make your way to Gludio, I don’t think I understand the question.”

“No, I don’t mean what are you doing now, I mean what are you doing with your life? I noticed the redness around your eyes; you were crying, don’t think I can’t catch that. You’ve been sitting in Elven Village for the past four years now, depressed, unhappy and guilty for what happened. Don’t you think that it’s time to move on? It’s what she would want.”

Kraeia looked at the ground moving below him in silence.

“I’m sorry to bring this up, Kraeia, I know it still hurts you, but that is just the problem; you’re hurting yourself by allowing yourself to be this depressed all the time. I know you’re an elf and much, much older than I am, but you are allowing this to affect you for far longer than needed.”

“If I couldn’t save her, Xeriver, then how can I trust myself to help anyone else in a battle like that? I barely even feel comfortable being your bodyguard in the case that something might happen and you’ll get hurt when I’m supposed to protect you.”

Xeriver sighed, “People get hurt. Outside of the towns Aden is not a world of peace. We each fight for our lives to protect our goals, ideals, and loved ones. Unfortunately, not everyone can make it.  You need to come to terms with that, my much older than me but still relatively young light elf, or you’ll waste away.

Kraeia sat in silence, absent-mindedly toying with the golden Majestic Necklace around his neck.  He knew that he needed to get out of this depression, but he couldn’t trust himself to venture out further than Gludio again; he was afraid of getting hurt.

The day went by slowly as the wagon putted along.  The sun rose in the sky, blaring down on the world of Aden and the breeze had long since gone away, causing the two companions to sweat as they rode along.

Eventually the sun began winding down in the great blue sky and they came to the bridge that crossed the river into the Neutral Zone. Although it was named the Neutral Zone this area was the most dangerous area between the Elven Village and Gludio.  Banished Dark Elves who betrayed the truce attacked unwary Light Elves.  There were also werewolves and spiders traveling the zone, and given their extremely aggressive nature it only added to the danger.  Quite simply put: one had to be very careful when crossing through the Neutral Zone.

As the day continued to wear on, the Town of Gludio slowly came into view without mishap.  Within a short time they were at the gates to the town speaking with a guard.  After determining that Xeriver and Kraeia were not there to cause trouble the guards opened the gates and allowed them into the town.

Gludio was a fairly small, quaint town.  There were some houses and the normal shops you could find in nearly every inhabited village in Aden. The grocery shop, the weapons shop, the blacksmith’s shop, the various guilds for adventurers who trained in a specific set of skills, and perhaps the most important part of each village was the town Gatekeeper.  Highly protected and extremely gifted in magic, she was able to transport travelers to the desired town around Aden within a reasonable distance and for a small amount of adena.

Gludio was fairly quiet, most of the villagers had gone to bed already and the shops were closed, the lamps inside blown out.  Xeriver maneuvered the wagon to the warehouse which was required to be open day and night to allow for easy access to ones goods.  She stopped the wagon next to the front door and shut off the engine, placing wooden stop blocks on either side of the wheels to prevent it from rolling away.

After making sure the wagon was secure, Xeriver left Kraeia to guard the wagon and went into the warehouse to tell the keeper that they were unloading into the space she had rented.  The keeper gave her the approval and she returned outside where she and Kraeia began unloading the wagon.

By the time they finished unloading the sun was completely set and the moon had begun to rise into the night sky.

Kraeia always loved looking at the moon. It was huge with a giant eye in the middle, and for this week it was glowing a bright blue green and teal color.  When it glowed that color it filled Kraeia with warmth and he lost himself in thought.

“Come on, Krae, don’t get lost in the moon, we’ve got to make our way to the inn and get some rest.”

“Right, sorry.”

They made their way down the street from the warehouse, only a few sparsely placed street lamps and the glow of the blue-green moon provided light to see by.  As they came to the inn Xeriver again went in first and got their room keys; she handed one to Kraeia.

“Your room is 113, mine is 112. Let’s go get some rest; we’ve got an exciting day ahead of us tomorrow. Also, please think about what I said this morning on the wagon.”

“…I’ll think about it.”

“Good, sleep well, Kraeia”

“You too, Xeriver.”

Kraeia slowly walked down the hallway towards his room, contemplating what Xeriver had said. Maybe it really was time for him to go out in the world of Aden again.  He knew it would be hard for him, but she was right, he had to move on, it is what Siraeth would have wanted.

Kraeia unlocked the door to his room and slid in, locking the door behind him. He set his shield and sword down against the night table next to the bed and removed his Dark Crystal robes, climbing into bed.

Tomorrow he would tell Xeriver what he had decided. She would be happy for him. It would also boost her ego that Kraeia had listened to her advice; thinking about that made him smile a bit.

“Silly dwarfs.” Thought Kraeia as his eyelids began drooping and he allowed himself to be taken by the blissful sleep.

CRASH!!!

Kraeia woke up with a start and jumped out of bed dazed and confused. He could hear screams and the sounds of fighting outside. He quickly ran over to his robes and fastened them on as quickly as he could and grabbed his Sword of Miracles and shield. He pulled the key out of his pocket and could see his hand shaking as he tried to unlock the door.

“Calm down, Kraeia.  You need to calm down if you plan on fighting out there.”

Kraeia took a deep breath and forced himself to be calm.  After gaining control of himself he unlocked the door quickly and ran over to Xeriver’s room. As he got to it his eyes widened.  The door was blown off its hinges and in tatters.  As he looked in the room, the first thing he noticed was the three bodies of Doom Knights in the room. Kraeia’s mind was racing. Why were there Doom Knights in Gludio, and why did they go after Xeriver?

The little dwarf wasn’t in the room; her armor and battlehammer were also nowhere to be found.  After a quick search Kraeia was feeling weak in the knees.  This couldn’t be happening; his friend was in danger, and he couldn’t be trusted to help her, not after what happened in that fight against Baium.

A familiar voice screamed outside. Xeriver! Kraeia came back to his senses and quickly ran out of the room and towards the entrance of the inn; he stopped thinking about failing and concentrated only on saving her. He had to keep in mind what he decided before he went to bed, he had to.

As he ran through the front door of the inn -- this one was also blown off its hinges and in tatters -- he came upon a gruesome scene. There were bodies of the various races strewn about on the ground; some Doom Knights were dead too but the amount of dead villagers was sickening.

While Kraeia was looking around he heard that scream again to his right. He ran quickly down the street towards the source of that scream. As he rounded a corner he saw Xeriver trying to fight off a crowd of Doom Knights. She had apparently been doing well so far as evident from the large amount of Doom Knight bodies on the ground around her.

Unfortunately the amount of Doom Knights was overwhelming Xeriver and every now and again they would get in a strike and cause her to scream out in pain.  Kraeia ran straight towards his friend to help fight them off, but as he was running one of the Doom Knights was able to disarm her; the rest of the Doom Knights charged her and began carrying her out of the gate.

“NOO!” Kraeia pushed himself to run even faster. He was closing the gap between himself and the group of Doom Knights carrying the struggling Xeriver off, but his yell had alerted them and four of the Doom Knights broke off the group to deal with him.

Kraeia slowed down a little and tapped into the augment on his Sword of Miracles, the effects of Empower ran through him and he felt energized. Still running, he cast Solar Flare at the first Doom Knight, he knew they were weak to sacred attacks and that one shot killed the first knight. Unfortunately, that spell took a lot out of him and he couldn’t cast it as often as he would like.

The remaining three Doom Knights were on him now. Kraeia blocked the first Doom Knight’s strike with his shield and impaled it through the stomach with his sword, simultaneously hitting the second knight with Hydro Blast. As he removed his sword from the now deceased Doom Knight, the other two were on him quickly; it was all he could do just to block and parry their attacks. Just as he felt like he was getting the best of the fight, his footing slipped. It had been too long since he last fought and it was showing now. The two Doom Knights noticed his slip up, and both attacked at once.  He was able to parry the first strike with his sword, but he lost his balance and the remaining Doom Knight’s strike hit Kraeia right on the back of his head.

Kraeia’s knees buckled under the force of the blow; he felt blood trickling down the back of his neck and as he fell to the ground he got one last glimpse of Xeriver being carried by the Doom Knights out of the gate and into the darkness beyond.

“…no…stop…please…” Kraeia slurred while trying to reach out to her. The world around Kraeia spun and blackness enveloped his sight. The last thing he heard were the two Doom Knights who had got the better of him running to catch up to their group.  Then, silence.