The elven patrol unit has been out maintaining the borders of Miren Nor, the homeland of the elven people although various members of other races have moved there and made it their home as well. It has been several months that the unit, made up of both male and female elves, has been traveling and it has been quiet the entire time. They have only a week until they return to one of the military camps and can have their leave, a few months to go home and rest before being called up again.

As they traverse the edges of the country and keep an eye out for anything that seems out of place, they have settled into several groups spread out along the trail. Those in the groups talk amongst themselves, quiet enough they can still hear everything around them.

One group, near the middle, consists of only three individuals. The taller male, with darker hair and the typical lean form and pointed ears of the elves, is named Jace and he speaks little. The other man has lighter brown hair, his broader form and slightly less pointed ears marking him as one of the rare mixed-race children. In Ki-Ran's case his father is an elf and his mother was a human. The final member of the group, who is going by Ariawyn – or Aria for short – is the typical idea of the elves, with her long pale-blond hair and blue eyes, and a lithe form.

Ki-Ran and Aria are having a light argument about the nobility. Ki-Ran claiming they have an easy life, not having to scrounge for comforts, and don't know what it is like to go without, so how can they make decisions which affect things they do not understand? Aria counters that, while some aspects of their lives are indeed easier, there are others that present as much burden as a lack of resources may. She claims that it is true they can never truly know what it is like to live without, but that if they listen to the will of the people they represent than they can make such decisions well. Jace, for his part, does not offer an opinion or even really speak.

The rustle of leaves, moving against the wind, is the only warning the group gets but it is enough that they are able to draw their various weapons and be ready when a large group of humans attack them. The battle may be short, but it feels as though it lasts an hour. The humans outnumber the elves and move with an objective in mind. The elves have had longer to perfect the combat abilities and that evens the field. There is a stalemate for a while as the humans strangely focus on the center of the group, but soon enough the ferocity of the elves drives them back and they disappear again into the woods, heading back towards the neighboring country.

As the unit comes down from the high of battle they begin to treat their injuries. Most are fairly mild, considering, but for Jace who seems to have borne the brunt of the attack. It doesn't take long for them to realize that one member of the group is missing and Jace confirms their fears when he shares that, in the midst of the battle, the human mercenaries had ganged up on him and Aria and managed to overpower them and they had taken Aria with them.

The group is deeply concerned by this and most want to chase the humans immediately to find their unit-mate and friend. The commander of the unit, an elf who has been in the military longer than most of the others have been alive, disagrees. He claims that the attack was too coordinated to be random and the best course of action is too instead return with reinforcements.

Several of the group look unsure about this and Ki-Ran is actually about to speak when he is interrupted by Jace.

"We need to move now," insists the stoic elf. "Even if this was planned, especially if this was planned, we don't know what those humans want, what they will do."

No one is surprised that Jace is so vehement about returning his friend, it's known they entered the military together, were placed together, and that the pair had even grown up as children with each other.

"We cannot," the commander orders. "This could be exactly what they want us to do. We will move to the nearest clearing and in the morning we will cut our rounds short and return to base to report this. From there we can send a better prepared expedition."

Jace growls and bristles at the order, but angrily complies. Ki-Ran follows at the back of the group, something about the whole situation not sitting right with him.

The mood is subdued that night while everyone eats and the commander assigns people to their night-watch rotation. Ki-Ran finds sleep difficult as he keeps turning the day over in his mind. He felt like there was a puzzle here and he was missing a piece. Eventually he comes to the conclusion that he cannot stand by and do nothing. Cautiously he looks around for the current person on watch, it should be Jace, and not seeing him, Ki-Ran silently gets up. He retrieves only his weapons, leaving his pack and blanket behind, and begins sneaking through the forest back to the battle site.

Once there he looks for the tracks of the mercenaries in order to follow them. It is while he is kneeling, examining the footprints in the dark when he feels a blade next to his throat.

"What are you doing out here?"

Ki-Ran sighs in relief as he recognizes the clipped voice, although he is irritated with himself for being caught off-guard so easy.

"I could ask you the same thing, Jace. Are you not supposed to be on guard?"

The other man withdraws his blade and allows Ki-Ran to rise.

"Go back to the safety of the others," he orders. "This is my job."

"I know you have known her longer, but Aria is my friend as well. It does not sit right to just leave," argues Ki-Ran. "I will not go back."

Jace glares at him, as though trying to intimidate the other into obeying. Ki-Ran ignores it, Jace always seems to be in a sour mood regardless. Finally Jace gives up.

"Fine. But I am not protecting you, you take care of yourself," he grumbles.

Ki-Ran remains unbothered by the tone and returns to tracking the humans. Together, the pair follow the easy trail of bent leaves and disturbed ground for several hours. Eventually their keen ears detect sound not of the forest coming from ahead and they leave the broken trail and carefully slink forward. Soon they come across a clearing where the men are gathered around a couple of campfires, most sleeping but a couple remain on watch talking lowly with each other. Looking around, they locate Aria at the fire in the center.

The female elf has had her wrists bound behind her back and her ankles tied together, but she has apparently not been idle. She is still awake and has her back to the fire, in her hands is a smoldering stick. She leaves it in the fire a few moments until it catches, and then brings the flaming end up to the ropes around her wrists where the fire burns through a few layers of the fiber before she has to repeat the process. It's slow and she has mild burns already, but it is working.

Jace makes a silent motion at Ki-Ran before slinking forward without a sound, coming up behind one of the few watch-men. Without any warning he slits the mans throat and moves to the next. He gets three before anyone notices, and then the camp erupts into confusion. Ki-Ran finally joins the fight, he and Jace taking advantage of the confusion to overpower their enemy. It doesn't take long for Aria to free herself and she uses a fallen blade to join the fight.

Jace and Aria fight in a manner Ki-Ran has never seen before, they were good but not exceptional during training exercises, but now they fight with the fluidity of one who has practiced centuries. They move easily between the panicked humans, and fight next to each other as though they have been in a unit together for centuries. Between the three elves it does not take long for the humans to be down or to have fled.

The three quickly vacate the clearing and move high into the trees for their return journey, not wanting to be followed back. The sun is just starting to rise when they pause, far enough away from the fires of the mercenaries. Immediately Jace is at Aria's side, making sure she's okay, that she's not been injured, and muttering low sounds that only he and Aria could hear. Aria looks more annoyed by the whole situation, as if she's angry with herself for allowing it to happen.

Eventually they resume their journey and find the rest of the unit still where they had been the night before. The abrupt departure of two members having prevented them from moving on. Ki-Ran has the good grace to look guilty when they reenter the temporary encampment. Jace, however, just looks defiant, and it is impossible to tell what Aria is thinking through the image she presents of calm collection.

Immediately the commander is on the trio, angry at Jace and Ki-Ran for disobeying orders and acting in such a reckless manner. Aria's return is mostly ignored. The unit commander decides the patrol must still be cut short to return to base, a report will be written up about the events. The unit make haste back to the base, and all except Jace and Ki-Ran are dismissed for their leave.

Jace and Ki-Ran are suspended without pay indefinitely, until a case can be heard and a decision made. Jace honestly looks as though he couldn't care at all about the outcome or the suspension. For Ki-Ran though, it is a harsh blow. His family was quite poor and his military wages were their biggest source of income. The commander makes it clear that if he has his way, they will both be discharged.

When the two leave the office they find Aria waiting for them, the rest of their unit having already left to gather their few belongings and head home. Ki-Ran gathers his few things and sits on his bunk for a while. He knows he did the right thing, but now he feels as though he may have harmed his family. The only reason he had joined in the first place was for the pay. Eventually he pulls himself together enough to be ready to leave and when he walks outside he is surprised to find Aria and Jace waiting with their horses.

As usual, Jace looks less than thrilled by things but Aria is insistent that since they are all headed to the capital they should travel together. Throughout the journey all three are unusually quiet, not sure what to say. With a steady pace they reach Enytheas, the capital city of the elven kingdom, in just under a week.

Before they separate from each other to returnto their homes, Aria makes a promise to Ki-Ran. One he knows she cannotguarantee, but she says it with such conviction that he does feel betterknowing he's not alone in this at least. Aria promises him that "no matter whathappens, everything will turn out fine. You will not lose your job, or yourpay. It will be okay."