Long, reaching and skeletal shadows crept across the cobblestoned road as the golden sun slowly neared the horizon. The red and yellow leaves rustled against each other and drifted to the ground as the chilly, gentle breeze blew through them, causing the branches of the trees to ever so slightly dance. A few puffy white clouds dotted the darkening, twilight sky that was streaked with beautiful shades of purple and orange. It was all very lovely, and it made even Varenyl breathe out a soft sigh in awe.

The group had walked in silence since they had left Rosepoint, the soft crunch of the leaves beneath their feet and the beat of the horse's hooves against the road making up for the lack of communication between them. They had been on their guard the entirety of the day, for something didn't feel quite right to them. No birds flew in the sky, no wolf or other animal could be seen or heard. At this time of the year, birds should be seen flying north to the continent of Yoshinda, a land with mild winters and hot summers. It wasn't right that they were absent from the sky.

When it began to get dark, the idea was spoken that they should make camp before it got too hard to see. This was quickly done; Isendir found a nice spot not far off the road, surrounded by trees and close enough to a creek that they could hear the tranquil sound of the slow moving water from there. A fire was started with a quick spell from Lorthrendel, and the companions were able to relax for the first time that day. It was still unusually quiet, keeping them from being completely comfortable, with their hands never straying far from their weapons as they ate.

"What's wrong with you, laddie?" Ragnus shoved his hand into his pocket and withdrew his pipe smoke from where he leaned against the tree, his helmet sitting in the grass next to him. "You'd think that a kid with a sharp tongue like you would have said more today."

Lorthrendel looked up from his book. His nose twitched. "My apologies to not live up to my...tongue, dwarf." His eyes slightly narrowed as he returned to his tome.

"What happened?" Ragnus took a puff from his pipe and let it out through his nose. He squinted his eyes at the fae. "I'm a nosy old man, I know. But I can always tell when something is bothering someone."

"Leave him alone, Ragnus." Isendir cast him a sharp, sideways glance. He scratched his chin. "He's lucky to be alive after that stunt he pulled." He fiddled with a blade of grass.

Varenyl laid his cloak down on the ground. The elf sat farthest from the fire, taking everything in with his dull blue eyes. He cleared his throat. "While talking to...the person I needed to speak with, I overheard Amnestria mention that Lorthrendel had been expelled from the Council."

"Really?" Isendir's eyes widened. "Is that true, Lorthrendel?"

Ragnus grinned into his beard. "Ahh. I see. It's also nice to see the high and mighty dragged off their throne."

Lorthrendel shut his book with a snap. He cocked his head at the dwarf, fixing him with a cold stare. "I was expelled because I was born an 'Imperfect Fae', dwarven scum. If I were you, I'd watch your tongue," he snapped. "Do not meddle in affairs that you do not yet understand."

"Oh, look at that, he's threatening me." Ragnus chuckled. He blew out a puff of smoke and shook his head. "I suppose you were never taught to respect your elders, eh, lad?"

"My elders are at least five hundred years of age, Frostjaw," Lorthrendel sharply returned. "A fae at your age would be a prepubescent teenager. But I have no desire to fight with one such as yourself." He pressed his lips together.

"What the hell is an 'Imperfect Fae'?" asked Varenyl with a sharp glance. He rubbed his hands together.

"An Eastern Fae who does not live up to their kinsmen's vision of perfection," Isendir quietly replied. He shrugged when Ragnus turned his head up to him. "I read it somewhere."

"You saw my kinsmen at the Council. Each and everyone of them are beautiful, magnificent and flawless beings. Or at least they are in my people's eyes." Lorthrendel smiled a somewhat rueful smirk. "Over the years we have developed a vision of perfection that every Eastern Fae must adhere to, as to keep the race as a whole perfect. No permanent maladies of any sort, physical or mental defects, born without magic, and so on.

"But, luckily, no Eastern Fae has ever been recorded to have not been born with Thynryx's sacred blessing. Even lacking in height is an example of an imperfection to our race. The women must keep their hair cut short, and the men grow theirs long, although that is more traditional than anything. If it is obvious that the child is imperfect at birth, they are abandoned in the hopes that they will die."

"That's...disgusting," Isendir muttered with a shake of his head.

"And what's wrong with you, exactly?" grunted the dwarf.

"I was born blind," said the mage dryly. "My parents abandoned me and put me on board a ship heading for Yoshinda. I survived, only because I was found and taken in by a Khaishrik couple who had just been wed.

"It took me nearly eighty years to create a lens to put over my eye that made it to where I could see blurred outlines of everything, and restore color to my eyes. Despite this, I was unable to make it strong enough to where I would not have to wear spectacles, but creating such a lens is an impossible task, in short. I tried for nearly two centuries until I was finally forced to give up." He spread wide his hand. "I suppose my luck with that whore Amnestria finally ran out."

"Hmph." Ragnus took another puff from his pipe and shut his eyes. "I still don't trust you. Any man who thinks they are above another man is not worth my time."

"Ragnus," Isendir said softly, silently pleading for peace.

"Unlike the rest of my kin, I actually do not think the 'Lesser Races' as you are called by the Eastern Fae, are beneath us." Lorthrendel waved his hand. "It's hard to when I was raised with Khaiskrik values. Although, some of the races do have valid reasons for prejudice," he added with a shrug. "The humans practice slavery and sex trafficking, kidnapping women and children from their families and forcing them to do things they should never be forced to do. Let us not forget the infamous arena in Juliec.

"Many of the Sylvanaar are cannibals and have incestuous relationships. The Sylvari enslave captured Sylvanaar, and do not have equal rights for their female counterparts. They don't believe in women holding weapons or being a figure of authority." He glanced at Varenyl before continuing. "The dwarves have an unfair caste system that ensures that those born into lower classes stay there for the remainder of their lives.

"My people bastardize the Western Fae from the fae race, even though we have virtually no valid facts on them, and probably never will." His eyes narrowed. "We all have our faults. Our imperfections."

Varenyl seemed likely to object to Lorthrendel's statement about the Sylvari, but he decided against it and held his tongue, looking off into the distance instead. He let out a deep breath through his nose and shut his eyes. The back of his head rested against the tree.

"You sound like you are playing the role of a saint, Lorthrendel." Isendir's kind brown eyes gazed at the fae. The Highlander crossed his arms over his chest. "You can't fault an entire people for-"

"Saint? Please, I used to be a necromancer, Isendir," chuckled Lorthrendel. "Everything they say about us are every bit the truth. I myself gazed into the eyes of women and men as I deprived them of their lives, only to pull them back into the land of the living as misshapen, tortured thralls." Though his eyes glinted in the firelight, there was no hint of pride, or regret, anywhere in his voice or features. He gestured with his hand. "Though I have since put that life behind me, I am no saint, Isendir. I only point out the sins of others. All of us have our dark secrets. And as I previously stated- our imperfections."

"Hmph. Now we know he's a murderer," growled Ragnus with another puff of his pipe.

"Judge a man for what he is, not for what he was, Frostjaw," Isendir said, exasperated. He sighed. "Look, lets just drop this whole conversation and get to sleep. I'll take first watch, then Lorthrendel, then Varenyl, then Ragnus. We will leave at dawn's first light."

"Whatever you say, Highlander." Lorthrendel reached up and let his hair down. "Whatever you say."

~-~-~-~

The night was cold and dark.

It was cloudy, and thus the twinkling light of the billions of stars that dotted the velvety black sky were pulled behind a curtain. Occasionally the moon, a glowing white orb in the sky, could be seen as the clouds made their slow journey across the heavens. The autumn leaves that so desperately hung on to the trees continued to rustle against each other with the night breeze. No animal of the night could be heard.

Lorthrendel sat against a tree, his hair pulled over his shoulder to keep it from getting caught in the bark. He flinched every time an especially thunderous snore erupted from Ragnus, who was soundly sleeping not far from the fae. He scowled and shifted to a more comfortable position. He pitied Isendir for having to put up with that every night.

Varenyl was awake as well, although there wasn't much surprise there. Ever since Isendir had awoken Lorthrendel to take second watch, the fae had heard Varenyl call out in his own language as he abruptly awoke from an uneasy slumber at least five times. Now, it seemed that Varenyl had decided that he was going to stay awake the rest of the night. He was sitting up with his back facing the camp, his head hung low. Lorthrendel thought that he could hear the elf muttering to himself.

The mage held no pity for Varenyl, as harsh as that may be. But, in truth, he had no pity for a lot of people. The reason he did not pity Varenyl was because he knew that the elf would not let anything get in the way of his goal; even if it meant murder. It was easy for Lorthrendel to read people. There was a spell that he used quite often allowed him, for merely four seconds, to see into people's hearts and read every thought, every secret and every trait that they had.

Unfortunately, if he used it on a person he had to wait fifty years until he could cast it on that person once more.

A sudden bounce of the tree limbs above him caused Lorthrendel to jump to his feet.

He stared up into the tree, a spell on his mind. Silence. All became still. It was as if an animal had just jumped to another limb.

But whatever he had heard had been much too large to be an animal, and he knew it. Something - someone - was there, looking down at him.

And then he saw it.

A figure shrouded in black, perched upon a branch hidden by the leaves.

"Speak, or I'll turn your bones to ash," Lorthrendel said softly, lethally. Crackling blue flames appeared in his upturned palm. He saw the icy blue eyes of the figure widen.

"No no no no! Please don't!" The figure nimbly jumped down and landed gracefully on their feet. They held their arms up, trembling. "I'm sorry! Please don't do that, sir! That...actually sounds very painful-"

"Who are you?" Lorthrendel demanded, not lowering his hand. "Have you been following us?"

"N-no, sir!" The figure (Lorthrendel couldn't tell if they were male or female) vigorously shook their head. "I- I was waiting! I heard you guys make camp here, but I was too nervous to come while you were awake! I didn't know if it was really you!" they cried.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lorthrendel scowled. "Who are you?"

"I-its me, mr fae sir." The figure took a small, cautious step forward. "A-Aerysdren."

***🐉***

Thank y'all so much for reading! Please leave a vote if you enjoyed, and please tell me any criticism and suggestions you have. I personally feel this could have gone better😂

Thank you so much again, and until next time~