Courynn motioned for the mage to continue, and vanished into the brush with no more sound then the breeze, although Rynard’s constant brattle about courtly duties would have covered the thrashing of a squad of orcs. He had left the Army of the Lion in Emmech just a tenday ago with no more ambition then to return home to the simple life of a woodsman, even though he knew he would find little welcome there. But it seemed that fate would deny him even that much peace… at least for now. It should have been an easy journey, a time to cast off the ways of military life and reconnect with the forest, but then he stumbled upon it. Permanent settlements were rare in the Yuirwood, but there were places where you could always find some form of encampment; trading posts, refuges and meeting places. Though people would come and go as they willed, there was always someone there. So finding one of these sites abandoned seemed odd, especially with tents, pots and other useful items left strewn about, but then he found the tracks that told him why; a dragon! The tracks had told him the tale as clearly as any bard could; a score of orcs had surrounded and swarmed the camp as a dragon attacked from above, the residents were bond together and marched off to the southeast. Rushing to Halendos, the closest town, to report to the local authorities he had found two more camps ravaged in the same way, and, after waiting for days, was charged with guiding a mage chosen by the Royal Council to investigate the disappearances; Rynard, who obviously had never set foot in the forest before in his life. For several moments the forest seemed to hold its breath in silent anticipation, and then they crashed through the brush just behind him and Rynard spun with a spell at the ready, but Courynn had already pinned the spy to the ground. Using his own weight to immobilize the slender figure beneath him, he quickly realized the supple form was clearly female. “Get off me!” demanded a vaguely familiar female voice, but he held his position for a moment, until recollection struck. “Talice,” Courynn gasped as he scrambled to his feet, starring down in surprise as she rolled onto her back. He hadn’t seen her in half a dozen years, but her half-elven blood slowed her aging so she seemed to have aged less than half that much, although a dozen years his elder, she looked a year or two younger than him now, and even more beautiful than the day he’d left Relkath’s Foot… when she was the desire of his adolescent dreams! “Well!” she demanded. “Are you going to just stand there.... or are you going to help me up?” Courynn took the slender hand she held toward him and gently pulled her to her feet, his mind racing with questions. In all the vastness of the Yuirwood what was she doing here and why was she spying on them? But those issues were overshadowed by memories of how her image had haunted his dreams since he was a boy and felt the first stirrings of manhood, and he had just laid on top of her… admittedly not in the way he had always dreamt of, but there was always hope for the future.