The creature moved among the shadows leaving not a whisper in its wake. It knew no creature born of mortal mother could sense it while it wore its cloak of no colors. The cloak covered all of the creature, from head to toe. If a man were to see the creature, he would be unable to tell if the creature was tall and thin or short and thick. No bulge appeared in the cloak as the creature turned towards the sound of two guards walking down the hallway in its direction.

Both guards wore a common uniform of imperial green with a single slash of yellow across the chest. They walked together, side by side, in step with one another. Their iron heel boots echoed both ways down the hallways. They looked neither right nor left trusting to their reputation to keep trouble from them.

Though they wore the common uniform of their Lord, that is where the resemblance ended. Sasha on the left, was tall and lanky, a hyperactive youth with little experience while Joe on the right, was in her mid-30’s, experienced in fighting. She fought in the war of the beasts. A war that ended when the Cyclops King surrendered his jeweled tusks and was slain for refusing to blind himself. Joes was a woman known for dedication to surviving all encounters with the other world creatures or as commonly referred to as the “O’tosei.” She rebelled against suicide missions, taking punishments and cuts in pay. She endured being passed up for promotion after promotion. She was content in knowing that many of the men that rose above her in rank were never heard of again when sent on missions for their Lord.

Suddenly Sasha turned to Joe, stopping her in her stride with his raised hand upon her arm. “Joe, I know many have asked you this but why do you prefer patrolling down this dusty hallway over going out on missions and seeking adventure?” As he paused for breath, Joe began scanning the shadows. Her skin became pale and pebbly. Her senses were telling her something was different in the hallway then on any other patrol.

“Joe? Joe are you listening to me?” he said. “Why do you keep looking at those shadows? No one would sneak up on us. We are the guards of the exalted Lord Veng.” She replied still looking into the shadows, “I like where I am and I will not be just another fool seeking after adventure. I did that once and I survived to learn that adventure is not all its cracked up to be.”

Sasha was uneasy, it was said that Joe never told about her past. Joe normally would stare him in the face until be backed off. That statement alone was the most he had ever heard her speak of her past before. Knowing this made him notice for the first time just how much Joe was scanning their surroundings. Sasha didn’t need to look around. He knew the hallway like the back of his hand. The walls were 20 meters thick made of pink granite. Narrow ventilation shafts were placed close to the ceiling between each of the columns that lined the walls. They had fine mesh covers to prevent unknown creatures from entering. But what creature would want to enter through a vent that originated in the boiler room. Those boilers maintained an 85 degree Fahrenheit temperature throughout the citadel even on the coldest nights. No creature could survive such intense heat.

While Sasha was going over the familiar features of the hallway, he realized there was a difference. There was a slight flapping noise coming from one of the vents on their right. “Joe,” he said, ”look at that vent. It has been torn open and there is some kind of fabric caught on it.”

The creature in the shadows instantly became alert. It had not counted on humans being capable of hearing such a soft noise. If their sense of hearing was that acute, how sensitive were their other senses.

Joe glanced once at the vent, then returned to surveying the hallway. She knew the vent was not what triggered her senses. She could feel eyes on her.

The creature suddenly became aware of a scratching noise coming from the ceiling down the hallway. Neither of the guards seemed aware of the scratching. Suddenly the scratching stopped as a blur sprang from the ceiling . A keening hiss echoed down the hall.

Sasha looked up at the blur falling upon him like a deer caught frozen in terror. Joe on the other hand jumped to the side just as the blur landed on Sasha’s chest. A fury it was and like it’s name sake, it made quick Sasha’s death. He didn’t have the time to take breath for a scream. Quicker than the eye could follow, the fury had torn Sasha’s still beating heart from his body.

Unlike Sasha, Joe was prepared for the fury. She had unsheathed the standard guard’s short sword and dirk. Sensing a stronger enemy, the fury left the body and began pacing around Joe seeking an opening to strike. But as the fury crossed an open space between the columns, an arm shot forth. Gripping the fury’s head, the arm drew the fury into the shadows where an orb of brilliant light appeared. Joe’s eyes caught unprepared for the light were temporarily blinded. But she heard the hiss of the fury cease mid breath.

Slowly Joe’s sight readjusted to the gloom of the hallway. When she could see again she looked to where the fury disappeared. Where it had been, there was now a puddle of blue liquid with small pale objects floating in it. But standing over the body of Sasha stood the creature. She could tell it was watching her, waiting to see what she would do. Joe knew that if she were to attack the creature, she would not survive long enough to take her first step. She also knew that the creature had not attacked her. So slowly she replaced her weapons into their sheaths.

She couldn’t be sure because of the cloak but she could have sworn the creatures stance had relaxed slightly. For the creatures presence seemed less menacing. Slowly it’s arms extended from within its cloak. Reaching for its hood, the creature lowered its hood, revealing its face.

Joe’s opinion of men was that they were all the same. They would as soon as jump into your pants as look at you. They existed to bother women with their disgusting habits of belching and proclaiming the size of their equipment. All they were good for was to keep one warm on a cold night. But never had one stolen her breath away as the one standing in front of her had.

Without the hood of his cloak, he appeared tall. Easily over 6 feet tall, his shoulders were not broad but well muscled. His body did not boast rippling bulges but it did reveal a dense, compact and highly flexible body. His shoulder length hair was the color of spun copper, thick and pulled straight into a ponytail by a simple looking pleated orange strap. The end of his ponytail curled like the tail of a serpent, never the same shape, always shifting whether he moved or not. He had high cheek bones and pointy ears like the Elves. But Joe knew, he could not be Elfish, he was far to powerful to be of their descendents. But the most mystifying features of all were his eyes.

His eyes were almond shaped. The irises were a dazzling gray-green with a hint of orange, but most stunning of all were the shapes of his pupils. They were not circular like humans and elves nor were they slits like the felines and reptiles. They were shape a shape totally unheard of to exist in the eyes of any living specie. They were the shape of five pointed stars.

He waited for her to speak. He knew how he looked; he knew what the reaction was when someone saw his appearance, even among his own kind. Most would not be able to communicate again for several hours. The especially susceptible could not even move for about 15 minutes.

This guard in front of him was an excellent specimen of her kind. Even putting some of his on kind to shame at how well she dealt with his appearance. She hid her astonishment and attraction well. He could tell by her sudden rigidness that she was affected. Though the fact she was moistening her lips meant she was preparing to speak.

When Joe could trust herself to speak she managed to ask, “What race of being are you?” He simply said, “I am what I am.” Joe was confused by this. She had expected him to answer her straight forward, not a dodge to her question. “But what are you? What manner of O’tosei are you?” Suddenly he towered over her. His voice, normally deep with a slight lisp, as if not used to some sounds in the language, became deeper with a tangible menace. “I do no need to answer the likes of you. Your kind persecutes what you call O’tosei. You purge your own kind that are capable of magic in any form save metallurgy. You would ask what am I? You should ask yourself that question.”

Suddenly he turned to look down the hall. He sensed others approaching. They must have heard the keening of the fury and come to investigate. He turned back to Joe. “I know how your Lord Veng thinks,” he said, “he will personally ask you about this. He by now already knows the pyramid crystal and the jeweled tusks of the Cyclops King are gone. You will speak of me to him. You will ensure he knows that the crystal is only borrowed and tell him the Fae are watching.”

Joe finally felt the freezing terror that brought death to many of the unlucky. She was standing in the presence of a Fae. Very little was known of them. Only what the O’tosei told humans. Fae were dangerous. Do not mess with them. If a person meets one, be courteous and try to get the hell away. No creature that wanted to live, would anger a Fae. Not even dragons seemed to mess with them.

That is why Fae do not bother with others, all others are beneath the Fae. For them to be stirring meant big trouble. Joe felt his eyes on her. She had been staring at him as if he were the scariest mystery of life. “May I ask you who you are?” she whispered. He smile. “So you know how to speak to your superiors.” he said, “that is very good. As for who I am…you do not need to know just yet. When next we meet, I will tell you. And meet we shall, for your Lord Veng knows more about me and my kind than any other not a friend of the Fae. He knows you opened dialogue so you will be the one to continue it.”

He looked again down the hall. The other guards were within his vision. Turning back to her, he said “You will look to me in the mountains across the Black Desert. If you run into trouble or need a guide, show the others this.”

With that he handed her an object, lifted his hood and vanished among the shadows. Only then did she hear the others approaching. While she waited she opened her hand to look at the small object. It was a ring made of an unusually strong metal. It was surprisingly light weight and it resembled silver.

On the inside of the ring was a set of runes she had never laid eyes upon and on the outside, twining around were rose leaves with a single orange rose etched in such detail it seemed real. It was fit for someone with larger fingers than her own but if she put the ring on her ring finger on top of her shark hide gloves, it would fit.