Fae

The guard continued his patrol in the deepening twilight gloom. He'd walked the same path, felt the same stones crunching under his boots, for years now. But it was a living, he sighed.

He yelped suddenly as a sleek figure ran through the shadows near one of the houses, instinctively reaching for his mace - then relaxing somewhat. "Damn knife ears," he muttered. Just another elf. They rarely caused trouble, but the last thing he needed at the end of a long shift was a heart attack - or worse, scrambling the brains of some idiot that thought the city was a forest.

There was another, crossing the path now, some 20 yards away. "Hey," the guard raised a hand. The elf paused and turned to look at him. "Try to act a little more normal, would you? At least after dark. For my sake."

The elf just stood there, like a deer caught in the light of a torch, before smiling enigmatically and running off.

The guard shook his head grumbling. Elves. Damn elves. Why did they have to be so difficult? When he'd started this job, when it was just him and Chloe, before the kids were born - he only had to deal with humans. Plain old, predictable humans. You knew where you stood with them.

He felt a snap beneath his boot. Frowning, he bent to take a look. Just a branch - but he could've sworn that wasn't there when he walked this way just a few minutes ago. He straightened up, dusting off his hands on his trousers.

And found himself staring into the face of one of the elves, eerily pale in the growing starlight. "Move along," he growled, gesturing threateningly at the handle of his mace. "Unless you've got business-"

Another elf stepped from the shadows, then another. "Wha-" the guard said, stumbling back as he drew his weapon - only to bump into a fourth.

Comprehension dawned. "Gabriel!" he shouted for his fellow guard. "I need backup, this is-"

His words were cut short almost as soon as he saw the flash of crystal. "Chloe..." he murmured as he lay in the pool of his own blood.



The elves stood in a circle around the dead man. "The first blood is spilt. The lesser creatures will pay dearly for not knowing their place..."