Sachi's hands felt clammy as they all watched Helen disappear into the clouds. Too-warm sand swallowed his feet like cement; he felt trapped. His fists continued to tighten, fingernails scraping against palms without drawing blood. Sachi tried to speak up, but all he felt was a lump well up in his throat. As the half-Elv settled into his statue-like position of angst, Victoria ran forward to Revin and Roe.

  "Captains! Please, what was all that about? The Hero just stole our teammate."

  Revin gave Roe a deadly stare that said: Remember what Helen told us. Roe turned back to the smoke-eyed recruit and made his best attempt at a fib. "Your teammate has been... Well, you see, Duchess... Helen's a very busy woman. She had first pick of the recruits this season and it would seem she didn't have time to wait for your teammate to complete the course." He rubbed the top of his shiny dome, sweating with nerves of wilted twine. To Roe, the mightiest beasts in the Kingdom were nothing but playthings even on their most ferocious days. However, lying to a young Duchess, that was another matter entirely. He was a man of honor, fueled by little more than oaths and a tenacious work ethic. He felt disgrace being brought upon his family with every word that spewed from his mouth. Lies. Abhorrent, filthy lies. Disgusting. "Worry not! I'm sure Helen the Hero will be taking splendid care of your friend."

  "But he-" Victoria tried to ask more, but Captain Holo quickly raised a hand to interrupt her.

  "Rest assured, Duchess Ramses, the young man is in the safest hands possible now that he's under Helen's care. I'm sure your friend will feel right at home in Division Seven." Revin nodded to his partner-in-crime, then up to the stage where the headband-wearing Captain Dori still stood. Dori knew exactly what just happened, and a wave of relief flowed through him; happy to no longer owe a favor to Helen. Dori cleared his throat and turned back to the crowd to ease their confusion.

  "Wow! What a show, folks! Captain Helen stopped by to personally escort her newest recruit back to the Royal Palace after his showing today. I'll tell you what—This is something I have never seen her do before! To be so humble and chivalrous as to reward the young man for his success in person, truly there is no one more deserving of the title of 'Hero' in all of our fair Kingdom." The remaining recruits in the crowd ate up Dori's words like hot cherry pie. Most of them were so desperate to be a part of this historical moment in Helen's career, they forgot Mira's wellbeing entirely. Dori had successfully brought everyone back on topic and continued calling out the names of the few remaining examinees.

  Sachi felt like a fool. In all the excitement of the exams he lost track of what was important. His desire to impress his new friend made him forget all about Mira's strange past, and to make things worse he had encouraged his brother to go wild on the course.

  Calm down, he thought to himself. This doesn't mean anything. Mira was breaking records here, it would make sense for a Captain to take notice of him.

  But after seeing how violently Helen had kicked Mira, he had serious doubts things would be so simple for his brother. Sachi had wanted some space from Mira when the exams started, but after they teamed up with Victoria, he had been reminded why he and Mira had grown so close to begin with. Now his brother was gone, taken in a blinding flash by Helen the Hero. And worst of all, he didn't even get the chance to ask her about the investigation into the attack on their home.

  Victoria trotted back over to Sachi, her heels kicking up sand as frustration pulsed through each of her stomps. "It looks like we just lost our powerhouse." She sounded more than annoyed to lose Mira, like she had genuine concern for the boy. "I know she's our 'Hero' and all," she made sure to emphasize Helen's title dismissively, "but she could have been gentler with Mira. He's small, and she didn't even let him finish the course! He was about to be the first examinee in history to-"

  "I know." Sachi interrupted coldly. Upon realizing his tone, and after seeing Victoria's concerned face, he tried to take it back. "Sorry... I just mean, Mira's... well, he's tough. He'll be up from a kick like that in no time. Helen must have just really taken a liking to him."

  "Yeah, that's what Captains Fissure and Holo were saying too." She tried to examine Sachi's face for a hint to what was really happening, but he showed no tells. "It just seems—I don't know—weird, right? For her to take Mira but not us, it goes against the rules Captain Dori set up earlier."

  "I don't think Helen plays by the same rules as the other Captains." He looked at his new friend with the most confident smile he could put on given their situation. "Sorry for getting you mixed up with us. I should have told Mira to hold back a little bit."

  Victoria grinned back at Sachi with amusement and slapped a hand on his shoulder. Sachi blushed at the unexpected touch. "Are you kidding me?" said the black-and-blood-haired girl with a wide smile. "That was amazing, Sachi! I've never seen anything like that. You and Mira were incredible! Helen may be a bit of a hard-ass from what I hear, but if Mira's with her then I'm sure you're right. We've got nothing to worry about." Victoria's words made him feel more optimistic about Mira's circumstances, but anxiety still tried to grip at his guts. Helen had saved them that night in the Meadows, so surely she would mean his brother no harm. Sachi managed to let out a forced chuckle and steered Victoria back towards the crowd as she took her hand off his shoulder.

  "Come on. Let's finish this. We'll see Mira soon."

  The trio-turned-duo watched on patiently as the remaining examinees were called up to the stage. After Mira's incredible run, most of the crowd stopped paying attention to the examinees making their runs altogether. This feeling was bittersweet for the runners. On one hand, they had less eyes on them and less pressure to perform, but on the other hand this meant there was no one cheering them on as they leapt towards that ever-troublesome rope over the Gatorfish pond. It must have been frustrating to work so hard to get here, only to be upstaged by a hyperactive runt with blue hair. When the final examinee finished running, Roe and Revin joined Captain Dori on the first platform of Helen's Playground.

  Ken Dori turned back to watch the failed examinees shuffling off with a proud grin. Dori's Lieutenant came running down again from the top of the staircase with a black box under her arm, head down to avoid unneeded eye contact with the crowd. She stood behind Captain Dori with a poorly hidden scowl, now holding the black box out just below her belly. Dori looked over to the angry-looking woman and nodded. "Thank you, Lara. You're far more reliable than any weapon this world has to offer."

  The compliment threw Lara off, forcing her silver eyes to widen. "Umm... Okay. It's my honor, Captain." Her tone was clearly forced, as if she had never had to speak to her Captain formally outside of this stage. She forced a smile that betrayed this was the first time her Captain had ever complimented her work.

  With that kind remark, Dori turned back to the crowd. "As of this moment, you have all passed the Royal Military Exam! Please give yourselves a big round of applause!" The crowd followed their first official order as soldiers of the C.R.M. and burst into a roar of cheers. Victoria hooted and clapped along with the rest of them. For a second, she could even feel a small tear welling up in her eye as the weight of the moment sank in, but she wiped it away quickly as well as the overenthusiasm that had plagued their fellow examinees. It was over, she was finally on her way to fulfilling her dream of becoming a Captain; just like her father. Sachi was less enthusiastic. He still clapped along with the rest of the crowd, but his mind was half-preoccupied with thoughts of Mira's current situation.

  When the applause died down, Ken Dori started to pontificate again. "As of this moment you are all officially members of the C.R.M. and hold the rank of Private. At this time, we Captains will call you up by group to place you into Divisions. We will also take this opportunity to bestow upon you the Red Wings of Corvus. This badge will serve as proof of all that you have accomplished here today—a symbol of your commitment to the Royal Military of our Kingdom!" Ken's Lieutenant opened the black box to reveal a collection of Red Wings protected by black cushioning. When the crowd of new recruits saw the contents of the black box, they "oooh'ed" and 'awww'ed" in a rowdy manner. Captain Fissure stepped forward and took the microphone from Captain Dori's hands.

  "Well, that's enough of that. Hello, tiny ones. Once again, my name is Roe Fissure and I am the Captain of Division One, the Infantry Unit. I've seen quite a few of you youngsters that could be fantastic soldiers after a few seasons under my supervision. It would be my honor to lead you into glorious battle for this Kingdom." He began calling forward his squads, the first of which was Haltz's group. The Inagi seemed unenthusiastic to meet his new Captain, and he scoffed as the Red Wing badge was placed in his hand. The women he was partnered with were much more humble and friendly to Roe, with the taller of the two even bowing to her new Captain before making a nervous dash back into the crowd.

  Roe continued bringing forward his recruits and giving them their badges, making sure to lean down and give them each their own personal congratulions to welcome them into the army. Sachi and Victoria both found themselves wishing that the large man had been the one to call dibs on them after watching how kind he was to his new recruits. The half-faced Captain Holo appeared gruff and mysterious in comparison to the enthusiastic Roe. In total Captain Fissure recruited six teams. When he finished calling names, he took a step back and handed the microphone to Revin. Captain Holo stepped forward and gave a much less enthusiastic introduction.

  "Good afternoon, everyone—or I suppose it's closer to evening now, isn't it? ...Good evening." He cleared his throat and continued, his mask muffling his voice ever so slightly. "I'm Revin Holo, the next Captain of Division Two, the Scout Unit. As I'm sure you all know, my grandfather died today, so I'd like to hurry things along here and get back upstairs—there's still a lot to get done before tomorrow. The current Captain of Division Two, and soon-to-be Wing Commander of the First and Second Divisions, Balla Iesteria, is currently being briefed on his new position by the Ash-Lord and our next General." A rude number of whispers were spilled into the air at the mention of Ren's replacement, cutting off Captain Holo's speech. He cleared his throat to get the crowd's attention back after the chatter stirred loud enough, eager to end his first public appearance as Captain. "To sum things up, I'm new to this whole drafting thing, but a few of you have caught my attention."

  He brought forward a total of four squads, the last of which was Sachi and Victoria's. The duo walked up feeling out of place without their third member. Captain Holo handed Victoria her Wings first. When he placed the badge in her hand, he gave her a raised brow and asked, "Is my Division worthy of a Captain's daughter, Duchess Ramses?"

  Victoria blushed and averted Revin's gaze as quickly as she could. "I'm just happy to be here, Captain."

  Sachi's eyes widened with embarrassment as he learned his squad-mate's noble title.

  Revin continued with respect in his voice. "Please, send my family's best regards to yours. The people of this city need a place like the Red Charles in times like these." Victoria frowned at that. She would have preferred remaining unnoticed over having her new teammate discover her nobility in this manner. Her new Captain continued, seeming unbothered by her apparent change in expression. "I heard your dad was quite formidable in his days. I'm glad you wound up in my Division. I hope you're even more dangerous than he was." Revin then turned to Sachi and gave him an odd look, leaving Victoria to marvel at the Red Wing badge in her hand. "You're the first Elv to make the cut in three seasons, but they might have to put an asterisk in the record books after reading about how you handled the first stage." Revin's mouth was still covered, but Sachi could tell his new Captain wore a grin beneath that dark mask. "Who are you, Private?"

  "Sachi Van'Heatah, Sir– I mean, Captain!" He was nervous to meet the grandson of their Kingdom's greatest General; so much that his knees trembled.

  "Van'Heatah... Never heard of a soldier from your family before. I look forward to seeing your progress in my Division, Private Van'Heatah. I've always said we needed more Elves in the field instead of hiding in the infirmary. Most of the time it's too late for our critically injured soldiers by the time we transport them in the first place. I suppose it's a shame we couldn't get your other squad-mate, but sometimes you've just gotta take what life hands you and run with it." He handed Sachi the Red Wing badge and rose, tall with posture that showed off his nobility. "Welcome to Division Two."

  Victoria and Sachi walked back into the crowd with their heads held high. Victoria tugged at her squad-mate's arm when they made it back to their original spot in the crowd.

  "Don't worry," she whispered. "I'm sure we can find Mira in the barracks later tonight. Division Seven doesn't have their own bunks, so he's bound to get mixed into one of the other Private areas." Her smile was infectious and Sachi felt forced to match it, wanting to believe how simple she made Mira's situation sound.

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  "You're right, we'll find him. Mira doesn't need a babysitter anymore."

  "I thought he was supposed to be the older brother, shouldn't he be the one babysitting you?"

  Sachi managed to laugh a bit at the suggestion. "Mira's a special case. He may be strong, but you'd be shocked to see how much help that kid needs just to get through the day." He looked off to the Scarlet Aerie with a concerned gaze. "I hope Captain Helen can feed him well enough."

  The new members of Division Two settled back into the crowd, and Captain Dori came forward again. "Greetings everyone, I know we've met already but I'll take this time to re-introduce myself to you all." His over-the-top manner of announcing subsided completely, and he put on a much sterner expression. The tails of his silk headband and black cape blew freely in the coastal breeze. "Up until now I have played the role of your gleeful host, for the late-General, but now I will reveal my true self to you all." The joy in his voice subsided and became gruff. "My name is Ken Dori, and I am the Captain of Division Four, the Kingdom's Police Unit. All remaining participants will be joining my ranks. Behind me is my First Lieutenant, Lara Caid. Consider any commands from Lieutenant Caid to be equal to my own. Follow her every order, chances are you will be speaking with her much more than myself. Now, please come forward and introduce yourselves to us."

  Lara was a thin girl only slightly taller than Mira, with straight brown hair that fell past her shoulders. Her black Irons had spiked-shoulder and knee guards that looked impractical to wear. Her armor hid all the skin except for her hands and face. On her hands and neck were blue tattoos, strange symbols that neither Sachi nor Victoria could read, but they both could recognize it as the language of Hilbarth; the Hoof Clan's Nation. Lara had no hooves, instead wearing black iron boots in a completely Human shape, so it was hard for the two of them to know whether she was from the Clan or if she merely thought the designs looked cool enough to brand herself with.

  The eight remaining squads made their way up, three at a time, to meet Captain Dori and his Lieutenant. Dori brushed off most of them, sneaking in a few sly remarks about having last pick in the draft this year. His Lieutenant was thankfully much friendlier, shaking hands with a smile and giving warm congratulations to each of the new Privates under her command. She had big eyes of bright silver, decorated with dark blue mascara that left every male recruit she batted an eye at feeling a need to do well and get into her good graces. When the new members of Division Four returned to the crowd, Captain Dori spoke once more.

  "Privates of Division Four, please follow Lieutenant Caid to your barracks. Privates of Divisions One and Two should follow their respective Captains. Congratulations once more to all of you, please make sure to stop by the mess hall and get your fill after you settle into your new living quarters. You've all earned it." With that, he dropped the microphone and made his way up the stairs towards the Royal Palace. The crowd split into their new Divisions as instructed and gathered around their new leaders.

  Revin led Sachi, Victoria, and the rest of his new Privates back towards the castle once they had all grouped up. He didn't speak a word after telling the troops to follow him up the stairs. After marching through the barracks for a spell, he stopped and pointed to his left side.

  "Gentlemen, welcome to your new home. Check in with the Officers inside by providing your name and examinee number, they will be sure to escort each of you to your new bunks. For those of you with residences in the city of Gilgamere, please check in today and meet back here tomorrow morning at six sharp. Ladies, you can follow me; your barracks are just a little further up." Revin continued marching on, but Victoria hesitated to follow him. She looked back at Sachi nervously.

  "I live in Gilgamere so I won't be living at the barracks. After I check in would you want to eat dinner together? My parents will be excited to hear we passed. Since we're a team now, we should get to know each other better, right?" Sachi was tired, and a little bit surprised that Victoria would want to eat with him. He had planned on searching for Mira after checking in, but he knew in the back of his mind that ultimately any attempt at searching such a massive castle would be pointless. He had no idea where he was. His brother was in the hands of the Kingdom's hero now, and he needed to accept that there was nothing he could do about it. He was glad Victoria was there to help him take his mind off the dilemma, though he was still clueless as to why she was being kind to him without Mira around.

  "I'd like that. Should I meet you at the mess hall?"

  "The mess hall? No way am I eating that slop!" She leaned in close to make sure no other soldiers could hear her. "I hear the burgers they serve there are made of 'retired' horses." She pulled herself back with a smile that was unbefitting for the gross subject matter. "Just come to my family's alehouse? My father's a grade-A chef."

  Sachi forced himself to smile, the gross thought of eating horse-burgers at the front of his mind. "That sounds wonderful."

  "Perfect! I'll rush back here after I check in, so try to clean up quick." She ran away to catch up with Revin and the rest of the female Privates before Sachi could confirm their dinner plans, leaving him standing alone with a dumb smile.

  He stood there confused for a moment before making his way into the barracks. It was a long stone building that stood three stories high. Sachi marveled at the entranceway's trim, steel dyed as red as the Royal Family crest. The foyer took him by surprise, appearing more like a log cabin on the interior than any military barracks he had imagined, with hardwood floors and paneling in every direction he glanced in. In the center of the foyer was a small desk, and behind it sat a low-ranked Officer tasked with checking in the new Privates. One by one he took their names and showed them up the stairs or down the hall to their new rooms.

  When it was Sachi's turn the young Officer brought him up to the second floor and led him into a room with bunks lining every wall. When Sachi stepped into the room he covered his nose with his shirt, for the room reeked of dirty socks and left-out food. The Officer pointed out a bunk in the corner of the room, right next to the window, where another young man was already unpacking his things onto the lower bunk. When Sachi approached his bunkmate, the young man shot Sachi a bright smile and called over.

  "You've got top bunk." He was a portly young man with greasy blonde hair and puffy cheeks. "If I fall off, it might break my neck." As Sachi got a bit closer he could smell the sweat on the boy's clothing, but he smiled anyway to make a good first impression.

  "I've never had a top bunk before—so I hope I don't roll off either." The two chuckled and Sachi reached out a hand. "Sachi Van'Heatah, from the Green Edge."

  "I could have figured you weren't from the capital with ears like that." The young man reached out his own hand and shook Sachi's firmly. "Dallis Ventin, from one of those shitty River Towns—it's good to meet'cha." Dallis went back to unpacking his things and gave Sachi a confused look when he noticed the Elv's lack of luggage. "Didn't you bring anything?"

  Sachi felt embarrassed by his lack of baggage. All he and Mira had brought to the capital that morning was the clothes on their backs. Sachi didn't feel like it would help make a good impression to mention he was carried to Gilgamere on his older brother's shoulder.

  "I try not to pack heavy." Sachi eyed over Dallis impatiently. He wanted to be polite and get to know the boy, but Victoria was waiting on him and felt there was little time to dally with small talk. He tried to act casual as he changed the topic. "By the way, do you know where the showers are around here, and maybe a place where I can buy some cheap clothes? I've got nothing else to wear."

  "Well, the showers are in the basement, and I think there's actually a clothing shop on the first floor of the Palace—but there's no way anything there will be cheap." Sachi smelled his tattered shirt to see if it was in suitable condition for sharing dinner with a Duchess, but he reeked of Gatorfish and hardly had any fabric left covering his left side. Dallis noticed Sachi's worried look and started rustling through his bag. He tossed Sachi a change of clothes and a towel. "Here, you might be able to make my size work. You're tall so the shirt should fit fine, the waist on those pants might be a bit big though."

  Sachi looked down to the gift with awe, no one ever did anything nice for him, so he wasn't sure how to react; there must have been some sort of catch. "I... uh, I can't take these. I don't-"

  "Take 'em." Dallis encouraged. "I can't let my bunkie walk around the barracks smellin' like that. And I sure as shit don't wanna smell it either when I'm tryin' to sleep." His teeth were crooked, but his smile was genuine and put Sachi at ease.

  "Thanks, Dallis. I'll pay you back for these—promise."

  "Don't worry about it." Dallis said, shooing off Sachi with his hand. "Go on. I'm sure I'll see you later."

  Sachi left his room and headed down to the basement with a smile on his face, hoping Dallis would end up being as kind as the chubby teen seemed.

  After showering, Sachi changed into the clothes Dallis had loaned him. It was a simple get-up, a white long-sleeve shirt and a pair of denim slacks with several grass stains. The pants were loose, just as Dallis had warned him, but Sachi paid little mind to the ill-fitting attire; he was just glad that someone cared enough to help him out in a pinch. He pinned his Red Wing badge to his shirt on the left breast, then plucked and prodded his wet hair into its usual spiky cone before dashing out to the front of the barracks. Sure enough, when he got to the front entrance, Victoria was there waiting for him impatiently. She had her arms crossed and was already tapping a foot and glancing around restlessly, making it clear to Sachi that the Duchess had been waiting for longer than she cared for. When she spotted the red-headed Elv she grinned.

  "What took you so long? Does it take a while to do all that to your hair?"

  Sachi rushed up to his new teammate anxiously. "Sorry about that, took a little longer than expected to find an open shower."

  How did she know it was the hair?!

  "Ugh!" She rolled her eyes. "Figures. It must be a mess in there with all the new soldiers. But don't worry. You're fine, I wasn't waiting that long. I'll have to wash up after dinner, myself. The women's barracks were filthy, Sachi—I mean filthy! I couldn't get out of there fast enough."

  "Aye, my room smelled like thirty unwashed soldiers, so I think we're on the same page. I'm glad to get out of there. My bunkmate is friendly but my ears were already getting a bit too much attention whenever I walked into a room." No one in his barracks had been unkind, but he had noticed a few dozen unkind glares as he made his way through the building to get ready.

  "You hungry for dinner?" She asked teasingly. "I'm sure my father has already prepared a feast while he waited on me."

  "Uh, yeah... Please." He said, still slightly unsure if he was socializing properly with the young noble. "Lead the way," Sachi motioned for her to go ahead of him. "I'm starving after using so much Light on the Playground."

  The duo left the barracks and headed back to the center of Gilgamere along the Red Grove's path. They laughed all the way back to Deslit Colosseum, reminiscing about each memorable moment from the day's exams. Mira was a topic that kept coming up, whether it was his strength or his goofy mannerisms. As they ran out of exam gossip, Victoria told Sachi a little more about her father: the Duke and former Captain, Antony Ramses.

  "Wait..." Sachi had to pause for a moment before his friend could finish her story. "You're really a Duchess? A noble, right?"

  "That's not the point, okay? Just listen, you wouldn't believe how he was acting this morning—father had no doubt I would pass." Victoria smiled proudly when speaking of Antony, even when speaking like the man was a fool. She was proud of who he was, despite the mixed emotions she felt over how people treated their family since his retirement. "He just kept going on and on with questions, like: which Division do I want to get into? And how do I want my cloak decorated?"

  "Well... how do you want your cloak decorated?" Sachi teased with raised brows.

  "White with red feathers on the collar, but once again, that's not the point. He was acting like I was invincible, like failure wasn't an option. At one point my mother saw how freaked out it made me, so she tried to say something, but he would hear nothing of it." Victoria cleared her throat and lowered her voice to a deep nasally pitch to imitate her father. "She's a Ramses, dear. No Captain could ever fail my little girl." Her and Sachi both burst out into laughter at her awful impression.

  "I highly doubt a war hero sounds like that." Sachi was barely able to get the words out between his giggles.

  "Fine! Maybe I can't do the voice right, but that's exactly what he said—I'm just glad to come home with something to show for it, ya' know?" Victoria looked down to the Red Wing badge in her hand with eyes all too eager to show off the achievement to her family. "Father would have been devastated if I didn't make it." She studied her badge and glanced up to Sachi with a grin. "He'll be so happy to meet you. He loves meeting Elves."

  "That's a first." Sachi rolled his eyes dramatically from his Duchess-ally. "Most Humans would rather spit on me than dine with me. I didn't think you'd want to, and honestly, I'm pretty nervous to walk into an upscale alehouse after those kids earlier."

  Victoria looked down to her feet in frustration. "Just ignore those kids, most of the nobles will grow up to be spoiled nobodies like their parents anyways." She took a brief pause to reflect on childhood in Gilgamere before continuing. "A lot of them don't know about hard work, or sacrifice; or what it takes to keep this Kingdom safe. They're just... I don't know if there's a word for it—but they're too set in their ways to care about anything other than what they see in front of them."

  Sachi shrugged. "I know the type, Mira and I met quite a few in Palos and Posidon." He saw Victoria's sunken expression and tried to cheer her up. "Don't worry, I've gotten used to it by now. There's nothing I haven't been called or-"

  "Well, it shouldn't be like that..." Her interruption came out a bit stronger than she intended. "It won't be like that anymore." She pointed to Sachi's badge and calmed her tone. "You have the Red Wings now, so if anyone gives you grief, come straight to me!" She tapped a thumb against her chest. "We're a team now, so I've got your back!" Victoria's fluctuating personality threw Sachi for a loop; she acted classy on occasion, but it was clear there was a frightening young woman hidden inside her. He wanted to reassure that he appreciated her friendship, but at the same time he didn't want to get roped into being a damsel-in-distress again; like with Mira. His Red Wings were proof that he became a soldier, and he was going to earn the respect that came with that title; without Mira or Victoria carrying him along the way.

  Sachi raised a fist to the air and smiled with appreciation. "And if anyone messes with you, they'll have to answer to me."

  Victoria laughed at Sachi's overconfidence. "Good to know. If someone's bugging me, I'll have you rip a finger off or something—I'm sure that would gross out anyone enough to run away."

  "Hey! I'm serious! I know Mira's stronger, but I'm not about to lose a fight to anyone either." He stuck his hand out to shake on a deal, his face glued in a pouty expression. "So, what do you say, are we partners?"

  Victoria looked down at the hand and smiled optimistically at whatever Fate held for the two of them. She shook the Elv's hand tightly.

  "Partners."

  (To Be Continued...)

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