Tia and her friends walked in the semi-darkness of Elsian's Will O' the Wisp for what they figured was about two days, but it was hard to properly gauge time in the perpetual darkness of this under-earth realm. Elsian, with his light source, led the trio and was followed closely by Ela, who kept a sharp vigil for traps and the mythical nightmare creatures reputed to inhabit this realm of darkness. Tia lagged behind, deep in thought and misery with the memory of her "cowardly" actions unbecoming a heroine back at the battle on the Goblin Ridge.

Elsian paused suddenly in mid-stride and set his ear to the wall, then he conducted a brief whispered conversation with Ela. Tia's imagination took off with this action, why was Elsian discussing something with Ela alone? Had Elsian lost his respect for her bravery after her disgraceful actions back at the battle? Were he and Ela plotting to abandon her at any time? For the second time in her life, she was truly frightened and both events had occurred within the space of two days.

The pause that had seemed to last an eternity to Tia's rampant imagination was in actuality only a few seconds of real time and they were back under way. The only change was that Elsian and Ela were even more cautious than before and Tia was even more miserable. It wasn't long before their worried became a reality. A party of Dwarves bearing assorted Axes, Swords, and other cruel implements of war stood behind a barricade blocking the tunnel ahead.

"Halt, Drow Spies!" one of the Dwarves roared.

Elsian obeyed the order and replied in a courtly and civilized fashion, "Why have you chosen to waylay us, Dwarf?"

"We don't need to answer to the likes of you," the leader shouted, supported with hearty nods from his followers. "This is our passageway and you have to do as we say if you want through!"

"What do you want?" Ela inquired, stepping in front of Elsian.

"We want a slave, female," another Dwarf grinned evilly. "Chosen from amongst your number. I'm sure that one of you is noble enough that you would be willing to make that sacrifice for the others."

This was it, Tia thought. They would choose her to become the sacrifice. That's how they would be rid of their coward and they wouldn't even need to get their hands dirty.

"We'll let you choose," the leader laughed. "You have five minutes. One or all, that is the only way that you shall pass!"

"I'll go," Ela volunteered. "I'm just the half-elf."

"No," Elsian replied quietly but firmly. "I'll go, Tia will need your survival instincts if she is to fulfill her destiny. Like she said before, I'm too single-minded to be much good to her anyway."

"But you were instrumental in the Battle at Goblin Ridge," Ela countered. "She'll need your magic."

"Neither of you will go," Tia found herself speaking before she knew what was happening. "I'm your weakest link, the strong must survive, I'll go. You don't need a coward like me with you anyway."

"Coward?" Elsian laughed. "You? This is a joke, right?"

"I don't believe I'm hearing this," Ela replied, joining Elsian with titters of her own. "You're the one who led the charge against the Goblins in the first pace, that took a lot of bravery."

"But I fell back on Elsian's magic to get us out," Tia cried. "I should have been the one to get us out of that mess, instead I cowardly relied on someone else to fight the battle that I should have fought!"

"It's not cowardly to rely on you friends, Tia," Elsian muttered philosophically. "Many a hero of old has been saved because their stalwart companions backed them up."

Tia glanced at her feet in shame, but her spirits began to rise as she realized that the people that she held most dear did not think her a coward and still looked up to her.

"Enough of this talk," the leader of the Dwarves interrupted. "What's it going to be, one or all?"

Tia looked briefly towards Elsian and Ela and winked. Then she took a step towards the Dwarves, drew her golden blade, and charged, shouting a new battle-cry that would ring through this under earth realm for all eternity, "STUPID DWARVES!"

The Dwarves were stunned by the blatant insult that they had just received at the hands of this group that they had believed were at their mercy. Did the Elves have reinforcements coming? The Dwarves watched as the lead Elf easily cleared their barricade in a single leap and saw her golden sword slice through the thick neck of their leader as though it were butter, sending his head flew in a high arc against the wall of the corridor. The other female was only a short distance behind the first and leapt feet first over the barricade, driving her heels into another Dwarf's throat, the Dwarf collapsed in a gurgling heap as he tried, without success, to breath through his crushed windpipe. The third Elf, a male, began to chanting and inscribing invisible runes into the air before him with his staff.

The Dwarves quickly overcame their surprise and began fighting back with a renewed ferocity never before seen by those of the surface world. Tia was given a minor wound on her right forearm before she managed to slay another Dwarf and Ela was hard-pressed to keep two more from wounding her too badly. Elsian had just managed to avoid becoming an Elven pincushion by a volley of Dwarven crossbow bolts before he let loose a huge gust of wind and rain (underground?).

The Dwarves, who had never experienced any sort of surface weather, let alone a hurricane, were demoralized and retreated before the Elves who took advantage of the confusion to gain a superior footing over their opponents. It wasn't long before the Dwarves were fleeing down the corridors away from the bizarre weather surrounding the Elves.

"Elsian!" Tia shouted over the roar of the gale. "You can turn of your little rain squall now."

Elsian twitched his staff slightly and the hurricane came to an abrupt stop, then he grinned with mock offense, "LITTLE rain squall?"

Tia laughed and then Ela joined in and the mood among the three was light-hearted for the first time since before the Battle at Neo-Goblin Ridge.

They hadn't traveled far when they encountered another group of Dwarves. The Elves drew their weapons immediately but held back their charge so that the Dwarves could make the first move.

"Hail, mighty Drow!" shouted the leader. "We thank you for turning back our most wanted criminals and wish to extend an invitation to you to enjoy our hospitality."

Tia was taken back momentarily, but quickly recovered and re-sheathed her sword before replying, "We thank you for your offer and we are deeply honored."

"Then let us escort you to the banquet that is to be held in your honor," the leader smiled, relieved. "We will treat you like the heroes that you are."

Tia and her friends followed the Dwarves down the corridor, deeper into this dark world. They soon entered a large cavern filled with buildings carved out of stalactites with many Dwarves going to and fro, Tia even thought she caught a glimpse of one of the Dwarves from their first encounter, but she couldn't be sure.

"In which home is this banquet to be held, friend Dwarf?" Elsian asked.

"Ah," the Dwarf replied, placing a finger aside his nose and looking about conspiratorially. "The king has agreed to hold this banquet personally, we are escorting you to his palace."

"Where is this?" Ela inquired cheerfully.

"Our king resides two days walk from here," the Dwarf replied as he started walking again. "To have him hold this banquet for you is a rare honor."

Tia fell into deep thought once more as something inside her told her that something was wrong, but she couldn't just come right out and voice her concern in front of the Dwarves, after all they had been the very soul of courtesy. She decided that she wouldn't question the Dwarves' honor, but would remain alert until she sorted out the wrongness of this situation, if only she could warn Elsian and Ela as well.

The Dwarves called a halt at the end of the day, how they knew that it was the end of the day was a mystery that only added to Tia's fears. The Dwarves volunteered to stand guard first while Tia and her friends rested, Ela and Elsian agreed readily but Tia did so only reluctantly and even then she still kept a close eye on the Dwarves.

Tia leaned into Elsian and rested her head on his chest and whispered up to him in the Elven tongue, "Don't let your guard down."

Elsian blinked in surprise but quickly nodded as he saw the sincerity in her eyes.

The night passed uneventfully despite Tia's fears and they set off once more down the corridor to the Dwarven King's Palace. The Dwarves assured the Elves that they would arrive sometime tonight and that they would feast on the best food that they had ever had. Tia remembered the last time someone had told her that and the wonderful meal that the Air Elemental, Arielle, had prepared. As they walked Tai's senses began to tingle and she began to suspect that they were being watched, Tia's hand immediately went to the hilt of her sword and she began making sidelong glances into the shadows.

"Halt, Duergar!" a voice form the shadows called. "Why have you entered into the land of the Drow?"

"Drow?" Tia inquired, voicing the confusion that she shared with her fellows.

The Dwarf ignored her and called to the shadows, "We bring items in trade for the greatest house of Tiornan."

"And what house is that?" the voice called back.

"The House Dre'Trinen," the Dwarf replied nonchalantly.

"Do you have any proof, Duergar?"

"I don't need to prove myself to you," the Dwarf grunted haughtily. "The fact that if I am delayed, you will be put to the altar of Lolth should be proof enough!"

An audible gulp could be heard from the shadows and then the voice said nervously, "Go ahead."

"Thanks," the Dwarf said icily.

The party walked on for another three hours when they at last reached a huge cavern with castles carved from stalactites, but instead of Dwarves living in the castles, the inhabitants were Elves with dark skin and white hair.

"Where's the palace of your king?" Elsian asked.

"Right over there," the Dwarf replied, pointing to the largest castle. "He chooses to live among the Drow and we choose to humor him since it grants us much more autonomy than we'd have with him near us."

Elsian nodded and the Dwarves led the trio to the indicated castle, when they stood before the castle gates they noticed Elven runes carved into the gated, but to Tia and her friends, they were unreadable.

"Halt, Duergar!" an Elf called down to them. "Why do you approach this honored house?"

The Dwarf responded in a strange guttural tongue and immediately the gates were opened, then he turned to Tia and her companions, "Follow me."

The Dwarves led Tia and company into the courtyard of the castle then turned and ran from the courtyard, shouting back, "The king will see you in a moment, enjoy your meal!"

"What have we here?" An Elf remarked quietly as he and a contingent of Elven infantry came down the stairs from the keep. "A band of surface Elves given to us by the Duergar."

"Who are you?" Tia replied, stepping between her companions and the strange Elves.

"We are the Drow," the Elf answered succinctly, then he barked an order to his men to restrain Tia and her friends.

As the Elves approached with the intent to manacle the trio, Tia's sword appeared in her hand with blinding speed. Elsian's tapped the butt of his staff on the stone of the floor three times and releasing a blinding flash of heat, causing the Drow, who relied too much on infravision, to cry out in agony. Tia charged with her Katana raised and engaged one of the blinded Drow briefly before she ran him through and moved on. Ela started to slink around behind the Drow.

"Get them!" the Drow leader shouted. "If any of them gets away, I can guarantee that you will see the point of Lolth's knife from a once in a lifetime perspective!"

The Drow fought back with amazing ferocity and soon Tia and Elsian were being forced back step by halting step towards the closed gate.

Ela screamed as the Drow leader grabbed her by the back of her neck. "Let go of me, you big ugly oaf!"

That was the beginning of tragedy, Tia tripped over Elsian's staff and sent them both tumbling into one pile while her sword flew through the air and came down in a Drow's hand. The Drow crowed with victory and the one that caught Tia's sword raised it above his head. It was then that a miracle happened, the sword demonstrated its greatest powers, with a blinding flash of light the Drow that held the sword vanished without a trace and the sword clattered to the ground. Then the Earth began to shake and a small fissure opened beneath the sword. With the sword out of sight the ground continued to rumble building up to a tremendous force until the Earth relieved it's pressure with a mighty explosion. Tia, Elsian, and Ela were hurled in separate directions through the air and, to their immense surprise, they passed right through the rock of the cavern's ceiling and appeared in open air.

Tia landed alone in a deep lake and struggled to remove her armor and swim to the surface, she treaded water for a few minutes while she took a couple of deep breaths. Once she had filled her lungs with air, she started the swim to the shore where Tia collapsed in exhaustion from her efforts and recent events.

When Tia awoke she felt quite refreshed and ready to travel again, she squinted in the bright morning sun and realized that she was considerably farther south than her village, though how she got here was beyond her recollection. She saw that she had a knife tucked into her boot and that an Elven bow had landed nearby. She also noticed a backpack with various items inside as well as a leather bound book whose cover read: BOOK OF THE HOLY ENCHANTRESS. Tia took the pack and slung it onto her back then left the lake in search of a road and her lost memories.

Tia arrived at a road and looked in both directions to decide which way to go. The road ran in a north-south direction and since she knew that her home was somewhere to the north, she decided to head that way in hope that perhaps there she could discover some clue to her identity. Tia had walked for a few minutes when she heard a guff voice singing in the distance. She instinctively jumped into the brush on the side of the road, suffering a moment of dŽjˆ vu. That was the end of the similarity to something in her past because around the corner came a short warrior riding a large gray mare. Tia immediately thought Dwarf and something inside her snapped, Dwarves could not and should not be trusted. She did not understand the meaning of her reaction but she knew that this drunken Dwarven slob must die!

Tia leapt from her place of concealment and swept the Dwarf from his saddle, then something weird happened. The Dwarf's slovenly features faded out and in their place the refined features of an oddly familiar Elf faded in. Tia pinned the Dwarf/Elf against a tree and drew her knife from her boot which she held to the Dwarf's throat.

"Tia!" the Dwarf/Elf cried. "Please stop! It is I, Elsian!"

"Who are you?!" Tia whispered in confusion. "Why are you following me!"

"I wanted to talk you into staying at the village, Tia. To be my wife."

"Ew, I don't even know you!" Tia muttered, releasing the Dwarf/Elf but nicking his chin with the point of her knife first.

"Ow!" the Dwarf/Elf exclaimed, his hands going to his wound in surprise. "What did you do that for?"

Tia was silent as the strange and semi-familiar scene unfolded before her and she reacted without knowing the significance of her actions.

"Why are you going, Tia?" the Dwarf/Elf asked. "Out there is the land of the flat-eared humans. You know what they'll do to you, what they do to all our women that they catch!"

"Why are you doing this?" Tia cried. "What did I ever do to you?"

"But what if they do try to-" the Dwarf/Elf stammered.

"Leave me alone!" Tia screamed. "I just want to go home!"

"But I would never know-" the Dwarf/Elf stammered again.

"I want to go home!" Tia wailed. "Why won't you just leave me alone!?"

The Dwarf/Elf bowed his head in defeat and sighed.

Tia fell to her knees and started to cry. Then she jumped up with rage and seeing that the Dwarf's features had faded back in, she howled with rage and plunged her knife into the Dwarf's throat with the viciousness of a tigress going for the kill. Tia once more fell to her knees and cried. This time when she rose she was more determined than ever to find a way home, discover her past, and atone for the sins of that past. Tia buried the Dwarf in a shallow grave, after searching for anything useful that he may have carried, then she retrieved the horse that had wandered a little off during the tumble with its master. Tia mounted the mare and rode north along the road, back the way the Dwarf had come.

Tia stopped for the night beside a beautiful pond, she tied her new horse to a low branch of a tree, and then climbed that same tree with her spellbook. Once she was situated and all nice and comfy, she began to study the book with consummate skill, she picked up the basics of spell casting fairly quickly and found that she had a natural aptitude for the arcane. She figured that her lost identity must have been some kind of warrior sorceress or something because of this.

Tia followed the road for several hours before she heard the sound of singing, a beautiful lyric voice like that that she vaguely remembered in her earliest childhood. Tia turned her horse towards the music and started cautiously towards the singing, she soon came upon the source of the song: a single human walking along the road and strumming a harp. Tia drew her knife and drew her horse to a halt.

"Stay, human," Tia called. "Come at peril to your life!"

"What's this?" the human replied after coming to a stop. "Why have I been waylaid?"

"What is your business following me?"

"I am only using a public road, milady," the human replied taking a step.

"That so," Tia murmured suspiciously. "What proof can you present?"

"Proof?"

Tia murmured one of the spells that she had studied the previous night and released the arcane energies upon the human. Almost immediately she received her answer concerning the human as waves of pure goodness wafted back at her senses, Tia smiled with relief and began to suspect that maybe she could gain a companion for her travels.

"I am sorry for intruding good sir," Tia apologized. "But I awoke on the shores of a lake with no memories of either past or present other than a great evil."

"Truly," the human murmured. "Your tale bears a ring of familiarity. It reminds me of an ancient song from the days of prophecy. Would you like to hear it?"

"I would, sir," Tia answered and dismounted.

Here is the bard's song of prophecy and amnesia:

In the days that are still to come

An Elf, wild and winsome,

Shall rise in the land of Elven-kind

And she shall to evil bind.

Though life and forget-me-nots

Assail this wild and winsome tot,

Do not despair,

for allies, she will find near and fair.

The first shall be the lore-master,

The second the child's friendly spell caster,

Next is the half-elven,,

And last is the bard, friend to all Elven.

"Well, milady," the bard replied with a grin. "I have at last come to understand the meaning of that song. You are the heroine of which the verses sing and I suspect that somewhere in the fog of your lost memories that you have met the first three of you companions, that leaves the fourth."

"The bard friend to all elven," Tia replied mindlessly as she tried to dig up some of her lost memories.

"Yes," the troubadour answered. "But don't bother looking for him, for he is I and I is he. Kelvin, bard and entertainer extraordinaire, I will make you laugh if you're blue and cause the miles of your journey to pass beneath your feet as leaves in the wind."

"I will be honored by your company, friend Kelvin," Tia smiled. "Mayhap I can keep my mind from recent events that I have no explanation for with your help."

"Then let us return to this lake of which you spoke, I fear that you may have left something behind there."

So Tia mounted her horse and helped the bard up behind her, then they set off back to the lake to retrieve some mysterious item.