"And all hail the one who walks ahead to lead us to the defeat of our greatest enemy." The ten initiates intoned, each stepping forward and lighting a candle on the great altar of the Sagehoun. The red-robed priest who led them then stepped forward with a piece of wrought metal in his hands.

"This." he told the initiates in a strong voice that belied his look of wizened age "Is the symbol of that which we must strive to defeat." His voice rang out over the eager faces of the initiates and the supporting Sages who stood behind them, watching eagerly.

"You must defeat the group that supports this symbol before the rising of the new moon of the next quarter or you will not be allowed acceptance into the pentad." He explained to them, allowing the flickering candle-light to glance off of the metal and strike the eyes which had not seen sun for many centuries. There were gasps of alarm, which soon quieted after the priest began again.

"All who would take up this task, hold out your left hand and you shall be marked accordingly as petitioning members for this elite service." He finished, beckoning to the Sages who stepped forward, razor-sharp daggers in their hands. One by one, the priest watched as each initiate's hand was slashed in the vertical marking of the petitioner. Then, slowly, he raised a vial of foul smelling acid up to the shining symbol that he had placed on a small wooden stand on the altar.

"It is done. May the darkness claim prowess upon the one who strives to defeat us." He said, tipping the vial to allow a thin stream of acid to strike the gleaming metal.

The silver "Cofa and Star", the symbol of all that was music in the Overworld of Rakan, hissed and smoked as the acid struck it, melting it away back to which it had started as, a lump of gray metal.

****

Chapter 1

Carrish, Bard and Loremaster of Cantata, was lost. Having neglected to listen during the lessons on how to navigate in the woods and how to pack for survival, he had managed to wander off the beaten path and was now confused to where he even was. It was not surprising that the young bard had wandered off the trail, however, as he had been composing yet another ballad to add to his collection of hundreds that he had at his disposal.

Humming the tune to himself, the young man sat down on a large rock and looked up towards the sky. The sun had been setting for a while now, and it was approaching dusk. He figured he should probably find his way at least back on the road before the darkness fell altogether. Suddenly, the bard flinched as a black-fletched arrow zinged by his ear and thunked into the tree behind him. He had forgotten about the elves in these woods.

Quickly, he mentally searched through his stock of spells, realizing soon that he was clearly outmatched in these woods. He did carry a staff, but that was useless against bow-weilding elves, and he knew that these elves were immune to all of his charm spells, and would see right through his invisibility spell. Smoothing his wild blond hair back on his head, he re-adjusted his cap and dusted off his clothes. If he was going to die, at least he'd die looking nice.

Another arrow brushed the cap right off his head, and as yet another sunk into the tree behind him, he began to wonder what these elves were doing with him. If they had wanted him dead, he would not still be sitting there, from what he knew of elven archery. Suddenly, seemingly from out of thin air, an imperial voice rang out.

"Carrish of Cantata, what buisness have you in my forest?" the voice rang out, as the arrows stopped hitting the tree next to him. Carrish looked around, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from.

"I'm. . . lost?" he finally managed to say after a long period of silence from the forest surrounding him. He noticed that not even the birds were chirping anymore. Carrish had the sudden feeling of being in deep trouble.

"You certainly are, human, your kind is not wanted in the sanctity of these woods." the voice said again, seeming to get closer this time. Carrish looked around frantically once more and then gulped and closed his eyes. By doing this, he missed the massive green dragon that stepped out of the forest just then.

The dragon walked right up in front of him, appeared to grin and then was gone in a puff of white smoke, leaving the grinning form of an elf maiden in it's wake. The elf unsheathed her long sword and poked the terrified bard in the stomach.

"My, you humans sure have short memories." the elf laughed as Carrish hesitantly opened his eyes to see the slim elf laughing at him. He visibly sighed and the elf sheathed her weapon.

"Arin, I'd say I'm happy to see you, but you did not have to scare the dickens out of me first." Carrish muttered, reaching behind him for his hat. "A simple hello would have been sufficient." The elf laughed again and made a beckoning motion with her hand. Two more elves stepped out of the forest.

"Ke'char and Charic were in on it too, you understand." She told him, as the two elven warriors stepped forward to retrieve their arrows. Both wore wide grins.

"I feel very loved here." Carrish said a tad disgrunteldly. Arin just smiled.

"I see you had forgotten that we lived in this section of the woods, bard. A bit lost, are we?" She asked. Carrish nodded and she again motioned to her companions. "Come with us, we are heading back to the village, you should really stay with us tonight, we don't want you getting even further lost in these woods at night. It's bad for you, you know." She cautioned, giving him a knowing wink.

"Must you bring that up every time I see you?" He groaned, recalling what she was hinting at.

"Yes, but you know it was quite humorous to see you wandering around in the dark, not being able to see like we can." Charic spoke up, patting Carrish on the shoulder as he spoke.

"Tis true." Ke'char added, his usually sharply serious face crinkled in a smile. "You should never make a bet with elves in the darkness."

"Enough, you two, we should really return before our friend here falls in a hole in the complete night." Arin laughed, holding onto Carrish's arm as the four walked further into the forest.

****

As Carrish and the elves of the Roanoake Forest traded jokes and songs around the camp fire that night, across the forest, on the edge of the hamlet Crystil Lake, so named for the clear waters of the lake which was surrounded by the villagers, a silver wolf panted at the feet of it's master. This wolf was not an ordinary wolf, however, it was a were-wolf, controlled by he who had been called the "Master of the Hunt", or just simply "The Hunter" in the surrounding villages and forest of this region. However, this night, he was neither hunting or otherwise as he stared into the blackness of the forest in the moonlight.

"The human, Carrish was his name." He murmured half to himself, half to the wolf laying at his feet. "He is a very powerful and dangerous magic-user, but he does not know it yet." He spoke, his voice but a dark whisper in the still night. The wolf perked up its' ears and ceased it's panting, sensing a change in its' masters' mood. The dark man looked down and grinned, reaching down to fondle the wolf's ears.

"No, not yet, my pet. He can not be ours until he leaves the protection of the Elves." he told the wolf, who almost looked disappointed at this turn of events. "No, he must stay where he is for now, until he leaves the forest, he cannot be harmed by creatures such as ourselves."

Lips parting in an estatic grin, the man's form became blurred and soon a large black wolf stood where only before had stood a man. The wolf-were howled and darted off into the night, the silver were-wolf close behind.

****

Carry on. . . "Allegro"