Necralia glanced once down the dusty road of the Northern Trade Route before stepping quickly out of the shadows. She could hear them approach the moment she revealed her location and turned at once toward the cracking walls of Crossing, running with all her might. The giant form of a pack of black leucros loped behind her. They roared with might toward the sky as they chased their succulent morsel down the twisting trail. She glanced back once at red eyes staring hungrily at her, and drops of saliva oozing down gaping fangs, darkening the dirt on the trail below. She knew she would be no match for all of them, should they catch her. The only chance of survival lay in busting her way through the Northeast Gate before they tore her flesh from her bones. Beads of sweat began to pour down her forehead as she pushed herself harder and harder, using tricks of magic to make herself faster and divert the pack of beasts.

She watched as the gate first came into sight, then grew closer and closer. A small group of adventurers were assembled outside it, chatting and practicing their skills. They were obviously young and blissfully unaware of the herd of bloodthirsty leucros that were pounding toward them. She could sense that the leucros hadn't missed them, however, and were already looking beyond her at the slower meals. One even bypassed her, heading straight for a portly trader who was slapping his mule around. She cried out, trying to warn the unsuspecting group. They glanced up and screamed it fright, making a rush for the city gate. Soon, only the trader remained. His mule, carrying precious cargo, was paralyzed with fright and wouldn't move from its spot. He yanked on the reigns and yelled at it, but it wouldn't budge.

Necralia glanced at the gate, then at the trader, then at the gate, then at the trader, and then muttered a curse to herself. She changed her course for the trader and ran quickly ahead of the leucro targeting him. The guards had been notified of the rampaging critters and were closing the gate's giant doors. By this point the trader had noticed their quick approach, and his eyes widened in horror. She finally reached him and gripped his satin covered arm tightly. She used the last of her strength to shove him through the almost shut doors and then sprang through the gap, before rolling into a heap on the inside of the walls.

She inhaled deeply and realized she was at the point of utter exhaustion. Outside the walls they could hear a high-pitched whinnying, shrill with terror, and the content growls of feeding carnivores. The shrill cries soon silenced and all that could be heard was the shredding and tearing of sharp teeth and claws. A familiar stench of blood, one you never quite got used to, settled over the area and penetrated the nasal cavities. The trader had stood back up by now and had been busy brushing the small particles of dust from his rich satin and velvet garments. He was dressed in the latest fashion, though she couldn't understand how it was appealing at all. A pair of maroon velvet pants stretched over his bulgy legs and ended at his knees, where frilly white socks covered feet nestled in polished black shoes. A purple satin waistcoat, embroidered down the edges in gold braid, sat on a white silk shirt that hung open, displaying his unappealing hairy chest. Thick gold bands covered his fingers, attached to enormous rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and even a glittering black pearl. Trinkets dotted his entire body and glittering, feminine necklaces hung from his neck. She even noticed a gold and jeweled snake dropping down him occasionally, solidifying in different places before moving on. His head was shaved bald and oversized golden Kronars, the currency of the area, were painted on his baby-fat cheeks. He turned beady black eyes, filled with malice, at her before speaking.

"I'll have your head for this!" he roared in anger. She blinked with obvious surprise, have her head?!? She had just saved his life!

"B-But," she stammered. "I just saved your life!"

"And whose fault was it that it was put at risk in the first place?" he demanded. "Your's!!" His face had turned bright red, giving him the look of an enraged pig. A group of people had surrounded the area, some glaring at her, some glaring at the trader. "You just cost me many platinum in the cargo I lost!" he continued yelling. "And!" he shouted and paused for a moment, strengthening his glare. "You cost me my mule! Daisy!" His face almost turned sad for a moment, but then he quickly curled his lips into a sneer, before yelling again, "I am going to bring this to the highest court! I'm going to talk to the big man! Zoha! You'll see, you'll pay. You'll know not to mess with me again! I am the almighty Snertgor! And in this town, I only answer to Zoha himself!" He finally finished and stomped off, shoving people roughly out of the way.

A kind Paladin helped Necralia to her feet and patted her on the back, saying that Snertgor's talk was all nonsense, and she had done a valiant deed in saving his measly life. The crowd began to clear away and Necralia was finally along to nurse an open gash she could feel through her mage's robe. It was deep and she would have to find an Empath. Suddenly people began to materialize from the shadows around her and formed a circle, closing her in. She glanced at them in turn, they were tough and arrogant looking. The women and men each looked like fierce, determined clones. Each man was clothed in buckskin breeches, their chests were bare and rippled with muscles beneath weapon's straps and bows slung over their shoulders. The women wore short doeskin leggings and tight bodices of the same material, which covered equally well-muscled chests as the men. They were armed to the teeth and stared down at her in contempt.

One side of the ring opened up briefly and a stocky man of moderate height tramped through and up into her face. His face was red and brushed with a stingy white mustache. If looks could kill, his would have slain her on the spot. "You have brought dishonor to the people of the Crossing!" he shouted, though she was right beside him and could hear the words without any assistance. "Your shameful actions has hurt one of the greatest men in Elanthia."

She could barely speak, but managed to clear her dry throat and speak, "S-S-Sir," she said. "The pack was ferocious and had been roaming out of their habitat, I would have been killed."

"THAT IS NO EXCUSE!" he yelled again. "I wouldn't expect a creature as lowly and weak as a mage to have defeated those creatures but you could have at least died with dignity! And Snertgor had to pay the price for your cowardice!"

Now he had insulted her guild and she began to grow angrily. "Perhaps if you and your wonder children had been patrolling the area and kept them under check, like you claim to do while defending your usefulness," she spoke quickly, without thinking. "People like me wouldn't have to suffer."

From the expression on his face, she could tell she had made a mistake. His face grew so red she thought he would explode, and he narrowed his eyes at her. "How dare you try to pass your guilt onto us!" Then he gestured to one of his hunters, who came up behind her and gripped her arms with his massive strength. She tried to struggle but she couldn't manage to get from his grip, and they had cleverly herded her to an area with no trace of elemental magic. "Now you will pay for your crimes before the mighty Zoha," he said to her, jabbing a finger in her chest. "Feel honored your unworthy eyes will get to see his mightiness before you pay. You will be made an example of before we toss you out of our lands." The man turned to leave, not before giving her a final jab, and all the hunters saluted him saying, "Hail Treveri!"

They then shoved her roughly through the town like a common criminal and tossed her to the awaiting guards. They stripped her of her clothing and left her shivering in the cold morning air. The men chortled to themselves as they tossed shackles onto her wrists and threw her into a squalid jail cell. She curled up on a pile of straw in the corner, trying to cover herself from the prying eyes of a dangerous looking ruffian, who was shackled on the other side of the tiny room. She had to wait through the night and grew deathly cold. She called out to the guards, begging for a blanket, clothing, anything, but they just glanced in at her without compassion. What had she done to deserve this? All she did was run from monsters she was supposed to be safe from. If she hadn't saved that pompous trader, she probably would have walked on without any sort of commotion. Now, when she should have been a hero, she was stripped of her dignity and in jail. That was the way it had been of late. Tax after tax had been imposed by Zoha, and corrupt officials flourished and grew wealthy while more common folk suffered. Treveri used the rangers as his personal strong arm. Some joined for this reason but others had simply wanted to be woods guides and help protect the environment. Now they had become elite commandos, used at Treveri's whim. Both men had slowly but surely made life harder and less appealing for all adventurers in Elanthia.

Necralia curled up in the straw, trying to get even the slightest bit of sleep, but constant scratching and her wary senses kept her up until the guards came and dragged her away in the morning. They took her out to where they had stuffed her possessions in a cloth bag. Then tossed the bag at her feet and told her to get dressed and be quick about it! With shaking fingers, she put her few possessions and then walked slowly to the guards. They each took one of her arms and dragged her to a large courtroom. One side was populated by rich looking Zohaites and on the other side, strong male and female Treverite Rangers stood in and out of the shadows. The bulky guards dragged her small form up to the front, where the man known as Zoha stared down at her in contempt. On one side of him stood Treveri, looking tough and intimidating, and on his opposite side, Snertgor sat on a plush velvet chair. He was dressed in a orange and gold outfit as silly as that he had worn the day before. All of them stared at her as though she was a bug they wished to crush beneath their boots.

Zoha cleared his throat and began, "Necralia, is it not true that you acted in extreme cowardice yesterday, by first luring leucros out to the road like a fool and then running from them?" She tried to shake her head and then he shouted, "I am not finished!" She froze as he continued, "Then, you cost Snertgor a large sum of money and a dear pet, who can NEVER be replaced, and roughly assaulted him? Perhaps in an attempt to steal something of his?"

"What?" she asked. "I saved his life! I didn't assault him!"

Snertgor glared at her and looked up at Zoha before saying, "The wench lies, I could have walked calmly away from the scene but she took the opportunity to rough up one of her betters." He stopped then seemed to ponder, lifting a dainty finger to his head, before adding, "She probably tried to steal from me, you can't trust these types."

"I do not lie!" Necralia shouted. "Perhaps you would have been able to walk away, had you left when you saw the leucro coming. But no, you had to try to movie your stupid mule, which you could not have loved and been able to hit her so hard. Had I not pushed you, that leucro would have made a hefty meal of your fat carcass. And the cargo couldn't have cost you very much, Trothfang knows you have more money to spend on bad fashion items than you'll ever need. And furthermore-"

Treveri had quickly come up behind her and cuffed her across the back of her head, stopping her stream of insults directed at Snertgor. Zoha glared at her and then nodded with a smile at Snertgor. "Snertgor's word is far better than your's," he pronounced. "Your lies have not swayed this court's ruling." He leaned forward to look closer at her before saying, "Exile! You do not deserve to live in our honorable world."

Exile-the word struck her in an odd way. It seemed to trigger something inside her, and she let out a long peal of maniacal laughter. Everyone was silent, they had expected her to weep and beg to be able to stay in their wonderful land, but the wench had laughed? Zoha began, "I don't see what's so fu-"

This time she had cut him off. "You think exile is a bad thing?" she said with a tone of mockery. "You and your dogs have destroyed the land of Elanthia. I take this as a welcome chance to get away." She stopped a moment then continued, "I will not forget this, however. The people of this land deserve better. I will study the dark magics and one day return and make you pay." She raised a finger at Zoha as she said this. One of his lackey mages had opened the exile portal. Treveri grew angrier with every word she said, his face was nearly blue, and as she finished he lifted her by her hair and threw her through the portal, while she laughed all the way. As she plunged through it she heard Zoha's voice saying, "Treveri you moron! How could you let her go!" It was too late for them to stop her now though, she was almost to her new land. Before her bright hole led to a new life where she would learn and eventually enact her revenge.