As the sun set on another peaceful day in Lordaeron, children ran into their homes, peasants carried their final batch of lumber, and wild animals returned to the forest. Inside a room in the Kingdom's castle, a group of young men and women aspiring to succeed leadership of the Alliance, should such succession ever be necessary, continue to study the Alliance's history and the knowledge necessary to lead a Kingdom. After an hour, these young knights gathered their belongings and set off to retire to their homes. Fabian Siffredi, more commonly known as Zilea among his peers, left fifteen minutes after the others after a thorough discussion with his instructor, Hoodrych, and he walked in a direction opposite to that of his home, which was not unusual for him; though he was well-known for his excellence in his studies, he was even more well-known for his licentiousness.

Although the sun had set on Lordaeron only an hour earlier, the sky was almost pitch black and the only sources of light were dimly lit torches along a narrow concrete path. Cold tonight. Fabian pulled his tunic to partially cover his face. Fabian knew that the sorceresses finished started and finished their training later than most and he had been trying to time his arrival so that they had just finished at his arrival. Right on time! You sir are one marvelous young gentleman. Several young sorceresses gathered to greet him, but he was interested in conversation with only one sorceress, the youngest, but most talented of the group, Shanelle. The other sorceresses playfully sulked as they walked away but Shanelle wrapped her arms around Fabian and said, "Fabian, it's so wonderful to see you. You came all this way just to see me?"

"Of course. I would walk the seven Kingdom's to see you." Fabian replied.

"Awwwwww," cooed the others.

"Stop! You're embarrassing me," said Shanelle, whose cheeks were redder than a valentine's rose.

"Are you ready to go?"

"I just need to gather my things. Give me a few minutes okay?"

"Of course. And bring something warm; it's cold out tonight."

As Shanelle walked, Fabian pretended to stare solemnly into out a nearby window. However, even someone who commanded such great respect from his peers could not evade his more base desires and, from the corners of his eyes, he peered at Shanelle, marveling at the manner in which her dress revealed the rhythmic up-and-down movement of her hips as she walked. Truly a sight for sore eyes.

"Shall we go?"

"After you milady."

Fabian and Shanelle set off, as they had so often in the past, going first to Shanelle's home before Fabian's. "You weren't joking," said Shanelle. "It really is cold tonight." She wrapped her arms around Fabian's left arm and rested her head on his shoulder. Fabian felt her long flowing hair gently tickling his forearms. He tried to see her eyes but they were obscured by her hair. Though Fabian had remained largely platonic throughout this relationship, he gently rested his head on her's. She gasped, surprised at Fabian's spontaneity. Fabian chuckled lightly to himself but sighed in relief since she had not reacted less predictably. For ten minutes, the two walked together in silence with nothing but the night air and their warm embrace for company. The path in the distance seem darker than usual, Fabian thought, but I'll give the wrong impression if I mention it right? Fabian continued to walk in silence.

It certainly looks darker in the distance. Isn't he going to say anything? Probably not. Men and their pride. Shanelle softly said, "Is it darker than usual, or is it just me?"

"It's probably just the wind," Fabian remarked casually but he lifted his head upright and clutched her arms more tightly. This is not the wind.

A few more minutes of silence passed but Fabian and Shanelle were now walking in almost complete darkness; the only light that remained was a glimmer of light from whence they had come. "I'm scared," Shanelle said quietly, clinging even more tightly to Fabian's arm.

"It's probably just the wind," Fabian muttered almost inaudibly. "It's probably just the…" Fabian stopped. "Wait here. If I don't return in five minutes, I want you to return to the Sanctum, okay?" Fabian disappeared into the darkness ahead. Shanelle waited, quivering.

Shanelle waited for a minute before she heard a yell that could have belonged only to Fabian. "Fabian! Fabian! Was that you?!" She ran toward the yell. "Fabian! Are you okay?" She heard Fabian shout something but could not decipher what he said. She ran until she could see a faint outline of a body that was slowly limping on grass instead of the concrete path was more commonly used.

"Fabian! Is that you?"

"Quiet! I thought I told you to go away; what are you still doing here? We have to get out of here immediately," Fabian whispered violently as he limped.

"I'm sorry. I heard you but couldn't understand what-" Her reply was interrupted by the sound of a muffled bang, the shuffling of leaves, and an acute grunt, her acute grunt.

"Shanelle. Shanelle! Can you hear me? Where does it hurt?" Fabian said as he continued to limp away, now dragging Shanelle's limp body too.

"My side. It hit me in…" Shanelle fell silent.

Fabian quickly reached for Shanelle's side; it's warm. Damn. What am I supposed to do now? Despite being only 20 years old and harboring a searing pain from the three arrows in his left shoulder, back, and leg, he promptly wrapped Shanelle's left arm around his neck, his left arm under Shanelle's knees, and his right arm under Shanelle's upper back to hoist her into the air. Although he felt as though he were being branding by three branding irons simultaneously, he carried Shanelle and continued to limp away as quickly as he could, each step more painful than the last.

Where do I go from here? Shanelle's home is at least 5 minutes away. The arcane sanctum is ever farther away. My home is definitely out of the question. God damn the wounds burn! Doesn't that old blacksmith Luigi live nearby? If I'm guessing our location accurately, he should be less than a minute away and he lives alone so my appearance will minimally disturb him. Unable to think of a better alternative and reinvigorated by this thought, Fabian attempted to run but only managed to open his wounds more, causing a stream of blood to run from his left shoulder to his left foot; Fuck! The blood is going to leave a trail. Can't stop now. Hopefully the grass and the darkness hides it.

After what felt like an eternity, Fabian arrived at Luigi's house, exhausted and disoriented. He knocked violently on his door and slurred, "Luigi! Luigi get off your fat ass and help."

"Wait! Wait! Wait! I'm coming," Luigi complained as he left his dinner. "This better be something important. If you're drunk, I swear…"

"Shut up and listen-"

"Fabian? Is that Shanelle? Why are you carrying her? What did you do to her? For fuck's sake, she's only 16."

"Shut up or I'll have your head. Not one minute from here are at least two criminals. One is an archer and another is a rifleman. I have three arrows in my back and Shanelle has a bullet in her side. If you wouldn't mind you fat Italian fuck, I need to a place to hide. Ask Tirion to investigate the situation. Tell him 'Ay! Fucking rogues!' He'll understand what it means."

"You can hide in the basement. Unfortunately there are no beds or anything so you'll just have to make do. I'll tell Tirion immediately."

"She's 19 and turning 20 next week you miserable old man. She was 16 when she first started studying at the Sanctum."

Luigi vanished from sight and Fabian carried Shanelle into the basement. He slowly lay her on the wood as his vision grew increasingly narrow and his view of the world grew increasingly turbulent. He tore off his vest and folded it into a pillow for Shanelle. He tore off his undershirt, crushed it into a ball, and lay it under Shanelle's side to stop the bleeding.

Fabian blinked and saw a dusty floorboard. Where's Shanelle? He felt dizzy and a mind-numbing ache had grown in his head. "Fabian. Fabian. Fabian where are we?" Shanelle tried to get up but felt a pain in her side Right. She reached for her side and felt the blood's continuing to drain from her body. As Fabian tried to muster a response, blood gurgled in his throat and all he could utter was a faint wheeze. He tried again, but managed only a fainter wheeze. "Fabian? Fabian! You can't leave me yet!" The pain in her side was gone and she leapt forward to examine her partner; she saw that his eyes were shut, a bruise had formed on his forehead, and blood was pouring from his wounded uncovered shoulder. She saw the bloodied shirt where she had lain and wrung it. She was about to tie it around Fabian's shoulder but she knew that the arrow would only become increasingly problematic as it stayed in his shoulder longer. As she reached for the arrow in Fabian's shoulder, she grimaced and diverted her sight from Fabian. Then she laughed wryly. He's unconscious. Her laughter deteriorated into sobbing. He's unconscious. The sobbing continued. Or dead. Shanelle rushed to feel the side of Fabian's neck; it can't be. Beat! Why won't you beat?! Beat you stupid idiot! Why did you carry me all this way if you're just going to leave me alone? Why did you ever meet me in the first place? Why didn't I ignore your smile, your beautiful magnificent smile, and pass you silently? This would never have happened if I had just kept my mouth shut and returned to my monotonous life of sorcery. Anything is better than this. She rested her head on Fabian's back and placed a palm on Fabian's chest. She felt and heard nothing.

Shanelle wiped her eyes but the tears continued to stream. She scrutinized Fabian's body as she removed the arrow from his shoulder, and continued to see only lifelessness. She wanted to scream more loudly than she had ever done before, to murder those who had fired those arrows, and, with the utmost yearning, to feel the warmth of Fabian's embrace one last time. Now is not the time to dwell on fantasies. She removed the other two arrows, wiped the wounds with the shirt, and tied it around Fabian's shoulder. After tying the final knot, she sat back and wiped her eyes again; she felt tired, dizzy, and cold.

She reached into her dress and unfolded a letter that she had written to Fabian on the night after they had first met, six years ago. She had meant to give it to him the day after, and every day after that, but she had always felt that the timing was incorrect. She chuckled wryly when she realized that any time earlier would have been better than now, but quickly refocused. She cast a spell to append a message for any passing readers; "Somewhere between the Arcane Sanctum and here, Fabian and I were ambushed by an archer and a rifleman. Although I was barely conscious until I awoke here, in Luigi's basement, I know that Fabian carried me despite having had three arrows in his body. Unfortunately he no longer lives among us and I can feel my death approaching. Please do not let our deaths pass in vain, or allow such misfortune to befall anyone else. Please tell Tirion…" Her eyelids fell, the spell ceased, her head struck the floor, and the letter floated slowly until it lay upon Fabian's left hand. Complete silence now pervaded Luigi's basement.

Meanwhile at Shanelle's home, her parents were sleeping comfortably in their bed. Though the disappearance of a child might alert some parents, Shanelle had frequently sojourned at Fabian's home over the past six months, so her disappearance did absolutely nothing to alert her parents. They knew that she usually returned by dinner the next day and that she hated being bothered by them before her return.

The rest of the night at Lordaeron passed without further commotion, except the usual shouting and fighting at the tavern. When the sun rose again, the town bell tolled and roosters crowed; peasants resumed their labor, soldiers resumed their training, and academics resumed their studying. Exactly half an hour past the bell's toll, Hoodrych noticed a general uneasiness among his students and noticed that the seat in which Fabian usually sat was empty. By the rules of candidate selection, unexplained tardiness or absence resulted in immediate and permanent expulsion from candidacy, but candidates were given a one-day grace period in which to explain or to send a delegate to explain the candidate's misstep. "Please do not let Fabian's absence disturb you. Study as you usually would. A true leader is not distracted by that which he or she cannot affect. Since your worries will not resolve the situation, you can demonstrate leadership by ignoring the empty seat."

Hoodrych left the room, as he did quite frequently, to ruminate Fabian's absence. He has been neither tardy nor absent since he joined the candidacy. Usually he arrives early and sometimes even earlier than I. If he became blackout drunk, I'm sure I would have heard of some reckless deed that he committed. Something isn't right. Hoodrych hailed a nearby servant of the castle and told him to ask an official to investigate the matter. The servant hurried away and Hoodrych returned to the room.

By now, the sun had risen high enough to pass the rooftops of houses and emit light into the one narrow window in Luigi's basement. Shanelle writhed as she raised an arm to cover her eyes. Her eyes snapped open when she realized that she was sleeping a hard surface, and that her room was darker than usual. She jolted herself upright to get a better view of her surroundings; she clutched at her side and grimaced as a searing pain immobilized her. "Mother? Father?" she called, trying to recall what had happened during the prior night. She tried feeling around herself for her bed, but felt only air and the floor. She slowly dragged herself around the room, desperate to feel something else, but to no avail; she stopped and tried again to remember what had happened.

I just finished practicing a new fireball spell as I prepared to leave. Fabian entered the sanctum before I left, and I felt terribly embarrassed when the other sorceresses approached him before I did. Regardless, I hid my embarrassment with an aplomb mask and approached Fabian too. As I neared, the other sorceresses turned, walked away, and winked suggestively at me as they passed. We conversed playfully before I went to gather my belongings. I read the letter that I have read on every day since we met, and then we left the sanctum. I felt cold and for the first time, Fabian had responded to my actions by laying his head on mine. I felt an urgency to give the letter to him more than I had ever before but did not for some reason. I silently practiced saying, "Fabian, I wrote this to you a while back, actually on the night after we first met, and I've been meaning to give this to you for a long time, but I've never found an appropriate moment for it. I feel like tonight is as good of a time as any and my feelings haven't changed since then, so please read this when you get home, okay?" more than fifty times while we walked in silence. Then… then… then I had awaken here? She couldn't think straightly as tears lined her cheeks at the thought of the letter, and the tears fell to the floors with a dull splash.

The letter! She rummaged her dress for the letter but couldn't find it anywhere. Splash. Splash. Splash? Why are my tears making a splash? She pulled her right hand to her face and followed her trail of tears to the spot on the floor where the tears landed. She gasped as her fingertips sank into a pool of cold liquid, much deeper than any pool of tears could have become in a few minutes, and brought them to her tongue. Bitter. She dragged herself to the ray of light and gasped in horror as the redness slowly crawled down her fingers. She felt the floor where she had lied when she awoke and it was rough, but dry. Shanelle placed both palms on the floor and shuffled around the room, desperate to find the pool of blood again.

After traversing through what must have been 50 yards of floor, she found another pool of blood, though it was farther from the window than the original pool. She followed the blood with her palms until her hands met a hard object. She tried to identify the object by surrounding it with her hands. Ow! An arrow? She felt her wound again. This doesn't seem like an arrow wound. She continued to follow the pool of blood until her hands met another object, but this time it was soft and somewhat warm. It can't be. "Fabian? Fabian!" Tears streamed down her face like a waterfall now as she hugged Fabian's arm. Something sharp pricked her left elbow; the letter! She grasped the letter and looked back to the window. It seemed further away now than ever before. With uncontrollably shaking hands, she cast a fireball and shone it on the letter that she had read a hundred times before. "…From your new best friend, Shanelle." She looked continued reading. "Somewhere between the Arcane Sanctum and here, Fabian and I were ambushed by an archer and a rifleman. Although I was barely conscious until I awoke here, in Luigi's basement, I know that Fabian carried me despite having had three arrows in his body. Unfortunately he no longer lives among us and I can feel my death approaching. Please do not let our deaths pass in vain, or allow such misfortune to befall anyone else. Please tell Tirion…" Without thinking, Shanelle cast a fireball that quickly occupied almost the entire room, but collapsed before being able to launch the inferno. Consequently, the fireball dissipated into warm air and thus complete silence pervaded Luigi's basement again.

Less than an hour away, the candidates had seemingly forgotten about Fabian and studied silently. Hoodrych was reading a few documents discussing relations with the orcs and the night elves when he heard a knock on the door. Hoodrych walked quickly to answer the door while candidates peered without making much effort to hide their actions. "Instructor Hoodrych, I have some news regarding Fabian."

"Let's talk outside." The two stepped out and closed the door behind them.

"Unfortunately, it's bad news. Not a single person who lived in Fabian's neighborhood saw or heard him returning home last night. In addition to this, neither the Tavern owner, nor any of the night guards saw Fabian either. His home was checked and he was not home, although nothing appeared to have been stolen or misplaced."

"Thank you for letting me know. If you hear any further developments regarding this situation, let me know. For now, please return to your post and I will call you if I require your services again."

"Of course sire." The servant bowed and departed.

Hoodrych reentered the room to a shuffling of papers and chairs. Why do we play this game? He chuckled to himself and resumed reading his documents.

"Instructor Hoodrych, is Fabian going to be safe?" asked Nizarr, the most rambunctious person to ever become a candidate.

"You know, Nizarr, that the act of eavesdropping is exceptionally rude? Though I will turn a blind eye since you are showing concern for one of your peers, I hope that you will not address me so candidly and brazenly in the future. For anyone who wishes to know about Fabian, I cannot say much. All that I can say is that we have neither reason to worry nor to be relieved. Other officials are already investigating the situation so none of you should undertake the responsibility of investigation. I hope that this will be the last that we discuss this situation."

Shanelle awoke to the sound of footsteps above. She turned toward the light through the window and noticed that the light had been brighter than it had been earlier. Must be sometime between noon and 4. "Luigi, is that you?" She waited patiently for a response as the footsteps continued. "Luigi?" she said more loudly this time. She heard a second pair of footsteps. Fuck. Have to get away from the light. Where are the stairs? Don't have time to crawl across the entire room. She quickly cast a fireball to light the room, and crawled to a spot beneath the stairs. She put a hand to her wound; she felt a sting but she felt dried caked blood instead of the wet wound that she had expected.

As the footsteps became louder, Shanelle slowed her breathing. The steps were now directly above her and she held her breath. "There was someone down here. I heard it a minute ago. Be wary." A female voice. Probably the archer.

"Of course miss—" A male voice. Very rough and labored. Probably a corpulent man. A peasant perhaps? Or maybe a gluttonous rifleman?

"Quiet you imbecile! I'll have you know that if I am detained, the last thing I do before I am detained is to kill you."

The two walked quietly and slowly toward Fabian. The woman bent down and grasped Fabian's face. She gently kicked the three arrows next to the body and the bandage around Fabian's shoulder. "This one's the boy. There was a girl. I'm going to search this house for her. You stay here and make sure that no one else comes down here."

"Of course miss—"

"Silence!" Before the man could blink, the female pointed an arrow at the man's eye. "The last thing I do…"

Shanelle held her breath until the footsteps were inaudible. She watched the man as he shifted uncomfortably in place. What if he's acting under threat? What if he's an innocent bystander who was randomly selected to take part in these acts? What if—not now. It's too late for me to be a bystander as well. She launched a small fireball across the room while she channeled a much larger fireball. The man looked first in the direction of the smaller fireball before turning to see from where it came; a fireball larger than he propelled him across the room. Shanelle crawled slowly across the room, taking one of the arrows that had been in Fabian's body a day earlier with her. When she arrived at the man's body, she drilled the arrow through his neck. I'm sorry. She let go of the arrow and released the man's neck.

Shanelle turned around to see the tip of an arrow glistening in the beam of light from the window; it pointed directly at her face "So you know, I never meant for you to get hurt. The imbecile behind you—Scott, I think that was his name—shot you as soon as he saw you, even after I instructed him again and again not to shoot—I can't even remember how many times I told him not to shoot until I gave a command. If only I had been quicker to silence Fabian, but Scott held me back, insisting like the imbecile he is that we should flee the scene. But that's why he's lying dead on the floor while I stand here." She looked out the window. "Regardless, I want you to know that this situation appalls me." The tip of the arrow moved around as the voice fell silent but came to halt pointed again at Shanelle's face. "I know who you are by the way. My sister tells me all the time of your brilliance; 'Shanelle conjured a fireball in less than a second today!' 'Shanelle conjured a fireball is less than half a second!' 'Shanelle managed to hit a target almost one hundred yards away!' The jealousy is her voice was so obvious that I wanted to laugh until my sides were numb. I really admire your aptitude and perseverance, and I'm going to miss her petulant cries even more." She fell silent again.

"Anything that you want to say to me? I grow tired of this one-sided conversation." Shanelle looked to the window and the woman followed suit. Shanelle slowly conjured a fireball with her concealed hand. "Don't worry. No one can hear you. Please speak to your heart's content. We have at least—" Imbecile. She readjusted the arrow and released it. "You may the 'the fastest-learning sorceress I've ever seen,'" mocked the woman, "but you're still young. Now, what is it that you wanted to say to me?" Shanelle writhed in pain from the arrow in her hand. "I don't have all day. Actually, I have most of the day, but not all of it. Now, as you were saying."

"Please. You don't have to do this. Fabian's already dead. I won't tell anyone about you. I'll say that the peasant is responsible for everything and you won't hear about this ever again. Please, just let me live. My parents are going to be worried. Hoodrych, as well as the other candidates, will be worried. Anyone who knows us will be worried, and all of them are going to alert the authorities. If I die too, they're going to look for the fourth party in this situation."

The woman laughed maniacally. "You remind me of my sister, thinking you know everything. Now is when you feel horribly insecure about yourself when someone who knows more than you shows you how terribly ignorant you are. I never intended to kill Fabian. In fact, if you had any sense at all, you would have felt his malodorous breath brush past your skin." Shanelle never heard the last sentence as she was passed out because of her second smaller but imperceptibly visible fireball—a forbidden technique that she had been practicing secretly, which she had intended to strike the woman but unintentionally aimed at the ceiling. The entire basement ignited and burned with fervor. "Imbecile! What have you done?" She quickly quivered her arrow, holstered her bow on her back, and cast a blizzard to douse the flames. She retrieved and quivered all the previously fired arrows, before lifting Shanelle on one shoulder and Fabian on the other. She struggled as she climbed the stairs, and lay the bodies on the first bed she found. She cursorily placed her hands in front of both unconscious faces, and fled the scene closing the door behind her.