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I stepped out of the Gate, my boots ringing against the stone cobbles. I crouched instinctively, my green eyes peering through the darkness. Above me, neither moon nor stars shone. I crept along, keeping close to the deeper darkness."Katja. . ."
That voice was so familiar it nearly brought tears of relief to my eyes. I searched the darkness, hope welling within me.
Krolaun stood only a few yards away, regarding me with those grey eyes. He held out his hand to me and I stepped closer.
"Krol," I murmured, extending my own hand, "Thank the Stars, you're safe."
"Of course I'm safe, Kat..."
I took his hand, it felt so warm in mine. My spirit rejoiced and my heart filled with relief. He pulled me closer, but only then did I see the feral grin across his lips within the depths of his hood.
"You always were such a blind-hearted fool," he rasped.
Pain gripped me as Krolaun plunged his shortsword through me. But the physical pain could not begin to match the pain in my heart. Tears filled my eyes as Shard stepped from the shadows behind him.
"You have done well, elf," she said with a triumphant grin.
No. . .Oh, gods--anything but this. . .
Shard put her arm around Krolaun's shoulders as I fell forward into the cobblestones. They vanished in the darkness and I watched my blood pool in the crevices of the floor. My green eyes lost all focus, and a groan of absolute misery escaped me. I had been betrayed in the worst way possible, by the only person I would never suspect.
Anything but this. . .
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© 1999 E. Angeli Mansfield