The Shade Lord was a foul and disgusting creature, spitting venom as soon as the party stepped from the staircase to confront the strange creature. It certainly looked otherworldly, entirely composed of concentrated darkness while having a set of intense red eyes.

The figure gloated over the adventurers, but Laska had no intention of letting the creature finish his rant. Immediately, the elf shot through the air, intending to strike the creature down... Instead, the elf simply passed through the Shade Lord's ice-cold body and crashed into a column rather painfully.

After recovering, she had noticed the Shade Lord had summoned some of his minions... but not any minions... the shades of Mazzy's old party. Not only were they powerful creatures, but Mazzy was severely distraught as a result.

And none of their attacks even affected the Shade Lord... until Keldorn had the idea of striking the destroyed image of Amaunator, which seemed to be the focal point of the shadows. A shriek from the Shade Lord followed as Keldorn used Carsomyr to destroy his precious idol. It was as if all the darkness, all the pain, coldness and misery was being drawn away from the forest, being drawn into the point where Keldorn had struck the creature. The Shade Lord screamed as he now bore the full brunt of the sun, now that the darkness had been banished and the forest had returned to its former, lovely state. The creature dissolved slowly, leaving an exhausted looking half-elf to collapse on the ground.

Immediately, Viconia administered first aid before Merella's soul could escape her body. The Drow's expert knowledge of clerical magic saved Merella from an early death.

But such victories were hollow to Mazzy. She stared blankly as Keldorn inscribed the statue to the memory of those fallen at the hands of the Shade Lord.

Laska just watched from a distance, having no idea how she would deal with such a terrible loss.

Instead, the party finally leapt off the platform and prepared to return to Imnesvale with the good news as good as Merella would be strong enough to travel.

"Please, help me!" sounded a light female voice as a scantily clad fey-maiden strolled into the clearing. Her face was contorted in pain as she threw her head back. Her green hair whipped in the air as screamed in agony.

Immediately, Laska and Keldorn were at her side, supporting the poor dryad as she collapsed.

"Please," the dryad whispered. "I need... your help. They're killing my tree!"

"Calm down," Laska said. "Viconia, we need some healing here!" she called out.

"My tree... is in such pain," the dryad cried. "Evil men have come from the city..."

"Let's check this out," Laska muttered. "Minsc, Jan, you stay with Merella."

"Minsc and Boo and Jan shall guard our sister of the woods with our lives!" Minsc said with determination in his eyes.

"Err, Minsc?" Jan asked with a grin. "Our lives? Are you sure?"

"We will guard Merella with out LIVES!" Minsc stressed.

"Lives?" Jan asked again.

"You heard Minsc!" the gentle giant replied.

"Chop, chop, lads," a nobleman chuckled happily as three of his workers were busy sawing into the trunk of a large ancient oak. The blade was about one quarter through the trunk and the tree actually seemed to shudder in pain. Several guards stood along the perimeter, while other workers were setting up tents and prepared de-forestation equipment. "We need this big oak down before we can set up the mining equipment, and the Angus Malon Mithril Mine can start producing grade A ore..."

He would not finish his sentence. A group of adventurers stormed out of the woods, weapons and armor gleaming in the midday sun. The party was led by a feral looking elven warrior woman posturing bloody murder. An aged man carrying a fey-like creature followed suit, as did a Drow, a mage a halfling and a burly dwarf offering the halfling a picked stench-flower.

Although the guards jumped to attention, the lord approached the angry elf who towered a full foot over him very calmly.

"Ah, so you are the adventurer, who has killed that nasty, icky Shade Lord," the lord Malon smiled. "Such a job well done... We will be taking over now, thank you very much, so please clear out of the path of the working men..."

"Get away from that tree and take that saw with you before I shove it up your ass sideways," Laska snarled. Hastily, the workers complied, until the lord gave them a brief glare.

"Now, now, now," the Lord said, unrolling a piece of paper for Laska to read. "That tree will have to go to make way for the Mithril mine! I am the legal owner of this plot of land and...."

The piece of paper fell to the floor as Laska's left hand shot towards Lord Malon, grasping him by the neck and squeezing tightly. The guards once again tensed but dared not attack. "I said," the elf snarled, "Get your men away from that tree..."

"Get.... away from the tree," the Lord wheezed as the strong elf actually hoisted him off the ground with one hand.

Immediately, Korgan and Viconia stepped between the workers and the tree, allowing the crying dryad to approach. The gentle forest-spirit hugged her tree and cried tears of sorrow. But, Viconia had an idea. Using one of her healing-spells, she closed the deep wound in the strong oak, healing both tree and dryad. The green-haired dryad brightened on the spot, though they were not out of danger yet.

"Laska, there isn't an easy matter," Keldorn said as he took out his reading glasses and examined the paper. "Lord Malon is the legal owner of this land and may do with it as he pleases..."

"Merella and I stopped you from mining before!" the dryad cried. "There is no mithril in this ground, why won't you believe us?!"

"You damn treehuggers," the lord said, letting his facade of friendliness slip. "You and Merella have been trying to stop me from mining here for years! I know there is mithril here... There HAS TO BE! The Shade Lord said there would be!"

"Just how do you know about the Shade Lord, you lewd buffoon?" Mazzy challenged.

"You called him up, didn't you?" Laska grinned like a shark. "You called him up thinking he'd take care of your problems? Getting your opponents out of the way. Then you'd sit and wait until adventurers came and destroyed him so you could move in immediately to get to work?"

"It's just business," Lord Malon snarled. "Yes, my agents found a book of rites locked in a vault of the old temple. And then, well, I had a mage-friend of mine allow the Shade Lord to enter our Realm and possess that meddlesome Merella. And so far, it worked swimmingly, brilliant wasn't it? I suppose you want money to look the other way?"

"Fiend!" Mazzy gasped.

"How could you let such an evil creature into our Realm?" Keldorn said in outrage.

"Yes..." Laska said, "it was brilliant... In fact, it was so brilliant I'm going to kill you..."

"Now, now, now!" Lord Malon said, a little nervously. "I should mention killing me would be bad for your wallet, as well as your health..."

"People like you make me sick," Laska continued. "You did this all... for money. You didn't care how many people got killed, how many suffered, how many people lost a son, daughter or parent... You only cared about your purse!"

"My friends! My Patrick is dead because of you!" Mazzy shouted, tears springing from her eyes.

"Guards!" Lord Malon shouted, finally getting very, very nervous

"Look at him!" Laska said, addressing the guards and workers. "Is this the man you want to die for? We just battled shadows, undead and a demonic creature, you stand no chance against us. Is this man's greed worth throwing your life away?"

Silence followed, and then, one by one, the guards and workers tossed down their weapons and tools and left the grove.

"What?!" Lord Malon said, starting to sweat profusely now. Then he turned back to Laska. "Say, can't we made a deal here?"

The last thing Lord Malon would ever see was a flash of metal as Laska beheaded him with one foul stroke.

"Ye know what be really funny?" Korgan chuckled as he watched Malon's head roll off the hill. "Thar really ain't any Mithril in this ground. Wrong kinda ground..."

Quick as a flash, the smiling dryad was standing in front of a self-satisfied tattooed elf. "Thank you," the dryad said. "Thank you all for saving this wonderful forest from those that would destroy it by foul means and, oh," the dryad suddenly looked upon Laska with intense grief. "Oh, so sad, you must be so sad..." she suddenly said.

"What?" Laska chuckled. "No. Why?"

"Your... your spirit... your poor spirit has been crushed and shattered by a malevolence!" the dryad said and put her hands on Laska's cheeks. Immediately, the tattooed elf's eyes grew wide as her body started to convulse and shudder. Eventually, she fell away from the dryad, only to look upon the forest with bewilderment and confusion, apparently unaware of her surroundings.

"Laska?" Viconia asked.

Immediately, the elf rosed to her feet... and shot off into the forest with dazzling speed.

"Damn!" Viconia shouted. "Dryad, what did you do to her?!"

"I..." the dryad said when suddenly faced with an angry Drow. "I merely pushed the malevolence away further... With my given powers, I repaired her shattered spirit for a part. Poor elven sister..." the dryad was genuinely sad. " I could not replace what is missing, but I have restored what was there."

"Leaving her very confused and disoriented," Keldorn muttered. "We must find her quickly..."

"Ach," Korgan chuckled, "the lass be takin' care of herself. She be returning soon enough..."

"I don't think so," Viconia said. "We must spread out and find her quickly..."

Keldorn was eventually the one who found Laska. Muttering to himself why it had to be him, he followed a trail of discarded armor and clothing. Luckily, he had found Laska's bag of holding first, and put all the items he found in the magic bag. Keldorn even found Laska's money pouch and moonblade lying about on the forest floor.

And then he found her. She was sitting in a grove, letting the sun warm her bare body as she sat cross legged at a pond, watching her surroundings. She sat with her back to Keldorn. Her tattoos seemed to be gleaming in the sunlight, her Blue Dragon on her lower back and upper leg being most prominent.

A squirrel ran towards the elf and actually climbed her bare skin until it sat on her shoulder. The elf folded back her hand to give the creature an acorn she had found. The squirrel took the acorn in both paws and ran off immediately.

As Keldorn approached the elf, he heard that she was sobbing. Taking a blanket from his pack, he quickly wrapped it around the sitting elf and sat next to her, holding the blanket in place.

"It's so beautiful, Keldorn," Laska sobbed as streams of tears ran uncontrollably from her eyes. "I never realized how beautiful it was. I... knew you were coming... I know where the others are now... Heh, Korgan just tripped over an anthill and he's swearing quite colorfully... I know where and what every life in this forest is doing... I can feel the energy of the forest. There... there is no way to describe the feeling... There is great tranquillity and great turmoil at the same time... I feel connected to the lands... I feel... I feel..."

Laska smiled as she looked up to the tree-tops, "I... I was always proud to be an elf, you know? Proud to be part of a people with such a heritage, such a history, such power... But, I had only my slim build, sword craft and pointy ears to go on. For the first time, I really feel like an elf, Keldorn. Finally, I really know what being an elf means... I am an elf, Keldorn. Finally, I'm a true elf... A true elf... A true elf..."

Keldorn smiled as the sobbing Laska put her head on his shoulder, sobbing as she repeated the words 'A true elf' over and over again.

The tears shed were tears of joy.

On the way back to Imnesvale, Laska had been walking on air all day long. Even when Kaatje jumped into Merella's arms while sheddings tears of joy, Laska's gaze was constantly locked on the forest. After receiving the thanks of the people of Imnesvale (and several admiring looks at the elven adventurer now known around town as the 'naked lady'), they immediately left for home.

Sitting on her horse, Laska was smiling constantly, breathing the very nature around her. In many ways, she was still very much overwhelmed by the new and unusual sensations. She had felt feelings of peace like the once she had experienced only while floating in the water during her morning dips. Such moments of peace were mixed with feelings of intense passions which were only exceeded by those she experienced during warm nights spend with her lover Rose.

During the travels, she hardly ever spoke, only sometimes to add a quippy remark to the conversation or answer a short question, but nothing more than that... And when the city loomed in the distance, Laska suddenly got a wicked idea.

"Hyah!" she shouted, forcing her horse into a run as she sped through the city-gates.

"What she be up to?" Korgan asked from his cart.

"Oh, she'll be fine," Viconia grinned.

In the meantime, Laska steered her horse through the busy streets of Athkatla, heading towards the Temple district. Contrary to what she had feared, her connection to nature was not severed. There was still a presence in the city... small parks, pigeons, sparrows, lone trees and shrubbery... she felt them all.

The Temple District was looming into the distance now, and Laska steered her horse towards her home.

"So Risa and you are sisters?" Lasalla, who had returned from Trademeet, said. "Imagine that..."

"We figured it out more or less by accident," Rose smiled as she folded up her easel and put it in the corner after an hour of painting. "In a way, both of us were rescued by Laska."

A sound of metal on wood sounded from the front door, and a few seconds later, Risa shouted for her sister to come. "Sis!" she shouted. "It's Sir Boring Fart!"

"Oh, Sune, not again," Rose muttered.

"Who is that?" Lasalla asked.

"Oh, just some idiot paladin who thinks I want to be his bride," the half-elf sighed and headed towards the front door. And there, indeed, stood Sir Oberon, smiling as he held a bag.

"My sweetness, My fair Lady!" the knight smiled broadly. "I have done as you asked and slain an even bigger dragon than your lover has! Surely, your heart shall choose me over your cowardly knave of a suitor now!"

Immediately, the knight removed a head of a rather comical looking dragon.

"That head," Rose chuckled, "it's made from papier-mache..."

"What are you talking about, my Lady," the knight said nervously. "I quested all day, I quested all night, I quested all over the land to find the fiercest, evillest and nastiest dragon!"

"I know a fake dragon-head when I see one, especially when I can still read the headlines," Rose smiled.

Immediately, the Knight collapsed and convulsed with sobs. "It's true! It's all true!" he cried. "Whenever I found a dragon, they told me there was a meaner, bigger and eeeevvillllerrr dragon nearby! And... I forget where to go and got lost! I could not quest for the path back!"

"Were these dragons laughing as you left their lairs?" Rose shook her head.

"Yes, yes! How did you know?" the paladin cried. "My Lady, if you but give me another chance..."

"I keep telling you!" Rose said angrily. "You are not a woman, so I'm not interested! And even if you were a woman, I'm in a very serious relationship already..."

"My Lady!" the knight said. "I vow on the spot that I shall woo you till the last of my days! That I shall quest and strive to win your heart and..."

At that precise moment, a horse came to a skidding halt, knocking the paladin off the road and into the canal. Though the empty skull kept him afloat, the paladin was carried off by the stream of the water.

"Laska!" Rose smiled. Immediately, the mounted elf bent to one side, grabbed her lover around the waist and gently hoisted her up the horse. After Rose sat face to face with Laska, they slowly pressed their lips together and shared a deep, passionate kiss.

"I missed you," Laska smiled as they broke their kiss.

"I love you," Rose replied as she sank into Laska's embrace. "But that armor is very cold," she giggled.

"Who was that?" Laska asked. "I'm afraid he's floated off already..."

"Oh, just... nobody," Rose said, not allowing to let Sir Boring Fart spoil this perfect moment.

"Say," Laska smiled. "Interested in taking a trip?"

Rose's curiosity was certainly piqued. "What kind of trip?"

"A surprise," Laska smiled.

"Sure," Rose said, caressing Laska's cheek with the back of her hand. Holding Rose, Laska allowed her to shift so that she sat behind her on the saddle, and allowed her to fold her lover's arms around her slender waist for support.

"Hold on!" Lasalla shouted as she came running out of the house with supplies. "Here, a picknick-basket and, some soft blankets and even softer pillows," she said as she handed Laska a bag.

"You must be psychic," Rose smiled.

Laska thanked Lasalla and wasted no more time. The horse, carrying the two lovers, sped out the district and out of town, destination : the forests...