The Chains that Bind

Around twenty mounted human knights stood on the road out of Corwin city and their Captain raised his voice "We of the Tempest Vanguards will cleanse this city of the elven scum, and make it livable for all law abiding human citizens! We demand that you give the elves over to our care, and with your permission we will enter the city."

Instantly most of the thieves fled the room, as Kol ordered them to disperse throughout the city and quell the panic.

Kol grimaced at the human demand and his mind spun. Give up the elves? Never, but this situation could destroy all I have worked to build!

He then looked up as the sounds of a scuffle, outside the door, reached his ears. A thief was violently thrown into the room as several elves charged into the room, all armed with swords and staffs. The few remaining thieves in the room were quickly knocked down by the surprise attack and were forced to surrender after being surrounded and held at sword point.

The Captain smiled as the three elves who insulted Lorien charged at him. He still had some pent up revenge to release! He deflected a staff blow with his arm and kicked its owner in the knee, disarming him in the process. He deflected the second staff blow and whacked the elf in the back of the head. The third elf swung a sword and cleaved his staff in half. The Captain drew his sword and parried the blows, moving back across the room. He stepped inside the sword blow and brought the hilt of his sword down on the elf's head. He raised his sword fully intending to kill this elf for what he had said, but a staff blow on the back of the head brought him down.

Caewen was grabbed and felt the cold steel of a knife against her throat; she froze in the arms of her captor, trying really hard not to breathe.

Kol drew two knives and began to leap around the room. He lashed out at the elves disarming them with quick slashes with a second slash wounding them. "Traitors! I gave you a home! I gave you everything and now I'll take it all away!" He kept leaping and fighting, until a voice cut through his rage and stopped him.

"Stop!"

Kol turned to see his thieves, the Captain, and Caewen all down and held at sword point. The lead elf looked at Kol and smiled "Sorry Kol we can't risk you betraying us to the humans. We all know that being released into human care means death!"

"I'd never betray you, and if you'd give me a chance to explain the situation we can work this out, Corwin city doesn't take a side during this war!" Kol tried to explain "Let my friends go, and we can talk about this."

The lead elf smiled "We have already chosen our side and we can't trust anyone but ourselves, but you are going to speak to the human troops on our behalf and negotiate our freedom, or we kill your friends."

Kol's eyes were as sharp as the knives he wielded as he asked a question he already knew the answer to "And if I refuse?"

"We kill them, one by one until our demands are met, and if we see any thief activity we will kill them."

Kol turned and marched away from the main hall opening the door and walking out, the cool breeze soothing his anger a bit. He had given these elves everything and now fear was making them betray him.

Kol couldn't help but feel a bit betrayed at his people's actions, and as he walked the streets he saw the elves of the city walking around with a fire in their eyes, a fire fed with fear, and the actions of these few elves had stoked the flames as elves held weapons in their hands standing guard over the humans they once worked with.

The humans were standing or sitting outside surrounded by elves they once worked with. Kol had worked so hard to make the humans and elves equal, but the humans were suddenly the lowest, but Kol could also see the desire to fight in the humans' eyes and he knew that if he didn't resolve this peacefully then the humans would act on that nature and bring war to the city.

Kol also saw his thieves, both human and elven who had loyalty to him in their eyes, they wanted what he wanted which was a peaceful environment for all. Corwin city was supposed to be a place where humans and elves could put aside their differences and build alongside each other, instead of destroying each other. He became the leader of the thieves' guild because he wanted to prove that the lowest of the low could be good and make the world a better place, and he had worked hard to earn their loyalty.

He walked outside the city gates and saw the mounted knights waiting on the road. The leader of the Knights looked down at the thief leader "Hello, are you here to negotiate the elves transfer to our care?"

Kol looked up into the masked face of the knight and swallowed "Well the elves have taken hostages inside the city hall, and they are demanding that they be allowed to leave freely and unharmed or they will kill the hostages."

The Knight nodded "Perfect! This will give us the opportunity to cleanse the city of the elven presence, and give us a battlefield promotion."

Kol was baffled "You are willing to let innocent people die to further your own agenda!" He jabbed a finger at the knight leader and continued "I won't let you destroy my city and kill my people to make a point!"

The human knight glared down at the thief leader "This isn't your city thief, this city is under the jurisdiction of the Tempest Vanguards and you would be wise to remember your place. Tell the elves no deal, and if they don't surrender within the hour we will attack them and cleanse the city."

Kol turned and sprinted back to city hall weighting several options in his mind.

The elves are still my people, but giving them up could save my city.

The human knights are monsters and if my thieves fight them we'll be doing the world a favor, but I'd be sending the message that I approve the hostage taking method of the elves.

I also have enough thieves to get my friends away from the elves and leave them to it.

Kol had no idea what to do, heck all he could do was deliver the message, and prepare himself to make the decision that would save the most lives.

The elves stood nervously with tight grips on bowstrings and tight clasps on the hilts of their swords. They waited for a sign from their leader, jumping every time a thief moved and throwing nervous glances at the human troops waiting outside the town.

Two elves held the Captain's body between them, waiting for him to move, and one turned to the lead elf "Boss, what do we do if that thief leader sells us out?"

"He won't, Kol loves this city too much to see it destroyed. I aimed at his heart, and he'll react as planned. We'll be free soon"

"But what if….."

"Quiet!"

Kol walked into the town hall and the elves perked up at this with the elf leader looking up and motioning his approval as his warriors brandished their weapons closer to the captives.

"Speak." The elf ordered, gripping his bow tightly.

"The Knights won't let you go without a fight, but if you release the hostages I can sneak you out."

"Silly human, we do not wish to kill hostages, but if the Knights force our hand, the blood will be on their hands. We wish only to escape, but how can we trust you?"

Kol felt frustration seep into his voice "Not every human in this world is out to get you! My city will fall if you don't leave this place, and I want you troublemakers gone!"

The elf also felt frustration and it was evident in his words "We are not the trouble makers thief! You brought this on yourself when you believed that Humans and elves could be anything other than mortal enemies! You put us together and condemned us to this!"

Kol lowered his head as he realized the elf was right, but the rest of the Knight's message flashed in his head and he told it "You elves have one hour to leave the city without hostages or the humans will come in and take you down."

The elf shook his head "No, we will be gone by then. I'll gather my forces outside and you can sneak us out of the city. Then and only then will the hostages be released."

Caewen sat by the Captain and felt her blood churn, whether it was her human half seething at the injustice that was being forced on the city, or her elven half hating the cowardly tactic of hostage taking, or simply all of her blood hating what was happening to her friends, something was changing inside of her.

She looked at the elves and wondered if she could talk sense into them, but she shot that idea down quickly. The elven thieves were being treated just as bad as the human ones, and she doubted a half elf would make much of difference in their views.

Suddenly her arm was seized roughly and she was hauled up and the cold steel of a knife was shoved against her neck. She was shoved forward and began to walk.

The other thieves and the Captain were also forced to stand and had blades placed at their throats, then they shuffled forward guided by the elves who pushed and prodded them towards the exit.

Kol was also grabbed and the elf leader placed an arrow to his ribs. "You'll come with us to make sure there is no funny business!"

The elves and their captives exited the hall, and were marched through the town toward the city gates. The elves cheered and brandished weapons as they danced in the fires of the revolution that had been lit in their hearts, unknown that they would soon be burned by the fires of war. More than one elf cast their glances away from Kol feeling guilt as they betrayed the man who had taught them so much and given them a home, but so many other hate filled glance drowned out the ones of the guilty elves.

The humans looked up from under the boots of their elven overlords and Kol could see fire burning in their eyes. The fires wanted to burn and destroy all those who tied them down, and if the right spark was struck the fire would grow out of control, and all would burn. It was his job to keep that spark far away from his city.

He looked up on the rooftops and deep into the shadows of alleyways and saw his thieves and mercenaries waiting for his signal. They knew what they needed to do and were fully dependent on him to make them do it. They held knives, ropes, and swords in their hands completely unseen by the elves and humans who lived in the city.

Kol kept his head down after making eye contact with some of his men as the elves shoved him forward. The elven leader smiled "Almost there, we're almost free, and then we'll let you go."

More elves stood guard on the walls, but they had their backs to the outside, preoccupied with shooting dark glances at Kol and the hostages, with the light of hope burning under the fire of war in their eyes.

The elves didn't see however, the humans dismount and creep through the gates. For twenty or so knights in armor they snuck inside quickly and quietly, unseen by the tense elves.

An elf held a sword in his hand and he stood by the gate, ready to escort his kin outside and into freedom, he felt a hand grip him by the shoulder and he was hauled backward.

That hand belonged to a knight and he dropped the elf corpse, who he had pulled onto his sword blade. He watched two more elves get silently taken down and he stood ready.

The elven leader shoved Kol forward towards the gate and Kol tripped over something in his way. He looked at the offending object and his eyes widened as he saw the slain elf corpse.

The elven leader saw it as well and turned to his forces "Heads up, they're attacking!"

The thieves sprang into action knocking weapons away from their throats and ducking away. The elves were soon occupied by the human knights who rushed into the fray and soon duels broke out around the gate. The elves who weren't involved in the hostage taking charged to aid their brethren, but the humans they had held captive rose up and attacked them fighting with debris, hands, rocks, and whatever they could lay their hands on.

The elves fought back with swords and arrows and soon bodies dove to the side either hit or seeking cover. The elves expert sharpshooting skills sent arrows through the battling crowd striking human legs and arms. The other elves kept the human mob off of the elves who were dueling the knights.

However one small thought was clear even in the bloodlust of the moment for both the humans and the elves. Only a few fighters had started this situation and only those few had a reason to fight. The rest could have stopped and wondered, why?

Why were these people, who had lived in harmony with one another for several years now, killing one another? It was often the case that a human would be locked in combat with an elf he had just spend the day with, or for an elven woman to fight a man who just hours ago, she had flirted with. If these situations even caused the slightest bit of hesitation, it wasn't acted on because the crowd mentality was too strong to be broken by such sentiments.

The Human knights swung their swords and maces at the elven rabble confidant that they could outlast this untrained mob and cleanse the town. They knocked elves aside and shoved through the crowd breaking the mob up into smaller sections that they could bring down.

The elves who had started this whole thing kept fighting, and they truly believed they were fighting for freedom, they truly believed they were doing the right thing, but the truth was they weren't fighting for freedom, or for their lives, they were fighting just to fight. Because that's what they did, Humans and elves fought because that was all they knew how to do and Kol was a fool if they thought anything else was possible.

Caewen was thrown aside as the elf that was holding her rushed towards the human knights. She caught herself just before she collided with the cobblestones. She stood and grabbed a plank of wood, rushing towards the Captain, who had been thrown aside once the battle started.

Kol and the thieves he commanded leapt into the fray trying in vain to separate the two groups.

"Stand aside thief!" screamed a knight as he battered at a prone elven warrior, not caring that he was down.

A thief had grabbed the knight's mace arm and was attempting to reason with him. "He's down! The fight with him is over, don't kill him!"

The knight shook the thief off "I have to kill him! He's an elf!"

The mace came down one more time and the elf's scream was cut short as he died.

The rest of the elves suddenly charged forward with pure rage in their eyes "He killed an elf! Get him!"

The knights rushed forward to defend their brother and both sides clashed again. The elven mob was strong in numbers, but the skills of the knights far surpassed their own and the charge ground against and faltered against the steel wall.

Finally the haze of bloodlust in the minds of the elves was pierced by the realization that they were not going to win this fight, and escaping was their primary goal.

"Retreat!" Someone screamed and the elves realized that since they couldn't break through the front gate the only chance was to flee into the city. Almost on cue the elves broke away from the fighting and scattered to the winds, the knights followed them shoving carts and people out of their way.

Kol cursed and shouted to his thieves "Contain them! We can't let this violence get into the city!"

The thieves leapt across rooftops and ran down side streets, hurling daggers and shooting arrows hoping to impede the progress of the warriors without killing them. Mercenaries charged out of alleyways and blocked the knights by shoving carts and other debris in their path, but the elves were faster than even the swiftest thief, because they were fueled by desperation and the need to get away from all who would oppose them..

The Knights barreled through every obstacle that the mercenaries setup and knocked them aside with powerful weapon sweeps, they had orders and they had a goal, which was to cleanse the city of the elves, and good soldiers follow orders.

Kol rushed over to Caewen and she turned to him with fear in her eyes. "He won't get up!"

Kol looked down at the Captain and saw that he was still out like a light with a growing bump on his head. He shook his friend and lightly slapped his face "Come on buddy, we need you!"

The Captain rose feeling the bump on his head gingerly "I'm alright…." He looked around seeing Corwin city literally falling apart. He reached out and grabbed a sword from somewhere, and smiled at Caewen "Are you okay?"

Caewen was, to tell the truth, absolutely filled with fear, rage, and uncertainty about everything that had gone on in the last few minutes, but she smiled bravely and muttered "I'm fine."

Kol drew his two daggers and frowned. "The human knights are tearing through the city, the elves aren't listening to me, and humans and elves are ripping each other apart in my city!" He sighed "Everything I was afraid of is coming to pass; we need to get out of here."

The Captain looked at his best friend "Kol, you rebuilt this city from nothing, we can't just leave it without a fight!"

"The fire of war has come here, and my people are feeding the flames that can't be quenched. We need to leave and find a way to end this war."

The Captain realized then how hard it was for his friend. He was watching the city he built, a place of peace for all, be burned and gutted by hatred. Kol stayed silent for a moment and then rushed towards the nearest building. He leapt upward and grabbed the edge of the roof, hauling himself up, and then he kept running leaping across the roof tops to where several thieves were hurling daggers at the elves. Kol shook his head sadly "We can't win, no matter what they'll destroy the city."

Several thieves looked as though they wanted to argue the point, but they stopped and obeyed their leader's next instructions "Gather all the thieves and as many innocents as you can and get them out of here."

They nodded and leapt across the rooftops shouting to the thieves the same orders Kol had said. The thieves then located any humans or elves that weren't fighting and escorted them through the city ducking around fights the whole way.

Kol held his daggers in his hands as he led the Captain, Caewen, and a quartet of thieves across the rooftops. He looked down at his city like an eagle wincing at the fires and the fighting. The knights were tearing through the city killing elves and destroying elven property, a mob of human citizens followed them also destroying anything even remotely elven, not caring that it was their city also.

The elves had fought their way to the exit at the back of Corwin city and they slipped out of the city quickly rushing for the woods.

The Knight charge skidded to a stop as they saw that the elves had gotten away. The Captain turned to the mob and shouted "Alright, we may have lost the elves but we can still cleanse this city! Destroy everything that is elven by order of the king!"

The humans did so destroying shops, homes, signs, and generally severing any relationship with elves. The knights led them in this destruction and Corwin city was brutally sacked and "cleansed" within two hours.

Kol stood on the outskirts of the city with the remainder of his thieves and mercenaries. They were a mix of humans and elves and as such they had been targeted during the fighting, and some had been killed.

The Captain stood alongside his friend, and offered his silent comfort. Whether it was a campsite full of orcs or a city both had been taken by this war and the loss was the same.

Caewen watched the city burn and felt rage burn her insides. She hated this war; she hated how her people could fight each other without even considering the people caught in between them. "We need to end this now." She muttered "People are dying, and we need to do something about it"

Kol turned to her and smiled "My men are fully committed to ending this war, we managed to smuggle some supplies and Lorien's guitar out of the city."

The Captain found the thief who held the guitar and held it to him like it was the most important thing in the world.1

"Let's do this….I only wish we didn't have to do it alone." The Captain looked at the crowd of sneaky thieves and battle-hardened mercenaries, and he felt a small lack of confidence, sure these guys were tough, but alone; they didn't have the manpower to take on two armies.

Little did they know they weren't alone.

1 And to him it was.