Aldir had spent plenty of nights without sleep, but this was definitely one of the most uncomfortable. It was cold, almost freezing, and the side of Aimim’s house he was leaning against was hard and rough. He and twenty Council mages were standing guard outside the home, waiting, watching the mist. Aldir wasn’t sure if he expected the Asdelarcen to attack or not, but at least the tension of not knowing was serving to keep him both awake and relatively warm. If not comfortable.

But this was something Aldir wanted to do. No, something he needed to do. The other Council mages had asked him why he was here, and he had tried to explain it, but the truth was that he didn’t know himself. He just knew that this was where he needed to be, between the Asdelarcen and Ilrin.

Aldir had no delusions about Ilrin. She hated him, and probably always would. Aldir could understand why. He had pretended to get close to her, pretended to be her friend, and then betrayed her and used her to get her only true friend banished. What he had done was irredeemable, and Aldir knew it.

He supposed that was why he was here. He could never take back what he had done, but he could at least try to make up for it, if only a little. Aldir had no interest in Dilmir or his magic, or even in Ilrin. She was Dilmir’s friend, not his. But this was something he owed her. Something he had to do. So he would stay here, in the cold and the dark, and do his part to keep her safe. It was the least he could do.

Aldir sighed. His decision to help protect Ilrin had not been greeted with enthusiasm by the Council. This wasn’t his job. But then, he and the Council had been seeing less and less eye-to-eye recently. Ever since Ilrin, Aldir had grown to hate the Council, the way they sought to bend the laws to suit their own needs, their calloused disregard for the lives they were sworn to protect. Aldir had thought he was joining a noble organization when he first heard about the Council. He had thought he would be saving elves. But now that he thought back on it, he had done very little saving at all. Even banishing Dilmir had caused more harm than good.

There was a sudden rush of noise from inside the house. Aldir, being close to a window, turned and peered inside, just in time to see Dilmir vanish in a blaze of light. What was he doing? Aldir was no fool; he knew that Dilmir was more powerful than all twenty of the mages here combined. If he was gone, the Asdelarcen might attack.

Aldir turned back, scanning the mists in front of him. They were thick, heavy with frost from the winter air. He couldn’t even make out the closest house. The Asdelarcen could be a mere twenty feet away and he’d never know it. He got a better grip on the hilt of his sword.

A shadow appeared, fuzzy and unresolved in the mist. The mages tensed, unsure if it was an Asdelarcen or just a citizen. Another shadow joined it. Then two more. Then more behind them. A moment later, an entire group of elves walked out of the mist and stopped before the Council mages. There were at least fifteen of them, and they all wore the dark cloaks and hoods Aldir had come to associate with the Asdelarcen.

“Stand aside,” said the lead Asdelarcen, a tall elf with a commanding voice. “Our business is not with you.”

No one moved. Delarthen, leader of the Council, stepped forward. “You mean to harm a citizen of Eld’rin,” he said. “We cannot allow that to happen.”

There was a moment of silence. “We are many,” the lead Asdelarcen finally said. “If we fight, much Elven blood will be spilt. We both wish to avoid that. We seek only to take the girl. Ilrin. No one else need be harmed.”

It was Delarthen’s turn to be silent.

“We know,” the Asdelarcen said, lowering his voice slightly, “that you watch this girl. That you fear her as you fear Dilmir. That you would banish them both if you could. We want the same thing you do: to remove them both from Eld’rin. Let us pass. Let us take the girl, and Dilmir will follow her. Neither will return. You will be rid of them both. You don’t need to fight us.”

Delarthen remained silent. Aldir felt his heart sink. Everything the Asdelarcen had said was true: the Council did want to banish Dilmir. Ilrin and the others were lesser priorities, but the Council wouldn’t pass up a chance to be rid of Dilmir. Especially if they didn’t have to do anything except stand aside. Aldir knew what Delarthen’s answer would be before he gave it.

“No one is to be slain,” Delarthen said, making up his mind. “You will take the girl, and then you will leave, never to return.”

“Of course,” said the Asdelarcen. “We seek only Dilmir and the girl, and one will follow the other. No others shall be slain. You will never hear from us again.”

Delarthen stood aside, signaling to the other mages to do so. They stood away from the door, some with confused looks, some with expressions of grim satisfaction, knowing that they would soon be rid of Dilmir.

Aldir remained where he was, standing beside the window. He had guessed Delarthen’s response, but actually seeing it happen still took him by surprise. This was the Council. The Council! They were sworn to protect the elves, not make deals with their enemies. He watched as the Asdelarcen advanced between the ranks of mages, moving unimpeded to the door. He wanted to move, wanted to stand in their way, but he couldn’t.

The Asdelarcen reached the door, and knocked on it. It was opened a moment later by Felnir. Without hesitation, the lead Asdelarcen smote Felnir on the chest with his palm. His hand went right through Felnir’s shield, and a blast of magic followed, flinging Felnir across the room and against the opposite wall. He did not get back up.

The Asdelarcen began filing into the house, and still Aldir couldn’t move. What was wrong with him? Was he afraid? Maybe, but that wasn’t what was keeping him here. What, then? The shock? That hardly seemed likely. He had guessed, after all, what Delarthen would do. But maybe that was it. Maybe he just hadn’t believed it. Maybe he hadn’t wanted to believe it. But here was the evidence, filing into Aimim’s house before his very eyes. Realization of the full corruption of the Council crashed down on him, and Aldir finally drew his sword.

The Asdelarcen reacted faster than he had expected, the ones closest to him whipping their swords out as well.

“Aldir!” Delarthen called. “Stand down!”

But Aldir didn’t care. He leapt to the stairs, blocking the Asdelarcen, and stabbed his sword at the closest one, aiming straight for his heart. The Asdelarcen batted his blow aside easily, and whipped his blade back, slashing Aldir across the chest. The sword bit deep, scraping across Aldir’s ribs. It seared like fire, the sword severing skin and muscle as it went, and pain exploded outwards from the wound, blinding Aldir to all else. He fell backwards, his sword falling from his grip, and landed on his back just inside the doorway, blood blossoming across his chest.

“Leave him!” Delarthen commanded, striding forwards.

The Asdelarcen withdrew, though they kept their swords drawn. Delarthen ascended the stairs and pulled Aldir out of the way.

Through the haze of pain, Aldir could see the Asdelarcen subduing the occupants of the house. Felnir still lay against the wall, breathing but clearly unconscious. Endir, who had arrived just minutes ago, was again wounded, being kept down at the point of an Asdelarcen’s sword. Aimim and Ilrin’s parents had all been blasted away similarly to Felnir. Out of the three, only Aimim was conscious, a thin trickle of blood running down her forehead. She was lying against the wall, another Asdelarcen standing nearby, his blade ready if she tried to get up.

Ilrin had already been subdued. Two Asdelarcen were clutching wounds she seemed to have given them, but her sword was now lying on the floor, bloody, and Ilrin was limp, the Asdelarcen having enchanted her.

Two of them picked her up, gripping her upper arms, and dragged her past Aldir and out of the house. Aldir struggled to get up as they passed, but Delarthen forcefully put a hand on his shoulder and kept him down. The pain made Aldir’s vision flicker, and he fell back to the floor.

The Asdelarcen, having gotten what they came for, left. The mages let them go, and they all filed into the mist from whence they had come, silent and efficient. Delarthen hauled Aldir to his feet. Another mage came to help, and together they dragged him down the steps of Aimim’s home.

Delarthen let Aldir slip to the ground, and re-entered the house. Aldir could hear him speaking, presumably to whoever was still conscious: “The Asdelarcen overwhelmed us. Their numbers were too great, and we were forced to surrender. My mages will heal you, and we will pursue the Asdelarcen. They will not get away with this.”

The lying traitor! Even through the pain, Aldir struggled to stand, to turn, to strike Delarthen. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t even roll over. He tried, but the pain was too much. It finally reached his mind, and darkness took him.