Covered head to toe in metal, weapons drawn, the two dark elves barged in without warning.  Naked and straddling her human lover, Chiani let out an alarmed shriek at the unexpected intrusion into their sanctuary—a place long hidden from the biases and bigotry of a strictly pedigreed Thexian world.

Hidden, that is, until now.

Without pause, the Teir’Dal trespassers marched their way across the tiny room to take custody of the degenerate female and her tainted paramour.  Neither adolescent was given a chance to so much as clothe themselves before they were forcibly removed from the room and driven into the open air of Longshadow Alley for all to see. 

As the true offender between them, Chiani was immediately thrown to the ground in a heap.  Another shriek escaped her lips as the girl’s knees and palms turned horribly scraped from breaking her fall against the rough, unyielding ground.  Opening her eyes, she examined her hands to find the bleeding abrasions marred with filth and dirt that riddled the streets of their newly designated home in Freeport.

The sound of vicious blows distracted her from behind.  Knowing their source, Chiani slowly crossed her arms across her chest—partly in an attempt at some small bit of modesty, but mostly to protect her throbbing hands beneath her armpits as she scurried to a sitting position.

“Keenin,” she whispered, looking up at her mate.

Already the man bled freely from multiple blows to the face.  The two Teir’Dal held each of his arms while a third continued his relentless pummeling with gauntleted fists.

“Stop!  Stop it!” Chiani screamed, not caring about the attention she drew to herself.

Heedless of her tearful cries for mercy, the blows continued unabated on the powerless human.  The dark elf’s metal fist met face, midriff and groin with wild abandon until at last Keenin relied solely on his dark elf captors to even stand upright.

At long last, the dark elf brute ceased his ruthless assault.  Making a show of examining the resultant damage to his gauntlet, the cruel man idly flexed his fingers before backhanding the detestable dark elf harlot behind him with a single decisive blow that sent her sprawling once again to the ground.

Lying on her back, Chiani waited for the world to stop spinning and the flashing lights to stop blinding her.  Warm and wet, blood spilled down her lip and cheek to soil the ground near her head. 

“Witness, all!” the man shouted his address to the gathering Teir’Dal onlookers.  “See the fate of any who would taint our heritage!  See the blood of those who seek to destroy the purity of our blood!  It is just!  For we are the children of Innoruuk, and we refuse to see His divine work spoiled by the fallacy of a weak-minded and capricious whore!”

The man’s words rang through her head as Chiani slowly drew herself into a fetal position on the ground.

“Mark what you see today, one and all!” he continued.  “Remember this fate!  For it is the result of all such acts of high treason against Innoruuk and his divine spawn!”

The man’s voice was replaced by what Chiani presumed was his hand grabbing her by the hair.  Painfully, it raised her head from the ground.

“Watch,” the man spat.

Slowly, Chiani forced her eyes open as she was bid.  She knew what was next.  It was inevitable.  She’d known the risks of what she was doing.  She knew this might be the likely end to their passion, should they ever be caught.  What hurt most was that Keenin was the innocent here.  With she as his only guide, he remained woefully ignorant of Teir’Dal culture.  He had no idea of the dark and terrible truths it embraced.  She’d kept them hidden—a closely guarded secret she held so desperately, and still it was he who paid the price for her carnal indiscretions.

She watched as they slit the human’s throat.  Trembling in her captor’s viselike grip, Chiani made no audible sound.  Her mouth simply gaped wide as silent sobs seized her, her cheeks wet from tears fallen from unblinking eyes.  The girl’s only coherent thought was that she was glad Keenin was too far gone to realize what was happening.  To her eyes, the spectacle was like unto butchering a stunned calf in a slaughterhouse, and they dragged him away just as dismissively.

Losing sight of her lover’s body, Chiani’s jaw clenched.  At last, audible sobs echoed in the street, her body heaving in despair. 

The dark elf’s hand finally released its grip with a brutal shove, leaving her to stare bitterly at the uncaring ground.  Her grief consumed her, with scarcely a thought for her own imminent safety.  For she knew that, regardless of what she’d done, she was still of Teir’Dal blood, and would therefore be spared the pain of death for this crime.  By tradition, she would be a shun from her family and all who knew her, losing any title or status such associations granted—not that such things meant much in these times anyway. 

Henceforth, she would stand as an example in the eyes of her people.  In the days ahead, wherever she went, it would be unavoidable that the occasional someone would recognize her as the filthy harlot who knowingly threatened the purity of her own race by consorting with a human.  Though precocious in her habits by most standards, under such conditions the recklessness of youth held no quarter.

Nor should it, she reasoned.  She knew what she was doing.  Gods help her, she’d known all along.  For this, she deserved all she got and more for selfishly allowing this to happen to Keenin.

As the crowd began to disperse, Chiani slowly pulled herself together.  Doing her best to ignore the shooting pain of her wounded palms and knees, the forsaken Teir’Dal girl gradually crawled her way back through the still open door to gather her things and face the grim future she’d made for herself.

Part IV

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