"It is the decision of this council to be merciful in its punishment, given the circumstance."
The words still echoed in Ash's memory. Only a week had passed since his exile to the Elf Lands and it had nearly turned into a death sentence twice. Both patrols of the diminutive Elf-kin were too big for him to handle alone, but neither spotted him. Thanks to the skirmishes and invasions of Humanity over the last couple years, attrition was taking its toll on the males of the race. The patrols were few and far between these days, and, if the last two were any indication, they were being filled out with more and more of the buxom Elven women.
It was a sad thing, he thought, to realize that a warrior of his tribe couldn't handle four or five of the smaller enemy. After all, the tallest Elf in t
