"They say you have a house in Wayrest. I thought you unlikely to settle down." Her gaze was as clear and unwavering as it had been, her dark browneyes still had depths you could lose yourself in forever, if you let your guard down. "You remain as beautiful as ever, Twilight," I answered,"and as blunt. Who is this "they", and what does owning a house have to do with settling down? I am merely between wars, and using Wayrest as a base. I have to livesomewhere, after all, and it's a rich kingdom."  

I drained my tankard of ale and turned to find the barmaid, an opportunity to look away from those eyes. The inn was busy this night: a caravan had arrived earlier, and from the look of some of the guards at the bar, and the desperate waythey were drinking, they must have had trouble, serious trouble, back along the trail. The flickering torchlight glinted off the ends of freshly snapped links of mail, and bandages were much in evidence. The smoke from the torches and the fireplace did not sufficiently obscure the haunted looks in the eyes of the warriors who had survived while their mates had not, nor did the tavern's din entirely cover the shrill undertones of voices butlately raised in warcries or moans of pain. Aye, something untoward had happened out there, and not overly long ago.  

"And you, Balefire, would like me to believe that you remain unchanged as well. Where others see misery and pain, you see profit and glory, do you? Only a mercenary, are you? Attracted like a vulture by the feast spread on battlegrounds? Mock me not, Balefire! I know you better than you will ever admit. I have not forgotten what I learned when I rode with you. Even now you cast calculating eyes on those battered hireling thugs, wishing me to believe you see a chance to use the Art to turn violence into gold. I know better, I say. And after all those years together, by the scales of Akatosh, you know you cannot deceive me."  

"What would you have me say, Twilight," I sighed, "that Icame to Dwynnen to ask you to take up housekeeping in Wayrest with me? That all is forgiven, and my pride is healed now? That a five-minute goodbye was, after all, a suitable end for a five-year affair? Or shall I say..."  

"'Affair'? Is that what it was?" Her eyes flashed dangerously,her brows were thunderheads rushing together, her raven-black hair wind-drivenstormclouds. She leaned closer to me across the wine-stained, scarred oak table; it looked to be an affectionate gesture, but I watched her hands...I had seen her kill three assassins once in as many heartbeats, over just such a table as this.  

"Balefire, you came because I sent you a message. And I thank you for coming, but I'll thank you not to try to second guess me. Hear me out, at least,before putting words in my mouth. And if you cannot forget the past, at least do me the service of preventing it from clouding your judgement."  

The muscles in her tanned forearms were tensed where I could see them below the rolled back sleeve of her silk shirt. Her long fingers were bent in that old,once-familiar way; in a moment the right would dart for her dagger, while the left formed the gestures of a spell. Shield, probably, knowing Twilight...if she cast a destruction-spell in this taproom, 'twould result in a massacre of bystanders.  

"Peace, Twilight," I rumbled, keeping both hands relaxed and in sight, "peace, if you please. Wouldst start a duel of wizards over a word? Werode, and slept, together for half a decade once. But 'twas you ended it, whatever it was we had. Call it whatever you will. 'Tis long over, whatever it was.  

"And, Twilight," I said, a little sharper as I saw her relax abit, but enough, "do not seek to provoke me further. I am not so patient as I oncewas, and I have grown far more powerful in the Art than I was in the old days."  

Catching the barmaid's eye at last, I called out an order for more ale,and red wine of Valenwood for Twilight. We were silent while it was brought, and I studied her as she studied me. The years had been good to her; she'd made the crossing from girl to woman well. Well-formed and lithe, muscled like a tiger, skin clear as a mountainstream, she had the look of a woodland predator, beautiful but deadly. She only stood shoulder-high on me, but I am bigger than most, so she was tall for a Wood Elf. She moved smoothly despite her Ebony armor, restless as ever, and the firelight threw the hollow ofher throat now into shadow, now into satin-sheened light. The scar along her jawline had faded some, and the tiny wrinkles at the corners of her eyes added character, and wentwell with the determined and passionate look in her great brown eyes. Those slightly slanted, deep brown eyes bespoke, as ever, a woefully, achingly great passion. A passionto die for...or of.  

"Aye, Balefire," she murmured, "'tis over, and I'll not take away its magic by naming it. But were they not good years? Did we not love one another then?"  

"Mayhap those two did, but we are not those two people anymore. And was it me that you loved, or was it the adventure, and the deeds, and the fame that rode before us? Did you not revel more in the battle and the glory than in my arms, Twilight? How else could you have ended it so cruelly? Nay, I'll not deny they were good years, but we have both changed since those days. For what it is worth, Twilight, I loved you then. But I am not the same man that I was then."  

"'Those two' is it? Very well, let it lie there, between us, fornow. As for your having changed, I have heard the rumors, as who hasn't. 'Balefire, the Dark Elf Archmage. Balefire, the Relentless, the Dauntless, the Fearless. Balefire this,and that," she paused and sipped her wine, and began again, fiercely, "and whenthey think I cannot hear them, my splendid Mage Guild colleagues, do you know what they call you? Balefire, the Merciless, the Reaper, the Deathbringer, the Bloody. The Bloodmage, they are calling you, since that business over around Merhope. There are thosewho say you now love Death more than the Art. That you kill for the sheer joy of it. 'Bloodmage', Balefire! If that appellation fits, then, aye, you have changed."  

I kept control over my expression, checking the feral grin that would not help my cause here. While she spoke, it seemed the years rolled back, and that a younger, more innocent Twilight spoke. I looked away, and swallowed a long draft of the foamy, dark ale. It seemed to have grown smokier as we spoke, it was irritating to my eyes.  

Mildly, I said, "Death and destruction are my stock in trade,Twilight, now as then. I am a mercenary, a Warmage. I will not deny I enjoy the thrill of battle, and I am as vengeful as I ever was. If fools want to say that I have become alover of death, why, let them prattle as they will. It does my reputation good, and raises my fees. I have of late taken many bodyguarding jobs..."  

"Aye," she interrupted, "and I hear the Dark Brotherhood chapter in Wayrest now refuses contracts on you, and will not attempt the Mages' Guildwhen you are on guard. Nor will the Thieves' Guild. Your reputation will render you unemployed."  

"Not so, M'Lady. There are plenty of freelances about, and the darkguilds outside of Wayrest continue to take contracts. I do not lack for work. TheFighters' Guild often asks me to do quests for them, of late, as well, though I am not amember. I remain as busy as ever, regardless of the...ah...agreement I reached withWayrest's Dark Brotherhood Guildmaster."  

Twilight smiled, despite herself, and almost giggled as she said,"'Agreement'? I heard something of that, from a Nightblade in this very tavern. Hewas fleeing, he said, the imminent destruction of the Assassins' Guild in Wayrest. 'I am a loyal member of the Brotherhood,' quoth he, 'but 'twere suicide to remain and face such wrath.'  

"And yet, I understand their guildhall still stands..." She sipped her wine, thoughtful now. The rings on her hand glowed softly red-gold, and the downy hair on her forearm seemed to catch fire when it caught the light.  

"What more proof do you need that I merely ply my Art and my Craft,Twilight? You know of old that I never lie to women, and you have heard, it seems,something of how my power has increased over the years. I say to you, then, that if I had willed it so, where the Dark Brotherhood now stands in Wayrest would have been a smokingmound of rubble, and not even a single bramble would have grown on the spot for a hundred years. Luckily for them, their guildmaster is a rational man. I can, if I choose, show mercy."  

"Say you so, he whom they lately call 'Balefire Bloodmage'? Well, I recall a time when you healed and set free an imp who begged your mercy, and in those days your warname was Balefire Demonbane. It may be that you still retain your sense of balance. I hope so, for if you would take up the quest I propose, balance will beneeded."  

"Ah, hah!" I thought to myself, "at last she ceases her fencing and approaches the true purpose of her calling me hither."  

Aloud, I said, "Quest, Twilight? Wouldst become a client, then? My fees are not as low as in the past we shared."  

"Your fee is not a problem; the Guild will pay all that is needful.The Archmagister is the client. He and the rest of the guild members asked me to approach you because once you and I were...friends. And they thought you might wax wroth if you heard the condition. They fear your wrath, Balefire, and they fear you might refuse if asked by another."  

"You would be wise not to provoke that anger, Twilight, which the Archmagister fears to face. I shall not be concerned over the fee, then, but do not play children's guessing games with me. What is this condition?"  

"We must go together, as of old, Archmage, or not at all. Their final word, and mine. Accept this condition, and I may tell you of the quest. Refuse, and we can drink and talk about old times, and tomorrow you can return to Wayrest."  

I knew that stubborn set of chin and lips of old; no argument orblandishment would move her. I shifted my weight on the oaken bench, trying to get comfortable in my greaves. An impossible task. "Very well," I said at last,"although these days I usually work alone. I warn you, though, once and for all, that it is a dire thing to be Balefire's saddle companion. I am dangerous to be around, Twilight. I have enemies, and the power that I hold controlled by my will can be deadly even to friends, when I unleash it."  

"I accept the warning, and the danger. I, too, have grown in the Art and in *my* Craft, as well. Listen, then, and I shall explain why the Guild needs usboth in this quest. I had hoped never to see you again, you know. You cannot know the painit brings me after all these years, to have the reality instead of the memory across thetable. And yet, we have no choice, as you shall hear..."  

And that, comrades, is how it began, that spring evening in Dwynnen.Pass me the pitcher of ale, if you would, and let me soothe my dry throat for a moment. I shall continue the tale shortly.