"He's still following us." She whispered. The bandit listened softly, hearing the slow trot of a horse cantering after them.
      "Just keep going north. Maybe the ghosts will scare him off." He answered.
      "Don't tell me you believe those stories." She glanced at him queerly.
      "Of course not, but most people do." He replied stoically.
      The tapping of the hooves approached them slowly as they strolled through the forest. Neither even glanced back at the mailman as he rode the horse closer to them.
      Abruptly Kern twirled around and snarled at the horse. It reared up, whinnying loudly. From its back Remus flew off. A cloud of dust enveloped him as the horse galloped away.
      "That's not funny!" Remus shrieked at the snickering couple, "I'm hungry, I'm tired, I completely lost and that wasn't my horse! Take your damn package so I can go home!"
      Lirit hushed Kern before he could reply, "Alright, I'm curious what it says. I'll take it after you read it to me."
      "Excuse me?" he stumbled to his feet, brushing off his jacket, "You can't be serious."
      "Is it a big book?" Kern queried.
      "It looks decent sized." He glanced inside the stained, ripped up package.
      "Read it. I'll even give you your money back." Kern smirked.
      "How generous..." Remus grumbled, waiting for Kern to see his narrowed, evil eyes, "Fine, if you two can't read it, I'll read it to you and go."
      Chuckling, Kern grinned back at him, "I can read perfectly fine, I just don't feel like it."
      Remus continued trying to pop Kern's head by staring at him furiously. 'Just let his hair set on fire...' kept wandering through his head. His hands picked the book out of the box, dropping the box altogether.
      "Fine, just fine." He opened to the first page, "6/02/1737..." Both Lirit and Kern peered at him.
      "You're reading it wrong, that's six hundred years ago." Lirit glared back at him.
      Flipping to the next page Remus shook his head, "No, this entry is only dated a couple years after the first one. Let me finish reading it."
      "6/02/1737. I just found this book unused on my desk and have decided to use it to record all the important information I have learned. I don't know where to start. I've learned so much. Alan has taught me never to give up. Emeryl always looks forward to everything, he's as happy as a child with candy. Bentora, well, I've learned that even the most peaceful of places can be ruined. I can't help but wonder where Eric and Leiko will end up. And Blake, even though he's an arrogant jerk, taught me all about drow elven society, or at least more than I ever knew before. I know how their matriarch fell apart after the apocalypse, some drow elven beliefs and even some of their culture. I should wait until I sort out my thoughts before I write more. -Prism."
      "What the hell is all that jabbering about? Elves? Drows? The apocalypse? It sounds like a messed up Bible." Lirit snuffed.
      "I've heard about the Apocalypse. It happened over a thousand years ago, so no one knows exactly what happened." Kern explained.
      "I knew Prism was old but he must have had his dates mixed up by a few hundred years." Remus concluded.
      "What does the next part say?" Kern pressed him as they continued to stroll on.
      "2/17/1739." Remus continued, "I've heard from Alan that Eric and Syiera have married. They should be expecting a child soon. Emeryl has left town to Ephesus. He'll be with his parents again. I hope they don't mind that his spider has grown a few feet. Or that Maskini still trots on his heels everywhere. Drow elves have become even more common. Some have even gone as far as taking up jobs, while a lot of the older ones are running wild. Unfortunately, some elves have followed lead and become bandits. I've never seen so many troublesome elves before. That's all I can think of right now."
      "Who is this Prism guy and how does he know my name?" Lirit demanded, "What a freak."
      Remus shook his head, "He was an old guy who worked at a bookstore. I have no idea how he got your name."
      "You knew him?" Kern asked.
      "Not really. He was just Old Man Prism, seemed liked he'd been around forever. Maybe he'll say how he got your name somewhere in here." Remus took notice that they were still walking north, "Shouldn't we stop? If we keep going we'll end up at the haunted ocean..."
      "Afraid of ghosts?" Kern smirked.
      "No. If we turn around here though we can go to Fara Fara." He answered.
      Kern raised a brow, "You want me to go to Fara Fara? I have the most wanted, recognizable face in the world, and you want me to walk into Fara Fara were eight year olds will pull rifles on me?"
      "It's not that bad. But I'm hungry, and I don't want to roam through the woods with a couple of thieves." Remus sighed.
      "I prefer bard." Lirit tapped her flute.
      "I'm just a misunderstood entrepreneur." Kern defended, "Now, keep reading. We'll get food later."
      "4/28/1781." Remus paused before continuing, "That's about fifty years later... Anyway. 'I haven't written in awhile. I read over my last entry. Eric's now grown up son is named Alan, after his brother. Oh, Alan died again. I wonder if my spell trapped him inside the sword again. I never dispelled it, after all. Blake and Bentora, and Leiko too, have made quite a name for themselves barfighting. I wish they'd make a better career choice. A few travelers have been less and less friendly towards me. I think the humans are taking a disliking to elves."
      Remus peered up nervously in the foggy forest, "I think we should turn."
      "Now? But we're probably almost to the ocean. Don't be scared by the fog." Kern answered, "Have an apple."
      Remus caught the apple clumsily. Normally he'd refuse to eat it but his stomach strangled him. He crunched it noisily.
      Still chewing, he mumbled, "I don't think we should keep going. No one comes up here."
      "There's no such things as ghosts." Lirit assured him teasingly, "Don't worry, we'll protect you."
      "I don't need protection." Remus sputtered fruit pieces.
      "Stop complaining. I've tracked through the edge of the forest hundreds of times." Kern replied, "Keep reading, we're not really that deep inside."
      Munching off a large part of the apple Remus swallowed it before continuing, "9/3/1913. Wow, that's almost two hundred years after the last entry. 'I'm afraid I haven't been faithful to this journal. An incredible amount has happened. Humans don't trust elves anymore. There have been beatings and murders... In Ephesus I heard the Church was burned down, and two elves were stoned to death. I hope Emeryl is ok. I think this is what may have started the Apocalypse. Since I'm a half elf I've had several rude comments, but I've lived in this town so long that I've been able to keep low and stay away from the worst of it. Plus I can hide my distinct half elven features. Eric's child had children, and they've had children. I know of Andra Deraken and Tuyn Deraken."
      "What happened?" Lirit waited.
      "That's the end of that entry." He chewed more on the apple, "5/07/2057. Elves and Drows alike have almost all fled north. I've been keeping track of the Derakens. Tuyn had two sons, Striker and Dain. Dain had a child named Rame." Remus chewed up another bit of apple, "That's the end of that entry. 11/13/2273. I'm not quite sure where the elves have gone. Over the last generations humans have forgotten them, and in this city, as old as I am, I'm just thought of as strange because of how old I am. I know the elves went through what is now known as the Thessa Forest, deep into it where Cervik used to be. They went all the way north and crossed the ocean, I believe. Elves live much longer, I doubt they've even reached their third generation since the beginning of all this. I'm sure they're full of silent anger. Rame has had a son and daughter. His son had another son named Soft. He's very young still. With how much time I have left I'll either end up sending this to him or to whatever children he may have."
      "Soft is the name of my father..." Lirit glanced at Kern.
      "You think this is actually true?" Kern didn't return her gaze.
      "I don't know. What else is there?" Lirit asked Remus. Tossing the apple core into some bushes, he read aloud the last entry.
      "Very interesting. I'd like to see for myself if this is true." Kern hummed.
      "Wait, you don't mean actually going into the forest, do you?" Remus glowered at him.
      "There's suppose to be a stream a mile or two from here. We can get a drink there." Lirit ignored Remus.
      "Excuse me?" Remus spat.
      "You need a bath, bad." Lirit fanned her face.
      "You two are psycho. As soon as we get a drink from that stream I'm out of here." Remus growled.