"Father, when can I go out and help adventurers? I've waited forever!" the young elf chased down the elderly cleric. His ears poked out over his large brown bangs. The rest of his hair spiked wildly out, clearing the tips of his ears and pouring down to his waist. Over his shoulders was a simple dark brown mantle with a small knot around its neck. A plain wooden cross hung around his neck, the only decoration on his simple, light brown robes. In his hands he had his meaningful talisman, a large curved stick shaved into a smooth staff, with one ruby tied to the upper end of it and two small red feathers caught in the design.
      "You've waited one week. Adventurers don't just come whenever you wish. Why don't you pray over it, Emeryl?" the abbot answered. He couldn't help but wonder how an elf, of all humanoids, could be so impatient when they lived so much longer.
      Sighing, Emeryl knelt down on the closest kneeler, holding his staff diagonally in front of him.
      "Dios te salve, Maria, llena eres de gracia, el..." he began praying, eyes closed.
      At the church entrance the door swung open, slamming against the wall.
      "Father! Do you have an extra priest? We need a good healer for our quest!" Alan bellowed into the church. One eye popped open as Emeryl glanced towards him, finishing his prayer with a quick, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, amen."
      Alan hardly got to the abbot when an elf danced behind him pleading, "Take me! Take me! Take me!"
      Trying not to make eye contact with the overzealous elf, Alan quietly whispered to the abbot, "He's a little enthusiastic. Is there anything wrong with him?"
      "I'm not really sure." The abbot replied jokingly, "Are you going alone?"
      "Nah, Prism is waiting outside." Alan barely answered as he was tackled from behind.
      "Alright! I'll take you!" he struggled with the elf, trying to unwrap the arms from his neck.
      "Thank you! I can heal! You won't regret it! You'll be healed and cured, and I can cook and use herbs! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Emeryl pounced mercilessly on the poor warrior.
      Finally tearing the cleric off, Alan made an attempt to leave the church without being tackled again.
      "So, where are we going? Who are we seeing? Isn't Prism the wizard that works at the shop? Is he good at spells? Why are you going? What's your name?" he began belching out questions at him.
      Outside, Prism heard the racket. As the doors to the church opened again Alan came out by himself.
      Surprised, he stopped Alan, "Hey! Where's the priest?"
      With an obvious irk in his voice, he replied, "Look down." Blinking again, Prism lowered his eyes to the ground to see an elf clinging to Alan's leg.
      "Please pull him off me..." Alan watched him stick on his leg like wet pants.
      Sighing, Prism grabbed him by the shoulders and managed to pry him off without tripping Alan. Seeing the elf's face he became agitated.
      "How old are you?" Prism asked, holding back his harsh tone.
      "Seventeen." The elf replied, standing up.
      "Oh... you, just come along..." he hesitantly replied, pulling Alan away down the street as their priest followed a few yards behind.
      "Alan! We can't take him! He's only seventeen!" Prism scolded.
      Staring at Prism, Alan answered firmly, "I was fifteen when I left. So were you."
      "But this is different!" Prism kept his voice to a low whisper, "He's an elf! Maybe you don't understand because you're human. But I'm a half-elf. Seventeen to an elf is the equivalent to a human child of about two!"
      "That explains a lot." Alan replied without much thought.
      "He's too young!" Prism spat at him, accidentally raising his voice.
      "Hey! I am not!" Emeryl retorted from behind them, jogging into the middle to defend himself.
      "It's nothing against you. But we can't take you where we're going. You can just go back to the church, there will be other adventurers." Prism told him.
      "I am not too young! I'm not going back! I'm coming with you! Right?" he pleaded with Alan for support. Taken back by the argument and not completely understanding, all Alan could do was shrug.
      "I'm coming too!" Emeryl insisted.
      Prism grabbed him and gave him a rough shake so he'd think about it, "You don't understand. We're not just going on a regular monster hunt. We're heading for Cervik."
      "Cer...Cervik? The undead town?" he asked, confused.
      "Yes. Now you see? You can't go to a place like that." Prism calmed down.
      "No... No, I'm going too! I'm not a wimp, I can handle it!" he retorted.
      "Stop being childish! Go back to the church!" Prism snapped.
      "No no no!" Emeryl cried.
      "Stop hassling him. If he gets scared he can go back by himself." Alan interrupted them. Caught off guard by Alan's entrance into the argument, Prism kept a wary eye on the little elf. Safe from the horrible scolding, Emeryl edged away from the wizard to the other side of Alan, and daringly stuck out his tongue.
      Growling back, Prism quickly scared the tongue back into Emeryl's mouth. Peering at both of them, Alan sighed to himself. This was going to be a long journey.